E91 Straight Six Bearding

[JakeT]

Swervin_Mervin said:

Collected my car from Darren Woods on Monday. It had gone in Friday to ahve a few jobs done:

Replacement PAS rack - supplied them with a 2nd hand one which they reckon is ok.
New oil sump pan gasket
New cam cover gasket
Replacement rear calipers - the n/s one started binding really badly, to the extent that aftera high speed run and heavy stop there was lots of smoke and some crackling noises...

All sorted now. Just need to get the tracking re-done. And it seems I may have a near 17yo BMW with no oil leaks!

Also just got delivery of 2 new headlight washer from BMW. Some stock had come in so I went for it. THey don't look as solid as the originals, and definitely a different design on the cap of the outer half of the unit. Will get those fitted at some point soon and keep the cheapo one and non-broken original as spares.

Good stuff. I bet the bill made you wince a little! But driving nicely and not leaking is a lovely way to do things. The washers aren’t too difficult to fit if you can get the front of the car lifted.

[crustyclown777]

Swervin_Mervin said:

Collected my car from Darren Woods on Monday. It had gone in Friday to ahve a few jobs done:

Replacement PAS rack - supplied them with a 2nd hand one which they reckon is ok.
New oil sump pan gasket
New cam cover gasket
Replacement rear calipers - the n/s one started binding really badly, to the extent that aftera high speed run and heavy stop there was lots of smoke and some crackling noises...

All sorted now. Just need to get the tracking re-done. And it seems I may have a near 17yo BMW with no oil leaks!

Also just got delivery of 2 new headlight washer from BMW. Some stock had come in so I went for it. THey don't look as solid as the originals, and definitely a different design on the cap of the outer half of the unit. Will get those fitted at some point soon and keep the cheapo one and non-broken original as spares.

Hey, sounds good! Curious to know what was up with your rack, mine has a bit of play, so I'm going to adjust the pre-load this weekend. Fingers crossed.

[Court_S]

pmorg4 said:

It'll be fine - lumbar is a "dumb" system that simply gets a 12V supply and the switch directly powers the pump and valves. There is no coding or bus communications etc involved. Bolsters are the same - pump and valves, no coding.

Heating is controlled via the junction box which communicates with either the seat module (for more advanced options like memory seats) or the heating module (for more basic seats with heating) so you'd need to check if that is compatible with the M3 seats. I'm assuming being a coupe that both will have memory so will have the full module, which should transfer across fine I'd have thought. Hopefully there are no significant wiring changes over the years, I'll have a look on the WDS and see if I can spot anything.

The M3 interior sounds lovely, looking forward to seeing it.

Edited by pmorg4 on Wednesday 8th February 16:55

Thanks. That’s what I was hoping for; annoyingly it’s now sold. Was a bargain too at £450.

I’ve found a set of red leather which will probably be easier since it’s from a car with the Hi Fi pro, so has the extra rear speakers etc.

[Swervin_Mervin]

JakeT said:

Good stuff. I bet the bill made you wince a little! But driving nicely and not leaking is a lovely way to do things. The washers aren’t too difficult to fit if you can get the front of the car lifted.

Not too bad really - was about £1k all in, including parts and labour. Labour was £390 + VAT. They didn't use the new rack boots I ordered either as they reckoned they were fine, so if anyone ever wants any.. That would've saved me £90 mind

[Swervin_Mervin]

crustyclown777 said:

Hey, sounds good! Curious to know what was up with your rack, mine has a bit of play, so I'm going to adjust the pre-load this weekend. Fingers crossed.

The reack was leaking. Looked to me to be msiting out of the top where the feed and return connect, but I couldn't be sure. It ran a bit dry last year and even though I filled it as soon as it got noisy, I noticed a couple of months back that it was noisy again despite not being low on fluid.

Given the sump gasket leak I just thought I'd splash out. In reality it probably would've carried on for a long time yet.

[Jakg]

Court_S said:

As my 335i is hanging around for a bit longer, I’ve been toying with the idea of changing the seats / door cards because the black is, well black.

I’ve found an M3 interior in bamboo. The downside is that it’s from an LCI car and it doesn’t have lumbar (which I don’t use anyway). I know the active head restraints won’t work, but will the car have a tantrum if there is no lumbar function? Can anyone confirm if the other functions like heating / bolsters will be fine.

I have a set of LCI sport seats in my pre-LCI SE - heating and memory works fine. Active headrests are a non-issue - you just don't plug them in (there's no plug on the car).

Obviously E91 is different to E92 & M3.

[Court_S]

Jakg said:

I have a set of LCI sport seats in my pre-LCI SE - heating and memory works fine. Active headrests are a non-issue - you just don't plug them in (there's no plug on the car).

Obviously E91 is different to E92 & M3.

Thanks.

Looks like I’m taking the easy option with a set Rotbraun interior from a pre-LCI car with heated function, lumbar and hifi pro.

[JakeT]

Swervin_Mervin said:

JakeT said:

Good stuff. I bet the bill made you wince a little! But driving nicely and not leaking is a lovely way to do things. The washers aren’t too difficult to fit if you can get the front of the car lifted.

Not too bad really - was about £1k all in, including parts and labour. Labour was £390 + VAT. They didn't use the new rack boots I ordered either as they reckoned they were fine, so if anyone ever wants any.. That would've saved me £90 mind

That’s not bad at all I’d say. Great stuff.

[pmorg4]

Just spotted this, looks in decent condition for the money and reasonable spec (xenon, heated seats)

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202302144...

[d_a_n1979]

pmorg4 said:

Just spotted this, looks in decent condition for the money and reasonable spec (xenon, heated seats)

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202302144...

Get that for c£5k and it'd be hell of a car... Some TLC and it'll be spot on!

[Court_S]

pmorg4 said:

Just spotted this, looks in decent condition for the money and reasonable spec (xenon, heated seats)

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202302144...

That looks decent for the cash. A petrol touring with xenon’s is a rare beast.

[MajorMantra]

I'm guessing the £630 tax is putting a few buyers off. Shame!

[Court_S]

MajorMantra said:

I'm guessing the £630 tax is putting a few buyers off. Shame!

Ouch. I assume the tax is because it’s a manual (mine is much less than that).

[pmorg4]

Court_S said:

Ouch. I assume the tax is because it’s a manual (mine is much less than that).

Good point, I didn't spot that. Not that £630 is a huge amount of annual outlay in the context of keeping an N54 running well, but it would put me off as I despise paying it out of principle.

I think the reason the tax is higher as it's an earlier model, before BMW figured out how to manipulate (ahem, optimise) the car's fuel efficiency on the standardised test. I'm not sure what the cut off date is, but at some point around 2008 they dropped into a lower tax bracket. As far as I'm aware there's no difference between manual and auto for the same production date.

[Court_S]

pmorg4 said:

Good point, I didn't spot that. Not that £630 is a huge amount of annual outlay in the context of keeping an N54 running well, but it would put me off as I despise paying it out of principle.

I think the reason the tax is higher as it's an earlier model, before BMW figured out how to manipulate (ahem, optimise) the car's fuel efficiency on the standardised test. I'm not sure what the cut off date is, but at some point around 2008 they dropped into a lower tax bracket. As far as I'm aware there's no difference between manual and auto for the same production date.

That’d make sense, mine is £300 and something for the year. I think it was pretty much the same as my 130i I had before.

[sam.rog]

Court_S said:

pmorg4 said:

Good point, I didn't spot that. Not that £630 is a huge amount of annual outlay in the context of keeping an N54 running well, but it would put me off as I despise paying it out of principle.

I think the reason the tax is higher as it's an earlier model, before BMW figured out how to manipulate (ahem, optimise) the car's fuel efficiency on the standardised test. I'm not sure what the cut off date is, but at some point around 2008 they dropped into a lower tax bracket. As far as I'm aware there's no difference between manual and auto for the same production date.

That’d make sense, mine is £300 and something for the year. I think it was pretty much the same as my 130i I had before.

That would put me off. In fact I sold my last car because it had the same tax rate. It seemed a lot of money to pay every ear when the exact same car e few months either side was half the cost.
N54 are costly enough to run proper without the extra £600 kick in the balls before you start.

[Court_S]

sam.rog said:

That would put me off. In fact I sold my last car because it had the same tax rate. It seemed a lot of money to pay every ear when the exact same car e few months either side was half the cost.
N54 are costly enough to run proper without the extra £600 kick in the balls before you start.

It can certainly be a barrier; I couldn’t see past the £600 a year VED on the Mk5 R32. Fir me it just wasn’t fast enough to deal with that. I could suck it up for something like an M3 but struggle with slower stuff.

[Mr Tidy]

£630 a year tax would definitely be off-putting for a £6K car, although I think later 335is are in a lower band.

I'm willing to pay it for my Z4M Coupe, but could only justify it for a 3 Series if it was an M3!

[Fulla]

Fulla said:

It's booked in on the 9th to a local BMW specialist. I've replaced the cap and washer on the power steering reservoir which I believed to be the source.
I had ordered the washer and cap separately and when I collected from BMW the cap does come with the washer. I had to laugh at the parts chap as I told him I wouldn't need the washer on its own and requested my money back. (had to pre-pay as it wasn't a stock item). He grumbled that he would have to write the £4.99 washer off....

So wasn't the steering fluid reservoir. It was another leak form a seal that requires the manifold off...
But booked in next week and am told it will take a dayton do.
So at least it's been traced and will be fixed.

[Court_S]

Mr Tidy said:

£630 a year tax would definitely be off-putting for a £6K car, although I think later 335is are in a lower band.

I'm willing to pay it for my Z4M Coupe, but could only justify it for a 3 Series if it was an M3!

Indeed. Mine is just over £300 a year.