Back on the Wagon! 2005 BMW E91 3 Series Touring 325i
Discussion
Sadly, no real result yet. Fired round to my brother's workshop yesterday but found it really is a job that requires a lot of trim removal, time and warmer/drier conditions! The underside of this car is protected from front to back by plastic coverings which I really haven't experienced before, my cars were always missing large sections! Tried clearing the sunroof drain channels with some welding wire and whilst they feel blocked I ought to read into it more and see how far they truly run into the vehicle first.
With the car raised on a jack and stands we got the oil and filter change carried out which completes the first full service on the car since I've bought it.
Annoyingly, the 86mm oil filter socket I purchased didn't fit. Brute force and some rubber coated gloves were required for removal/replacement as I had given away the oil filter rubber wrench to my other brother when the 86mm socket arrived.
Last shot provided so as to facilitate "Ooh, when was the oil last changed?!" type remarks but it looked alright and I believe was last changed in April. I was concerned about disposal of the old oil since my local recycling centre doesn't seem to accept it but thankfully my brother is starting to dabble in other types of metalwork and wanted it for quenching steel. (Little sh*t still owes me a Sgian dubh as a wedding present actually...)
Back to work with a very quiet schedule tomorrow so I suspect I'll have time on my hands to research possible water issues further.
Cheers.
With the car raised on a jack and stands we got the oil and filter change carried out which completes the first full service on the car since I've bought it.
Annoyingly, the 86mm oil filter socket I purchased didn't fit. Brute force and some rubber coated gloves were required for removal/replacement as I had given away the oil filter rubber wrench to my other brother when the 86mm socket arrived.
Last shot provided so as to facilitate "Ooh, when was the oil last changed?!" type remarks but it looked alright and I believe was last changed in April. I was concerned about disposal of the old oil since my local recycling centre doesn't seem to accept it but thankfully my brother is starting to dabble in other types of metalwork and wanted it for quenching steel. (Little sh*t still owes me a Sgian dubh as a wedding present actually...)
Back to work with a very quiet schedule tomorrow so I suspect I'll have time on my hands to research possible water issues further.
Cheers.
Edited by beambeam1 on Monday 4th January 04:38
Court_S said:
Shame to hear that there is still water ingress. Hope you get it sorted soon.
Thankfully, I haven't seen any more water since drying it out. However, it has been too cold to wash the car a few times and see if it returns since I have a frozen hosepipe. I've left the surrounding trim out of the car so I can give check with a quick glance.peetee7 said:
Nice thread. I will look at picking up rubber moulded floor mats like yours when mine have seen better days
FWIW I only bought the front mats. I seldom have passengers in the back and the only one that gets muddy is the pup but she's in the boot!Small update:
Firstly, car hasn't skipped a beat since I tightened down the bolt on the Intelligent Battery Sensor, delighted. With another lockdown the quiet roads have also allowed me to stretch the BMW's legs a little by extending the commute after night shifts and taking the very long way home. No issues at all.
Secondly, I had to chase this up far too much for my liking but I finally heard back from the AA's insurance company dealing with my claim for the bumper damage when I was recovered home near the end of November.
The engineer's report was quite favourable regarding condition and valuation of the car at £5650, £2000 more than I paid for it but that factored in required rustproofing costs. They are happy to proceed with organising a repair at an estimated cost of just over a grand but have offered me a cash transfer of that amount sans VAT. I'll take the cash option as I can live with the damage for now and want to get the rustproofing carried out as soon as possible. It also allows me to use a preferred bodyshop who fixed a bootlid for me a few years ago to a very high standard, that's if I can't find a great condition bumper in titan silver on the Bay of e. Preferably one without daft bloody holes drilled into it!
In other good news, the previous owner kindly transferred me the cost of the replacement DME which lead to me being towed home in the first place. Unreal gesture that I didn't ask for nor press when suggested it but he remained firm in his assertion that on the day we exchanged there was a suddenly new starting issue which he had said he would cover the repair costs of if required.
So, I'll contact the guy I'm using for rustproofing but with a couple of advisories regarding brake lines I think I'll use that as an opportunity to have braided ones fitted all round and get his assessment of the pads and discs whilst poking around there. Knowing the car is not going to be written off or imminently heading off to a bodyshop for repair means I can also contact BMW and get the heater blower recall carried out ASAP. I also think the diversity antenna module may need looking at due to the range and consistency of remote locking/unlock getting a bit ropey at times - easy fix if it is, been there before!
I'll sign off the latest post with a few photos from the For Sale advert when the car was first imported into the UK by Valley Cars and Classics at 45,000 miles and subsequently bought by the previous owner to me. I thought it may be of interest to some of you:
And finally...
Hopefully it's not too far off the same condition when I get a look at it prior to rustproofing. The guy carrying out this work is a strong acquaintance who my brother does a bit of welding for now so I am hoping I'll be able to get some photos of the process to document it. If I do I'll be taking any chance I get to clean the undertrays as well after the recent oil leaks.
Have a good weekend!
Undersealing complete! Had the car back over a week now but just been too busy to update this WIP thread! But, better late than never...
Car was dropped off at Dickson's Automotive just outside Edinburgh on what turned out to be a pretty snowy January morning.
I knew the car was going to be in good hands when one of the mechanics rocked up in his own E91 330d.
With no car I spent the rest of the week cycling back and forth to work in these conditions. Immediately after this photo was taken I realised I had lost my GoPro riding home. Thankfully, the power of FB, some luck and a lovely little girl finding it on her way to school saw me get it back!
Anyway, as I had hoped, the lads at the garage documented the condition of the car and work carried out with plenty of photos for me.
Once up on the ramps and undertrays removed I was sent this. I was delighted to find out that the car was in such good condition underneath as it satisfied the curiosity as to whether all this work would be worth doing.
I believe they used something like 3M Body Schutz Coating and carried out a double application. All plastics including the wheel arches were steam cleaned and dried out prior to refitting. Rather than post like for like before and after photos, I will just throw up a handful of interesting ones. They sent me so many images that it is difficult to figure out the orientation from where many were taken when underneath the car.
Before:
After:
Really glad that piece of work has been carried out now. It was a bargaining point when I purchased the car as I did not know if 18 months in the Scottish highlands since being imported to the UK had taken its toll but delighted to find everything was well.
They carried out the work for a great price and they also reassured me that there is nothing wrong with the brake hoses so they didn't change them. Both mechanics are MOT testers so this is good enough for me. I had supplied replacement hoses all round so they could have done it anyway and I would never have known. I think I will save that task for later when I need to replace brakes and pads too. Rear shocks are on their way out which explains the weird clearance/rubbing issues I have had when going over speed bumps so that's what I'm hunting for now.
Interior LED bulb swaps and replacement headlight xenon/HID bulbs are also on the agenda this week. Then I am maybe on the hunt for a new head unit as the dying pixels and cost of LCD replacement are putting me off attempting a repair job.
Cheers.
Car was dropped off at Dickson's Automotive just outside Edinburgh on what turned out to be a pretty snowy January morning.
I knew the car was going to be in good hands when one of the mechanics rocked up in his own E91 330d.
With no car I spent the rest of the week cycling back and forth to work in these conditions. Immediately after this photo was taken I realised I had lost my GoPro riding home. Thankfully, the power of FB, some luck and a lovely little girl finding it on her way to school saw me get it back!
Anyway, as I had hoped, the lads at the garage documented the condition of the car and work carried out with plenty of photos for me.
Once up on the ramps and undertrays removed I was sent this. I was delighted to find out that the car was in such good condition underneath as it satisfied the curiosity as to whether all this work would be worth doing.
I believe they used something like 3M Body Schutz Coating and carried out a double application. All plastics including the wheel arches were steam cleaned and dried out prior to refitting. Rather than post like for like before and after photos, I will just throw up a handful of interesting ones. They sent me so many images that it is difficult to figure out the orientation from where many were taken when underneath the car.
Before:
After:
Really glad that piece of work has been carried out now. It was a bargaining point when I purchased the car as I did not know if 18 months in the Scottish highlands since being imported to the UK had taken its toll but delighted to find everything was well.
They carried out the work for a great price and they also reassured me that there is nothing wrong with the brake hoses so they didn't change them. Both mechanics are MOT testers so this is good enough for me. I had supplied replacement hoses all round so they could have done it anyway and I would never have known. I think I will save that task for later when I need to replace brakes and pads too. Rear shocks are on their way out which explains the weird clearance/rubbing issues I have had when going over speed bumps so that's what I'm hunting for now.
Interior LED bulb swaps and replacement headlight xenon/HID bulbs are also on the agenda this week. Then I am maybe on the hunt for a new head unit as the dying pixels and cost of LCD replacement are putting me off attempting a repair job.
Cheers.
Ouch, I'd want no part in scraping that stuff off! As long as great care was taken to make sure it was dry before application thus preventing moisture being trapped could you not just go over it?
Rear shocks ordered tonight. Old folks have are moving down closer to us in 6 weeks and new gaff comes with a nice-sized garage so should hopefully get a chance at tackling this job myself!
Rear shocks ordered tonight. Old folks have are moving down closer to us in 6 weeks and new gaff comes with a nice-sized garage so should hopefully get a chance at tackling this job myself!
beambeam1 said:
Ouch, I'd want no part in scraping that stuff off! As long as great care was taken to make sure it was dry before application thus preventing moisture being trapped could you not just go over it?
Rear shocks ordered tonight. Old folks have are moving down closer to us in 6 weeks and new gaff comes with a nice-sized garage so should hopefully get a chance at tackling this job myself!
Well; when I say stripped, I mean tidied up and then relaid etc...Rear shocks ordered tonight. Old folks have are moving down closer to us in 6 weeks and new gaff comes with a nice-sized garage so should hopefully get a chance at tackling this job myself!
IT's doing a good job, but it's not the best application, so would rather have it re-done right etc
Court_S said:
That does look remarkably clean underneath before they even started.
The LED interior bulb upgrade is worth it. My other half’s 125i feels way more modern with LED interior lights than the old halogen.
Well worth it, totally agree that it modernises the interior. Finally swapped all the bulbs to LED items during the week. Up late watching Super Bowl tonight so nipped out whilst dark and grabbed a photo of how good they are compared to the old halogen bulbs. Cost around £18 and threw up no errors, delighted! Will try get better images soon using the night mode on my GoPro.The LED interior bulb upgrade is worth it. My other half’s 125i feels way more modern with LED interior lights than the old halogen.
That does look great. Did you replace the luggage compartment lights? Not long after I got mine I noticed how useless those lights are so I considered replacing those for LEDs.
I'd consider replacing all of the interior bulbs too as long as they fade in/out properly and they're not too white if that makes sense. I prefer that the car doesn't feel like a kitchen and bathroom showroom
Links to the bulbs that you bought would be appreciated
I'd consider replacing all of the interior bulbs too as long as they fade in/out properly and they're not too white if that makes sense. I prefer that the car doesn't feel like a kitchen and bathroom showroom
Links to the bulbs that you bought would be appreciated
beambeam1 said:
Court_S said:
That does look remarkably clean underneath before they even started.
The LED interior bulb upgrade is worth it. My other half’s 125i feels way more modern with LED interior lights than the old halogen.
Well worth it, totally agree that it modernises the interior. Finally swapped all the bulbs to LED items during the week. Up late watching Super Bowl tonight so nipped out whilst dark and grabbed a photo of how good they are compared to the old halogen bulbs. Cost around £18 and threw up no errors, delighted! Will try get better images soon using the night mode on my GoPro.The LED interior bulb upgrade is worth it. My other half’s 125i feels way more modern with LED interior lights than the old halogen.
pmorg4 said:
That does look great. Did you replace the luggage compartment lights? Not long after I got mine I noticed how useless those lights are so I considered replacing those for LEDs.
I'd consider replacing all of the interior bulbs too as long as they fade in/out properly and they're not too white if that makes sense. I prefer that the car doesn't feel like a kitchen and bathroom showroom
Links to the bulbs that you bought would be appreciated
Link and inspiration by @Court_S in his 125i thread: https://www.lightec-autostyle.co.uk/I'd consider replacing all of the interior bulbs too as long as they fade in/out properly and they're not too white if that makes sense. I prefer that the car doesn't feel like a kitchen and bathroom showroom
Links to the bulbs that you bought would be appreciated
I ordered from their E9x page but I had to buy a couple more LED's after so that I could complete the job. The interior light setups vary between E90/E92/E93, for example.
Replaced ALL interior bulbs from front to back, a good trim tool will see you right for removal.
No errors thrown up and they all fade in/out properly. I will try and get a night node video thrown up on YouTube so people can see how it truly looks but I'm a fan. They are all a nice bright glow that isn't too harsh on the eyes but I went for slightly stronger LED's for the puddle lights, much brighter as you can see.
A series of small updates from the last fortnight:
Caught an eBay discount code that actually worked and bought a Mishimoto Silicone Intake Boot (item no: 332524572506) for £42.94 instead of £50.40 which I was pleased about as I feel this is more of a vanity mod than a performance one. Changes are a more audible bark when you give the throttle a stamp but the missus remains unimpressed. Claims she will sit beside me and make the same noise for £40, I said I'd pay her double for silence!
Reversing on to the drive most days meant that whenever I came out the house this caught my eye; rear passenger door sticking out just a little too much. After ignoring it as best as I could I eventually realised through forum searches that it was a very simple fix so set about it like a kebab after a few beers. Probably took me just as long to complete too.
Much better. All it tooks was a Torx bit and some fiddling with the striker plate.
Something else that is always at the back of my mind is the small leak/drainage issue I have within the battery compartment in boot. With the weather improving all the time and the need to clean the interior I had a cautious inspection of the space a few days ago:
Difficult to see but the battery was again bathing in mineral properties of an unknown spring. I suspect it is the tail light gasket seals. I find it odd that the water doesn't drain away from this area though so decided to have a poke around underneath the car.
I was looking for visible or obvious drainage hoses like the AC evaporator one you would find. Some YouTube clips will show you how to find ones at the front of the car tucked in behind the front wheel arch but other searches for information will only yield results such as do/don't drill a hole under the battery compartment.
I selected "DO".
Very poor quality image as it is a still from a video I recorded - car jacked up, wheel off and arch liner removed to gain access to this area between the body of the car and the rear bumper. I poked around for a while but couldn't find anything that didn't already seem like it was meant to be there. There was a plastic grommet or some type of fastening sticking out the bottom of one corner of the battery compartment area so I resolved to try and remove it. No joy, not even with pliers which caused the brittle plastic to break apart so in the end it was out with my Makita to gently drill a hole through the grommet. A significant amount of water poured out as soon as I broke through and probably continued to pour at a hypnotic but steady state for 2-3 minutes which is a lot more water than should be in there for sure! (I hadn't drilled through the battery!)
Quick inspection of the battery area and all was good for now. I'm happy with this being a bit of a short-term bodge as I'd like to make sure water drains until I can determine where it's coming from. The car being recently undersealed plus the protection of wheel arch/rear bumper protection in layers means I am not at all concerned about this tiny hole being an issue. Will revisit and resolve the water ingress soon.
Next on the to-do list: CC-ID 132. This code has been thrown up on my dashboard since December which is when I bought some OSRAM Ice Blue replacements. It was simply a case of waiting for better weather before tackling it, figured I would swap all the bulbs simultaneously so everything was matchy matchy and I would be reassured that another bulb wouldn't go soon.
All this to change some bloody lightbulbs. Yes, forum legends and internet folklore will have you convinced that you can do this from the engine bay quite easily but I reckon b
ks to that. I've been blessed with fingers that lesbians would call well-hung so jacking the car up and removing wheels and arches was the easier option for me. JFC, what a load of hassle that was. And all for nothing!
The Xenon units themselves are easy enough to replace, just press in the metal clip and nudge left or right to unhook it from the plastic hook and repeat in reverse fashion to fasten it back in. There is an awful lot of forum chatter about this process when brevity would be more useful. The other bulbs... I don't really want to go into it but I'd describe it like trying to get your fingers down a toilet tube to retrieve something you can't see or feel. In the end I had to use long-nose pliers to withdraw the plastic fixture that attaches to the rear of the bulb then repeat the process to pull out the bulb itself. A lot more difficult than it needs to be and putting it all back together is just as much grief.
Of course, I checked all was well before reinstalling any covers, wheel arch liners and wheels. And of course, error code CC-ID 132 still present. I poked around some more and was pretty hacked off to realise I had made an oversight and that it was the angel eye bulb that had failed. This PH thread in "BMW General" makes it clearer and I now have some replacements on their way to me. An unnecessary expense but a worthwhile one in end because compared to the OEM units, the OSRAM replacements make a massive difference. I might try and punt the OEM ones on eBay since I have a good set going spare now.
Fortunately, I feel like I am a dab hand at wheel and wheel arch removal now so I'll fit the angel eye bulbs as soon as they arrive.
As always, car washed after a batch of jobs and because we had some quality weather:
Caught an eBay discount code that actually worked and bought a Mishimoto Silicone Intake Boot (item no: 332524572506) for £42.94 instead of £50.40 which I was pleased about as I feel this is more of a vanity mod than a performance one. Changes are a more audible bark when you give the throttle a stamp but the missus remains unimpressed. Claims she will sit beside me and make the same noise for £40, I said I'd pay her double for silence!
Reversing on to the drive most days meant that whenever I came out the house this caught my eye; rear passenger door sticking out just a little too much. After ignoring it as best as I could I eventually realised through forum searches that it was a very simple fix so set about it like a kebab after a few beers. Probably took me just as long to complete too.
Much better. All it tooks was a Torx bit and some fiddling with the striker plate.
Something else that is always at the back of my mind is the small leak/drainage issue I have within the battery compartment in boot. With the weather improving all the time and the need to clean the interior I had a cautious inspection of the space a few days ago:
Difficult to see but the battery was again bathing in mineral properties of an unknown spring. I suspect it is the tail light gasket seals. I find it odd that the water doesn't drain away from this area though so decided to have a poke around underneath the car.
I was looking for visible or obvious drainage hoses like the AC evaporator one you would find. Some YouTube clips will show you how to find ones at the front of the car tucked in behind the front wheel arch but other searches for information will only yield results such as do/don't drill a hole under the battery compartment.
I selected "DO".
Very poor quality image as it is a still from a video I recorded - car jacked up, wheel off and arch liner removed to gain access to this area between the body of the car and the rear bumper. I poked around for a while but couldn't find anything that didn't already seem like it was meant to be there. There was a plastic grommet or some type of fastening sticking out the bottom of one corner of the battery compartment area so I resolved to try and remove it. No joy, not even with pliers which caused the brittle plastic to break apart so in the end it was out with my Makita to gently drill a hole through the grommet. A significant amount of water poured out as soon as I broke through and probably continued to pour at a hypnotic but steady state for 2-3 minutes which is a lot more water than should be in there for sure! (I hadn't drilled through the battery!)
Quick inspection of the battery area and all was good for now. I'm happy with this being a bit of a short-term bodge as I'd like to make sure water drains until I can determine where it's coming from. The car being recently undersealed plus the protection of wheel arch/rear bumper protection in layers means I am not at all concerned about this tiny hole being an issue. Will revisit and resolve the water ingress soon.
Next on the to-do list: CC-ID 132. This code has been thrown up on my dashboard since December which is when I bought some OSRAM Ice Blue replacements. It was simply a case of waiting for better weather before tackling it, figured I would swap all the bulbs simultaneously so everything was matchy matchy and I would be reassured that another bulb wouldn't go soon.
All this to change some bloody lightbulbs. Yes, forum legends and internet folklore will have you convinced that you can do this from the engine bay quite easily but I reckon b
ks to that. I've been blessed with fingers that lesbians would call well-hung so jacking the car up and removing wheels and arches was the easier option for me. JFC, what a load of hassle that was. And all for nothing!The Xenon units themselves are easy enough to replace, just press in the metal clip and nudge left or right to unhook it from the plastic hook and repeat in reverse fashion to fasten it back in. There is an awful lot of forum chatter about this process when brevity would be more useful. The other bulbs... I don't really want to go into it but I'd describe it like trying to get your fingers down a toilet tube to retrieve something you can't see or feel. In the end I had to use long-nose pliers to withdraw the plastic fixture that attaches to the rear of the bulb then repeat the process to pull out the bulb itself. A lot more difficult than it needs to be and putting it all back together is just as much grief.
Of course, I checked all was well before reinstalling any covers, wheel arch liners and wheels. And of course, error code CC-ID 132 still present. I poked around some more and was pretty hacked off to realise I had made an oversight and that it was the angel eye bulb that had failed. This PH thread in "BMW General" makes it clearer and I now have some replacements on their way to me. An unnecessary expense but a worthwhile one in end because compared to the OEM units, the OSRAM replacements make a massive difference. I might try and punt the OEM ones on eBay since I have a good set going spare now.
Fortunately, I feel like I am a dab hand at wheel and wheel arch removal now so I'll fit the angel eye bulbs as soon as they arrive.
As always, car washed after a batch of jobs and because we had some quality weather:
Looking great
I have some bi-xenon headlights sitting in the garage ready to be fitted to replace my candle power headlights. I'm thinking that I should just replace all the bulbs while the headlights are outside the car as I don't fancy having to do it when they're fitted.
What angel eye bulbs did you go for? I fancy getting some LED bulbs so that they're brighter and a better match for the HIDs. There seem to be endless options out there, from the pocket change no-name stuff on AliExpress that will probably last a week, right up to the $200 Lux units from the US (too spend for me). Browsing through the countless options on eBay I came across these which seem like they might be a reasonable middle ground at roughly £30 delivered from Germany, but I've no idea whether they're actually any good.
I have some bi-xenon headlights sitting in the garage ready to be fitted to replace my candle power headlights. I'm thinking that I should just replace all the bulbs while the headlights are outside the car as I don't fancy having to do it when they're fitted.
What angel eye bulbs did you go for? I fancy getting some LED bulbs so that they're brighter and a better match for the HIDs. There seem to be endless options out there, from the pocket change no-name stuff on AliExpress that will probably last a week, right up to the $200 Lux units from the US (too spend for me). Browsing through the countless options on eBay I came across these which seem like they might be a reasonable middle ground at roughly £30 delivered from Germany, but I've no idea whether they're actually any good.
d_a_n1979 said:
Looks really well pal Deffo a good project you've taken on there
That's a cracking endorsement from yourself, thanks! Deffo a good project you've taken on therepmorg4 said:
I have some bi-xenon headlights sitting in the garage ready to be fitted to replace my candle power headlights. I'm thinking that I should just replace all the bulbs while the headlights are outside the car as I don't fancy having to do it when they're fitted.
What angel eye bulbs did you go for?
I would definitely switch then now if they need it, saves some hassle. As for angel eye bulbs, check out the thread I linked in my last post for more info as I found it very useful. Ended up buying from Xenons4U but you need to check the top of your headlights and find out if they are ZKW or Valeo units before ordering. Mine, pre-LCI and 2005, are ZKW and I bought "BMW E91 E90 Pre-Facelift & Facelift H10W CREE LED Angel Eyes Upgrade Bulbs". What angel eye bulbs did you go for?
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