BMW E93 V8 Convertible

BMW E93 V8 Convertible

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SiT

Original Poster:

1,163 posts

200 months

Friday 10th July 2020
quotequote all
Having previously owned an E46 M3 cab, I had always lusted after it’s successor, this was my E46 -



Countless times I set out to buy an E9x and things didn’t work out or my circumstances changed. I am a serial car nut and owned in the region of 55 cars now ranging from all sorts. If you search my postings you will see various different years I have ‘nearly’ bought an E9x.

So what was different this time??

Having followed some great build threads by RS Grant and a few others my interest well and truly peaked. I lost parking at work so bought a little Citroen C1 for the daily commute of 16 miles and carefree street parking. This left a void that needed to be filled for days off and family trips. I tried to run two cars last year; a Bluemotion Golf and a VX220 Turbo Stage 2. This fell flat as when winter came I didn’t have a garage to keep the VX at its best, during the Summer with a wife and daughter it often sat on the drive un-used which was a shame -



Two cars then morphed into one and I bought a RRS for the winter which was a beautiful place to be -



Flipped that for a profit and bought a do-it-all diesel F31 320d Tourer, lovely as it was I got really bored really quick so thoughts started wandering to a 2 car scenario bolstered by the fact I could no longer park at work and had to leave my car on the street.



So with a Citroen C1 spotted on an old boys driveway in the village where I live, the daily was taken care of and the search turned to the weekend car.



So this time round it needed to seat all 3 of us, it had to be a convertible as I am a firm believer whether it’s a Focus CC or a Mclaren Spider the experience of drop top v tin top is ten fold. I love the visceral aspect of driving open to the elements, it doesnt have to be sunny, it doesn't have to be warm it just such an amazing experience. Running costs to a degree didn’t come into it as it can be used as much or as little as I like.

Having enlisted the help of Smuler who has been an absolute legend, I set about picking my way through the minefield that is used E93 M3’s. From dubious service history, to cars that have bounced from dealer to dealer I pretty much decided I needed to up my budget. I considered everything from a C63 to a MK3 FRS to a B8 RS4 to an E93 but ultimately for the role it had to fill I knew it needed to be a convertible of some sort and a pan roof wasn't quite the same.

Then I got a call from a good friend of mine in the trade who sold an E93 to a mutual friend of ours around 2 years ago, which he now wanted to move on. Two teenage boys were a squeeze in the back so he had bought an 5 Series and wanted to move on the M3.

So there is a little back story to the car, it has a FBMWSH however the last service was completed by a bafoon outfit who put the wrong oil in. This prompted quite a lengthy legal wrangle as the car very quickly started to knock and clearly was very poorly. It sat for several months on the owners driveway whilst He tried to get it sorted out. In the end he bought a crated engine from a BMW breaker, the engine came out of a 60k mile car and had all the ancillaries it needed. The poorly engine was removed and the new one installed, it was then trailered to Reddish in Bristol who completed a full service and rod bearing change along with a full video inspection/appraisal, new engine mounts, new oil cooler followed by a brand new MOT.

So to all intents and purposes it now has a mechanically perfect engine, and I can assure you I will be taking good care of it in respect of warming it up and being mechanically sympathetic.

Its a 2009 Space Grey with Fox Red leather and benefits from CiC which is great along with bum warmers and folding mirrors but apart from that it’s not too speccy; Brushed ali dash/door trim, basic stereo, DCT, its had a 2 pipe mod and thats pretty much it.

Plans so far are a deep clean of the interior, new centre caps, personal plate, de-chrome, possibly refit a stock exhaust as the 2 pipe is too loud for me (that sounds so old! lol) and enjoy it for the Summer that we have left. Its an incredible car to drive, really has two characters which is great for me and its intended use.

Here are the initial pics -



















Edited by SiT on Friday 10th July 15:46

SiT

Original Poster:

1,163 posts

200 months

Friday 10th July 2020
quotequote all
So less than 24hrs after collecting the car it was time to make a start!! It was deep clean time of the interior, decided with some help from forum members on here to remove seats to clean all the interior surfaces, hoover, clean and condition leather and generally go through the inside.

Few before, during and after pictures -







Found this cool little cubby hole I didn't know existed!!!!



Also decided whilst I was in there to remove the phone cradle and ordered up the tray mod, much more useful to have a tray in the centre armrest than a Nokia phone cradle -





Seats out to the amusement of my neighbours! Jeeez they are so heavy, nearly did myself an injury lifting them out!



Bit confused as I thought the basic stereo didn't have underseat speakers but appears I have them -





Looking better -





Also took apart the rear cubby hole with the slidy lid as it felt quite 'grindy' in its operation, it became clear why -





Might replace it if I see one as the lid is quite heavily scratched, but it looks better and now glides open and closed -



So I will continue tomorrow, seats will be cleaned and then conditioned with Gliptone to hopefully remove some of the shine and return them to a more matt finish, but pleased with results so far; a good days work.

Si

SiT

Original Poster:

1,163 posts

200 months

Friday 10th July 2020
quotequote all

Ditch the black and silver centre caps and replace with OEM - ordered.

Wrap the chrome trim as I think this really dates the car, not a fan of chrome really and have de-chromed a few cars in the past.

Not sure on red front calipers, not sure it’s really me - if I had them redone I am not sure which way to go, guess they are black from the factory?

Would like a Bluetooth solution for streaming music, had a Bovee in my RRS which was awesome and just plugged into the USB port; might see if I can find them.

Wheels off along with liners and a good clean of them to remove any crud build up, possibly do side skirt removal at the same time.

Got an advisory on all tyres so will be looking for a deal on them.

Brake fluid service is overdue so have emailed Reddish to get in and get that done.

Have genuine M Performance gloss black kidney grills on route.

Popping into local dealer tomorrow to have some new dealer plates made up with my own reg on.

Sourced a stock exhaust so will remove this modded one and move it on.

I need some mats to as have none, think I will order a set from the German eBay seller that have the tricolur M stitching around the edges.

Si

cerb4.5lee

30,177 posts

179 months

Friday 10th July 2020
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Congratulations Si and that looks very nice. thumbup

I love how you're getting stuck into making it your own straight away. I bet it sounds great with the roof down. cool

Enjoy it. driving

SiT

Original Poster:

1,163 posts

200 months

Friday 10th July 2020
quotequote all
cerb4.5lee said:
Congratulations Si and that looks very nice. thumbup

I love how you're getting stuck into making it your own straight away. I bet it sounds great with the roof down. cool

Enjoy it. driving
Thanks bud, it’s been a long time coming! Enjoying getting stuck in, slow arrival of parcels this next week and hopefully a visit to the wrappers.

Si

PixelpeepZ4

8,600 posts

141 months

Friday 10th July 2020
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watching thread with interest - 3 weeks ago i threw caution to the wind and chopped in my civic diesel for a 2009 e89 35i z4 - congratulations on this beast, it looks lovely - please keep the thread updated with what modifications / fixes you make as interior (except back seats, obviously lol) is quite similar.

i've done my first mod - updated the premium nav maps from 2008 to 2020 - the 2008 version in it originally didn't even allow full postcode searching - just the first three characters and then you had to put in a street name!!

SiT

Original Poster:

1,163 posts

200 months

Friday 10th July 2020
quotequote all
PixelpeepZ4 said:
watching thread with interest - 3 weeks ago i threw caution to the wind and chopped in my civic diesel for a 2009 e89 35i z4 - congratulations on this beast, it looks lovely - please keep the thread updated with what modifications / fixes you make as interior (except back seats, obviously lol) is quite similar.

i've done my first mod - updated the premium nav maps from 2008 to 2020 - the 2008 version in it originally didn't even allow full postcode searching - just the first three characters and then you had to put in a street name!!
Absolutely, will document all I do - removed the irritating phone cradle which is a waste of space and replaced it with an OEM tray, not sure if E89 has this in the armrest??

Nav upgrade sounds good, how did you go about that?

Front seats will go back in tonight, now OEM roundels arrived for alloys today along with a launch brochure for my paperwork file - always like an original brochure.

It’s an incredible car - still getting used to it! Thanks for your comments.

Si

PixelpeepZ4

8,600 posts

141 months

Friday 10th July 2020
quotequote all
SiT said:
Absolutely, will document all I do - removed the irritating phone cradle which is a waste of space and replaced it with an OEM tray, not sure if E89 has this in the armrest??

Nav upgrade sounds good, how did you go about that?

Front seats will go back in tonight, now OEM roundels arrived for alloys today along with a launch brochure for my paperwork file - always like an original brochure.

It’s an incredible car - still getting used to it! Thanks for your comments.

Si
Yeh i have the 'S633 Preparation, Mobile Phone, Business' which means i can't use half my armrest storage option as well :/

i did a quick post on how i upgraded the nav in this thread - was quite easy once you understand how the supplier works. £39.99 for the easiest & foolproof way of upgrading - there are cheaper ways which involve a bit more research and hands on, but i was happy with £40


g3org3y

20,606 posts

190 months

Friday 10th July 2020
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Looks great, watching your thread with interest. E9X M3 on my radar, still undecided re E92 or E93.

SiT

Original Poster:

1,163 posts

200 months

Friday 10th July 2020
quotequote all
Thanks bud, I am really pleased and looking forward to getting out in the sun tomorrow. For sure it has to be the E93, for me it was never going anywhere near a track and it’s like two cars in one, people moan about extra weight but at full chat you would struggle to tell to be fair.

Plus roof down on a Summer’s evening or a Winters morning simple can’t be beaten.

Si

SiT

Original Poster:

1,163 posts

200 months

Friday 10th July 2020
quotequote all
PixelpeepZ4 said:
Yeh i have the 'S633 Preparation, Mobile Phone, Business' which means i can't use half my armrest storage option as well :/

i did a quick post on how i upgraded the nav in this thread - was quite easy once you understand how the supplier works. £39.99 for the easiest & foolproof way of upgrading - there are cheaper ways which involve a bit more research and hands on, but i was happy with £40
Thanks bud that’s really useful, I have the same option code on my build so assume I can do the same!

Si

SiT

Original Poster:

1,163 posts

200 months

Friday 10th July 2020
quotequote all
So today brought more cleaning, the rear compartment has been refitted, already looks so much cleaner than it did prior. The lid of the ‘roller cubby’ is annoying me now so going to hunt for one of those.



So then attention turned to the front seats, these needed a little more cleansing as clearly they had been used more than the tears but they came up well, the first pic is a 50/50 with the seat on the right having been cleaned and the seat on the left hasn’t. I think you can tell, the left hand seat looks more ‘orangey’ and shiny then the right. They will go in tomorrow morning so we can get out and enjoy the sunshine.





The roundels came today, not 100% happy as though they were genuine but they aren’t, will fit them and see how they look but may go for genuine if I am not happy.

Also had a delivery of Aerospace 303 protectant which I love, used it on all my engine details and it’s really hard wearing and long lasting. Really simple to apply, once engine has been cleaned and rinsed simply start the engine and allow it to warm up and dry. Switch engine off, spray the 303 liberally on all plastics and rubber and close the bonnet. Once it’s dried, wipe off any excess with a microfibre and job done, results are superb!



That’s it for tonight, looking forward to heading out tomorrow.

Si

Leon R

3,182 posts

95 months

Friday 10th July 2020
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Nice example. Get an intake and the 2 pipe mod done asap.

SiT

Original Poster:

1,163 posts

200 months

Friday 10th July 2020
quotequote all
Thanks very much, 2 pipe mod is done and it’s going back to standard - it’s far too much for me, cold start is just pure anti-social! lol!

Will go back to OEM and if it’s too quiet then will go 1.5 maybe 1.75.

Si

xjay1337

15,966 posts

117 months

Friday 10th July 2020
quotequote all
Nice work with the interior clean. Always like to give a car a proper interior clean as I don't mind my own gunk but I hate other peoples!

My friend has a E92 M3, it's a great car, sounds incredible. Probably even better with the roof off :-)

SiT

Original Poster:

1,163 posts

200 months

Friday 10th July 2020
quotequote all
xjay1337 said:
Nice work with the interior clean. Always like to give a car a proper interior clean as I don't mind my own gunk but I hate other peoples!

My friend has a E92 M3, it's a great car, sounds incredible. Probably even better with the roof off :-)
Thanks for your comments, indeed I love a good deep clean and really it costs nothing except cleaning products which I have on the shelf. Just takes a bit of time fathoming out how the various parts come out without breaking anything. One of my best investments was a trim tool set, just a variety of different shapes bits of plastic that allow you to gently prise things away/off/out without causing damage to the surrounding trim.

One final hoover out tomorrow and the seats will be going back in first thing and then as long as the suns out, lid off and get some miles in!

Si

okenemem

1,353 posts

193 months

Friday 10th July 2020
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wonderful

SiT

Original Poster:

1,163 posts

200 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
quotequote all
okenemem said:
wonderful
Thank you kindly, more subtle changes to come but very much going for OEM+ on this.

Si

SiT

Original Poster:

1,163 posts

200 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
quotequote all
Early start this morning, with a good forecast for the weekend and only today off I wanted to make the most of it.

The seats were looking great this morning so had several extra weetabix and lifted them back in. Reconnected all the plugs under the seat and bolted back up, they look so much better.

Little bit of trim dressing around the electric seat controls to finish it off.

Sun was quite bright when I took there but you get the idea, next mission is to rid it of the chrome which I think makes it look a bit dated, into the wrappers today for a chat.





May have some more parcels today so will update later but for now we are off out cool

Si

PixelpeepZ4

8,600 posts

141 months

Saturday 11th July 2020
quotequote all
SiT said:
Early start this morning, with a good forecast for the weekend and only today off I wanted to make the most of it.

The seats were looking great this morning so had several extra weetabix and lifted them back in. Reconnected all the plugs under the seat and bolted back up, they look so much better.

Little bit of trim dressing around the electric seat controls to finish it off.

Sun was quite bright when I took there but you get the idea, next mission is to rid it of the chrome which I think makes it look a bit dated, into the wrappers today for a chat.





May have some more parcels today so will update later but for now we are off out cool

Si
looks epic with the roof down... red interior really pops with the exterior colour - great choice.. enjoy the day out!

i feel the need to share my topless pics too...