E90 M3 - FACELIFT?

[TIMSTURLA]

Hi,

I'm looking at M3 DCT cars at the mo. I was wondering whether BMW had done a "facelift" or whether they are all essentially the same across the timeline. (I've had E60 5-series both pre & post facelift and the difference was quite significant).

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Tim

[JNW1]

TIMSTURLA said:

Hi,

I'm looking at M3 DCT cars at the mo. I was wondering whether BMW had done a "facelift" or whether they are all essentially the same across the timeline. (I've had E60 5-series both pre & post facelift and the difference was quite significant).

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Tim

Not aware of any significant facelifts on the E90 M3 although in the case of cars with DCT I think there have been a number of software upgrades over the years to sort various glitches. The sat-nav and i-drive changed in line with the other 3 Series models for the 2009 model year and apparently the later system is much better than the original. In theory the first of those cars would be available on a 58 plate from late 2008 onwards but, due to the economic climate at the time, BMW were struggling to shift cars and hence you'll see quite a few "old stock" M3's with the original i-drive on 2009-09 plates. The other change I'm aware of was the introduction of stop-start which I think happened in early 2010; that improved the published fuel consumption by a couple of mpg and if a car's got it the combined figure should be just over 25mpg.

ETA:
Doesn't really qualify as a facelift but the Competition Pack also became available from early 2010; EDC and slightly reduced ride height as standard plus 19" E46 CSL-style wheels which to my eye look much nicer than the normal M3 design wheels!

Edited by JNW1 on Tuesday 27th March 08:28

[_bryan_]

Pretty sure there was a change to the rear lights at some point, couldn't tell you when that was though sorry.

[jonasaurus]

TIMSTURLA said:

Hi,

I'm looking at M3 DCT cars at the mo. I was wondering whether BMW had done a "facelift" or whether they are all essentially the same across the timeline. (I've had E60 5-series both pre & post facelift and the difference was quite significant).

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Tim

I assume you're talking about the 4dr saloon.

Main changes to be aware of are the LED tail lights being introduced and the new hard drive based navigation system / upgraded idrive. As stated above, software updates were provided for DCT M3s.

In other countries they had the competition pack available for builds from March 2010 if I'm not mistaken, we never got here in the UK for the E90 M3 but was available for the E92 M3.

[TIMSTURLA]

Thanks for your help so far.

I was talking about the coupe not the saloon - but all info is gratefully received - I haven't ruled out the saloon!

The info about the i-drive is handy. I drove a new-ish 3 series recently and the newer version of i-drive is MUCH better than the version in my E60 535D.

Thanks again,

Tim

[JNW1]

jonasaurus said:

In other countries they had the competition pack available for builds from March 2010 if I'm not mistaken, we never got here in the UK for the E90 M3 but was available for the E92 M3.

Good point, only seen coupes advertised with the Competition Pack so if the OP is after a saloon it's not an option; he did say E90 not E92 so I'll try to keep up in future.....

[TIMSTURLA]

Yes, sorry I meant E92. My OP was written last night, glass of wine in-hand - you know the story...

[jonasaurus]

TIMSTURLA said:

Yes, sorry I meant E92. My OP was written last night, glass of wine in-hand - you know the story...

All good, also worth noting the updated tail lights didn't happen for the E92 (coupe) until spring 2010 (same time the Competition pack came out) but the idrive got updated the same time as the E90 got its idrive update (which incidentally got the updated tail lights at the same time).

[jonasaurus]

TIMSTURLA said:

Thanks for your help so far.

I was talking about the coupe not the saloon - but all info is gratefully received - I haven't ruled out the saloon!

The info about the i-drive is handy. I drove a new-ish 3 series recently and the newer version of i-drive is MUCH better than the version in my E60 535D.

Thanks again,

Tim

Oh forgot to mention, if possible (although perhaps not really an issue for some) get the updated idrive! Although some have retrofitted the updated nav system to pre-facelift models (retrofitting also been done with the updated taillights too, but requires recoding).

[griff7]

jonasaurus said:

Oh forgot to mention, if possible (although perhaps not really an issue for some) get the updated idrive! Although some have retrofitted the updated nav system to pre-facelift models (retrofitting also been done with the updated taillights too, but requires recoding).

This was introduced on all cars built from september 08 onwards and was updated on 2011 cars as well to 7 digit post codes.There are lots of 09 and late 09 plate cars with the early drive that stood in dealers for a long time due to the recession.

[waremark]

jonasaurus said:

Oh forgot to mention, if possible (although perhaps not really an issue for some) get the updated idrive! Although some have retrofitted the updated nav system to pre-facelift models (retrofitting also been done with the updated taillights too, but requires recoding).

What is involved in retrofitting the newer nav system? I did not think that could be done (and generally use my Tomtom in my 2008 E92).

[jonasaurus]

waremark said:

What is involved in retrofitting the newer nav system? I did not think that could be done (and generally use my Tomtom in my 2008 E92).

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=477061&highlight=retrofit+cic

It does look like alot of work though!

[TIMSTURLA]

Just taken a look at the BMW AUC site and I can now see quite clearly which cars have the later i-drive. (Smaller controller knob and shortcut buttons). You're right about the varying ages of cars with/without this update.

Thanks again for your help.