der Mumienwagen; E91 330i Touring

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Ticked off a few little jobs tonight; her private plate has been assigned to the car since the DVLA were efficient in sending out the new V5. I’ve ditched the front number plate plinth whilst at it.

New Good Year Asymmetric 6’a we’re fitted to the rear instead of some ghetto looking semi slicks.

I checked the exhaust to see if it had already had the hold tee mid and it has unfortunately. It’s way too quite as it is.

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Gave the car a quick wash this morning before it got too warm to remove the copious amounts of dust from this week and the finger prints from the tyre change yesterday.

I then got distracted. First up I repositioned the slightly droopy rear wiper which was bugging me.

I then tackled the headlights. It’s much harder than on a 1 series and requires lots of dismantling.



BMW seem to love a hidden T30 screw just to keep you on your toes. I need to replace lots of the 8mm bolts that hold the wheel arches and under trays in place because they very, very rusty. A fee snapped as well. Joy.

First headlight in.





Both headlights in.



Front bumper on, private plate fired without the stupid engine plinth which I think looks much cleaner.



The car now has angel eyes.





I’ll I need to do now is code the DRL’s in so the angel eyes are on all of the time.

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nipsips said:

That looks really good! Fantastic modifications so far - it’s already looking like it’s in better condition than most.

Typically I sold my walnut trim on eBay a month ago - it was immaculate as well. Will definitely suit this though!

I like the headlights, it’s something I’ve been toying up for mine however mine really needs a full new front bumper which Ive pencilled in for next year along with a bit of paint.

Thanks. It’s getting there. The LCI headlights look loads better and I’ll code DRL’s in shortly.

I’m looking forward to the walnut trim arriving not only will it look loads better against the lemon leather but it means I can nick the dash trim for my 335i because these are in better condition. Win win.

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Mr Whippy said:

Looking good

Those ZHP gearsticks are so nice, keep being tempted on my E81 then retrimming in alcantara to match other bits.

Can I ask… What are you using to seal the headlights after refinishing the plastic?

Wrt aircon, the pipe that goes up behind a wheel arch and across the back of the engine had failed on mine last year.
It’d gone behind the arch and was sat in a load of road rubbish, leaves, mud, etc.

I had it swapped while it was in with the manifold off for an alternator swap, but yes it’s a faff if it’s that one which has gone.

I think after 10yrs the arch liners, bumpers and skirts need to come off annually for a clean up and protective pass as part of the servicing schedule.
All the trouble seems to start around there.

I assume this has a super crusty rear subframe with that mileage?

Thanks. I applied two coats of the stuff that comes in the Meguiars kit that I have. The polish is dogst, but the sealant seems ok.

I’ll get the arch liners off at some point and clean it all out. The fronts don’t seem too bad having had bits off today, but I’m guessing the rears are another story. I did spot what looks like a very tiny bubble on the nearside, rear arch. I’ll keep an eye on it and get it dark with next year.

The subframe is brand new; it was really crusty but the last owner decided that it was easier to just replace it rather than send it away to be powder coated.

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pmorg4 said:

Looks loads better. If you have LED bulbs in there don't forget to code out the cold bulb monitoring check and pulse width modulation.

Thanks. They’re working fine if I switch the sidelights on manually but I can’t get them to work as DRL’s so it looks like I need to upgrade the FRM to a later one. Luckily an FRM II isn’t too expensive and there are a few places who can update the VIN near me.

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The mountain of parts for this is ever growing.

The walnut interior trim finally arrived today. I’m in the process of giving it a proper clean because it’s a bit manky. I’m polishing a few wee bits of wear out. It looks loads better against the lemon leather than the polished aluminium trim.



Once it’s all cleaned and polished I’ll get it fitted and whilst the centre console is out, I’ll replace the white shifter bush and fit the Z3 shifter.

I need to do an oil change at some point soon and possibly the plugs too. The diff oil and gearbox will get done too.

The E46 M3 gearbox mounts are here too ready for fitting when I remove the CDV.

New front discs have arrived and a pair of ATE ceramic pads and wear sensor are on the way from Germany.

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christhreadgill said:

Just something about a light interior with a wooden trim, love it!

Thanks. I’m expecting some comments from people about me making it old man spec! The other option was a carbon wrap like on my 130i but somehow it feels like the wood suits the E91 better.

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wol said:

I've got an E61 with the aluminium trim. Can't stand it either but there's a lot of it so don't fancy spending the money changing it yet either!

I umm'd and ahh'd about removing the CDV too. I thought it was there to help protect (torque limit?) the gearbox slightly?

The trim isn’t too expensive if buying used. The aluminium works with certain leather in my opinion (I preferred it to the dark wood with black leather on my 335i and it works against the red interior that I retrofitted).

I’ve removed the CDV on the last new manuals and it’s been fine. It’s there to protect the clutch but the clutch feel is much better without it.

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Mr Whippy said:

Old man

Carbon fibre ftw

The carbon worked on the 130i, but I’ll embrace the grandpa look on this.

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DC.11 said:

The walnut will be an improvement over silver for sure. I had my LE trims painted in Piano Black which I thought worked well with the lemon.

That looks good.

We spec’d piano black on our her old F56 which looked great but the finger prints upset my OCD!

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pmorg4 said:

I think it will look great with the wood and light leather. I have light leather in my E91 (it’s an LCI so Oyster rather than Lemon) and Piano Black trim which I think works well together, but I know many people avoid Piano Black due to it being so sensitive to fingerprints. Either way, I think the M-Sport E9x looks much better with light coloured leather, and light coloured leather looks better without silver trim

Thanks. I fitted it last night (will get some pics today when I clean the car) and am really pleased with it. Piano black looks lovely when clean but the finger prints grate and the OE trim spec’d in the MINI scratches if you looked at it wrong.

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pmorg4 said:

nipsips said:

I’ve got piano black around the multifunction switches on the steering wheel, and around the electronic handbrake in my work car and it literally drives me insane to the point I keep a microfibre in the door to keep it clean

I’m sure the wood will look fantastic!

I used to be quite precious about my cars but being that I own an E91 for the primary purpose of hauling around a three year old and a two year old I’ve had to give up any pretence of keeping a clean car. Fingerprints on the piano black trim are the least of my worries

I’m still sad enough to try and fight the battle of family life and cars! My little boy is very critical of other people’s cars and is happy to tell them that their cars are disgusting.

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Gave the car a quick wash this morning before the sun decided to make an appearance to remove Forestry England’s finest white dust after using the car for a ride on Friday.

Obligatory snowfoam shots





After it was washed and dried, I started the process of re-polishing the car with a heavy cutting compound. I’m going to do it in stages so started with the boot lid. I used Koch Chemie H9 with a heavy cutting pad followed by Koch Chemie M3 and polishing pad. Some of the scratches are really bloody deep, but it’s better than it was.







I’ve also finally fitted the walnut trim, which I think looks much better with the lemon leather.







The air conditioner chap is due shortly and I’m wife and child free for the next 18hours or so, so I think I’ll get the car on stands, do the shifter bush / selector and change engine oil, gearbox oil and diff oil.

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Mr Whippy said:

Nice work.

Decent weekend job doing all the main oils and aircon!

Do you use a paint thickness gauge before cracking on with a heavy cutting compound?

Thanks.

I didn’t use a paint gauge. I’m using a DA polisher so it’s not that aggressive; I also don’t think this has ever been owned by a detailer who showed it much love with polish!

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pmorg4 said:

That interior looks lovely, so much better than the standard black and silver.

Thanks, I’m pleased with the way it’s turned out so far. She’s even not that bothered about me ordering the wrong cubby. The sunglasses holder is still more useful than the ashtray.

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MDMA . said:

I’ve just started using this:



It’s really good. Brings the tyres back to ‘as new’. No splatter or marks left after the first driver either.

Interesting; I’ll give that a whirl when the current stuff runs out.

The Alien Magic stuff I’ve been using is good and doesn’t splatter unlike the Meguairs stuff I used to use which was a nightmare for splatter.

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After I dropped my other half and lad off at my sister in laws (they’re heading to Legoland), it was time to crack on with the 330i.

First up was the shifter bush and Z3 shifter. The old white shifter bush was very worn and floppy but was an absolute st to get out. In the end I lost patience and mullered it with a drill The access seemed worse than it did on my 130i, so I had to remove the circlip that keys the shifter connected from under the car.

Z3 shifter and new bush greased up and ready to be refitted.



It went back together nice and easily. The shift throw is noticeably shorter.

Next up was the gearbox fluid. I started with the fill plug, just in case. Thus was tight, like really bloody tight but I got it out in the end. The drain plug was equally as tight. The oil that came out was disgusting and very, very black. It didn’t smell great either.





Despite being manky, there didn’t seem to be and metallic flakes. Both plugs were replaced with new OE jobbies and torqued to spec. The gearbox was filled with Redline oil and the shift feels loads better. The CDV is still in place, so that’ll get removed when I replace the gearbox mounts.

Diff oil was up next. Access was blocked by this brace



Once that was removed, it was time to battle the fill / drain plug which was very tight….there’s a thee here! The oil that I removed didn’t look too grotty bud was replaced with Motul oil to the right spec and finished with a new plug. The brace was reinstalled.

Next up was the engine oil. According on the car it wasn’t due for 4,200 miles, but it was 9k since the last service so was about right. Old oil draining



The old oil filter looked gnarly.



The filter cage was disconnected from the cap but no amount of fiddling to get the two back together. I’m surprised that I hadn’t been getting any error codes / check engine lights because dodgy oil filter caps can cause this as I found out researching the issues on my 335i.



Luckily, I still had the new that I’d removed from my 335i when trying to solve my VANOS issues. Sometimes not chucking stuff out works well.

New Bosch filter installed on a new (old) oil filter cap.



Filled with just over six litres of Millers 5W 30 oil.

In the middle of changing the fluids, the A/C guy popped round and he found the issue really quickly….a big hole in the bottom left corner of the condenser. This is probably the best outcome since a condenser is not massive money and is relatively easy to get at.

The not so good news was when I removed the nearside rear arch liner….it’s a bit crusty under there. Luckily even the worst spot at the base of the arch just above the side skirt is solid. Looks like another job is addd to the list! At the end of the summer, I’ll get both rear arch liners out, clean the crap out and then treat the rust with POR15 or similar, paint it. I’ll get the side skirts off too because it looks like there is some service rust around the plastic jacking blocks. Joy.

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Mr Whippy said:

I’m planning that job on my 130i this year, I’m sure there is plenty that if left will get ropey in the coming years.

I’ve bought a range of quality brass wire discs/brushes for drills etc to speed the tidying of rusty areas underneath.

Por15 seems popular, does it actually chemically bond to the substrate?

I’m not sure how it works if I’m honest, but it does seem very popular. I used it on some very crusty callipers and to be fair, the rust didn’t come back. Whereas on the 125i, I just used calliper paint and rust spots reappeared quite quickly.

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I’ve only removed the nearside rear arch liner so far, which is probably the worst but there was a lot of crap behind it.



And this is what I’ve got to deal with





I’ll deal with it properly later in the summer; take off the skirts, remove the loose, flaking metal them treat it and paint over it. Looks like every year I’ll be taking the arch liners out to clean / check on the metal going forward. I’ll do the same on my 335i too.

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d_a_n1979 said:

Doesn't look too bad Sam; you'll soon have that brushed back & coated

Always thought the E6x and E9x range were fairly corrosion proof; hell of a lot more so than the E46s and E38/E39 ear cars!

At least it’s solid! I had a good poke at it with a screwdriver and didn’t make any holes which is good!

I think this era is better, but the car is 17 years old as of tomorrow and it’s done 159k. I think as it’s a touring, it’s had a harder life too and has been used as a workhorse whereas as 335i was a toy.

I’ll have a fun weekend at some point by the looks of it.