[StiffUpperLens]

Hi All,

As if we didn't need another build thread but here we are.

I'm Dave from Victoria and have been lurking for a few years, made a few posts but not really engaged too much. I grew up around cars and have tinkered and maintained them on and off for 30 years.

I've owned three BMW's, the first was a e36 318is and loved it.... that was back in the 90's, then I played with a few different makes, Land Rover, VW and many Alfa Romeos, the last one being a 156 GTA. More recently, it’s been a e90 320i which was horrible and I currently drive an e90 330D Lci which I absolutely love.

I never planned to own a diesel, I just wanted to get rid of the 320i and was very keen on a 6cyl. So I was looking at 330i, 335i and the 328i and then I drove the 330D and wow…. Why didn’t more of these cars sell?? In the year that I’ve owned this car, I still haven’t seen another one on the road.

For me, it’s the perfect car. The performance is remarkable but the fuel economy is ridiculously good. Given I drive mostly on highways and do shit ton of it, the diesel makes a lot of sense.

So I’ve owned this car for a year now and over that time I’ve replaced the rotors and pads, trans oil, diff oil and all the filters and of course engine oil.

I only have a couple of bad iPhone pics of her but as I take photos for a living, I never got around to taking proper pics of my own car. Someday I will.



A couple of months ago it developed a misfire on cold start and has been losing a fair bit of performance too.

A quick fiddle with ISTA threw up a bunch of LINBUS faults and with a bit of research, it looked like a bad glowplug module. A little later the swirl flaps threw an intermittent fault so a decarbon was also in order.

Which brings me to this build thread! After a year of ownership, I’m ready to start the slow process of modding it. It won’t be anything like Sockets amazing car, but I have some plans and today it begins!

The car has is pretty much faultless with zero oil leaks!

Over the summer I paint corrected her and detailed the interior – she’s as new. Ceramic coating will be applied in the next couple of months.
Ordered parts 2 months ago and they finally arrived last week, minus some bits which I’m still waiting on… those supply chains eh..
So got to work last weekend on fixing that misfire.

She has 183,000kms, 50k 0f those are mine. And this is what the intake manifold looked like…

Turns out there was a leak too - all fixed with new seals.

So cleaned that up and although the intake valves needed doing, they weren’t too bad. If I’m honest, I couldn’t face 6 hours of scrubbing them, so I’ll rent or buy a walnut blasting machine and do them later.

Replaced the glowplug module and problem solved. In fact it cleared almost all the faults I had except for the fog sensor in the roof which won’t go way even though it works perfectly. Strange.

Then to address the worn out front suspension bushes… Installed a full set of M3 control arms.

The bits that havent’ arrived yet are a set of Bilstein B8 and Eibach lowered Springs.

When they eventually arrive I’ll fit them and take some decent pics then.

However in the meantime, after a wheel alignment, and a couple of drives along the Flowertdale road and today, up the Black and Reefton Spurs I can happily say, the M3 upgrade, even on worn out dampers and standard suspension it fantastic. The car finally tracks perfectly straight, gone is the wondery mid corner feel and turn in is vastly improved. I can’t wait to see what the new springs and dampers will bring.

If you’re looking to replace your worn-out front bushes, I highly recommend upgrading to the M3 arms. It’s been said here before, here’s really no downside.

Future plans include upgrading the read suspension arms to M3 spec along with the subframe bushes. Then probably install a CarPlay system.

After that, M Sport front, rear and sideskits, performance intercooler and remap… and probably more if I feel so inspired….

[StiffUpperLens]

OK, looks like i need to work on how to upload pics properly

[jzx_andy]

Welcome Dave, glad to see the M57 is treating you nicely. Nice example of an e90.

Good progress so far and looking forward to seeing more!

[StiffUpperLens]

Originally Posted by jzx_andy

Welcome Dave, glad to see the M57 is treating you nicely. Nice example of an e90.

Good progress so far and looking forward to seeing more!

Thanks Andy!

[ADEe92]

Nice one - I love my 320d as a daily, so I'd imagine the 330d would be just more of everything. I also swapped to M3 spec control arms when my bushings wore out.

Good work on the intake manifold - what did you use to clean it up?

[StiffUpperLens]

Originally Posted by ADEe92

Nice one - I love my 320d as a daily, so I'd imagine the 330d would be just more of everything. I also swapped to M3 spec control arms when my bushings wore out.

Good work on the intake manifold - what did you use to clean it up?

The M3 arms make a huge difference hey...

I just used lots of carb cleaner and a pressure washer... took a few hours though. Left it over night to dry, then used compressed air to blow out any remaining loose crap and ensure it was 100% dry.

With the tools I had, I couldn't get inside the manifold, although a lot of chunks came out, much if the gunk remains. That said, my main goal was to open up the ports and free up the swirl flaps.

The result is excellent - perfect cold starts, engine running smoother in all rev ranges, and 1 litre per 100km saving in fuel burn on the hwy. If I drive at the speed limit, it's even more

I guess most importantly, there's also been a significant increase in power too.

The faulty glow plug module was also replaced, so I'm not sure how much of the performance improvement is down to that? Judging by how blocked the ports were, I have a feeling it was only playing a small part.

[StiffUpperLens]

Well, my new B12 Bilstein kit arrived in the post just before New Year, I ordered them in early May. Impressed with the super fast delivery times I thought 8 months is quite reasonable, it could have been worse I guess

Anyway, had a few things on so I only got to it on Friday expecting it would be a day or so to fit. My optimism didn't work out so well, I must have whacked my elbow on something, because by midday, my right arm stopped working. Don't remember doing it, but I've smacked a nerve, elbow is swollen like a basketball and now picking up a cup of coffee is quite painful.

Fitting suspension with one and half arms isn't easy especially in 37 degree heat.

It ended up taking two days, lost a few kilos in weight, skin and my arm still doesn't work.

Front was easy, although I was expecting it be the harder end. The rear sucked, aligning the outboard lower control arm bolt on reassembly was a massive pain in the arse. I never want to do it again.

But...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/m2y19excbt..._0188.jpg?dl=0



How do you insert photos? The insert photo function doesn't seem to do anything.

Anyway, the front worked out a treat, she is just lovely now. With the M3 arms, the steering is phenomenal. So direct, so accurate, so responsive.

The rear, not so much.

I have a clunk on bumps. And it bounces. I jumped into the boot this morning and jumped up and down, and yep, there is a metalic clunking noise in there. Sounds like both sides.

As far as I remember, I torqued up the upper and lower shock bolts. The springs are correctly seated and aligned.

It reminds me about the time I paid a professional to install B16 coil overs into my Afla GTA, had the same problem. The fix was to install spacers on the upper shock mounts to take up the slack as the shocks were moving on compression.

Seems odd to me that a kit designed for the E90 doesn't fit correctly. I'm betting I screwed up somewhere.

Has anyone else had this issue? Any suggestions?

**Update**: So after rigorous testing, thorough analysis and some deep, thoughtful beard stroking I found the problem. I forgot to put the bottom shock nut on the passenger side. Apparently it's important

All done, torqued up and safe and sound and wow, the car is transformed! Not a squeak, not a thud, a clunk, or anything. Just tight, noise free suspension. Car handles like a go cart. Not too firm but maybe a little firmer than I'd like. I hope it will loosen up over time.

Oh and the bounciness in the rear is gone too. It helps having the shocks properly fastened.

I'll post pics later after I give her a wash.