[StradaRedlands]

I spend too much time at my local wrecker, so thought I would start documenting it! Sometimes there are real scores, other days I walk out empty handed. I know there are a few more of you out there as well, so post up some finds!

Today I got lucky and noticed an E92 335i that came to my local lot yesterday. I went down this morning, and was pretty successful scavenging off of it. It ended up being a bonafide M Sport that didn't smell like tobacco/weed and was overall pretty well kept. Best of all it had an unmolested complete glacier silver aluminum trim, although it was pretty scratched up. I didn't notice it till I got there but it also had the thicker steering wheel with paddle shifters but with the top leather in rough condition. Door sill trim and the headliner were already pulled, but I got the dead pedal as well. Ended up breaking the tabs on that with an overly-aggressive yank. I contemplated the wheels, which were a full set but painted black and in otherwise decent condition. Not sure why someone went to the effort of pulling the headliner and pillar trim but left the rest of the fancy parts.

Anyway, here's the steering wheel and dead pedal:



And the complete interior trim:



It did kinda' suck today as the guy checking me out did everything by the book and charged me a by the foot price for the trim. He was training a new guy. Usually it's a veteran person and they just want me out of there so ring up a per item price vs. the very expensive by the foot price. I guess it's evened out over time so can't complain too much.

I'll keep the steering wheel in case I ever get an automatic, put the dead pedal on my current car, and probably sell the interior trim off after I clean it up.

[Runnin'Rich]

Great work.
I went to to my local yard
I was pretty late to the party on the e90’s
There was 3 that were inside out all over the ground. Interior parts thrown in a 10m radius around the car!! I managed to find a few screws I needed in the dirt!

Not very fruitful but I love going!!
Goto make the most of it - there can only be a few more years of this self scavenging!

I’ve got a list of things I need so eventually they will come up.

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by Runnin'Rich

Great work.
I went to to my local yard
I was pretty late to the party on the e90’s
There was 3 that were inside out all over the ground. Interior parts thrown in a 10m radius around the car!! I managed to find a few screws I needed in the dirt!

Not very fruitful but I love going!!
Goto make the most of it - there can only be a few more years of this self scavenging!

I’ve got a list of things I need so eventually they will come up.

Yeah, it's a pretty chill hobby for the most part. You have to get in EARLY if you see what you want pop up on their listing, as those cars get pulled apart FAST! Always frustrating when what you needed was torn to pieces by someone wanting the part right behind it!

[E93Seattle (Racerbruce)]

Strada!
For those of us who don't have access to local yards, take a few pics of the "as-found' condition of one of the E9X's you are pursuing and post them - we would love so see the beasts in their wild habitat.

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by E93Seattle (Racerbruce)

Strada!
For those of us who don't have access to local yards, take a few pics of the "as-found' condition of one of the E9X's you are pursuing and post them - we would love so see the beasts in their wild habitat.

You will be very disappointed... their natural state is typically most foul!

Here's the '11 335i VIN: WBAKG7C5XBE597990



And the interior I cleaned out:




As long as they don't have a layer of nicotine embedded on every interior surface, I consider myself a winner!

Mechanical parts are hit or miss... I try to pull from newer five series with the presumption that their owners kept them up. That's opposed to the jabronis that paint their E90 wheels black and grills red!

[E93Seattle (Racerbruce)]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

You will be very disappointed... their natural state is typically most foul!

Here's the '11 335i VIN: WBAKG7C5XBE597990



And the interior I cleaned out:




As long as they don't have a layer of nicotine embedded on every interior surface, I consider myself a winner!

Mechanical parts are hit or miss... I try to pull from newer five series with the presumption that their owners kept them up. That's opposed to the jabronis that paint their E90 wheels black and grills red!

wowie!
tell us about the extent of vehicle damage that destined this bmw to the scrap yard....i can see the left front bumper damage which looks somewhat minor; is there additional damage??

oh, just noted the "red" windshield wiper arms?? whatsupwiththat??

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by E93Seattle (Racerbruce)

wowie!
tell us about the extent of vehicle damage that destined this bmw to the scrap yard....i can see the left front bumper damage which looks somewhat minor; is there additional damage??

oh, just noted the "red" windshield wiper arms?? whatsupwiththat??

No crash that I saw. Front bumper was off and engine was partially disassembled. I think it died from the humiliation of the red wipers.

[E93Seattle (Racerbruce)]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

No crash that I saw. Front bumper was off and engine was partially disassembled. I think it died from the humiliation of the red wipers.

indeed, the redwiperitis is communicable and if unchecked, can lead to further degradation such as redgrilleusmaximus and the dreaded redracingstripe-19.

[The_E92_Fan]

I’d pay good money for a complete M3 cowl!

[HondaRC51]

Last time I went to a local pick-n-pull yard was about 2 months ago and got a perfect condition Coral Red interior for my E92 minus the seats as someone was walking out with them as I was walking back with my tool bag . $120 for the interior, 2 subs for a friends 335d and some other odds and ends. Next time I'm going with a truck so I can snag a hood and trunk lid to experiment on. Still can't find Coral red sport seats in my area yet.

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by HondaRC51

Last time I went to a local pick-n-pull yard was about 2 months ago and got a perfect condition Coral Red interior for my E92 minus the seats as someone was walking out with them as I was walking back with my tool bag . $120 for the interior, 2 subs for a friends 335d and some other odds and ends. Next time I'm going with a truck so I can snag a hood and trunk lid to experiment on. Still can't find Coral red sport seats in my area yet.

Score on the interior!!! Too bad on the seats... maybe one of the online resellers would have a set, although big $$$ I'm guessing.

I've found some really nice heated sport seats from E60s, X5s and Z3s in the past that I wish I had the storage for. Pulling them and reselling would be a nice little side hustle. Although I don't know what demand there is for them. The Z3 probably has a decent enthusiast community, but I doubt there is a big demand for the others. It just bums me out they're going to get trashed.

[Serf27]

Most LKQ prices are now comparable to eBay prices.
eBay prices where you make a few clicks and have a part delivered to your door.

I still head over once in a while if I need something asap and don’t want to deal with shipping times, but for most of the parts, it’s about 50/50.

There is people who actually walk along the yards for a few hours looking for parts to resell and they make a living doing it.

I am not a fan of some of them nit picking each part. I know it’s a business that has to make money, but I thought their 30% increase in prices was to avoid that and sell you a complete part with all internals attached.
I remember buying a seat a few years ago and the side airbag was blown.
I argued that seat airbag was no good to anyone and I could remove it at home, I just wanted to get out of there. She was persistent about charging me for it. I did have to remove it because there was no convincing that could be done to show that it was useless.

Back to the title, last thing I bought was an airbag.
$70 and took 20 minutes. Saved $60 and a few days shipping time.

They used to have 20% off weekends and a points program. I would line up my points with the discount weekends and walk in with 60% off. My complete (heated, sport, rear folding seats, rear sunshades) terra brown e90 interior ran me $120 in those days.

[StradaRedlands]

Yeah, ebay is the place to go for used. I do enjoy the hunt as well as pulling the parts. It's literally practice for doing the job on a car that counts. I "practiced" the OFHG job in the yard, as well as intake manifold when I pulled a three stage last year. I think it's really good experience for wrenching if you don't already have the skills/experience.

It's a bummer on the parts though, they really do nickle and dime you stuff.

[Serf27]

There is no hunt for me anymore with the online inventory system and M decoder.
It was fun when I’d modify my Integra, many years ago.

I’m one of those people that walks into a store and walks straight to what I need and I’m gone.

[StradaRedlands]

PSA: The San Bernardino LKQ has a 2008 with what looks to be a dirty but complete aluminum interior. I'd go pull it myself, but I have about three in storage already. Usually pretty cheap, but last time I was hosed on the per foot price. Car came in yesterday 9/2/23 so a chance it is still complete.

[lowrydr310]

A few weeks ago my local LKQ had a E92 with aluminum dash trim. Most of the interior was already gutted but the dash trim and center console trim were still there. I passed because my hands were full and they had a few minor blemishes but in hindsight I should have grabbed them. I was just thinking a vinyl wrap over my existing pieces will look better.

[jsunma]

Well, I'm looking for an E91 rear hatch in Monaco Blue that doesn't have the terminal rust that mine does. So if anyone has any leads for what is looking to be my winter project... :-)

[lowrydr310]

I went to my local wrecker yard looking for a few miscellaneous parts and left happy.

There were two very rare junk yard finds:
2008 E92 335xi
2007 E93 335i

The E92 has the red leather interior which was complete and in decent shape, definitely restorable, however they were non-sport seats. The E93 had beige leather but again it wasn't the sport seats. That car also had the trunk lid and entire roof assembly taken. I always told myself if I ever found a E93 in the yard I'd stock up on whatever parts I could get, but I didn't actually find anything worth grabbing as a spare. Maybe the hydraulic pump, but there are plenty of good repair services if mine ever fails. The various roof sensors are relatively inexpensive new, so I didn't bother with those either. That E93 had what looked like very mild front end damage so I'm surprised it was in the pick a part yard, though the engine looked nasty with an oil filter housing leak that was neglected. There was a 2011 LCI 328i too which had a few decent parts but nothing from the interior. There was dried blood spray all over.

I am always on the lookout for N54 injectors. My last trip to the junkyard I found a bunch but no index -12s and all the ones I pulled from two or three cars were dirty and soaked in oil. This time all the N54s there had all the injectors taken. Hope they don't end up on the secondary markets as counterfeit -12s.

I did manage to get what I went for, and the prices were better than expected. Got the latest version of the CCC unit for my niece's 325i. The original unit on that car finally died with the typical boot loop. I know I could always try a reflow or even upgrade the whole thing to CIC, but I got the latest CCC system and the plastic bezel for $55 so that's a real easy replacement, just hope it works. I also got a N52 injector for that car, a cupholder trim piece for my car, an EKPM3 module, and a side mirror for my 330.

[StradaRedlands]

Love finding something useful! How were they for pricing? I usually get stuff for really good prices, but not the last time!

[Serf27]

Local LKQ here now has bar codes on bigger parts!
Got a headlight the other day and wasn’t hassled for “dOeS iT hAvE tHe BuLbS??????”
I’m guessing smaller parts will still work with the employees guessing on what it is or how to price it.

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

Love finding something useful! How were they for pricing? I usually get stuff for really good prices, but not the last time!

The radio/ccc was $55, side mirror was $50, EKPM3 was $10 billed as 'relay, generic,' trunk strike was $15, and the cupholder trim was $15 charged by the foot.

I had a 3 stage intake manifold from a 330i removed and ready to go but decided not to get it. I had previously gotten a few of these even selling one to a forum member here at the same cost I paid, but this one was saturated with oil inside and I didn't want to deal with it. The DISA flaps looked great though, aside from being covered in oil, the gaskets and seals were intact.

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by Serf27

Local LKQ here now has bar codes on bigger parts!
Got a headlight the other day and wasn’t hassled for “dOeS iT hAvE tHe BuLbS??????”
I’m guessing smaller parts will still work with the employees guessing on what it is or how to price it.

I don't even bother with the junkyard headlights. I suspect the good ones get taken by the yard before they even put the car out. Last year I found a decent set of pre-LCI xenons with cracked/yellow lenses. I figured I'd grab them and replace the lenses with new ones ($100) but they were trying to charge me around $120 for each complete lighting assembly which didn't have any bulbs or adaptive control modules.