E90 M3

[E90_M3Ross]

d_a_n1979 said:

E90_M3Ross said:

So Admiral accepted the quote I got from the bodyshop. Where it's a bodyshop I want to use I need to pay both voluntary and compulsory excess charges (£600) and then claim that back. Where the damage is minor I didn't want to book the car in, pay £600 and find I'm waiting for months and months before I can claim it back so decided to wait until the 3rd party had admitted liability.

Just this morning I had a text message from them saying that they have admitted liability and would be in touch with my insurance company. So I should be able to get it booked in soon and (hopefully) not have to wait too long before being able to claim the £600 back. I think I'll phone Admiral just to confirm the situation though.

Car is otherwise running well

That's goo to hear! Hopefully you'll have it back ship-shape in no time at all

Their insurer called me yesterday and said if I want I can go straight through them rather than Admiral, but they'd need to accept my quote from my bodyshop, so I've emailed them the images and the quote and wait to hear back. That may be the faster and easier option, but if not I can still go via Admiral and they will be able to claim it back. I should hopefully hear back by the end of the week and get it booked in soon.

[E90_M3Ross]

Just this second had email back from the other indy asking me a few more questions, they can offer a courtesy car. If they're cheaper than my indy by over £150 or so it'll be going there almost certainly. Will see what he quotes and then see if my indy will get closer. Looking online my indy does seem pricey. Usually rod bearings seem £1500-1650, whereas they've quoted just over £1850.

[E90_M3Ross]

Court_S said:

£1,500 seems to be what most charge - pretty sure Evolve are around that figure too. A couple of hundred quid will pay for two tanks for fuel!

Yeah, I'm waiting to hear back from them RE price and then I can get back to my indy, if they can't get close then I'll go to RBM

[E90_M3Ross]

There's also another. BMW indy near me which seems to get good reviews (Iridium Engineering, Hedge End) so I've emailed them for a quote too. If I can save myself £250+ it makes sense to do so.

[E90_M3Ross]

cornershop said:

Try RBM Hampshire for rod bearings, there was (is?) a group buy on m3 cutters. Courtesy car too.

https://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/threads/rod-bearing...

Can I just say a huge thanks. You've saved me a huge amount of money. For all of the work these guys are a massive £1k cheaper.

[E90_M3Ross]

Not sure, but it's so much cheaper it's ridiculous. I'll be phoning them up this morning to get it booked in ASAP.

[E90_M3Ross]

Car booked in for the same week as it was with other indy. Need to cancel that later. It's £1200 cheaper! They said 2 days labour, other indy said 3 days....

[E90_M3Ross]

Court_S said:

That’s one hell of a saving….that’s a good chunk towards a carbon plenum

Ordering this

integratedautomotive.co.uk/product/2008-2013-bmw-3-series-all-body-shapes-e90-e91-e92-e93-carplay-and-android-auto-retrofit-multimedia-interface/

With reversing camera to bring the system up to date. Waze for speed cameras will be helpful

[E90_M3Ross]

Car booked in for the bumper repair work from Thursday 20th, so I'll get the car back for a few days and then be without it again

I've also ordered the integrated automotive Android Auto thing, hoping the indy can fit it, if not I'll contact the audio specialist who fitted the GROM unit to my LS460. Once all that is done I'm confident I'll have a good example!

[E90_M3Ross]

d_a_n1979 said:

E90_M3Ross said:

Car booked in for the bumper repair work from Thursday 20th, so I'll get the car back for a few days and then be without it again

I've also ordered the integrated automotive Android Auto thing, hoping the indy can fit it, if not I'll contact the audio specialist who fitted the GROM unit to my LS460. Once all that is done I'm confident I'll have a good example!

It's coming together pal

Yep, it'll be nice when it's all done. I have tried contacting the audio chap but he is always seemingly a nightmare to get hold of. I've emailed to see if the indy can fit it, but maybe the audio guy can do it sooner. The indy may not even do it anyway.

[E90_M3Ross]

PurpleTurtle said:

E90_M3Ross said:

cornershop said:

Try RBM Hampshire for rod bearings, there was (is?) a group buy on m3 cutters. Courtesy car too.

https://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/threads/rod-bearing...

Can I just say a huge thanks. You've saved me a huge amount of money. For all of the work these guys are a massive £1k cheaper.

I've been following RBM on the socials for a while, I like what they do and seem really professional.

I know they have done plenty E9x V8 rod bearings, it is all on Insta.

I've not used them yet, but like what I see, are fairly local to me, so will be taking my E46 there when it next needs some TLC.

Great car btw OP!

Thanks. Yes, they seem to be well regarded and always seem to have some pretty special stuff in. I am looking forward to getting all of the work done so I can really enjoy the car more, it'll give good peace of mind

Some say there should be a "run in" period after having them changed, others say no need, so I'm not too sure. Annoyingly, I'm going to north Scotland 5 weeks after having them done.....and I want to be able to work the car hard when I'm up there so may need to do some extra miles if a run-in period is needed. Others say also change the oil after 500-1k miles, others say don't bother, so I'm not sure.

I will ask the indy and see what they say. It shouldn't be an issue to get an oil change shortly before I go away if needed.

Edited by E90_M3Ross on Wednesday 22 March 15:59

[E90_M3Ross]

Krikkit said:

No need for running in or an extra service - the bearing shells shouldn't have more than tiny microns of wear from fresh, and there's no bedding-in of material like there is with rings or camshafts etc. Just fit and hammer away.

Wonderful, thanks! I can't wait to get it all done and back.

Hopefully within 4-5 weeks I'll have had the rod bearings, engine mounts, diff oil, PAS fluid (done with rod bearings....?) and gearbox service done by RBM, then the Android Auto unit and also the bumper repair. Bit of a palava but will be great to be able to enjoy it in the Cairngorms in just under 2 months.

[E90_M3Ross]

The indy have also said no running in period needed and they also don't think an oil change is necessary either. The car is due a service in November, and I anticipate doing maybe 5k max by then anyway.

[E90_M3Ross]

I have a bit of a deal going on, so the cost of the PS4S tyres to me was £0

Managed to get hold of audio chap and car booked in to have the Integrated Automotive multimedia thing with reversing camera fitted on April 28th.

Lots being done next month! It'll then be sorted to how I want it

[E90_M3Ross]

The car is now with the indy so I'll be without it for a week or so. This marks a busy month for it and I'll be without it for quite some time. Not this Wednesday coming but the week after it's getting the bumper and part of the boot resprayed so I'll be without it from Wednesday afternoon until the following Monday.

Then on the Friday 28th it's going in to have the infotainment and reversing camera system installed, although that's being done whilst I wait as it's only 2-3 hours. Once all that is done it should be great!

[E90_M3Ross]

So last night I got an update



Lookijg through the paperwork only 1 actuator had been done. Unfortunately it was an OEM one, not a rebuilt one, but it was done literally under 1k miles ago so I didn't see the need to replace it. I decided to get the other actuator done with a rebuilt "guaranteed for life" one. These are £225 (they send my old unit back to be rebuilt and the person will sell that on) and about will be about £150 so not a big job.



Bit of a bad bodge but at least they have rectified it!




The bearings look really good and plenty of life left, so ultimately didn't need doing, but proper peace of mind.

















Overall they're a set of pretty minor advisories from a thorough health check so I'm pretty over the moon with that. I really hope I can get the car back today, if I can't unfortunately it will literally be a case of collect Wednesday afternoon and drive straight to the bodyshop

I have said if they have the time to do the exhaust mount, suspension dust cover and AR bar bolts, but not to worry if they don't. I will get most of these addressed after my holiday in May. It'll need new front tyres soon after that (they're on 4-4.5mm at points and I'll be doing almost 2k miles in a week) so I'll get my usual garage to address those whilst addressing most of those issues as well.

Overall these guys seem very good. Despite being a little more out of the way I will definitely be going back to them should it need work beyond my usual place.

Just want it back now so I can truly enjoy it. In the back of my mind I've always had the niggling "how are your rod bearings", but now I feel confident, especially with a bit of a road trip coming next month.

[E90_M3Ross]

Court_S said:

Looks like you’ve got a good car there. Subframe corrosion does seem to be be a bit of an issue in these now unfortunately I think the worst spot his hidden. There was a Redish video where it had gone right through. Mate of mine runs an MOT centre and shown me some awful repairs.

The bearings looked good which is hopefully a good sign about how the car has been cared for.

The amount of corrosion is fine. I will run the car over the summer and make a decision as to whether to leave it, or discuss the cost of removal of the subframe, removing corrosion and getting it sandblasted or whatever vs the cost of replacement (fortunately it's a "plug and play" item, I gather) - although I suspect the consensus will be just save the cash and don't bother until it does need replacing. This seems pretty minor so I'm far from worried.

I really hope I can collect the car today, but they are waiting on a couple of parts, so it depends on whether they can get them in time.

[E90_M3Ross]

cerb4.5lee said:

It looks like you've found a really good garage to look after your car there Ross. Good news on the bearings too. I'm always gentle on an engine until the oil is right up to temperature, and I definitely think that in the long term it certainly helps. It looks like the previous owner of yours was too.

Yep, they were the recommendation from here. I'll keep going to my usual for the basic stuff, because FOC, but for anything that requires an indy, 100% I'll be going back to these guys. They're good.

[E90_M3Ross]

Court_S said:

E90_M3Ross said:

The amount of corrosion is fine. I will run the car over the summer and make a decision as to whether to leave it, or discuss the cost of removal of the subframe, removing corrosion and getting it sandblasted or whatever vs the cost of replacement (fortunately it's a "plug and play" item, I gather) - although I suspect the consensus will be just save the cash and don't bother until it does need replacing. This seems pretty minor so I'm far from worried.

I really hope I can collect the car today, but they are waiting on a couple of parts, so it depends on whether they can get them in time.

The areas that seem to really corrode are unfortunately hidden. The subframe in the Redish video is probably an extreme example but it didn’t look that bad on the car (worse than yours but not hugely concerning). It was once dropped that you could see a big hole. If you’ve got the funds / can do without the car for a bit it does seem like a tart up of the subframe is a good move before it gets too bad.

I shall discuss this with the indy when I collect the car. I suspect the car will be longer term car so it may be worthwhile, but we shall see what they say.

[E90_M3Ross]

JakeT said:

RBM look in-depth and I like the comms that they sent. Rear brake pipes are quite easy to do on these fortunately. They don’t go over the fuel tank and come pre bent from BMW. the rear subframe on my E91 330i looks far worse than that, so you’ve nothing to worry about for now. My car is six years older than yours. But replacements can be had cheaply should the need arise.

I agree with them, looks a good car on the whole. Not lurking dramas, and you should be set for many happy miles now.

Good to hear, thanks!