Sadly my car has had a summer vacation at advan performance, in an attempt to solve a driveline vibration issue after fitting the M3 driveline.
The M3 diff has a different flange, thus the 335i shaft is cut and shorted and the rear section of a m3 compatible shaft is cut and welded to the rear of the shaft. The driveline specialist who performed this work for advan attempted to rectify it but apparently didn't solve the issue with rebalancing (you would think since the bulk of the originals haft was used the centre bearing etc would be all OK)
The shaft was recently sent out to a 2nd driveline specialist for rebalancing and Pete was expecting it back last Friday, so hopefully this solves the issue...
In the meantime I was discussing the issue with our resident ISTA expert Vince, and he came across a few interesting discoveries with the M3 diff in the ISTA. Apparently the driveline is setup to quite fine tolerances and each diff is balanced after assembly (you'll see a little round recess drilled in the flange - this is the method of correction where material is removed from the point of imbalance to ensure its precisely balanced)
drilling of the flange to remove imbalance:
In addition to the machining of the diff flange for balancing correction, there is counterbalancing on the bolts where the driveshaft connects to the diff flange as required for fine corrections (i.e if they cant get the diff perfectly balanced at the factory the technician marks the diff as OK or requiring addition counterbalancing - this is determined by the coloured mark on the diff)
prior to 08/09 the counterbalancing was done with the use of washers on the marked hole )as indicated by the colour mark by the bmw factory tech) or after 08/09 special bolts once again as indicated by the colour marks. The diff I had was from a 2011 build M3 so if it required counterbalacing, it would require bolts.
bmw part #26112284154 black
bmw part #26112284153 green
black bolt is for blue marking
green is for yellow marking
if diff has white marking no counterbalance bolts required
special thanks to Twenza from the forums (he is a parts guru at Worthington BMW - Kariong nsw dealer and reccomend contacting him for parts you require) got me some prices for these bolts, he had some trouble as they weren't in the system as it seems no-one has ever ordered them and he discussed it with the workshop foreman who said they weren't aware of these counterbalance bolts..
They're a special order from Germany, and since I have no markings visible on my diff I would have to order both and attempt to find the orientation they should be mounted by installing driving the car and checking and removing and changing the position etc (not an easy task to do...)
I'm hoping the car doesn't need these bolts, as my diff has no marks so it will be a long process in attempting to locate the correct position on the flange which requires the counterbalance bolt...
In other news I decided to upgrade the wife's corolla to a VW Passat as its a much safer car for our bub and a lot roomier for all the baby stuff!
I spent a few months researching cars and passats and decided on a TDI as they have the best mix of performance and fuel economy. I've been quite happy with it, driving it on the highway it returned 4.6L/100kms and in the 7's around town. It has lovely soft nappa leather a good stereo oem satnav and a few cool optional extra's such as auto park assist 2 (my wife cant reverse park) and built in rear booster child seat
park assist 2.0
VW booster seats:
The seat base has a button where the seat base higes up and clips into a raised position, and there is a leather roller coaster ride type shoulder support.
The DSG is a huge improvement over the 09 jetta TDI I had but still somewhat frustrating at times being slow to respond when taking off....
Finally another new mod that's piling up among the parts in my garage awaiting for the cars return to install!
So a Sydney forum member Tom had advertised his M3 seats for sale for quite a while and I caved and decided to purchase them. The funny thing was I had considered buying them before Tom did back in 2103 (?) but hesitated as I wasnt 100% convinced on fox red.. Before I could mull it over Tom had snapped the seats up back then, and that sorta made me feel better as my oem dakota seats are in really good condition... Since then I've not seen a set pop up for sale only in the UK. I had considered importing a set but being bulky they would be expensive to ship and also quite fragile as the leather would no doubt get crushed or damaged during shipping... I've always loved the nvillo seats the leather is extremely soft, with much improved bolstering over the 335i seats and really gives the M3 cabin a top shelf german performance car ambience which reeks of quality and style!
So initially I was thinking I may dye the novillo fox red black with a leatherique dye kit which is approx $3-400
Decided that might be a tad risky and perhaps trade an existing M3 owner who has black for the fox red seats as it seems to be a popular colour as 90% of E92 M3's come with black..
Mulling it over I think the colour may grow on me, as I dont like it in the M3 as it looks too garish with the extended leather on the dash door trims etc etc but if I keep the door trims black and the centre console lid black it's not too garish at all:
OEM M3 with extended leather
retrofitted into a 335i with black door trims
So I'm thinking I may give the seats a really good deep clean and install them and see how they look!
These seats are also heated, whereas my oem seats weren't. In winter it's definately a nice feature, and according to Tom he just plug in the seat heater switch and the were PnP!
Got a price from twenza for a new switch (heated seats and PDC button) bit they were $437!! it seems it comes in as a kit and you build the switch to suit your cars options (i.e PDC, rear blind, auto stop/start etc)
So I decided to look for a used item and Vince found me a used item from Europe for $80 delivered
I also bought a replacement console from that M3 in QLD that everyone had been raping parts from! Since I bought my car it has had the top oft touch plastic layer all scuffed and flaked off the side of the console where the seat belt had rubbed up against it. Since I was much taller then the prior owner i have the seat extended against the stops, you can see these scuffs. So this fresher console will look much nicer and has the novillo leather console lid also
The car is turning into a M3 wannabe with the mirrors driveline, brakes, chassis components, rims, gauge cluster, trim, seats, gloss carbon roof etc I must admit! But hey the M3 was unobtainable for me going back 4 years ago when I bought my 335i!
The M3 bodykit components will complete the car in terms of aesthetics if I decide to go that way before upgrade the fuel system or clutch!