BMW E90 JDM3

[RS Grant]

After selling my old E92 M3 and regretting it, I have been tempted to return to the fold at some point.. but I've not been able to bring myself to sell my F80 M3 and fully commit to the change. Along with the fact that I'd be looking for a needle in a haystack again, much like I was when I found my old car; I'd be wanting an LCI model, low mileage, reasonable spec and a manual gearbox.

Anyway, I stuck a picture of my Classic Impreza up on my Instagram a few weeks ago saying how little mileage it had covered since it's last MOT (15 miles?!) and someone I know who trades in nice cars got in touch to say that he would be interested in a swap for an E90 M3 which he'd just brought in to stock. Given that I hadn't used the Impreza since I last took it for a good drive in Summer 2021, I thought it might be a good way to have a longer back-to-back test of an E9x M3 against my current F80 M3 without having to sell the newer car.

The headline details of the car I was offered are:

Japanese Import
Arrived in the UK in August 2022
2008 - 58 registration
88,000 miles
Alpine White
Black Leather
DCT
Rod Bearings done 1500 miles ago (inc. new OEM BMW engine mounts)


It's well specified:

Electric Rear Blind
Heated Seats
TV Function
Professional Navigation with Combox
Adaptive Xenon Headlights
Professional DSP Stereo
Parking Sensors Front and Rear
Electric Folding and Auto Dimming Mirrors
Comfort Access
Extended Lighting Package


It has a couple of small modifications too:

Evolve Remap (inc. Cold Start Delete)
Evolve Test Pipes
GTS Gearbox Remap
Eibach Lowering Springs
Wheel Spacers Front and Rear
Carbon Front Splitter


As some of you may know; I am the most militant of all militant manual gearbox stalwarts, so with this car having a DCT gearbox, it's going to take some getting used to! It feels better suited to the highly strung V8 engine, it has one extra ratio so the car feels sharper than a longer geared 6MT car does and I've been using it daily since I've got it... so I see the benefit of an automatic gearbox over a manual, however, I can't help feel that some of the interaction is missing but we'll see how things progress.

There are a couple of things I'll deal with here and there in the short term; give it a good polish, remove the JDM yO! stickers on the bodywork, a couple of new interior trims which are a bit worn and the fact the radio only gets Radio 2 because of Japanese radio bandwidth.

Here are a couple of pictures for the time being...

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

[MDMA .]

Very nice Grant. You know where that would look good sat next to

[RS Grant]

MDMA . said:

Very nice Grant. You know where that would look good sat next to

You're not the first person to say that!!

...and you know who to get in touch with when that day comes too.

[Court_S]

Looks good that….on 18’s too.

I saw a lovely Jerez black E90 M3 today which had just had a good clean; it looked bloody ace and reignited a lot of want!

[Its Just Adz]

Just noticed it's a saloon, perfect.

[BenEK9]

Nice
I’ve also a jdm bmw. Why remove the stickers? I like jdm and bmw, best of both worlds. Don’t make it look more like just another leggy salty uk car.

[cerb4.5lee]

Nice one Grant!

As Sam says you definitely don't see many with the 18's.

I've fell for the DCT in the M4! So I can give the DCT a definite thumb up for sure.

Enjoy it.

[RS Grant]

Court_S said:

Looks good that….on 18’s too.

I saw a lovely Jerez black E90 M3 today which had just had a good clean; it looked bloody ace and reignited a lot of want!

Yep the 18s seem to be quite rare, with most people going for the 19" 220M option.. either that or most people have sold the 18" wheels to E46 owners to use as track wheels, since they're meant to be light and strong.

I wouldn't change to the 220M wheels, however, I am a massive fan of the 359M wheels so I wouldn't bet against a set of those appearing on this at some point.

[RS Grant]

Its Just Adz said:

Just noticed it's a saloon, perfect.

Yep it's quite a rare beastie, I wanted an E90 M3 before I bought my old E92 M3.. but couldn't find an LCI manual example for love nor money at the time.

[RS Grant]

BenEK9 said:

Nice
I’ve also a jdm bmw. Why remove the stickers? I like jdm and bmw, best of both worlds. Don’t make it look more like just another leggy salty uk car.

I would only remove them because they're a bit old and tatty looking. There's one on the petrol filler cap which I don't really think looks right, so that will be going completely.

The one next to the ///M3 badge on the boot (which also needs attention! ) doesn't offend me and I would be tempted to try and find a replacement sticker to re-fit once the old one has been removed and the area machine polished.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

However this seems to be the actual sticker/logo:

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

...and the red R would give me the 'he has stuck a Nissan GTR badge on his car' vibe from a distance.

[RS Grant]

cerb4.5lee said:

Nice one Grant!

As Sam says you definitely don't see many with the 18's.

I've fell for the DCT in the M4! So I can give the DCT a definite thumb up for sure.

Enjoy it.

Thanks Lee, I also rate the DCT and it's definitely better suited to the V8 than the manual was.

If I had bought the car to use as a daily driver then DCT would probably be the route that I'd take. However I've got a daily, so to daily the E90 to keep the miles off my daily would be a step too far... even for me.

But there are a couple of wee bits which I'd like to do to the car which will keep me busy and give me time to see how well the DCT settles in with me.

[RS Grant]

Not the most exciting update but one of the keys was looking a bit tired on the M3 and it was annoying me that one of the buttons was split/cracked.. so I enquired about a replacement with Pixels Fixed in Glasgow to see how much it would cost for a replacement.

By chance they had a job in Aberdeen booked a couple of weeks later, so my enquiry quickly turned into an order and they came out to my work to do the business on their way up to Aberdeen.

I also went for an ‘emergency’ coded plastic key to keep in my wallet, with the empty ignition shell/adaptor being kept in the car.



In other news I’m still unsure on the DCT gearbox, it seems to combine not being quite as smooth as a traditional auto in normal use along with not being quite as fun as a manual when pressing on.. although the throttle blips on downshifts sound absolutely filthy and are very enjoyable.

[d_a_n1979]

RS Grant said:

Not the most exciting update but one of the keys was looking a bit tired on the M3 and it was annoying me that one of the buttons was split/cracked.. so I enquired about a replacement with Pixels Fixed in Glasgow to see how much it would cost for a replacement.

By chance they had a job in Aberdeen booked a couple of weeks later, so my enquiry quickly turned into an order and they came out to my work to do the business on their way up to Aberdeen.

I also went for an ‘emergency’ coded plastic key to keep in my wallet, with the empty ignition shell/adaptor being kept in the car.



In other news I’m still unsure on the DCT gearbox, it seems to combine not being quite as smooth as a traditional auto in normal use along with not being quite as fun as a manual when pressing on.. although the throttle blips on downshifts sound absolutely filthy and are very enjoyable.

Boyd does great work; good to see he's got you sorted...

I've just re-shelled my 2 keys; but that 'emergancy' key is a good idea! I'll bear that in mind next time I know he's down this way...

[jackcactii]

I like the chrome kidneys and the 18s.

How do you like your F80 then? Mine's a manual 2016 and love it to bits.

[Leon R]

RS Grant said:

Not the most exciting update but one of the keys was looking a bit tired on the M3 and it was annoying me that one of the buttons was split/cracked.. so I enquired about a replacement with Pixels Fixed in Glasgow to see how much it would cost for a replacement.

By chance they had a job in Aberdeen booked a couple of weeks later, so my enquiry quickly turned into an order and they came out to my work to do the business on their way up to Aberdeen.

I also went for an ‘emergency’ coded plastic key to keep in my wallet, with the empty ignition shell/adaptor being kept in the car.



In other news I’m still unsure on the DCT gearbox, it seems to combine not being quite as smooth as a traditional auto in normal use along with not being quite as fun as a manual when pressing on.. although the throttle blips on downshifts sound absolutely filthy and are very enjoyable.

The GTS software on the DCT is a must IMO.

[RS Grant]

d_a_n1979 said:

Boyd does great work; good to see he's got you sorted...

I've just re-shelled my 2 keys; but that 'emergancy' key is a good idea! I'll bear that in mind next time I know he's down this way...

Yeah I would fully recommend Boyd, didn't realise that he ventured down into Englandshire too.

My aunt actually lost one of her keys to her E91 320d when she was out walking her dog a few days before Boyd was due to come and see me. So a quick message to him and he was able to squeeze her in for a replacement key and an emergency key/adaptor at the same time he came to do mine. Fantastic service!

[RS Grant]

jackcactii said:

I like the chrome kidneys and the 18s.

How do you like your F80 then? Mine's a manual 2016 and love it to bits.

Thanks Jack.

I really rate my F80, it ticks a lot of boxes for me and makes it very difficult to think about what could replace it without needing to add a very large chunk of cash on top to purchase it.

The noise it makes is pretty grim and I've not heard an aftermarket solution which I'd be happy with yet.

I know a lot of people map the F8x cars and the results are very impressive, but I'm not looking to make mine any faster. It's plenty fast enough for me out of the box and now I've addressed the brakes/suspension it's pretty much ideal spec IMO.

Plus my car is still under comprehensive BMW warranty so I'd rather not kiss that goodbye in case the turbos/engine/something else expensive decides to grenade itself.

[RS Grant]

Leon R said:

The GTS software on the DCT is a must IMO.

According to the paperwork in the history folder I've got the GTS software on mine as part of the Evolve bits and pieces which were fitted by the original UK owner.

[d_a_n1979]

RS Grant said:

d_a_n1979 said:

Boyd does great work; good to see he's got you sorted...

I've just re-shelled my 2 keys; but that 'emergancy' key is a good idea! I'll bear that in mind next time I know he's down this way...

Yeah I would fully recommend Boyd, didn't realise that he ventured down into Englandshire too.

My aunt actually lost one of her keys to her E91 320d when she was out walking her dog a few days before Boyd was due to come and see me. So a quick message to him and he was able to squeeze her in for a replacement key and an emergency key/adaptor at the same time he came to do mine. Fantastic service!

Haha he does; probably out of desperation and to get his passport stamped too

[Sport220]

Love the Touring Car look of this. Very, very nice. Enjoy