2011 328i Longroof - The Saga Continues
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138,802:
Oil change completed, swapped in new wishbones on the front due to a ball joint clunk I was hearing, and found that while they definitely weren’t perfect, those weren’t the problem. After some poking around, I concluded that the 1-year old tension struts were the issue. The passenger side arm had a bad ball joint already.
Brake shudder is I believe still the culprit, I replaced the drivers side rotor and it improved, but now when I spin the passenger side rotor that one has a very obvious high spot in it. For now, I just replaced both tension struts again and am going to order new brake pads (EBC yellowstuff, going to get something with more bite to hopefully keep pad material from building up) to hopefully solve this permanently. Planning to just turn the rotors for the new pads since they’re almost new still.
Front shocks are mega blown out, their replacements arrived a few days ago courtesy of @patsbimmer1. Went with soemthing a little spicier than OEM, I’ll share more details when they’re installed.
Oh - last update: had a semi back up into this car in traffic in April, and I was extremely disappointed. The hit wasn’t too hard but it put a large crack in the front bumper, which is NLA and basically unobtanium (genuine performance aero bumper, and would’ve made the car have an incomplete kit)
Through Reddit and a bit (read: a stupid amount) of luck, I found one on German EBay of all places, bought it, had it shipped here (in only bubble wrap
) and finally painted and installed a week or two ago. I managed to snag a euro model bumper too without headlight washers, so I got to delete the ugly covers and the ugly side markers all in one fell swoop.
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Bummer but glad it worked out! Crazy those are NLA already, you should 3D scan and reproduce them...
I believe it’s just the performance aero stuff. M sport and regular are easy to get, so not sure how many people would pay for it. I certainly kept the old one though!
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Update at about 140k: turning the rotors and installing EBC Yellowstuff pads seems to have completely eliminated the braking shudder issue. I’ve put a little over a thousand miles on it already after the change with no issues. I will update if anything changes. I haven’t really gotten on them yet but I have zero complaints so far. Good cold bite, easy break in, and the 335i brakes with any pads have great power - I can only imagine that these will haul the car down like the hand of god.
It still has a mild vibration at highway speed that comes and goes that was improved after the front brakes were done, but I’m going to start with a wheel balance and go from there. Pretty sure there’s a bad ball joint somewhere in the rear suspension too so that likely isn’t helping. If the front pads were this prone to pad deposits it could be that too but on the rears, but since there’s no pulsing anymore when braking it seems less likely.
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143,020:
Replaced air filter - used a Mahle filter (P/N LX1035) in the euro airbox and it was an identical drop-in replacement. It doesn’t show up as compatible on FCP euro for the euro airbox, while the K&N does - the Mahle is 1/4 of the price and doesn’t need to be oiled or anything. Very happy.
Upper control arm ball joint is already failing again after replacement earlier this year, sounds like the TRW upper control arms have been problematic since a COO change from Europe to Malaysia. They’re letting me warranty with Meyle M3 arms instead, hopefully those work better because swapping them every year is quite annoying.
Pretty sure there’s either a sticking caliper (unlikely) or a failing wheel bearing on the drivers rear, it’s generating a lot of heat after even short drives. Going to temp gun it and see if I can diagnose further. Just got parts in to fix the leaking washer fluid (pump and filters), as well as rear sway links and rear subframe bushing inserts. Going to order front struts and start stockpiling all the rear suspension parts for some much-needed suspension refreshing this winter.
In other news, I used the wagon for a weekend camping trip at Mirror Lake this past weekend, it was perfect for the job and never skipped a beat. I love this car.
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145,xxx - I have hardly driven this car now that it’s snowy, I find it hard to justify when my truck already has surface rust and is more tolerant of starting in the cold.
Replaced the rear license plate frame; it already had one snapped bolt and I broke another this year when putting on my new registration sticker so I figured it was time for a new one. No more rattles when closing the hatch!!
Also bought a new cabin air filter (Hengst), really high quality with the foam seal around the outside. Took the opportunity to wipe the engine bay plastics down while I was in there. Also replaced a few fender liner pop rivets that I lost the center pins for when fixing the leaking washer fluid pump seals.
Next up is confirming whether the whining I’m hearing is indeed the PS pump (going to pull the serpentine belt and see if it goes away) or if it’s the A/C compressor or alternator. I still have rear subframe inserts to install this spring, and a new ground strap to go on at the next oil change, which will hopefully happen this week or next.
Debating on what tires to get this spring - the summers need replacing. I’ve heard good things about the DWS06, but it has 300TW tires on it now and they aged/wore out at the same time, so I don’t think I need anything that’ll wear harder. Leaning PS4S unless anyone has something else they love and would recommend over it?
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145,383
Picked the car up today from International Autos, they went in and did the PCV and VANOS recall work - they noted the exhaust adjuster already had the bolts replaced, and just did the intake ones as a result (which checks out from Joe’s thread). I’ll gladly take the free VCG!
Changed oil tonight - Liqui-Moly Special Tec 5W-30 and a Mann filter. While I was down there, I pulled the belly pan off and replaced the primary ground strap - old one was original I believe and getting gross. I found a seeping PS line while I was under there, not leaking much but I’ll add it to the list. Looks like the return line from the cooler to the reservoir. I also found blue fluid down in the PS pan, but I’m pretty sure it’s washer fluid since I accidentally filled to the brim last time and it’s still basically that full. I’ll keep an eye on it just in case.
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145,621
Installed the rear subframe inserts last night - no pics unfortunately, but I discovered that the E91 has a different rear subframe bushing than the sedans and coupes. The lower insert still went in fine but the upper was completely different. Some googling showed me that while FCP claims it’s for all chassis, the E91 does in fact have a slight bushing difference. Oh well, 6/8 isn’t bad and there was a very definite difference before and after. Firmer ride, but only because the rear shocks were now attenuating bumps instead of the subframe. No notable NVH increase, just better ride (IMO) and the car feels way more planted in really all cornering, but especially sweepers. Good bang for the buck I’d say!
Ordered what will hopefully be my last set of front tension struts for awhile from FCP today - the M3 TRW struts had a COO change to Malaysia and ever since have had major ball joint failure problems that are being widely reported. Both pairs I bought failed within the first 5k or so. Going to try Meyle M3 arms to see if that fixes it permanently; if not, I think I’m just gonna light it all on fire
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146,650
Tension struts got tossed in awhile back, all is good so far. Swapped to summer wheels this week.
New front struts came in this week, so going to replace those soon. I also got a new serpentine belt and crank seal guard over the winter, so I'll throw those on when I go digging for the whining noise eventually. Also got a new tweeter while on clearance from ECS to replace a blown front one.
Other than front tires, it really just needs a good wash and paint correction/wax. I always forget how good of a car this is, I got out of the E30 and into this after a 2700 mile road trip and it was almost jarring how smooth, quiet, and competent it felt.
Toying with selling the busted old Performance Aero front bumper to (partially) fund a manual swap. Thoughts from the peanut gallery? I also have a set of partially finished M-Systems with 3/4 turbine covers that I could donate to the cause and get close to breaking even between the two of them. It's tempting considering those parts are doing nothing but take up space and in the case of the M-Systems, I own nothing they even fit on anymore.
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Been slacking on driving and working on this. I've tossed around the idea of selling but don't think I can do it - it's too competent for the money, I have no idea what I would get to replace it short of a E9X M3, and i neither want to spend the money on that nor need another summer only car.
Anywho, some maintenance!
149,000ish/January 2026 - new front struts, along with every associated wear item (bump stops, strut mounts, washers, dust boots, hardware) in the strut assembly. New top hats too cause they're cheap. Not sure if i put it in the last post, but I threw in some new Meyle HD front sway links last year too, so all the front suspension is brand new save the springs themselves and the tie rods, which feel fine.
150,074/This week: Oil change, LM Special Tech 5W-30 and a Mann filter. SO easy to do on these cars, I wish my F250 had a filter insert. So much less mess.
I held off on driving this car this winter until late January to keep salt off (I needed to take it to get an emissions test to renew the registration), and I think in addition to some strategic fluid film this summer, I will likely park it next winter fully unless the truck breaks. Not worth smashing the front bumper on an ice chunk or risking some yahoo sliding through an intersection into it, plus salt=gross.
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