[CobraMarty]

Changed out the front spacers to 15mm and rear to 30mm. Looks much better.

Also changed stock bmw pads to Centric ceramic pads. I hate brake dust and 'black, brake dust covered' wheels.

Noticed that the brake lines were chafed and need replacing. Ordered some ECS SS brake lines.

Will be changing the ash tray to sunglasses tray in forward console.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by CobraMarty

Changed out the front spacers to 15mm and rear to 30mm. Looks much better.

Also changed stock bmw pads to Centric ceramic pads. I hate brake dust and black wheels.

Noticed that the brake lines were chafed and need replacing. Ordered some ECS SS brake lines.

Will be changing the ash tray to sunglasses tray in forward console.

You could also convert the driver's side roof handle to sunglass holder, FYI. Just another option.

Will be interested to hear your thoughts on the Centric Ceramic. I went with the semi-metallic and they're ok, but not great. Sort of wish I went full ceramic.

[CobraMarty]

Ceramics for me in the past usually lose a bit of braking but NO brake dust. The BMW brakes are more than adequate and if I lose 5%, no biggie.
Did I say I hate brake dust on silver wheels.

Changed out the center console ash tray for the sunglasses tray. Changing over the lid is a PITA.

Now working on the steptronic shifter that is not working. All taken apart and found 3 frayed and broken wires. The usual culprits found causing this problem. Now just gathering up some shrink wrap tubing and soldering iron. Don't like butt connectors.

Update- soldered the wires and all taped up and works again. PRND light indicator and Sport and +/- now works. Free fix, labor only, mine and son's labor is free.

[CobraMarty]

Getting the front and rear UUC sway bars, ECS SS brake lines and new brake wear sensors installed this weekend.

Front lip and roof spoilers installed next week.

Bought a Sport steering wheel with DCT paddles, switches, air bag and Burger harness to install. Hopefully will also get installed next week.

And then done, but then again 'BMW and never done'.
OK, Maybe front black sport seats if I can find a set reasonably priced. And then done. And maybe PE and aFe Mid pipes, and then done...

[CobraMarty]

Picked up the car from the shop. I was feeling lazy and had some overtime so I had someone else/shop do the wrenching and brake bleeding.

Amazing!

Brakes much better pedal feel and stopping, even with the ceramic pads.
Sway Bars soooo much improvement. With stock springs, shocks and ride height, the UUC sway bars were just the ticket. Incredible cornering, flat, especially at speed like 70 and hit a bump, no floating feeling. Well worth the money!!

Today spoilers install, front lip and roof.

night- Small roof spoiler done, front lip spoiler will have to wait for the lift.

[CobraMarty]

Finally took the car on commute to work.
WOW, premium commuting at it's best.

Only negative is speedo is off. Indicated 80mph is 75gps. I guess the new tires are about 6% shorter in height than stock.
Smooth, straight, quiet, on ramps are fun.

Next-
install BMW alarm, trunk rubber mat, new wipers and a spare set, front lip spoiler and maybe mud flaps.

[CobraMarty]

Finally took it to work on my usual route, 400 miles round trip. Very comfortable ride, stable and great handling. Made the trip on 1 tank of fuel. Averaged 25mpg while cruising at 80 indicated (75 gps).

I think that with my speedo error, corrected mpg is 25 + 6% = 26.5mpg at 75mph.
Made the trip in 2.5 hours instead of 3.0 hours @ 64mph before with my beater Taurus.

Maybe look into the aFe Mid Pipes next. They are supposed to add 2mpg and 7HP.

[rothwem]

Originally Posted by CobraMarty

Finally took the car on commute to work.
WOW, premium commuting at it's best.

Only negative is speedo is off. Indicated 80mph is 75gps. I guess the new tires are about 6% shorter in height than stock.
Smooth, straight, quiet, on ramps are fun.

The inaccurate speedo is a BMW thing. An aggravating BMW thing, and there's not really a way to fix it. Even more aggravating is that the odometer is spot on, try checking it with your GPS, so if you get larger tires to try to address the speedometer, your odometer will read off.

[CobraMarty]

That's interesting. That was my thought, taller tires would make the speedo correct. I didn't realize about the odometer. I will have to check that next time out.

My usual trip is usually 380 miles RT and the BMW showed 403 miles RT which is 6% high.

My tires are advertised 24.9" tall. I would need a set of tires 26.4" to make the correction.

205/55-16 and 225/50-16 are 24.9" tall. I thought betting same height as stock was the correct choice.
225/55-16 are 25.7" tall. ?Maybe I should have got these instead of the 225/50-16s? They would add about 3%.

Maybe need bigger wheels.
17" wheels- 225/50-17 25.9", 225/55-17 27.1"
18" wheels- 225/40-18 24.7", 225/45-18 25.6"

[miker2013]

Originally Posted by CobraMarty

Picked up the car from the shop. I was feeling lazy and had some overtime so I had someone else/shop do the wrenching and brake bleeding.

Amazing!

Brakes much better pedal feel and stopping, even with the ceramic pads.
Sway Bars soooo much improvement. With stock springs, shocks and ride height, the UUC sway bars were just the ticket. Incredible cornering, flat, especially at speed like 70 and hit a bump, no floating feeling. Well worth the money!!

Today spoilers install, front lip and roof.

night- Small roof spoiler done, front lip spoiler will have to wait for the lift.

what did u set the rear bar at?

[CobraMarty]

Last trip- cruise 81mph indicated(75mph GPS) 402 miles-- 25.44mpg on regular 87 octane. Cut 28 minutes off my previous 1-way commute in the Taurus doing 64mph GPS.

Next week I will try going slower- cruise 75mph indicated(69mph GPS) on regular 87 octane. That should increase the mpg.

Now I wonder if using 89 octane will allow increase timing advance and achieve better mileage. That is for the week after.

[CobraMarty]

Just got home. This commute 75mph indicated(69mph GPS)-- 27.11mpg on 87 octane summer blend. No A/C, no hypermile'ing tricks.
6mph slower and gained 1.67mpg. That's a 6.5% mpg gain

Filled up with 89 octane and will repeat at 75mph(69mph GPS) and see if the higher octane will allow for more advance timing and better mileage.
89 was $0.44 more expensive than 87. $2.57 vs. $3.01. That is +17% higher price!! Is it worth it? IDK, will test. Unless it gets at least 15% better mileage, 27.1mpg +15%=31.2mpg, I'm going back to 87.

Then will try 81mph indicated(75mph GPS) on 89 octane.
After that, will try 70mph indicated(64mph GPS) on 87 octane.

[CobraMarty]

Used 89 octane gas at indicated 75mph(actual 69mph GPS) and got the same or even a little less BUT I got a CEL for VANOS. Maybe that is what lowered the mileage.

New BMW VANOS part ordered.

I will fix before I retest using 89 octane at 75mpg.

[tlow98]

Nice, accurate mpg recordings. I find similar with my wagon. Anything over 80mph and I can't seem to maintain 28mpg. RWD on my end, however.

[CobraMarty]

I drive the exact same route on the turnpike 3 times a month. Nice 400 mile round trip. Easy to maintain the desired speed on the highway and only has about 10-20 miles off the highway of the 400 miles.

[CobraMarty]

Being lazy and still haven't changed the intake VANOS solenoid yet. Loses about 4mpg when VANOS is not functioning as designed. Doesn't advance the intake cam to desired values and hence less power and economy.

Hopefully this weekend will get the solenoid changed out.

[CobraMarty]

OK I had the P0015 code B bank 1 timing over retard.
I don't know why but I thought it was the intake solenoid. I replaced the intake solenoid and reset code, and 20 minutes later it came back.

So now that I look it up better it seems that it is the exhaust, most likely exhaust cps sensor.

Me dumbass. So ordered CPS sensor. I will replace old intake solenoid and start over and replace exhaust CPS sensor.

Found a set of '14-'15 428xi take offs 17" x 7.5" 37mm offset 5 star style #393 wheels with Michelin 225/50 R17 tires. $400, and I will pick them up at the end of the week. They are 25.9", 1" taller and hopefully will correct the speedo to near perfect.

Current wheels are '07-'12 328xi 16" x 7.0" 34mm offset 10 spoke style #156 with 225/50 R16 tires 24.9" tall.

Might have to juggle the spacers, again.

[CobraMarty]

Got the 17" 428 5 spoke wheels on. Looks great. Spacers are perfect, no rubbing.
Tires were round, balanced and quiet.

Speedo- just as I thought, the speedo was corrected to nearly perfect.
At 80 on digital Cruise Control, analog speedo reads 79 and GPS is 78. Overhead speed check before getting to a bridge crossing also showed 78. This is as close as I can expect to nearly accurate speedo/GPS readings.

Still fighting a VANOS cam position code issue.
Changed in a new intake vanos solenoid= no change. I need to move it to the exhaust solenoid and see.

Bought 2 new CPS. My fat hands could only get the intake CPS out but I couldn't pull the wire connector free. So I cleaned/wiped off a thick black slimy crud off sensor face and reinstalled. Took longer cranking to start, stumbled and then smoothed out. Got a new code P0341. And it slightly leaks oil at the sensor. Probably didn't tighten enough and getting error readings.

Next week I'm just going to take it to a Indy Shop and have them install the 2 new CPS and scan it and check for any other problems.

Interesting that all this occurred after an oil change. Previous owner had oil changed at the dealer and used 'BMW' oil for 80k. I get it and use Mobil 1 5-30 and Mann filter and get this gung/sludge stuff on the sensor face and get CELs.
I will change the oil and filter again, drive it then add some Seafoam and then change the oil and filter again. Try and flush out all the oil gung/sludge stuff.
I think that the engine needs the oil system flushed out really well. I use Rotella T6 which has more detergents, then Rotella T6 + Seafoam and finally straight Mobil 1 5-30. I've done this on other engines and have had great results getting all the sludge out of the engine and oil.

[CobraMarty]

Finally addressed the Vanos solenoid and cam sensor problem.

I pulled the new solenoid out of the intake side that I previously installed and cleaned the original old one with brake clean and a bunch of fine crud came out and installed it. Took the old exhaust solenoid out and replaced it with the new solenoid.

Still had a P0341 code and the intake cam sensor was leaking oil. Pulled it out the the mounting sleeve was broken lose and the sensor was slightly dropping out. Replaced it with a new sensor.

Code gone, starts in less than 1 second, smooth idle and ran great. Test drove it and no CEL.

Now to change the oil and filter and take it on trip to work.
Poured a half quart of Auto Trans fluid in the oil and drove it today. Later today I will change the oil and filter. Using Rotella T6 and Mann filter. I like the Rotella T6 synthetic as it has more 'detergent' in it to clean the engine.
After 5000 miles I will change the oil again to Mobil 1 5-30 and then again at 5000 miles with Mobil 1 5-30 and then every 10k there after with every 5k oil filter change.

[djh2]

Originally Posted by CobraMarty

That's interesting. That was my thought, taller tires would make the speedo correct. I didn't realize about the odometer. I will have to check that next time out.

My usual trip is usually 380 miles RT and the BMW showed 403 miles RT which is 6% high.

The "analog" speed displayed has the BMW speed correction, so that it shows low which has to do with a European law link with info

If you have access to coding tools (NCSExpert, or Carly etc.) you can turn the digital speedometer on, which shows up at the center display instead of MPG, miles to empty etc. There is also an option in the KOMBI to show this as true speed, not corrected speed. Your cruise control will show the corrected speed when set, and the analog needle will point to corrected, but in my case with normal stock tires, this is within +/- 1 of GPS readings.

Granted, this may not be the case if you are running an off-size wheel, but something to consider if you change.

[CobraMarty]

So is it only the analog speed reading that is 'corrected'?
Does it also correct the odometer?

So before with the shorter tires, when I traveled at 60 mph analog which was really 55 mph GPS,
What would my odometer show?
60 miles traveled in 1 hour or 55 miles traveled in 1 hour?

Now with my 'taller' tires, my analog speedo shows 60 mph and GPS is 59 mph.
What will my odometer show when travel for 1 hour? 55, 59 pr 60 miles traveled?

[CobraMarty]

Drove 185 miles to work. No CEL!! Ran smooth, peppy, 'mileage' gauge seemed to be averaging higher.

So at 75mph cruise control, analog showed 75 and phone GPS showed 74mph at 2500 rpm.
Very pleased with this result with the bigger wheels and tires.

I'll check mileage next week when I go home but before I would make it here barely above half tank and home to the gas station on fumes with an indicated 10 miles left till fuel out.

This time I made it here with fuel gauge 2 ticks above half. That's an improvement.
Max total miles (driven + left to travel) was 446 miles which is the highest I have ever seen so far.

I'll see new mileage/mpg when I drive home and to same gas station. Shell Regular.
Also now with Rotella T6 synthetic engine oil.

Unfortunately all my earlier mpg numbers will not be comparable with my new mpg numbers as I have changed to larger diameter tires, But I will have a new baseline to start over again with different speeds and how that affects mpg. 65mph vs 70mph vs 75mph.

I don't think that I will compare higher octane as previously that made no difference in mpg and costs 8-10% more $ at the pump for the same mpg.