[E92William]

I was gonna try to do my lower ball joints on my xdrive e92 but it's just gonna be a pain in the floor I'm gonna rent a lift. Is this play normal up and down?

Also I think I found the cause of my steering wheel play at higher speeds. I believe it's the steering linkage before it gets to the rack. The clunk side to side can be felt at the steering wheel when beginning to move it.

[mecheng77]

Originally Posted by DC82

Had the timing chain replaced for approximately 1/3rd value of the entire vehicle ;(. But hey there's more to life than money! *Cries*

Originally Posted by DC82

Had the timing chain replaced for approximately 1/3rd value of the entire vehicle ;(. But hey there's more to life than money! *Cries*

What happened to the timing chain? Never heard of that failure on this platform

[mecheng77]

Originally Posted by E92William

I'll definitely look into those adjustable links just hope they last long enough to make up for their price compared to a stock one. Mine seemed solid but the suspension was loaded with the car on ramps, they looked ripped and ball joints pushed all the way down.

Replaced the radiator today due to a slightly weeping crack on the upper neck on the oem one. Don't buy a Sunbelt radiator. This one was free so can't complain but one of the two mounting holes for the screws was offset by like an inch so I had to zip tie it tight in place.


This is the leak:

Originally Posted by DC82

Had the timing chain replaced for approximately 1/3rd value of the entire vehicle ;(. But hey there's more to life than money! *Cries*

Originally Posted by E92William

I'll definitely look into those adjustable links just hope they last long enough to make up for their price compared to a stock one. Mine seemed solid but the suspension was loaded with the car on ramps, they looked ripped and ball joints pushed all the way down.

Replaced the radiator today due to a slightly weeping crack on the upper neck on the oem one. Don't buy a Sunbelt radiator. This one was free so can't complain but one of the two mounting holes for the screws was offset by like an inch so I had to zip tie it tight in place.


This is the leak:

What mileage did your rad fail

[bmdubya1198]

I don't think cloth seats were ever available in the US. Most American BMW buyers don't tend to want them, so they didn't bother offering them.
It seems they're pretty common in Europe on lots of cars though.

[E92William]

My radiator started seeping at about 116k

[Vulcan50]

Finally got all my pieces for my headlights. I was working on them til about dawn. About 2/3 of the way done.

[Emilime75]

Originally Posted by Vulcan50

Finally got all my pieces for my headlights. I was working on them til about dawn. About 2/3 of the way done.

Are you customizing, or just repairing?

[Vulcan50]

Originally Posted by Emilime75

Are you customizing, or just repairing?

I'd say both, though the primary is customizing. I'm putting new exterior lenses on, they were 13yrs and 150k miles old. I did clear projector lenses, modified the cutoff (cleaner cutoff), blacked out shrouds, new halos, demon eyes, and white corner lamps. I may be forgetting something.

Ok so like 90% customizing.

You can't see the quality in the pic, but the brightness shows well.

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by tlow98

Im the opposite. Love paintwork.

Your clay/cut/polish/sealant?

wash
clay
remove tar
high cut compound
polish

after I get it all polished I'll seal the whole thing.

I also found a 1/8th stainless steel brush for the dremel. using it like a needle scaler on the big rock chips in the hood to remove the rust and loose paint.
primer
base coat
fill in the rest of the divot with clear.

hoping to have the hood not look like ass.
Previous owner wasn't too hip on exterior care, and to be honest I haven't done anything but wash and wax in the last 2 years. I did clay bar and seal it when I first bought it 3 years ago.
but then I drove all across the country. That was 60K miles ago and a lot of southwestern desert.

I'll trade you coding and mechanical work if you come paint correct my junk.

[colorado.e9x]

Finished the first step of my cigarette lighter "retrofit". I deleted the ash tray for the light up sunglasses tray. Reinstalling the cigarette lighter from the ash tray in a convenient spot in the drivers footwell. It'll work nicely for my radar detector and or phone mount

[Soden82]

Originally Posted by unixnerd

Just found my E91 likely has a clutch delay valve, so that's coming off. Removed it on my Z4 and it made a huge difference to 1st and 2nd gear changes.

I'm going to remove mine soon. I have an upgraded one to go in place but I read of people just removing it and leaving it out.

[Soden82]

I installed and programmed my Index 12 injectors today and car is much smoother. Injectors 2-5 were covered in oil from my previously leaking VC.

Car wouldn't start initially and realized that the oil that covered the injectors seeped onto the plugs so cleaned off the plugs.

Learned that any leaking gasket or cover can cause a while host of issues so it's always worth addressing it right away.

[unixnerd]

Originally Posted by Soden82

I'm going to remove mine soon. I have an upgraded one to go in place but I read of people just removing it and leaving it out.

I just removed the delay valve and bolted up the clutch line on the Z4, no bleeding needed. But the E9x has a different design of coupling.

[ian3924]

Took a break from the car this weekend and spent some time on the garage still need to build the workbench.

[E92William]

Huge difference there! Need to build a bench in mine too, though since it's a single car garage I'll probably do it at the end with a few small wrap around sides.

[Emilime75]

Originally Posted by ian3924

Took a break from the car this weekend and spent some time on the garage still need to build the workbench.

Did you rent a dumpster and just chuck everything? Start fresh?

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by ian3924

Took a break from the car this weekend and spent some time on the garage still need to build the workbench.

Nice, now all you need is 4 to 6 LED garage lights!


https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia...LBL4/203839057

[ian3924]

Originally Posted by Emilime75

Did you rent a dumpster and just chuck everything? Start fresh?

Nah dumpsters would be like 500 to rent so not worth it. Took a chance and left a lot out in the backyard overnight except the tool chests. Someone will come take the scrap metal anything junk will get taken to the dump. Tomorrow the fridge,tires, bumpers, fluids, and wall pieces go back in.

Originally Posted by mweisdorfer

Nice, now all you need is 4 to 6 LED garage lights!


https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia...LBL4/203839057

Thanks theres actually already 3 of those in there but will definitely need on above the workbench. A lot of drinking gets done in there after the work so also putting in a tv and racing sim setup that folds up.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by unixnerd

Cloth seats aren't hard to find in the UK. Try searching ebay for "breaking bmw" in the UK and see what they have.

It's an SE, do you get those in the US (Special Equipment)? Has a lot of upgraded bits and of course a complete sport interior now. Honestly I drove my E46 today and I prefer it. But it's starting to get rusty (road salt) and has 170k. Going to hurt to part with it. E91 feels too modern despite being 15 years old. We'll see how I get on with it. Doing the spark plugs and Valvetronic motor gasket tomorrow.

If I keep the car I might put Bilstein B6s on, love them on my E46.

Thanks for the breaking bmw tip.

No SEs here. That's a great spec tho!

Hard to beat the handling/ride balance of the E46. Overall, the E90 is built quite a bit better, however, so that's nice.

[Vulcan50]

Finished my lights. Sorry I can't get a good picture. I'll try in the light tomorrow. The demon eyes still need wired.

[Wolf 335]

Originally Posted by nsjames

2 hours of cleaning tar from a fender.

[Emilime75]

Originally Posted by Vulcan50

Finished my lights. Sorry I can't get a good picture. I'll try in the light tomorrow. The demon eyes still need wired.

Are the inner and outer DTM rings different widths? Outer looks thinner than inner.