[gde061]

I hope this doesn't come off too much like a a rant, but I'm kinda annoyed an want to get this off my chest, so I guess it's a rant. I have a 2008 335xi. I've owned it about 2 years now. It has a couple stage 1 mods, including the intake and the downpipes. It's always had an inconsistent misfire problem, and even though I have a decent "import" mechanic who will do stock BMW work near me, he is uncomfortable doing things that involve the mods and he doesn't do walnut blasting. H hadn't been able to nail down the misfire issue, which was showing up as misfire on #2 but it's been the kind of thing that comes and goes with change in temp / humidity and it doesn't affect me much since it's not my daily driver and so far I've been able to clear the codes and pass by e-Check.

But recently after the car sat for 2 months during lockdown, I started driving it again and it was misfiring like crazy all the time. The codes were "random misfire" and misfire on #6. I also had a burning brake-pad smell which I thought was due to surface rust on the brakes from sitting un-driven... so I think, ok, I want to upgrade the brakes anyway, so let me go to a bespoke BMW "custom" shop and get this done. After some research I find basically 3 shops in a wide radius near Cleveland that advertise specializing in that kind of work. One of which (who shall remain nameless) I already tried, but after setting up an appointment, I show up there and the doors are locked and the mechanic is not answering his messages... until an hours later when I'm halfway back home.

So I call Lerich Motorsport, explain the issues to them over the phone, and they tell me they can do a pre-sale type inspection and tell me what's going on... should be around $200 to diagnose everything.

I drive the car down there, slowly, because the burning smell doesn't go away. Drop it off. I have the engine cover and cowling off already from swapping coil packs trying to diagnose the misfire. They are obviously super busy. I show them the cowling is in the trunk but we don't specifically talk about whether they should reinstall it or not. I show him one issue I specifically want addressed - the PCV is set up VTA, and I want to install a catch can, ideally Rob Beck's solution. The owner recommends an ECS PCV which, as he describes it... well, we'll just say I wasn't comfortable with what he described or at least the way he described it. He said he would talk to his mechanic who does most of the custom work on the E92 and would know about the RB setup.

So the call comes back that they've diagnosed the car. They changed the coil-pack on cylinder #6 and the misfire is gone. The burning smell is a cracked spring that has rubbed a gouge in the tire sidewall. And there's a couple other non-drive train things they "diagnose" which sound like BS to me, stuff the guy says "you don't need to do now, but we noticed". Lower steering column being one, which makes no sense to me as I've never experienced anything but tight steering.

Over the next few days, we discuss on the phone some options for the suspension. However it starts to become obvious that they might not be the kind of place that does a lot of custom coil-over work. The quote to install PSS9 coil-overs comes back a lot higher than I'm prepared to pay. So I decide to just cut losses, get the spring replaced, get a walnut blast (since it's due, and my personal diagnosis is that changing the #6 coil pack isn't going to fix the random misfires and misfire problem I had prior to lockdown on #2 -- I had explained that to them). I also tell him to go ahead and just plumb the flapper tube back to the air intake so I'm not sucking in unfiltered air. The bill for that work: $1600.

I get it, there aren't that many BMW techs, supply and demand, dealer prices are insane. I agree to the price. It is what it is. But still some things really ticked me off. Picking up the car, I look at their write up, and first thing on the "recommended work" section is "connect vent to intake". That's something I told them to do. And now the cowling and covers are back on the car, so I'm supposed to pay another 1/4 hour of their rates for them to pull it, and then another 1/4 hour for them to put it back after they do the job? NOT on that list is the lower steering arm, so maybe it wasn't really going bad I guess? But it does have stuff that I told him (basically just listed all the notes I gave him when I brought in the car, like I was concerned about the water pump due to age of car, concerned about an oil leak). And fluff - and A/C service is recommended. I'm like WFT... the A/C works totally fine for Ohio - this isn't Florida.)

One other thing I told him about was that I thought the turbos weren't spooling up the way they did when I got the car. I don't think any effort was made to diagnose that. And on top of that, last night on the highway, first time getting up to speed since lockdown, I noticed some noise coming from the rear that, to my ear, sound like the rear diff - maybe just low on fluid, but if there's a leak or even just making noise, isn't that something you should catch on a thorough "presale inspection". So, basically not satisfied that they did a good job on the diagnostic. Not satisfied that they solved nothing with the PCV situation.

The place was super busy. Maybe that had something to do with it. But I just don't feel like the level of attention given to my car warranted the premium I paid. The misfires are gone, but I have a sneaking suspicion that was from the walnut blasting. If I hadn't insisted on that, I suspect I'd be back again having more coil-pack's replaced. Just griping I guess. How can it be so difficult to find a good shop that wants my repeat business? Yeah, you don't get that at Jiffy Lube, but when you are paying "shop plus" rates for non-OEM work, isn't that what the premium is for?

There is one more bespoke BMW shop that I know of in the area. It's the farthest away, and I'm not sure it's worth it to even try them. There are some other "performance" shops that do work on stuff like Porsce's and ZR's, and I'm thinking maybe going that route when I decide to get the coil-over's installed.

As for the turbo spooling issue, I get it. There's no code being thrown. Car still does 0-60 faster than most of the junk currently being peddled brand new on show-room floors. But I can just feel that it's not spooling right, the G-force is less, the whoosh from the BOV isn't there when I let off the throttle... but I'm not going to drop $$$ on a turbo swap just because my ass says the car has 15% less torque at 4000 RPM.