E90 M3 - V8 saloon

[Gallons Per Mile]

An impending child had Mrs GPM talking of four door cars, as the Mk4 Golf Diesel Machine only has the two. Not that it's a massive problem, but it was mentioned in passing. She also said she likes having a spare car around, you know, just in case the Golf becomes a gigantic paper weight again like when it ate it's own cam shaft... I couldn't disagree, from my PH point of view, I always need N+1 cars, and I was missing fast cars with big petrol engines since becoming sensible and driving the Golf for commuter duties. The obvious upgrade was a Passat or similar, but who wants one of those when you could also have 400bhp V8 in a saloon car?! Sensible hat thrown out, I ventured on to this very site's classified section and almost immediately found exactly what I was after. I like the E92 Coupe, but at the moment I definitely prefer the E90 saloon shape, there's something about the rear arches and rear end I prefer over the Coupe shape. In summary, we now have a practical car that is a nice place to be, and it satisfies my PH urges with a properly lovely engine! No problem from Mrs GPM over spending the money either, infact she was more eager than me, so therefore I can blame her entirely for this purchase...

The seller wrote an excellent advert and we agreed the sale over the phone as I was fairly sure everything would be as described. I had to jump on a train to Birmingham to pick it up, and the seller found me at the station. Next, we proceeded to look extremely dodgy by parking in a side street so I could look around the car, and then bank transfer the balance in exchange for the key. We got stuck in limbo where the money had left my account but hadn't reached his, so we sat and waited for about 45 minutes until I could drive away!

Spec wise, I've got heated seats, sat nav, business stereo, privacy glass and blinds on the rear doors, USB/aux input, bluetooth, and a load of other things I've probably not found yet. The seller put brand new discs and pads on all round literally the day before I bought it. Wheels had been refurbished recently and the Eagle F1 tyres had done no more than about 6,000 miles. There are also HSD coilovers and 15mm spacers - not ideal as I wanted standard really, but the condition of the car spoke for itself. Not bad for 140k miles! On the original rod bearings too...

This thread is going to be to polar opposite of my Diesel Machine thread. Much BMW geekery, some spending of money and less than half the MPG

Obligatory motorway services shot on the way home:



Home and on the drive:




The business end:



The first job was to remove the spacers. I don't like the thought of the wheels not being held on they way they were designed to be, and they don't do anything for the handling either. Looked cool I spose, but I prefer the way BMW designed it. Here they are:



The original wheel bolts were luckily in the boot, so I didn't need to buy any. At least the spacers had been put on with correctly matching lengthened bolts:



Shiny new brakes! OEM discs and 'Textar' pads. No idea if they're any good or not, but I seem to be getting pad rattle from them as the rattle stops dead as soon as I touch the brakes... I may bin these off and go for OEM pads:



I noticed whoever changed the brakes re-used the very soft retaining screws. This just won't do, so I ordered a new set, along with a few other parts, and received a nice big box in the post the other day



No pictures of the 'after' but imagine shiny new bolts coated in copper grease for me, will you?

I also found that the back plate on the driver's side was falling apart. It wasn't the source of the brake rattle, before you ask:



New one fitted. Shame it's not the lightweight ally. Replacements are powdercoated steel by the looks of them. I must've added several grams of unsprung weight!



I've also changed the washer bottle, which hides in the driver's wheel arch, behind the liner. It didn't seem to be fitting properly but I couldn't see why. Anyhow, a new one solved the problem. For some reason I forgot to take pictures, apart from the manky filter that stops the headlight washers getting blocked up. Blue gunk, anyone?



Next up, a bit of general poking around revealed the driver's rear wheel had a problem in the camber department. It was in drift spec compared to the other three, which made accellerating away from roundabouts give the traction control a panic attack

Jacking up from the rear couldn't be easier on these. A nice lump of sub frame just where you want it!



Passenger rear wheel, camber looking good - sorry about the wonky pic, please adjust your head a few degrees!



Driver's side - mega camber!



Adjustment is in plain view once the rear end's jacked up, and it's nice and accessible too. The bolts were REALLY tight though. I had to hang off the breaker bar to get them to move. We got there in the end though. Here's the starting pic. The bottom bolt is the one we're interested in. The top one adjusts toe, which by eye didn't look too bad:



And here's where I ended up:



Driver's wheel now looks correct!



That just about brings us up to date in the week that I've had the car so far. I test drove it with my custom camber setting and it feels a hell of a lot more stable now exiting roundabouts

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FaNtheMaN26 said:

Lovely, i agree, I prefer it to the coupe

Would have left the spacers on personally but I am a chav

Thanks for the honesty! The look was ok on spacers but I like it OEM

Pica-Pica said:

A lot of rust for an 08 plate!

Tip. Use genuine BMW washer concentrate for screen wash.

Yes I thought the subframe was a tad crusty too. I'm sure I'll see to that in good time! It spent a few months in Scotland a few years back. By the sea too, so that's probably what that is. Everywhere else looks good that I can see, just the actual sub frame itself seems to have taken a beating.

Any particular reason for using the genine screen wash? Happy to follow sound advice

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peetee7 said:

Welcome & congrats on the car. Lovely to see a passionate E90 M3 owner ! I totally get the 4 door 400bhp thing (being an E39 M5 owner myself).. as a parent they make even more sense. Great to see a higher mileage car - might be worth considering rod bearing replacement perhaps ?

Keep us posted on how you get in with the car. I will no doubt end up owning one myself too !

Thanks! I did consider an E39 as they're brilliant cars too, but I decided they were just a bit too old and too similar to the E46 M3's I've had before. I may still end up with one in the future though! I've been following the thread on your car, it looks great and it's good to see it being used properly

Re rod bearings: I need to do an oil service as it's been exactly a year since the last service, even though it's only done about 6k miles and the dash thinks we're all fine for another 10k. I'll get an oil analysis done and decide what I'm going to do based on that. There's absolutely no sign of knocking or anything untoward at the moment. I think the rod bearing issues are over played slightly, and considering the car's already done 140k I'm probably going to be fine. There's no harm in checking though as I don't really want to pay for a new crank should the worst happen.

stevemiller said:

If my MG was every to go pop and I was struggling for parts this is one of the very few cars I would look at. Good choice, enjoy.

Thanks! Go and test drive one, I think you'll see they're insane value for money at the moment... Obviously you'll need to pick a good one, and I think I got lucky with this one as it was one of the cheapest out there yet in brilliant condition too. I saw dealers advertising lower spec cars in worse condition, albeit with less miles for 15k plus.

Mike335i said:

Very nice, I also much prefer the E90 to the E92. Nice colour for it too. Any interior pictures?

Genuine screenwash is recommended as apparently it prevents gunking up. Mine seems fine with whatever so far, but undoubtedly now it will gunk up haha.

Is that a personalised reg though? It seems that an 08 is too early for the LCI rear end, which usually was on 58 at the very earliest. Any chance the rear was retrofitted?

Thanks! This colour was my top choice, the other being black. I'll take some proper pictures of the exterior and interior soon, and I'll update on here.

I'll see how extortionate genuine screenwash is and decide if I want to add 'clean washer bottle gunk' to the regular maintenance list

It's the original reg for the car. You're correct, it's had LCI rear lights installed by the PO. I did check quite thoroughly for accident damage just in case, but I'm pleased to say it was just a cosmetic upgrade I do prefer the LCI rear lights so this car really hit the spot for me!

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tozerman said:

Lovely car OP.
Textar pads are very high quality, OEM Porsche I believe...

Cheers!

Oh right, I thought they were just another random brand at Euro Car Parts as that's where they came from. That's good to know, but I do need to sort out the rattle - it's driving me mad!

s3 akr said:

Loved my E90 too!! Mine was an 08 plate and Silverstone II with pretty much the same spec.

I got fed up with the 21mpg and the hyper-inflated road tax after about 2 years of ownership and moved it on.

Yours looks in great condition, and a great colour. Enjoy that engine - its a special car is that.

I have immaculate black kidney grille surrounds to replace the chrome if you're interested in buying them. They are genuine BMW.

Yep the road tax is a bit annoying but I knew that before I bought the car. I'l just have to live with it! The MPG shouldn't be too much of an issue - I'm keeping my Golf for the boring mundane stuff like going to work.

Thanks for the offer but I'm going to keep the chrome kidney grilles. One's got a chunk taken out of it from a stone presumably but I'll get around to sorting that out

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Nik Gnashers said:

Great car, loving it.
If the screenwash system is the same as my 2006 E91, then the filter/mesh in the reservoir can block due to jelly build up as a reaction of different cheapo screenwash fluids, and seeing as (in my car anyway) the filter is behind the front wing, and requires wheel off, arch liner off, and a pita job of wiggling the filter box out, I'd suggest prevention is better than cure.

Yes, the reservoir is in the same place. I've taken it out and put it back a couple of times now! Agree on prevention being better than cure. I'll just buy one brand of screen wash and use that. That reminds me, I need to fill it up! I installed it and left it bone dry...

Elatino1 said:

These cars look so much better as saloons.

Looks very nice. I've heard that they can be very expensive to run though.

Cheers! I guess I'll find out about running costs. So far, so good. Servicing won't be ridiculous as I'll do it myself. I'm pretty fastidious so I reckon I'd do a better job than a main dealer anyway

B'stard Child said:

Just hose out the washer ottle and then pick a brand and stick with it - the issue is mixing brands and it doesn't just affect BMW's

Yep, as above

CousinDupree said:

Not liking the rust on the E90s though, had heard they are starting to get shabby now.

AFAIK most of the car is aluminium. The only bit I can find showing rust is that rear sub frame, and I think that's more to do with an ownership for a short stint in Jock country near the sea

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Squishey said:

Lovely car there, old bean! But when are you going to get the RST done?!

Good luck to you and Mrs. GPM with the birth of your first born. If you want anything then just get in contact through your brother.

Hello chap! How's the new job going? Long time no see! If you're back in my neck of the woods anytime then we'll all have to go for a pint somewhere Plus, I'd be able to show you the car... Thanks, some advice and tips would always be well received.

Demelitia said:

Trying not to sound like I’m extracting the urine, are the anti-rattle clips in the right position and good working order? I’ve seen them sat on the wrong side of the surface they’re supposed to push against before now. They look right at a glance but on removal and reinstallation it ends up being obvious how they were wrong.
I’d check they'd not been bent out of shape too; they might not have enough tension to do their job.

Not at all. I did a sanity check and had the pads off and back on again. My thinking is that it's possibly the inner pad rattling because the clip's not holding it tight enough into the piston. I even bent the clips to make it fit more tightly but this doesn't seem to have done the trick. Possibly it's just too loose, but it feels no worse than any of the other hundreds of pads I've fitted over the years...

helix402 said:

E90 anti rattle springs are actually supposed to be changed every so often, I can’t remember the frequency-maybe every 2nd set of pads.

Didn't know that, thanks for the tip. I think the outer one has plenty of spring pressure against the caliper though. I may try a new set if I run out of options though.

TheAngryDog said:

Nice car op, the E90 is definitely better looking than the e92 imo. I would be considering rod bearings though. 140k on original bearings is good going.

Thanks! Yes I thought 140k was good too I'll see what happens when I do the oil change and send off a sample for analysis. That'll happen very soon.

B'stard Child said:

Well deal done and they will soon be on route to me - Lovely fella to deal with

No problem, and sorry to Mr Jakarta who emailed me beforehand when I thought they'd already sold via an M3 forum. Mr BC, you were in the right place at the right time!

s3 akr said:

I ran a proper tatty, ex met police Seat Toledo 20VT alongside mine in a similar fashion as you with the Golf, but more because I didn't want to leave it at the station or in the street when at work.

Enjoy!

Exactly, the M3's going nowhere near supermarket car parks if I can help it! I'm lucky in that I've got a nice car park at work to use when I fancy taking the car for a run.

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sparks_190e said:

Lovely looking car, absolutely better in saloon form.

I too am surprised about that rusty subframe. I think it would take more than a few months of being in salty roads to get like that. However if it's just contained to that area should be easy to sort.

Yep, one of those 'older car' things I suppose. It's hardly a box fresh garage queen but I'll be happy if it's only the sub frame that looks a bit crusty. I'll have to have a good dig around underneath just to be sure. There are lots of under trays, but from what I've seen so far it all looks good.

martin mrt said:

Nice looking example that, and the LCI rear lights are a nice upgrade. Stick a plate on no one would know it’s true age

I had a Melbourne red one coming up for 6 years ago and completely agree the E90 definitely looks better than the E92

For the £1400 outlay I’d be doing the bearings regardless

Ooh Melbourne Red.. That's a good colour on these too, plus it seems quite rare.

I might end up doing the rod bearings anyway, I'll see how paranoid I feel as time goes on!

TheAngryDog said:

I wouldn't put too much faith in the oil analysis. I have known a few E60 M5s have clean reports but when the bearings were changed they were very worn.

If you want to scare yourself, read my M5 thread.

Ps, V8 cranks were on back order earlier in the year.

Interesting! I guess there a few factors in taking a good sample. It wouldn't even be the end of the world to just take the sump off and have a nose. But then if I do that I've done 90% of the work to just change them anyway...

I've been reading your thread avidly. I'm not overly scared, but I did wince at the amount of money you've had to lay out!

Mattmox said:

Even though it frequently made me think it was a Friday afternoon car, with a hundred and one little problems, I absolutely loved it and forgave it everything. Still miss it now... hopefully you enjoy yours just as much.

I'm definitely loving mine too! Hopefully I won't have little problems (or big ones) but I guarantee I'm enjoying it

RedXYC said:

Such a nice car. Love the E90 M3 saloons. Look better to my eyes than the Coupe.

Cheers! As said before, it's the rear wheel arches and rear end of the car that really set it off for me

wjb said:

Nice car OP.

Ten years ago I would've preferred the coupe.

Now it's the loon all day long.

Funny that isn't it?

Thanks! 10 years ago I was driving XR2's, RS Turbos and Golf GTi's, dreaming of the day I could afford something even faster

cerb4.5lee said:

I think this looks great in the Grey and the LCi rear lights really freshen the rear end up. I find myself really attracted to the E9x M3 again now big time.

Enjoy it OP.

Cheers! I'll have to dig out the pics from the advert. There was a shot of the back end which really sold the car to me

---

And on that note, I'd better just say thanks for all the replies thus far! I'm amazed how popular this thread is with a few bad photos and some general rambling from me.

I've just spent a good chunk of money on a lot of suspension parts, so when they all turn up you can have some pictures of me doing the dirty work to bring the car back to proper OEM suspension.

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1275 GT said:

...the proportions just look angrier.

Exactly that! I love it.

Here are a couple of shots the PO took for the ad in the classifieds section. Main reason I bought it:




Oh and for those asking about the interior, here's one he took of that too. I'll get around to taking my own at some point soon! The leather's got some wear on it but it's not too bad. I'll get that sorted in due course, of course

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Mr Tidy said:

Great thread about a really special car - thanks for posting it OP. :thumbsup:

In M3 form I definitely prefer the looks of the E90 to the E92 - but my E90 is an ugly duckling as it's a 330i.

On the screen-wash topic it's definitely worth sticking with just one brand - I've had to flush 2 reservoirs and clean the pump filters on an E46 and an E86, but as they are under the bonnet it's just a half-hour job!

No, thank YOU for reading

I still haven't filled my screen wash bottle up since I fitted it! I need to go and buy some screen wash now it seems any one brand will do the trick

fido said:

I'm a bit biased (as I own one) but the LCI E92 looks more purposeful than the saloon. I guess it ultimately depends if you want a coupe or saloon. Only thing I don't like with the coupe is the window-drop every time you open the door - can be problematic in winter. My bearings went mid 20k's - I would just get them changed for relative small cost involved (new engine was £23.5k - fortunately warranty & BMW covered most of that).

Re the window drop thing - I had a similar issue with my E46 in winter. It would usually work, but in a really hard frost sometimes it just didn't, and was quite annoying after a night shift at work... I quite like that the saloon has normal windows!

That's a lot of money, glad you had most of it covered for you. I'll definitely have a think about just changing the bearings. I'll probably do an oil analysis anyway, but the peace of mind having them sorted might be nice.

TheAngryDog said:

HM-2 said:

TheAngryDog said:

Gallons Per Mile said:

Exactly that! I love it.

Here are a couple of shots the PO took for the ad in the classifieds section. Main reason I bought it:

100% perfect. I think the E90 M3 looks nicer at the rear than my E60 M5. Are the rear arches a bit flared on the E90?

Yes- in fact I think the E90 arches are wider than on the E92 coupé, which is why they look a lot more "butch".

Aha, that is probably why I prefer the E90. Such a shame that BMW didn't flare the rear arches on the E60 M5.

No idea if they're more flared from me! All I know is that pic is the business

I love the rear end of the E60 too, but from the front they're hard to tell from a 520d.. A really nice deep red metallic M5 drove past me on the other side of the road the other day and I had to wait until it had gone past to be sure it was an M!

P2KKA said:

Excellent!

Ill be coming up for a passenger ride!

Shame you don't have your 540 sport any more. I'm now living in your world of petrol station pain though...

1275 GT said:

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This is one of my Dad's, I do prefer the LCI rear though, I really don't want to change the bootlid though! Such a good rear end.

Joe

That's a lovely car. Nice colour leather too. I love those 18" wheels, but I'm not sure if I love them enough to sell my 19's. The style and colour is just perfect, and apparently as with the E46's they handle better on 18's. My car came with the style 220's from the factory so that's another reason against getting 18's. Still tempted!

---

And now for a small update. I spent most of today cleaning the car and going over the interior. My phone takes crap pictures unless the light is exactly perfect and the weather in Zanzibar is clement etc, so you'll get to see the interior as bad as it can possibly look. In real life I don't think it's as bad as all that, but judge for yourself!

Before all that, a big expensive box arrived from BMW. Spot the deliberate mistake:



That's right folks, no rear dampers! I'd assumed when I asked for a full suspension kit all around the quote would have them on there. I didn't check it in all fairness, but I found some Bilstein B4's online for a very good price. They're OEM equivalent anyway so I'll give them a go and if I don't like them I'll just ask for some BMW ones I need to go though all the part numbers and marry it all up to the diagrams on RealOEM just to make sure I have everything I need, but I think I do.

Next, the interior. The plastic housing for the rain sensor has been bugging me since day 1. It wasn't clipped on properly so it needs to be sorted. I removed one half:





Hmm, looks like when the windscreen was replaced the clips got broken. New bits are on my mental shopping list

I scrubbed the leather with Autoglym leather cleaner and then the care balm stuff. Doesn't look too bad from afar:




But if you look a bit closer, here's the driver's seat:



Rear driver's side. Looks like someone owned a dog at some point. Not the end of the world but this seat looks a bit scruffy:



Rear passenger side. One large scuff but that's about it:



Front passenger seat:




I hadn't long put the leather balm on so it probably looks worse in those shots than it does in real life. Plus my phone really is crap at taking good pictures in anything other than perfect light conditions! Either way, I'll look in to getting the seats refurbed. The door cards look really good still, so no worries on that front.

The next update will probably be all about suspension

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That's not a bad idea actually! I'll see what happens over the next few months, as I've got rod bearings as the next priority, probably followed by that interior

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Court_S said:

...I also prefer the F series M3 to the M4.

I followed one the other day in a beautiful dark blue, almost purple. It looked really amazing. I think that's a contender for next car in however many years' time

Court_S said:

I ended up with a new M140 which is a great car, but when I see a nice E90 M3 I do wish I was braver because were never going to see a engine like this again.

I was recommended an M140 by a mechanic friend. He was saying he couldn't belive how good the gearbox was considering it's an 'old' style torque converter, and I should really try one. Plus apparently they're very tunable and keep up with faster stuff too! I decided I wanted something a bit more 'special' for a second car, but I'd love to have a drive in one and see what I missed out on. I've never been a fan of auto gearboxes but then I've not really used many. My mechanic friend reckons I'd be converted if I had a go in a few modern flappy paddle cars

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I can confirm you NEED a V8 E9x The engine just sounds amazing when you give it some beans. I particularly like rev matching down shifts. It actually makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up, it just sounds so angry but smooth at the same time.

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Time for another update in the land of BMW's!

FIrstly, the leather balm seems to have worked its way in to the leather and it definitely looks better than those pictures above. I'll have to take some more and show you all.

Right, where were we? I ordered some bits for a service as it was a year since the last one, but only 6k miles. The dash reckons I should do another 10k before I service it, but I think I'll ignore that and do it now...

I was greeted with a small oil leak when I opened the bonnet:



Apparently this is a common thing. I need a new oil cap at some point:



The paint on the rocker cover seems to be falling off too. That can't be helping things seal:



Anyway, onwards! Off with the oil filter cap. I had to go out and buy a 36mm socket especially for this job:



Next thing to do is locate the TWO sump plugs. The front one (where my socket is) has a small amount of oil on the other side, the rear-most one has the main 8-odd litres:




Shiny new paper oil filter:



I'm replacing like for like this time:



Air filter replacement time. Here's the old one:



And the new one:



Same affair with pollen filters. There are two per side, I've only shown one side being changed to save you falling off your chair in sheer excitement of these pictures:



New ones ready to go:



At this point I did fill the car up with some of Castrol's finest 10W60 but for some reason I didn't take any pictures. Therefore, please mime oil being poured in to my engine to yourselves and you'll not be far off what actually happened

Now on to the more interesting stuff. I noticed my passenger front wheel bearing was sounding slightly rough compared to the driver's side. Might as well change it then. Really, this means I should do the driver's too, but it'll wait for now. These bearings are pre-made units including the hub flange and so you simply unbolt the old one and stick the new one in its place:



I cleaned the ABS sensor and all the gunk off the face of the hub too. Here's the pre-cleaned picture:



Again, I had a story continuity failure and didn't take pictures of the shiny new one in place. You'll have to use your imagination

While I was there, it made sense to do some suspension changing, using all those parts I bought earlier:



Damper removed, top mount next:



As you can see, it was totally different to OEM, hence needing a load of parts from BMW. Here's the HSD coilover I took off:



Because racecar? Nah, I'll have OEM suspension for mine please; it's going to be better for what I want to do with the car about 99% of the time.



Again, no pic of the new damper on the car, but you get the idea...

Here's the driver's side apart, awaiting new damper. I noticed that arm with the yellow sticker has a slightly split cover on the ball joint. More on that later!



While the damper was out of the way, it was the ideal time to change the broken arch liner:



Here's why you need the damper out... It goes all around it too!



Here's the damage on the old one. Caused by lowering and wheel spacers:



While I'm in suspension mode, here's a picture of one of my spring compressors:



I wrapped Gorilla Tape around the bits that make contact with the spring so they didn't get scratched during installation. You have to really wind up the compressors to get the spring squished enough to do up the top mount and bearing properly. I was rather careful not to aim the spring anywhere near myself if at all possible just in case! I felt a bit relieved once I'd got the nut done up properly on the top mount.

That's the front end done, for now. On to the rear springs/dampers:

It's all pretty simple at the rear. A bolt and a nut to release the damper and an extra bolt to release the lower arm from the hub and allow it to swing down so you can remove the spring:



Old hardware removed. I had to undo the level sensor for the lights too, so I didn't strain it:



Here's where the upper spring cup mounts. Some surface rust on the cup made a mark on the car, but there's no rust on the car at all. I sprayed Dynax all over that area on re-installation just to be sure:



Now is an opportune time to show you some more new bits I bought for the rear end installation, new upper spring cups included:



New kit now installed, just the rear ARB to connect to the drop link in this picture:



The other side wasn't so successful...



The bolt that holds the bottom of the damper in place seized and then snapped... I tried drilling it out without any real success. You can't really get the drill perfectly central from under the car so I ended up with an off-centre hole:



Here's the source of the problem:



There's no point messing about with it, so I left that side of the suspension well alone and ordered a new arm, some bolts and a bush just in case a new inner one is needed when the arm comes off. The inner bolt that connects the arm to the sub frame is a camber bolt - I got it spinning but I couldn't remove the bolt when I tried to release the arm completely from the car, so I think that's seized in to the bush too. Fortunately for my mechanic friend, I'll be paying him to do this job for me as Mrs GPM is now extremely close to giving birth to Mini-GPM and I know I'll incur rage if I decide I want to roll around on the drive under my car next week

Remember that front arm with the yellow sticker from earlier? I went a bit nuclear with that problem too and ordered a box full of front arms and track rod ends. All the front arms were showing a small amount of wear in the ball joints but nothing horrific, and would probably last a while yet. I'd rather just do it all properly now and know the suspension is 100%. I've got brand new TRW arms which are OEM fit. Instead of coming in a BMW bag they come in a TRW one with the BMW logo literally gound off the arms! They also cost around a third of the price of ordering them directly from BMW too



The only other thing I've done recently is have a go at cleaning up the shabby boot carpet. I think someone spilt some oil:



A wet vac and some Vanish Oxy stuff that's designed to put in your washing machine had it looking like this:



Noticeably better but not perfect. It'll do for now. I need to order the plastic handle that should be in that hole too...


Stay tuned for more suspension related updates, once I've done the 'looking after newborn and mum' thing. Why can't you have two weeks 'playing cars' leave from work as well as 'paternity leave'?!

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helix402 said:

Looks like some good work. I do like a few nice bags of shiny new gen parts!

Especially when they're a third of the price for exactly the same part. I can live with the BMW logo not being there and some grinder marks in its place

cerb4.5lee said:

A great update!

Thank you, sir!

RhysH said:

Great update! What mileage is the car one now?

I bet you have found a different with the suspension renew!

Thanks! Still only on 142K. I've not really driven it much yet - I certainly don't want to drive it at the moment with 3/4 standard suspension, 1/4 coil over and a disconnected rear ARB! I'm spending time getting things how I want them, then I'll start to enjoy it properly.

Court_S said:

Good work.

I remember when our little ‘un was born and I had two weeks ‘off’. I naively thought I’d be able to get a few mountain bike rides in, after all babies sleep a lot! Unsurprisingly, that never happened.

What, you mean I won't have time to put those new front arms on and get the geometry sorted out?! Maybe I'm just naive too, but I hoped I'd be able to do something car related over the next two weeks... Mrs GPM is extremely understanding, bless her. But if she needs me around her 24/7 for the next two weeks while I'm off work then that's what I'll do

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bolidemichael said:

With regards to the carpet, perhaps some BH Surfex HD might do the trick.

Ooh, thanks for that link. I like Bilt Hambers Dynax S50 for keeping rust at bay, but I didn't know they did cleaning stuff too. I may well give that a try at some point.

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bolidemichael said:

Mate, you can't see past their cleaning and polishing stuff. It's technical and it's amazing. Korrosol fallout remover... auto wheel... double speed wax (probably best for yours, unless you have stone chips and surface rust, in which case it's Auto Balm). That's not to mention the clay bars and the cleanser polish (stripping the body of previous waxes for maximum adhesion of the new wax).

I'll definitely look at all those bits you've mentioned, I'm always interested in what's out there for cleaning. I'm not massively in to detailing but I like a clean car sometimes

Court_S said:

I think it all depends. It wasn’t the easiest birth (he was late so got evicted) and my other half had a few complications. I totally underestimated how nailed I’d be with broken sleep.

Good luck though. Car is looking ace.

I might be alright on the broken sleep front - I do it regularly as I work shifts! Not that I particularly enjoy sleep deprevation, but at least I know what I'm like in that situation. Here's hoping everything goes smoothly tomorrow. She's being induced so we'll become +1 on Friday probably

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Court_S said:

I’m absolutely useless on broken sleep. As long as I get a solid six hours I’m fine. Three two hour stints and I’m a broken man!

Good luck, hope it all goes well.

I know what you mean! Thanks

MissChief said:

Absolutely love these and as many have said, so much more aggressive than the Coupé. Thanks for the updates!

Thanks for reading them!

PorkRind said:

Yeah the saloons do look good. I hope the bearings last!

So do I! I'm coming around to the idea of just changing them for the peace of mind...

d_a_n1979 said:

A great car and an even greater level of maintenance I like your style, reminds me of me haha

You and me, we'd get along juuuust fiiiine

bolidemichael said:

The appealing thing about Bilt Hamber is that each of their products has a clear function and when matched correctly, forms an extremely logical and effective approach to car detailing. Put it this way, you'll have to spend about ten hours, twice a year, so that every subsequent wash brings out top results which protecting the car from the environment.

Superb, I like logical. Their Dynax stuff seems to be top notch too, so I'd imagine their other products to be the same.

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d_a_n1979 said:

Yeah; we could both complain at how much all this bloody stuff costs and then compare drained wallets at the end of it all

Amen to that! Mrs GPM laughs that I can spend twelve thousand on a car and not bat an eyelid but my trainers are falling apart and I can't be bothered to replace them

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RoadRunner220 said:

Lovely car OP, these are very high on my want list.

Mine too, I'm not really driving it at the moment until I get this suspension issue sorted out!! If you've got the spare cash I can recommend one. From my experience so far it seems a brilliant all-rounder. Quiet and 'normal' when you want it to be, but then a lunatic if you're feeling naughty

d_a_n1979 said:

Haha yup... My Inov8 trainers are more or less in pieces & still comfy I need new gardening shoes/boots but I’m holding out until my old Patagonia boots actually disintegrate on me

Superb! I've still got my 'old' trainers from before these current ones... The soles are literally worn out so they look like slick tyres now. I need a new set of 'old' trainers so I may actually buy some new ones soon. I've been saying that for about 18 months though

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Nothing drastic to report. I dropped the car off at my friendly mechanic's place yesterday. I'm up to my ears in helping look after baby GPM, so he's going to sort out the stubborn rear arm for me and swap the damper and spring over, as well as replace the O-rings where the exhaust joins the manifold, as there's a blow. They go there quite commonly it seems, but the bits were only £20.

I got a text once he'd dropped me home and gone back to the garage using my car. I wasn't sure I'd completely topped up the oil as I've not driven anywhere since the oil change, and these silly electronic dip sticks are a pain. You have to measure exactly how much oil you're putting in, (which I do anyway, so no problem), but then when you start the car and warm the oil up it doesn't seem to give an accurate reading unless you actually go out and drive it for a bit! Anyway, the upshot was that I'm bang on with my oil measurements:



I then got another text later in the day saying the car's tucked up in the dry for the night, nice and secure:



Can't get better service than that Cheers Neil!