BMW E92 330i M Sport Auto

[squareflops]

Well I didn't think I'd be doing another one of these so soon, but yet here we are with an introduction to another new arrival, my first auto. Given the weather this isn't going to be a grand unveiling with lots of beauty shots of the new BMW but rather a quick run out when it stops pouring down and snap a few caps with the car in it's current, unflattering position.

The reason for the BMW purchase is simple. I've planned a 2000 mile euro trip next May/June

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

and for one reason or another the Rover

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

although perfectly reliable and lovely to drive will be staying in the garage and the BMW will take its place. In prep for the trip I had a shortlist of a few cars. A boxster, ideal for southern Europe in early summer but I've already had one

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

so let's try some thing different I thought. I considered an SL350/500 but I couldn't see that being particularly easy to sell should (when) I want to so I turned my attention to the BM. Now I've had a 330i previously

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

But that didn't last long, It was a manual and tbh never really thrilled me. I do remember it being a very comfortable/capable cruiser however and thought I'd give the marque another chance to impress, this time around I'l try the auto as it will serve a lazy waft across Europe well.

The car in question came from a private seller who runs/and or is actively involved in a European E46 M3 race team no less! His triple garage had a lovely 1 owner low mileage E46 M3 in it and the driveway was exclusively BMW with 4/5 cars total. The car appears to have been well looked after and has recently had a new starter motor fitted, rear shocks, discs and pads and new front tyres (more on those in a sec). So decent preventative maintenance carried out and it stops and goes as it should.

The spec of the car (copied from https://www.mdecoder.com)

S1CAA Selection Of COP Relevant Vehicles
S205A Automatic Transmission
S2MPA BMW Alloy Wheel M Double Spoke 225
S302A Alarm System
P337A M Sports Package
S428A Warning Triangle And First Aid Kit
S431A Interior Mirror With Automaticdip
S441A Smoker Package
S481A Sports Seat
S4ADA Interior Trim Strips Alu Brushed Fine
S507A Park Distance Control PDC Rear
S521A Rain Sensor
S534A Automatic Air Conditioning
S544A Cruise Control With Brake Function
S563A Light Package
S609A Navigation System Professional
S612A BMW Assist
S620A Voice Control
S633A Preparation Mobile Phone Business
S672A CD Changer For 6 CDs
S704A M Sports Suspension
S715A M Aerodynamics Package
S760A High Gloss Shadow Line
S775A Headlining Anthracite
S7XAA M Leathr Wheelshift Paddlemultifunc
L812A National Version England Ireland
S850A DummySALAPA
S863A Retailer Directory Europe
S877A Delete Crosspattern Operation
S880A Onboard Vehicle Literature English
S8S2A Coding Alarm Signal
S8S3A Automatic Locking When Driving Off
S8SMA Car Ident Number Visible From Outside
S8SPA Control Unit COP

Standard Equipment

S459A Seat Adjuster Electric With Memory
S502A Headlight Cleaning System
S520A Fog Lights
S522A Xenon Light

Not a superb spec, but not bad either, I would have liked the upgraded hi-fi and heated seats but neither were a deal breaker and the car is so clean overall that I couldn't pass it up. A big plus for me is the car comes with the N52(K) spec engine which is known to have far less faults than the replacement N53 unit, the K designation also means that this N52 unit comes with a host of hardware upgrades to the cams/block etc etc so it's the one to have. It goes very very well.

Some pictures then, as said these aren't particularly good, I'll have that for the spring

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

It has been given one quick wash last weekend, filthy again now though

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and a few shots today

IMG_1698 by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

IMG_1699 by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

IMG_1701 by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

IMG_1702 by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

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IMG_1704 by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

IMG_1705 by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

IMG_1706 by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

IMG_1707 by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

IMG_1708 by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

IMG_1710 by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Initial Thoughts

I really like it. I wasn't sure how I was going to get on with the auto box but it's great. lumbers around effortlessly most of the time and then push the lever to the left and you get sport mode which holds onto gears longer and the paddles on the wheel allow manual selection in either mode, fantastic box. It's bloody fast, 272hp (I think) with this late spec N52 but I wouldn't want it to be any quicker. Suspension is OK and compliant. I read that the M Sports suffer with crashiness but don't really find that with this one. Overall I'm really pleased.

Things to do

Not a huge amount but some things need attention.

Tyres. The rears are more or less dead Kuhmo's. Although new, the fronts are acceleras They'll be getting replaced with either a set of 4 Falken Azenis FK453s or Vredestein Ultrac Vortis. On the subject of tyres weirdly the car is fitted with 255 35 19's on the fronts and 275 30 19s on the rear These sizes should be 225 35 19 and 255 30 19 respectively so the new tyres will be correctly sized.

Suspension. Although fine as noted, 112k old suspension is never going to be optimal so I'll be looking at either a Bilstein B12 kit or Birds kit to replace including anti roll bars most likely, but that won't be for a while yet.

Although it goes very well with no hesitation whatsoever my MPG is low atm, low 20's infact and with a 2k mile trip coming up that's not ideal. To try and rectify this without too much trial and error it's booked into Redish Motorpsort in Bristol next Friday for a post purchase inspection and full diagnostic check to confirm the overall condition of the car and to see if they can pinpoint the reason for the lower mpg figure. I have every faith in Redish to inspect and diagnose as required.

So that's it for now, or all that I can think of. More updates probably in a week.

[squareflops]

I’m hoping for a little better than that! I read 28ish is average, i’ll be more then happy with that.

Forgot to mention I did the first job today, new wipers, I know this information would be useless without a picture of said items; behold

[squareflops]

Prinny said:

Congratulations, I still think these are a fantastic looking car, and in many ways I miss my 335d still, even though I’ve moved on as I don’t do the mileage to justify diesel anymore.

I suspect some of your ‘missing’ mpg is down to the wider tyres, you’ve more width to push against vs. standard. To be fair though, I used to run mine on 235f/265r, so I understand why they’ve done it. One side advantage of the 10mm increase in width was that the associated increase in rolling radius made the speedo pretty much accurate, and when you’ve got 30profile rear, every little bit of sidewall height helps on our potholed roads, especially with the chocolate 225M wheels! (I’ve always said I’ll have another e92, still got a perfect set of those wheels ready for it).

If I read your post correctly, you’re at 112k (ish). Mine was feeling pretty tired in suspension terms by then, getting into a same-age 50k miler showed the difference - it’s so gradual a decay in control you don’t notice from day to day, and having driven the Birds car, I can wholeheartedly recommend their package, expensive though it is.

You could also buy a cheap ebay boroscope & have a look down the inlet, it might be a bit claggy due to the mileage, which walnut blasting should sort, and help on the mpg front too.

Enjoy.

Cheers bud. Yea I agree they are very good looking cars and the 335d is something of a PH hero, especially when mapped

I was thinking the same about the tyres, the extra width must be harming mpg if even slightly as that's quite a bit more rubber to be pushing around. Will be getting changed soon, most likely when the rear kuhmos turn from almost illegal to illegal I'm kind of hoping Redish find a knackered 02 sensor or something to explain the mpg figures, time will tell.

Agree also with the suspension, I can't compare it to anything else similar but no doubt a new Bilstein setup will really highlight the improvements possible.

Yes I've heard of the walnut blasting, will look into it, great recommendation

Mr Tidy said:

Your car looks great OP.

Gotta love an N52 engine - I didn't want anything else when I was E91 shopping earlier this year.

Cheers bud it certainly is a superb engine, I think it was in the top 5 engine ever made in 2007 or something like that? So pleased to have it in mine now too.

[squareflops]

Cheers bud, ohmyy maybe there's nothing wrong with it after all

[squareflops]

ah maybe a byproduct of the N53 direct injection? That rings a bell

ok ok stop showing off I really do hope I can raise its average, as said the tyres will hopefully give me 1 or two!

I got bored this evening, looked outside and it wasn't raining so decided to take a look at the air filter

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Pulled it out and it looks relatively clean, not in need of replacement any time soon. I'll take it back out tomorrow when it's daylight, fire up the compressor and blow any dust/crud out of it but I've seen worse.

[squareflops]

That's it, I'm putting 4 space savers on!

It's really not that bad and room for improvement I'm sure. I'm possibly doing a longer run tomorrow up to Brecon, will see what I can average then. To be fair I've only done very short/stop start trips since I've had it so results may be skewed to the lower end of the scale.

[squareflops]

Prinny said:

Top tip (as most BMW owners never remember this - apologies again if you do), you can store much more than radio presets with the number buttons - i.e. number 7 was ‘call home’, number 8 turned the i-drive screen off. Basically, if there’s a menu item, you can long press a button to store that item. Comes in quite useful for the stuff you use frequently.

I had no idea dude, that would come in handy with turning the idrive off as I do most of the time. Something I've noticed is if you just hover a finger over the buttons they 'activate' by showing say preset stations for the radio, how do they do that..

si_xsi said:

Nice car Squareflops and the perfect tool for a European road trip. I've done several long trips to the south of France before and going back again next July. We have 2 weeks in Provence with family and little one, then me and wife to be are off via French Riviera to Italian lakes for 1 week to include return leg home.

Im unsure what route to take back from Italy so keeping am eye on your thread for inspiration. Thinking Switzerland and Germany as we have done most of France now, including route Napoleon. Very good btw.

Sounds great Si it really is something to look forward to isn't it. I'm contemplating going up through Germany too tbh for one reason which you've already guessed. a TF session at NBR. It will totally depend on the day and access etc but it's a possible, might just see on the day sort of thing, it's only about a 600 mile detour, one way! I'll keep things updated for you!

Brecon was lovely today, but I've tuned into the crashiness everyone refers to.

[squareflops]

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Well that's thrown a spanner in the works for Friday @ Redish. I can't see any way of getting a new tyre fitted by Friday lunch time as I'm in work until then.

Went out for a drive and caught a nice square edged pot hole coming over a small brow so saw it in enough time to think "oh s.." Don't think the wheel has sustained any damage and thankfully not far from the house so limped it home.

Choices are

replace with the cheapest wanli/accellera/pingpong tyre I can find in the (as fitted) incorrect size
order two of the 4 correct replacement tyres I was going to get in spring anyway
Order brand new 19" BBS CH reps from CMWheels and get 4 new tyres fitted those instead

3 is very unlikely to happen. This is quite inconvenient though. Was a brand new tyre too

What was that about 19"s being a pain

[squareflops]

popped back up in the Audi to take some pictures. Might actually consider claiming from the council on this one as there's no road markings of any kind and it looks like it's been squared off on the leading edge recently. Any thoughts? Will become more pertinent if the wheel is damaged too

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cigarette lighter for scale (I don't smoke!)

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and guess what, when I got home I noticed the rear off side

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Flat! WTF

Not my day (or evening) for tyres

Hovering over the buy now button for 4 vredestein vortis. Redish definitely not happening on Friday.

[squareflops]

I will indeed Lance. Lots of photos taken and reported on the council portal. Hopefully nothings bent but will be organising an inspection just to make sure. Wouldn't be surprised if the wheel's bent though!

[squareflops]

Regardless of being quite cold and very dark this evening my curiosity outweighed my want to stay indoors so I thought I'd take a look and see if I'd bent the wheel etc.

Working outside because I only have a single garage, PH's and their first world problems So wheel off, wheel nuts were blood tight, typical air gun method of re-assembly by the garage who put the new front tyres on recently no doubt.

Pulled the Rover out to get to the tools and let her warm up

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and onto the BMW

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Bump stop has seen better days, another vote for the Bilstein kit

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Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

phew, all good on the rear of the rim by the looks. I was half expecting to find a large dent/crack but think we may have got away with it. Still; a shame as it was a brand new tyre (albeit Accellera)

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So onto a quick visual inspection. I'm happy to be corrected but everything looks roughly as it should. I'm not going to be able to see small defects with the naked eye of course but good not to see banana'd bottoms arms etc (any more than they are from the factory anyway)

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Looks fine to me. I've spoken to a local company with a Hunter machine so it will be 4 wheel aligned after the new tyres are fitted (assuming the front near side is in fact still circular, guess we'll know for sure when the balance it) to make sure everything is straight.

I thought I'd take a look at the rear too to try and determine the cause of the air loss.

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Has been plugged in it's life

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and pretty close to the wear bars

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Well I put some air in it and most curiously I heard air escaping on the back side of the wheel and saw this

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

The air was escaping from what looked like a scalpel incision a few inches along the bulging section of the tyre I've never seen a failure like that. Pretty bug bulge in another section of the inner sidewall

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These 19"s are brutal with such a small vertical profile.

I've ordered 4 Falken FK453 Azenis from Camskill which should be here in the next few days. Get those fitted and laser aligned then we'll know where we are, I'm hoping for nothing but good news but if anything needs replacing it'll get done; maybe even covered by the council, who knows.

[squareflops]

On a more positive note, my oe replacement wiper cover thingy arrived to replace the one that was dicky when I changed the wipers over

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It's not all bad news

[squareflops]

Thank you Mark

TX1 - That's the thing with tyres, there's so much choice and recommendations (and quite the opposite) for the options at any price point. I ran Asymmetric 2s on a previous Impreza and really liked them. A friend who I actually sold my e46 M3 to put on Vredestein Vortis to replace the Falken shod 19's I sold the car to him with and said the Vortis were night and day better than the Azenis' I've just purchased for the 330. He's a competitive/very successful night event/stage rally competitor so I value his opinion. The Vortis were an option but again going from past experience and 'liking' the brand I opted for the Falkens; about £80 saving.

Tyres should be here next week, after the alignment is carried out I'll be re-booking with Redish for the inspection. I spoke to James (one of them ) and he was understanding about the late(ish) cancellation and seemed genuinely concerned about my plight. Great company in the BMW niche.

It's kind of sad seeing the coupe sat on my drive dirty, with 2 flat tyres and looking generally dishevelled at the moment, my heart aches

[squareflops]

(Rear) tyres have arrived

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Looks like the fronts are still in the Netherlands. Hopefully they'll arrive this week so will be fitted by the weekend.

30 profile is so skinny. I think I'll be rather paranoid about potholes etc especially given the state on the one rear I looked at and the damaged
inner sidewall.

I'm contemplating selling my Tudor Black Bay and putting some decent money in to the car with the aforementioned Bilsteins and ARB's. I'd love to bring this one up to a really good driving standard and have it just how I'd like it; and then probably sell it The Rover needs attention too after all.

[squareflops]

I had the MV3s on my previous e92 and remember it riding well. I do really like the look of the 19s. I'll see how they go and take it from there. If tyres are getting damaged with the 19s I can see me changing to avoid further issues but these 19s are pretty common so I'm assuming if I avoid the kind of pot holes I hit last week they should be ok. Time will tell.

Re the watch, You're probably right. I'm undecided but it is a lovely thing to own

[squareflops]

it's back on the road

I wanted to get the tyres fitted before the festive break so got home after work just in time for the rain and loss of light. I didn't particularly want to rush putting the car on stands as there's room for error but all went ok, this is not my first time taking the wheel off an e92



(sorry about all the crappy iphone snaps, picture quality wasn't my priority tonight)

This time I had to put my ramp assisters under the front wheels, or rather drive onto them before I could get to the front central jacking point as the cars quite low. Thank goodness BMW decided to include central jacking points as getting the car on axel stands without them is a major pain. You can see the light fading here

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Front up and wheels off

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An early christmas present was the Ryobi ONE+ R18ALF-0 18V folding area light which is a superb thing. It proved very useful this evening as I'm sure it will continue to. It allows both or either panel to be lit and provides a huge amount of illumination, highly recommended.

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

So with the car up

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It was time to load the wheels and new tyres into the awesome Audi and whip down to the local tyre place to have the rubber swapped over. It was confirmed that the wheel that took the hit is pretty much perfectly round and only needed normal minimal balancing. Ironically the rear wheel that hadn't been punctured was the worst of the 4 but still within tolerance to be balanced

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

and fitted

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Very pleased with the job and £30 have to be happy with that! The slight vibration at speed has gone and I can confirm it rotates better than ever on a wet roundabout in M2

Great to have it back. Alignment to check the suspension next then Redish.

[squareflops]

I seem to be doing lots of little something-and-nothing updates at the moment so sorry if they're not the most entertaining but as it's the holidays I'm get stuff in when I can or I think I'd end up missing bits.

I ducked out of work for 45 mins this morning and got the car checked over for alignment. With a claim form for the council at home I thought best to get this done early i.e. before everyone shuts for christmas so I know where I am. I also didn't want to kill a new tyre if say my toe has been knocked out during the bump.

So to A&A Tyre Services on Hadfield Road for a check over. I trust these guys and know they have a lot of interesting/modified cars in for checking so I'm confident they know what they're doing.

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

So checked over and the results are in

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Actually not too bad! The worst seems to be my rear toe but all within acceptable limits, no tyre shredding going on here. To get everything spot on would have taken around 45 mins which I'd ordinarily be more than happy with but as I was in work I was on the clock and didn't fancy working until 6pm tonight so I'm booked back in for Monday 8am to get everything sorted. No charge today from A&A "we'll sort it out Monday" great trusting approach

I was really quite surprised that the front nearside that took the bump wasn't out, I was expecting some bad new but nothing was effected it seems, maybe I'm just being a drama queen about the whole pothole incident

The front camber adjustment doesn't come from camber bolts oddly but from removing/drilling out a retaining bolt in the strut top and adjusting the camber by moving the strut itself so that takes a bit more time. Should be all good on Monday though

[squareflops]

Well the camber fixed itself on the front went back down this morning and it was within tolerance so no need to adjust. The other angles were sorted and drives, much the same now It does feel better and tram lines less etc so happy that it's all done. Loping around this morning even caught up in the christmas eve hype was super relaxing; I'm really bonding with the coupe, I really enjoy being in it.

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Yesterday I did give it wash ready for the trip to the parents etc tomorrow and got a little carried away, ended up clay baring it and giving it a polish and a glaze to see how shiny I could get things, came up very well

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Clay baring (well clay mitting) really showed how rough the paint was; especially on the lower doors behind the front wheels. It was like dragging the mitt over a paving slab to begin with; quite contaminated. with that in mind I applied some AD Purple Rain first to remove the ferrous contamination which helped and then clayed, it's great to feel how smooth the paint is after that process.

The front end does have its share of stone chips etc but @ 112k it's to be expected. Needs a wheel refurb though.

[squareflops]

What an umbrella I just need the jacket and cap now

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

There are apparently 3 of these left in dealerships. The only 3 are in the Westerly Bridgwater Retailer so if you want one be quick Was informed that they've now been discontinued so will no longer be available when current stocks run out.

[squareflops]

A few updates in one this evening, some more interesting than others.

As a matter of course I changed the air filter last weekend. The old unbranded filter wasn't filthy but for a Bosch item @ £13 odd (£25 before discount) from ECP it makes no sense not to change it.

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You can almost see which one is the old and which is the new

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Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

Job done, didn't drop any bolts into the inlet manifold, great success.

Cleaned it yesterday

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Kind of looks like an elephant has sat on the roof here

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Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr

It really does wash up nicely.

The potentially more interesting update. The car went to Redish today for its post purchase inspection.

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It makes sense to get the car checked over and having previously dealt with Redish for my e46 m3 I know they're extremely thorough and attentive. Todays visit was no exception other than the OH and I didn't wait on site rather favouring a 10 min walk up the road to a retail park where we perused and browsed various wares whilst the car was being inspected. Got back and the car was on the lift; James kindly showed me around the underside of the car pointing out items of note and any feedback points they had found. Overall the car is in very good condition It's very lightly used underneath and doesn't show any particular signs of heavy wear or anything really to be concerned about.

There is a list of course of items that may need attention in the future but there's nothing that needs anything approaching imminent attention and most of the points listed come down to general wear and tear that any vehicle of this age could display

Front brake hoses starting to crack
Oil leak present around sump
Exhaust down pipe nuts corroded
Near side front brake disc backing place starting to corrode
Near side rear disc backing plate mishaped
Rear brake pad wear sensor noted fitted
Offside rear caliper piston dust shield insecure
Dent/crack in exhaust by front differential mount
Exhaust valve bypassed in open position
Rear prop shaft coupling cracked

Some previous fault codes stored for water pump (which has very recently been replaced) 2E85 DME & 2E83 DME. Numerous previous codes were cleared for low voltage etc and did not return at time of test

Brake pads

Front left 10.00mm
Front right 11.0mm

Rear left 5.0mm
Rear right 6.0mm

Tyre tread - as new, tyres recently fitted

The Key Read shows 8 previous oil changes and 4 inspections, the next one being due in May 2020. 5 brake fluid changes are logged and is showing as overdue, scheduled for June 2018. Hmm not massively concerned about that one but will get it renewed at some point I'm sure

So, really pleased overall. Things to note above I would say are:

The oil leak around the sump isn't severe. The car hasn't dropped a single drip of oil on the drive but it's worth mentioning.

The rear caliper. The dust shield is more or less missing and I'll be replacing the caliper next time the rear pads need changing. The caliper is operating as it should currently but can't see the corroded piston wanting to be pushed back into the caliper .

The exhaust does have a slight dent in it and a hair line crack is barely visible. Again; nothing to worry about.

The golf tee mod was present the young offender

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Had this removed (obviously as it's sat on my dining table), I'll come back to that in a second though

The prop coupling (guibo) has very minor cracking and was referred to as "lasting for years".

OK so, the car went to Redish primarily to see if they could diagnose/pull any fault codes for the low mpg figures. They didn't find anything. Darn. No codes, nothing obvious that would cause it. Whilst there the golf tee mod was removed, no auto needs a loud (louder) exhaust system. Driving home contemplating the 'let's start replacing items until the fault is found' method of trying to fix a problem that may not exist I noticed my range going up, so much so that I had more range when I got home from Bristol (to Cardiff) than when I left On the motorway I averaged 31.mpg and in stop start traffic and lots of hills for the last few miles of my journey I saw 27.7! The most I've ever seen in the car to date is 20.9. Could the golf tee mod really have been accounting for a 10mpg drop It certainly appears so.

I do recall the mpg dropping in my previous 330i manual when doing the same out of curiosity, saw the mpg drop and put it back to standard. I'd forgotten that though and I didn't even think to check this one. It's still too early to say that removing this has definitely made the improvement but over the next few weeks we'll see what it averages out to, but I'm hopeful.

Overall then a great day and really pleased the car has been given the thumbs up, and my mpg issue is possibly resolved too! More pictures to follow from Redish showing in detail the points listed above for your viewing pleasure.