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RelentlessOne : E91 Build Thread
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11-25-2020, 11:54 PM | #1 |
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RelentlessOne : E91 Build Thread
All these build threads have me motivated to finally start my own. I'm way behind on this as I purchased the car over two years ago, but as with many things, better late than never. At least I have extensive photo documentation of the car that has to be my most modded to date. I have 24 folders of modifications completed over the past 2.5 years, so I'll be uploading them a little at a time while trying to figure out dates. My instagram (@LakeshoreBimmers) should help with that.
I purchased this 2007 328i in late July 2018 from Toyota of Malvern in Pennsylvania. I had been searching for a wagon for a while, and decided to check this one out as it had a few interesting additions. One of the (FOUR!) previous owners had installed Euro halogen headlights, front splitters, style 162 wheels, and a half set (outer only) of outer blackline tail lights. No idea why they did that, assuming the inners were damaged somehow. It didn't have sport package, which is usually a minimum requirement for me, but I knew I could eventually sort that out. The miles weren't terribly high nor was the price, and it was RWD so I pulled the trigger with the intention of this being a build while I daily drove my E60 535i. 7/26/18 : Purchase Parked next to my E60 my brother was kind enough to follow me home in. 7/27/18 : Spacers I wasted no time, and installed front and rear spacers the next day. Pretty sure they were 20/25mm rear and 15mm front.
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Last edited by relentlessone; 11-26-2020 at 12:02 AM.. |
11-26-2020, 12:11 AM | #2 |
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8/11/2018 : Custom Front Splitter
I had a sheet of 1/4 ABS from making a splitter for my E60, so I created a custom shape and cut it out with a jigsaw, sanded and painted it. At the very least it protected the painted splitters. 8/29/2018 : Tinted Windows 35%
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donut_boi997.50 |
11-26-2020, 12:45 AM | #3 |
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9/2/2018 : Headlight Blackout and Xenon Retrofit
The idea here was to black out the headlights and install a set of ACME H1 projectors with E46 shrouds, that ideally mounted in the stock bulb hole with a little Dremeling. The problem I found was that the bulb hole is not centered in the low beam area, so the projector shroud wouldn't be centered. After racking my brain, I decided to engineer a bracket to hold the projector exactly where I wanted, independent of the hole. I had a 3D printer that can print ABS, so I modeled it in CAD and printed it out. It was perfect, or so I thought. After about a day of use, the projectors were drooping. Turns out they get pretty hot, and had melted the ABS enough that it was sagging. Luckily I have an X-Carve also, so I machined aluminum brackets to take their place. I used bolts and rivets to attach an L-bracket to the top, and metal wire to attach the bottom of the bracket to the bowl. This ended up working really well, and are going strong to this day. The cheap halos I bought however, wouldn't last more than a few weeks.
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donut_boi997.50 squaredphoto357.00 |
11-26-2020, 01:00 AM | #4 |
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9/18/2018 : 3D Printed Rear Wiper Delete Cap
I wanted to clean up the rear window by removing the wiper, but still keep the functionality of the handle that opens the glass. I designed a cap in CAD that snaps onto the hex nut that holds the handle on. It was printed in ABS, sanded smooth, and painted satin black. If you have a 3D printer or access to one, I've posted the file on Thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4539667 9/28/2018 : Sport Steering Wheel, Black Floor Mats and Red Start Button I'm not 100% sure on the timing of these three mods, but they are all in this one photo.
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donut_boi997.50 |
11-26-2020, 01:20 AM | #5 |
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10/5/2018 : OEM Roof Rack
Might as well get a little more utility out of the wagon, so I got an OEM rack. 10/14/2018 : Oil Filter Housing Gasket, Serpentine Belt & Pulley It's not all fun and games. The Oil filter housing gasket was leaking, and I had already learned that lesson on my E60 (shredded belt that damages the crank seal). I replaced the belt in case it was compromised from the oil, and the tensioner too. While I was in there, I cleaned the VANOS solenoids and degreased the front of the engine. Wish I had an after pic!
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11-26-2020, 08:31 PM | #7 |
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Drives: 2007 BMW 328ix E91
Join Date: Oct 2019
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What splitter is that? I lowered my E91 and it's more a magnet for parking blocks than ever..
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11-28-2020, 06:28 AM | #10 |
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10/23/2018 : BC Coilovers
Purchased a standard set of BC BR Coilovers to lower the wagon (not extreme low). I had them on my previous 2003 530i and my current 2010 535i, so I felt confident with the purchase.The I-17 model was recommended that actually says E93 on it. The kit comes with 8k front springs and 12k rears, but about a year after installing them I swapped to 10k fronts because they were bottoming out on large dips in the road. Overall they are good coilovers, but for some reason feel more harsh than my previous cars. These photos were taken the day after installation, and by then the fronts had settled quite a bit, so the rear is higher. I eventually evened them out after I felt like they were done settling. These are the extenders installed that allow adjustment of the shocks through the rear side panels. 10/24/2018 : DADWGN Vanity Plate 11/3/2018 : Aluminum Pedals I've put these on my previous vehicles and they are always a nice touch. I will say that this eBay set was obviously stamped instead of machined, so you can see some variation in the slats where some are slightly twisted. They were cheap, and it doesn't bother me enough to replace them, but something to keep an eye out for.
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11-28-2020, 06:41 AM | #11 |
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11/16/2018 : KG Splitters
I picked up a set of side and rear splitters from Kerry since he's local to me. They are a really nice touch with the front splitter, which at this point I had cracked in the snow, and turned into two separate splitters.
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squaredphoto357.00 |
11-30-2020, 10:59 PM | #12 |
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11/10/2018 : TRW M3 Control Arms
The control arm ball joints on the wagon were in bad shape, so I figured I might as well upgrade to M3 versions while I was at it. In hindsight, I'm not sure I'd do it again as it's a little too stiff for my liking. I have a standard set in the garage I'll be putting in next year. An alignment is 100% necessary after installing these. 11/17/2018 : eBay Universal 7-Finned Diffuser The stock rear bumper always felt very plain, and since replica E91 M-sport rear bumpers are hard to find and OEM are crazy expensive, I picked up this universal diffuser off of eBay. It's very subtle and nowhere near the look of the M-sport, but it gives the stock bumper some character. 12/26/2018 : OEM Blackline Tail Lights Since purchase, I'd been searching for the blackline inner lights to match my outers with no luck, and they aren't available separately from BMW. Thankfully, my wife was nice enough to buy me a full set of OEMs for Christmas.
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12-05-2020, 11:51 PM | #13 |
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12/27/2018 : Switchback LED Halos
The cheap halos I used on my xenon retrofit didn't last long before a few of the LEDs went out, I should have known better. Lightwerkz was having a sale and I got two sets of the Profile Pivot halos in 110mm (low beam) and 100mm (high beam). The quality of these halos is light years above the cheap sh*t I bought previously. There are even little holes to mount them with fine wire so you don't have to glue them. I drilled two very small holes in the shrouds for each mounting hole and twisted the wire through them. They are SOLID. The LEDs themselves are covered with a diffused material that makes them look like continuous rings. I have them wired to be white as DRLs and they blink amber with the turn signals. At the time of writing this, they are going strong after 2 years.
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12-06-2020, 12:23 AM | #14 |
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4/24/2019 : Gloss Black Roof Wrap
I knew from the moment I bought the wagon that I wanted to wrap the roof black. I did it on my Titan Silver E39, my wife's Alpine White E90 and my Alpine White E60. I just love the look on lighter colored cars. The hold up, was that you have to drop the headliner to remove the roof rails. I'm sure it's possible to do it with the rails attached, but I wasn't risking a $80 piece of vinyl to find out. Once I committed, it really wasn't that bad. You remove all the pillars, grab handles, visors, console and hooks, the only thing holding the headliner up is clips around the panoramic roof, and some screws in the front. It was those screws I didn't know about, and ended up breaking the mounting holes for them, but I was able to repair it in the end. Once the headliner is down, there are three bolts per roof rail and they come off easily. I taped the roof around the shark fin antenna and used a breakaway blade to slice through the adhesive. This stuff is a pain, so budget a couple hours for proper removal from the fin and roof. I also removed the panoramic seal as I had purchased a replacement, you can't wrap over it and there isn't enough room between the seal and roof to tuck it. Getting all of that adhesive off was also a pain. I used the 3M rubber wheel that attaches to your drill, but it flings adhesive dust everywhere. After all the disassembly, I clay barred the roof and wiped it down with isopropyl alcohol, I laid the vinyl out on the roof with plenty of overhang on all four sides and it was time. Basically you want to keep the vinyl adhesive down to not attract any dust, so the liner gets rolled out from underneath. At this point there will be wrinkles everywhere, but you work your way around the roof pulling them out side by side corner by corner. Use a soap/water solution to lubricate the top side of the vinyl and squeegee the vinyl in slow, overlapping strokes. The air release channels in the adhesive do a great job of preventing bubbles. I won't go through the whole process, there are plenty of videos on how it's done, but here are some photos.
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12-06-2020, 12:39 AM | #15 |
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5/8/2019 : Mtech/Msport Front Bumper Conversion
I'll start out by saying that I had mixed feelings about this bumper. At some angles it looks good. With proper splitters or a lip, it looks great. I ordered this replica off eBay with the yellow fog lights, and fitment is really good. The bottom buckles a little, but it was hardly noticeable. I tried the eBay carbon splitters that fit great while the bumper was off the car, but hardly at all once the bumper was installed. I ended up taking them off the first day and going without. Someday I'd like to get an LCI hood and the Msport bumper to match, but until one falls into my lap, Pre-LCI will do just fine.
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donut_boi997.50 squaredphoto357.00 |
12-09-2020, 11:58 PM | #16 |
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9/20/19 : OE M-Sport Rear Bumper
For some reason, M-sport rear bumpers for wagons are VERY hard to come by. I've heard there are replicas, but I've never seen photos of one installed, so I decided to get an OE. It took a while, but I brought myself to stomach dropping 1/7th of the car's value on the bumper, brackets, diffuser and the thin piece of plastic above the diffuser BMW somehow charges $70 for. In the end, I'm happy I did because it really is a big improvement. You can technically install the bumper with the regular bumper brackets, but it pushes out on it to the side and below the rear tail lights. You can see in the following photos where I cut away some plastic to help fit while I was waiting for the brackets to ship from Germany. And here's a comparison shot with the stock bumper. Those with a keen eye may notice the parking sensors on the stock bumper. That was actually an early retrofit I did with a cheap sensor set off of eBay that I color-matched myself. It worked great, but after spending so much on the bumper, I couldn't bring myself to drill holes in it.
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squaredphoto357.00 |
12-10-2020, 09:55 AM | #17 |
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Great build, do you happen to sell the brackets you made for your projector headlight retrofit? I'm looking to do a retrofit as well and those brackets look like they work really well. Thanks in advance!
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12-10-2020, 12:28 PM | #18 |
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I don't currently, but I could machine a set for a fee. Send me a private message and we can discuss.
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12-22-2020, 07:06 PM | #19 | |
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04-10-2021, 09:03 PM | #20 | |
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