[K9Leader]

Yesterday, the air bag warning symbols popped up on the dash of the Gray Ghost, my 2010 E91 x-Drive.



I ran a diagnostic and got the 0093E - Active Headrest - Left. Hmm, I put these Sport seats in the car about six weeks ago, everything worked without coding or any rewiring so I thought I was home free. Maybe not.

This morning I checked the active headrest connector under the seat - this one:



I pulled on it and it slid right out, no unclipping. Okay, so I had connected it but had not pushed it all the way in and it had finally shaken loose. Clipped it in nice and tight, test pull and it stayed. Turned on car, ran a diagnostic with Carly, cleared the code, and back to normal! I wish they were all this easy.

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by K9Leader

I pulled on it and it slid right out, no unclipping. Okay, so I had connected it but had not pushed it all the way in and it had finally shaken loose. Clipped it in nice and tight, test pull and it stayed. Turned on car, ran a diagnostic with Carly, cleared the code, and back to normal! I wish they were all this easy.

Yeah, really!

On a LCI car, do the heated sport seats plug right in?

[K9Leader]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

Yeah, really!

On a LCI car, do the heated sport seats plug right in?

They did in my case. I had been prepared to have to do some coding or rewiring but the old standard seats had all the same features - power, heat, lumbar (but, of course, not the upper bolsters) - and all the same connectors. Everything plugged right in and worked without any workarounds, even the bolsters (although with my rather ample pear-shaped torso there is no real reason to use them at any position other than very wide).

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by K9Leader

They did in my case. I had been prepared to have to do some coding or rewiring but the old standard seats had all the same features - power, heat, lumbar (but, of course, not the upper bolsters) - and all the same connectors. Everything plugged right in and worked without any workarounds, even the bolsters (although with my rather ample pear-shaped torso there is no real reason to use them at any position other than very wide).

Great to read it was plug and play! I need to start looking for some sporties, but wasn't looking forward to conversion/re-wiring. This sounds a lot better!

[Hoody007]

Took it in for an oil change - I may have a small valve cover gasket leak. Cover has been replaced before, and it’s possible the oil wasn’t cleaned off before. Will need to clean up and monitor it.

The weird moaning noise seems to have gone too with the oil change. It is really cold out though, so could just be that. Will need to monitor that…

Rear tires are at 5/32, so I’ll be doing those relatively soon too. Damned run flats lasted maybe 12K miles. Will be replacing with Continental DWS 06+.

[E93Dude]

Originally Posted by Boksa

Changed the ORIGINAL?! '09 90ah AGM battery with a new excide AGM 95Ah one. Registered it with ISTA+ which also said last battery change was at 0 km.

Bravo. I am still rocking my March '07 AGM battery that was factory installed. Insane that some of these have lasted this long. When my battery finally goes, I will build a monument in its honor.

[colorado.e9x]

Originally Posted by E93Dude

Bravo. I am still rocking my March '07 AGM battery that was factory installed. Insane that some of these have lasted this long. When my battery finally goes, I will build a monument in its honor.

My original one from November 06 finally went out last month. It was during a 10 hour round trip and it killed my climate controls.. Sacrificed it to the O'Reilly battery cart. Core charge was worth it. Lol

[dylantoone]

Did a clutch delay valve delete, got that clutch feeling good

[colorado.e9x]

Sport wheel w/ paddles finally installed on Blue

Disregard the airbag light, was testing paddles prior to airbag install

[Bmw1939]

Changed the oil on the X3 and e90. Valvoline euro LL01

[Dirtleg]

Today I dropped the exhaust and removed the driveshaft.

I have never seen such badly rusted exhaust nut/studs in my entire lifetime. Working on cars almost 40 years so far. These were without a doubt the worst.
Never even tried to remove them. Just cut them off at the connection near the cats. The 2 upper were a pain as access is limited. Much time with a die grinder and they were mostly gone.

Also I forgot the number 1 BMW disassembly rule for bolts with poor access. Never use an impact. Even a 1/4 drive impact. Rear exhaust hanger bolt broke the nut loose from the retainer and just spun. Had to pull the hanger bushing off the muffler bracket. Guess I'll have to figure out how to get this sorted now too. It came loose before locking up so I may be able to get a sawzall blade on the center of the bolt between the body and hanger. That would be fairly easy if it works out.

Once everything was cutoff/unbolted, moving the muffler side to side caused it to come loose of the rusty nubs left on the cats and drop freely.

Driveshaft came off easily enough except for the centering hub at the differential flange was a little stuck.

My intention was to replace the guibo, center bearing and of course the exhaust hardware and gaskets but it seems the rear u-joint on the driveshaft is crunchy feeling in one spot.

Doesn't look like they made it serviceable. So I am guessing a new driveshaft will be needed. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Any specific place do a better job with the e90 driveshaft than others?

[Brian86]

Mounted the snow tires.

My rear wiper is hanging up. Far too much resistance in the mechanical bits that pass through the glass. Going to have to disassemble it when I get some time.

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by Dirtleg

My intention was to replace the guibo, center bearing and of course the exhaust hardware and gaskets but it seems the rear u-joint on the driveshaft is crunchy feeling in one spot.

Doesn't look like they made it serviceable. So I am guessing a new driveshaft will be needed. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Any specific place do a better job with the e90 driveshaft than others?

I have no personal experience but have heard good feedback about these guys from several friends:
http://driveshaftspecialist.com/Import%20html/BMW.html
I have them bookmarked for when I need a new center support bearing or flex disc; figured whenever I need to remove the driveshaft for any service I'll just replace the whole thing.

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by E93Dude

Bravo. I am still rocking my March '07 AGM battery that was factory installed. Insane that some of these have lasted this long. When my battery finally goes, I will build a monument in its honor.

I just replaced my 4/07 AGM battery in my E93 a few months ago, it finally died. Rear location away from the engine heat and an "intelligent" charging profile likely contributed to that longevity.

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by lowrydr310

I just replaced my 4/07 AGM battery in my E93 a few months ago, it finally died. Rear location away from the engine heat and an "intelligent" charging profile likely contributed to that longevity.

That's some amazing longevity!

[Hoody007]

Up in Canada at the moment, fixed the taillights on the F25 (N20). Interesting spec, vermillion red on chestnut, has basically every option available. LED driver board failed, simple fix. Also redid the glovebox, did plugs and wiper blades. Has held up really well for being in the north for the last 10 years. Not a spec of rust anywhere. And don’t worry, timing chain guides were done under warranty by BMW…

[oVeRdOsE.]

Originally Posted by Hoody007

Up in Canada at the moment, fixed the taillights on the F25 (N20). Interesting spec, vermillion red on chestnut, has basically every option available. LED driver board failed, simple fix. Also redid the glovebox, did plugs and wiper blades. Has held up really well for being in the north for the last 10 years. Not a spec of rust anywhere. And don’t worry, timing chain guides were done under warranty by BMW…

^^ wow , did the same this weekend on my F25.

The LED board failed, I simply resolder it, and cover it with a liquid tape to protect it.

vermillon red is the best bmw for me , I wish I have this color.

But my F25 is also not bad, both exterior and interior color are optional :carbon schwarz (dark blue) and orange interior. Also N55 and mpack

[Hoody007]

Ordered European-market taillights from eBay UK. They have amber turn signals and are much safer than the red signal ones US/Canadian market cars get. I’ve been rear-ended (and totaled out) twice, and the most recent time by someone who said they didn’t see my signal (which was definitely on as proven by video). So any help I can get. Plus, the amber signals look cool

[E93Seattle (Racerbruce)]

well done hoody,
although my recently departed 07 z4mr did not have amber turn signal lenses, i installed high-end LED amber lamps that were crazy bright when activated and had a definite cool-factor.

the great news is the LED lamps did not throw a code; i believe they were manufactured by weisslicht and were $$ but they performed awesome; i followed numerous posts before purchasing them and the cheap wannabe's threw codes and the amber color was off, etc.

[StradaRedlands]

In olden days clear corners were all the rage and we swapped out the ambers for those.

[E93Seattle (Racerbruce)]

well said strada,
i remember when the first lexus is300? came out and it had a pretty strong boy-racer aesthetic attitude going...and it had clear "corners" on front and rear light fixtures and it was a THING!

what is new is old
what is old is new

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by E93Seattle (Racerbruce)

well said strada,
i remember when the first lexus is300? came out and it had a pretty strong boy-racer aesthetic attitude going...and it had clear "corners" on front and rear light fixtures and it was a THING!

what is new is old
what is old is new

"Altezza" style lights from the Toyota Altezza, AKA Lexus IS300... funny thing about that car, when I was car shopping I quickly passed because it wasn't offered with a manual transmission at the time. Same with the G35. BMW was a hard pass for me because of those weak ass NA engines, so I got an Audi A4 with grand plans to upgrade the turbo and do all kinds of cool stuff. Boy was that a mistake! Thank God for a warranty. Had I only known and appreciated the NA inline 6 at the time...



As for what I did to my car today. I replaced the top oil cooler hose on my 335, and replaced the oil cooler thermostat cover gasket. I replaced the thermostat housing gasket already but neglected to bother with the small cover over the thermostat itself. Like any other BMW gaskets original from 2007 it was hard and brittle and not sealing. All good now. I have four more that I'll gladly share with anyone who needs one.