BMW E91 335d M Sport Touring

[therusterman]

Glad to see your priorities are in order.

[helix402]

therusterman said:

Glad to see your priorities are in order.

Spot on. Gardening is way down the list.

[g3org3y]

helix402 said:

therusterman said:

Glad to see your priorities are in order.

Spot on. Gardening is way down the list.

No messing around with the changes, good work.

[helix402]

Picked the car up, fitted the M wheel badges:



Full diagnostic session:







One fault returned after clearing, aux water pump. I’m not worrying about it.

Checked software level:



The car is running the factory software. I’ll have a think about the pros and cons of updating.

Also changed the pollen and air filters before the rest of the full service.

First impressions, obviously it’s the worlds fastest car (no-it’s not mapped so it’s not). Ride quality is ok, seats are good-particularly impressed with the electric lumber.

The indicators are odd, I’ll get used to them. Steering wheel is fussy and too thick compared to the E46 one. Interior plastics are lower quality than the E46, E46 turn in is better. E91 stereo is better.

Edited by helix402 on Monday 26th April 09:12

[DC.11]

helix402 said:

E46 turn in is better. E91 stereo is better.

I too was disappointed with the turn in, and am planning on getting a set of M3 LCAs to help... They made a significant difference on my 130s.

[Jakg]

DC.11 said:

helix402 said:

E46 turn in is better. E91 stereo is better.

I too was disappointed with the turn in, and am planning on getting a set of M3 LCAs to help... They made a significant difference on my 130s.

helix402 said:

It’s getting M3 rear arms and M3 front strut brace. I like the M3 brace as it’s shiny and I hate the factory E91 brace. This is due to the need to replace the stretch bolts whenever it’s removed.

I'm surprised it's the rear arms your going for - my understanding was that the rears are more durable and might have a different bush or whatever but are the same geometry - whereas the fronts are different geometrically as well.

[DC.11]

Jakg said:

I'm surprised it's the rear arms your going for - my understanding was that the rears are more durable and might have a different bush or whatever but are the same geometry - whereas the fronts are different geometrically as well.

Yep, the front LCAs are longer so (along with knocking out the alignment pins) allow you to run just over -1deg of negative camber.

[helix402]

Jakg said:

I'm surprised it's the rear arms your going for - my understanding was that the rears are more durable and might have a different bush or whatever but are the same geometry - whereas the fronts are different geometrically as well.

Most people do the front arms first. I like to be different! It’s also an aesthetic thing. I think the standard rear arms look very cheap and much prefer the appearance of the M3 arms, +I was impressed by the M3 rear bushes on the E46.

I may do the M3 front arms later-they also need a 4 wheel alignment and I resent paying anyone to work on my car!

Swooped my plate onto the 335, handily the screw holes are in the same position as the E46:



Exhaust tailpipes need a polish!

Edited by helix402 on Monday 26th April 22:32

[helix402]

Picked up the wiring brackets for the M3 rear arms, and a new hose clip for the fuel filter:

[helix402]

Big update. Fitted self aligning wheel badges. Had them on the shelf:





R+r all wheels and unseized them from the hubs, then greased centres.

Checked all the brakes, needs f+r pads and rear discs. Rear discs are 20.1mm, min is 20.4. (Sad that I knew that without checking!)

I’ve ordered BMW value line pads and sensors all round and Mintex rear discs (a bit cheap-fronts will get ATE or gen when they’re needed). Not a bad price at £160 all in. Handbrake travel is also a bit long, people seem to not bother adjusting them. I’ll sort that when the new discs go on.

[pmorg4]

That reminds me, I need to replace the wheel centres on mine as they are all delaminating.

I also have a set of ATE front discs & pads ready to go on, and I need to sort out my handbrake as it needs about 10 clicks to hold the car and only just scraped through the MOT by a few percentage points on the efficiency test

Are there any particular tips on the E91 to get the handbrake working well with a few clicks? E46 and older were relatively easy as you had the adjustment on both the wheel and the lever itself, so getting both spot on would yield an effective handbrake. The lack of adjustment on the lever end on the E91 confuses me as I can't see how you can get the shoes sitting correctly by adjusting just one end via the screw inside the brake disc. Is the handbrake supposed to be self-adjusting and if so does it operate independently on each wheel?

I'm sure you'll have yours done long before I get started on mine

[helix402]

Handbrake adj is just like the E46, the good old toothed wheel at the brake shoes.

[helix402]

New front caliper clips:



These are supposed to be changed every 48k miles.

I always paint and laquer them before fitting:

[helix402]

O/s/f interior sill trim was a bit scuffed. On my E46 I fitted Edition 33 sill trims. Rather than just replace the “M” trim with a new/better one I went for these:



Sport Plus Edition trims, a bit less shouty than the “M” ones.





Quite a bargain at £20 for the set.

Driving the 335 compared to the 330 is interesting. The 335 has much better low end response but there’s not a lot in it on a faster open road. The old 330 does have more torque than the 335 but it’s mapped to deliver it at higher revs to spare the transmission. Obviously only has 1 turbo too.

I’m not sure why BMW chose to move the cruise control to a silly stalk you can’t see when driving-it’s as if they employed a Vauxhall designer for a day. I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

[pmorg4]

helix402 said:

I’m not sure why BMW chose to move the cruise control to a silly stalk you can’t see when driving-it’s as if they employed a Vauxhall designer for a day. I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

Completely agree! I recall many years ago when I had my E31 840Ci, thinking that the cruise control on a stalk was a rather quirky and old-fashioned design (the E31 pre-dates the era of buttons on the steering wheel). When I moved to an E46 it seemed a more natural place for the controls to be placed on the steering wheel. I was very surprised when I see that the E9x has reverted to the separate stalk.

That pales into insignificance compared to the bizarre indicator stalk in the E9x. My wife hasn't yet driven my car but I can only imagine the comments I will get when she has to contend with this "feature". It seems very much a case of change for the sake of change, as I don't recall ever hearing anyone complain about traditional indicator stalks being too difficult to use. Unsurprisingly BMW have reverted back to the traditional stalk on newer models.

As you've stated in previous posts in many ways the E46 is the better car, but the inherent rust issues mean that I'm more comfortable owning an E91 these days.

[helix402]

New value line f pad kit has arrived along with rear discs:

[helix402]

Front brakes done,

Old brakes:



Old clip:



All done:



CBS reckons they’ll last 90k-not convinced!

[JakeT]

I bought my 330i with it saying that the pads would last 35,000 miles. I’ve since done 30,000 miles and they’re now at 70,000 miles!

[helix402]

JakeT said:

I bought my 330i with it saying that the pads would last 35,000 miles. I’ve since done 30,000 miles and they’re now at 70,000 miles!

The randomness of CBS!

[helix402]

The original steering wheel had a patch of peeling coating like an old Golf door handle. It needed replacing obviously. But standard is no fun. You can buy an alcantara trim but I went for this one:



That’s 5 “M” badges removed from the car now!