[Hoody007]

Originally Posted by E92_William

I’m gonna look at the cheap plastic replacements and see what I find, I was wondering if one could fit a leather e92 handle in an e90.

I have never had rattling cup holders, the cup holder has two screws that should hold it snug against the dashboard and the back end has a tip with a rubber grommet type thing that you can see here and it goes into a bracket with a hole for it so there should be no rattling sound I’d think unless there’s something loose/broken inside the cup holder

I actually bought a leather E92 handle to fit on the E90 door panel - doesn’t fit. But I’m still investigating why. My Dremel hasn’t let me down thus far…

Oh, and the rattling cupholders are caused by the plastic / rubber nib at the very back either breaking off or not sitting in the retainer hole deep in the dash.
Stabilizes the whole mechanism over bumps.

Ended up buying a genuine cupholder as the aftermarket eBay one I bought had a nib which just didn’t fit the hole.

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by Hoody007

Front brakes replaced - vibration under braking is gone!!

The BMW dealer was a good $500 cheaper than every independent I got a quote from - $550 including taxes.

Independent shops were charging $1000+ for front brakes!? Wow! That's <$300 for top quality parts including the sensor. $550 isn't bad for the whole job including labor. $1000+ is absurd. Are independent shops hurting that much that they're trying to squeeze their customers for whatever they can get?

[Serf27]

Replaced faulty E91 rear window/hatch glass switch.
Used vs faulty.

[jsunma]

Originally Posted by Serf27

Replaced faulty E91 rear window/hatch glass switch.
Used vs faulty.

Yep, that one on the right sure is broken. What did it get struck by lightning?

This reminds me that it's probably time to take apart that mechanism on my car and sand the corrosion off of the shaft and lube up the whole thing...before it does its otherwise normal trick of freezing up into a solid lump of parts.

[Serf27]

Originally Posted by jsunma

Yep, that one on the right sure is broken. What did it get struck by lightning?

This reminds me that it's probably time to take apart that mechanism on my car and sand the corrosion off of the shaft and lube up the whole thing...before it does its otherwise normal trick of freezing up into a solid lump of parts.

Looks like it.
It wouldn’t let the hatch or glass open with the handles/switches.
I think some dielectric grease would help here.

Which shaft are you talking about?

[jsunma]

Originally Posted by Serf27

Which shaft are you talking about?

The shaft that ends in the splined bit that attaches to the wiper...and the other end of it is on the eccentric pivot that connects to the wiper motor in the tailgate. I've found in my car that crud gets between the shaft and the silver part (in the below photo) and ultimately jams up the whole mechanism. This part can be cleaned several times before it's necessary to purchase a whole new mechanism.

[tcphoto]

I received the alcantara shift boot from Coby Wheels and it's quite underwhelming, it's JUST two pieces of fabric stitched together with specific color thread. They have you destroy the stock boot to get to the frame and glue it all back together. Seriously? For $40 I would have expected a boot mounted on a frame and simply swap out. Instead, I'll be going to a couple stores looking for a specific "fabric glue" and performing surgery to make it look good. They must make some extraordinary steering wheels but the boots have the least possible effort put into them.

[Keith325i]

I installed the 3 stage intake from a 330i n53 onto my 325i 2 weeks ago and just yesterday, I had the 3 remapped. Lots of extra torque low in the rev range and the car keeps accelerating as the revs increase. Very happy with the car now.

[colorado.e9x]

Got it back. Got an extensive list to get it looking and performing how I need it.

Disregard front fitment, kept it raised. i70 is no joke

[StradaRedlands]

Quick trip to the wrecker yielded a decent haul of odds and ends. The triangle is from an Auto Union car, and crazy-heavy overbuilt, but kinda' cool. Lug wrench from an E36, trunk switch from an E90, oil cap from a F10, and aftermarket URO oil filter cover from an E60. Not bad for $20!

[Serf27]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

Quick trip to the wrecker yielded a decent haul of odds and ends. The triangle is from an Auto Union car, and crazy-heavy overbuilt, but kinda' cool. Lug wrench from an E36, trunk switch from an E90, oil cap from a F10, and aftermarket URO oil filter cover from an E60. Not bad for $20!

$20?!
LKQ near me would have been at least $50 for all of that.
The LKQ yards aren’t worth it anymore for a lot of parts.
They’re competing with eBay prices WITH the ADDED convenience of removing your own parts.
Not saying they’re bad, but it’s mostly for hard to find parts now.
An actuator there costs $40+time while a used actuator online with no effort required costs $25 and a new after market costs $35, etc etc.

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by Serf27

$20?!
LKQ near me would have been at least $50 for all of that.
The LKQ yards aren’t worth it anymore for a lot of parts.
They’re competing with eBay prices WITH the ADDED convenience of removing your own parts.
Not saying they’re bad, but it’s mostly for hard to find parts now.
An actuator there costs $40+time while a used actuator online with no effort required costs $25 and a new after market costs $35, etc etc.

I've found that if they don't know what it is, they just make up the price to get you out of there. Plus it was late in the day on a long hot Sunday afternoon, they just wanted to be done! But I agree on their pricing, it doesn't make sense compared to what you can buy it for on ebay. It seems like they should offer stuff for less though, especially as you pretty much don't know what you're getting. But I go for fun and the hunt, so it's an outing for me!

[codeterrorist]

Installed Euro air box, took the car for a drive. First drive for "summer" and a rock hits the windshield that I replaced a few years ago and has not a single small chip or anything and now it needs to be replaced. Stupid $@##$% streets with gravel for stupid #$^&* winter.
I need to be in a 24/7 365 summer country. I hate winter.... I HATE IT.

[jsunma]

Originally Posted by Serf27

$20?!
LKQ near me would have been at least $50 for all of that.
The LKQ yards aren’t worth it anymore for a lot of parts.
They’re competing with eBay prices WITH the ADDED convenience of removing your own parts.
Not saying they’re bad, but it’s mostly for hard to find parts now.
An actuator there costs $40+time while a used actuator online with no effort required costs $25 and a new after market costs $35, etc etc.

This reminds me of a story I had decades ago from a self-serve junk yard where I was pulling parts for a Fiat 128 (that gives you a clue as to how old a story this is). I pulled a bunch of trim parts, a few suspension bits, and an electrical switch or two. Upon going to the counter, I asked how much for what I wanted to buy.

"Five dollars."

Oh, I said, that seems like more than I want to spend. (as I said, this was like 40 years ago) So I proceeded to remove parts from my haul and each time I asked how much.

"Five dollars."

Ultimately I had eliminated eveything other than the switch.

"Five dollars."

I was an easily intimidated kid confronting the crusty junkyard guy, but I summoned the courage to ask (essentially) WTF???

To which the junkyard dude said "Electrical parts are Five Dollars...we don't give a fuck what else you want."

At which point I learned that junkyard pricing is a unique universe in and of itself.

[Hoody007]

Originally Posted by lowrydr310

Independent shops were charging $1000+ for front brakes!? Wow! That's <$300 for top quality parts including the sensor. $550 isn't bad for the whole job including labor. $1000+ is absurd. Are independent shops hurting that much that they're trying to squeeze their customers for whatever they can get?

Yes - absolutely absurd. I typically prefer independent shops, but they’re supposed to be cheaper than the dealer.

Not to mention this isn’t a Porsche or something. 1.5K for all four brakes would’ve been ridiculous.

Just got back from a 700 mi round trip to Charleston, SC. Averaged 27.3 mpg the entire trip, including traffic and driving for dinner, etc. Got 30.1 mpg on the freeway, average speed 81 mph. Really impressed with the N55’s efficiency vs. the N54.

Also, has anyone not been getting PMs? The mobile app doesn’t show anything…

[Greyfox]

Oil change, replaced Vanos Solenoids and replaced the cabin filter lower tray so that I could get the electrical cables back up where they should be.

[bimmermech123]

I've been dealing with this "issue" since I had the car, a clicking sound when shaking the steering wheel when parked with the engine off. I hear a deeper toned click than in the video when going over certain road deformations at low speeds. I checked this thread:

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=256125

which recommended tightening the E10 bolt on the steering shaft u-joint. I checked the tightness and it is very tight. I have replaced struts, control arms and end links and I think it is clear from the audio that the click is coming from the steering shaft.

What are your guys opinions? (Let me know if I should start a thread on it)

[colorado.e9x]

Washed it and lowered the front end. Not low enough up front and too low in the rear. More tinkering tomorrow.

I also parked on a curb that I was trying to hard to avoid. The learning curve after driving a lifted truck for the last year is tougher than I thought it would be

[E92_William]

Originally Posted by Serf27

$20?!
LKQ near me would have been at least $50 for all of that.
The LKQ yards aren’t worth it anymore for a lot of parts.
They’re competing with eBay prices WITH the ADDED convenience of removing your own parts.
Not saying they’re bad, but it’s mostly for hard to find parts now.
An actuator there costs $40+time while a used actuator online with no effort required costs $25 and a new after market costs $35, etc etc.

The LKQ part prices have increased and sometimes doubled over the past few years I’ve noticed. I rarely go these days because it’s not worth the trip. I just picked up a whole transfer case for the e92 on eBay for $215 bucks from a good mileage car, and it gets dropped off at my door. LKQ it costs the same or more and I have to go roll in the dirt for an hour to pull it myself..

[E92_William]

Originally Posted by bimmermech123

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGyyKOBHCpA

I've been dealing with this "issue" since I had the car, a clicking sound when shaking the steering wheel when parked with the engine off. I hear a deeper toned click than in the video when going over certain road deformations at low speeds. I checked this thread:

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=256125

which recommended tightening the E10 bolt on the steering shaft u-joint. I checked the tightness and it is very tight. I have replaced struts, control arms and end links and I think it is clear from the audio that the click is coming from the steering shaft.

What are your guys opinions? (Let me know if I should start a thread on it)

If it’s anything like my old car it was play in the steering linkage to the rack itself, I never took it out to check but it seemed to have play where the input shaft went into the rack, no bueno. Can also try stick something between the u joints to see if it stops then you know the play is up there instead, they dry out, fail and bind since they’re uncovered

[Serf27]

Originally Posted by E92_William

The LKQ part prices have increased and sometimes doubled over the past few years I’ve noticed. I rarely go these days because it’s not worth the trip. I just picked up a whole transfer case for the e92 on eBay for $215 bucks from a good mileage car, and it gets dropped off at my door. LKQ it costs the same or more and I have to go roll in the dirt for an hour to pull it myself..

Yup.
I just check their online inventory.
The days of walking up and down each isle in hopes of finding your model car and the part you need are gone.

Last year is when their prices jumped almost 30-40%.

I’ll swing by for color matching body panels or small easy to grab cheap stuff, but paying $80 for a part+ time when you get the part delivered to your door for the same price with no effort isn’t worth it.

[tcphoto]

I installed the alcantara shift boot and then replaced the windshield washer pump. I can't believe how difficult it is compared to my old E46 and the debris that collects over time. Judging from the soot on the filter, it wasn't the pump that was the problem but at $10 it wasn't a big deal.