[Onizukachan]

Bought this. Is going to need some elbow grease to clean up,
but should be a nice unique addition.

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by Onizukachan

Bought this. Is going to need some elbow grease to clean up,
but should be a nice unique addition.

Ohhhh, the Big D... that car is getting better and better!

[Cpet]

Dropped it off to have the rear shocks swapped - again. Not sure (yet) whether the shocks installed in July had a defect or if the shop made some mistake. Regardless, the car started clunking over any road imperfection on one side. Since I'm out of state and away from the shop that did the original work, found a new shop that will handle the TechNet parts/labor warranty. Hopefully this'll be my last service appointment for 2024 after 5 consecutive months of being in for something!

I was given an 06 325i sport as a loaner. I've never been in a RWD e90 before, so it was nice to drive them back to back. Definitely a slight but noticeable improvement in overall dynamics compared to my 328xi. The sport suspension and wider rear tires are great upgrades. Despite the small drop in torque the 325 doesn't feel slower. Also interesting to compare the interior changes firsthand with my LCI car.

[eljay]

Originally Posted by Cpet

Dropped it off to have the rear shocks swapped - again. Not sure (yet) whether the shocks installed in July had a defect or if the shop made some mistake. Regardless, the car started clunking over any road imperfection on one side. Since I'm out of state and away from the shop that did the original work, found a new shop that will handle the TechNet parts/labor warranty. Hopefully this'll be my last service appointment for 2024 after 5 consecutive months of being in for something!

I was given an 06 325i sport as a loaner. I've never been in a RWD e90 before, so it was nice to drive them back to back. Definitely a slight but noticeable improvement in overall dynamics compared to my 328xi. The sport suspension and wider rear tires are great upgrades. Despite the small drop in torque the 325 doesn't feel slower. Also interesting to compare the interior changes firsthand with my LCI car.

Very likely they didn't torque the nut at the shock tower properly and the mount wore out. The shocks are probably just fine.

[tcphoto]

There are bump stops that cushion the shocks as they travel through their range, there will be knocks if they forgot to install them.

[Cpet]

Originally Posted by eljay

Very likely they didn't torque the nut at the shock tower properly and the mount wore out. The shocks are probably just fine.

Originally Posted by tcphoto

There are bump stops that cushion the shocks as they travel through their range, there will be knocks if they forgot to install them.

Thanks, one of these explanations would make sense. I'd be surprised if a brand new Bilstein shock was defective.

Very disappointed in the shop that did the work. Not only did they screw up what should've been a simple replacement, they claimed the B6 was the OE shock for the 328xi (it's the B4, a much cheaper part). Also they misdiagnosed my transfer case leak, said the fluid-filled mount was seeping, which the E90 doesn't have. One would think a shop that's been around for 45 years wouldn't make these mistakes. My first and final visit there.

[Onizukachan]

Not my car but drove up to Tucson with a friend in his e39 540i Msport Touring early this am… and drove his newly purchased mineral white 2015 M4 with DCT & carbon roof from Tucson some 3+hours back to his house this afternoon. Has only 21k on it.

Whoever was asking if the f80 seats were better the e90sport seats. I can conclusively confirm Nope. More tired and achy after 3 hours in them than after 11 hours in the e91.

Nice car though. Quick, but sacrilege speaking, I liked my f31d a lot better, quieter, more comfy even on coilovers and dumped 1.5” and frankly for city/highway driving the extra power is just overkill. You can’t touch it but for 1-3 seconds at time or you are way over the legal and safe limit. And the carbon roof is noisier than a sunroof could ever be. Fun car, but would rather hav3 the power in a less taut but more spacious amd isolated wagon body.

Hmm. ��

[sgm330xi]

My Logic 7 Amp got some water in it after rain for 2 consecutive days, it stopped working but came back to life and works fine now. I took it out to inspect and dry the area. I suspect water got in from seal not being properly seated on the rear window.

Also decided to upgrade to combox, swapped out the TCU for combox. Works great with audio streaming but the Kufatec adapter harness fails to work with calls, the other caller can't hear me as it cuts out. I plan to make my own harness down the line.

[Onizukachan]

Just repin your existing TCU maybe? That’s what I did.

[DBShiznit]

Just ordered transfer case fluid and will be starting there to see if my issue goes away. A lot of people experiencing the same type of symptoms and stated the TC fluid change plus adaptation recent made a world difference.

[Mike K]

New tensioner, idler and belt today. About an hour of work. Mostly trying to retrieve the old idler cap that had fallen down onto the undercarriage liner! I gave up looking for it. I'll find it someday..

25nm +90 degrees on the new tensioner bolt and 40nm on the idler bolt. Parts were about $98 delivered from FCP.

[Hoody007]

Picked up a purge valve for the E46 and tried (and failed) to reinitialize the auto-up feature on it. Arrgh. Also need to order a water valve as it turns out the heat just does not work in it (at least it has heated seats!).

Now, tracing down the weird groaning noise I've had for the last 15K miles on my 335i. At low rpms once the car has warmed up a bit, I hear a groaning noise - to me it sounds like it’s coming from the passenger side. Sometimes it will go away briefly if I go over a bump in the road. Finally had a chance to deep dive into it and it seems as though it’s coming from my alternator, or right next to it? I swear I can feel a slight vibration corresponding to the groan through my steering wheel too. But it does not change with steering input.

Current candidates are:

Drive belt tensioner or pulleys
P/S pump or pulley
Alternator bearings / pulley
Boost solenoid (but I don’t think this is it given I think it is now coming from the front of the motor somewhere).
Motor mounts (but I don’t feel any vibrations in the cabin, and it does the same thing no matter the gear I’m in).

It’s really weird. I’m taking it to a friend’s shop on Tuesday to see if he knows what’s going on. It is not a knocking noise, and my rod bearings have already been changed…

[Cpet]

Originally Posted by Cpet

Thanks, one of these explanations would make sense. I'd be surprised if a brand new Bilstein shock was defective.

Turns out the nut on the bottom of the shock was cross-threaded and not holding it in properly. The first shop likely jammed it with an impact. Great workmanship.

Now it rides like new with all genuine parts.

[Onizukachan]

External SDARS to CiC internal SDARS conversion completed.

Tips for e91. install cable to CIC head, leave head sitting out, and
run around glovebox following factory loom, to right side kick and
then down the sills to rear seat, go up behind the stationary bolster
of rear seat and thence into trunk area behind the trunk panel and
drop down along where the others are.
The 5 meter length is ample for this “wasteful” routing and this way the foot or two of excess
is in the rear behind a panel , with only enough excess left to pull Head unit out up front.
Then reinstall head to dash.

Fold down rear seats and lift up floor to access the module bay, fish out the cable
and remove the SDARS bracket above TCU/combox itself and then SDARs also from bracket.
Otherwise you can’t reach the retaining tabs for the dual antenna and for the most+power connector shell.


Unplug both from module, then remove the Most block from the power connector itself,
as it is too big to fit into a Most lollipop directly. Removed it is now too small to click in place,
but a couple small zip ties will let you effectively hold it tightly in the lollipop as pictured by routing the zip tie
between the two fiber optic leads and thru the lollipop hole.


RE: the double SDARS antenna connector…
one is actually antenna feed for terrestrial repeaters like used in large urban downtown areas,
the other is the actual Sat feed. Shave both the locator pin and indexing rib off the pink connector with dremel
or similar… leaving it as just a plain pink barrel and it will friction fit perfectly in the SDARS SAT port pictured below.

Switch your CiC in NCS expert from external to internal SDARS amd code it back, and
you can then see the ESN to contact Sirius amd switch your service to the new CIC’s internal module.

It is both more stable without 3/4 of channels dropping off the list like the external seemed to do frequently…
and lets you see a few more… but not all.
(Diplo for example seems to be on an XM satellite & not Sirius, so our early CCC Sirius only antennas dont get it. )


See pics below of stuff I couldn’t find pictured elsewhere…
like which port is sat and how to get the most lollipop and connector to stay connected with a very small zip tie thru both.

Hope this helps someone.

[Shoooter_j]

Originally Posted by eljay

Switched to winter wheels, which meant I spent a good hour cleaning the summers before putting them away.
While I love the 270M design, I hate the wheel design direction where many wheels have this "channel" running all the way around behind the spokes. It makes it a real chore to clean behind there. Same goes for the Audi wheels in the background.

Nice one - did the same today!