Buy an e90 335i they said, it'll be fun they said ...

[Sir_Dave]

Oh Really


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So, going back a couple of weeks ... i've been looking for a le mans blue e90 335i with a manual box since about September, purely on the basis that i could buy it, swop the plates over & Sarah would never notice Unfortunately, at the back end of December, i bought a broken 325i to tinker with instead, but that aside, this appeared in Nottingham a few weeks back for 6 grand. Spec (as per the 330i) was a little odd, so manual box, electric leather with folding rear seats, Logic 7 stereo with bluetooth, active steering, but no xenon, nav or folding mirrors! Not the end of the world as i can take them off the 325i, but still, £6k was too much for a tight arse like me, despite the full BMW SH, recent water pump, valve cover & vanos solenoids via the up to date BMW warranty!

2 weeks ago i found myself on the one-way train to the midlands. Not gonna lie, when i arrived, i was disapponted, the bodywork on the car is poor, which wasnt really mentioned on the phone previously. Both bumpers have been knocked, the doors have dings on them and there is lacquer peel from a cr4ppy unsmart repair on the rear door/quarter panel. The wheels had also been refurbed by a fcking numpty, then curbed to buggery. It was clear this car had been parked on the street all its life and not given a sh1t about. Maybe thats why it had full BMW service history, because neither of its 2 owners had a fcking clue about how to look after a car. But anyways. I bought it.


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Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr

Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr

I had also forgotten how rubbish the pre-lci looks without the 12mm rear spacers!!

Drive home was ok, the steering is fairly poor, variable rate & overly light at lower speeds, although it does firm up when you are going quicker. Its very like the M135i. I will put a normal hydraulic rack on it at some point. The passenger rear window also doesnt go back up if you wind it all the way down, i found this out at the petrol station, then had to pull the door card off & kick the door. It went back up again thankfully. New regulator needed me thinks. The boost is nice, put your foot down in 6th on the motorway and it pulls well, i am used to the extra power over the 330i already however. Whilst it feels quick at lower revs compared to the NA engines, unlike the 330i, it doesnt reward you for chasing torwards the redline. This will need changing as well. The gearbox/clutch are also far lighter than the 330i, not as nice i dont think. All in all, as it stands now, the 330i drove far nicer. This will change over time however im sure.

This morning i swopped the silver wheels from the 325i onto it. Whoever swopped the tyres last had hero'd the front wheel nuts on, so badly so that i snapped my halfords breaker bar!!! The wheels were also firmly stuck to the hubs. More kicking required. As per the original photo, jacking the car up also released a torrent of coolant onto my driveway. Im hoping that its remnants from BMW changing a coolant pipe 2 weeks ago and A) not cleaning up after themselves B) not tighening the hose up properly C) not refilling it enough, but i've now refilled it with 1.5L of BMW coolant and will monitor as appropriate. Hopefully it stays at the same level now!!

Before:

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After (poor photos as it rained shortly after):

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As you can probably tell, i also fitted a rear 12mm spacer. Much better already i think.

Finally, the plate went on. Looks just like the old 330i now ?


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Future plans? OEM Retrofits galore - Xenons, dash swop for CCC Nav & 6FL/USB input (will do CIC at some point, but already have CCC), electric folding mirrors and the lumbar adjustable seats out of the 325i touring. I'll also be assessing the condition of the spark plugs/coil packs/injectors over the weekend and changing the pollen/air filters. The windscreen wipers are so bad they have permanently scratched the windscreen. I mean who does that FFS. I also need to source a new rear bumper/passenger door.

JB4 and/or MHD will be assessed at some point, but i just want to get it all fine OEM wise first.

 

[alistairolsen]

JB4 and/or MHD will be assessed at some point, but i just want to get it all fine OEM wise first.

Just quoting for reference

Looks a nice project. I like E90s, and Dave projects

 

[Gray]

Will be following this.... I want to tidy up a few items on my E91, but my knowledge is poor!

All hail E90_Dave

 

[Christopher]

Nice buy, plenty of headroom in there for HPFPs x14 and turbo refurbishment.

335 friend though.

 

[v15ben]

Nice spec!
I used to live about 10 seconds from where those photos were taken!

 

[ClioPowa]

You need help

 

[BIFCAIDS]

I can't get on-board with those back lights or the spoiler. The copy of the genuine one is only £70 painted from SSDD IIRC.

Also, front bumper... it has washers, pretty sure only cars with xenons came with washers in the bumper, hmmm. Anyway, I bode you good luck and as always you picked the right colour.

 

[Hixle]

???

Subscribed.

 

[Sir_Dave]

I can't get on-board with those back lights or the spoiler. The copy of the genuine one is only £70 painted from SSDD IIRC.

Also, front bumper... it has washers, pretty sure only cars with xenons came with washers in the bumper, hmmm. Anyway, I bode you good luck and as always you picked the right colour.

Re: spoiler, i know what you mean, its higher at the edges than the OEM one, not enough to annoy me though, i just hate the pre-lci rear lights, so until i can LCI ... Front bumper wise, the 335i's has washer jets as standard, irrespective of whether xenons where fitted or not. Odd, but there you go, makes it easier to retrofit xenons. I switch them off over winter anyway, they just freeze up in the cold & break/get stuck open etc.

This will hopefully be a long term project (we all know i like tinkering) and end up being full lci, Bilsteins, Brembo front brakes etc etc.

I really wanted this one, but simply dont have 11 grand lying around any more: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201901304451618

 

[Cookson]

You can get LCI stickers for the rear light #justsayin

 

[Sir_Dave]

You can get LCI stickers for the rear light #justsayin

Assume you havent actually read the thread
Look at the last photo, its the stickers that Bifcaids doesnt like lol ...

 

[Sir_Dave]

LIttle update after spending most of Saturday afternoon underneath the 335i.


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The cause of the coolant leak? Aging of coolant pipes? Crack in the header tank? Remnants of fluid from the top radiator hose change?

Nope. Shoddy workmanship from Shytner Nottingham. In effect, when they changed the thermostat/waterpump last year, they hadnt put one of the coolant hoses back on the thermostat properly, so its basically been sliding off the "ribs" ever since, to the point now where it drips constantly. Diagram below, how it should be on the left, how it was on the right:


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Annoyingly, they didnt even notice last month when they pressure tested it to find abother coolant leak (top radiator hose), but anywhow ...

Unfortunately, it was impossible to get to from underneath, so i pulled off the intercooler and could (luckily!!) access it from the front, just. Otherwise it would have meant taking off the waterpump & thermostat to get to it!! Luckily i also managed to refit the pipe without draining the coolant, which was a welcome bonus

As i was under the car, i also gave everything a little clean up, years of caked on oil/coolant/dirt just make diagnosing issues that little bit harder, so whilst i was there, it seemed sensible to wipe a few towels over everything. Funnily enough, this little debarcle has also made my mind up about keeping up the BMW servicing (it needs one in 2k miles) and BMW warranty, do i really want to pay £££ labour charges and £75 a month, plus a £250 excess to have some utter f*ckwit work on my car. No, probably not, ill take it from here thanks. Even if it costs me more, i think i'd rather do the work, or get a local specialist to help out where necessary.

Whilst i was under the car, i also fitted a shiny new part. This wasnt a planned purchase in anyway, but when browsing Amazon on Friday, for some obscure reason they had -40% off the 335i Mishimoto Intercooler. Now, having had their parts before (Mini R53 radiator), being impressed with the quality and reading that it uses all the OEM fittings (unlike other aftermarket I/Cs like VRSF that need new hoses/clamps etc), i clicked buy, rude not to really


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Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr

Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr

I have a trackday at Goodwood in May, so being that the 335i's apparently run fairly hot, it kinda made sense from a reliability perspective.


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Yesterday i was supposed to be swopping a few parts off from the touring, but with the rain i spent the day learning about coding FRM modules instead; i'll need to swop from the 335i's basic NFRM2 to the 325i's NFRM2 AHL to get the adaptive xenons and high beam assist working properly you see. I'm fairly adept at using NCS Expert now, but Winkfp and Tool32 are something that i needed to understand a bit more thoroughly.

 

[alistairolsen]

Always disappointing to find faults when the works been well paid for

 

[Rob]

Loving the beast of an intercooler! Very nice indeed.

I, like you, came to the conclusion that BMW servicing is utterly pointless. In my head you got something for your money, but when I took the 650i in for an oil service (it had fbmw history), I was certain I'd never bother again.

Just a few highlights:

• They filled it up to the minimum. Within a week the oil light came on when I stopped in a tiny hill for a while
• They left oil all over the under tray
• They hoovered the car out and didn't refit either rear mat.
• They tried to charge me a fortune over, because I hadn't stated "I'd seen the fixed online pricing". He almost seemed upset when I said I wanted to pay their fixed price.

Mental.

 

[Christopher]

Great work! I'm not surprised to see that from Sytner.

 

[Sir_Dave]

Little bit of tinkering in the sun on Saturday ...

Having two e9*'s makes for some decent part swopping possibilities!

Ignore the change, i didnt find that unfortunately, it fell out my cup holder when i removed the armrest.


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Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr

Seats to be removed from the 335i, black leather, electric:

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Seats from the 325i (now fitted in the 335i), black leather, electric with lumbar:

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Armrest to be removed from the 335i, single piece armrest, aux input only:

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Armrest to be removed from the 325i, then fitted into the 335i, adjustable armrest, aux & USB input (6FL):

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Side by side. Interestingly, the 335i also had a lot more foam padding around the fixings than the 325i, perhaps as a rattle fix?

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Also found the cause of the "rattle" when i turned left/right, a green "school teacher marking pen" had falled down into the under seat ventilation.
There is quite simply no way i would have found this without removing the seat!!


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In addition, i gave the interior a bit of a clean up with some antiseptic wipes, how the previous owner could live in what can only be described as grimness, i have no idea. Now, im no detailing clean freak, but it was possitively rank in there. Also removed the original dealer tax disc holder & rear window sticker. Whilst it was nice having them on there from an OEM perspective, they weren't in the best condition (like most of the car lol) so were annoying the cr4p out of me.


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Next job is to work out what to do with the dash, i had considered simply fitting a Galaxy Tab A 7.0 for Apple Music/Waze/Data logging etc using a Kuda Mount, purely as i cant be bothered to swop everything over (the main reason for doing it in the previous 330i was the easier bluetooth implementation), but whilst its in position it looks "ok" (like a pikey version of a modern Merc), when the screen isnt there, you are left with a mount, wiring etc, which is a little naff. MSPaint mockup:


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On the flipside, the BMW nav (even with CIC) is cr4p, so ill still want my phone out for Waze, so all i'm effectively doing by retrofitting the CCC out of the 325i is putting a low resolution screen on the dash that i can control music with, plus give me access to service info a little easier. I can however update it to CIC at a later date for the prettier screen, but its £££'s that i dont really have. But then, the double scoop dash does look better, a point re-affirmed by Sarah who states "it just looks more modern". Hmmm, another dash swop is likely me thinks.

I also ordered a Xenon retrofit loom from Germany, but it seems the seller is unable to provide it now (no longer made), so i may have to make up my own loom if i cant find the appropriate parts. Driving home from Oxford last night reminded me how rubbish the standard bulbs are - candles would have offered more light i think.

 

[Rob]

Sterling work, I was looking at this yesterday on the 330, Can I yank the single aux input out, make the hole bigger, and fit the aux and USB that's floating around??

Also, do you know what the little switch does in the arm rest? Has 1 and 0 on it?

 

[Christopher]

Lovely. I agree on the OE Pro Nav dash/screen. it looks much nicer than these Chinese retrofit kits IMO.

I don't use the Nav on mine, even with the 2018 map flash. I just use Waze on my phone and a dash mount. Saving the iDrive for Spotify.

 

[Jack!]

Not better off with something like this instead of the BMW nav? Running Android so you can have Waze and Spotify on the actual unit rather than using your phone. They look very OEM.

Getting my phone out every time I get in the car and putting it on a mount would annoy me. I have an Android HU and I tether off my phone for internet access, I never need to take my phone out of my pocket.

 

[terryc101]

Also, do you know what the little switch does in the arm rest? Has 1 and 0 on it?

It turns the cooling/heating on or off to the cup holder in the armrest. Basically turn it on and then use the rear heating controls to set it to hot or cold. Lovely for keeping stuff cold in the summer.

 

[alistairolsen]

Sterling work, I was looking at this yesterday on the 330, Can I yank the single aux input out, make the hole bigger, and fit the aux and USB that's floating around??

Also, do you know what the little switch does in the arm rest? Has 1 and 0 on it?

You shouldnt need a bigger hole, it just clicks in, run the cable to the boot and then code it into the car.

You may have fun with that as the earliest cars dont have the option for it, so I believe there is some faff with changing the build date to allow the code to be added and then changing the build date back. Doubtless Dave will know more on that side of things.

 

[Sir_Dave]

Sterling work, I was looking at this yesterday on the 330, Can I yank the single aux input out, make the hole bigger, and fit the aux and USB that's floating around??

Also, do you know what the little switch does in the arm rest? Has 1 and 0 on it?

Re: aux/usb, yes, just remove the current one & replace, simples.
Getting the existing hub out is a bit of a pain, but if you youtube it, there is a way through the cup holder cooling vents to probe it out.

It turns the cooling/heating on or off to the cup holder in the armrest. Basically turn it on and then use the rear heating controls to set it to hot or cold. Lovely for keeping stuff cold in the summer.

Exactly this basically. Its great in the summer, if your aircon works

Lovely. I agree on the OE Pro Nav dash/screen. it looks much nicer than these Chinese retrofit kits IMO.

I don't use the Nav on mine, even with the 2018 map flash. I just use Waze on my phone and a dash mount. Saving the iDrive for Spotify.

Not better off with something like this instead of the BMW nav? Running Android so you can have Waze and Spotify on the actual unit rather than using your phone. They look very OEM.

Getting my phone out every time I get in the car and putting it on a mount would annoy me. I have an Android HU and I tether off my phone for internet access, I never need to take my phone out of my pocket.

I quite like the version that sits in the scoop on top the dash, but fiddling about with a stereo in the single din location is a bit of a pain i think, even changing the climate means potentially taking your eyes off the road for a moment - prefer to have anything in the line of sight really. I think those units works great in the VAG cars (and e46's) as the OEM headunit is double din, but in the e90's they just look a bit odd imho.

You shouldnt need a bigger hole, it just clicks in, run the cable to the boot and then code it into the car.

You may have fun with that as the earliest cars dont have the option for it, so I believe there is some faff with changing the build date to allow the code to be added and then changing the build date back. Doubtless Dave will know more on that side of things.

Its already plugged/coded into the combox, i just didnt get around to actually fitting the USB into the armrest properly, its just placed in the cup holder instead of in the proper location

 

[Jack!]

With the BMW one in the dash scoop though, I take it it's not touch, so you have to enter postcodes etc by turning a knob?

 

[Rob]

Re: aux/usb, yes, just remove the current one & replace, simples.
Getting the existing hub out is a bit of a pain, but if you youtube it, there is a way through the cup holder cooling vents to probe it out.

You shouldnt need a bigger hole, it just clicks in, run the cable to the boot and then code it into the car.

You may have fun with that as the earliest cars dont have the option for it, so I believe there is some faff with changing the build date to allow the code to be added and then changing the build date back. Doubtless Dave will know more on that side of things.

As Dave says, he's already done all the hard work, I just need to run the cable itself!

I quite like the version that sits in the scoop on top the dash, but fiddling about with a stereo in the single din location is a bit of a pain i think, even changing the climate means potentially taking your eyes off the road for a moment - prefer to have anything in the line of sight really. I think those units works great in the VAG cars (and e46's) as the OEM headunit is double din, but in the e90's they just look a bit odd imho.

Have you considered going for your "ipad" option, but swapping the dash top? Sort of like a hybrid. So you get the simplicity of wiring, but it integrated into the dash? Does anyone do an android screen that sits perfectly in the nav dash hole?

 

[Waitey]

Dash hole.

Ha.

 

[Jack!]

Have you considered going for your "ipad" option, but swapping the dash top? Sort of like a hybrid. So you get the simplicity of wiring, but it integrated into the dash? Does anyone do an android screen that sits perfectly in the nav dash hole?

It could work, but you'd need to make some custom stuff.

You'd need to bring the screen further forward in the dash hole than it normally sits, and even then because of where it sits it's going to be a stretch to actually use it as a touch screen.

 

[Sir_Dave]

In the end, with the touring having nav, there was only really going to be one outcome here ...



Before:

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During:

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After:

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Gotta love BMW "wood" trim haha

I did actually buy a CIC for it, but it turned up broken and well, i was in the mood for some tinkering, so took the CCC out of the touring instead. Realistically speaking, the screen isnt as nice as the later models and i dont have BMW bluetooth music streaming, but ive got the type of iPhone battery that needs to be plugged in all the time anyways, so its not something ill be updating any time soon i dont think.

Both cars had Logic 7 as well, so it made the coding slightly easier.

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As an aside, if anyone wants Nav retrofitted to an e90, im happy to do it for a small fee, takes me about 2.5 hours to do the hardware swop now, plus another hour or so for wiring and coding. Im getting quite well practised at it Days are gradually getting a bit longer during the week now as well, so i might even get to pull the 325i's cylinder head off at some point! I must admit, i did briefly consider breaking it, but 3.0 manual petrol e91's are soo rare it seems a shame to take another one off the road ...

 

[cat171]

Wicked!! I love your updates fella! Dat wood tho

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

I literally can't keep track of all of your BMWs ? Which one is the touring? Are you selling at any point (if it's even complete)? I'd still like one really.

 

[Sir_Dave]

I literally can't keep track of all of your BMWs ? Which one is the touring? Are you selling at any point (if it's even complete)? I'd still like one really.

Haha, i sold the N52 330i to @Rob a couple of weeks ago, the N54 335i is my new "main" car

Re: the 325i touring, it will be sold yes, i dont want to break it (due to its rarity), so i had planned on fixing it, then selling it. Probably in a couple of months id imagine. On the flipside, if someone with some mechanical ability, i.e. you, wants to buy it as is and do it youself, your more than welcome to!! In effect, its got no compression on Cylinder 6 as the valve isnt closing (for whatever reason). I've had a BMW Specialist do a leakdown on it/put their camera down the spark plug hole and there doesnt seem to be any other damage, piston/bores are ok etc, so just needs the head whipping off & the valve sorting.

Brief spec is as follows:
'08 plate, 105k miles, full service history, N53 3.0 manual (can be got up to 330i power, i.e. 270bhp with an inlet manifold/map). Spec over & above standard is: Logic 7/Harmon Kardon speakers, Bluetooth, Black leather interior with electric/memory front seats & ski hatch in the rear seats (rare!). Its still fully wired for nav/xenons so retrofitting them back in would be very easy. Overall condition is very good, bar the wheels, which are all badly refurbed/curbed (they are the ones off the 335i, ie hyper chrome) - tyres are all Hankooks with 5mm of tread however. Drop me a pm if you're interested

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Wood is awesome in a non M

 

[Sir_Dave]

Gave the 335i its first clean since buying it yesterday.

Always a slight concern after buying something second hand, you never quite know how much (even more lol) of a turd it is underneath all the polish!!

Happily, the car isnt really any worse than i initially thought and the issues is does have (bar the door) are probably consumate with age/easily rectified.

First things first, considering my ideal 335i was going to be one that looked like the 330i, im doing rather well

330i

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335i

Photo 31-03-2019, 17 36 18 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr

Well, bar the poverty spec headlights, but ill sort that at some point.

Had some new Pilot Sport 4's fitted to the front recently as well (ATS as it happens, Michelin offer of £25 off the pair, then another 10% from ATS for Monday fitting-random, but useful none the less); no rears available in stock anywhere though, which is really annoying my OCD!!!


Photo 31-03-2019, 17 36 34 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr

Photo 31-03-2019, 17 37 04 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr

Gave the leather a quick going over with the Liquid Leather Cleaner/Conditioner as well. Obviously not as major a different with black leather vs. silver/white/cream, but it still a fair bit nicer. Does smell like what id imagine an S&M dungeon does now though lol.


Photo 31-03-2019, 17 39 33 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr

Photo 31-03-2019, 17 39 38 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr

All in all, im really pleased how its turned out so far.

Also, whilst not strictly related to the 335i, i have now made a start to the 325i's strip down ...

Starting point

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Inlet manifold removed

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Valve cover removed

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Organised chaos

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Turned the car over by hand a few times and by peering through the inlet opening, it does appear that the valve is still moving within its guide, but only to a certain point - meaning that the valve is still open say 5mm or so. Upon looking at the valve spring with the valve cover off, i "think" that i may have a broken spring; which would naturally stop the valve closing all way as its not being pulled all the way back out of the cylinder head. Its VERY difficult to see as its rather close to the bulkhead, but i think im going to remove the inlet cam (ordered the N53/54 timing tools today) and have a proper look before even considering pulling the head off.

With luck, itll be the valve spring and ill be able to swop it out with some overhead valve spring compressors. Normally you'd use compressed air to hold the valve up when doing the springs without taking the head off, but with their being no compression, i think, if im careful, i should be able to hold the valve up through the inlet opening with something to stop it dropping into the cylinder head. Otherwise i'll do the rope trick and feed that in through the spark plug hole, then bring the piston up to avoid the valve falling into the head - id rather not move the bottom end from TDC once its locked in place however. All in all, its a nice little project to keep me occupied through sunny days; useful to be learning on the job as well!!

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

Looking well Dave, the 335i is looking much better already.

Did you get a chance to check the towing weight on the 325i? The Vauxpile broke down yesterday so now I hate it even more ?

 

[Daz.]

I always enjoy your threads....

 

[Sir_Dave]

Bit of pre-trackday tinkering (doing Goodwood on the 6th May) completed last Thursday, just to make sure its had all its maintenance items done before hand.

Firstly, spark plugs. These were apparently only done 25k miles ago by BMW, but when the correct Bosch ZGR6STE2's are only £50 from ECP, you might as well change them. To be honest, i tend to do a major service on any car when i first buy it, partly as i like doing it, but also as i dont tend to trust anyone that has worked on the car before ... no photos, but im sure everyone knows what a spark plug looks like. Secondly, whilst there were no misfires reported/felt, it seemed that being that 335i's like a good coil pack and i had to remove them to get the spark plugs out, i might as well do them as well. The correct Bosch 0221 504 470 was £30 each from ECP:


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Thirdly, and i guess part of the reason for my mistrust of garages (along with the poorly fitted waterpump), this was 2k miles old. Yeah, course it was

Consider that this car has a FULL BMW service history/warranty from new.


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A nice surprise lurked in the air filter housing however, a K&N filter, interesting.


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Brake fluid was next on the agenda (well after fitting some bargaintastic £40 PFC Z-Rated front pads), flushed through with Castrol React Performance Dot 4, which ive used for years.


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Final change was to the chargepipe, i know that @GrahamS had one fail recently, so i didnt want any such problem affecting my upcoming Goodwood/Le Mans trips, so i bought a VRSF OEM replacement from the States. £175 inc. a new O-ring and import duty, delievered within 5 days. Nice. As you can see, its just well, made of metal, instead of rubber, no fancy BOV's/dump valves or anything else for me thanks, i dont need to go pitchooooo everytime i lift off the throttle lol:


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Before:

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After:

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Barring the tiny bit of white VRSF writing you can see (which i will cover with black marker pen), it looks pretty much the same as before.

Now ready for the trackday, although unfortunately the Michelin Pilot Sport 4's i was supposed to be having fitted to the rear are now back out of stock

So ill be running PS4 on the front, half worn GT Radial SportActives on the rear - apparently they are fine in the dry, so fingers crossed for that!!

 

[Cookie]

Please put dump valves on it. Or make it quack like a duck

 

[Christopher]

Good progress!

 

[Sir_Dave]

Had some fun with the 335i this week.
Was swopping CIC into it and forgot to disconnect the battery .....
Result = short circuit, bricked JBE and me locked inside the car with no power.
Being that it was a VERY hot day. I had to smash the window from inside, my foot didnt work, so had to use my elctrical crimper, what an absolute ball ache.

Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
Glass is basically everywhere now. Still keep finding it a week later

As a bonus (if there is one), i am now considerably more adept at using NCS Expert, WinKFP & Tool32!!

New JBE was £10 off ebay. New window was £30 delivered. JBE was easy to fit, window less so, mainly as i had to wait until the electrics were working again.

First things first, had to load the latest e89 Datens (these include the e90) onto my laptop using BMW Standard Tools:

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Then i read the ECU using INPA to work out what ZB numbers (software version) my new JBE/JBBF module was:

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As you can see, there is no VIN asigned to the JBBF (JBE), AFS (active steering) or DSC module at this point as they need coding to the car. The MRS module is the airbag, now updated, but related to the dashswop to nav/passenger airbag. FAS is the electric seats as they are from the 325i - hence the wrong VIN.

So i opened up WinKFP and followed the instructions below, but for the JBBF module, this updated the software on the JBE, plus added the VIN.

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Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
Et voila:

Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
I then did the same for the AFS & DSC modules, so all the VINs matched up.

After that, i reset the JBBF/DSC/AFS to factory settings with NCS Expert, using the following instructions:

Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr

By now, i had electrics back, but the DSC/AFS needed re-calibrating to remove all the dashboard lights, so i opened up Tool32:

Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr

Then went into INPA and reset all of the following in the chassis>dsc area for the e90:

Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr

Quick drive round the block to reset everything and all is now well. Window was fitted afterwards, car is now watertight again. Plus driveable

Sorry if the above doesnt make that much sense, but i just finished doing it and wanted to write it all down somewher!!

Hopefuly it will be useful for someone.

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

You are the ultimate BMW nerd ?

 

[Matt Cup]

@Sir_Dave

Can you point me to the post you made pointing the differences out between the engines (325/330/335) please? I’ve had a look on here to no avail. Cheers!