[zero2sixtyZ]

Originally Posted by Torgus

Race me already. I've waited 5 years to beat your ass.

Track meet. Who's down? Epping for a street night?

[Torgus]

Down.

[Island Road]

Originally Posted by zero2sixtyZ

If I'm not mistaken, a few weeks ago I pulled past you... With a fat Russian co-driver, and trunk full of tools.

Haha wait wait wait

That was with a faulty injector that kept putting me in limp mode. Upon removal and inspection no decoupling element on all the injectors!!!!!

We I get back we can try that race again. There might be some different results haha.

[Torgus]

Let's settle this at the track like real men.

[Island Road]

Originally Posted by Torgus

Let's settle this at the track like real men.

Ha I am down! How about some F1 Boston to get started then the air field or skip that and jump to NHMS for a HPDE!

U going to bimmer fest heard u might not make it?

[Torgus]

Originally Posted by Island Road

Ha I am down! How about some F1 Boston to get started then the air field or skip that and jump to NHMS for a HPDE!

U going to bimmer fest heard u might not make it?

Always wanted to do F1.

No bimmerfest for me...it's the weekend of my wedding anniversary. Otherwise I would be there in a heart beat. I already suggested recognizing it another weekend and that is a no go.

I just dropped a refrigerator on my foot. I can't walk. 1st day of my vacation. FML.

[Boston335xi]

Originally Posted by Torgus

Always wanted to do F1.

No bimmerfest for me...it's the weekend of my wedding anniversary. Otherwise I would be there in a heart beat. I already suggested recognizing it another weekend and that is a no go.

I just dropped a refrigerator on my foot. I can't walk. 1st day of my vacation. FML.

...there's your excuse to drink all week.

[zero2sixtyZ]

Got the 235/40 PSS' on the front shoes, and did a quick detail.

[Torgus]

Do I see a jealous infiniti in your door panel?

[zero2sixtyZ]

Originally Posted by Torgus

Do I see a jealous infiniti in your door panel?

He might T-bone it.

[dwells]

Update on my turbo replacement:

So, following my brand new replacement turbos still having wastegate rattle, I took it back to the dealership and dealt directly with the shop foreman. As would be my luck, it's hard to reproduce outside of a cold start, and during the drive with the foreman, the only two times I reproduced it, the foreman couldn't hear it. Of course.

As I was leaving, however, it did it. I stopped the car in the middle of their lot (blocked some cars, whoops), left it running, and sprinted back to grab the foreman. He thought it was a shield at first and held it in place with a screwdriver, nope. Had me rev it a few more times and get this:

The brand new outer bank turbo they got from BMW is rattling and appears to be bad! How's that for quality control?

So I've got an appointment in two weeks to bring the car back again and leave it for a few days, possibly for another turbo replacement. Sheesh.

On the upside of all this is that the shop foreman, service advisor, and service manager all seemed to be pretty good guys and all eager to help, so that's good.

[zero2sixtyZ]

Uh oh. Glad to hear it's being taken care of, but sucks to hear that new turbos could have this issue.

[dwells]

Originally Posted by zero2sixtyZ

Uh oh. Glad to hear it's being taken care of, but sucks to hear that new turbos could have this issue.

Yeah, little worrying. As soon as the car's back from the shop, I'm going to be buying an extended warranty on it. I'd like to have it for another three years/up to 100k miles without it costing a fortune. Based on what I've seen, $2,000 for a warranty is less than I'll likely have to pay for repairs between now and then, so it's a decent bet.

[Torgus]

hmmm so I drive the e92 for a week straight and by Friday I find it's not fast enough for me and I want to order a meth kit as that is all that is left other than upgraded turbos or an ST. Then I drive the three and a half liter beater(03 auto maxima) around for the weekend and suddenly the e92 feels fast as fuck. I guess it's a good thing...


Z how do you like the PSS on the rear?

[zero2sixtyZ]

Originally Posted by Torgus

hmmm so I drive the e92 for a week straight and by Friday I find it's not fast enough for me and I want to order a meth kit as that is all that is left other than upgraded turbos or an ST. Then I drive the three and a half liter beater(03 auto maxima) around for the weekend and suddenly the e92 feels fast as fuck. I guess it's a good thing...


Z how do you like the PSS on the rear?

Have the matching set on the front now. 235 width front, 265 rear, and they run wide too. They feel great. Lightyears better than the runflats. Grip is amazing, and they perform very well in the wet too.

P.S. I miss my Maxima.

[Torgus]

Originally Posted by zero2sixtyZ

Have the matching set on the front now. 235 width front, 265 rear, and they run wide too. They feel great. Lightyears better than the runflats. Grip is amazing, and they perform very well in the wet too.

P.S. I miss my Maxima.

Yeah the performance of the PSS in the wet is awesome. Considerably better traction than every 100% pure summer tire I had on my maxima with 1/2 the power.

You had a nice maxima My GLE with the auto slush box blows. The 6 speeds are a pleasure to drive. I took the max to NYC a month ago and I think I blew the struts and it feels like i'm driving a taxi now. I also broke the exhaust in 1/2 and now need two front tires before the winter. I'm starting to wonder if the maintenance + insurance on a 3rd car is worth the luxury of having a 3rd car...I could sell it, buy winters w/ rims, and buy the silly expensive meth kit I have all spec'd out.

Track night?

[dwells]

I keep going back and forth on whether I want to keep my car for a few more years or not. On one hand, there's nothing really out right now that I want, plus I just finally got around to installing some cosmetics on it (CSL spoiler, M3 side skirts). On the other hand, I need to put down $2,000+ on a warranty to justify keeping it, it needs carbon cleaning, there are thing about it that bother me, etc.

I think what's really bothering me too is when I got it years back, it was special and reasonably rare. Nowadays E92s are a lot more common, and they've become more affordable. As a result, there's a ton of absolutely ruined cars on 20" wheels, air ride, massive negative camber, stretched tires, ghetto sound systems, etc. - just check out the photos section of the forum. Seeing all that garbage in the same community makes me think of Civics, not something classy.

Decisions, decisions.

[Torgus]

Originally Posted by dwells

I keep going back and forth on whether I want to keep my car for a few more years or not. On one hand, there's nothing really out right now that I want, plus I just finally got around to installing some cosmetics on it (CSL spoiler, M3 side skirts). On the other hand, I need to put down $2,000+ on a warranty to justify keeping it, it needs carbon cleaning, there are thing about it that bother me, etc.

I think what's really bothering me too is when I got it years back, it was special and reasonably rare. Nowadays E92s are a lot more common, and they've become more affordable. As a result, there's a ton of absolutely ruined cars on 20" wheels, air ride, massive negative camber, stretched tires, ghetto sound systems, etc. - just check out the photos section of the forum. Seeing all that garbage in the same community makes me think of Civics, not something classy.

Decisions, decisions.

But what would you move to?

As far as the 2k warranty a water pump installed by bmw is only 1k. You just got new turbos and lines etc. So other than the pump there isn't that much that is likely to go wrong. I guess your alt, starter, or ac could shit the bed but still a water pump + one of those is not 2k.

I wouldn't invest 2k in a warranty. Warranties are sold because they generate revenue. Not to help the customer.

Is your car stock in terms of performance? Why not go FBO and have some fun with it. I personally would never of moved to the N54 if I wasn't planning on running a fun tune. You have brand new turbos, enjoy them.

Carbon cleaning is like $300 locally, or you can DIY for less.

[dwells]

Originally Posted by Torgus

But what would you move to?

As far as the 2k warranty a water pump installed by bmw is only 1k. You just got new turbos and lines etc. So other than the pump there isn't that much that is likely to go wrong. I guess your alt, starter, or ac could shit the bed but still a water pump + one of those is not 2k.

I wouldn't invest 2k in a warranty. Warranties are sold because they generate revenue. Not to help the customer.

Is your car stock in terms of performance? Why not go FBO and have some fun with it. I personally would never of moved to the N54 if I wasn't planning on running a fun tune. You have brand new turbos, enjoy them.

Carbon cleaning is like $300 locally, or you can DIY for less.

To answer the move to question, Jag. The XK R is extremely tempting, but I think I'd wait an extra year for the 2012 models to drop another ten grand or so. Excellent interior, stunning looks, very rare, hydraulic steering and a 500hp 5.0L V8.

As for warranty stuff, I'm on the fence about that, because I've already had a lot of work done already:

• Three HPFPs by 50,000 miles.
• Spark plugs around 50,000 miles.
• Laggy engine software update at 50,000 miles.
• VANOS solenoids at 64,000 miles. ($650)
• Water pump and thermostat at 68,500 miles. ($1,100)
• New turbos a month ago at 69,500, outer bank turbo being replaced again on Monday.

The car is a 2006-built E92 335i wth 70,000 miles right now, and if I were to keep it, it would be for about three years to around 100,000 miles. Here's what I know is wrong with the car now:

• Hesitating/jerky on throttle lately, feels slower. Desperately needs a carbon cleaning, which I hope is the cause of the problem. ($350 from the guy in the forums here, but an hour plus drive as well)
• Transmission jerking from second to first in auto mode. Might just be a software issue, might be my slushbox on its way out. ($???)
• Steering wheel shake at around 50mph on both sets of wheels, so I doubt it's balancing. Control arm maybe? ($500?)

And here's what I've been told to expect:

• Original serpentine belt due to fail soon. ($200)
• Older N54 motor mounts known to be problematic and cause serpentine belt shredding. ($750)
• Original injectors likely to go any day now. ($300 for one to $1,400 for the whole bunch)
• Valve cover and oil filter housing oil leaks. ($???)
• Low pressure fuel sensor. ($200)

Oh, and regarding tuning - I'm planning on it once the turbos are fully resolved and once I take care of the carbon cleaning. I figure it would be better to start with a clean slate before putting a JB4 in or whatever. Unfortunately I'll probably only get two months of fun out of it before winter shows up and I switch back to stock maps. I have to do my homework and learn more about tunes. I don't plan on doing FMIC or downpipes and I don't have an oil cooler, so I'm wondering how much benefit I'll really get out a tune.

[Torgus]

Hmmm guess i'm fucked with my two tuned out of warranty N54s

[dwells]

Originally Posted by Torgus

Hmmm guess i'm fucked with my two tuned out of warranty N54s.

How many miles are you at and how have they been? I'm just going off what I've heard from people on this forum, no idea if people are blowing things out of proportion or not.

[Torgus]

e92, manual, 07, owned 10 months, bought at 57k has 64k now, replaced a coil.

e90, manual, 07, owned 14 months, bought at 75k has 90k now, replaced a coil and plugs.

Granted I have not had them very long but no major issues yet. I turn all of my own wrenches so it's just the cost of the part + my time. I have a beater so I can have a car down for a couple days waiting for the part or to do the work. I've never owned a car with a warranty so i generally dgaf and just fix things when they break. FWIW I plan on owning these two cars for the next 4-5 years. I'm really not worried. BMW + AWD + manual + 4 doors + 400whp is like the ultimate DD for me. Nothing else in the price range competes...

If you prefer to take it to the stealership and get loaners then I would say get a warranty or buy a newer car.

If you go without a warranty and don't turn your own wrenches find an indy bmw shop that is close to you.

I think people only complain and post on the forums when they have issues. Granted these cars have more issues than others.


I would start with the 'free' tune and go from there. The difference between 8psi and 18psi is quite large even with everything else stock. There is no reason to not run the tune in the winter, I guess you might not want as much tq if the roads are shitty but it's pretty easy to control how much power is put down with your right foot.

edit: either way you need a tune asap. completely different car. You are welcome to go for a ride in my car if you want to see what FBO vs. Stock feels like.