[BenFenner]

Replace low-beam headlight bulb | Album

This is more for my own records than anything else.


Parts:
~$18.00 | Philips VisionPlus low-beam headlight bulb (×2) | H7 VPB2


Pic:

[BenFenner]

Replace brake booster hose retaining clip | Album

While dealing with the headlight, I noticed a broken clip on a vacuum hose. Since I was ordering other parts, I tossed in the clip as well.
Believe it or not, ESC Tuning had the cheapest pricing (of the dozen or so places I check) for this order.


Parts:
$0.99 | OEM brake booster hose retaining clip | 61138380213


Pics:

[BenFenner]

New Apex SM-10 wheels arrive | Album

As you'll see by the packing slip, these took nearly 7 months to obtain from the time I put down my deposit. These were the first sets of SM-10 wheels that Apex made, and they had an issue with production (crush tests were performed on an old prototype, not the latest design, so the test needed to be performed again). Because of the delay, those of us who stuck with the group buy got an additional discount. The wait was worth it. I absolutely love them.

These are a gift to Katie, since she really doesn't care about wheels. So, I guess they are for me in the end.
I really wanted a gold wheel (probably Apex ARC-8) to really pop on the white wagon, but Katie put her foot down there.
Instead, I saw Apex was coming out with a gorgeous new straight-spoke design (easily one of my favorite wheel designs) that I jumped on. I am usually a silver wheel kind of person, but with a white car, I like a darker wheel (never black though!). So I picked the gunmetal finish (anthracite in Apex parlance) and Katie was fine with that.

Luckily this set of wheels was more than 4-times cheaper than my last set, so it didn't break the bank. The group buy discount really helped a lot there.

I wanted an aggressive setup as usual, so I picked what I thought would fill out the fenders well, but have absolutely zero rubbing (since this is my wife's car after all). I think the E91 is a big enough car where 18" wheels make the most sense, and the 9" width will allow for some nice tire sizes for our needs. The ET30 offset should work well on all four corners, so I'll have my first fully square setup in a long time. This will make rotating wheels/tires much easier, which is a bonus.

Next updates will cover center caps, TPMS sensors, and tires, so look forward to that.
I can't wait to get rid of the hideous factory wheels on the car.

Wheel specs:
Diameter: 18"
Width: 9"
Offset: +30mm
Bolt pattern: 5 × 120mm
Center bore: 72.56mm
Color: Anthracite (gunmetal)
Weight: 20.0 lbs.
Price: 4 @ $300.25 each = $1,201 total (shipped)


Pics:

[BenFenner]

New wheel center caps arrive | Album

The wagon's center caps were an older design and ragged looking, so we picked up some new ones to go along with the new wheels. Believe it or not, ECS Tuning had the best price on these at the time.
TMPS sensors and tires are next.


Parts:
$48.60 | OEM wheel center cap (×4) | 36136783536


Pics:

[MPOWER5266]

I like those caps. I might have to get them on order.

[BenFenner]

Don't forget to consider iND's floating and painted options.
I bet they'd paint an OEM set too if you don't want them floating. Just ask?

https://ind-distribution.com/product...cap-set-72-6mm

We went with simple OEM on this car mainly for budget considerations.

[CTinline-six]

I was thinking about getting those same color SM-10's for my white E90 sedan. Curious to see how they look on the wagon. :!

[MPOWER5266]

Originally Posted by BenFenner

Don't forget to consider iND's floating and painted options.
I bet they'd paint an OEM set too if you don't want them floating. Just ask?

https://ind-distribution.com/product...cap-set-72-6mm

We went with simple OEM on this car mainly for budget considerations.

I just cant get behind the idea of floating emblems. The painted ones would be sweet for the hood and hatch but I like the idea of silver on the wheels. I thought about taking the emblems off mine, painting them with wurth wheel paint and putting new stickers on. They would basically be normal emblems but the part that sticks out behind the decal would be the same color as my wheels.

[BenFenner]

Originally Posted by CTinline-six

I was thinking about getting those same color SM-10's for my white E90 sedan. Curious to see how they look on the wagon. :!

I'm happy to help. Pics of them on the car are coming right up. Just need to get the TPMS sensor update and tire update posted. It won't be long now.

Originally Posted by MPOWER5266

I just cant get behind the idea of floating emblems.

Same. But I get the appeal.

Originally Posted by MPOWER5266

The painting ones would be sweet for the hood and hatch but I like the idea of silver on the wheels.

Yah it's a tough call for me on all of them, so I just save my money and think about what might have been.

Originally Posted by MPOWER5266

I thought about taking the emblems off mine, painting them with the wheel paint and putting new stickers on. They would basically be normal emblems but the part that sticks out behind the decal would be the same color as my wheels.

That sounds fun too! Keep the dream alive.

[MPOWER5266]

Originally Posted by BenFenner

I'm happy to help. Pics of them on the car are coming right up. Just need to get the TPMS sensor update and tire update posted. It won't be long now.



Same. But I get the appeal.

Yah it's a tough call for me on all of them, so I just save my money and think about what might have been.


That sounds fun too! Keep the dream alive.

Some day Ill get around to it. I have too many projects to get to.

[BenFenner]

Originally Posted by MPOWER5266

Some day Ill get around to it. I have too many projects to get to.

The story of my life!

[BenFenner]

New Autel TPMS sensors and coder arrive | Album

Since we wanted to keep the wagon's old wheels and tires as a back-up set, we grabbed some new TMPS sensors. The OEM units are quite expensive, so I went with the well-liked Autel stuff. This way I can code them myself as well. Insert maxi-pad joke here.

Next up will be the tires.


Parts:
$109.08 | Autel tire pressure monitoring system sensor (×4) | MXSENSOR433
$75.95 | Autel TMPS sensor programmer/coder | MaxiTPMS PAD


Pics:

[BenFenner]

New Nitto NT555 G2 tires arrive | Album

As with everything on this project, the tires were a compromise. As you may or may not know, I run autocross/hillclimb tires on pretty much everything. I also tend to do staggered setups to fill every millimeter of available space with rubber. With this being my wife's car, we went with a lowly summer tire in a square setup since uLtImAtE tRaCk gRiP was not the goal. Longer tire life and the ability to "rotate" them were much higher on the priority list than normal. Luckily the E91 chassis lends itself to a decent square setup anyway.

I wasn't sure how wide of a tire I could go with exactly, so I erred on the side of caution and went with a 255mm width (this is going on a 9" wheel if you've not seen). I can see how that goes and make adjustments in the future. Maybe wider tires... Maybe some spacers...

After my typical extensive research, I ended up with the NT555 G2 from Nitto. Vulcan Tire had the cheapest price of the dozen or so places I typically cross-shop. At the end of the day, this should be a huge improvement over what's on the car, and Katie should be happy with them too.

Now I can get these mounted up on the new wheels and finally get everyone the pics they really want.


Parts:
$698.00 | Nitto NT555 G2 "Ultra High Performance Summer" tire (×4) | 255/35ZR18 94W


Pics:

[BenFenner]

Mount Nitto tires on Apex wheels | Album

It's nice not having to take two trips to the tire shop now, since it all fits in the wagon.
Sorry these aren't the pics you want. The pics of them on the car are coming right up!

Interesting to note the weights of this setup versus the old. The new wheel/tire combo weighs 46.8 pounds in service trim. The old staggered OEM setup was 52.6 pounds in the front and 54.6 pounds in the rear, for a total unsprung weight savings of 27.2 pounds. That's 5.8 pounds per corner up front and 7.8 pounds per corner in the rear.

46.8 lbs. - New wheel/tire weight
52.6 lbs. - Old front wheel/tire weight
54.6 lbs. - Old rear wheel/tire weight

I don't have a receipt for the labor, but I have one for a different visit for the same work that I looked up. You'll just have to trust me.


Labor:
$82.59 | Mount and balance tire on 18" wheel (×4) | Nutall's Tire and Battery


Pics:

[MPOWER5266]

They look great... you are going to want to keep a spare in the car since you are ditching the run flats.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

[BenFenner]

No spares (no room) or run-flats (ew, gross) for either of the cars.
We keep a mobility kit (compressor + fix-a-flat + plug kit + Nokia) in each instead.
Then we have road-side coverage with our insurance (thinking about going with AAA though maybe).

[MPOWER5266]

Originally Posted by BenFenner

No spares (no room) or run-flats (ew, gross) for either of the cars.
We keep a mobility kit (compressor + fix-a-flat + plug kit + Nokia) in each instead.
Then we have road-side coverage with our insurance (thinking about going with AAA though maybe).

My compressor didnt work. No jack or tire tools in the car either.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

By the time I knew I had a flat and found somewhere safe to pull over the tire was trashed. I think there is a spare option for Europe, I am looking into that.

[BenFenner]

We've actually had a similar thing happen. Nothing a tow and a new tire couldn't fix.
Not ideal being stuck on the side of the road and then getting towed, but for how rare it happens (once a decade or less?) we're fine running without a full safety net.

[BenFenner]

Wash car before installing new wheels | Album

The pics of the new wheels/tires on the car are coming next, I promise!
Just before that, we washed the car.
Can you say brake dust?


Pics:

[M-technik-3]

Yipes, your car needed a bath desperately.

[dakine_surf]

Originally Posted by BenFenner

We've actually had a similar thing happen. Nothing a tow and a new tire couldn't fix.
Not ideal being stuck on the side of the road and then getting towed, but for how rare it happens (once a decade or less?) we're fine running without a full safety net.

I kinda agree with nick on this one... the one time I had an issue I was on a road trip to colorado... pump would not actually inflate the tire... ended up getting a tow to BFE and then had to wait a day and a half for the only tire shop in the town to order the right tire, because of course, they didn't have a PSS in 255/35/18.

So the only caveat I would add is maybe pick up an extra tire that you keep at home in case of those nittos aren't in stock.

[MPOWER5266]

Originally Posted by dakine_surf

I kinda agree with nick on this one... the one time I had an issue I was on a road trip to colorado... pump would not actually inflate the tire... ended up getting a tow to BFE and then had to wait a day and a half for the only tire shop in the town to order the right tire, because of course, they didn't have a PSS in 255/35/18.

So the only caveat I would add is maybe pick up an extra tire that you keep at home in case of those nittos aren't in stock.

I mean I get where he is coming from. With AAA or something similar you can get a tow and get something cheap mounted on the wheel to get you home. Hopefully this doesnt happen again any time soon. Although my wife had a nail in her Tahoe tire 2 weeks ago too.