der Mumienwagen; E91 330i Touring

Good work on the sump. What a bugger.

Yours is on a similar mileage to my trusty Skoda vRS, but looks a thousand times better! Might have something to do with my not being arsed to clean it ever.

Cheers. The pics are quite flattering, hiding the deeper marks that I can’t get shot of.

Yeah, I was gutted when the sump stripped. It’s good that it seems to be holding up….it was a good excuse to buy a properly good torque wrench though.

Ticked off some jobs on the 330i today.

The sump repair appears to be holding well enough; the oil level hasn’t dropped since it was sorted. There are no drips under the car on the floor but there are still some minor signs of oil around the the access flap on the undertray. Albeit it looked like that before the sump thread gave up the ghost.

Anyway, today it was time to replace the stty TRW dampers that I fitted last summer with some Bilstein B4’s. Lesson definitely learnt there. I decided that it would be a good time to replace the upper arms whilst the car was on stands.



Stating the disassembly of the boot



I soon had access to the top mounts. It was much easier taking the boot apart this time.





One of the bushes pressed into the arm wasn’t looking too clever.



And out.





It was about this point that we had a biblical downpour, so there was a great deal panic getting tools etc into the garage. Luckily it only last about 20 minutes but my picture taking slowed right down after.

New arms and dampers fitted.



Once both sides were done, I cleaned out the rear arches which were caked in crap after just a year.



The the arches washed out and the wheels back on, I have it a quick wash.







Hopefully this will go some way to dealing with the slightly wallowy, soft rear end. I think those TRW dampers had a lot to answer for. I’m almost hoping that it’ll stop the car sitting on its arse so quickly when loaded (we’re going camping at the back end of the week).

At some point this month I’ll fit the M3 front arms and get it aligned agin.

It’s MOT time in a few weeks and then before we go on holiday in August, I want to make sure the CCV is replaced because some or the hoses look a bit shagged.

Cheers Dan.

Aside from the biblical downpour yesterday it wasn’t too bad, today is looking like a different story though!

My M140i was the same with the top mounts accessed from the underside of the wheel arch. I do wonder how much of a pig they’ll be though once they’re 15 years old and a bit crusty underneath.

Having just done this on my mum's 120d.. It's worth doing the ball joint and bush in the hub also.. Toe arms are an easy job too.

We’ve not long got back from a trip to Wales camping and the 330i was a great companion (again). It needed a wee tip up for oil when we got home (250ml) to get it back to full. Oil usage is about the same as it was before the issue with the sump plug.

A slightly heavier oil hasn’t made any difference by the looks of it (I accidentally bought 5W 40).







Hard to say if it drives any better because it was very very full! A tent, plus camping gear, food, beer and a paddle board meant that there were few opportunities to enjoy the roads.

Sounds a good run that Sam

Where abouts where you?

We've a week off in early July before schools break up; thinking of 4 nights down on Anglesey at Kingsbridge camping site near to Beaumaris..

Then again I was looking at Cala Do'r in Majorca again too this morning...

A week away in the sun for pure R&R is more appealing...

Haha yeah; it's such a lovely island though pal. It's home from home for me/us.

Haven't been since last June when I was really unwell so came home after one night. We might save it for September just as the schools have gone back; great tie for camping but also good fishing at Penmon/Moelfre too