E91 Straight Six Bearding

[Sohaib-ijiiv]

Has anyone had the exhaust mod done by PCW on their 335i?

I like how it sounds stock but was wondering if the mod makes it sound better?

[Mr Tidy]

cerb4.5lee said:

ATM said:

Nice manual saloon 330i on eBay. I'm trying to tell myself saloons are rubbish, saloons are rubbish, saloons are rubbish.

They are if you want to carry anything big!!

Saloons are pointless - split/fold rear seats were an option!

My 1991 Sierra Sapphire had them as standard.

Progress my a*se - just another option you need to pay for.

[ATM]

Mr Tidy said:

Saloons are pointless - split/fold rear seats were an option!

My 1991 Sierra Sapphire had them as standard.

Progress my a*se - just another option you need to pay for.

So did my 1986 Renault 5 turbo and 1989 fiat panda although not sure those in the panda split. I first realised german saloon didn't have them when I bought a 2004 a4 saloon without even realising and then sold it shortly afterwards. My mate bought an e60 brand new - well it was a company car - in 2008. He specced it with fold down seats because I warned him. When it came I went to see it and he was all excited but said to me they have forgotten to spec the fold down seats. I had a rumage in the boot and said no look the habdles are there. He couldn't find them ... and it took a car guy like me to show him where they were. I still remind about it as he claims to have forgotten it ever happened. I think if you're moving people who are not dead yet in the boot you're better getting a saloon without folding seats. Too much risk of them breaking out. But once dead yeah folding always wins.

[Seek]

Mr Tidy said:

Saloons are pointless - split/fold rear seats were an option!

For what it's worth I spent some time researching split/folding rear seats on E90 saloons.
In contrast to E46 saloons, there is no bodyshell difference between non-folding/folding rear seat E90 saloons.
Which means that it's a straightforward upgrade.

[CB 987]

As a heads up just in case anyone is looking for non run-flat (255 35 18) rear tyres, I’ve just bought 2x Goodyear Asymmetric 3’s for £87.28 each delivered, they are brand new from a German seller on eBay, item number 143155771025

Best I could find close to this was £108 each from Camskill, plus postage.

Looking to swap back to my summers shortly but there is currently no stock with Michelin for PS4’s in the U.K, so I’ve swapped to Goodyear’s. They seem to get favourable reviews.

Edited by CB 987 on Wednesday 6th March 20:38

[ferrisbueller]

Check the date code.

[CB 987]

ferrisbueller said:

Check the date code.

Apparently all less than 2 years old? Will see what they are like when they turn up....

[Mr Tidy]

Well shortly after moaning about E90s not having split/fold rear seats, today I've put a deposit on a 330i with the N52 engine that has them - plus the electric tilt/slide sunroof, auto-fold mirrors and a DAB tuner.

So it's an early birthday present for myself - can't wait to pick it up!

If anyone is interested in a leggy 06 plate E91 325i in sparkling Graphite with Lemon leather and full BMW SH message me.

[cerb4.5lee]

Nice one Mr Tidy I will look forward to seeing the pics. It sounds like it has some very nice rare options on it.

[zippyonline]

Nice one.
At this rate, I can see this thread having a large proportion of the remaining N52 engined E9x's!

[Sir_Dave]

Thought i might as well post a photo in here, have used this thread as a reference point so often it seems rude not to!!

'Im Dave and i like Le Mans blue e9*s" ...


Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr

e90 335i N54 manual, e90 330i N52 manual & an e91 325i N53 manual

N52 sold a couple of weeks ago, the N54 is having a few retrofits (electric seats, nav, xenons, folding mirrors, high beam assistant etc) and the N53 needs the cylinder head taken off to fix a dodgy valve (no compression). I was sorely tempted by an e91 335i on ebay the other day, but it was sapphire black, so i couldnt bring myself to buy it

[cerb4.5lee]

^^^^A very nice collection there and they are in a fantastic colour too!

[Swervin_Mervin]

Sir_Dave said:

Thought i might as well post a photo in here, have used this thread as a reference point so often it seems rude not to!!

'Im Dave and i like Le Mans blue e9*s" ...


Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr

e90 335i N54 manual, e90 330i N52 manual & an e91 325i N53 manual

N52 sold a couple of weeks ago, the N54 is having a few retrofits (electric seats, nav, xenons, folding mirrors, high beam assistant etc) and the N53 needs the cylinder head taken off to fix a dodgy valve (no compression). I was sorely tempted by an e91 335i on ebay the other day, but it was sapphire black, so i couldnt bring myself to buy it

At least I know who to offer mine to when I come to sell!

[JakeT]

You utter lunatic.

I LOVE IT!

[stevesingo]

I'm looking in to the possibility of refreshing the suspension on our 2007 E90 330i (N52) M Sport and I have a couple of questions?

1. Does anyone have a definitive list of parts to order Front and Rear (OEM or OEM Equivalent) i.e bushes, arms spring pads etc?

2. What is the difference in ride if I switch to bilstiens whilst retaining stock springs. I don't want it lower!

[MajorMantra]

stevesingo said:

I'm looking in to the possibility of refreshing the suspension on our 2007 E90 330i (N52) M Sport and I have a couple of questions?

1. Does anyone have a definitive list of parts to order Front and Rear (OEM or OEM Equivalent) i.e bushes, arms spring pads etc?

2. What is the difference in ride if I switch to bilstiens whilst retaining stock springs. I don't want it lower!

On 2, that'll depend which Bilsteins surely? I was told B4s were OEM equivalent and that's what I fitted to the rear of my E91 325i when one of the original shocks blew. No discernible change in ride quality (other than it not feeling broken anymore!).

[ferrisbueller]

stevesingo said:

I'm looking in to the possibility of refreshing the suspension on our 2007 E90 330i (N52) M Sport and I have a couple of questions?

1. Does anyone have a definitive list of parts to order Front and Rear (OEM or OEM Equivalent) i.e bushes, arms spring pads etc?

2. What is the difference in ride if I switch to bilstiens whilst retaining stock springs. I don't want it lower!

I'm wary of saying I have a list others could use as there are quite a few some bits I may have missed or muddled but I can share what I have. I haven't taken the plunge on this as I feel there's some waste in there in terms of swapping parts that don't need it. However, as preventative maintenance it makes a lot of sense and doing it all and having one alignment seems better than fixing on fail and realigning every time.

Just taking the front, for instance.

I've a list of all the front arms and fixings in Lemforder (which is OEM per previous posts) including ARB links and steering tie rods. It's possible to buy the full kit off eBay which takes much of the error out of it:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEMFORDER-Cloth-Rep-Sus...

N.B. That kit doesn't include some of the through bolts/nuts. I've seen those reused, I've also seen people say they must be replaced.

Lemforder fixing kits I have found are:-
38396 01
38902 01

Top strut mount in Lemforder is 31211 01

I think that would be all the arms/mounts/fixings but I wouldn't put my life on it. It comes to around £450-£500 depending on where you look and when.

For dampers and springs there are numerous options. Per earlier in the thread, OEM damper is Sachs (Bilstein equiv. is B4). I have those numbers for strut and spring.

Sachs M-Spec shocks: 311 405 and 06 (They are LH and RH, remember). [The Rear is 2x 311 410]
Springs: F. 993 255, R. 994 475

Again, pricing varies but £350-400

ETA: Here's a kit with two fronts, the mounts and dust covers/bump stops: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sachs-Front-Shock-Absor...

Been pondering what else would need to be swapped out. I've always made up strut assemblies in the past as it makes installation so much easier. Previous posters have said that swapping the dampers but keeping the original springs has yielded great results.

I've been using this (and the other diagrams there):- http://www.bmminiparts.com/DiagramView.aspx?Diagra...

This bundle here lists all the part numbers in the assembly:- https://www.bavauto.com/bmw-spring-and-shock-kit-b...

I've also got the numbers for a Koni STR kit and Bilstein B12. Both of these will be slightly lower/stiffer than stock.

HTH. Happy to share more/work with others to pull a more accurate list together.

ETA. Building the strut assemblies up removes some of the risk of the DIY curse of finding you're missing a bit half way through the job. There are places in the US that sell the full assemblies but I've not seen one here in the UK.
From what I've seen you'd be needing an impact driver, a strut socket and at least two jacks. Quite possibly a means of cutting certain fixings off which could be corroded.

Edited by ferrisbueller on Monday 25th March 14:41

Edited by ferrisbueller on Monday 25th March 14:48

[Swervin_Mervin]

I too have a list of what I ordered, albeit I didn't do fully everything. That's the problem - it depends completely on what you want really.

It starts to get quite difficult to do and you can tie your head in knots very easily with it, as I did multiple times! I ordered some stuff from Carparts4less and others from Cotswold BMW.

It depended entirely on what worked out cheaper e.g. some of the BMW kits, which included all bolts, worked out cheaper than buying the part separately and the bolts from BMW. I wouldn't skimp on bolts personally - they're tension bolts so should really only be used once, even though some garages will happily tell you otherwise. No point spending all that money imo to waste it by saving what amounts to not very much extra in the grand scheme of things.

All told mine came to £1,400 for 4 shocks incl. helper shocks, all rear arms, new rear topmounts, new rear balljoints, track rods, and 2 new front arms. I've probably missed some stuff out as well. Plus labour and it was pretty much £2k.

Edited by Swervin_Mervin on Monday 25th March 14:47

[helix402]

Bilstein B6 front dampers with standard springs will give an improvement in ride quality as hey have internal bump stops.

Rears? They made the ride worse on an E46 I had.

[ferrisbueller]

Agreed, it's easy to get confused. I've a spreadsheet I've fettled over the last 12 months. Just done a quick check and all the front, with a full Bilstein B12 Pro-kit is about a grand. The six arms on the rear (no fixings) are about £200, so, yes, heading towards £1300 in parts alone.

I think labour shouldn't be too bad as everything is accessible and if you've got it up in the air with all the tools and a floor jack you could whip through it. I'd reckoned on £1500 all in, which is probably more like £1700 allowing for some contingency, exchange rates etc.

I've checked everything on mine and it looks and feels OK but the chassis definitely isn't as tight as it used to be and makes noises it didn't previously. Given the 200k mile durability of these, putting the money in doesn't seem like throwing it away, especially when you consider the lack of appealing options in terms of moving on to something else.