E91 Straight Six Bearding

[g3org3y]

RECr said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-BMW-3-Series-3-0-3...


N53, quite a good spec (shame about the lack of xenons). I'm sure it was on with the same dealer last year.

That metal trim needs to be wood imo. (Imitation?) carbon fibre gear knob looks out of place.

As you mention, no xenons (or heated seats).

[anonymous-user]

Seeing how much these 330i's are listing for certainly makes me feel better about how much my 330d cost

[pmorg4]

Naldrett said:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103300...

Quite a nice spec here with pan roof, xenons, heated electric sports seats and rare professional sound system (think that is what it is). Looks a bit tatty here and there and not a fan of great leather myself (especially with silver!?) but interesting nonetheless.

That's not an M-Sport. It has sports seats and wheels but that's about it - SE bumpers, chrome exterior trim, SE steering wheel, grey headlining etc. The sound system looks good though, might even be individual audio judging by the speakers that you can see through the grilles, which was a very expensive option.

[pmorg4]

RECr said:

Two manuals on eBay:


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-330i-manual-m-sport...

N52, highish mileage, quite basic spec, but the alcantara interior counts in its favour for me. Misspelled advert is a bit offputting, although it seems well cared for. The price seems on the high side.

That's a nice example and the mileage wouldn't put me off at all, it's probably about (or below) average for its age. Agree on the alcantara, much nicer than leather, especially the plastic-esque stuff most of these cars come with. The only advantage of leather is you can wipe it clean which is handy when you have kids. If it wasn't for that I'd be looking to swap out my leather for an alcantara interior.

[RECr]

pmorg4 said:

snip...The only advantage of leather is you can wipe it clean which is handy when you have kids. If it wasn't for that I'd be looking to swap out my leather for an alcantara interior.

Exactly the case for me aswell.

[beambeam1]

Yeah, I've come to love the Alcantara in my current E91 after having leather in my old one. I do miss the heated seats though.

Discs and pads for a 2005 325i, any suggestions/recommendations? I'm thinking of doing front and rear in one hit. I'm after seeing a bit of a lip developing when I had the wheels off to change bulbs last week.

EDIT: Just wanted to add that I'm after finding out my old E91 is back on the road after being written off so if anyone owns or knows the owner of SM06 UXV (Black 325i, lemon interior) then I've loads of info/history for them.

[d_a_n1979]

beambeam1 said:

Yeah, I've come to love the Alcantara in my current E91 after having leather in my old one. I do miss the heated seats though.

Discs and pads for a 2005 325i, any suggestions/recommendations? I'm thinking of doing front and rear in one hit. I'm after seeing a bit of a lip developing when I had the wheels off to change bulbs last week.

EDIT: Just wanted to add that I'm after finding out my old E91 is back on the road after being written off so if anyone owns or knows the owner of SM06 UXV (Black 325i, lemon interior) then I've loads of info/history for them.

Re heated seats pal; this is what I have for both front seats:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/KINGLETING-Cushion-Intell...

They work really well and they fit down the centre of the seat well. Much more controllable than a lot of the others that are just on/off, high/low etc

Like you, I love the Alcantara seats in my touring, makes life easier when it comes to cleaning the car as they just get hoovered

Re brakes; my personal choices are either Mtec C Hook discs with EBC Yellowstuff pads (Mtec Brakes website sells both and with a good discount on the EBC pads), or currently I'm running ATE 'PowerDiscs' with their ATE Ceramic pads and they're superb. Really low dust too.

Even though I'm not a huge fan of Autodoc because of their useless delivery (it takes ages sometimes and with crap tracking until it hits the UK shores); they offer the best prices for ATE

However, if you just want blank discs and pads, I'd go Mintex/Jurid/Textar/ATE or Brembo for discs and Jurid/Textar for pads (they're all OEM) and you should be able to source them via ECP or via eBay & the likes

I'd highly recommend HEL braided lines though; they make for a much better brake feel

[helix402]

Gen BMW or ATE are a good choice for brakes.

[MajorMantra]

My go-to for reasonably priced brake parts was Pagid but as I've mentioned previously on this thread the Pagid rear discs I fitted a while back were slightly out of spec and the inside of the 'hat' was rubbing on the parking brake assembly.

I went with ATE discs and Textar pads when I did the fronts and have no complaints at all.

Don't forget to buy new pad wear sensors too (one for each axle IIRC).

[helix402]

MajorMantra said:

My go-to for reasonably priced brake parts was Pagid but as I've mentioned previously on this thread the Pagid rear discs I fitted a while back were slightly out of spec and the inside of the 'hat' was rubbing on the parking brake assembly.

I went with ATE discs and Textar pads when I did the fronts and have no complaints at all.

Don't forget to buy new pad wear sensors too (one for each axle IIRC).

I stopped fitting Pagid pads a while ago after too many squeaked.

[bmwmike]

+1 for ATE, wouldnt fit anything else

[ferrisbueller]

I fitted two sets of Brembos on the front of mine. First set warped, replaced under warranty. Second set warped, refunded. Went and bought OEM from Cotswold. No issues. A friend found similar with Brembo on his E91.

[paulguitar]

Can anyone suggest what might be the potential problem I have with my N53 330i? Motorway speeds, shortly starting the journey, EML came on and the car was shuddering/stuttering. I pulled into a layby, switched the engine off, and restarted, and all running smoothly again. This happened twice today.

[g3org3y]

If it came up with an EML, it should have logged an error code. Get a code reader on it.

[MajorMantra]

Yep, even a boggo code reader should help here if it's engine-related. From the description, a misfire sounds likely so possibly a coil. If the code indicates a misfire, swap two coils over and see if the fault follows to narrow it down.

[paulguitar]

Thanks, chaps. I've ordered a Creator C310 and will report back having read the code.

[g3org3y]

Good plan, it's a decent piece of kit and been invaluable to me with on my various BMWs.

[beambeam1]

Thanks to all the replied re: discs and pads suggestions. Currently shopping around for prices the now but RealOEM only shows me 330x24 for front discs whilst BMW parts are stating it as 300x20 I am after. Got a spreadsheet going...

d_a_n1979 said:

Re brakes; my personal choices are either Mtec C Hook discs with EBC Yellowstuff pads (Mtec Brakes website sells both and with a good discount on the EBC pads), or currently I'm running ATE 'PowerDiscs' with their ATE Ceramic pads and they're superb. Really low dust too.

Even though I'm not a huge fan of Autodoc because of their useless delivery (it takes ages sometimes and with crap tracking until it hits the UK shores); they offer the best prices for ATE

However, if you just want blank discs and pads, I'd go Mintex/Jurid/Textar/ATE or Brembo for discs and Jurid/Textar for pads (they're all OEM) and you should be able to source them via ECP or via eBay & the likes

I'd highly recommend HEL braided lines though; they make for a much better brake feel

Sadly, I already have a set of OEM brake lines to swap out although the guys working on the car most recently were keen to state there was nowt wrong with the current ones. Think since I have them I will just do it and get a complete overhaul carried out.

helix402 said:

Gen BMW or ATE are a good choice for brakes.

Leaning towards these options myself! More so, ATE.

MajorMantra said:

My go-to for reasonably priced brake parts was Pagid but as I've mentioned previously on this thread the Pagid rear discs I fitted a while back were slightly out of spec and the inside of the 'hat' was rubbing on the parking brake assembly.

I went with ATE discs and Textar pads when I did the fronts and have no complaints at all.

Don't forget to buy new pad wear sensors too (one for each axle IIRC).

I have a couple left over from my last car, think I ordered two but received two per axle! E91 only takes one per.

Think I need to get the wheels off and measure discs myself...

[ferrisbueller]

I've a set of 17" style 194 winter wheels shod with Vredestein Wintrac tyres I need to move on if anyone has any interest?
Wheels were refurbed a couple of years ago. Tyres have lots left in them.

[beambeam1]

How much you likely after for them?