[MPOWER5266]

I have posted some of these pics before, but I figured I would start a thread to keep up with all I do to my wagon. A few months ago I decided that I was sick of making car payments, and I wanted to get back into a BMW daily driver. I decided to sell my 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee and started for search for an e91. To my surprise my Dad told me he wanted the Jeep and offered to let me drive it until I found the right car, and then he purchased it from me.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

So I started my search. I knew I wanted something with decently low miles(sub 100k) sport package, RWD, and a manual. I did find a few great cars but nothing ticked all the boxes. I kept looking and came across a great looking 07 model, with 72K that was a RWD sport, but it was an auto. I spoke with the dealer and checked the carfax and became more and more interested in it. So in June I decided to make the trip to South Carolina to pick it up.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I wish it was manual sometimes, but I have other manual cars and the auto is nice when I'm commuting home from work.

When I picked it up the dealer told me that the brake pads and rotors were replaced front and rear and the oil was changed, but "we dont work on many BMWs so we didn't touch much else." That seemed to be confirmed when I noticed the front wheels were on the rear. As soon as I got it home, I swapped the wheels and gave it a good wash.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Introduced it to the other cars.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And did what wagons do best, got groceries.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Over the next week or so I got the car ready to start driving daily. I gave the interior a good detail.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Got a basic bluetooth set up going and installed black grills.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Then I started to mod it.

[MPOWER5266]

I hated the sunken look of the rear wheels so I stole a 15mm spacer from my M3 and tested the fit.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I ordered a set of spacers and started searching for new wheels. The 161's look good but they are a little small. I went to look at a "perfect" set of style 197's that I found on craigslist but they turned out to be awful. I put the 15mm spacers on and decided to wait, and get aftermarket wheels.

IMG_7371 by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I decided to remove the license plate mount from the front bumper to find 4 holes and a lot of scratches, I partially fix this later.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Got a plate frame.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And took my dog Hofmeister on his first ride.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

In my search for the car, I decided pretty early on that I did not want nav. I feel like its pretty prominent on the dash and could end up looking pretty dated in the future. But I would need some sort of nav so I found a phone mount that would also charge my phone. I installed it in the vent and ran the wire behind the trim and into the glove box.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And used a "flash light to cig receptacle adapter to power it. I cleaned up the wires before finishing up.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I had a few days off work so I gave it a full detail. I started with my normal strip wash, then clay, then iron remover. It was actually fairly clean and free of contamination but the dealer slopped some crappy wax all over it. Heres a little iron coming out of the cracks.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

The cleaned and dressed engine.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

After letting it sit over night, I taped off the trim and started the 2 stage paint correction.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And the results after polishing.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I put some Jescar Powerlock sealant on and wiped it off. I usually let that cure over night so while I waited I addressed the holes in the bumper with some plugs. I only bought two so I could see how they look. Its okay, but not a fix so I will likely get the bumper repaired or switch bumpers in the future.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

The next day, I topped the sealant with 2 coats of Collinite 845, dressed all the trim, and sealed the glass. I think it came out pretty good.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Then some parts started rolling in.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

A couple days after the wheels came in I loaded up the wagon and took them to get the tires mounted.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

[MPOWER5266]

I got the tires mounted on a Friday and that night I started the coating process. I cleaned the tires with tar remover, wiped the wheels down with IPA and applied a coat of Gyeon rim. I let them sit for a few hours, and gave them another coat of Gyeon rim and left them to cure over night.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

This was mid August. I remember because I woke up really early the next morning to dress the tires, and mounted the wheels to the car. After that I rushed to take some pics and then immediately headed to the airport to go to Vegas for my birthday. I edited the few photos that were decent on the plane.

IMG_7425 by Nick Wood, on Flickr

IMG_7416 by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I had a great week in Vegas with my wife. She even bought me some lap time in a Porsche GT3 for my birthday which was awesome, but I wanted to get home to the wagon.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I had another couple days off when we got back so I installed the sunglasses holder.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And replaced the worn steering wheel trim.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I thought the rear wheels still could be more flush so I put the 15mm spacers on.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And then loaded it down early September for its first road trip. It performed flawlessly as expected and easily made the trip to my in laws beach house in Myrtle Beach.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

But with it packed full the rear rubbed pretty bad on bigger bumps so I pulled the spacers off and order some 12mm's. Which seem to be a good compromise.

IMG_7441 by Nick Wood, on Flickr

After a close call on the road trip, I decided to order and hard wire a radar detector. I went with a Uniden R1 and wired it using an "add a fuse" so it would turn on and off with the ignition.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I since mounted it a little higher up near the drivers side visor, but I am pretty happy with how clean it turned out.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

That brings this up to mid September 2019, Ill add more shortly.

[Igor_M5]

Love AW, so easy to keep fresh !

Did you just install the LCI sport steering wheel trim over the pre LCI sport wheel? Assuming there's a small gap behind it now? Unless you replaced the steering wheel as well...

[MPOWER5266]

There were a few bad spots on the front seats so I attempted to fix them.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

After seeing a video on Obsessed garage I ordered a Colourlock kit.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

It covered well but the color was way off.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I emailed them for a replacement and they agreed to send some out to me. I had much better results the second time around.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I also swapped the angel eye bulbs for some Lux V7's and changed the fog lights to a brighter white style bulb. The angel eyes aren't that blue in person.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

In mid October I put it up on the lift and gave it a good inspection and oil change before driving it back to South Carolina for the BMWCCA Oktoberfest.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

My wife and I had a great weekend and stopped by the Bmw plant for a quick photo before heading home.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Shortly after that I noticed "relentlessone" on the forum deleted his rear wiper. I messaged him and he was nice enough to send one to me.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I have all my glass sealed with Griots glass sealant so I rarely use my fronts and I never touched the rear wiper. I think it makes the rear of the car look cleaner.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I deleted the charcoal filter in the airbox, it did nothing.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Then I added a Burger motorsports pedal controller. It made the throttle crisper and cleaned up some of the hesitation but no faster(not that I was expecting it to.)

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And took it on a fall drive with my wife.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

That brings this up to this weekend. My wife wanted a tree and we have had a tradition the last couple of years of using a different car. Two years ago we used the 2002, last year it was the 77 Wagoneer and this year it was the e91.

IMG_7511-3 by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Yesterday on my way to work I got a CEL, I coded it when I got home and it was the T-stat.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

So I will likely replace the T-stat, water pump, and coolant in the next few weeks. Also last night, my black line tails showed up. Of course the first thing I did out of the box was seal them with Jescar power lock.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

While that was curing I pulled the stock lights out and cleaned the paint behind them.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And the finished product.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I have ordered some LED bulbs for the rear running lights since the stock housings were kinda melted. I will likely need to code them out but I dont want to melt my new lights. I also need to address the Check engine light. I have some more plans too, so stay tuned.

[MPOWER5266]

Originally Posted by Igor_M5

Love AW, so easy to keep fresh !

Did you just install the LCI sport steering wheel trim over the pre LCI sport wheel? Assuming there's a small gap behind it now? Unless you replaced the steering wheel as well...

Its part number 32307845527 and its a direct replacement for the stock wheel and there isnt a gap.

[Igor_M5]

Originally Posted by MPOWER5266

Its part number 32307845527 and its a direct replacement for the stock wheel and there isnt a gap.

Ooo didn't know the black/chrome trim was interchangeable with the M-Sport trim! Nice

[MPOWER5266]

Originally Posted by Igor_M5

Ooo didn't know the black/chrome trim was interchangeable with the M-Sport trim! Nice

I have a lot of down time at work to play on RealOem. Haha.

[bkwld]

Awesome! Love the details on that car. Would love to see m-tech front bumper on that car. Pre-LCI m-tech bumpers in my opinion the best looking bumper on E90s. Especially on AW.

[colorado.e9x]

This makes me want an E91 as a family car. Love it!

What bulbs did you end up going for?

[MPOWER5266]

Originally Posted by bkwld

Awesome! Love the details on that car. Would love to see m-tech front bumper on that car. Pre-LCI m-tech bumpers in my opinion the best looking bumper on E90s. Especially on AW.

I think thats the eventual plan, or maybe an m3 bumper.

Originally Posted by colorado.e9x

This makes me want an E91 as a family car. Love it!

What bulbs did you end up going for?

I thought you had a wagon for some reason. I was looking at the lights you sent and found some Sylvania ZEVO bulbs for $2 more a pack. I figured Id give them a shot.

[200,000 club]

Are you planning to do anything power related?

[MPOWER5266]

Originally Posted by 200,000 club

Are you planning to do anything power related?

I would eventually like to do a stage 3 intake, tune, afe airbox and a cat back exhaust. But, I dont know when that is going to get done.

[colorado.e9x]

Originally Posted by MPOWER5266

I thought you had a wagon for some reason. I was looking at the lights you sent and found some Sylvania ZEVO bulbs for $2 more a pack. I figured Id give them a shot.

Ahh nope, just a prelci E90. The ZEVOs should work pretty good with the little reflector they got

[rothwem]

Originally Posted by colorado.e9x

This makes me want an E91 as a family car.

I'm not sure if you have kids or not, but our rear-facing seat BARELY fits behind the passenger seat. The seat has to go all the way forward though, and I can't sit in the passenger seat with the child seat installed. We take my wife's Nissan Rogue just about everywhere when my son is with us.

[colorado.e9x]

Originally Posted by rothwem

I'm not sure if you have kids or not, but our rear-facing seat BARELY fits behind the passenger seat. The seat has to go all the way forward though, and I can't sit in the passenger seat with the child seat installed. We take my wife's Nissan Rogue just about everywhere when my son is with us.

I'll keep that in mind, I don't have a kid but I plan on getting a fluffy one here soon. Might be a bit better off compared to the tiny cabin of the E90

[E91WAG3N]

Lookin’ good! Nice to see the wagon progress by itself, I’ve been following your garage build and random bits on insta.

If you’re happy with the chassis, you could always do an LCI conversion. A hood, M Sport bumper, and tailgate shouldn’t be difficult to find in Alpine Weiß. The rear on the other hand is tough. The pre-LCI look has grown on me after having both versions in the garage.

3IM helps a fair amount, I had an e82 and my e91 at the same time and the e91 with the 3IM felt noticeably quicker even with the added weight. It won’t win any drag races and I can’t comment on how it will interact with an auto trans but it gives the car some extra grunt, similar to an m50 manifold on an s52. Exhaust doesn’t do anything but add noise on these cars but I love mine!

Keep going down the rabbit hole, happy motoring!

[tcphoto]

The E91 is way cooler than the Jeep. A Sport bumper would be a nice touch along with a lip.

[ppointer]

Following your build. Couple comments and questions:

I updated my paddle shifters from the old push/pull to the new style "-" on the left and "+" on the right. Much better but I don't see paddle shifters on your car. My eventual plan is to convert this car to MT.

Replaced rubber brake hoses with steel. Another nice incremental upgrade.

I added the Euro/M3 split arm rest. Only adds an inch or two but makes all the difference, since I have my seat further forward than most people of my height.

What model Apex wheels are those? Finish, size and offset? They look great! What spacers did you settle on?

[NYBulldog]

I love everything you are doing. Great attention to detail. That plate frame is dope.

[MPOWER5266]

Originally Posted by ppointer

Following your build. Couple comments and questions:

I updated my paddle shifters from the old push/pull to the new style "-" on the left and "+" on the right. Much better but I don't see paddle shifters on your car. My eventual plan is to convert this car to MT.

Replaced rubber brake hoses with steel. Another nice incremental upgrade.

I added the Euro/M3 split arm rest. Only adds an inch or two but makes all the difference, since I have my seat further forward than most people of my height.

What model Apex wheels are those? Finish, size and offset? They look great! What spacers did you settle on?

Its an 07 so it didnt come with paddle shifters, you just bump the stick. The only swap I would bother with would be a 6 speed. I do like that arm rest though, its on my list to do eventually.

The wheels are Apex FL-5 18x9 et30 in silver and I have 12mm spacers on the rear. They are turner motorsports spacers.

Originally Posted by NYBulldog

I love everything you are doing. Great attention to detail. That plate frame is dope.

Thanks man, I love your wagon.

I didn't do anything to the car this weekend except put the LED bulbs in and code them with Carley. Nothing photo worthy. It need a wash badly but it looks like its going to rain for the next few weeks.

[winnibago]

Great job so far - always fun watching wagon projects. I'm looking forward to you chipping away at this project.