[Wallace330d]

I've been on here a while stealing info and selling bits so thought it was about time I contributed by showing you my E90.

I previously had an E46 330d which was getting a bit long in the tooth (just on 149k miles) so the natural progression was an E90 330d, I can't think of anything else for a daily driver which ticks all the practical boxes whilst being fun/quick when you feel like it.

The E46 was a manual but with the boring commute I have everyday and the auto taking more torque when remapped I decided to go for an auto, I was after one with as many bells and whistles and most importantly folding rear seats for a bit of practicality.

I searched for a while before finally finding one fairly close by (a 3hr drive is close for Scotland ) with a decent spec, the right colour, at a bargain price... but without folding seats! It was too good a deal to turn down though ("we buy any car" offered him £300 less than I paid ).

It was a little rough round the edges but mechanically sound, a 2009 330d with nice low mileage (51k). Some of the good options it came with:

-Fully electric and heated front seats
-CIC pro nav (Needs updated)
-Lighting pack with HID's and active lighting
-PDC

Enough boring more photos - The day I brought it home:







With the old E46 (Interestingly the performance of the two was exactly the same, but the older one was remapped and decatted):





I do like making a car "my own" so I straight away was thinking about mods, I initially tried the CSL reps from the E46 on but didn't like the fit:



Although my car is an LCI being a 2009 it still had the old style push pull paddle shifters so these were one of the first things i changed with the newer paddles:








A simple mod which makes shifting manually much better imo.

I also fitted some carbon badges and then carbon kidney grills, front m style splitters (one cheap set then a better set from SSDD) and a rear spoiler:



Cheeky shot with the weekend car (spot the similarities!?):


Next was a trip to the bodyshop to sort the paint, it looks ok in photos but the car had a lot of little dings and needed a good polish overall, it was much improved when returned:





The wheels were something I spent a long time mulling over but as the MV3's needed 4 new tyres and ideally a refurb I decided to bite the bullet and get a set of original 313's from BMautosport:



Unfortunately as I bought these just before winter I only got to trial fit them:








As mentioned it was just before winter so a set of 158's with winter tyres were purchased and fitted:





The most recent and significant mod has been the fitting of some folding rear seats, not exciting to most but a big deal to me! I was glad to find a set from another LCI and even with the different parcel shelf so it's a complete factiry finish install (after buying a few little bits from BMW):









So this is how she sits just now.... annoyingly with a Fxxxing great dent in the side after some xxxx didn't like where I'd parked! Typically it's the same wing which had the ding removed and sprayed before








So that's my 330d, once the salt's gone from the roads the 313's will be on and I'll be getting a remap to get the most from the engine... and I guess another trip to the body shop is required!

[JM85]

My favourite colour with my favourite wheels, really nice car & looking forward to more pic's with the 313's on

How was the fit on the splitters? These might be my next mod

[Reece]

Same spec as mine just mines white, im gonna be hunting some 313's come summer aswel.

Mines a 2010 but built in feb 2010 so has the old style paddles, my lci set arrived today, how did you make them work?

Nice evo creeping in the garage there

[Jase 320d]

Nice car

How hard is it to change the paddles? And is any coding required or is it just plug and play?

The older push/pull paddles do my head in on mine so i just keep it in auto all the time

[RajB]

Superb looking especially with the 313's on (but I'm biased lol). Love the folding seats retrofit. I've done so many of these types of mods that only you will really appreciate.

The splitters compliment the colour perfectly too.

[S4DNX]

Looks mint mate! What you running on the Evo?

[ahmedb]

Lovely, just what I was waiting for.

You have the full electric memory seats, I need these!

Those splitters are still tempting me, those SSDD splitters are a much better fit, hardly any gaps. I see you didn't get the mirror covers in the end?

[Wallace330d]

Originally Posted by JM85

My favourite colour with my favourite wheels, really nice car & looking forward to more pic's with the 313's on

How was the fit on the splitters? These might be my next mod

Cheers, I agree on the colour - I think it suits the car well and was the colour I wanted!

The SSDD splitters are a very good fit, nearly perfect, plus they're full carbon unlike the generic ebay ones which are carbon overlayed fibreglass.

Originally Posted by Reece

Mines a 2010 but built in feb 2010 so has the old style paddles, my lci set arrived today, how did you make them work?

Nice evo creeping in the garage there

The paddles are an easy and definitely recommended swap. I used a guide from on here: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=540684

So just a case of opening them up, removing one resistor and bridging it then swapping a wire in the plug before connecting them in. If you got them from the same ebay seller as me you may also need to tap the hole out to suit the bolt on the steering wheel as mine didn't come with the metal insert (this will make sense if you have them in your hand).

Also when testing the paddles don't be worried if you try them sitting still and it shifts up ok but jumps to second on the down shift, that's how they work apparently - I was swapping the wires about for ages but they worked fine when moving.

Originally Posted by Jase 320d

Nice car

How hard is it to change the paddles? And is any coding required or is it just plug and play?

The older push/pull paddles do my head in on mine so i just keep it in auto all the time

As above, I make it sound complicated but it's not!

Originally Posted by RajB

Superb looking especially with the 313's on (but I'm biased lol). Love the folding seats retrofit. I've done so many of these types of mods that only you will really appreciate.

The splitters compliment the colour perfectly too.

Cheers! I agree It's the little things that make a difference!

Originally Posted by S4DNX

Looks mint mate! What you running on the Evo?

Thanks. It's just over 400bhp and 400lbft and good fun! It's the primary wallet drain though!

Originally Posted by ahmedb

You have the full electric memory seats, I need these!

Those splitters are still tempting me, those SSDD splitters are a much better fit, hardly any gaps. I see you didn't get the mirror covers in the end?

The seats are good, glad I got one with some nice extras, I'm jealous of your speakers though!

Yup as above the SSDD ones are worth the extra. I don't recall ever looking into the mirrors though...

[S4DNX]

Originally Posted by Wallace330d

Thanks. It's just over 400bhp and 400lbft and good fun! It's the primary wallet drain though!

Sounds good! The do love to suck every penny you have avaiable when addicted to modifying...my cousin learnt this the hard way after reaching 640bhp on his Evo 7.

[ahmedb]

Originally Posted by Wallace330d

The seats are good, glad I got one with some nice extras, I'm jealous of your speakers though!

Yup as above the SSDD ones are worth the extra. I don't recall ever looking into the mirrors though...

My bad, I must have been thinking of someone else who was selling both splitters and mirror covers.

Oh the Individual sound system is insane, not sure I would pay the £1,435 for it as an extra though, you could go aftermarket and maybe save some £££'s with an equally good system.

Your Evo looks nice too, I'm guessing there is a thread on another forum for that one?

[Wayne-G]

Great purchase, love the colour! It's making me Want a 330d auto even more now!
I also have a boring commute so I find myself wanting an auto.

How do you find the auto box compared to your old manual on the commute?

Can't believe someone did that to your wing! Txxxs!

[tasn1]

I'm jealous...the colour is awesome...wheels amazing! My mum had a 320d pre LCI same colour...she washed it once every 2 months! With my car (Monaco blue), you would notice everything even after the wash / detailing!🙈

[Wallace330d]

Originally Posted by S4DNX

Sounds good! The do love to suck every penny you have avaiable when addicted to modifying...my cousin learnt this the hard way after reaching 640bhp on his Evo 7.

Yeah you could easily spend big money if you're not careful, I'm not wanting to go crazy though, the power is good as is, most people that go for more never end up using the car or sell it straight after it's built!

Originally Posted by ahmedb

Oh the Individual sound system is insane, not sure I would pay the £1,435 for it as an extra though, you could go aftermarket and maybe save some £££'s with an equally good system.

Your Evo looks nice too, I'm guessing there is a thread on another forum for that one?

Yeah, I'd love it but couldn't justify that either, rather spend the money elsewhere.

I have a thread on the MLR - http://www.lancerregister.com/showthread.php?t=496102 I've not done that much to it but have been stock piling a few more parts recently.

Originally Posted by Wayne-G

Great purchase, love the colour! It's making me Want a 330d auto even more now!
I also have a boring commute so I find myself wanting an auto.

How do you find the auto box compared to your old manual on the commute?

Can't believe someone did that to your wing! Txxxs!

I know, I was obviously very pissed off!

It's a 40min stretch on a dual carriageway using cruise control for me so the auto made sense. On back roads it can be a bit slow witted on tight corners but having the option to manually shift solves that, in sport mode it does also respond and kick down nicely, the paddles are good for over taking too, just a couple of flicks and away you go!

Originally Posted by tasn1

I'm jealous...the colour is awesome...wheels amazing! My mum had a 320d pre LCI same colour...she washed it once every 2 months! With my car (Monaco blue), you would notice everything even after the wash / detailing!��

Cheers, it is a good colour for not looking too dirty, handy at this time of year...

[Reece]

Just read through your evo thread, from 18 until 5 years ago that was my dream evo the mr 340, never happened though as i had kids but beautiful car

[smudgster]

Hi Fella,

I see you have mudflaps on your car. Any ideas on part numbers as i want some for my 2011 LCI 335 but bmw say no can do on LCI

Smudge

[ahmedb]

You sir have an amazing daily/weekend drive setup

[Wallace330d]

Originally Posted by Reece

Just read through your evo thread, from 18 until 5 years ago that was my dream evo the mr 340, never happened though as i had kids but beautiful car

Kids can fit in an evo no problem! I'd always wanted one too, very glad I finally did it!

Originally Posted by smudgster

Hi Fella,

I see you have mudflaps on your car. Any ideas on part numbers as i want some for my 2011 LCI 335 but bmw say no can do on LCI

Smudge

Not a clue, have you checked realoem? - http://www.realoem.com/

Originally Posted by ahmedb

You sir have an amazing daily/weekend drive setup

Thanks!