[BenFenner]

Hauling firewood | Album

A relative ~45 minutes away has endless firewood, and has been begging us to take some for years. We finally grabbed some during Thanksgiving. I think the rear was on the bump stops, or nearly so.

[Tambohamilton]

That's the e91 spirit!

[BenFenner]

Doing wagon things.

[BenFenner]

New battery | Album

The wagon has been struggling a little to start for a long time now, and we are finally putting a new battery in it. Eventually we will learn that the starter motor was actually going out (maybe never actually needed a battery, but this battery has seen enough discharges to be suspect by now anyway).
Since I had such good a good experience with the Deka unit in the Coupe, we went with one for the wagon as well. These things fit perfectly (including the vent holes), they are AGM, better specs than OEM, and surprisingly affordable. They are quickly becoming my new go-to battery for when an Optima is not going to fit well.

For those looking for the right dimensions, the E91 uses a Group 49 battery (probably all e90s do, but not 100% sure there).

We kept power to the car during the swap with a battery booster (and maybe also a trickle charger) so we could avoid any issues with needing to enter the radio code, or losing the memory of the seats/mirrors, etc.

If I remember correctly, the car did lose power momentarily at one point. I think it was just on the charger, and not the booster pack yet. We didn't lose any of the seat memory or the radio stuff. So all of that must have their own batteries. However, we did lose some functionality the car used to have. Maybe some of you know something about this?

The car used to recognize that the key fob was in proximity to the rear of the car (we have comfort entry), and allow the rear hatch to be opened manually via the pull button even when the car was locked. After swapping the battery, this no longer works. We've lived with this loss for a while now. It would be nice to get it back.

I wonder if it is a feature that just got turned off or reset, and we can get it back with some module programming? We have access to a laptop that can re-code the car and apply pretty much any feature we'd want. Maybe it is one of those?


Parts:
$220.63 | Deka AGM Exact Fit Battery | 9AGM49


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[K9Leader]

You post is today but the date Sharpied on the battery is 11-20-2017. Are you posting reruns? Or maybe your E91 has the time machine option? I'm so confused.

Your battery came from a place that is about five miles from me.

[BenFenner]

Not reruns. No time machine.

It's a looooooong story. About 10 years ago I got behind uploading pics and posting updates. I was 3 months behind before I knew it, then 6, then as time progressed I was eventually 4 years behind, still trying to catch up.

So 8 months ago I dedicated myself to catching up, and I'm now almost only 2 years behind. I'm almost getting to the 2018 stuff!

I know. In a world of INSTANT RIGHT NOA! I look like a fool catching up on shit from 3-4 years ago...

That's life.

[K9Leader]

I was really hoping for the time machine option - hoping you might have or know where to get a spare flux capacitor as mine has burned out.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by BenFenner

Not reruns. No time machine.

It's a looooooong story. About 10 years ago I got behind uploading pics and posting updates. I was 3 months behind before I knew it, then 6, then as time progressed I was eventually 4 years behind, still trying to catch up.

So 8 months ago I dedicated myself to catching up, and I'm now almost only 2 years behind. I'm almost getting to the 2018 stuff!

I know. In a world of INSTANT RIGHT NOA! I look like a fool catching up on shit from 3-4 years ago...

That's life.

It all makes so much sense now.

[Tambohamilton]

Would be handy if we could manually edit post dates, or add posts into a thread mid way instead of just at the end...oh well!

[BenFenner]

Well, everything I post is in chronological order, it's just all a bit from the past. So at least that helps.
Soon I'll catch up, and then things will be normal. I promise.

[BenFenner]

Originally Posted by BenFenner

The car used to recognize that the key fob was in proximity to the rear of the car (we have comfort entry), and allow the rear hatch to be opened manually via the pull button even when the car was locked. After swapping the battery, this no longer works. We've lived with this loss for a while now. It would be nice to get it back.

I wonder if it is a feature that just got turned off or reset, and we can get it back with some module programming? We have access to a laptop that can re-code the car and apply pretty much any feature we'd want. Maybe it is one of those?

Any insight here would be much appreciated.

Or maybe I should make a new thread?

[Tambohamilton]

I'd check coding options in the JBBF or CAS...I think it's more likely to be in the JBBF.

Hopefully it's not some sort of peculiarity with failing wires in the tailgate hinge area...

[BenFenner]

Thanks for the tip. I'll look into it.

[BenFenner]

I forgot to mention this about the new battery.

You should register it letting the BMS know there is a new, healthy battery in there (which we did).

Then if the capacity is different, you should code the new capacity into the BMS so it can charge it properly. The capacity was so close, we didn't bother to do that...
Since we didn't do that, I guess maybe we didn't also let the BMS know it is an AGM battery now, so it can charge it appropriately. I'm going to see about fixing that at some point.

Not sure if that matters for the comfort access thing, but there it is.

[Tambohamilton]

That really shouldn't matter at all - sounds like you did exactly the right thing.

I had issues with my non-ca tailgate (not the lid) never locking. Tried all sorts - wiring repairs, new switch, new latch, default code using Protool, etc etc. Eventually figured the JBBF must be the problem, so updated it and default coded using NCS....works!

[BenFenner]

New wagon mafia sticker | Album

The traditionally sporty cars and heavily modified fast cars that I drive are always kept clean and free of anything that might hint that they have been modified. I try to keep things as sleeper as possible. However with something like a wagon (even a sporty wagon) it makes sense to me to do a little peacocking. To me, this sticker says "we bought this wagon on purpose, and we love it". It goes well with the "save the stick" magnet on the other side.

It was important to me that the wagon on the sticker face the correct direction where we planned to place it (driver's side rear quarter window). It was important to me to get the correct vehicle silhouette. It was important to me that the font was inspired by The Godfather. We sourced the sticker(s) from eBay. We love all wagon groups equally. "Wagon mafia" just felt the most descriptive.


Parts:
$7.92 | Turnerco (eBay) sourced E91 silhouette "Wagon Mafia" sticker


Pics:

[BenFenner]

First oil change | Album

A bit late, I know, but here is the first oil change for the wagon.
The N52 engine we have in the wagon takes 6.5 liters (7 US quarts) of oil. I run Amsoil on most cars, most days. The wagon is no exception.
To that end, I actually signed up to be a preferred customer since I expect to be buying a good bit of oil in the future. The discount is worth it for me.


Tools:
$16.95 | 16-flute, 86.4mm Motivx Tools BMW Oil Filter Housing Socket | MX2326


Parts:
$10.00 | Mann Oil Filter for BMW E91 (N52 engine) | HU816x (compare with BMW OEM 11427953129)
$45.65 | Amsoil 5w40 Classic European Formula Engine Oil, 1 quart (×7) | EFMQT-CA


Pics:

[MPOWER5266]

Wait, all these posts are from like 2 year ago? My mind is blown.

[BenFenner]

I'm sorry! I don't know how to travel back in time and post these earlier.

This is my curse right now.

I am catching up, I promise! We purchased the car in mid-2016, and this latest oil change happened in early 2018, so I am making good progress catching up!

[86Zed]

Starting to be a great DIY reference! I hope you have found FCP Euro by now and are utilizing their Lifetime Warranty for cheap maintenance, even if you are sourcing oil elsewhere.

[BenFenner]

Yes, I'm familiar with FCP Euro and their shtick. I appreciate the heads up, but they just aren't for me. No doubt plenty of people are very happy with them.

Yes, the idea is for this documentation to serve as a great resource for me, and others, along with any future owner. I find myself looking back through my build threads all the time for all sorts of reference needs, and linking posts to others. Just yesterday I needed to order non-standard low-beams for my Coupe and instead of needing to figure out what bulbs I need to buy and modify, I just looked up the part number from my previous update.

Now the wagon hasn't been nearly as well documented as my other cars because we haven't had it very long, but I hope to continue to grow the thread as things happen. It might not see all of the modifications and such that my other cars have, but it will be something.

For those who haven't noticed, I keep the first post up to date with a Table of Contents, with links to every update.
I also keep a running tab of money spent, and repairs/maintenance/modifications performed in the first few posts. The one I've been slacking on is the fuel economy post. I hope to finally start gathering that data soon, as I have for my other cars.

[BenFenner]

Curbed a wheel | Album

This is a post I never thought I'd have to make.
After 20+ years of driving, I don't think I've ever curbed a wheel. I've driven plenty of cars, including long wagons...
There seems to be something about this wagon, these wider wheels, the slightly stretched low-profile tires that lack rim protectors, our driveway, and a few other factors that just conspire to make this happen.

So the images below are from the first time this has happened to the new wheels. But this has actually happened 5 or more times now on 3 of the 4 wheels (I think only one is left undamaged now).
This first hit was while my wife was driving, and she's done it once or twice more since then. I've actually done it 3+ times now, which is just baffling to me.

By now, there is enough damage that we just don't care any more. If it makes sense, at some point we may replace all four wheels down the road if/when it's in the budget and we make it a priority. Maybe if/when we move, or redesign our driveway (most of these happened while parking at home).

C'est la vie.


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