E90 M3 - V8 saloon
Discussion
TheAngryDog said:
Gallons Per Mile said:
Exactly that! I love it.Here are a couple of shots the PO took for the ad in the classifieds section. Main reason I bought it:
HM-2 said:
TheAngryDog said:
Gallons Per Mile said:
Exactly that! I love it.Here are a couple of shots the PO took for the ad in the classifieds section. Main reason I bought it:
Mr Tidy said:
Great thread about a really special car - thanks for posting it OP. :thumbsup:
In M3 form I definitely prefer the looks of the E90 to the E92 - but my E90 is an ugly duckling as it's a 330i.
On the screen-wash topic it's definitely worth sticking with just one brand - I've had to flush 2 reservoirs and clean the pump filters on an E46 and an E86, but as they are under the bonnet it's just a half-hour job!
No, thank YOU for reading In M3 form I definitely prefer the looks of the E90 to the E92 - but my E90 is an ugly duckling as it's a 330i.
On the screen-wash topic it's definitely worth sticking with just one brand - I've had to flush 2 reservoirs and clean the pump filters on an E46 and an E86, but as they are under the bonnet it's just a half-hour job!
I still haven't filled my screen wash bottle up since I fitted it! I need to go and buy some screen wash now it seems any one brand will do the trick
fido said:
I'm a bit biased (as I own one) but the LCI E92 looks more purposeful than the saloon. I guess it ultimately depends if you want a coupe or saloon. Only thing I don't like with the coupe is the window-drop every time you open the door - can be problematic in winter. My bearings went mid 20k's - I would just get them changed for relative small cost involved (new engine was £23.5k - fortunately warranty & BMW covered most of that).
Re the window drop thing - I had a similar issue with my E46 in winter. It would usually work, but in a really hard frost sometimes it just didn't, and was quite annoying after a night shift at work... I quite like that the saloon has normal windows! That's a lot of money, glad you had most of it covered for you. I'll definitely have a think about just changing the bearings. I'll probably do an oil analysis anyway, but the peace of mind having them sorted might be nice.
TheAngryDog said:
HM-2 said:
TheAngryDog said:
Gallons Per Mile said:
Exactly that! I love it.Here are a couple of shots the PO took for the ad in the classifieds section. Main reason I bought it:
I love the rear end of the E60 too, but from the front they're hard to tell from a 520d.. A really nice deep red metallic M5 drove past me on the other side of the road the other day and I had to wait until it had gone past to be sure it was an M!
P2KKA said:
Excellent!
Ill be coming up for a passenger ride!
Ill be coming up for a passenger ride!
Shame you don't have your 540 sport any more. I'm now living in your world of petrol station pain though...
1275 GT said:
' target='_blank'>
'/>
This is one of my Dad's, I do prefer the LCI rear though, I really don't want to change the bootlid though! Such a good rear end.
Joe
That's a lovely car. Nice colour leather too. I love those 18" wheels, but I'm not sure if I love them enough to sell my 19's. The style and colour is just perfect, and apparently as with the E46's they handle better on 18's. My car came with the style 220's from the factory so that's another reason against getting 18's. Still tempted!This is one of my Dad's, I do prefer the LCI rear though, I really don't want to change the bootlid though! Such a good rear end.
Joe
And now for a small update. I spent most of today cleaning the car and going over the interior. My phone takes crap pictures unless the light is exactly perfect and the weather in Zanzibar is clement etc, so you'll get to see the interior as bad as it can possibly look. In real life I don't think it's as bad as all that, but judge for yourself!
Before all that, a big expensive box arrived from BMW.
Spot the deliberate mistake:
That's right folks, no rear dampers! I'd assumed when I asked for a full suspension kit all around the quote would have them on there. I didn't check it in all fairness, but I found some Bilstein B4's online for a very good price. They're OEM equivalent anyway so I'll give them a go and if I don't like them I'll just ask for some BMW ones
I need to go though all the part numbers and marry it all up to the diagrams on RealOEM just to make sure I have everything I need, but I think I do.Next, the interior. The plastic housing for the rain sensor has been bugging me since day 1. It wasn't clipped on properly so it needs to be sorted. I removed one half:
Hmm, looks like when the windscreen was replaced the clips got broken. New bits are on my mental shopping list
I scrubbed the leather with Autoglym leather cleaner and then the care balm stuff. Doesn't look too bad from afar:
But if you look a bit closer, here's the driver's seat:
Rear driver's side. Looks like someone owned a dog at some point. Not the end of the world but this seat looks a bit scruffy:
Rear passenger side. One large scuff but that's about it:
Front passenger seat:
I hadn't long put the leather balm on so it probably looks worse in those shots than it does in real life. Plus my phone really is crap at taking good pictures in anything other than perfect light conditions! Either way, I'll look in to getting the seats refurbed. The door cards look really good still, so no worries on that front.
The next update will probably be all about suspension
Gallons Per Mile said:
That's a lovely car. Nice colour leather too. I love those 18" wheels, but I'm not sure if I love them enough to sell my 19's. The style and colour is just perfect, and apparently as with the E46's they handle better on 18's. My car came with the style 220's from the factory so that's another reason against getting 18's. Still tempted!
An idea 
: you could always opt for 18" as winter wheels - winter tyres are excellent - and then that'll give you an opportunity to assess the handling for yourself. That’s lovely. I have a real thing for the E90 M3; I think it’s much better looking than the E92 because the rear quarter is much more butch. I also prefer the F series M3 to the M4.
When I see stuff like this I wish that I was braver; one of these was very high up on my list when opting out of my company car scheme but as monthly costs were king, by the time I’d taken out monthly VED, insurance and a decent monthly maintenance pot I’d have been buying near the bottom of the market making it harder to get a DCT car etc. I ended up with a new M140 which is a great car, but when I see a nice E90 M3 I do wish I was braver because were never going to see a engine like this again.
As for the screenwash, I stick with BMW stuff. Buy if it in the big containers for £15 or so and it works out about the same as stuff from Halfords etc. I’ve never had issues with blocked washers but the in-laws did with their one series.
When I see stuff like this I wish that I was braver; one of these was very high up on my list when opting out of my company car scheme but as monthly costs were king, by the time I’d taken out monthly VED, insurance and a decent monthly maintenance pot I’d have been buying near the bottom of the market making it harder to get a DCT car etc. I ended up with a new M140 which is a great car, but when I see a nice E90 M3 I do wish I was braver because were never going to see a engine like this again.
As for the screenwash, I stick with BMW stuff. Buy if it in the big containers for £15 or so and it works out about the same as stuff from Halfords etc. I’ve never had issues with blocked washers but the in-laws did with their one series.
Court_S said:
...I also prefer the F series M3 to the M4.
I followed one the other day in a beautiful dark blue, almost purple. It looked really amazing. I think that's a contender for next car in however many years' time Court_S said:
I ended up with a new M140 which is a great car, but when I see a nice E90 M3 I do wish I was braver because were never going to see a engine like this again.
I was recommended an M140 by a mechanic friend. He was saying he couldn't belive how good the gearbox was considering it's an 'old' style torque converter, and I should really try one. Plus apparently they're very tunable and keep up with faster stuff too! I decided I wanted something a bit more 'special' for a second car, but I'd love to have a drive in one and see what I missed out on. I've never been a fan of auto gearboxes but then I've not really used many. My mechanic friend reckons I'd be converted if I had a go in a few modern flappy paddle cars Gallons Per Mile said:
I was recommended an M140 by a mechanic friend. He was saying he couldn't belive how good the gearbox was considering it's an 'old' style torque converter, and I should really try one. Plus apparently they're very tunable and keep up with faster stuff too! I decided I wanted something a bit more 'special' for a second car, but I'd love to have a drive in one and see what I missed out on. I've never been a fan of auto gearboxes but then I've not really used many. My mechanic friend reckons I'd be converted if I had a go in a few modern flappy paddle cars
The ZF8 is indeed a very very good gearbox and works exceptionally well with the B58 engine. Whilst it’s pretty quick with plenty of torque, it doesn’t have the ‘zing’ of a proper M car. My uncle had a Silverstone Blue E90 M3 with the DCT that I got to drive a bit. It had that last little intangible bit that the M140 lacks. Plus the noise was glorious.The M140 is probably a much better daily to cover 15k or so a year in though. Doesn’t stop me wondering though!
Court_S said:
Doesn’t stop me wondering though!
From reading your posts over recent weeks about the E9x M3...I think that you might need to scratch the itch and get one!! There is an article in the November issue of EVO magazine about the E46/E92/F80 M3 that I'm looking forward to reading. As time goes by I seem to be looking back with much fondness of the N/A engined M cars for sure.
cerb4.5lee said:
From reading your posts over recent weeks about the E9x M3...I think that you might need to scratch the itch and get one!!
There is an article in the November issue of EVO magazine about the E46/E92/F80 M3 that I'm looking forward to reading. As time goes by I seem to be looking back with much fondness of the N/A engined M cars for sure.
Ha ha, maybe. Probably. There is an article in the November issue of EVO magazine about the E46/E92/F80 M3 that I'm looking forward to reading. As time goes by I seem to be looking back with much fondness of the N/A engined M cars for sure.
It’s interesting how the E9x M3 has grown on me. At first I was a bit meh, didn’t think they sounded particularly great when compared to an RS4 or a C63, but they’ve aged well and the F series cars sound so bloody awful, that I now really appreciate the V8 in the E9x. Plus we’re never going to see such special engines in M cars; there’s no point with turbo engines which can just be tuned to suit a certain power / price point. The M engines peaked with the V8 and V10.
TheAngryDog said:
HM-2 said:
TheAngryDog said:
Gallons Per Mile said:
Exactly that! I love it.Here are a couple of shots the PO took for the ad in the classifieds section. Main reason I bought it:
I love the rear end of the E60 too, but from the front they're hard to tell from a 520d.. A really nice deep red metallic M5 drove past me on the other side of the road the other day and I had to wait until it had gone past to be sure it was an M!
Court_S said:
cerb4.5lee said:
From reading your posts over recent weeks about the E9x M3...I think that you might need to scratch the itch and get one!!
There is an article in the November issue of EVO magazine about the E46/E92/F80 M3 that I'm looking forward to reading. As time goes by I seem to be looking back with much fondness of the N/A engined M cars for sure.
Ha ha, maybe. Probably. There is an article in the November issue of EVO magazine about the E46/E92/F80 M3 that I'm looking forward to reading. As time goes by I seem to be looking back with much fondness of the N/A engined M cars for sure.
It’s interesting how the E9x M3 has grown on me. At first I was a bit meh, didn’t think they sounded particularly great when compared to an RS4 or a C63, but they’ve aged well and the F series cars sound so bloody awful, that I now really appreciate the V8 in the E9x. Plus we’re never going to see such special engines in M cars; there’s no point with turbo engines which can just be tuned to suit a certain power / price point. The M engines peaked with the V8 and V10.
I felt the same as you at the time as well and I thought that the V8 in the M3 sounded and just seemed a bit flat in comparison to the RS4/C63.
Whilst I don't actually mind the way that the Turbo M3/4 sound they can't compete with the specialness/noise that the V8 M3's make for sure. I find myself really lusting after the E9x M3 again now.
Gallons Per Mile said:
I can confirm you NEED a V8 E9x The engine just sounds amazing when you give it some beans. I particularly like rev matching down shifts. It actually makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up, it just sounds so angry but smooth at the same time.
It does indeed. I did enjoy blatting about in my uncle’s car. They sound even better after a trip to PCW for a quick exhaust mod. The engine just sounds amazing when you give it some beans. I particularly like rev matching down shifts. It actually makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up, it just sounds so angry but smooth at the same time.Time for another update in the land of BMW's!
FIrstly, the leather balm seems to have worked its way in to the leather and it definitely looks better than those pictures above. I'll have to take some more and show you all.
Right, where were we? I ordered some bits for a service as it was a year since the last one, but only 6k miles. The dash reckons I should do another 10k before I service it, but I think I'll ignore that and do it now...
I was greeted with a small oil leak when I opened the bonnet:
Apparently this is a common thing. I need a new oil cap at some point:
The paint on the rocker cover seems to be falling off too. That can't be helping things seal:
Anyway, onwards! Off with the oil filter cap. I had to go out and buy a 36mm socket especially for this job:
Next thing to do is locate the TWO sump plugs. The front one (where my socket is) has a small amount of oil on the other side, the rear-most one has the main 8-odd litres:
Shiny new paper oil filter:
I'm replacing like for like this time:
Air filter replacement time. Here's the old one:
And the new one:
Same affair with pollen filters. There are two per side, I've only shown one side being changed to save you falling off your chair in sheer excitement of these pictures:
New ones ready to go:
At this point I did fill the car up with some of Castrol's finest 10W60 but for some reason I didn't take any pictures. Therefore, please mime oil being poured in to my engine to yourselves and you'll not be far off what actually happened
Now on to the more interesting stuff. I noticed my passenger front wheel bearing was sounding slightly rough compared to the driver's side. Might as well change it then. Really, this means I should do the driver's too, but it'll wait for now. These bearings are pre-made units including the hub flange and so you simply unbolt the old one and stick the new one in its place:
I cleaned the ABS sensor and all the gunk off the face of the hub too. Here's the pre-cleaned picture:
Again, I had a story continuity failure and didn't take pictures of the shiny new one in place. You'll have to use your imagination
While I was there, it made sense to do some suspension changing, using all those parts I bought earlier:
Damper removed, top mount next:
As you can see, it was totally different to OEM, hence needing a load of parts from BMW. Here's the HSD coilover I took off:
Because racecar? Nah, I'll have OEM suspension for mine please; it's going to be better for what I want to do with the car about 99% of the time.
Again, no pic of the new damper on the car, but you get the idea...
Here's the driver's side apart, awaiting new damper. I noticed that arm with the yellow sticker has a slightly split cover on the ball joint. More on that later!
While the damper was out of the way, it was the ideal time to change the broken arch liner:
Here's why you need the damper out... It goes all around it too!
Here's the damage on the old one. Caused by lowering and wheel spacers:
While I'm in suspension mode, here's a picture of one of my spring compressors:
I wrapped Gorilla Tape around the bits that make contact with the spring so they didn't get scratched during installation. You have to really wind up the compressors to get the spring squished enough to do up the top mount and bearing properly. I was rather careful not to aim the spring anywhere near myself if at all possible just in case! I felt a bit relieved once I'd got the nut done up properly on the top mount.
That's the front end done, for now. On to the rear springs/dampers:
It's all pretty simple at the rear. A bolt and a nut to release the damper and an extra bolt to release the lower arm from the hub and allow it to swing down so you can remove the spring:
Old hardware removed. I had to undo the level sensor for the lights too, so I didn't strain it:
Here's where the upper spring cup mounts. Some surface rust on the cup made a mark on the car, but there's no rust on the car at all. I sprayed Dynax all over that area on re-installation just to be sure:
Now is an opportune time to show you some more new bits I bought for the rear end installation, new upper spring cups included:
New kit now installed, just the rear ARB to connect to the drop link in this picture:
The other side wasn't so successful...
The bolt that holds the bottom of the damper in place seized and then snapped... I tried drilling it out without any real success. You can't really get the drill perfectly central from under the car so I ended up with an off-centre hole:
Here's the source of the problem:
There's no point messing about with it, so I left that side of the suspension well alone and ordered a new arm, some bolts and a bush just in case a new inner one is needed when the arm comes off. The inner bolt that connects the arm to the sub frame is a camber bolt - I got it spinning but I couldn't remove the bolt when I tried to release the arm completely from the car, so I think that's seized in to the bush too. Fortunately for my mechanic friend, I'll be paying him to do this job for me as Mrs GPM is now extremely close to giving birth to Mini-GPM and I know I'll incur rage if I decide I want to roll around on the drive under my car next week
Remember that front arm with the yellow sticker from earlier? I went a bit nuclear with that problem too and ordered a box full of front arms and track rod ends. All the front arms were showing a small amount of wear in the ball joints but nothing horrific, and would probably last a while yet. I'd rather just do it all properly now and know the suspension is 100%. I've got brand new TRW arms which are OEM fit. Instead of coming in a BMW bag they come in a TRW one with the BMW logo literally gound off the arms! They also cost around a third of the price of ordering them directly from BMW too
The only other thing I've done recently is have a go at cleaning up the shabby boot carpet. I think someone spilt some oil:
A wet vac and some Vanish Oxy stuff that's designed to put in your washing machine had it looking like this:
Noticeably better but not perfect. It'll do for now. I need to order the plastic handle that should be in that hole too...
Stay tuned for more suspension related updates, once I've done the 'looking after newborn and mum' thing. Why can't you have two weeks 'playing cars' leave from work as well as 'paternity leave'?!
FIrstly, the leather balm seems to have worked its way in to the leather and it definitely looks better than those pictures above. I'll have to take some more and show you all.
Right, where were we? I ordered some bits for a service as it was a year since the last one, but only 6k miles. The dash reckons I should do another 10k before I service it, but I think I'll ignore that and do it now...
I was greeted with a small oil leak when I opened the bonnet:
Apparently this is a common thing. I need a new oil cap at some point:
The paint on the rocker cover seems to be falling off too. That can't be helping things seal:
Anyway, onwards! Off with the oil filter cap. I had to go out and buy a 36mm socket especially for this job:
Next thing to do is locate the TWO sump plugs. The front one (where my socket is) has a small amount of oil on the other side, the rear-most one has the main 8-odd litres:
Shiny new paper oil filter:
I'm replacing like for like this time:
Air filter replacement time. Here's the old one:
And the new one:
Same affair with pollen filters. There are two per side, I've only shown one side being changed to save you falling off your chair in sheer excitement of these pictures:
New ones ready to go:
At this point I did fill the car up with some of Castrol's finest 10W60 but for some reason I didn't take any pictures. Therefore, please mime oil being poured in to my engine to yourselves and you'll not be far off what actually happened
Now on to the more interesting stuff. I noticed my passenger front wheel bearing was sounding slightly rough compared to the driver's side. Might as well change it then. Really, this means I should do the driver's too, but it'll wait for now. These bearings are pre-made units including the hub flange and so you simply unbolt the old one and stick the new one in its place:
I cleaned the ABS sensor and all the gunk off the face of the hub too. Here's the pre-cleaned picture:
Again, I had a story continuity failure and didn't take pictures of the shiny new one in place. You'll have to use your imagination
While I was there, it made sense to do some suspension changing, using all those parts I bought earlier:
Damper removed, top mount next:
As you can see, it was totally different to OEM, hence needing a load of parts from BMW. Here's the HSD coilover I took off:
Because racecar? Nah, I'll have OEM suspension for mine please; it's going to be better for what I want to do with the car about 99% of the time.
Again, no pic of the new damper on the car, but you get the idea...
Here's the driver's side apart, awaiting new damper. I noticed that arm with the yellow sticker has a slightly split cover on the ball joint. More on that later!
While the damper was out of the way, it was the ideal time to change the broken arch liner:
Here's why you need the damper out... It goes all around it too!
Here's the damage on the old one. Caused by lowering and wheel spacers:
While I'm in suspension mode, here's a picture of one of my spring compressors:
I wrapped Gorilla Tape around the bits that make contact with the spring so they didn't get scratched during installation. You have to really wind up the compressors to get the spring squished enough to do up the top mount and bearing properly. I was rather careful not to aim the spring anywhere near myself if at all possible just in case! I felt a bit relieved once I'd got the nut done up properly on the top mount.
That's the front end done, for now. On to the rear springs/dampers:
It's all pretty simple at the rear. A bolt and a nut to release the damper and an extra bolt to release the lower arm from the hub and allow it to swing down so you can remove the spring:
Old hardware removed. I had to undo the level sensor for the lights too, so I didn't strain it:
Here's where the upper spring cup mounts. Some surface rust on the cup made a mark on the car, but there's no rust on the car at all. I sprayed Dynax all over that area on re-installation just to be sure:
Now is an opportune time to show you some more new bits I bought for the rear end installation, new upper spring cups included:
New kit now installed, just the rear ARB to connect to the drop link in this picture:
The other side wasn't so successful...
The bolt that holds the bottom of the damper in place seized and then snapped... I tried drilling it out without any real success. You can't really get the drill perfectly central from under the car so I ended up with an off-centre hole:
Here's the source of the problem:
There's no point messing about with it, so I left that side of the suspension well alone and ordered a new arm, some bolts and a bush just in case a new inner one is needed when the arm comes off. The inner bolt that connects the arm to the sub frame is a camber bolt - I got it spinning but I couldn't remove the bolt when I tried to release the arm completely from the car, so I think that's seized in to the bush too. Fortunately for my mechanic friend, I'll be paying him to do this job for me as Mrs GPM is now extremely close to giving birth to Mini-GPM and I know I'll incur rage if I decide I want to roll around on the drive under my car next week
Remember that front arm with the yellow sticker from earlier? I went a bit nuclear with that problem too and ordered a box full of front arms and track rod ends. All the front arms were showing a small amount of wear in the ball joints but nothing horrific, and would probably last a while yet. I'd rather just do it all properly now and know the suspension is 100%. I've got brand new TRW arms which are OEM fit. Instead of coming in a BMW bag they come in a TRW one with the BMW logo literally gound off the arms! They also cost around a third of the price of ordering them directly from BMW too
The only other thing I've done recently is have a go at cleaning up the shabby boot carpet. I think someone spilt some oil:
A wet vac and some Vanish Oxy stuff that's designed to put in your washing machine had it looking like this:
Noticeably better but not perfect. It'll do for now. I need to order the plastic handle that should be in that hole too...
Stay tuned for more suspension related updates, once I've done the 'looking after newborn and mum' thing. Why can't you have two weeks 'playing cars' leave from work as well as 'paternity leave'?!
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff