BMW E91 320D Msport Touring

[redandwhite]

Recently bought this;
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

2007 with the Msport package,manual, good service history, no modifications - completely original, M47 engine so no DPF/timing chain issues.

Spec wise i think its pretty sparse - no idrive, cloth interior (which i like), compared to be previous car (auto XC70) i am enjoying the mechanical/basic nature of the car, seating position is nice and the handling is spot on. Comfort is suprisingly good (despite the 18s and low profile tyres) and definitely not noticeably worse than the XC70 it replaces.

My list of TODO;
front wheel alignment
head unit is a little pixelated
boot window not opening
brake fluid change
adjust handbrake

Completed jobs:
Service (Oil/filter, air & pollen filter)
Gearbox oil
2x new rear tyres
clutch/DMF (clutch release is a little noisy, whilst the gearbox is off may aswell do the clutch & DMF)
washer bottle is blocked
rear diff oil change
brake wobble at speed
power steering fluid change

Edited by redandwhite on Wednesday 10th November 09:25

[redandwhite]

First job was a service (Oil + oil/air/fuel/pollen filter, gearbox + rear differential oil)]

I couldnt get all this done in one sitting so first up was the Oil & filter / Pollen filter
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

first outling for my small torque wrench
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

[redandwhite]

The air filter was tackled in the following days and as expected took a bit longer than it should
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

[redandwhite]

next up was the gearbox oil change (working in fading light)
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

Westway MTF-LT3
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

draining the old
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

2 litres of the new stuff in and cleaned up (no pic of it going in...we all know how messy it is!)
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

only 1.5 litres came out and it was perfectly level
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

Slight improvement in the smoothness of gearchanges

[redandwhite]

UPDATE:

Recently had the clutch changed by a friend of mine, had a slight rattle on the release bearing so changed the lot (clutch/DMF) - no pictures i'm afraid.

Next up was an issue with the non-working washer jets, seen lots of issues on the internet (BMW screenwash only needed to prevent etc)

Removal of the washerbottle was straigforward - drivers wheel & arch liner off to reveal the bottle.

The bottle can be slid forward to reveal the motors
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

I was only expecting to see a single motor, not sure what the other one is for (?rear wiper?) as i dont xenon headlights.

The small filter(s) were covered in algae - i was expecting to see a sticky mess which is normally reported online from mixing screenwash
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

The arch liner was hiding a good amount of mud too
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr


Filters all cleaned
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

However worryingly, the inside of the bottle was covered in algae, i set about using some white vinegar/elbow grease to try and remove
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

It didnt really help, ideally i would have liked to soak the bottle overnight but it wasnt possible, theres every chance the filters will block again if it gets dislodged. If that case, i may look at replacing the bottle - my guess is its been run on water only which allowed the algae to grow.

The bottle was refitted and the area given a washdown
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

very happy to have working washer jets again
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

[redandwhite]

Next job is hopefully rear diff oil.

Re brake vibration i am going to clean/lubricate the pads, if that doesnt work - any recommendations on front discs and pads (300mm) ? RealOEM tells me they should be 330mm which i highly doubt, plus i have measured the ones on there at 300mm.

[d_a_n1979]

Looks a good project that

Same issues with my recent F01 730D washer jets and my Dads 2016 X3 3.0D; both absolutely clogged and a faff to remove the cartridge-style washer bottle; but once out easy to clean the filters etc...

My Dads was as black as yours; left it for a few hours with hot water and bleach and that cleared it well enough; thoroughly rinsed and then refitted and filled with OEM BMW washer fluid concentrate; bought 2 5 litre lots off a BMW reseller on eBay for £40 delivered

[Mr Tidy]

That algae clogging the filters seems to be a common problem with BMWs.

I've had to do it twice, once on an E46 3 Series and once on an E86 Z4, but thankfully they both have the reservoir in the engine bay!

Plain water can be a cause although from what I can make out the genuine BMW screenwash doesn't mix well with other brands either, so once I got them clean I just stuck to cheap Prestone fluid from Tesco and never had a problem again for the 3 years I owned the cars.

Some owners reckon they've had some success chucking a Steradent false teeth cleaning tablet in. I suppose it's an easy fix it it works!

[BIFCAIDS]

Nice work, I hated doing the washer bottle on mine. Once was enough to put me off ever doing it again.

[Court_S]

Good work. Car looks good but then again I’m a big fan of the E91.

There are two pumps because they’re split front / rear. Once you get it working I find sticking with one brand of screen wash stops it happening again. Personally, I stick to BMW screen wash which is often on offer. I paid £15 for a massive bottle.

[redandwhite]

I had been browsing screenwash options before doing the job, however i had around 6L of Triple QX on hand which i used and will probably stick to from this point.

Attempted to do the rear diff oil last night, would have been straightforward had my hand pump not failed. I have a replacement pump arriving today, all being well it will be sorted tonight.

[Court_S]

redandwhite said:

I had been browsing screenwash options before doing the job, however i had around 6L of Triple QX on hand which i used and will probably stick to from this point.

Attempted to do the rear diff oil last night, would have been straightforward had my hand pump not failed. I have a replacement pump arriving today, all being well it will be sorted tonight.

The diff oil on my car was pretty black and grubby when I changed it the other week. I need to get off my bum and do the gearbox oil at some point.

[redandwhite]

Another session in the dark

First up was the power steering fluid change, armed with some Febi ATF and a syringe
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

Peek at the old stuff
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

The process was nothing fancy, extract the old with the syringe, refill with the new and then start the engine and rotate steering wheel to circulate, this was repeated 3-4 times to use the 1 litre up.

Old vs new (new in cap on right)
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

--
Next onto the rear diff oil
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

14mm allen for the drain/refill
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

The magic tool for drain/refill
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

refilled with the new stuff (drain plug back in and area cleaned with brake cleaner)
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

I got around 500ml out and 800ml in, so happy with that
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

Edited by redandwhite on Monday 8th November 13:20

[Court_S]

The short days are a pain the arse. I need to replace one of the coils on her 125i but keep running out of light.

Your diff oil looks much cleaner than mine when I did mine the other week.

[Matt_N]

Pretty much the same as mine, 57 M47 but I have Style 194M wheels. Mine is on 87k miles and pretty tidy but likely to be sold as doesn’t get used!

[SitCet]

boot window not opening, probably the switch. 20 min job to replace unless, like mine, the switch had somehow corrosion welded itself to the mounting point. There's a magic special way to get the boot window open, poking a bit of stiff wire in a very precise spot.

[Nik Gnashers]

Looks identical to my old one !

Respect to you for doing all the jobs yourself.

[beambeam1]

Forget the Triple X screenwash as that will eventually do the same down the line. Best I have found and used for several years now is Sonax or Sonax Xtreme which comes in at a decent price for 5L concentrated on eBay.

[d_a_n1979]

beambeam1 said:

Forget the Triple X screenwash as that will eventually do the same down the line. Best I have found and used for several years now is Sonax or Sonax Xtreme which comes in at a decent price for 5L concentrated on eBay.

Yup; that are the BMW stuff, on eBay for £20 delivered for 5l

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273155024251?ssPageName...

[Court_S]

d_a_n1979 said:

beambeam1 said:

Forget the Triple X screenwash as that will eventually do the same down the line. Best I have found and used for several years now is Sonax or Sonax Xtreme which comes in at a decent price for 5L concentrated on eBay.

Yup; that are the BMW stuff, on eBay for £20 delivered for 5l

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273155024251?ssPageName...

My local Sytner always seem to have the BMW stuff on offer. I paid £15 for the 5 litres of concentrate.