der Mumienwagen; E91 330i Touring
Discussion
Gad-Westy said:
Some nice progress there. I really need to get my rear arches sorted sooner rather than later. Mine are further gone than your's though so there'll be some welding and painting to be done. Just trying to find someone who can do both things well.
On the AC, are you thinking of doing the condenser yourself? It looks like a long job but not a complex one. I'm partly asking because I had a look for my AC problem the other night and I wasn't 100% convinced that it's the high pressure pipe which was my first suspect. I think I'm going to do that anyway as they do corrode and it's not the most expensive part. But I do have a hole on the mesh on my bumper in front of the condenser and I'm starting to wonder if that might actually be my issue too so it's tempting to do that as well before even attempting a refill.
I took a look at ECP and they list three. A starline one at £45, a Denso one at £300 and an EIS one in the middle at £120. I'm guessing the Starline one is junk but is the EIS one any good? The denso one is bit too much to just replace for the sake of it.
There is a small bubble appearing on the nearside rear arch which will need addressing by a body shop, but that’ll keep until next year. I’ve treated the inner face this morning and popped sone POR15 on to try and slow it if nothing else.On the AC, are you thinking of doing the condenser yourself? It looks like a long job but not a complex one. I'm partly asking because I had a look for my AC problem the other night and I wasn't 100% convinced that it's the high pressure pipe which was my first suspect. I think I'm going to do that anyway as they do corrode and it's not the most expensive part. But I do have a hole on the mesh on my bumper in front of the condenser and I'm starting to wonder if that might actually be my issue too so it's tempting to do that as well before even attempting a refill.
I took a look at ECP and they list three. A starline one at £45, a Denso one at £300 and an EIS one in the middle at £120. I'm guessing the Starline one is junk but is the EIS one any good? The denso one is bit too much to just replace for the sake of it.
I’m waiting for a quote on the condenser, but having watched a video I might do a lot of the donkey work myself (drain the coolant and remove the rad and fan) to keep costs down. They guy who came out is car guy as well (he’s into Volvo’s) and is happy to work with customers to keep costs sensible.
The damage to mine is pretty noticeable with a torch.
I might buy a Nissens one from Autodoc. Their rads seem well thought of and it’s £75 on Autodoc today.
MDMA . said:
Do you have the PN’s for the shifter and bush? Will this mod suit any 6 speed E91 car?
The shifter bush part number is 25111220600.I don’t have the part number for the shifter - it’s off a 1.9 Z3. These seem to be used a bit on 130i’s now the short shifter kit is unavailable. I paid £15 for it. It’ll fit pretty much any manual BMW from what I can tell.
Mr Whippy said:
BMW stopped ‘light oiling’ undersides as part of servicing.
And they started adding all the vanity covers to make their cars quieter (?), but that’s when they let the rot set in in my view.
Stripping bumpers, liners and trays and blasting back and using a light oil every year would probably keep rust away forever.
But you’ve got to start early.
I’m just about to pull the trigger on a jack suitable for my leany drive so I can do similar on my 130i LE.
Now is the time with these BMWs imo, leaving them another 5 years and they won’t be cost effective to repair.
I’ll be using a can of WD40 underneath each year I think
I think a lot of it is in the name of aero / fuel efficiency. And they started adding all the vanity covers to make their cars quieter (?), but that’s when they let the rot set in in my view.
Stripping bumpers, liners and trays and blasting back and using a light oil every year would probably keep rust away forever.
But you’ve got to start early.
I’m just about to pull the trigger on a jack suitable for my leany drive so I can do similar on my 130i LE.
Now is the time with these BMWs imo, leaving them another 5 years and they won’t be cost effective to repair.
I’ll be using a can of WD40 underneath each year I think
Trouble is it’s something else for dirt to get trapped in / under and holding in moisture.
It does feel a little bit like this car is almost on the turn; leaving it much longer and it’ll be a crusty old nail. By the end of the summer, it’ll be grand.
Took the car for a quick spin tonight; it needed a wee oil top up max to max once it was properly hot other than that it seemed sweet.
The gearbox is noticeably smoother than it was but it’s still not as nice as the gearbox in the 125i was. It’s still a wee bit rubbery. The white shifter bush has eliminated most of the slop in the gear shift too.
The gearbox is noticeably smoother than it was but it’s still not as nice as the gearbox in the 125i was. It’s still a wee bit rubbery. The white shifter bush has eliminated most of the slop in the gear shift too.
Gad-Westy said:
I'm not sure when BMW used to do the light oiling thing but as a veteran of several 90's BMW's, I can tell you that an E91 or E81 for that matter fares a lot better than BMW's of old. The E90 is a huge step on from the E46 too. The covers are indeed a double edged sort but I think generally they do more good than harm but as you say, any car nearing 20 years old, it's probably a good idea to start being proactive about this sort of thing.
Exactly; this is exactly 17 years old tomorrow and it’s nearly covered 160k. It’s been used as a workhorse too. It just needs a bit of love. I’ll do the same on my 335i to nip any surface crust in the bud before it spreads. I still really like the car though, it drives nicely.
Braved the heat this afternoon to do a few more jobs.
The front discs looked like they’d come out of a canal. I think they were a quite new because there was zero lip on them.
My afternoon set….
Canal find front discs
They were soon off as were the dusty pads.
New disc on
ATE ceramic pads up next
All back together with a freshly painted pad clip. I’ll do the callipers in the coming weeks.
Whilst the car was in the air, I changed the front drop links. A friend gave me a right hand side after ordering two, so I’d grabbed a left side from ECP a few days ago. The old ones were BMW branded, so I’m guessing original and they were absolutely shagged. Both ends were proper floppy.
Replaced with shiny Lemforder ones.
I dropped the front undertray and had a crack at cleaning it. It’s caked in oil and grime and I cleaned around the sump which I think is leaking but because it’s grimy it’s hard to get an understanding of how bad the leak is. I noticed that there was some oil on the bottom of the airbox. f
k knows how that got there. Of the four N52’s I’ve owned, this looks to be the leakiest one of them all albeit the oil level doesn’t seem to drop.
I’ll get it booked into a garage at some point to try and identify what’s leaking. I’ll do stuff like the valve cover and oil cooler myself if they’re leaking but I’ll let a garage do the sump pan if that’s leaking.
I’ve got the wheels booked in next Saturday at Wheelmania for s refurb. I think I’m going to go with a dark silver since the style 216 finish is hard to replicate. I’ve got a set of wheel decals ready.
I’m still waiting for the condenser to arrive; Evri decided that it was too big to deliver so I’m waiting for it to be rescheduled. As long as it’s here for Sunday.
Other than than the evidence of leaks and no A/C, it’s been a grand car so far. We’ve done just over a thousand miles in it and it’s proved to be very useful collecting wheel barrows, railway sleepers, bags of hardcore and dump runs. I know it’s not the biggest estate, but it’s bloody useful so far.
The front discs looked like they’d come out of a canal. I think they were a quite new because there was zero lip on them.
My afternoon set….
Canal find front discs
They were soon off as were the dusty pads.
New disc on
ATE ceramic pads up next
All back together with a freshly painted pad clip. I’ll do the callipers in the coming weeks.
Whilst the car was in the air, I changed the front drop links. A friend gave me a right hand side after ordering two, so I’d grabbed a left side from ECP a few days ago. The old ones were BMW branded, so I’m guessing original and they were absolutely shagged. Both ends were proper floppy.
Replaced with shiny Lemforder ones.
I dropped the front undertray and had a crack at cleaning it. It’s caked in oil and grime and I cleaned around the sump which I think is leaking but because it’s grimy it’s hard to get an understanding of how bad the leak is. I noticed that there was some oil on the bottom of the airbox. f
k knows how that got there. Of the four N52’s I’ve owned, this looks to be the leakiest one of them all albeit the oil level doesn’t seem to drop. I’ll get it booked into a garage at some point to try and identify what’s leaking. I’ll do stuff like the valve cover and oil cooler myself if they’re leaking but I’ll let a garage do the sump pan if that’s leaking.
I’ve got the wheels booked in next Saturday at Wheelmania for s refurb. I think I’m going to go with a dark silver since the style 216 finish is hard to replicate. I’ve got a set of wheel decals ready.
I’m still waiting for the condenser to arrive; Evri decided that it was too big to deliver so I’m waiting for it to be rescheduled. As long as it’s here for Sunday.
Other than than the evidence of leaks and no A/C, it’s been a grand car so far. We’ve done just over a thousand miles in it and it’s proved to be very useful collecting wheel barrows, railway sleepers, bags of hardcore and dump runs. I know it’s not the biggest estate, but it’s bloody useful so far.
d_a_n1979 said:
More good work there Sam 
Good to see you've got decent safety footwear on in case you drop one of those discs
Brakes look spot on as per usual...
Good to see you've got decent safety footwear on in case you drop one of those discs
Brakes look spot on as per usual...
all you need is flip flops! I was moving a load of hardcore non them Friday night and have some quality tan lines now!I was filthy after today.
nipsips said:
At least they’re not crocs! 
I believe the power steering pump could possibly sling oil up to the bottom of the airbox but I’d expect there to be lots of evidence of oil around it if it’s doing that.
Re the sump gasket - definitely definitely don’t attempt it on your back. It’s easier in a manual but it was quite honestly a derrière of a job! You need the subframe down by a good 10cm+ as the oil pickup sits above the subframe.
I wished I’d followed the advice of -if you can’t see it and it doesn’t smell, leave it alone
Could never do Crocs! I believe the power steering pump could possibly sling oil up to the bottom of the airbox but I’d expect there to be lots of evidence of oil around it if it’s doing that.
Re the sump gasket - definitely definitely don’t attempt it on your back. It’s easier in a manual but it was quite honestly a derrière of a job! You need the subframe down by a good 10cm+ as the oil pickup sits above the subframe.
I wished I’d followed the advice of -if you can’t see it and it doesn’t smell, leave it alone
I’ll whip the air box out and look around in more detail. That was the one that I thought it could be. Need to try and decide if it’s actually engine oil or something else.
I’ll happily do the rocker cover, oil cooler and filter housing gaskets myself but I’m not touching the the sump. I’ll pay someone to do that. It doesn’t smell of hot oil, doesn’t leave patches in the ground and the oil level seems steady so I don’t think it’s a massive priority. The under tray is caked, so bad that I think buying a clean used one might be easier.
nipsips said:
No me either - not even around the house
Yeah that’s probably the best way, I believe the pressure hose is on the bottom of the pump and is held on with a banjo bolt/union and the feed from the reservoir goes on at the top.
If it helps - there’s an image of mine with the air box removed.
I did my sump on a lift and it was still an arse never again. For the book time it’s definitely worth paying someone to do it lol
Thanks; I’ll have a look. Mine is gold, so I wonder if it’s been changed before and not done up properly etc. Yeah that’s probably the best way, I believe the pressure hose is on the bottom of the pump and is held on with a banjo bolt/union and the feed from the reservoir goes on at the top.
If it helps - there’s an image of mine with the air box removed.
I did my sump on a lift and it was still an arse
never again. For the book time it’s definitely worth paying someone to do it lolFinally had the A/C sorted this morning. A nice chap called Dave came out and fitted the new A/C condenser (which having hung around and watched him it was something that I could have done myself in all fairness).
Replacement condenser from AUTODOC. Lucked out with a 41% day, so it was £70 or so.
The old one came out with a bit of jiggling and looked pretty battered.
The old oil was removed, new oil added with some dye (just in case) along with 590g of refrigerant and voila lovely cold air again.
Whilst the airbox was out, I had a nose around to see what could be squirting oil onto he bottom of it but the power steering pump looked dry. A couple of other lines were grimy.
The oil cooler / filter housings are leaking so I’ll try and get those changes this summer as it’s not a bad DIY.
Replacement condenser from AUTODOC. Lucked out with a 41% day, so it was £70 or so.
The old one came out with a bit of jiggling and looked pretty battered.
The old oil was removed, new oil added with some dye (just in case) along with 590g of refrigerant and voila lovely cold air again.
Whilst the airbox was out, I had a nose around to see what could be squirting oil onto he bottom of it but the power steering pump looked dry. A couple of other lines were grimy.
The oil cooler / filter housings are leaking so I’ll try and get those changes this summer as it’s not a bad DIY.
The A/C on this car is proving testing; having replaced the condenser and regarding the system, it’d lost coolant within a couple of days again. Not a happy bunny, especially with it looking so ste on the loan wheels from Wheelnania.
First up was incurring one of my neighbour’s wrath by giving the car a clean (I’ve been subject to a noise complaint via the council…..
). I repolished type drivers side with the heavy compound and a finer compounds before applying wax. It’s definitely better than it was before, but still leaves a lot to be desired.
I then popped to the badlands of Birmingham to retrieve my wheels which have been done in a slightly darker shade of silver (dusk grey). They were had a grey powder coat base layer before being painted silver and getting lacquered. The finish is really very good so I’m very happy despite cocking one of of the wheel decals.
I was very grumpy with the car today because it was warm and very humid, but on the way back from Wheelmania I had to find about her way back because the M42 north was closed. I stumbled across a nice road and I began liking the car again. It has quite a nice flow to the way it gets down a road; not as fast as the 335i but it rides better and I enjoy the interaction of a manual gearbox.
When I got home, a very apologetic A/C man was waiting for me and we quickly set about having a good poke around. It turns out that the high pressure line that sites on the chassis rail was also dead. Behind the heat shield that protects the washer fluid filler neck was manky and full of debris.
It seems like a st design with a hole going straight through to the wheel arch next to it. The Lowe pressure line was inspected and that’s all good. I’ve asked BMW for a price and the A/C chap isn’t charging me for a regas. He was genuinely very apologetic having been convinced that it was just the condenser that was at fault. Although he’s stacked out, he’ll squeeze us in as soon as I can get hold of a replacement pipe. Hopefully, it’ll be third time lucky with the A/C!
te on the loan wheels from Wheelnania.First up was incurring one of my neighbour’s wrath by giving the car a clean (I’ve been subject to a noise complaint via the council…..
). I repolished type drivers side with the heavy compound and a finer compounds before applying wax. It’s definitely better than it was before, but still leaves a lot to be desired.I then popped to the badlands of Birmingham to retrieve my wheels which have been done in a slightly darker shade of silver (dusk grey). They were had a grey powder coat base layer before being painted silver and getting lacquered. The finish is really very good so I’m very happy despite cocking one of of the wheel decals.
I was very grumpy with the car today because it was warm and very humid, but on the way back from Wheelmania I had to find about her way back because the M42 north was closed. I stumbled across a nice road and I began liking the car again.
It has quite a nice flow to the way it gets down a road; not as fast as the 335i but it rides better and I enjoy the interaction of a manual gearbox.When I got home, a very apologetic A/C man was waiting for me and we quickly set about having a good poke around. It turns out that the high pressure line that sites on the chassis rail was also dead. Behind the heat shield that protects the washer fluid filler neck was manky and full of debris.
It seems like a s
t design with a hole going straight through to the wheel arch next to it. The Lowe pressure line was inspected and that’s all good. I’ve asked BMW for a price and the A/C chap isn’t charging me for a regas. He was genuinely very apologetic having been convinced that it was just the condenser that was at fault. Although he’s stacked out, he’ll squeeze us in as soon as I can get hold of a replacement pipe. Hopefully, it’ll be third time lucky with the A/C!cerb4.5lee said:
So frustrating Sam to hear about the A/C woes that you're having(especially with the current high temps). I really hope that you get to the bottom of it for sure.
Yeah, it’s really annoying but hopefully it’ll be sorted this week. Driving around with the windows down on a hot day sucks if I’m honest. It certainly didn’t help my slightly grumpy mood! d_a_n1979 said:
That's a good result Sam; as frustrating these things are, you know you're near to sorting it
The wheels look superb too; great colour! It's not far off OEM silver IMO; which isn't bright, but not dull either...
Yeah, I was grumpy about it but he’s been good about sorting it so no need to be a prick. These things happen and I guess what are the chances if two leaks in one system?The wheels look superb too; great colour! It's not far off OEM silver IMO; which isn't bright, but not dull either...
I like the colour, it’s just dark enough to look different to the OE finish but not too far. The depth of the colour is really good too.
Tom4398cc said:
Hey up Sam,
Great to hear that your a/c man is being so supportive. Good (and a rare thing for a lot of mechanics) that he was out on a Saturday afternoon to investigate.
The 330 is looking great with the refinished wheels.
But Sorry to hear about your neighbour taking exception to the noise of you car cleaning. Presumably that’s the noise the polishing machine makes? Sounds a bit unreasonable of the neighbour when it will only be for a few hours a few weekends of the year and during the day. I would have thought the Council would have had to be sensible about the duration of the noise before serving an order. But these things can get tricky, so probably best to forget about the rights and wrongs of it and do what you can to de-escalate it. I hope that situation improves very soon.
Thanks Tom. Great to hear that your a/c man is being so supportive. Good (and a rare thing for a lot of mechanics) that he was out on a Saturday afternoon to investigate.
The 330 is looking great with the refinished wheels.
But Sorry to hear about your neighbour taking exception to the noise of you car cleaning. Presumably that’s the noise the polishing machine makes? Sounds a bit unreasonable of the neighbour when it will only be for a few hours a few weekends of the year and during the day. I would have thought the Council would have had to be sensible about the duration of the noise before serving an order. But these things can get tricky, so probably best to forget about the rights and wrongs of it and do what you can to de-escalate it. I hope that situation improves very soon.
The A/C chap basically works seven days a week in the summer and doesn’t do much for the rest of the year.
I don’t know who down has complained but annoyingly no one has said anything first. The council have just written to say that they’ve had a complaint and are seeking more info. When I slow to the person who wrote the letter, the complaint was about the jet washer and vacuum. Apparently it’s every few days and early in the morning which is b
ks. Gad-Westy said:
That AC line was about £130 for me I think only a couple of weeks ago. Comes with o-rings so no need to buy separately but it’s worth mentioning that to get to the bolt on the evaporator end, you need to remove the other hose above (at least I did) in which case it might be worth picking up an o-ring for that. I can find the part on real OEM if it’s not obvious what I’m talking about. The actual hose swap is nice and easy. 
I’ve asked the pat’s department for a price already, LLL Parts might actually be on the money for once price wise. It looks easy enough to change, almost as if they expected issues with the line sitting in a dirt trap! I’ll be checking that area on my 335i and cleaning it up for sure.
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