Derek's E90: ///M3 Sedan Journal

[derbo]

Just get a Blackstone oil analysis.

Unfortunately during the middle of the production of the S65B40, the rod bearings changed from lead/copper to some harder aluminum material. This change makes the metal composition in UOA useless for detecting accelerated bearing wear. I am not sure if I met the production change for my bearings. Either way, I plan to track the monster so I rather just do it at this point.

Man you are lucky to have a shop like Performance Technic out there.

I am glad they are out here. Joey and his team are awesome (although expensive.)

indeed... they do good work:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2009-bmw-1-series-3/
Attachment 31633

also...

Marco's Clone 1.0 is amazing. I'm curious why the owner of Clone 2.0 is selling it. Maybe cause you have to drop the motor to do sparkplugs? Either way, 2.0 is one amazing machine for the street.

You’re welcome Derek! Blue triangle fits much better and is true OEM for E46. Glad the red one worked out for you.

ARIGATO! I probably would've been pissed as the clamps I bought were meant for the red one and wouldn't work for the blue one.

[derbo]

#Alpine White Sedan Man-Date
I had the day off yesterday and I met up with Dustin to pick up my brake bleeder bottle, help him with his SES light, fix my squeaky door seals, a mini cruise and lunch.



#Squeaky door seals
Ever since I got the car, when the car goes over bumps or any imperfections of the road, I would hear squeaking from the door seals. Mad shout out to Dustin for this one! I knew this issue existed with BMWs for years now and I always thought the solution was Gummi Pflege. Dustin said that was a temporary fix and even Fxx series cars had the same issue. BMW issued a SIB 51 28 10 (Attached to this post) regarding the squeaks back in 2008! Anyways, the fix is to apply Teflon tape on the inner door jams where the window trim touches the door seals. The factory BMW "3M Teflon tape" as usual, cost arm and a leg and Dustin had success with one from Amazon that cost under $7.

Product:
TapeCase 423-5 UHMW Tape 3/4" x 5yds (1 Roll)



After Dustin helped install the Teflon tape, there were no more squeaks or noises coming from the door seals! The V8 noise won't be disrupted by unwelcome squeaks! (at least not from the door seals.)

#Dustin's Swisher Smoke Tester
Dustin's ZHP has been getting an SES light with the infamous P1074, P1071 codes. Initially, his intake boots were bad, so he replaced those. The light would still show up again. Dustin found a random DIY on youtube that used a pump + latex glove and Swisher sweet for the smoke. This was downright hilarious but it works!



The leak test did not show any signs of leaking. A quick boot up of ISTA/D and running a vehicle test on the car showed that P1074, P1071 codes existed along with a MAF code. I ran the ISTA/D troubleshooting test plan and the MAF passed all the voltage ranges. This screamed exactly what happened to my ZHP except I hunted the issue for over 3 years due to lack of daily driving it to figure it out. I think the next step for Dustin is to swap the MAF with someone to confirm, or just suck it up and buy a new one.


#Cruise to Bolinas for Lunch
After dealing with these two items, we decided to go on a cruise to Bolinas, CA to enjoy the cars.

The route we took went from Petaluma > Nicasio > Fairfax > Bolinas. On our return, both of us were heading to Oakland so we took Highway 1 > Panoramic highway back to the main freeway 101N.

Here is the link to the route:
https://goo.gl/GCgHYh



Zoomed into the fun.



Fairfax to Bolinas is one tight course! There are a few sections where it is far too bumpy for the EDC Sports suspension but EDC button allowed me to play with the suspension stiffness. Comfort mode was perfect and setting the Power to normal helped reduce the joltiness when the car when over bumps. The sports steering mode help combat when bumps move my body and ultimately made unnecessary movements on the steering wheel. With a heavier steering wheel, it almost fought those extra movements. Call me impressed! The road was a bit tight and forced the car to be between 2nd and 3rd but mostly 3rd around 3-4k. Dustin's ZHP looked way more fun at these sections as he was able to ring out 2nd and 3rd.

M Drive Settings:
Power: Normal
Steering: Sport
DSC: MDM mode
EDC: Comfort

Panoramic Highway is much smoother and not as tight. The M3 definitely shined here. There was more room to utilize 2nd gear and 3rd gear and the corners were tight enough for 2nd gear downshifts. It was very fun!

M Drive settings:
Power: Sport
Steering: Sport
DSC: MDM mode
EDC: Sport




#Impressions
A lot of people have asked me the infamous question:
"Is your old ZHP better or the stock M3?"

My answer always has been "It depends." I do not regret going to an E90M but I still do miss the ZHP. It definitely is cheaper fun than the M3 but I think the M3 smiles make my face hurt more.

[nextelbuddy]

Wow nice, little buddy team ups going on! Alpine brothers unite.

[BMWCurves]

Nice update.

I'd love to have both of those BMWs.

[dkmcclelland]

Nice update.

I'd love to have both of those BMWs.

One of those BMWs needs a better exhaust system *cough*

[BMWCurves]

One of those BMWs needs a better exhaust system *cough*

No idea what you're talking about. You should get that cough checked out.

[derbo]

Wow nice, little buddy team ups going on! Alpine brothers unite.

Nice update.

I'd love to have both of those BMWs.

Thanks guys!

One of those BMWs needs a better exhaust system *cough*

No idea what you're talking about. You should get that cough checked out.

I have to admit the OEM exhaust mod sounds amazing when flooring it. From Dustin's comments, it sounds amazing from outside too!


My trunk is looking very Euro-ey!

[danewilson77]

Thanks guys!





I have to admit the OEM exhaust mod sounds amazing when flooring it. From Dustin's comments, it sounds amazing from outside too!


My trunk is looking very Euro-ey!

Great look. Love and respect the effort.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[derbo]

##Performance Technic
I dropped off the car at Performance Technic in the morning for rod bearings. Unfortunately, BE bearings are out of stock everywhere and there is even a thread on M3post regarding the backorder suggesting there is no ETA in sight. Since Christmas week is the only week traffic is relatively light to Performance Technic, I went with Brandon's (Service Advisor at P-Tech) suggestion to go with the WPC coated rod bearings. Performance Technic has done a few of WPC so in reality, it doesn't really matter. I bet in another 50k, I'll have to do it again. Hopefully, when that time comes around, there will be a permanent fix.


For now, the E90M is with some good company for the next two days.



Bossman's X5M and M2


The 1M Clone 2.0 just sitting there like no one knows it has an S65B40 in it.

[704sw]

Those Volks looks quite good on the E36, but I can’t believe someone tracking an E36 went with 18s.