2010 328i M Sport // Build Thread

[pynacl]

After a few weeks of research, forum perusing, and tinkering I finally fixed the electrical problems with the E90. I believe this all stemmed from the battery. 2 years ago I replaced the battery with a factory equivalent 90ah AGM unit. I forgot to use a coding tool to tell the car it was an AGM battery, and according to some stuff I've read the power output of the two types is slightly different. Without the coding, it can cause subtle voltage spikes to flow through the car's various ECUs. Long story short, through forgetting to code it and harsh winter storage, that battery caused quite the issues, namely frying my front footwell module.

Some symptoms of a failed FRM are: no power windows, no central locking system, headlights permanently on, no interior lights, no 6MT hill assist, no blinkers, amongst a very illuminated dash, and a host of other issues.

To fix it I had to buy a replacement FRM and go scouring the internet for the coding tools. If you didn't know, Bimmergeeks, who used to host the resources was hit with a cease and desist from BMW NA and removed access to things like Inpa, WinKPF, NCSExpert, along with all the sp-daten files for all the different chassis. After days of digging / testing I got my laptop setup and coded a new FRM - surprisingly it all worked like a charm! Aside from the fact the FRM came from an E9X M3 and the previous owner (who I can only imagine has dog shit for brains) had coded it to turn on the high beams when the headlight switch was set to off (position 2) - this literally took me weeks of wire tracing and headaches only to figure out it was coded that way...

Edit: I did also send the original FRM off to an ECU repair shop, but they deemed it "un-salvageable" and could not find the issue.

The steps were:

1. Install new FRM module in the footwell
2. Flash the car to accept a newer FRM3 from the previous FMR2 module via WinKPF
3. Read the VIN/car data from the CAS via NCSExpert
4. Write the VIN/car data from the CAS to the new FRM3 module
5. Revert some weird settings the previous FRM3 owner had via BimmerCode app
6. Clear all faults and verify VIN matches between CAS and FRM via Inpa

Here is the car with a sweet sweet error free dash and fully working!

[m42b32]

pynacl said:

If you didn't know, Bimmergeeks, who used to host the resources was hit with a cease and desist from BMW NA and removed access to things like Inpa, WinKPF, NCSExpert, along with all the sp-daten files for all the different chassis.

This is the first I'm hearing of it, has it basically made protool useless? I still use it for fixing things on my wife's Mini so it would suck to have the diagnostic functionality gone...

[Jdesign]

pynacl said:

Aside from the fact the FRM came from an E9X M3 and the previous owner (who I can only imagine has dog shit for brains) had coded it to turn on the high beams when the headlight switch was set to off (position 2) - this literally took me weeks of wire tracing and headaches only to figure out it was coded that way...

I chuckled at this, but also thought of reasons it may have been that way (possibly aftermarket headlights wired incorrectly or halos wired as high beams). All in all I'm glad you got it sorted!

[pynacl]

m42b32 said:

This is the first I'm hearing of it, has it basically made protool useless? I still use it for fixing things on my wife's Mini so it would suck to have the diagnostic functionality gone...

My understanding is the legal actions only impacted them hosting their "Standard Tools" package - aka Inpa, NCSExpert, WinKPF for those folks that like to do it raw. I don't think it impacted their ProTool because that is using closed-sourced, proprietary software. Although I would put money on them using parts of the BMW IP code in their product. Looks like they still sell it and support it though

[m42b32]

pynacl said:

My understanding is the legal actions only impacted them hosting their "Standard Tools" package - aka Inpa, NCSExpert, WinKPF for those folks that like to do it raw. I don't think it impacted their ProTool because that is using closed-sourced, proprietary software. Although I would put money on them using parts of the BMW IP code in their product. Looks like they still sell it and support it though

Ah ok that makes more sense, I forgot they had hosted those.

[YoungCR]

m42b32 said:

This is the first I'm hearing of it, has it basically made protool useless? I still use it for fixing things on my wife's Mini so it would suck to have the diagnostic functionality gone...

I hadn’t heard about it either but it’s not the only place those resources were available either, just the most public.

[pynacl]

Ive put a 1000 trouble free miles on it. Seems like the new battery and new FRM fixed this cars woes. These E90s are really great - cheap, easy to work on, fun to drive 6MT, okay to get a little banged up by two goldens.

[pynacl]

I really wanted to find a saddle brown or coral red interior to swap into the E90, but there were some limitations I learned:

- needs be from an LCI car due to the additional headrest restraint system

- needs to be sport with the thigh rest

I searched locally for the better part of a year and turned up empty handed. So I opted to do the insane thing and buy a second E90 with all the parts I wanted, and did the swap. The one big challenge here is that my seats are manual bases, which I wanted to keep. Turns out the only way to do this is to strip the seats down to the bare frame and swap the foam, leather, electronics over. Overall was an absolute pain in the ass, but worth it I think.

With the swap I also got heated seats, rear split folding seats (which I did not have before!) rear door sunshades, and a power sunshade rear deck out of it.

Donor car:

Swap:

[m42b32]

Saddle is one of the best e90 interiors in my opinion, looks great with the black!

[YoungCR]

Fantastic, cool you can convert to folding rear seats as well.

[pynacl]

Was really dreading this job, but the headliner finally gave out and started dangling - well at least the sunshade part. The rear was also sagging super badly. I ordered new OEM-like fabric, some glue, and got to work. Turned out 8/10, good enough, but definitely is a learning curve to this process and there are a few areas I caused a wrinkle, didn't apply enough glue, or didn't sand off enough of the old adhesive. Once all the trim, door seals, grab handles etc were reinstalled it looks nearly perfect though.

The job itself was super tedious. After wrestling it for quit some time I realized the headliner is removable by folding the front seats back and sliding out the rear driver door while slightly folding it in a "U" shape.

Car just turned over 150k miles

[pynacl]

Little winter storage update, I found a pretty rare part I had to buy. These things have been NLA for like a decade and rarely pop up, because honestly who the hell would buy an OEM carbon brace for a 328i.

Engine bay is filthy I know

[YoungCR]

Very cool! I don't remember seeing that in the accessory catalog.

[pynacl]

Found an Armaspeed carbon intake + snorkel for sale. I wanted a Gruppe M, but they’re too hard to find for the N52. Hoping the sound signature is similar!

Haven’t tested the sound yet, but fit is okay at best. It’s marketed as a 325i intake, which I thought would be identical. It seems too tall and sat slightly proud. Relocating a power steering line got it good enough to close the hood. Will be keeping my eye out for a Gruppe M in the future.

[pynacl]

Also bought an N54 intake manifold and plan to retrofit that when the garage is warm enough (too poor for a heater). Choosing this route over the 330 “3 stage” intake swap to avoid dealing with pesky DISA valves - the power gains are pretty similar: https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1902505

I understand modifying an N52 is relatively pointless, but I’m doing it for the sheer sport of it.

[Jdesign]

pynacl said:

Also bought an N54 intake manifold and plan to retrofit that when the garage is warm enough (too poor for a heater). Choosing this route over the 330 “3 stage” intake swap to avoid dealing with pesky DISA valves - the power gains are pretty similar: https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1902505

I understand modifying an N52 is relatively pointless, but I’m doing it for the sheer sport of it.

Isnt that why we are all doing BMW things?