BMW Thread: this is the bmw thread. we drive blue cars

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > BMW Thread: this is the bmw thread. we drive blue cars

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Party Alarm: May 10, 2012

That blue e30 is wonderful, but IMO you should M60 swap it! Spend more money! Make less power!

# ? Jan 28, 2024 20:53

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# ? May 11, 2024 15:07

BlackMK4: Aug 23, 2006; wat.; Megamarm

Bulky Bartokomous posted:

BavAuto sold pretty nice aftermarket ones in specific BMW interior colors!

Anyone have opinions on an OBDII Adapter + Bimmercode or Bimmerlink versus the wire connect OBDII tools?

If you want to code anything yourself its worth getting one of the amazon chinese cables and setting up the bmw tools on an old laptop

I can't believe what some places charge to tick a few boxes

# ? Jan 28, 2024 21:11

Bulky Bartokomous: Nov 3, 2006; In Mypos, only the strong survive.

TheBacon posted:

I have a BT OBDII adapter and bimmercode+bimmerlink and it�s been fine for me for just checking the occasional code or keeping track of temp and what not that isn�t on my dash. I think it depends what you want it for? I like that I can pull the bmw codes straight to a pdf on my phone for sure.

Immediate want is to register my new battery. Sounds like BT adapter and bimmerlink will do everything I need it to and then some.

# ? Jan 29, 2024 02:43

K918: Jan 6, 2022; Good. And you?

Party Alarm posted:

That blue e30 is wonderful, but IMO you should M60 swap it! Spend more money! Make less power!

What's the story with the trailer?
That's really cool.
I am very open to the idea of engine swapping the E30. How difficult/expensive is an M60 swap and what are the benefits over the m50?

Fender mirrors on the E30 look really cool! The car came with some hideous side mirrors for sure.
Can you post more pics of those?

# ? Jan 29, 2024 04:45

Lightbulb Out: Apr 28, 2006; slack jawed yokel

K918 posted:

hahaha thanks so much everybody. I spent entirely way too much time and money on this thing.

I NEVER post this car online so this is gonna be the most in-depth write-up I've ever done on it. Figures it ends up happening on SA.
I'll tell you all the details as long as you keep it a secret that under the hood it's actually an eta motor

I have a 1987 BMW 325es. Kind of rare for an "e" to come with the "s" package.
Although it has the anemic 2.7 liter M20B27 with a redline of 5.5k. It still came with all the performance packages.
LSD, 5spd manual, sport seats, etc etc....

I purchased it about 4-5 years ago in North America. At time of purchase it had the hideous north american "diving board" bumpers. Pic related.

Then, tragically on the crap tires the previous owner had for it, I slide it backwards into a guardrail. Thus, began the body resto-journey I almost gave up on hundreds of times. Euro Bumpers were purchased shortly after.

At the body shop, it was discovered that the frame had been tweaked in probably two previous accidents the car had been in.
So frame bench a couple times, and lots of body work.
After the frame was straightened and body work on the rear completed, the car became an accident magnet and was hit several times after that. Seattle parking lots man....

Since I was basically full send at this point I decided to fill and primer all of the dents around the body. Including the big fat dent I put in the hood when I modeled on top of it. Tail lights were also painted with candy red and then clear coated on top of that. I like the all red look. But other than the paint, stock tail lights.

I pretty much knew that I was probably going to M-tech one it. So I bought the body kit from ClassicEuroParts, it's the same kit that you get from Garagistic, but it had the curved wheel-arch sideskirts i prefered to the straight one. I opted to go with the "M3 Evo Style" rear wing with the gurney flap.

Restored all the black trim with SEM Satin Black, for all you BMW guys out there, it's basically a perfect match to BMW oem black plastic

Then, I started the process vinyl wrapping this car. It was alot harder than I expected because of the awkward square holes in the bumper and the ridges on the body kit. I also hit the Roundel with pieces of vinyl wrap to color match the shade of blue to the car.My favorite little detail.

Seats were also reupholstered. Minor cushion foam repair. Leather purchased from lseat.com

Fin? I think? Idk LS swap when I guess.
It is going to get a cool vintage racing livery on it in a few days, I might update the post when I get that done.

Thanks for listening Happy to answer any questions abt the build. I didnt include any of the mechanical work I had to do to it because it was all pretty much back to stock.

Party Alarm posted:

That blue e30 is wonderful, but IMO you should M60 swap it! Spend more money! Make less power!

drat this rocks e30s kick rear end old bmws are the best

# ? Jan 30, 2024 03:40

AnnoyBot: May 28, 2001

Hello BMW thread. It's me, a BMW owner, of sorts.

I have my mom's old 2002 525i touring. My dad gave it to me after she didn't want it any more and I dropped a few grand on rear air suspension work while borrowing it. It's developed a low speed shake. It seems to go away as it warms up, and is pretty much gone at speed. I checked the guibo visually this evening, which looks old but not crumbling or terribly cracked. The control rods aren't obviously screwed, but do have 150k on them so who knows.

One thing I saw today on a thread was that a sticky caliper could drag intermittently and cause a shimmy; boot replacement was the fix. The way mine is behaving makes me want to investigate that option. One thing that also points me to brake issues is at freeway speeds it has a mild shake when braking if the tire pressures are anything other than spot on (this happened a lot because the right front had a very slow leak for a while until I replaced the tire). Anyway, I've rebuilt motorcycle calipers so I wouldn't be terrified of doing this job.

Anyway, thoughts on e39 shakes and brakes?

Also my dad passed last year and one of the infinite number of impossibly cool things he left that's impractical and now bugging my mom is a 1990 e34 535i 5 speed, with Dinan shocks/springs/chip (no badge or docs). It's not really in a condition that would make BaT happy, but does work. Basically I need to handle selling it or someone else (who doesn't know what they're doing) will. I don't want to but you can't keep everything and CA prop 19 will force sale of absolutely everything anyway, eventually.

Any thoughts on selling this kind-of-rough near-unicorn?

Also (off topic) there's a '94 E320 Wagon with 220k that needs selling urgently. (My dad was physically unable to sell a car, you might have guessed)

[edit]

Sorry for packing a lot into this post.

The 525i is currently lifted so I went out and spun the front wheels just now. Both spin freely. I should add- the wheel does not shake when the car does its low speed wobble.

AnnoyBot fucked around with this message at 08:22 on Jan 31, 2024

# ? Jan 31, 2024 08:00

Sab669: Sep 24, 2009

^Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than I can help get to sorted

2 new Green options on the Z4 M40i unique to the 6MT. Would look fantastic next to my green-on-tan wagon 😍 too bad I don't have that kind of money.

# ? Jan 31, 2024 15:10

TheBacon: Feb 8, 2012; #essereFerrari

Just give me the E34 h2h, hell the merc too :getin:

Also you absolutely can sell that on BAT as is, but if you want it gone do it no reserve. As long as you are responsive you should get decent money for it.

I have no answers for the shakes n bakes for the E39 good luck on that one. I assume suspension is all original still and so I�d start just refreshing it all, but that�s spensy.

# ? Jan 31, 2024 15:56

the milk machine: Jul 23, 2002; lick my keys

there's a dude at my gym who daily drives an i8 which i've always chuckled at because it's in the back of a shopping center through a parking lot that looks like the surface of mars

for some reason it's really funny to me to imagine driving a car like that around, climbing out of the gull wing doors at the grocery store or whatever

anyway he showed up today with a bunch of front end damage that looks a lot like he hit a pedestrian or something

# ? Jan 31, 2024 22:21

AnnoyBot: May 28, 2001

TheBacon posted:

Just give me the E34 h2h, hell the merc too

Also you absolutely can sell that on BAT as is, but if you want it gone do it no reserve. As long as you are responsive you should get decent money for it.

I have no answers for the shakes n bakes for the E39 good luck on that one. I assume suspension is all original still and so I�d start just refreshing it all, but that�s spensy.

I DIY'd a suspension refresh on my E24 half a lifetime ago so I know the territory. It was in much worse shape too. Gotta hand it to the E39, it's way more robust than the E24/E28. Mine was utterly crapped out at 107k whereas the E39 is at 150k and only now possibly showing some wear. The air suspension thing was from a broken air line that cause the bags to crack from being compressed for months, so it wasn't exactly wear related.

The merc has possible oil or transmission fluid in the coolant so caveat emptor. It's otherwise not bad.

[edit] Let me rephrase that. The E320 has a CEL. So that's all she wrote. $1000 from the state to retire it, is the next step.

[1 week later] sorry for killing the thread. But anyway the CEL is for clogged EGR. Still going to the crusher though.

AnnoyBot fucked around with this message at 00:46 on Feb 7, 2024

# ? Feb 1, 2024 01:02

H110Hawk: Dec 28, 2006

Goddamnit. 38,700 miles on my 2009 Z4 (E89). Dropped it off, apparently there is a "sensor mat" under the passenger seat which is toast, $1700ish to replace it (new parts+labor.) I've also learned that you can't (or shouldn't) just dummy sensor it because they actually modulate the deployment rate now?

Turns out there is a Service Bulletin for other similar model years that aren't the E89 (E60/E61/E90/E91 among them.) It was issued in 2014 and extended the warranty on this part to 15 years unlimited miles.

Rant aside, what is the danger in putting a dummy sensor on this? What is the actual modulation done here - is there somewhere I could find the ranges of weights -> deployment rates? If it's basically "no kids" that's fine I will just not put kids in it and take the sensor out when I sell it. I don't think any of my friends weigh less than 125lbs, and most of them are goony like me (~200lbs.) Is there a cheaper way to get this done? My mechanic seems to like using BMW OEM parts, which is nice in some ways, but for this I don't care as much. At this point any accident where airbag deployment is considered by the computer is going to result in the car being totaled by insurance regardless, 2-3 extra airbags going off isn't going to change that.

# ? Feb 9, 2024 23:03

Elite Taco: Feb 3, 2010

AnnoyBot posted:

I DIY'd a suspension refresh on my E24 half a lifetime ago so I know the territory. It was in much worse shape too. Gotta hand it to the E39, it's way more robust than the E24/E28. Mine was utterly crapped out at 107k whereas the E39 is at 150k and only now possibly showing some wear. The air suspension thing was from a broken air line that cause the bags to crack from being compressed for months, so it wasn't exactly wear related.

The merc has possible oil or transmission fluid in the coolant so caveat emptor. It's otherwise not bad.

[edit] Let me rephrase that. The E320 has a CEL. So that's all she wrote. $1000 from the state to retire it, is the next step.

[1 week later] sorry for killing the thread. But anyway the CEL is for clogged EGR. Still going to the crusher though.

You killed that car like you killed the thread.

RIP

# ? Feb 10, 2024 01:03

Alarbus: Mar 31, 2010

H110Hawk posted:

Goddamnit. 38,700 miles on my 2009 Z4 (E89). Dropped it off, apparently there is a "sensor mat" under the passenger seat which is toast, $1700ish to replace it (new parts+labor.) I've also learned that you can't (or shouldn't) just dummy sensor it because they actually modulate the deployment rate now?

Turns out there is a Service Bulletin for other similar model years that aren't the E89 (E60/E61/E90/E91 among them.) It was issued in 2014 and extended the warranty on this part to 15 years unlimited miles.

Rant aside, what is the danger in putting a dummy sensor on this? What is the actual modulation done here - is there somewhere I could find the ranges of weights -> deployment rates? If it's basically "no kids" that's fine I will just not put kids in it and take the sensor out when I sell it. I don't think any of my friends weigh less than 125lbs, and most of them are goony like me (~200lbs.) Is there a cheaper way to get this done? My mechanic seems to like using BMW OEM parts, which is nice in some ways, but for this I don't care as much. At this point any accident where airbag deployment is considered by the computer is going to result in the car being totaled by insurance regardless, 2-3 extra airbags going off isn't going to change that.

I had that on two E90s. The first I beat up the dealer a bit on it not being in the recall and they covered half (VT). The second, in PA, the dealer told me to kick rocks so I swapped the part and had to take it to a different dealer to program it, still cheaper than the original quote.

I didn't look into the dummy sensor.

# ? Feb 10, 2024 01:12

H110Hawk: Dec 28, 2006

AnnoyBot posted:

'94 E320 Wagon with 220k that needs selling urgently.

It's me, Mr urgently. Ready to take delivery in California.

# ? Feb 10, 2024 02:51

Pr0kjayhawk: Nov 30, 2002; Zoom Zoom, motherfuckers

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2011-bmw-328i-xdrive-sports-wagon-12/

This car sold on C&B for $15K a few weeks ago and the buyer backed out. Today it went on BaT for $12K.

The seller didn�t have all the details of the salvage title and the N54 swap so they couldn�t answer the million questions they got. And then they were weirdly combative toward the questions at the end of the BaT auction. Odd.

An E91 N54 or N55 swap is a pretty cool idea though. It�s a pretty reasonable alternative to the hopeless idiots like me that want an E91 M3 wagon but can�t justify the $100K+ to build one.

# ? Feb 11, 2024 03:39

Guinness: Sep 15, 2004

B58 swap when

# ? Feb 11, 2024 03:43

Ether Frenzy: Dec 22, 2006; Nap Ghost

Pr0kjayhawk posted:

[url]https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2011-bmw-328i-xdrive-sports-wagon-12/[/url

An E91 N54 or N55 swap is a pretty cool idea though. It�s a pretty reasonable alternative to the hopeless idiots like me that want an E91 M3 wagon but can�t justify the $100K+ to build one.

Aside from the shame of not having a S65 Wagon, sure. You should probably do this before the price is $125k.

# ? Feb 11, 2024 03:52

TheBacon: Feb 8, 2012; #essereFerrari

Pr0kjayhawk posted:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2011-bmw-328i-xdrive-sports-wagon-12/

This car sold on C&B for $15K a few weeks ago and the buyer backed out. Today it went on BaT for $12K.

The seller didn�t have all the details of the salvage title and the N54 swap so they couldn�t answer the million questions they got. And then they were weirdly combative toward the questions at the end of the BaT auction. Odd.

An E91 N54 or N55 swap is a pretty cool idea though. It�s a pretty reasonable alternative to the hopeless idiots like me that want an E91 M3 wagon but can�t justify the $100K+ to build one.

I was following both auctions and the seller definitely sucked.

N54 is an interesting swap, though for non S65, I think M57 is actually a really compelling option. Absolute gobs of torque and plenty of power, plus the decent mileage.

# ? Feb 11, 2024 04:04

MrChips: Jun 10, 2005; FLIGHT SAFETY TIP: Fatties out first

So I've been kind of neglecting to say anything about this, but I've gone and replaced my old E46 330Ci a couple of weeks ago, with something that has a lot more Ms:

440 more Ms, to be precise.

# ? Feb 11, 2024 04:21

Fuller9x: Feb 15, 2005; Gimme Milk

MrChips posted:

So I've been kind of neglecting to say anything about this, but I've gone and replaced my old E46 330Ci a couple of weeks ago, with something that has a lot more Ms:

440 more Ms, to be precise.

Tanzanite or San Marino? Either way, I have a fizzy feeling in my root.

# ? Feb 11, 2024 04:34

Guinness: Sep 15, 2004

Sad to lose a member of the 330Ci gang but sweet upgrade, excellent color choice :discourse:

# ? Feb 11, 2024 04:38

MrChips: Jun 10, 2005; FLIGHT SAFETY TIP: Fatties out first

Fuller9x posted:

Tanzanite or San Marino? Either way, I have a fizzy feeling in my root.

Neither; its Velvet Blue Metallic. This car was specced out by BMW Canada as a non-allocation car; one of these went to every dealer in Canada to be used either as a demo or (in the case of this car) as an employment perk by a long-time employee or dealer manager. It got absolutely dragged through the options book, and the Individual colour was part of it.

E: also not pictured here are the 20" Individual wheels that are wrapped in summer rubber and look absolutely spectactular on the car, as shown from the dealer pictures:

MrChips fucked around with this message at 04:51 on Feb 11, 2024

# ? Feb 11, 2024 04:47

Fuller9x: Feb 15, 2005; Gimme Milk

MrChips posted:

Neither; its Velvet Blue Metallic. This car was specced out by BMW Canada as a non-allocation car; one of these went to every dealer in Canada to be used either as a demo or (in the case of this car) as an employment perk by a long-time employee or dealer manager. It got absolutely dragged through the options book, and the Individual colour was part of it.

E: also not pictured here are the 20" Individual wheels that are wrapped in summer rubber and look absolutely spectactular on the car, as shown from the dealer pictures:

Oomphhh, that's some strong pornography right there. Congrats on the steal, that silver really pops the purple.

# ? Feb 11, 2024 05:09

Pr0kjayhawk: Nov 30, 2002; Zoom Zoom, motherfuckers

Ether Frenzy posted:

Aside from the shame of not having a S65 Wagon, sure. You should probably do this before the price is $125k.

The only thing that would make up for the shame of not having an S65 is knowing you saved $85K.

I found a couple videos from Precision Dynamics this week about their first E91 M3 build and I got a bad case of the brain worms. Then in the recap they said they were 400 hours into the build and� I just can�t justify that. At least $60k just in labor plus the two donor cars. Yikes.

# ? Feb 11, 2024 05:27

Alarbus: Mar 31, 2010

MrChips posted:

So I've been kind of neglecting to say anything about this, but I've gone and replaced my old E46 330Ci a couple of weeks ago, with something that has a lot more Ms:

440 more Ms, to be precise.

That's a great color. I have a 440 with a gen 1 B58, and it's great. I miss my 6pd during the winter (but I got to it drive today!) but the whole package is just fun. If I can finagle a second set of wheels with summer rubber I think I'm going to toss some more power at it this summer. I mean, all it does is daycare runs, but the 2yo laughs her rear end off when I mat it, so it's the responsible thing to do.

# ? Feb 11, 2024 06:24

Ether Frenzy: Dec 22, 2006; Nap Ghost

Pr0kjayhawk posted:

The only thing that would make up for the shame of not having an S65 is knowing you saved $85K.

I found a couple videos from Precision Dynamics this week about their first E91 M3 build and I got a bad case of the brain worms. Then in the recap they said they were 400 hours into the build and� I just can�t justify that. At least $60k just in labor plus the two donor cars. Yikes.

You'll just spend that money on some Gen Alpha's college instead. Do the right thing and don't end up with a turbo 6 cylinder at the end of the ICE era.

# ? Feb 11, 2024 06:33

Woolwich Bagnet: Apr 27, 2003

MrChips posted:

So I've been kind of neglecting to say anything about this, but I've gone and replaced my old E46 330Ci a couple of weeks ago, with something that has a lot more Ms:

440 more Ms, to be precise.

Very nice color!

I just spent an hour changing the cabin air filter in my F10 535i. Thanks for making that a total pain in the rear end BMW, complete with needing to remove an airbag. I've driven it maybe 500 miles in the last year. Time to get rid of it.

# ? Feb 11, 2024 14:05

H110Hawk: Dec 28, 2006

Woolwich Bagnet posted:

Very nice color!

I just spent an hour changing the cabin air filter in my F10 535i. Thanks for making that a total pain in the rear end BMW, complete with needing to remove an airbag. I've driven it maybe 500 miles in the last year. Time to get rid of it.

"surely this is a mistake or hyperbole" <7 minute YouTube video that skips all of the tedious fastener spinning> :stare:

What the hell.

Semi-related - what is the purpose of that cigarette lighter socket thing under there? Pretty sure my z4 has one too.

# ? Feb 11, 2024 19:18

Alarbus: Mar 31, 2010

H110Hawk posted:

"surely this is a mistake or hyperbole" <7 minute YouTube video that skips all of the tedious fastener spinning> What the hell.

Semi-related - what is the purpose of that cigarette lighter socket thing under there? Pretty sure my z4 has one too.

lighter socket under the glove box? It's a great way of leaving something plugged in without blocking the shifter/cupholders/etc. I have one there, and have a velcro cord wrap around the cord to give it bulk, and stuffed a bit of it into the console trim to keep it in place.

# ? Feb 11, 2024 19:36

H110Hawk: Dec 28, 2006

Alarbus posted:

lighter socket under the glove box? It's a great way of leaving something plugged in without blocking the shifter/cupholders/etc. I have one there, and have a velcro cord wrap around the cord to give it bulk, and stuffed a bit of it into the console trim to keep it in place.

Dumb question but how do you keep people from kicking the cords plugged in to it? The protruding plastic parts, not the flexible parts. That's always been my hesitation. And the one time I tried to use it my back started hurting before I got anything plugged in to it. Or is that just not a thing?

# ? Feb 11, 2024 19:46

Keyser_Soze: May 5, 2009; Pillbug

Woolwich Bagnet posted:

Very nice color!

I just spent an hour changing the cabin air filter in my F10 535i. Thanks for making that a total pain in the rear end BMW, complete with needing to remove an airbag. I've driven it maybe 500 miles in the last year. Time to get rid of it.

I did that a few times on my F10's and i'd describe it as needing the flexibility of Simone Biles with Kevin Durant's arms to get at that last screw way in near the firewall. :argh:

# ? Feb 11, 2024 19:54

Alarbus: Mar 31, 2010

H110Hawk posted:

Dumb question but how do you keep people from kicking the cords plugged in to it? The protruding plastic parts, not the flexible parts. That's always been my hesitation. And the one time I tried to use it my back started hurting before I got anything plugged in to it. Or is that just not a thing?

Flush mount power adapter and right angle cords, and then they're tucked into the plastic trim. It's pretty low profile. I think my wife has knocked it loose once or twice in eight years across two cars? I mean, I definitely bought stuff to be sure it was low profile vs just using regular or bulky parts.

# ? Feb 11, 2024 20:02

H110Hawk: Dec 28, 2006

Alarbus posted:

Flush mount power adapter and right angle cords, and then they're tucked into the plastic trim. It's pretty low profile. I think my wife has knocked it loose once or twice in eight years across two cars? I mean, I definitely bought stuff to be sure it was low profile vs just using regular or bulky parts.

Fair enough. That's what I figured. I only need 1 USB-c port. Right now I have something in the center console (a very very old go pro brand 2port thing) solely for my mp3 player.

# ? Feb 11, 2024 20:38

Sab669: Sep 24, 2009

A pizza shop near me with zero mob connections whatsoever replaced their 840i with an i760; I actually liked it a lot though I didn't get a thorough look-around. I swear it had a two-tone paint job but I don't see that on BMW's Builder now?

# ? Feb 12, 2024 15:31

kill me now: Sep 14, 2003; Why's Hank crying?

'CUZ HE JUST GOT DUNKED ON!

Sab669 posted:

A pizza shop near me with zero mob connections whatsoever replaced their 840i with an i760; I actually liked it a lot though I didn't get a thorough look-around. I swear it had a two-tone paint job but I don't see that on BMW's Builder now?

They are still on there, its under the options tab

# ? Feb 12, 2024 18:46

Elite Taco: Feb 3, 2010

I would love to b48 swap my e91.

# ? Feb 13, 2024 02:51

fknlo: Jul 6, 2009; Fun Shoe

Elite Taco posted:

I would love to b48 swap my e91.

It's a great little engine that is absolutely perfect for the overwhelming majority of people. It gets outshined by the B58 and all the people that say you should only buy things with that, but most people just flat out don't need that.

# ? Feb 13, 2024 19:42

Elite Taco: Feb 3, 2010

It seems like a great n52 replacement and a good balance for the e91. v0v

Horses for course and opinions and all that. I gave up on performance mods for my wagon after I bought a Porsche.

# ? Feb 14, 2024 03:23

harperdc: Jul 24, 2007

fknlo posted:

It's a great little engine that is absolutely perfect for the overwhelming majority of people. It gets outshined by the B58 and all the people that say you should only buy things with that, but most people just flat out don't need that.

Loving the B38 over here too :haibrow:

it�s a good family of engines

# ? Feb 14, 2024 09:52

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# ? May 11, 2024 15:07

Pr0kjayhawk: Nov 30, 2002; Zoom Zoom, motherfuckers

Elite Taco posted:

I would love to b48 swap my e91.

F31 LCI had the B48.

# ? Feb 14, 2024 15:21

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > BMW Thread: this is the bmw thread. we drive blue cars

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