2011 328i Longroof - The Saga Continues

[P_Roloff]

SteelBlue said:

Top mounts were done with the rest of the suspension. I’m going to get the 4 piece kit that FCP sell. Did you have ramps you were able to set the car on while you did the final torquing of the bushings? That’s honestly the biggest challenge is being able to get the car under load while still being able to torque them.

I have ramps, but my torque wrench would’ve been wayyyyy too long for doing it under the car. I ended up jacking up via the brake rotor hat with a lock of wood between it and the jack (not ideal, but it worked). I figured if it’s off slightly and they wear out prematurely, I have the lifetime replacement ‍️. 
 

Let me know how the upper control arms go, I didn’t do those just for the sake of time and really should get those finished too.

[m42b32]

I'm glad to hear the new arms helped a ton with the brake shudder!

[P_Roloff]

Refinished the headlights this weekend!

Went with a box kit instead of the 2k clear this time, I decided to see how long it lasts and make a decision from there. Initial impressions are that it turned out great though!

Before:

After:

I will note, I wet sanded from 1200 up to 3500 grit on the passenger side light instead of starting at 2400 on the drivers side, and it turned out way better. Highly recommend getting some extra paper in coarser grits if you use a kit like this, it really makes it turn out much nicer. 
 

Reslly cleaned up the front end look, I love the way this car looks when it’s clean. 

[P_Roloff]

129,393

Power steering fluid flush completed. I initially tried to flush by disconnecting the return line and directing into a catch bottle, capping the reservoir nipple, and filling as I turn the wheel back and forth, but stopped when I couldn’t get the hose off of the reservoir. It was stuck on there pretty good and I didn’t feel like cracking the reservoir wrestling with it. 
 

I’ll try that method again when I buy a replacement reservoir; until then, I just drained and refilled the reservoir 6ish times with a quick drive around and some lock to lock turns in between each. It took the fluid from “used motor oil” to “slightly dirty green pentosin” so I’ll call it a win. Not going to let perfect get in the way of improvement. I have a spare liter still so I’ll probably burn that at the next oil change with a few more drain and fills.

[P_Roloff]

Did a sorta-kinda triathlon this weekend near La Farge - paddled in lieu of the swim. Did about how I expected, 5/8 in my class and 71/138 overall. Considering I haven’t competed in anything similar ever, I feel pretty happy with it and definitely identified some spots for improvement. 
 

In addition, I did some backroad bombing and snagged some photos of the car while I was there. It played the role of camping rig beautifully, and had zero hiccups. The adaptive headlights are seriously incredible for driving after dark in the country, I wish all my cars had them.
 

[patsbimmer1]

I remember thinking "Headlights that move?  No way that works."  Then I started driving cars with them and it's so fucking useful.

[P_Roloff]

patsbimmer1 said:

I remember thinking "Headlights that move?  No way that works."  Then I started driving cars with them and it's so fucking useful.

I thought it’d be a gimmick. I then was able to see deer on the insides of corners and no longer felt it was a gimmick. 
 

What I really can’t wait for is when the U.S. finally gets the adaptive laser headlights that the rest of the world has had for awhile; they’ll dim out the sections pointing at other drivers and at signs so you don’t blind them/get blinded but maintain intensity everywhere else. 
 

NHTSA finally got around to pushing them through I believe, so they should start popping up in the next few years. Can’t wait!

[GunMetalGrey]

P_Roloff said:

I thought it’d be a gimmick. I then was able to see deer on the insides of corners and no longer felt it was a gimmick. 
 

What I really can’t wait for is when the U.S. finally gets the adaptive laser headlights that the rest of the world has had for awhile; they’ll dim out the sections pointing at other drivers and at signs so you don’t blind them/get blinded but maintain intensity everywhere else. 
 

NHTSA finally got around to pushing them through I believe, so they should start popping up in the next few years. Can’t wait!

I don't know if you've experienced these in person, but it is truly amazing.
I was in an Audi Q8 with some guys in Switzerland and I couldn't believe how well it cut the light out around street signs and cars.

It was the best random thing to slip into the COVID legislation.

[P_Roloff]

GunMetalGrey said:

I don't know if you've experienced these in person, but it is truly amazing.
I was in an Audi Q8 with some guys in Switzerland and I couldn't believe how well it cut the light out around street signs and cars.

It was the best random thing to slip into the COVID legislation.

I haven’t, but I’ve always thought it was neat tech. Now I’m even more excited for it!

[P_Roloff]

I’ve just been putting up with the dreaded musty smell from the HVAC vents in this car since the summertime and it hasn’t been getting any better, so I finally decided to do something about it. I’m pretty sure the issue came about when I turned on the recirc mode for a week or two when it was really hot to try to get slightly cooler temps out of it; I’ve now read that recirc mode should be used sparingly and you should walkways turn off the ac and run the fan for a few minutes before shutdown to air it all out.

After some product research, I decided the Nextzett Klima Cleaner would be my best bet:

I went with the method of removing the blower motor and spraying directly onto the evaporator; my first attempt I missed with the hose and didn’t get it all the way there. The second try, I got the hose sufficiently far over and hit the evaporator square; it foamed up nicely and drained thru the evap drain hoses along the trans tunnel. 
 

I waited 20ish minutes, put the blower back in (so much easier than the e30), and ran the fan on high for 10ish minutes to dry it all out. I’ll report back in a week or two on the results!

I also discovered a 12V power plug on the panel under/behind the glovebox door that I never knew I had, so that’s a win! I might need to enlist @Bassboy3313 to make me another of those printed inductive charger pads and run the power to it from this plug.

[Jdesign]

Curious on how this works out. Ive always used an ozone bomb for a car that was really bad.

[P_Roloff]

Jdesign said:

Curious on how this works out. Ive always used an ozone bomb for a car that was really bad. 

Smell is still there. I’m going to try it again I think (maybe spraying some down the hvac air intake as well) to see if that helps. It’s definitely better, it’s almost gone once the hvac has run for a few seconds, but it definitely still there. 
 

The blower motor had the same smell as the air I’ve been getting out of it, so I’m wondering if the smell and gunk is in the ducting too. I haven’t replaced the cabin air filters either, so might do that. They’re almost external though so it’d be a bit odd if that was the culprit. 
 

What product did you use, if you don’t mind me asking?

[m42b32]

I have an ozone machine if you want to borrow it. My brother used it to get cigarette smoke smell out of his XJ and it worked amazingly, haven't had a whiff of it since. You could put it in the car with the air running.

I did replace the cabin air filter sometime in 2022 with an oem one but worth a check anyway.

[P_Roloff]

m42b32 said:

I have an ozone machine if you want to borrow it. My brother used it to get cigarette smoke smell out of his XJ and it worked amazingly, haven't had a whiff of it since. You could put it in the car with the air running.

I did replace the cabin air filter sometime in 2022 with an oem one but worth a check anyway. 

Yeah, the cabin filter was something of a last resort if nothing else fixes it. I’ll definitely take you up on that, I’ve heard great things about those!

[Jdesign]

P_Roloff said:

What product did you use, if you don’t mind me asking?

I've used an Ozium Single-Shot Fogger and another brand that I cant find online. Having access to a ozone machine is 100X better idea though!

[P_Roloff]

Just found this tonight:

Looks like BMW finally put out a recall for the VANOS bolts issue. 
 

I wonder if it’s anything more/different compared to the service this car already had? From what I remember the bolts were replaced with steel ones? Sounds like the same. 
 

Also a good reminder to get the car in for the PCV heater recall as well.

[Jdesign]

P_Roloff said:

Broken link^

[P_Roloff]

133,400

Changed the oil in the rear differential. I used full synthetic liqui moly 75w-90 and a couple transfer pumps to get it done. 

Old oil was in quite good shape, I don’t recall seeing records of it being changed but it looks like it was. Still, the new stuff is way lighter in color and it’s good peace of mind. I only got about 3/4 of a quart out so I’ll maybe do it again in 10-20,000 miles once it’s all mixed in. 
 

I also noticed some coolant under the car the other day, so while it was on the lift I pulled the belly pan and took a peek.

It seems like there’s two leaks:

- One appeared to be a loose hose clamp on the water pump; I tightened it and will re-check in a few weeks.

- The other seems to be either a leak at the seam of the radiator on the drivers side, or the o-ring on the upper rad hose. It kinda looks like it’s spraying, but I wonder if it’s wind blowing it off of the radiator as it leaks and spreading it all over the underside. I’m going to swap the o-ring this week sometime and see if that fixes it, and if it doesn’t I’ll get a new rad. I’m considering a full aluminum replacement to bulletproof it, but we’ll see. This one should be under warranty still but if it failed this fast I’m not sure if I want to put the same thing back in. 

[P_Roloff]

Replaced the passenger side door pull - it was all nasty like most of them are and left sticky black stuff on your hand when you pulled it. Not ideal. 

I bought the Amazon special version, as much as I want the OEM look I couldn’t bring myself to spend $100ish on a new door pull that’d break down in the exact same way in a few years. The black plastic definitely looks cheaper on the outer cover, so maybe I’ll get an OEM replacement for that, but the inner feels fine and it all mounted solidly. This version uses screws instead of the heat-staked originals. 
 

[P_Roloff]

134,6xx 

Coolant leak saga is over - took it into Kummrow as the leak started to get worse and I never was able to figure out exactly what was leaking - turns out the radiator itself was leaking. Apparently, the Behr e9x radiators commonly fail at the crimps on the driver’s side end tank near the bottom - I can’t remember the exact % they said their supplier has taken back under warranty, but it was a lot. 
 

Anyways, got it replaced with a Genuine BMW one, that should hopefully solve it permanently. Hope this knowledge saves some of the other e9x guys here some pain, this is one of those cases where the OE supplier part just doesn’t cut it.