[tlow98]

I started another journal previously, but this seems like a more apropos place to have it so moving it here.

Picked up this beauty in the fall of '15. Sits next to the old single-guy toy - a low mileage M3 I thoroughly used and, sometimes abused on the track. May she rest in cracked subframe peace.

The goal for the car is to become a comfortable, but better handling version of itself. It's a shared car, for now, so mods will be thought of with all effects in mind (NVH). I would love to swap all the running gear for M3 bits, but that's for later. The old girl has been a beast a burden for the past years so this is mostly a restoration and improvement will be made when it's relatively easy and relatively cheap.





Specs on the E91
2009 328i
Water Blue Metallic on Grey Interior
N52 Automatic
Premium
Standard Hifi
Cold Weather
Comfort Access
Navigation/usb, etc.

62,000 miles when bought. Have all the dealer maint records. Car was dealer maintained when I picked it up (typical 10-15k OCIs) except the first change was done at low mileage which was nice to see. The only odd repair I found was that at 25k the A/C Schrader valves were leaking and replaced at the dealer.

Maintenance wise, I've been carrying out 10k mile OCIs.

Coming from the E46 M3 was a pretty big change. The steering is so much stiffer in the E90! Absolutely loving the utility and bit more luxury than the M. For obvious reasons it doesn't really compare to a well set-up M3 in the handling department or the go department, but I'm loving the auto in the city.

Biggest E90 advantages vs past BMWs I've owned (E36 M3, E46 M3):
- Build quality. I'm not sure it's up to the legendary E30 status, but it's pretty darn close. The list goes on but things like door panels, interior materials and mechanical systems seem extremely robust.
- Far less maintenance.
- No major subframe issues. Again, build quality.
- Everything just seems to last longer; water pumps, pulleys, radiators, fluids, window motors, etc.
- More of bank vault feel than the other two I've owned. Quieter, and more calming especially on long drives.
- The paint and seam sealer and general construction of the chassis is a huge step forward for the 3 series.

Things I miss:
- In stock form, this car really doesn't handle that well. Some small adjustments and it comes back; thrust arms, non-runflat tires, chassis stiffeners, and some camber. Deeper delving required to reveal it's true potential; rear subframe bushing, rear upper shock mounts, dampers, etc.
- I wish the interior had some of the E46 softness, for lack of a better word. The E46 interior had a richer feel, imo.
- The smell of crayons in the interior.

Repairs:
- Oil Filter housing Gasket 67k mi
- Windshield Trim falling apart 67k mi
- Belt tensioner 67k mi
- Battery 102k mi
- VCG 102k mi
- 6 coils and spark plugs 102k mi
- Water Pump / Thermostat 105k mi
- Rear taillight gasket - caused battery compartment to hold water
- Pano roof seal. My god did the old one make a racquet at freeway speeds.
- complete Suspension rebuild all around with upgraded Koni Yellows. Every piece of rubber and bump stops. The car is transformed!

Maintenance:
- auto trans fluid/filter 67k mi, 100k mi
- Diff fluid 100k mi (looked new!)
- Plugs 102k
- Polish paint correction and CQuartz UK 3.0 102k miles

Mods:
- M3 seats
- Dinan camber plates
- Pulled alignment pins
- GAS monoballs in front thrust arm bushing location (removed)
- M3 aluminum front stiffening plate
- DWS-06 all around
- Rear M3 Guide rods
- Whiteline rear subframe bushing inserts
- E92/E84 rear chassis strut enforcement/brace
- Tinted windows

Future stuff:
- M3 front sway
- Koni Yellows is the plan for now
- 3 stage manifold and software (have the manifold...am being lazy )


For more info on the M3, please see this thread over on M3forums, aka, DodgeStratus...
http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=489470







Was a very fun and rewarding car with all the CSL intake insanity!

Happy to be here, and I look forward to the banter.

[tlow98]

After 5 years she finally gets a polish! Much Excite!

Clay
Polish - Menzerna SIP
Sealant - CQuartz UK 3.0 ceramic (love the durability)
Top coat - Carpro Reload (also love for simplicity)

[tlow98]

Underbody panel & M3 seats.

TLDR Nice improvement in NVH and front end stiffness with the M3 plate cut to size. Errr, hacked, to size.:shifty:. The M3 seats are luxurious af and super supportive. Worth it, IMO, especially when they are only about $200-250 each these days.

To install this altered plate the way I have it you will need:
- BMW 31102283032 Engine Skid Plate. eBay seemed easiest. Beat what I paid - seriously, do it! I love it when people get awesome deals on this stuff.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-M3-Engi...72.m2749.l2649
4 X BMW Blind Rivet Nut - Genuine BMW 07147199279
- The rivet nuts get installed in the stock M3 locations. The hexagonal cutouts are already there in the subframe. You just need to torque them into place.
4 X BMW Hex Screw With Collar (M10X3310 9) - Genuine BMW 33326768354
- Bend power steering hose mount approx 1/2" so it doesn't rattle on the plate

Other Information:
- I made this so that it works with the stock under panel tray as you see it in the pic. Extra holes needed to be drilled through the aluminum in order to mount the black underbody tray and screw it into the OE locations on the subframe.
- As with anything custom cut, it takes a few revisions to get it right. Be patient, it's worth the work. Get out the angle grinder!

M3 Seats

Stock - In this car I've gone from nonsport to sport to M3 seats. The nonsport really, really are awful. You bounce all over and there's nothing sporty or supportive about them.

Sport - The sport seats are great. I had them fully loaded (elec, heat, lumber, side bolsters) in Black Dakota and the were really supportive and firm. The leather after using them still looked unbelievable. They should last forever. That being said a friend hooked me up with an M3 set and well, the rest was history.

M3 - These are another step up in comfort, but the same level of support as in the regular sport seats. The leather is plusher and it feels like the seat foam is softer too. It makes them very 'cosseting' feeling. As a touch point that use and feel every time you use the car you start to get the idea that BMW knows prodict segmentation very well. They also have every option. Downside is they wear faster than the Dakots letaher. That being said mine are from a well-cared-for 2008 and they are about an 8.7/10. The leather on the driver's bolster is just starting to fade, but the passenger seat is nearly mint. For nearly 100k of use that seems pretty good!

[tlow98]

Water pump and thermostat, yay. Was getting shadow codes 2e81 and 2e82 (?) on the pump and the electric fan kicked into turbo mode a couple times.

All sorted with FCP OE parts.

Failed part carnage pic.

[tlow98]

For reference, this was what a valve train looks like after 60k miles of BMW dealer oil changes at their recommended OCIs and then another 40k @ 10k mi OCIs. No additives that I'm aware of.

I was pretty happy to see it this clean.

[tr3flip]

Nice combo with the E91 and E46M. Super happy with our E91 as a family car. We have an Imola slicktop M3 as well but in slightly more used condition haha.

I noticed your m3forum build thread link. Have you been able to get on the site lately?

[mlee4984]

Nice garage, I've got the E46 and E91 as daily as well.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by tr3flip

Nice combo with the E91 and E46M. Super happy with our E91 as a family car. We have an Imola slicktop M3 as well but in slightly more used condition haha.

I noticed your m3forum build thread link. Have you been able to get on the site lately?

Thanks! Yeah, what's up with that site? Kind of annoying and it's been some time...

EDIT: Apparently, FB says they can't get ahold of the owner of the m3forums site. What a bummer.

Glad you're using your 46M the way it was meant to be used.

[Phil325i]

Interested in the M3 undertray. Do you have a part number? Presumably once fitted, the standard plastic undertray has to be discarded? Looks like a lot more of the underside/engine bay is exposed to road crap without the plastic cover though...

EDIT: found it on RealOEM. Looks like 31102283032. Seems like you cut a large piece off the reinforcement plate. Why was that? To clear the bracing rod?

P.S. if you're interested in further bracing, the M3 strut brace does a great job of tightening up the steering...

[mike@x-ph.com]

Nice

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by Phil325i

Interested in the M3 undertray. Do you have a part number? Presumably once fitted, the standard plastic undertray has to be discarded? Looks like a lot more of the underside/engine bay is exposed to road crap without the plastic cover though...

EDIT: found it on RealOEM. Looks like 31102283032. Seems like you cut a large piece off the reinforcement plate. Why was that? To clear the bracing rod?

P.S. if your interested in further bracing, the M3 strut brace does a great job of tightening up the steering...

Hi phil,

The way I did this it works with the stock plastic undertray. You have to drill a few more holes in the M3 undertray and trim of the lip around the exterior, but I was after a more OE solution so that's what I did. You can see the OE brackets that support the stock plastic undertray at the top of the pic.

The rear part of the brace was removed bc the M3's rear section of the subframe is a different shape. You would have to remove the stock A-frame brace to use the rear section of the M3 brace, as well. It can be made to fit, but since mine incorporates the stock A-frame I was able to tie the subframe to the frame and get the benefits of boxing in the front section of the 328i subframe, as well.

This just seemed like the easiest path to accomplishing 90% of what I wanted with the tools at hand. I would love to tie the a-frame to the subframe with a wider endpoint, increasing twist/torque advantages, but didn't want to go the route of custom parts I would have to have fabricated that relied on both my measurement accuracy and someone else's manufacturing accuracy. Plus, well, more monies.

I am getting a very slight rattle that has something to do with a slight interference, but it's only occasionally and likely only something I would notice. Likely, I'll get in there to investigate eventually, but the in the meantime the NVH improvement and front end stiffness increase is great!

Thanks for the tip on the M3 strut tower brace. I looked at those and for the money, this seemed like a bigger bang for the buck, but since I've never tried the M3 strut brace I don't know for sure. Great to hear it helps! I'm working my way through my list of diminishing returns and it'll get its day :-)

[Phil325i]

Thanks! Did I guess right with the part number? And did you have to buy any fixing bolts or did you reuse what was already there?

[tr3flip]

Originally Posted by tlow98

Thanks! Yeah, what's up with that site? Kind of annoying and it's been some time...

EDIT: Apparently, FB says they can't get ahold of the owner of the m3forums site. What a bummer.

Glad you're using your 46M the way it was meant to be used.

Will definitely be following your thread (here).

Bummer about M3F. I not only had a build thread of my M3 for the last 6 years on there but also used it regularly for tech resources.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by Phil325i

Thanks! Did I guess right with the part number? And did you have to buy any fixing bolts or did you reuse what was already there?

Yes, that's the correct part #. Here's the eBay listing from my purchase:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-M3-Engi...53.m1438.l2649

You would need 4 of these:
BMW Hex Screw With Collar (M10X3310 9) - Genuine BMW 33326768354
And 4 of these:
BMW Blind Rivet Nut - Genuine BMW 07147199279
To replicate what I did.

Originally Posted by tr3flip

Will definitely be following your thread (here).

Bummer about M3F. I not only had a build thread of my M3 for the last 6 years on there but also used it regularly for tech resources.

Yeah, that resource is irreplaceable. What a loss :-/ Maybe it will come back - who knows.

[tlow98]

Udatezzzzz:

Brakes
- 330i front brake rotor upgrade (330mm vs 312mm stock diameter 328i) Centric Premiums
- 330i front brake caliper and carrier (few lbs lighter each side) Ebay special
- New brake pads front and rear - Textar OE stuff

So yeah, rolled the dice on some Ebay front calipers. They came from a local California yard and the fluid was perfectly clean coming out of them plus the piston moved the full range smoothly so giving them a shot. Happy to be away from my old Centric metallics - they were squeaky and grabby at low speeds plus I wasn't the biggest fan of their release characteristics.

I considered the 335i upgrade, but after looking at all that extra rotational mass with the bigger and thicker rotors, but I decided this 328i really doesn't need any more mass than the wagon body already provides. Thanks for the tips freedomfries .

Full brake fluid flush
- Flushed with https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's nothing special, but seemed to fit the bill and was mega reasonable. Ordered 2 since I was doing 2 cars. Flushed all the old green/blue stuff out of the stock system. Is it supposed to be that color? Anyway, this beast a burden hadn't seen a flush in 5 years/40k miles.

M3 plate rattle found
- The stock 328i steering rack cooling line mount bolt on the passenger just barely hangs down to touch the top of the M3 stiffening plate. Bent it up 1/4" and good to go. Super quiet again.

M3 front swaybar
- Comparison pic to stock 328i below. M3 is 2mm/4mm greater than the stock unit in the thin/thick portions of the bar, respectively. Traditionally, I believe roll stiffness should be mediated with spring rate, but since I"m not doing the springs just yet and finding OE springs higher in rate while maintaining the stock ride height is quite tricky in the US I"m going with sways for now.

Hard to tell the impact on this one just yet I've only just been taking it easy bedding in the brakes. Not much driving with CV19! One thing is for sure - with the m3 subframe plate, the added camber, swaybar, and the monoballs the front end of the car responds immediately and weight transitions are instant with no flabby secondary motion. Previously, it was gross how much extra steering input was necessary. Now it just goes where you tell it the first time.

[crimpwimp]

Subscribing to this thread, as I am another Bay Area E91 owner who enjoys wrenching. Pre-lci 6MT here, but I had grand plans of doing a full E90M conversion. In hindset, I probably would have chosen an LCI with comfort access, but I couldn't pass up the deal with a 74k miles, CA born and raised. Sadly, I sold my E46 M3 in LSB a few years ago to fund some other toys.

What I've worked on so far: F10 M5 illuminated shift knob, ECS tuning interior LED kit, coding for extra functionality, M3 steering wheel with custom leather reupholstering, replacing the dreaded passenger inside door pull, BMW factory alarm retrofit, ultrasonic sensor module, Homelink rear view mirror, and ignition coil/spark plug replacement.

Current mod: M3 front seats... and since I'm going from fully manual seats to powered/heated, I'm getting caught up with the re-wiring. I also think my driver seat module is faulty, because I can only hotwire the pins to enable the side bolster/lumbar support, but not the seat position motors.

Looking forward to the modifications on the horizon, given the abundance of free time we now have to work on the cars at home =p

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by crimpwimp

Subscribing to this thread, as I am another Bay Area E91 owner who enjoys wrenching. Pre-lci 6MT here, but I had grand plans of doing a full E90M conversion. In hindset, I probably would have chosen an LCI with comfort access, but I couldn't pass up the deal with a 74k miles, CA born and raised. Sadly, I sold my E46 M3 in LSB a few years ago to fund some other toys.

What I've worked on so far: F10 M5 illuminated shift knob, ECS tuning interior LED kit, coding for extra functionality, M3 steering wheel with custom leather reupholstering, replacing the dreaded passenger inside door pull, BMW factory alarm retrofit, ultrasonic sensor module, Homelink rear view mirror, and ignition coil/spark plug replacement.

Current mod: M3 front seats... and since I'm going from fully manual seats to powered/heated, I'm getting caught up with the re-wiring. I also think my driver seat module is faulty, because I can only hotwire the pins to enable the side bolster/lumbar support, but not the seat position motors.

Looking forward to the modifications on the horizon, given the abundance of free time we now have to work on the cars at home =p

The M3 seats are worth it! Glad to have another Bay Area wrencher in here - where you located? I'm Belmont...

Sounds like you've done some nice updating to yours. I too have done the passenger handle. It was gross.

I don't know too much about the seat modules, but I'd think it would be rare for them to go out. One the side panel, those units are all separate underneath the cover so it very well could be the issue. Likely, eBay can solve that issue for cheap tho...

More incoming low budget, but high yield mods from my latest Pick-N-Pull run coming soon.

[crimpwimp]

Ah, yes! Pick-N-Pull finds are the most glorious, if you can find what you need! I still need to troubleshoot the module or seat position switch panel. The pins from the seat-side connector weren't any good, so I had to wire in from the actual motors. I'm located in the San Jose area, so just on the other side of the peninsula.

Originally Posted by tlow98

The M3 seats are worth it! Glad to have another Bay Area wrencher in here - where you located? I'm Belmont...

Sounds like you've done some nice updating to yours. I too have done the passenger handle. It was gross.

I don't know too much about the seat modules, but I'd think it would be rare for them to go out. One the side panel, those units are all separate underneath the cover so it very well could be the issue. Likely, eBay can solve that issue for cheap tho...

More incoming low budget, but high yield mods from my latest Pick-N-Pull run coming soon.

[tlow98]

Rear end update!

Alright, time to match the rear to the front with the following:
- TRW Guide rods
- E92 / E84 rear chassis strut brace
- Whiteline subframe bushings (wagon specific install notes below)

Guide Rods

These are pretty well covered on E90 post. Known to enhance braking and acceleration feel thanks to replacing a bushing with a bearing. The only negative I'm aware of is the fact that they effectively lower your spring rate slightly due to bushing wind up. Thanks to @freedomfries for the tips!

Install notes:
- you don’t have to disconnect the sway bar if you Jack the hub to ride height. Found out this after I unbolted the sway, of course :-)



- E92 / E84 rear chassis strut brace

$46 Pick N Pull find with all hardware Woot! I considered the M3 version of this but it was 2-3x the cost, and this accomplishes the same thing, plus this is welded and uses 4 pinned connections on the chassis connection front versus 2 for the M3 brace. Also, some chassis (e9x variants) have been produced with only the two middle threads on each side, which means you'll need to know if your car has all 4 threaded to utilize all bolt holes. Of course, you could just use 2 bolt holes with the 4-hole plate, but since mine came with all 4 threaded it made the choice easy.

Scarcity; No one is looking for them so they're cheap and plentiful. Easy decision.

Impressions - this one is hard to say as I did all three together. Certainly, I am feeling road sensations through the seat bottom that were never there. In a good way - finally, the rear end motions are communicated to the driver.



What I mentioned above about the stock locations in some cars not being threaded. Thanks for the info @soravia.



For E91 shim up the stock wagon brace with hardened washers at the red circles. Also, I would like to weld this structure together to make one big brace with some connectors shown with red lines. The F80 cars have a similar webbing that people are welding as such. Anyway, just a thought





Whiteline subframe bushing - wagon specific install

These have been on my shelf for 4 years. And now they are alive and well! The wagon specific portion of this applies to the rear bushing as it is different than the M3 or the regular e90. Apparently, the 335d bushing is the same as thee91, but I can’t confirm. In essence, the rear upper portion of the bushing is different enough that the standard Whiteline doesn’t fit in its provided form. I hacked it up and used the corners. See pic below.

Other info:
https://www.bimmerworld.com/Suspensi...Track-Kit.html
Powerflex makes a wagon specific kit, but for the extra $150 it would have cost I would prefer to go whole-hog with solid mounts. These cost me peanuts on here and do 90% the same thing. I'd argue likely 100%, but we know how arguments get started!

Impressions - the suspension finally is allowed to work as it should. So happy that soggy, saggy rear end feeling is gone. This install definitely eliminates the 3rd unnecessary oscillation you get on the freeway, etc. pitch and sway is nicely mitigated. Also, gives more feel for the hooligans! Previously, I never pushed this car outside an auto-x course bc the damned thing just felt scary and unpredictable. Now, tale-our wet pavement antics are finally a thing.

Here you can see (maybe?) in the yellow circle the slivers of Whiteline top bushing I cut to fit.

[tlow98]

Update:

The suspension settings (toe-out) are getting tiresome and annoying on the highway. This was a result of the Dinan camber plates set to max with the camber pins pulled.

Remedy = alignment is needed.

Also, the degradation of the ride quality from the front M3 bar is bugging me. I am constantly feeling the pull of the sway bar on either end of the car when I hit larger bumps. It's a significant change.

Remedy = Remove M3 swaybar, add stiffer OE sport springs, and Koni yellows all around.

I'd like to give the suspension its independent feel back.

Parts list:
- OE D7 sport springs in the front - 335i convertible springs. The 335 weighs about 400lbs more than my car but the weight bias F/R is very similar.
- Koni Yellows
- OE Sport bumps stops all around
- Front OE sport mounts
- Rear top Monroe mounts and bottom OE mounts
- Front OE 328i wagon swaybar
- Front E30 spring perches to attain non-sport ride height
- Rear upper spring pads (14.5mm)

What I hope to achieve: Non-sport ride height but with stiffer sport springs and better damping all around. I also want the jittery feeling of the M3 bar to be gone - the front end feels very busy with the M3 front bar. Of course this could be because my 100k+ shocks just can't handle the M3 bar action, but I digress. I'm hoping that the stiffer springs and Konis will give me the sharpness that the swaybar provides in transitions without the ride penalty and mechanical grip-killer that swaybar also, unfortunately, provides.

In short, short cuts don't really work in suspensions.

Konis are on order and the D8s are sitting in the garage. Woot!

Oh, and a PSA Koni Yellows are currently 20% off. This hasn't happened since the last recession. $650 shipped, all-in. Double the price of Bilstein B4s, but since I was increasing the springs rate so much I wanted to have adequate damping adjustment if needed. I'll start the dampers at full soft and go from there.

[M-technik-3]

Sub'ed for more cool stuff.

[Tambohamilton]

Very interested to see how the D8 install goes...

(and very envious of the M3 seats!)