[Stream]

My E90 story

Two words about
I have 05MY E90 325i. AT, ZSP, style 158 on Michelin Runflat. No active steering.
I bought it 1.5 years ago, in february 2013 with about 35k on odometer (not sure it was real, lol). Now it has 53k.
No track driving, only street and sometimes short highway trips.




Problems
When I bought it, I have the only complain - suspension made rather loud noises when I drive over small potholes and other road imperfections and car was too boncy. After reading E90post I learned that stock Sachs shocks are crap and runflat tyres are the same. Also my waterpump died on 53.000km when I was 60km away from city, what a surprise
(job = 70$).

Besides that cool features some new problems appeared and looks like they are progressing:
1. My steering wheel have noticeable play in every position and in every speed. But no clunks or strange noises. I can't remember has it any play in steering or not when I bought car. I assume it appeared later.
2. My steering wheel shakes like crazy when I'm braking from 110 km/h to 80km/h. The whole car shakes too. This problem appeared recently - about 2-3 month ago, but at first it was not so scary like now.
I have changed brake rotors, pads, fluid last autumn. Rotors are ATE, front pads are EBC Red, rear pads are Textar.
Front rotors doesn't have visible pad deposits. Rear has a bit.


3. Car has small vibration after 140 km/h.

Fix
What I'v done:

1. Went to indy mechanic to check my suspention (two times). He checked all bushings, arms, ball-joints and tie rods and doesn't see any problems. Car was checked on lift and I'm afraid it wasn't possible to check all of these without real load.
Result - zero.
2 x 20$.

2. Checked lower U-connection on steering wheel shaft. Looks like i have play in steering rack, but not in U-connection. And rack had dirty oil spots in place where steering shaft goes into rack.
Result: I asume steering rack have wear on pinion gear. Need professional check at indy shop.

3. Changed shocks - Koni Sport, springs - Eibach Pro kit, front and rear shock mounts, bumpstops (performance v2 on front and m-sport on rear). Installed 12mm hubcentric spacers on rear.
One front and one rear shocks were dead. Other front was waaay underdamped and one rear was like new. No leakage spots.
Koni adjusted to half turn in font and one turn in rear (from softest).

Result: I like how car looks with stock 158 style wheels and Eibach springs, like cornering feelings, car has very little body roll. Acoustically car now quiter when I'm driving on rough road, but comfort level rised a little in comparison with old sport shocks.
5 hours, 200$.


4. After #3 waited 4 days untill suspension settled a bit and went to alignment shop.

Front camber was -0,5 and -1,1 (alignment pins are on their place). Toe was out of spec => fixed.
Rear camber is in spec range, toe was out of spec a little. Mechanic fixed toe on right wheel but said that he can't fix left wheel because of problem with bolt and nut. He proposed to replace arm, bolt, nut and come back to alignment shop after.

Finally I have total front and total rear toe within spec, but need to do alignment again after replacing arm.
0.5 Hours, 50$.

5. Checked all 4 wheels. Two had some bents => Fixed them and all 4 was balanced again.
1.5 hours, 120$.

Nearly plans
6. Visit another, more specified on BMW Indy and check suspension and steering, order arms, bushings or whatever need to be replaced (rear toe control arm, front thrust arm etc).
7. Cut (resurface) front rotors.

Conclusion
I have read a lot of threads here and on other bmw-forums, I got a lot of usefull info about suspension and brake of E90, but yet I want to hear your thoughts and advices.

P.s. Anyway love this naughty bitch

[mlifxs]

I like what you've done. Sounds like you're happy with it and the cost was pretty reasonable. People spend more $ but your mods seem appropriate since you're car is a daily driver.

A couple other modifications that are cheap to do: whiteline subframe bushing inserts (around $45 here in the US) and Dinan camber plates (around $150 here). This is parts only (I do my own labor).

btw not sure if those wheels are style 162, but they do look good

[evoix]

Those aren't 162's. Nice car tho

[Stream]

Oh, they are style 158 (17x8 et34). Thank you.

[Discreet_335i]

Hmm so your still have the shaking when braking? If the indy mechanic did indeed check all that he did.. im sure he checked the wheel bearings too?

i would check the calipers.. perhaps one or both are not releasing 100%. maybe take a quick drive and afterwards see one wheel is hotter than the other.

[jjellyneck]

Originally Posted by mlifxs

I like what you've done. Sounds like you're happy with it and the cost was pretty reasonable. People spend more $ but your mods seem appropriate since you're car is a daily driver.

A couple other modifications that are cheap to do: whiteline subframe bushing inserts (around $45 here in the US) and Dinan camber plates (around $150 here). This is parts only (I do my own labor).

btw not sure if those wheels are style 162, but they do look good

The Whiteline inserts made a noticeable difference in making the sloppy rear suspension tighter? Any increased noise or roughness?

[jjellyneck]

OP....great post and history of what you did and what worked! I had a few of your same problems with my used car purchase also. Better now after a few fixes.

[mlifxs]

Originally Posted by jjellyneck

The Whiteline inserts made a noticeable difference in making the sloppy rear suspension tighter? Any increased noise or roughness?

yes they made a noticeable difference, and no increased noise / roughness.

1addicts suspension forum has a very nice thread with DIY and feedback from several installers, including myself.

[Stream]

Update here.

1. Cut front rotors and vibrations gone away.
Indy mechanic said that right rotor was overheated and has ronout 0.2mm (or 0.02mm). Left has ronout too, but has no signs of overheat.
65$ for two.
I also asked him to check front thrust arm bushings. He doesn't have much experience with BMW, but he said that they looks like worn out.

2. Ordered a bunch of new parts: M3 LCA (TRW), Thrust Arm bushings (Meyle HD), swaybar links (Meyle HD), side rods (Meyle HD).

3. Installed new spacers: 20mm rear and 12mm front. Front is flush now, but rear end asks for extra 5mm. Will post some photos soon.

P.s. I'm thinking of buying refubrished steering rack, but not sure yet.

[cdgatti]

Stream, it is usually not recommended to turn the rotors. They are usually replaced with any brake job on these cars. It is good that you got rid of the vibration, but if you have some hard braking sessions and get them very hot they could warp again.

I put on the meyle hd fsb end links when I re-did my front struts and they worked great for a few k miles then there was a clunking sound. Turns out the end link connection to the strut on one side worked itself loose. I tightened up all 4 connections and resolved the issue.

[CALWATERBOY]

Originally Posted by Stream

My steering wheel shakes like crazy when I'm braking from 110 km/h to 80km/h. The whole car shakes too. This problem appeared recently - about 2-3 month ago, but at first it was not so scary like now.

Fixed?

[Stream]

Originally Posted by CALWATERBOY

Fixed?

Yes.

[Stream]

Here are videos with steering rack play.
Now I think that problem is not only in rack (it has play for sure), but in U-connection of steering column (because of sound, you can hear on second video).

I would be glad if someone will post similar video, but with steering mechanism (w/o active steering) in good condition.

[Stream]

All parts are here. Waiting for next saturday to install.

[David0ff]

wow thats carzy play!
how much did you get the rack for in russia?

[Stream]

Originally Posted by David0ff

wow thats carzy play!
how much did you get the rack for in russia?

Can get new ZF for ~1200$ but I tried refubrished one (by Reikanen) for 600$.

[David0ff]

ok, still pretty steep
no local place to rebuild your current one for ~200 euro?

[Stream]

DavidOff
No reputable shop here.

###
All parts replaced (340$ for job). I'm happy
Camber pin is still in place and I have -1.3'/-1.4' camber with just M3 LCA.

BTW, my rear end is still sits too high with EPK, even after control arm was retightened.

[Stream]

More photos with new rims and the same suspension setup (M3 FLCA + Eibach Pro-kit)
Trunk is loaded (~50kg).

[feuer]

Do you still use spacers with these new wheels?

[Stream]

Originally Posted by feuer

Do you still use spacers with these new wheels?

12mm spacer on rear axle

[feuer]

If your 20mm spacer clear the rear and you move the 12mm to the front I think will look even better