E91 Straight Six Bearding

[MajorMantra]

christhreadgill said:

They could be, but hard to say. Have you had the vacuum lines smoke-tested for any leaks?

I always recommend cleaning out the Vanos filters also - easy job to DIY and eliminates another variable for £0.00 outlay.

On my list to do!

[Court_S]

Swervin_Mervin said:

Anyone know who the OEM were for headlights? Was it Valeo?

Pretty sure that they were.

[Swervin_Mervin]

Court_S said:

Swervin_Mervin said:

Anyone know who the OEM were for headlights? Was it Valeo?

Pretty sure that they were.

Ta. Considering new headlights as well. Valeo can be had for about £300 for the pair which is considerably less than Hella's units

Mine look heavily pitted but oddly I think it's all on the inside of the lens. I might try taking them off first and checking it's not a build up of dust.

[pmorg4]

Just been out for a short drive with my eldest and I could tell something wasn't quite right. My first thought was a loose wheel bolt or missing wheel weight, I wasn't far from home and it was very subtle so drove back and as soon as I got out of the car the tell tale smell of cooking brakes gave me the answer! Felt each wheel and it's definitely the left rear caliper, must be pretty well seized to smell like that after such a short stint.

I'm going to replace it as I don't think it's worth the hassle trying to replace pistons and seals etc on a cheap single piston caliper. Does anyone have any suggestions for what brand to go for? Febi do one that's reasonably priced and I've always had good experience with their stuff. I'm guessing the OE caliper is made by ATE but I haven't seen any for sale in my very brief search.

Also would you recommend changing the pair or just the seized one for now?

[helix402]

pmorg4 said:

Just been out for a short drive with my eldest and I could tell something wasn't quite right. My first thought was a loose wheel bolt or missing wheel weight, I wasn't far from home and it was very subtle so drove back and as soon as I got out of the car the tell tale smell of cooking brakes gave me the answer! Felt each wheel and it's definitely the left rear caliper, must be pretty well seized to smell like that after such a short stint.

I'm going to replace it as I don't think it's worth the hassle trying to replace pistons and seals etc on a cheap single piston caliper. Does anyone have any suggestions for what brand to go for? Febi do one that's reasonably priced and I've always had good experience with their stuff. I'm guessing the OE caliper is made by ATE but I haven't seen any for sale in my very brief search.

Also would you recommend changing the pair or just the seized one for now?

I usually go for an exchange caliper from ECP. Not the cheapest but it’s a genuine caliper rebuilt well. Quite a few of the ones you buy outright are Chinese and not the best quality. I’d just change the faulty one.

[christhreadgill]

Had a lovely few deliveries arrive this morning.

First, a batch of front & rear suspension mounts from BMW Park Lane as ever (Joe Hazell is a great chap for parts!).



And then the super exciting one. Big old package (27kg!) from Kevin at Birds Auto. Full “B3” kit from Birds for the E91.

[helix402]

christhreadgill said:

Had a lovely few deliveries arrive this morning.

First, a batch of front & rear suspension mounts from BMW Park Lane as ever (Joe Hazell is a great chap for parts!).



And then the super exciting one. Big old package (27kg!) from Kevin at Birds Auto. Full “B3” kit from Birds for the E91.

Excellent choice! You won’t regret it.

[pmorg4]

helix402 said:

I usually go for an exchange caliper from ECP. Not the cheapest but it’s a genuine caliper rebuilt well. Quite a few of the ones you buy outright are Chinese and not the best quality. I’d just change the faulty one.

Thanks. I'll see what my nearest ECP has in stock.

[Swervin_Mervin]

pmorg4 said:

Just been out for a short drive with my eldest and I could tell something wasn't quite right. My first thought was a loose wheel bolt or missing wheel weight, I wasn't far from home and it was very subtle so drove back and as soon as I got out of the car the tell tale smell of cooking brakes gave me the answer! Felt each wheel and it's definitely the left rear caliper, must be pretty well seized to smell like that after such a short stint.

I'm going to replace it as I don't think it's worth the hassle trying to replace pistons and seals etc on a cheap single piston caliper. Does anyone have any suggestions for what brand to go for? Febi do one that's reasonably priced and I've always had good experience with their stuff. I'm guessing the OE caliper is made by ATE but I haven't seen any for sale in my very brief search.

Also would you recommend changing the pair or just the seized one for now?

Ordered mine a couple of weeks back from Autodoc and they were with me within 2 days! TRW - £58 for the left rear and £64 for the right rear

[pmorg4]

Swervin_Mervin said:

Ordered mine a couple of weeks back from Autodoc and they were with me within 2 days! TRW - £58 for the left rear and £64 for the right rear

If I was confident it would arrive in two days I'd be ordering a TRW caliper right now! Unfortunately it's a bit of a gamble with Autodoc, could be 3 weeks.

Just checked ECP and the only option the website is showing is a Pagid caliper for £156...

[christhreadgill]

helix402 said:

Excellent choice! You won’t regret it!

Can’t wait to get it all fitted, paired with the M3 arms.

Just need the engine back now

[Swervin_Mervin]

pmorg4 said:

Swervin_Mervin said:

Ordered mine a couple of weeks back from Autodoc and they were with me within 2 days! TRW - £58 for the left rear and £64 for the right rear

If I was confident it would arrive in two days I'd be ordering a TRW caliper right now! Unfortunately it's a bit of a gamble with Autodoc, could be 3 weeks.

Just checked ECP and the only option the website is showing is a Pagid caliper for £156...

I've ordered a few times recently and delivery has been quick

[Court_S]

pmorg4 said:

Thanks. I'll see what my nearest ECP has in stock.

I bought a Febi calliper from Parts in Motion recently. It was forty quid with a discount code for signing up to their newsletter. Arrived quickly too.

[JakeT]

christhreadgill said:

Had a lovely few deliveries arrive this morning.

First, a batch of front & rear suspension mounts from BMW Park Lane as ever (Joe Hazell is a great chap for parts!).



And then the super exciting one. Big old package (27kg!) from Kevin at Birds Auto. Full “B3” kit from Birds for the E91.

Oh excellent. I refreshed the birds kit in mine in 2021. My parts stash looked the exact same. Bar the £1,500 bill (fitted myself) I was very excited. I also now have a full set of spare springs and dampers now just in case.

130,000 miles my car has done on birds now and all of it has been great.

[Court_S]

christhreadgill said:

Had a lovely few deliveries arrive this morning.

First, a batch of front & rear suspension mounts from BMW Park Lane as ever (Joe Hazell is a great chap for parts!).



And then the super exciting one. Big old package (27kg!) from Kevin at Birds Auto. Full “B3” kit from Birds for the E91.

Good stuff. I really rated the Birds kit fitted to my 130i. If I wasn’t so tight, I’d have bought it for my 335i.

[christhreadgill]

Court_S said:

Good stuff. I really rated the Birds kit fitted to my 130i. If I wasn’t so tight, I’d have bought it for my 335i.

I wasn't looking to dive in on the suspension until the engine was back in & a few miles done. But when the NSF shock dropped out of the still body-mounted top mount the other weekend, it kind of forced my hand!

~£2k all in, including all the new mounts, brackets, bolts & other hardware from BMW. Not too offensive for what is such a highly rated setup. Still, hope it's as good as everyone says at the price point though!

[Swervin_Mervin]

Just ordered two replacement front fogs. Magneti Marelli off Autodoc. Let them sit in the basket for a week and got them for £45/ea + delivery.

[iacabu]

This is my first time posting in here, but I recently sold my 535d and I'm on the hunt for a new car. An e91 330i manual is on the list.

Reading this thread backs up my search results...they aren't an easy find. Perhaps someone on here is contemplating selling? There is a cheap auto available at Binca but I'm not sure I want auto this time round. There's also a 335i touring manual on eBay ending just before lunch time today, but I don't think I fancy the risk or to buy unseen

For a bit of history, I've owned the following BMWs amongst other things: e60 535d, e46 328i touring auto, e46 325i se auto, e46 330ci auto

[cerb4.5lee]

iacabu said:

This is my first time posting in here, but I recently sold my 535d and I'm on the hunt for a new car. An e91 330i manual is on the list.

Reading this thread backs up my search results...they aren't an easy find.

I accepted my E90 330i auto for what it was, and it did what I needed it to do. However given my time again I would definitely hold out for a manual though. The N52 engine deserves a manual gearbox in my opinion.

[Court_S]

iacabu said:

This is my first time posting in here, but I recently sold my 535d and I'm on the hunt for a new car. An e91 330i manual is on the list.

Reading this thread backs up my search results...they aren't an easy find. Perhaps someone on here is contemplating selling? There is a cheap auto available at Binca but I'm not sure I want auto this time round. There's also a 335i touring manual on eBay ending just before lunch time today, but I don't think I fancy the risk or to buy unseen

For a bit of history, I've owned the following BMWs amongst other things: e60 535d, e46 328i touring auto, e46 325i se auto, e46 330ci auto

An E91 330i is hard enough to find, let alone a manual. Add in wanting a decent spec and it gets even harder - mate of mine lucked out finding a decent E91 330i with xenons, heated seats and nav. He had to settle for silver with black leather and an auto though. He's had the gearbox remapped and thinks its much better as a result.

Good luck with the search.