[Twix]

Just kidding. Just have to figure out the light washer covers

[Brian86]

Threw it up on jackstands and ran it up to speed (well, 6th gear at idle) and got out the mechanics stethoscope. Everything appears to be in order except the rear diff which is quite noisy, but that's old news. Didn't drop the exhaust so I couldn't put eyes most of the driveshaft, but everything else looks and feels fine as far as I can tell.

Gave the driveline a fluid bath. It's really tedious transfer pumping all that stuff. Amazing how clean the T-case fluid comes out after 60k miles. It was still nearly as orange/translucent as when I put it in. Everything else as expected, lots of sludge and glitter in the rear. Probably should have put some shockproof light back there (and changed it 25k miles ago).

Stuck with 75/90 for the diffs, D4 in the box, and changed from Shell to MT-LV in the T case. All Redline. Did a double-flush on the T-case since I was swapping fluid types. One change, then ran the car on jackstands for a while, then a second change.

D4 is definitely the way to go in these gearboxes. I tried MTL back when I got the car but it's too slippy. Did about 50k with D4 and now a second flush of it really feels outstanding, even at 340k.

[Hoody007]

Rebuilt the 2 front seats on the E31. Vertical height adjustment wasn't working on either seat.

Massive job, the cables which adjust the seats are partially stripped.
Someone was clearly in there before as the trim pieces were literally not attached to the seat. Fixed a bunch of wiring issues as well - again, from incompetent mechanics…

Was mostly successful, except one of the cables are stripped so badly I'll need a fabrication shop to make a new cable for me (they're essentially really long speedometer cables).

Oh, and traced the minor vibration on my 335i down to a worn diff carrier bushing (the front most one). Got a quote for $800 to replace it. Mercifully not a gearbox issue (as I'd suspected all along…)

[fastboatster]

Ran over some nail yesterday in my 328i, but got it patched almost right away. TPMS does help, low tire pressure warning light came way before I could notice that the tire is punctured. That distracted me a bit from dropping the subframe on my n55 335i, but managed to get to the stage where I just need to support the engine, maybe unbolt one end of the steering rack from the knuckle and unbolt the subframe itself. Otherwise unbolted trans cooling lines and ps pump from the oil pan itself and disconnected pretty much everything else.
Bonus shot is a separator plate from the transmission’s valve body, I dropped the mechatronik down a few days ago to replace the solenoids and install Sonnex accumulators. Discovered that the separator plate is delaminates near the manual shift valve area. Perhaps that explains the clunk when shifting to reverse. Waiting for the new separator plate to arrive meanwhile taking care of the oil pan gasket leak and inspecting and potentially replacing the rod bearings.

[Twix]

Took her to go get groceries. HVAC head unit not working, checked all fuses and they’re all good…. Should be a good time

[MidWillamette335d]

Put a 150w Kats oil pan heater on the D. Had one on an old rig and boy did it make a difference in the cold temps...

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by MidWillamette335d

Put a 150w Kats oil pan heater on the D. Had one on an old rig and boy did it make a difference in the cold temps...

This looks like an awesome addition... love it!

[fastboatster]

More from today, got the subframe, steering rack and the oil pan removed, pulled a lower rod bearing from cylinder #6. Lower bearing shell doesn’t look too bad to me, but this is only one cylinder and upper bearings wear out more.
I tried to finagle the subframe while having only one end of the steering rack disconnected from the steering knuckle like Vehicular DIY did but that didn’t work for me and I spent a lot of time on it. In the end, it was quick enough to just disconnect the steering rack from everything and pull it from under the subframe. While I didn’t have to disconnect the hydraulic lines to pull the rack from the subframe, I disconnected them to make it easier to put the subframe back on and not let the car sit with engine supported by HF engine support bar alone overnight. I also didn’t like how the transmission lines are somewhat in a way to pull the oil pan down, I probably will disconnect these too once I get the disconnect tool to unclip them on the heat exchanger side.
Rod bolts and other hardware should show up tomorrow.
Pics:

[oVeRdOsE.]

Originally Posted by MidWillamette335d

Put a 150w Kats oil pan heater on the D. Had one on an old rig and boy did it make a difference in the cold temps...

sweet , but what cold temps make your car hard to start?

my e90 is a winter beater, and last year up north we hit -29.5°C (-20.5°F), no issue at all.
In the city, we hit -25 , -26°C (-15°F) few days in the row every year. (at the thermometer)

nothing like my good bud at Yukon where he hit -40° (at the thermometer) . so yeah I would use this

[Twix]

Got the HVAC panel figured. Fuse 77. Blew because my hatch light heat shield shorted. BMW sure makes some very weird calls in that engineering dept of theirs.

Also, how hard would it be for them to just put words on their fuse cards. I didn’t study ancient hieroglyphics so that was a bit of a challenge. Also wasn’t looking for light fuses thinking they wouldn’t be connected to the HVAC panel

[arciga18]

Ordered Interior LED Bulbs.

[Mike K]

Replaced my rear shocks on the e91 with Bilstein B4s. More info & notes here:

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1973397

[Leucosticte]

Didn't do this today but I retrofitted the alarm to my car on Saturday, so stupid that it doesn't come standard.

[oVeRdOsE.]

found the donnor for my E91

It has most option, from what I can tell, what is missing : electric lumbar support and real M pack.

The rest : comfort, compass, garage door opener, leather, logic7, CIC, xdrive, sport pack.

[colorado.e9x]

I'm not gonna lie I'm kinda upset you're butchering a seemingly perfect msport E90. But its for a good cause..

[vilord]

Looks very nice! Is that a wrap on the trim pieces?

Does your e91 not have leather? I have a leather rear seat bottom cover you could have for free, needs a small part sewn, and it's not attached to the foam or frame anymore.

I also have leather split fold rear seat backs (and non-sport front seats) you're welcome to, but those i can't just drop in the post.

[Hoody007]

Originally Posted by oVeRdOsE.

found the donnor for my E91

It has most option, from what I can tell, what is missing : electric lumbar support and real M pack.

The rest : comfort, compass, garage door opener, leather, logic7, CIC, xdrive, sport pack.

FYI that's Individual Audio, not just Logic 7 - very nice indeed!

[19jdog]

Water pump, Thermostat, mickey mouse flange, oil change. My hips hurt from laying on concrete...

Saved money on labor though!

[MidWillamette335d]

Originally Posted by oVeRdOsE.

sweet , but what cold temps make your car hard to start?

my e90 is a winter beater, and last year up north we hit -29.5°C (-20.5°F), no issue at all.
In the city, we hit -25 , -26°C (-15°F) few days in the row every year. (at the thermometer)

nothing like my good bud at Yukon where he hit -40° (at the thermometer) . so yeah I would use this

Just using it to get the oil preheated in the cold, car starts well in cold temps otherwise. Had one on an old rig with the Toyota 5VZFE, made a huge difference in warm up times, I'd say cut them half at least...and took that top end tick out for the first few seconds being the oil was flowing at a high viscosity level and slower to reach the valve train. During freezing temps I'd keep it plugged in all night. In the am the aluminum intake wasn't cold to the touch, not warm either, but you could tell the warm oil radiated the heat up through the engine and took the "chill" out of it. I figured on a diesel it will be beneficial, and 45 bucks makes it a cheaper mod...

[N54Bomber]

Ordered water pump & hpfp with no motor to put them on too

[oVeRdOsE.]

Originally Posted by colorado.e9x

I'm not gonna lie I'm kinda upset you're butchering a seemingly perfect msport E90. But its for a good cause..

yeah, in US easy to find a side smashed E90 for 2k$.
Here there's nothing, and when Copart receive one, price are wayyy to high for unknown running car, can go around 5-8k$.
About the same price for a salvage yard ; 5K$ and you don't know if it run, nor the mileage.

But this E90 seems nice, it is, no check engine and it pulls (on MHD tune, unknown map yet) . But salvage title in 2010, 1 bad turbo, bad clutch, suspension done, bushing too.

Only 117k km, didn't get into many winters (stored)

Also not a real M sport, miss few badges and got the heated steering wheel.

Originally Posted by vilord

Looks very nice! Is that a wrap on the trim pieces?

Does your e91 not have leather? I have a leather rear seat bottom cover you could have for free, needs a small part sewn, and it's not attached to the foam or frame anymore.

I also have leather split fold rear seat backs (and non-sport front seats) you're welcome to, but those i can't just drop in the post.

Big tank you, but I think I'll check all my option after winter, the 335 is nearly fully loaded, so Ill swap what I need.
Yeah the previous owner put a semi-matte wrap on the center console and alcantara on the dash trim., I like it, I dont know what is under it.

No my E91 is pretty rare , but not fully loaded. I have 2 big options pack : sport pack (no leather, but vinyl), and the CCC navi system.
Manual 6mt and xdrive.

Originally Posted by Hoody007

FYI that's Individual Audio, not just Logic 7 - very nice indeed!

right, the seller told me it was the highest option, but my bad, I thought Logic 7 was higher, which is not the case, Individual was a more expensive option.

Originally Posted by 19jdog

Water pump, Thermostat, mickey mouse flange, oil change. My hips hurt from laying on concrete...

Saved money on labor though!

did all this on my E91 2 weeks ago annnddddddd I found my dream 335xi....
fck yeah you save, here its a 1600$ job at a indy shop, cost me around 400$.

[F13.KENN]

233k miles. Doing valve cover gasket cause it is pissing oil all on the exhaust manifold. Engine looks pretty great on the inside for the miles imo. Way better than the 96k mile 135i i also have.

About to drive it 7 hours to daytona this weekend for slammedenuff.

Only did half the valve cover job tonight. Doing the rest tomorrow. Starting to strongly dislike working on cars the last year or so. I work on aircraft for a living and would much rather do that kinda work than literally anything with cars