What have you done to your BMW today?

[danb79]

Dannbodge said:

Bought a pair of chrome kidneys, painted the inners black and then swapped them out with the all black double slat ones on the 535.

Something about the black ones just didn't do it for me

OEM chrome always look much better

First thing I did on my 130i and binned the black ones

[aturnick54]

danb79 said:

OEM chrome always look much better

First thing I did on my 130i and binned the black ones

Depends for me. If the window trims are chrome, then chrome grills look better. But if the window trim is black, then I think a matching grill goes well.

[sortedcossie]

I think the colour of the car affects this as well. There is a melborne red F30 by us, shadowline so all gloss black trim - grilles been changed to match, looks nice.

[rottenegg]

danb79 said:

Dannbodge said:

Bought a pair of chrome kidneys, painted the inners black and then swapped them out with the all black double slat ones on the 535.

Something about the black ones just didn't do it for me

OEM chrome always look much better

First thing I did on my 130i and binned the black ones

Agreed. My F30 had some crappy ebay copy F80 grilles on it from the previous owner, so they went straight into the Wheelie Bin.

[danb79]

aturnick54 said:

danb79 said:

OEM chrome always look much better

First thing I did on my 130i and binned the black ones

Depends for me. If the window trims are chrome, then chrome grills look better. But if the window trim is black, then I think a matching grill goes well.

Yeah that I get

I’ve got OEM single slay black grilles on the F31 because they suit the black accents of the M Sport trim, lip kit and the M Performance side decals etc

But on my previous E39 Sport’s and my E81 130i; the OEM chrome grilles work best

[cerb4.5lee]

danb79 said:

aturnick54 said:

danb79 said:

OEM chrome always look much better

First thing I did on my 130i and binned the black ones

Depends for me. If the window trims are chrome, then chrome grills look better. But if the window trim is black, then I think a matching grill goes well.

Yeah that I get

I’ve got OEM single slay black grilles on the F31 because they suit the black accents of the M Sport trim, lip kit and the M Performance side decals etc

But on my previous E39 Sport’s and my E81 130i; the OEM chrome grilles work best

I remember when I first got the F82 M4, and my missus said that I needed to ditch the chrome grills straight away on it(and swap to black OEM ones), because they reminded her of my old E90 330i, and she never liked that car for example.

I didn't mind the E90 330i as an all rounder in fairness, but I would agree with her that the E90 330d was the better car for us overall though in comparison.

[Mr Tidy]

Thankfully my Z4M came with all black kidneys as the OE ones with chrome surrounds would have looked wrong to me with no other chrome on the car!

[aturnick54]

danb79 said:

Yeah that I get

I’ve got OEM single slay black grilles on the F31 because they suit the black accents of the M Sport trim, lip kit and the M Performance side decals etc

But on my previous E39 Sport’s and my E81 130i; the OEM chrome grilles work best

Now I draw the line at putting double slat grills on a non-M Performance car. Single slat looks best

[Pincher]

Not today but the weekend. New rear badge and grille to protect the rad.

[CRA1G]

I must admit I'm fed up of pulling leaves out of the rad....

[Pincher]

I had a chunk of polystyrene in there when I went to fit the grille

Leaving the rad that exposed is a bit of an aesthetic design flaw IMO.

[danb79]

aturnick54 said:

Now I draw the line at putting double slat grills on a non-M Performance car. Single slat looks best

Agree; that's why I binned them the weekend I got the car. Cheap crappy aftermarket double slat grilles = bin fodder

[Dannbodge]

aturnick54 said:

Depends for me. If the window trims are chrome, then chrome grills look better. But if the window trim is black, then I think a matching grill goes well.

The Fxx is an odd one.
I've got gloss black window surrounds and roof rails, but the door handle inserts and side repeaters are chrome.

I'm still not 100% sold on the chrome on the white.

[AlexGSi2000]

danb79 said:

Sounds a good job well done

It was a Febi rocker cover I used for the engine overhaul on my 130i. They’re very well made and come with decent gaskets too

Yeah, I'm hoping it will be a good part - used Febi for many things over the years.
The BMW original part was over £400, so decided to take my chances - I think if I were paying a garage I would have been more inclined to go for the genuine part.

Noticed that I've now got some resonation at idle - presume I've not mounted a part of the plastic intake / engine covers properly.
Will give them a good check over later.

Booked into Dervtech on Friday afternoon for its remap. This was the family car I was going to leave alone and just maintain, obviously still a trace of boy racer running in the veins.

[AlexGSi2000]

danb79 said:

The touring got a good seeing to inside and out this morning as well...

Looks great - how are you finding the later generation BMWs compared to the older stuff?

I just cant seem to gel with mine yet - much happier sat in an e39.

[danb79]

AlexGSi2000 said:

danb79 said:

The touring got a good seeing to inside and out this morning as well...

Looks great - how are you finding the later generation BMWs compared to the older stuff?

I just cant seem to gel with mine yet - much happier sat in an e39.

In all honesty it’s a superb car; the ZF8 and engine are a superb combo and after the full suspension overhaul, it’s just a different car

Rides, handles so much better. It’s quieter too. The 18” non RFTs help a lot

I loved my E39s, more so my touring. But I’d never go back…

[sortedcossie]

I've owned the 4 generations of 3 series up to our current one which is an F31 - the F31 (ours is a really high spec'd 335d) is such a great all rounder.

[danb79]

sortedcossie said:

I've owned the 4 generations of 3 series up to our current one which is an F31 - the F31 (ours is a really high spec'd 335d) is such a great all rounder.

Agree. Ours does everything we need. It’s got a great load space and when the seats are down, you can get a lot in there

It’s a relaxing drive too; any long distance journey we do we always get out feeling fresh etc

[MissChief]

Yesterday, but it went for MOT, a clean pass, no advisories. When I bought it in June 2021 there were the usual naysayers 'It'll cost a fortune to keep it running' and 'better hope it doesn't breakdown', but it's been faultless. Sure, it's cost upkeep, 4 tyres (£763!), yearly oil changes, front and rear pads, Ceramic coating, gearbox service, brake fluid change and a new battery, but it's never stopped, failed to proceed or not started. Every MOT since I bought it hasn't even had any advisories except when it needed new tyres. It's possibly been the most reliable car I've had in decades.

I'm currently now in two minds as to keeping it and passing my test and getting a motorbike (a BMW!) or considering a change of car. I suspect the Motorbike may win out.

[rottenegg]

Pincher said:

I had a chunk of polystyrene in there when I went to fit the grille

Leaving the rad that exposed is a bit of an aesthetic design flaw IMO.

I've found a dead bird in front of the intercooler. My first and obvious thought wasn't how the feck did it get there, but rather annoyance at having to take the grille off to fish it out.