E92 325i M Sport

[stevie99s]

Hi, I picked this up a couple of months ago now & after getting a few bits & pieces done thought it was about time I had some pictures up! I've made a new thread for this as I had a few others for past cars but for reference this has replaced a Mk1 Fabia vrs & Astra vxr amongst many others!

Due to a change in job (id done 30k miles in a year in the vrs) I now pretty much have no commute due to driving work vehicles. I've been doing the sensible buying house malarkey etc. so didn't want to spend a small fortune, lease deals were tempting but id hardly be using it so not worthwhile, so I set a budget of around £6k. Now at this end of the market there was high mileage 320D's & the odd petrol but they all looked like dogs, upping the budget slightly I came across a 3 owner example which looked promising, after a quick call I had arranged to travel to Birmingham to view. On arrival it was better than expected! bar a few stone chips it really is immaculate with not one scuff or scratch, full service history, 91k, new Pirelli run flats (will be getting changed) & although not a 330, it was the early N52 325 auto which I had wanted as its regarded as more reliable. the seller was great and selling on behalf of a family member struggling with the practicalities of the coupe so a deal was done.

It was a 2007 model which was completely standard (sorry don't have pics) but I've since made a few small subtle changes, I've had the alloys refurbed in anthracite, Angel eyes changed to white LED's, peeling steering wheel wrapped & a complete service, full alignment, diff oil, etc. etc. & probably a few other bits I've forgot as I'm planning on keeping it for at least a couple of years as I cant see me losing a fortune on it.

Spec wise its not amazing as its not got Idrive but I'm not really fussed about that tbh, its got the standard xenons, electric alacantra sports seats (which look a lot better in the flesh), auto wipers, lights, professional HU, auto dim mirror, Light pack, etc.

I'm planning on giving it a bit of a detail over the summer as well as sorting the hubs, Callipers etc. as there looking a tad rusty. Its a great all rounder & with a few road trips planned it should suit well, its my first auto and in DS mode you can make good progress however I find it holds onto the gears a tad too long although sometimes I secretly wish it was a manual with that smooth 6 pot

Its also just passed its MOT with no advisories, although ever since having the alloys refurbed its had a slight vibration in the steering wheel & under braking so will have to investigate that.

Anyway a few (crap camera & really filthy) pictures for now......
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Edited by stevie99s on Thursday 19th January 12:40

[rossub]

Love the styling of these. One of the best looking BMWs ever IMO.

[cerb4.5lee]

Really like the shape of these too and the N52 engine is a peach, enjoy it.

[BlueHave]

Really like the sweeping line on the coupe. One thing I would probably change would be the dash fascia as I've seen them changed from walnut to black/silver on a 6 series and it really transformed the cabin.

[stevie99s]

BlueHave said:

Really like the sweeping line on the coupe. One thing I would probably change would be the dash fascia as I've seen them changed from walnut to black/silver on a 6 series and it really transformed the cabin.

Yeah, it's one of the first things I wanted to change when I seen it advertised tbh, it really doesn't photograph very well and is infact a grey blue colour instead or a brown which doesn't look too bad , in time I may change it. ☺

[TallTony]

Beautiful car, I really miss mine as it just looked so good. Much better than the new 4 series, they lost the purity of lines by adding a little too much aggression.

I had a M3 lip spoiler which really completed it.

[Mr Tidy]

Lovely car OP, and the N52 engine is fantastic! Enjoy.

[Emeye]

E90post is your friend. A fantastic forum with loads of great, helpful guys. Many from the US but there is a UK section.

I've just recently sold my E92 325i SE after 2 years - one of my favourite cars I have owned, and I've had a lot.

It's pretty easy to change the interior for a leather one - I did mine.

I also fits a double din head unit and a sub. It transformed the sound and gave me satnav, but is a pretty big job and you need a connects2 kit to integrate with the steering wheel controls and reverse sensors. I have the full kit which I need to flog.

Things to watch out for are abs related - if the abs pump fails, Bmw will want an arm and a leg, but your unit can be refurbished by ECUtesting for a lot less. Reluctor rings can fail on the rear, once again BMW will want one million dollar and to replace everything. A normal garage can just clean up he driveshafts and replace the rings for not too many pennies.

[stevie99s]

Emeye said:

E90post is your friend. A fantastic forum with loads of great, helpful guys. Many from the US but there is a UK section.

I've just recently sold my E92 325i SE after 2 years - one of my favourite cars I have owned, and I've had a lot.

It's pretty easy to change the interior for a leather one - I did mine.

I also fits a double din head unit and a sub. It transformed the sound and gave me satnav, but is a pretty big job and you need a connects2 kit to integrate with the steering wheel controls and reverse sensors. I have the full kit which I need to flog.

Things to watch out for are abs related - if the abs pump fails, Bmw will want an arm and a leg, but your unit can be refurbished by ECUtesting for a lot less. Reluctor rings can fail on the rear, once again BMW will want one million dollar and to replace everything. A normal garage can just clean up he driveshafts and replace the rings for not too many pennies.

I've had a browse of E90 and will certainly sign up. Cheers, it does seem like a helpful forum. I have a friend with an e92 with leather and tbh I don't miss it, would I be right in thinking mine has the Base audio as I have no tweeters? But pro headunit.

Tbh coming from a vauxhall I was quite impressed with the standard audio however everyone mentions it being terrible, I'm pretty sure I have speakers under the seats?

I've heard how the abs pump is all one unit, hopefully mine will hold up!

[LanceRS]

stevie99s said:

BlueHave said:

Really like the sweeping line on the coupe. One thing I would probably change would be the dash fascia as I've seen them changed from walnut to black/silver on a 6 series and it really transformed the cabin.

Yeah, it's one of the first things I wanted to change when I seen it advertised tbh, it really doesn't photograph very well and is infact a grey blue colour instead or a brown which doesn't look too bad , in time I may change it. ?

I was just thinking how good the interior looks.

[P1H]

Emeye said:

Things to watch out for are abs related - if the abs pump fails, Bmw will want an arm and a leg, but your unit can be refurbished by ECUtesting for a lot less. Reluctor rings can fail on the rear, once again BMW will want one million dollar and to replace everything. A normal garage can just clean up he driveshafts and replace the rings for not too many pennies.

To to this - I had the well know ABS pump fail on my 2007 e92 330i. I don't want to concern you but it is useful to be aware of. If this happens the ABS warning light will become illuminated intermittently at first but then constantly. It will show the following fault codes: 5DF0 - hydraulic unit pump motor and 5DF1 - hydraulic unit pump motor connector.

It disables ABS, Traction Control, Stability Control, Cruise Control and the hill start assist thing. None of this really matters with the power of the 325i and 330i, but it is quite annoying, the dash is lit up like a Christmas Tree and it won't pass a MOT.

I had ECU testing fix mine but managed by a local independent. The only downside is that the car was off the road for 2 weeks, but apart from that was entirely successful and very cost effective.

Anyway, the car looks great, enjoy. In my biased view the E92 shape has aged incredibly well.

[Ultuous]

stevie99s said:

I have a friend with an e92 with leather and tbh I don't miss it, would I be right in thinking mine has the Base audio as I have no tweeters? But pro headunit.

Tbh coming from a vauxhall I was quite impressed with the standard audio however everyone mentions it being terrible, I'm pretty sure I have speakers under the seats?

'Base' on an E92 is the Pro Unit, with Subwoofers under the seats, no tweeters... I have pretty much the same car (E92 325iA M/Sport, 2007 in Silver) - hope you enjoy yours as much as I do mine!

[f1nn]

I've recently picked up an E92, albeit a 335I SE.



A month in and I'm nothing but impressed, practical, good looking (to my eyes at least) and effortlessly quick with around 370bhp.

They are a bit of a bargain at the moment IMO. mine stands me in at less than 9K, 58K, 15 BMW stamps in the history, a new set of RE050's, mapped to around 370BHP, and returning around 32-33mpg.

Enjoy yours it looks lovely.

[aka_kerrly]

Very nice for the money, still looks very modern to me and it's a bonus being a petrol!!

I do like the look of yours, the alcantara interior is lovely and exactly what i'd want. The only thing I'd change is the amount of pedals as I's need a manual.

[Emeye]

Ultuous said:

stevie99s said:

I have a friend with an e92 with leather and tbh I don't miss it, would I be right in thinking mine has the Base audio as I have no tweeters? But pro headunit.

Tbh coming from a vauxhall I was quite impressed with the standard audio however everyone mentions it being terrible, I'm pretty sure I have speakers under the seats?

'Base' on an E92 is the Pro Unit, with Subwoofers under the seats, no tweeters... I have pretty much the same car (E92 325iA M/Sport, 2007 in Silver) - hope you enjoy yours as much as I do mine!

That's another thing I did on mine - I bought a secondhand set of tweeters with the trim panel and swapped them in - again pretty easy, they plug straight into the door speakers. Definitely give an improvement to the base system which mine had.

[stevie99s]

Thanks for all the comments chaps, ill certainly keep an eye out for some tweeters if there just plug and play sounds good. Slightly jealous of the 335, looks great but a friend had nothing but trouble with his n54 I think? I'm sure his was just a Friday afternoon car but part of the reason this appealed was the n52. However coming from turbos I'm learning to work it

[Ultuous]

Emeye said:

That's another thing I did on mine - I bought a secondhand set of tweeters with the trim panel and swapped them in - again pretty easy, they plug straight into the door speakers. Definitely give an improvement to the base system which mine had.

Really interested in this, as thought of doing the same when I got the car, but does the car/ stereo not need recoding to change the EQ? I'm sure I read at the time that the trebles are heavily EQ'd up to make up for no tweeters?

[f1nn]

If you wanted to add the tweeters, there is some on EBay at the moment: Nothing to do with me BTW!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-X-BMW-E92-E92-M3-Hifi-...

[stevie99s]

Bit of an update as I've done a few more miles in the beemer, although not without a few hiccups, still really enjoying it, the drive train is soo smooth compared to the diesels I usually drive for work but now for the hiccups. Still trying to get to the bottom of a steering wheel shimmy, looks like it could be wishbones which will be the next item to rule out. Its also had a replacement eccentric camshaft sensor this weekend which was a pig of a job! (although I cant take the credit for doing it but it looked bad!). Also finally managed to give it a wash today so a few more pictures.

[stevie99s]