E91 Straight Six Bearding

[Sir_Dave]

bodhi said:

Got the car back last night, go to admit my indie has done a cracking job of MacGuyvering two stereos together to make a working unit, all functionality is restored and I can hear the warning beeps and parking sensors again.

We did discover that the Bluetooth Unit isn't in the Head Unit itself - as when we went to pair my phone, the ID on the display (BMW4xxxx) was showing different from before, but when the phone picked it up, it was still the old BMW5xxxx ID. Mine is an E82 but I suspect, given the stereos are the same, it will be the same story with the E9x models. Just one to keep an eye out for if you have to replace HU's.

Stereo was about £250 including two hours labour to make a working unit, add in two PS4's for the front and I owe me mate around £500. Could have done without it, but it could have been far worse.

WTF, a professional stereo for an e90/e82 is about £50!! I know this as ive really struggled to sell 3 of the damn things on ebay!!

Certainly no need for any MacGuyvering, so id be a bit disappointed to have spent 2 hours labour on a 5 minute swap personally ... then especially disappointed that as a "BMW Indie" he didnt just tell you that. The headunits can need coding btw, depending on what speakers package the donor car has vs your own one - would also explain why the bluetooth isnt coming up properly, ie he probably hasnt coded it. Bluetooth is in the boot via a TCU or MULF.

Edited by Sir_Dave on Tuesday 12th November 11:08

[bodhi]

Sir_Dave said:

WTF, a professional stereo for an e90/e82 is about £50!! I know this as ive really struggled to sell 3 of the damn things on ebay!!

Certainly no need for any MacGuyvering, so id be a bit disappointed to have spent 2 hours labour on a 5 minute swap personally ... then especially disappointed that as a "BMW Indie" he didnt just tell you that. The headunits can need coding btw, depending on what speakers package the donor car has vs your own one - would also explain why the bluetooth isnt coming up properly, ie he probably hasnt coded it. Bluetooth is in the boot via a TCU or MULF.

Edited by Sir_Dave on Tuesday 12th November 11:08

He charged me £80 for the unit, which looking on eBay isn't a bad price at all (considering on eBay the BT models are all £150+). The MacGuyvering wasn't to swap the units, it was to take the units apart to swap the displays, as the one he retrieved from another car had pixel damage. Considering that 2 hours also covered investigating the differential noise, diagnosing what was wrong with the stereo and fitting two new tyres, along with a courtesy car, valet on the 1 Series and the car picked up and dropped of from home, I'd say that was a fking bargain, personally.

Certainly sounded a lot easier than dicking about on eBay hoping to get a working unit.

Oh and Bluetooth works absolutely fine, it was just giving a different Pairing ID on the display than what was appearing on my phone.

[Sir_Dave]

bodhi said:

He charged me £80 for the unit, which looking on eBay isn't a bad price at all (considering on eBay the BT models are all £150+). The MacGuyvering wasn't to swap the units, it was to take the units apart to swap the displays, as the one he retrieved from another car had pixel damage. Considering that 2 hours also covered investigating the differential noise, diagnosing what was wrong with the stereo and fitting two new tyres, along with a courtesy car, valet on the 1 Series and the car picked up and dropped of from home, I'd say that was a fking bargain, personally.

With some further explanation of the labour pricing, that doesnt seem to bad really

I'm probably just out of touch with pricing when it comes to paying other people to do things, being that i would rather go without the car for 6 months than pay something else to fix it

Glad its all working well again.

[bodhi]

Sir_Dave said:

With some further explanation of the labour pricing, that doesnt seem to bad really

I'm probably just out of touch with pricing when it comes to paying other people to do things, being that i would rather go without the car for 6 months than pay something else to fix it

Glad its all working well again.

Haha no worries, I should probably have given a bit more detail on the 2 hours, but was on my way into a meeting so was probably a bit brief.

Must admit I've gone the other way on maintenance, after spending most of 2008 on my drive trying to get a Punto Sporting with a cheddar cheese cylinder head to stop overheating, I'd rather just get me mate to come pick it up and tell me when it's sorted. The valet he does on it afterwards is a good opportunity for it's quarterly wash as well

[gizlaroc]

stevesuk said:

Interesting, I asked our usual garage (not the main dealer) for a quote yesterday - and they've come back with parts and labour figure of £320 inc. VAT - estimating 1.5 hours (and want to replace the membrane whilst they're in there). Can't afford that right now, so we're going to live with it for a while.

Half of me is tempted to just have a crack at it myself. The other half of me has visions of bits of door mechanism all over the floor, broken trim and inoperative door locks

WTF?!

I would speak to BMW, they used to charge £38+vat for a new actuator as they were so prone to going, with 1 hour labour.

I think the prices of the unit have now gone up though, but only to about £80.

Even at main dealer prices it is only £200 or thereabouts, so not sure how he has come up with £320?

The membrane comes off no problem at all, it is stuck on with a black gum, just peel it back slowly half way.

I could do the swap in around 20-30 minutes.

[helix402]

I use a heat gun (hair dryer would do) in cold weather to warm the membrane sealant to stop the membrane tearing.

I normally replace the sealant when I remove a membrane as it wears.

[gizlaroc]

The membrane on the 2008 E91 I did the other day was still nice and tacky.
Hair dryer would be a good shout though now the temps have dropped.

[JakeT]

After my A/C compressor decided to not work anymore, and being fixed, car went to Germany and back dead fine. Only casualty was a Drivers side headlight bulb. That was a pain to change. Working through the little flap in the arch liner is no fun. Fuel economy on a run was very acceptable. Figure included a crawl out of Cologne, 100+ in Germany for a fair few miles, driving into and out of Ghent, and finally the queues that are the Tunnel on the French side. They even selected us for the heartbeat monitor to see if we had any illegals in the car. I think they overestimate the capacity of these cars.

[phil_cardiff]

I'd like to tweak the nipples of whoever designed the headlight replacement procedure on an E91. With a pair of pliers.

All modern cars are the same though. Had to take the headlight out of my wife's car, 4 10mm bolts and then a bit of leverage and it still wasn't easy. Took about 10 mins too.

Makes me miss my Austin Metro!

[dcb]

phil_cardiff said:

I'd like to tweak the nipples of whoever designed the headlight replacement procedure on an E91. With a pair of pliers.

+1

E39 was optimal. Ten minutes tops.

Why make it worse on the E91 ?

It's not often I criticise the Bavarians for being hard of thinking.
Usually a decent mob of engineers.

[Swervin_Mervin]

I can switch put the bulbs fairly quickly now on mine. Never use the wheelarch access though. Just straight in at the top. Quite easy I think compared to other cars I've owned

[CB 987]

JakeT said:

After my A/C compressor decided to not work anymore, and being fixed, car went to Germany and back dead fine. Only casualty was a Drivers side headlight bulb. That was a pain to change. Working through the little flap in the arch liner is no fun. Fuel economy on a run was very acceptable. Figure included a crawl out of Cologne, 100+ in Germany for a fair few miles, driving into and out of Ghent, and finally the queues that are the Tunnel on the French side. They even selected us for the heartbeat monitor to see if we had any illegals in the car. I think they overestimate the capacity of these cars.

Jake - Glad to see it is in rude health! Decent MPG too. Those headlight bulbs are an absolute pain!

[g3org3y]

dcb said:

phil_cardiff said:

I'd like to tweak the nipples of whoever designed the headlight replacement procedure on an E91. With a pair of pliers.

+1

E39 was optimal. Ten minutes tops.

Why make it worse on the E91 ?

It's not often I criticise the Bavarians for being hard of thinking.
Usually a decent mob of engineers.

Presumably the same reason they have the screen wash bottle under the arch.

Because packaging.

[stevesuk]

g3org3y said:

Presumably the same reason they have the screen wash bottle under the arch.

Because packaging.

The E46 had a much more accessible engine bay, for playing with things like the washer bottle (and pump), or the headlight bulbs. But I must say that when my E46 was the equivalent age/mileage to our E91 - it didn't seem as as robust. Under the bonnet was a mess of broken clips and zip ties holding things in place Perhaps we've looked after the E91 better than the previous owners of my E46 (which I acquired when it was quite old)

[spreadsheet monkey]

stevesuk said:

g3org3y said:

Presumably the same reason they have the screen wash bottle under the arch.

Because packaging.

The E46 had a much more accessible engine bay, for playing with things like the washer bottle (and pump), or the headlight bulbs.

Same on my (similar vintage) E85 Z4. Loads of room under the bonnet and easy to access the screenwash bottle to take it out and clean the filter.

I paid a garage to do the same job on my E90 a few years back when the washer jets clogged up. Couldn't be arsed with removing wheelarch liners etc.

Progress!

[hughcam]

My manual E91 335i manual (with Birds LSD) is for sale. PM me if interested.

[gizlaroc]

Give some idea of year, mileage and price mate.

Everyone is nosey.

[bodhi]

JakeT said:

After my A/C compressor decided to not work anymore, and being fixed, car went to Germany and back dead fine. Only casualty was a Drivers side headlight bulb. That was a pain to change. Working through the little flap in the arch liner is no fun. Fuel economy on a run was very acceptable. Figure included a crawl out of Cologne, 100+ in Germany for a fair few miles, driving into and out of Ghent, and finally the queues that are the Tunnel on the French side. They even selected us for the heartbeat monitor to see if we had any illegals in the car. I think they overestimate the capacity of these cars.

Good to hear the car made the trip without issue -one thing that never ceases to amaze me is how frugal these engines are on a cruise -ive had 40+ showing before now over 100+ miles.

Is yours auto or manual?

[g3org3y]

spreadsheet monkey said:

stevesuk said:

g3org3y said:

Presumably the same reason they have the screen wash bottle under the arch.

Because packaging.

The E46 had a much more accessible engine bay, for playing with things like the washer bottle (and pump), or the headlight bulbs.

Same on my (similar vintage) E85 Z4. Loads of room under the bonnet and easy to access the screenwash bottle to take it out and clean the filter.

I paid a garage to do the same job on my E90 a few years back when the washer jets clogged up. Couldn't be arsed with removing wheelarch liners etc.

Progress!

Understandable. I only use BMW screenwash in the E91.

Mentality seems to be turning from ease to work on to ease/efficiency of manufacture. Understandable from a profits point of view, annoying from a DIY point of view.

[Mr Tidy]

g3org3y said:

Understandable. I only use BMW screenwash in the E91.

Mentality seems to be turning from ease to work on to ease/efficiency of manufacture. Understandable from a profits point of view, annoying from a DIY point of view.

Definitely makes sense - I only used BMW screenwash in my E91 (and the replacement E90).

But it's an easy job on my E86 - as I found out before it's 1st MOT!