E91 Straight Six Bearding

[ATM]

gizlaroc said:

SidewaysSi said:

Agree with the Sport vs SE. IMO the E90 cars are better in SE spec.

Particularly given these cars are hardly sports cars.

Hardly comfort cars either, they're too small for that.

M-Sport with non run flats is actually the nicest in terms of overall comfort, really nice Bilstein dampers on the M-Sports.
If you then put on SE springs it is even better, this is what Alpina use on their set up, but you gain some ride height so can look a bit odd to some.

I'm rolling on go flat 17 winters and the ride is nice. Definitely sticking to 17 when I remove the winters.

[texasjohn]

Can I interest anyone in a unicorn?

My LCI E90 SE, N55 manual. Low miles, high spec, rare colour. I'm about to swap over to a 340iT and just put my E90 up for sale in the classifieds.

I know this is a '91 thread but I thought I'd check in and see if anyone knows anyone on the hunt for a car. I wanted an E91 manual but after months of looking I gave in and compromised.

It's plastered all over the usual forums but I haven't gone as far as Autotrader yet. No point doing that until the 340i arrives.

[texasjohn]

ferrisbueller said:

They're small saloon cars with sporting characteristics. That's what a 3-series has always been. SE slightly softer but the Sport is hardly stiff in comparison with modern equivalents.

I think most of the SE have M Sport suspension anyway, on the 335.

[Mike335i]

texasjohn said:

I think most of the SE have M Sport suspension anyway, on the 335.

They do on the coupe and convertible as it was standard, but it was an optional extra on the saloon and touring.

[JakeT]

texasjohn said:

Can I interest anyone in a unicorn?

My LCI E90 SE, N55 manual. Low miles, high spec, rare colour. I'm about to swap over to a 340iT and just put my E90 up for sale in the classifieds.

I know this is a '91 thread but I thought I'd check in and see if anyone knows anyone on the hunt for a car. I wanted an E91 manual but after months of looking I gave in and compromised.

It's plastered all over the usual forums but I haven't gone as far as Autotrader yet. No point doing that until the 340i arrives.

This one?

Really nice looking car though, appeals to me a lot. Doesn't look like you'll have a lot of trouble selling it, Brake discs look nice and Harmon Kardon is a rare option, along with the window blinds.

I think I saw this for sale on A/T before you bought it and it looked interesting then.

[texasjohn]

That’s the one!

It’s been a great car, would rather it went on to a forum member/enthusiast than not. It’ll go up on the ‘trader at the end of the week all the same.

[phil_cardiff]

texasjohn said:

That’s the one!

It’s been a great car, would rather it went on to a forum member/enthusiast than not. It’ll go up on the ‘trader at the end of the week all the same.

Looks great, good luck with the sale.

[Boobonman]

This thread is relevant to my interests. Wifey has a pre-Lci 330i M Sport touring with the all important Spanish ‘box, and it’s a hell of a car. Le Mans blue with Dakota Lemon, I knew they were rare but not CSL rare! I’ll get some pics up later, it’s going in for new boots on the rear today...

[Shaoxter]

texasjohn said:

That’s the one!

It’s been a great car, would rather it went on to a forum member/enthusiast than not. It’ll go up on the ‘trader at the end of the week all the same.

Dunno if it's the time of year or I've overpriced it but I've not had much luck with Autotrader so far, almost 1k page views and 1 enquiry/viewing!

[Boobonman]

2 new 255/35/18 Goodyear Eagle F1’s on the back. Suspension definitely looking a bit tired under there, thinking of the eibach Pro springs and Bilstein B4 dampers to freshen it up at some point.
Unlocked the hidden menu to have a look at the water temp, hasn’t gone above 60deg on the way to get the tires fitted so maybe thermostat gone? Averaging 25.9 mpg according to the dash.

[texasjohn]

I’d expect coolant temp to be around 80-85 unless it was a really short journey?

[Boobonman]

Yeah, seems to be running very cool. The exhaust has seemed a bit steamy for a while (doesn’t use any coolant though) but no real noticeable hit on fuel economy. Is it a big job on one of these? We’ve had it for nearly three years but I rarely drive it, have used it more over Xmas and genre is definitely a list of jobs starting to grow.

[zippyonline]

Changed my stat when I changed my waterpump. It's not too bad a job, and as it's an electric waterpump, it bleeds itself without starting the engine. One of the connectors was a bit of a pig and involved some prybars to get off and some awakward pushing - otherwise all ok, suspect a specialist would be a bit better than me on my driveway attempting the job for the first time. Stat is about £60 for an OEM part from memory.

A couple of things to note:

1. A buggered stat sometimes shows up as a shadow code on INPA/Carly etc.
2. It was definitely noticeable how much more quickly the engine warms up when the stat isn't stuck open! I generally do longer journeys so it wasn't too bad, but I'd deffo get it changed asap if you do a lot of short journeys! I don't boot the car until my oil level reading starts working (as it doesn't read until engine is up to temperature...I do intend to get 335i clocks in mine so I can see oil temp, but until then...). When my stat was stuck, my 4-5 mile trip to the nearest dual carriageway, my car wasn't wam enough to boot it full pelt down the slip road, whereas with the working stat, it is.
3. These engines do warm up pretty quickly when everything is fine.

Ok, that's three things.

[Boobonman]

I suppose I ought to get one of these Carly things, I wouldn’t be suprised if the car had been running around at that temp for the last couple of years / 15,000 miles or so. Annoying that it hasn’t got a temp gauge without getting all hacker, I probably would’ve twigged earlier if there was a more obvious visual clue. Testament to the strength of the N52 I suppose that it hasn’t grumbled about running lukewarm.

[stevesingo]

Some good info on the cooling system in this doc

http://lindvigs.com/obioban/spec.pdf

[JakeT]

The steamy exhaust isn't something to worry about either. Both my 325ti and 328ci do this. I just think at low engine speeds the exhaust doesn't get overly hot. As long as it disappears on a run you're all fine.

[Boobonman]

The heaters are toasty too. Weird. I don’t really want to change the thermostat unless I need to. I’ll keep an eye on the obc thing on a run and see if I can get it hot.

[zippyonline]

Worth noting that with the electric water pump, it does some clever stuff and runs the engine cooler for efficiency and hotter for performance (or whatever way round it is) depending on what you're asking of the engine... hence I think why they didn't put a water temp on the car as many owners would be asking why it was moving all the time.

[stevesingo]

zippyonline said:

Worth noting that with the electric water pump, it does some clever stuff and runs the engine cooler for efficiency and hotter for performance (or whatever way round it is) depending on what you're asking of the engine... hence I think why they didn't put a water temp on the car as many owners would be asking why it was moving all the time.

The four modes are as follows (there is a PDF online that I am referencing here):
• 112°C ECO mode (economy)
• 105°C Normal mode
• 95°C High mode
• 80°C High + mapped thermostat mode

[bodhi]

stevesingo said:

The four modes are as follows (there is a PDF online that I am referencing here):
• 112°C ECO mode (economy)
• 105°C Normal mode
• 95°C High mode
• 80°C High + mapped thermostat mode

That's great info, thanks for posting. After getting a bit frustrated with BMW's inability to fit a temperature gauge, I bought an OBD reader and installed Torque, and was slightly concerned to see the coolant sitting at 100 degrees - looks like it's working as designed.