E91 Straight Six Bearding

[ATM]

Mr Tidy said:

g3org3y said:

Spacers are certainly cheaper than buying a whole new set of wheels.

What are the cons?

Edited by g3org3y on Wednesday 5th June 21:07

Well maybe, maybe not!

If you get replacements for a good price and sell your wheels for a good price the overall cost may actually give you a profit - without any need for spacers!

The cons are simply the general dislike of spacers amongst the more OCD types. I've heard that spacers can cause your wheel bearings to wear out or that they can break while driving and destroy your car. I've had and used spacers now for over 5 years and had no problems. I view them as a simple accessory which is fit and forget. If you are going 20mm then you can get bolt on I think which I think might be better but it depends how you feel about bolt strength and sheer loads and other such things my friend talks about which I don't really understand.

If you have the alpina wheels and want to keep them then it is possible.

My e61 has 30mm bolt on spacers which were only £95 i think for a set of 4 from my favourite auction site.

[NeilMick]

Looking to replace my Golf R with a E91 when the lease ends and as they're quite rare am starting to look way before I need to. What kind of price range am I looking at? I can see one up for £7k but don't know if that's overpriced or not? Have seen others for 4-5k.

[ATM]

NeilMick said:

Looking to replace my Golf R with a E91 when the lease ends and as they're quite rare am starting to look way before I need to. What kind of price range am I looking at? I can see one up for £7k but don't know if that's overpriced or not? Have seen others for 4-5k.

Depends what you're after. N52 or N53 or even N54 or N55. Sport or none sport. 25, 30 or 35. Auto or manual. Boring colours or interesting.

I sold my N54 335i auto LCI with individual trim for 10500 6 months ago. They're quite rate.

Here she is avec winters.

[g3org3y]

Thanks for the info chaps.

Oil wise, looks like it's 5W30 LL04 spec? Any particular brands to go for? Any particular reason to consider 5w40 or 0w30?

Does this look reasonable.



£50 for 20L is good value, seems to meet the specs and made by ELF.

And it looks like I need a special tool like this (OEM) or this (not OEM). Is the OEM one three times better!?

[ferrisbueller]

I've stuck to Castrol, bought from the same place.

That Elf oil has been mentioned on the thread before as it's good value and meets specs. At least one person here uses it.

[JakeT]

You know already with an M52, but on mine I've always run 5w30. I think 0w30 is a little too thin. If I lived somewhere really cold i'd use that. If it uses a bit between services I'd use a 40 oii, but I tend to go with 5w30. LL-04 stuff, and it has never done me wrong.

[helix402]

g3org3y said:

Thanks for the info chaps.

Oil wise, looks like it's 5W30 LL04 spec? Any particular brands to go for? Any particular reason to consider 5w40 or 0w30?


Does this look reasonable.



£50 for 20L is good value, seems to meet the specs and made by ELF.

And it looks like I need a special tool like this (OEM) or this (not OEM). Is the OEM one three times better!?

Top oil choice. I’ve been using it in a variety of BMWs for a few years. £2.50/litre-bargain. In fact I’ve got 20l due today!

I’ve got the cheap tool, it’s fine.

Edited by helix402 on Thursday 6th June 12:34

Edited by helix402 on Thursday 6th June 12:38

[Swervin_Mervin]

Misfire again this morning, after a couple of months of very sweet running.

4rse.

Best get the reader out again and start thinking about replacing some bits!

[helix402]

Oil update! I’ve just received mine and been sent some non LL04 Total. I’d hang fire on ordering until I update how the seller sorts it.

[g3org3y]

helix402 said:

Oil update! I’ve just received mine and been sent some non LL04 Total. I’d hang fire on ordering until I update how the seller sorts it.

Bummer. Already ordered it. Keep me updated.

[helix402]

g3org3y said:

Bummer. Already ordered it. Keep me updated.

Should be fine! Courier is collecting the wrong oil and delivering the correct one.

[NeilMick]

ATM said:

Depends what you're after. N52 or N53 or even N54 or N55. Sport or none sport. 25, 30 or 35. Auto or manual. Boring colours or interesting.

I sold my N54 335i auto LCI with individual trim for 10500 6 months ago. They're quite rate.

Here she is avec winters.

N52 330i😁

[g3org3y]

helix402 said:

g3org3y said:

Bummer. Already ordered it. Keep me updated.

Should be fine! Courier is collecting the wrong oil and delivering the correct one.

[2 GKC]

Swervin_Mervin said:

Misfire again this morning, after a couple of months of very sweet running.

4rse.

Best get the reader out again and start thinking about replacing some bits!

Mine was running beautifully this morning but on way home misfiring all the way with engine management light on. As you say, 4rse! Did you find out the cause?

[Swervin_Mervin]

Misfire on No.2 cyl again but no low fuel misfire code. It's happened with the drop in ambient temps, I'm sure of that.

I'll likely change the coil on it in a few weeks time when I get chance.

[g3org3y]

Issues must be contagious!

Yellow engine light came on this evening.

According to the manual: "BMW engine fault with adverse effect on exhaust emissions".

Engine runs ok, no misfire, revs fine, not down on power.

O2 sensor or some such?

[Mr Tidy]

My Z4 (also N52 engine) threw up an amber EML a couple of years ago.

Took it to my Indy to get the fault codes read and the battery died! So new battery in and the codes were for post-cat faults.

Got them cleared and no issues since, but at his suggestion I have been running it on Super-Plus ever since.

Anyway, it seems that a dying battery can cause all sorts of random electrical issues on BMWs of this era so I'd start there. Compare voltage with the engine off with voltage when it's running.

Hope it's something simple.

[g3org3y]

Mr Tidy said:

My Z4 (also N52 engine) threw up an amber EML a couple of years ago.

Took it to my Indy to get the fault codes read and the battery died! So new battery in and the codes were for post-cat faults.

Got them cleared and no issues since, but at his suggestion I have been running it on Super-Plus ever since.

Anyway, it seems that a dying battery can cause all sorts of random electrical issues on BMWs of this era so I'd start there. Compare voltage with the engine off with voltage when it's running.

Hope it's something simple.

Booked in for Thursday at local BMW Specialist.

IIRC, it had a new battery not that long ago so doubt it's that.

Drove it to work today (first time). Car runs great, v smooth, power delivery spot on, no misfire. Light still on though.

[gizlaroc]

g3org3y said:

Booked in for Thursday at local BMW Specialist.

IIRC, it had a new battery not that long ago so doubt it's that.

Drove it to work today (first time). Car runs great, v smooth, power delivery spot on, no misfire. Light still on though.

I used to get the EML light on using Sainsbury fuel, took me 12 months to realise.

I used to use the Sainsbury on the A11 when going to London and running late, used Shell V or Tesco 99 all the other times, so took ages to realise.

Started using nothing but Shell V and Tesco 99 and never had the EML light on again.
Sold the car and the guy called up saying EML light on, dealer wanted to change Nox or O2 sesnors at £600. I convinced him it was probably the fuel he was using, he said after a tank of super the light went out and stayed out.

[MajorMantra]

g3org3y said:

Issues must be contagious!

Yellow engine light came on this evening.

According to the manual: "BMW engine fault with adverse effect on exhaust emissions".

Engine runs ok, no misfire, revs fine, not down on power.

O2 sensor or some such?

A cheap code reader is hugely helpful for stuff like this. Sub-£10 on ebay. The engine light comes on for all sorts of reasons, some of them relatively trivial. In my case it was fixed by new Vanos solenoids, which are very easy to fit.