der Mumienwagen; E91 330i Touring

[Jakg]

pmorg4 said:

Willber said:

Ive used those cheap socket adapter things for inner tie rods with success on a couple of cars. Makes undoing it a bit easier as you can get a ratchet or breaker on it from the wheel well. Good luck, sure you'll sort it either way

What are those? As above it's a job I need to tackle at some point, and I was thinking either using water pump pliers or buying a big adjustable spanner, but the torque spec looks pretty chunky on these so a better tool suggestion is always welcome.

Another alternative



Tightens as you turn it like a stud remover.

[Court_S]

Jakg said:

Another alternative



Tightens as you turn it like a stud remover.

I assume like the one I bought that it requires the track rod end to be removed to work effectively.

[Jakg]

Court_S said:

Jakg said:

Another alternative



Tightens as you turn it like a stud remover.

I assume like the one I bought that it requires the track rod end to be removed to work effectively.

Yes, but a grinder can see to that if it's too seized to separate.

[Court_S]

Jakg said:

Yes, but a grinder can see to that if it's too seized to separate.

True. That looks more useful than the tool I bought because it can be used further out from the rack.

Have you tried it yourself?

[Willber]

Ive used both, the latter is better obviously but the cheapo ones work ok too and with an extension bar will get you away from the rack and into the wheel well. If you want to keep the boot you wont be able to use either really as they both rely on sliding over the inner tie rod. Unless you split the tie rod end from knuckle, cut the tie rod end off then slide the boot off and the tool on.

[RECr]

Court_S said:

I have a tube of anti-seize compound to soother the threads and hopefully keep them free for a little longer, but who knows whether it will make much difference given the location and exposure to road grime and salt etc.

People used to wrap their leaf springs in densotape after greasing, maybe we need to do that to our track rods.

[Court_S]

When I woke up this morning, the weather wasn’t actually too grim and the ground was dry so I decided crack in with the track rods.

Got the car up in the air and it’s fair to say that they did look pretty crusty. I’m guessing that they’re the original ones it left the factory with.



The exposed threads actually cleaned up really well with some WD40 and a wire brush and the 21mm nut came off painlessly (it was much worse on my 335i last summer). The inner removed easily too.





The OE gaiters from BMW are bloody expensive for what they are and the Lemforder ones that I bought don’t fit over the steering rack, so I cut the old tie rods in half to get the boot off. I counted the exposed threads to the alignment shouldn’t be too far out.



I had both sides fitted in about an hour and a half which included faffing get the car in axel stands and chasing gaiters that blew away in the wind! I can’t see it taking a garage anywhere near two hours on a ramp. It saved my £180 in labour so I’ll take that.

I had to nip out and take the dog for a walk and then the rain came, so the rest of the jobs were done dodging downpours.

I’d noticed over the last few weeks that the boot struts were getting weaker and weaker. Pre-Christmas I ordered a pair of Stabilus boot struts. They’re the OE manufacturer but can be bought without the BMW tax. The old ones certainly looked pretty shagged.



The boot opens faster and actually reaches full height without assistance. The old ones must have been bad because my wife actually commented on how much better the rear hatch is now!

The passenger side kick plate had been getting progressively worse, with chunks of rubber falling off whenever it was touched. I’d hid it behind some black tape for now but this looked ste.



And under the tape



I found a decent used one of eBay for £20 delivered. It’s got some signs of wear but it isn’t noticeable against the rest so that seemed far more sensible because if I’d bought a new new, I’d have ended up replacing them all!



The last job was the centre console. It was badly worn around the handbrake gaiter and the area next to the seat belts had gone sticky. Luckily I had a spare one in the garage from the interior I bought for my 335i. I hadn’t realised until recently that they shared the same part. I also bought a used trim for the rear seat vents because this was heavily scratched and was really sticky.

Console removed (much easier than in a E8x car).



Old rear trim



New trim. Technically it’s a downgrade with no 12v power or ashtray but neither of those things ever get used.



And whilst fitting the nicer centre console, I swapped the old phone charger for an oddments tray which might actually be useful. It was a used part which had a coat of satin black paint.



Despite the ropey forecast for the next few days, it had a quick wash too because you couldn’t open a door or the boot without getting dirty hands. Then it was off for an alignment. The steering was way off centre and it was horrible to drive. They’ve done an ok job; it feels nice to drive but the wheel is slightly off to the right. I’ll try and pop it back in a day or two, but it’s not the end of the world because it’ll need a proper alignment in the spring once I’ve done the bushes and arms.

[d_a_n1979]

Some good work there Sam

It's been on/off torrential rain here and blowing a hoolie all day, so no chance of getting anything done

Hoping it'll calm off tomorrow so I can try & get the steering wheel swapped over at least!

[Court_S]

d_a_n1979 said:

Some good work there Sam

It's been on/off torrential rain here and blowing a hoolie all day, so no chance of getting anything done

Hoping it'll calm off tomorrow so I can try & get the steering wheel swapped over at least!

This morning was quite pleasant but it soon changed…I was glad I put off the dog walk and sorted the tie rods in the dry. It’d have been ste doing that on a wet drive.

The other bits involved some rain dodging. It was windy though….I spent quite a long time having a strop about one of the boots because I couldn’t find the damn thing anywhere. It’s blown away and was under a neighbours car.

[beambeam1]

I may still have some of my old kick plates that I can post to you FOC if you want them. I'm not 100% sure I still have them but I bought a full set when I only needed one or two back when I last had an E91.

[d_a_n1979]

Court_S said:

d_a_n1979 said:

Some good work there Sam

It's been on/off torrential rain here and blowing a hoolie all day, so no chance of getting anything done

Hoping it'll calm off tomorrow so I can try & get the steering wheel swapped over at least!

This morning was quite pleasant but it soon changed…I was glad I put off the dog walk and sorted the tie rods in the dry. It’d have been ste doing that on a wet drive.

The other bits involved some rain dodging. It was windy though….I spent quite a long time having a strop about one of the boots because I couldn’t find the damn thing anywhere. It’s blown away and was under a neighbours car.

Haha always the case pal; sounds like me when I last worked on the F31 and couldn't find 2 of the wheel bolts. Both had rolled into the flower bed and tucked themselves right under one of the bloody ferns the wife had planted

Good you've got it sorted though

[pmorg4]

Court_S said:

When I woke up this morning, the weather wasn’t actually too grim and the ground was dry so I decided crack in with the track rods.

Got the car up in the air and it’s fair to say that they did look pretty crusty. I’m guessing that they’re the original ones it left the factory with.

The exposed threads actually cleaned up really well with some WD40 and a wire brush and the 21mm nut came off painlessly (it was much worse on my 335i last summer). The inner removed easily too.

The OE gaiters from BMW are bloody expensive for what they are and the Lemforder ones that I bought don’t fit over the steering rack, so I cut the old tie rods in half to get the boot off. I counted the exposed threads to the alignment shouldn’t be too far out.

I had both sides fitted in about an hour and a half which included faffing get the car in axel stands and chasing gaiters that blew away in the wind! I can’t see it taking a garage anywhere near two hours on a ramp. It saved my £180 in labour so I’ll take that.

Brilliant work on this. I have mine to replace, they've been sitting in the box ready to go on for a few months and who knows when I'll find the time between family and doing some pretty big jobs on the house It's reassuring that yours went smoothly - what did you use to tighten up the nut onto the rack? I believe it's a pretty big nut so most folk don't have a spanner that fits, some suggest water pump pliers but I don't see how you can get the required torque as it's a pretty big figure.

I bought new gaiters with mine but no idea whether they'll fit now so I might have to reuse the old ones too.

On the other bits - I think I'm one of the few who uses the rear power outlets! I have USB-C chargers constantly plugged in for the kids to use on for their back seat entertainment on longer journeys. Jealous of your cooled cup holder though, those were removed as part of the LCI cost cutting.

[Court_S]

pmorg4 said:

Brilliant work on this. I have mine to replace, they've been sitting in the box ready to go on for a few months and who knows when I'll find the time between family and doing some pretty big jobs on the house It's reassuring that yours went smoothly - what did you use to tighten up the nut onto the rack? I believe it's a pretty big nut so most folk don't have a spanner that fits, some suggest water pump pliers but I don't see how you can get the required torque as it's a pretty big figure.

I bought new gaiters with mine but no idea whether they'll fit now so I might have to reuse the old ones too.

On the other bits - I think I'm one of the few who uses the rear power outlets! I have USB-C chargers constantly plugged in for the kids to use on for their back seat entertainment on longer journeys. Jealous of your cooled cup holder though, those were removed as part of the LCI cost cutting.

Cheers. The nut is 38mm for the inners so I bought a big adjustable spanner from Amazon which did the trick. The back was the massive pipe wrench I bought which was useful for loosening the old ones. I was dreading it to to be honest but it was quick and pretty easy.

If our little ‘un needs power for long trips, he’s got a portable battery pack. Can’t believe they ditched the chilled drinks holder…sounds like they stripped quite a few bits out for the facelift.

[pmorg4]

Court_S said:

Cheers. The nut is 38mm for the inners so I bought a big adjustable spanner from Amazon which did the trick. The back was the massive pipe wrench I bought which was useful for loosening the old ones. I was dreading it to to be honest but it was quick and pretty easy.

If our little ‘un needs power for long trips, he’s got a portable battery pack. Can’t believe they ditched the chilled drinks holder…sounds like they stripped quite a few bits out for the facelift.

Thanks, I'll have a look at how wide my largest Bahco shifting spanner goes (I have a set of three different sizes) and if it doesn't reach 38mm I'll buy one for the job. I'm not one for bodging these things with water pump pliers etc, fine for taking off the old but not refitting the new ones.

LCI cost cutting is apparent in a number of places, including the poor finish on the engine start button (painted plastic vs metal on the pre LCI) and printed surface on the climate buttons that wears off and leaves horrible white areas. I've retrofitted a few pre LCI bits to mine to bring it back up to standard

[helix402]

pmorg4 said:

Thanks, I'll have a look at how wide my largest Bahco shifting spanner goes (I have a set of three different sizes) and if it doesn't reach 38mm I'll buy one for the job. I'm not one for bodging these things with water pump pliers etc, fine for taking off the old but not refitting the new ones.

LCI cost cutting is apparent in a number of places, including the poor finish on the engine start button (painted plastic vs metal on the pre LCI) and printed surface on the climate buttons that wears off and leaves horrible white areas. I've retrofitted a few pre LCI bits to mine to bring it back up to standard

Me too!

[Mr Tidy]

pmorg4 said:

LCI cost cutting is apparent in a number of places, including the poor finish on the engine start button (painted plastic vs metal on the pre LCI) and printed surface on the climate buttons that wears off and leaves horrible white areas. I've retrofitted a few pre LCI bits to mine to bring it back up to standard

Thanks, I didn't know that there were other "downgrades".

Maybe I should be glad both my 325i and 330i were pre-facelift models! I only chose them because I specifically wanted the N52 engine.

[Court_S]

pmorg4 said:

Thanks, I'll have a look at how wide my largest Bahco shifting spanner goes (I have a set of three different sizes) and if it doesn't reach 38mm I'll buy one for the job. I'm not one for bodging these things with water pump pliers etc, fine for taking off the old but not refitting the new ones.

LCI cost cutting is apparent in a number of places, including the poor finish on the engine start button (painted plastic vs metal on the pre LCI) and printed surface on the climate buttons that wears off and leaves horrible white areas. I've retrofitted a few pre LCI bits to mine to bring it back up to standard

Yeah the pipe wrench was only for the old ones. No way was a I mashing the new parts up with that angry thing. To be honest the old ones came out pretty easily, I only needed the pipe wrench on the drivers side who h was much tighter.

I’ve never owned or spent any time in a regular LCI E9x car to notice the differences. The only one I’ve driven was my I moved E90 M3.

[Court_S]

We’ve been to the Cotswolds this weekend and the cat didn’t miss a beat. It’s the longest trip it’s been on since the ECU crapped itself and it included some biblical downpours.

Looks like it’s all sorted and back to running as it was.

[Tom4398cc]

Great news Sam

[d_a_n1979]

Court_S said:

We’ve been to the Cotswolds this weekend and the cat didn’t miss a beat. It’s the longest trip it’s been on since the ECU crapped itself and it included some biblical downpours.

Looks like it’s all sorted and back to running as it was.

Happy New Year Sam; that's good news re the car

Question, how did the dog get on?