Bought my first ///M car. E90 M3

[Floor Tom]

I got this car a few weeks ago now. It's a pretty high km, kinda ratty E90 M3 and I love it.

It's at 281,000km, so around 175,000 miles and has only really had "as required" maintenance. Fluid changes pretty regularly, but other than that only things that broke were replaced.

I have all the parts to replace the rod bearings and plan on doing the job myself next weekend, BE were out of stock so I went for the relatively new Mahle bearings. After that I plan on refreshing the belts, pulleys and tensioners along with the thermostat, temp sensor and water pump. The car seems to take longer than it should to get to temperature and stays too low for comfort, so I'll replace all of that.

I also have plans to refresh the brakes (fluid, soft lines, rotors and pads, maybe rebuild and repaint the calipers) and the suspension (replace all the arms first, then the dampers after that)

Anyway, I love the car even if it is ratty and needs work.

[Max Maxasson]

Floor Tom said:

I got this car a few weeks ago now. It's a pretty high km, kinda ratty E90 M3 and I love it.

It's at 281,000km, so around 175,000 miles and has only really had "as required" maintenance. Fluid changes pretty regularly, but other than that only things that broke were replaced.

I have all the parts to replace the rod bearings and plan on doing the job myself next weekend, BE were out of stock so I went for the relatively new Mahle bearings. After that I plan on refreshing the belts, pulleys and tensioners along with the thermostat, temp sensor and water pump. The car seems to take longer than it should to get to temperature and stays too low for comfort, so I'll replace all of that.

I also have plans to refresh the brakes (fluid, soft lines, rotors and pads, maybe rebuild and repaint the calipers) and the suspension (replace all the arms first, then the dampers after that)

Anyway, I love the car even if it is ratty and needs work.

I had 2 E92 M3s...right up there as one of the best cars I ever owned.

[Deep Thought]

Floor Tom said:

I got this car a few weeks ago now. It's a pretty high km, kinda ratty E90 M3 and I love it.

It's at 281,000km, so around 175,000 miles and has only really had "as required" maintenance. Fluid changes pretty regularly, but other than that only things that broke were replaced.

I have all the parts to replace the rod bearings and plan on doing the job myself next weekend, BE were out of stock so I went for the relatively new Mahle bearings. After that I plan on refreshing the belts, pulleys and tensioners along with the thermostat, temp sensor and water pump. The car seems to take longer than it should to get to temperature and stays too low for comfort, so I'll replace all of that.

I also have plans to refresh the brakes (fluid, soft lines, rotors and pads, maybe rebuild and repaint the calipers) and the suspension (replace all the arms first, then the dampers after that)

Anyway, I love the car even if it is ratty and needs work.

Very nice!

You're in for an expensive few months but i presume you bought it at the right price and if its going to be a keeper, well worth doing the work!

Something like that is lovely as you feel under no pressure to keep it as a garage queen.

[Floor Tom]

I'm in New Zealand so everyone is a bit different here, but I paid $17500nzd for it, so under £10k. I expect to spend at least another $10k in the near future, plus the unexpected stuff.
The only things I feel in a rush to do are the preventitive engine stuff that can grenade the whole thing if it goes wrong, and even then, there are tons that seem to be low enough risk that I'll just leave them for the moment (thinking specifically oil pump and main bearings here, oil pumps are very reliable in these engines and main bearings are very expensive to replace)

Brakes and suspension can be tackled over the next year or so as I have the funds and time to do them.

It will never be a garage queen, but that just means I am only ever going to feel bad about not driving it rather than putting too many km on it, and honestly, I think as far as cards go I should be able to recoup a decent percentage of what I need to spend. I could see things being worth $30k in the future if it's all sorted (which will cost me more than $30k, but who's counting right?)

[Deep Thought]

Floor Tom said:

I'm in New Zealand so everyone is a bit different here, but I paid $17500nzd for it, so under £10k. I expect to spend at least another $10k in the near future, plus the unexpected stuff.
The only things I feel in a rush to do are the preventitive engine stuff that can grenade the whole thing if it goes wrong, and even then, there are tons that seem to be low enough risk that I'll just leave them for the moment (thinking specifically oil pump and main bearings here, oil pumps are very reliable in these engines and main bearings are very expensive to replace)

Brakes and suspension can be tackled over the next year or so as I have the funds and time to do them.

It will never be a garage queen, but that just means I am only ever going to feel bad about not driving it rather than putting too many km on it, and honestly, I think as far as cards go I should be able to recoup a decent percentage of what I need to spend. I could see things being worth $30k in the future if it's all sorted (which will cost me more than $30k, but who's counting right?)

Sounds like a plan!

Agreed RE: the likes of brakes, etc. My M2 is going to need front and rear discs and pads "soon". I've been saying that since the turn of the year though, so theres 8 months of use i'd not have got if i'd pro-actively changed them then. They're working great, not vibrating, so i'll just wait until the car tells me it needs them (either via pad warning lights or vibration coming through). Thats £1200 or so in parts alone i havent had to spend this year.

And agreed RE: the money spending approach. If you've bought it at the right price then come resale time if you're recovering that + a decent % of your spend then you're doing well - particularly on an M car. Not an M car but i once bought a 630i for full retail money. Spent £,£££s on it, then sold it for notably less than i paid for it a year later. Not good.

[Mr Tidy]

Congratulations on buying your first M car.

I really like the M3 Saloons, both E36 and E90.

Anyway addressing the engine issues sounds like the right place to start. I got new rod bearing shells and engine mounts fitted and an Inspection 2 carried out on my Z4M soon after I bought it so I'd have some peace of mind.

[SmithCorona]

Love that. Well done.

[Floor Tom]

Thanks for the kind words. Currently trying to scrabble together the remaining items required for the rod bearings job. Engine support bar has been ordered, and engine assembly lube. Both should be here by Friday and then I think I have everything I need.

[Floor Tom]

I got into the rod bearings job today. Managed to get all the bearings replaced and made a small start on reassembly, but I have a few more hours to go on that. I'll need to do it in the evenings after the kids are in bed.
Anyway, the bearings were not bad for 281,000km, but I am glad I changed them. #4 top had some scoring on the bushing, but the crank was still perfectly smooth.

[Mr Tidy]

I know it's good to have some peace of mind but they don't look bad to me.

All the upper shells on my Z4M were showing copper after only 76K miles, but it had 7 previous keepers so I suspect at least one wasn't gentle with it while it got up to temperature. Quite possibly the first driver as its' first owner was BMW UK!

[Floor Tom]

Mr Tidy said:

I know it's good to have some peace of mind but they don't look bad to me.

All the upper shells on my Z4M were showing copper after only 76K miles, but it had 7 previous keepers so I suspect at least one wasn't gentle with it while it got up to temperature. Quite possibly the first driver as its' first owner was BMW UK!

This one is post LCI so it didn't have the copper bearings in it, it had the tin/aluminium ones. I am confident that #4 top is as worn as the ones that show a bunch of copper. It has some scoring on it.
Having said that, they were in surprisingly good condition for over 280,000km, which makes me feel good about the main bearings.

[0a]

I wonder if they have been done before!

Looks great.

I’m about to revamp my e92…

[Floor Tom]

0a said:

I wonder if they have been done before!

Looks great.

I’m about to revamp my e92…

I am 99% sure they haven't. The person I bought the car from had owned it for 56,000km and said he hadn't done the job, it also had the bearings and bolts that you would expect from the factory in it. So unless the job was done in the first 56,000km and oe bolts and bearings were used, and it was not documented, they are original.

If I wasn't for bearing #4 I would feel a bit silly for doing the job, but I am happy to get that one out.

[0a]

Floor Tom said:

I am 99% sure they haven't. The person I bought the car from had owned it for 56,000km and said he hadn't done the job, it also had the bearings and bolts that you would expect from the factory in it. So unless the job was done in the first 56,000km and oe bolts and bearings were used, and it was not documented, they are original.

If I wasn't for bearing #4 I would feel a bit silly for doing the job, but I am happy to get that one out.

Wow! I’ve got mine in a bag at home, will take a photo and post them up. Done at around 80k miles.

These are brilliant cars. I’ve just taken mine on a 3,800 mile trip from the UK to Italy and back. Brilliant thing. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Kawasicki]

One of my favourite engines in a superb handling car.

Good for you!

[Floor Tom]

0a said:

Wow! I’ve got mine in a bag at home, will take a photo and post them up. Done at around 80k miles.

These are brilliant cars. I’ve just taken mine on a 3,800 mile trip from the UK to Italy and back. Brilliant thing. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

They certainly are, not many multi country trips available for me in New Zealand but plenty of great journeys to make.
Still a LOT to do before I feel good about this car, but I bought it cheap enough that I don't feel bad throwing a bit of money at it.

Edited by Floor Tom on Saturday 24th August 23:11