Tyler's 2011.5 Jerez Black E90 Slicktop Daily

[0-60motorsports]

Nice progress and looking forward to what you do with the exhaust

[Tbonem3]

Forgot a few things, and I don't want it to get too out of order, chronologically.

While doing the rear ohlins and swifts, I worked on the subframe bushes. I had gone with Whiteline poly in my e82 128i, and was very pleased with them. All the benefits of solid, with a little give.



The rears are easy, you barely have to lower the subframe (no need to disconnect brakes/ebrake cable)



With about 70k, they look great and feel pretty good overall but, under torque like 1 to 2 or 2 to 3, they squirm bad, and are harsh especially with DCT!



New ones are easy to pop in as they're 2 parts, and lubed, plus I put them in the freezer



Unfortunately, unlike the E82, I can not do the front bushes without completely dropping the subframe, and I have no reason or desire to do so at this time, so it'll have to wait. Luckily, just replacing the rear bushings has compeltely solved any sqiurm, bucking, harshness when upshifting and reaccelerating with more torque.

I also refilled the diff with OE juice (about 65k, normal interval)



Forgot to document the annual (7k) oil change done in late February switching from Castrol to Motul power ester 5w50



And while doing that, partly due to mileage (37k interval suggested, now I'm at 74k) and partly in preperation for test pipes and engine tune, I replaced the spark plugs. OE NGK.

The coil packs are a bit different, and getting them off is a bit harder than on S54. I found good fulcrums for each one, and used this pry tool to get them off quite easily.



The V8 is a bit tighter of a fit in an engine bay than S54. The rear cyl needed an exotic mix of adapters to get to. 2 wobbles and various extensions:



The plugs all looked great, not too dry and white (lean), not too dark and wet (rich), and I'm at the recommended replacement (37k iirc).



My battery was starting to dip below 12v, even getting down to like 5v, and while a charge would bring it back up over 12v, I decided to simply replace the battery right away, which also allowed me to go to a lighter/smaller spec. I still need good power as the car is fairly modern, and I have a sound system, but the H8 was really big and heavy. I got an H7 AGM through Costco for a great price ($169.99).

12.83v off the bat, nice!



Gave me a change to clean up the tray, as well as change the mounting configuration to fit the smaller battery



You just move this clamp up one hole:




All done, I saved like 10lbs lol You also have to register the battery on this era plus, possibly, code the CAS module with the specifics if you make changes like I did, going from 90Ah to 80Ah or if you go from AGM to lead acid.
Then you can register (the mileage) with ediabas Tool32:



Now for some more "fun" stuff, AWE46M3 helped me snag a local stock X pipe with low miles that already had TMS test pipes installed, plus included to original cats (which I've since sold for almost what I paid for this entire setup lol).



I took the opportunity to replace the pre-cat widebands ahead of time. I'll leave the originals on the original X-pipe as I'll likely have to swap it out every 2 years for SMAWG



I've actually already installed them and tuned with Hassan (HTE), but I'll document it later plus some other exh work I'm doing to find the right tone and volume for this beast. With the 4pipe muffler, and test pipes now, it was waaaaayyyy too loud and raspy (bad, ugly rasp, not zinggy e46 m3 rasp).

[Tbonem3]

So after increasing the rear spring rate from 658 to 784lb, I was waiting on new GC street camber plates before jumping up from the standard Ohlins 8" 343lb front spring to Eibach (2.5") 7" tall 450lb linear spring.



Got the parts in after only like a month wait!



Ohlins vs Eibach coil. Much smaller and lighter!



I took a picture of my current bilstein/dinan setup so I could eyeball the location of the strut for decent alignment. I love the custom GC ///M washers



Since the new spring was a different height and weight, I knew I'd need to adjust the bottom perch upwards.



I also went up to 5mm spacer from 3mm with new Apex bolts since I'd have more neg camber and stiffer springs






Oooo that's hawt





Unfortunately, the Ohlins can not properly control the rebound from these 2kg/in (100lb) stiffer springs. If you slow rebound with the Ohlins' adjustment knob, you also increase compression which just makes it bouncier. I'm also pretty low, lower than I should be and that contributes to an upset ride, but I'm willing to compromise a bit. My E46 is also low with stiff springs, yet it feels sublime (MCS ftw).

So, I'll need to grab a set of old stock dampers (I saved springs and mounts) and send the Ohlins to Barry at 3DM to revalve at some point.

If I put the ohlins at about halfway (15 clicks), it's a pretty good compromise and will do for now, but it all pales in comparison to the control my MCS have on my E46.

[0-60motorsports]

That looks beautiful

[Tbonem3]

So I drove the car a few times and noticed that I could still get too close to bottoming out for my comfort on hgh speed, big dips. Ostensibly, spring rates at this level do seem appropriate, but then remember that the E90 is a good 350lbs heavier than my E46. Then it's easier to understand how much spring the E9x can take. I've been reading and it seems like track e9x guys are running often 500-600/900-1000 or thereabouts.

So my decision is to go up 10 newtons to 400lb in the front and 784 rear from 343/685. Ohlins says you can go up to 30% increase without revalving the dampers. I'll be doing about 15%.

First step was to reach out to Barry for Ohlins springs. Unfortunately, the perfect sized Ohlins for me were out of stock. He was able to sell me the equivalent swift (65mm) for same price - cool!

Now, for the front, custom rates usually mean the need to switch to camber plates and coilover size perch like 60mm/2.5", BUT there is a little trick we can try. Member LSB4Me, as I understand it, took the 343lb e9x ohlins spring and made it fit his E46 ohlins kit. The e9x front spring is 6mm smaller in OD than the E46, whcih isn't much, just 1/8" on each side to account for when it comes to fitting the rubber pad. I think he said he had to trim his pad. Now, I'm going the other way - I'll be putting the slightly bigger E46 spring on the E90 front mount. It seems like it'll work, just eyeballing it, but I won't know until I get my hands on a set.

Another member here has expressed interest in swapping with me (as I waxed poetic about 343lb front springs on E46). So once I have the E46 springs in hand, I'll measure and take pics and see if we can't make this work.

Worst case, I'll have to sell the cut mounts and dinan plates, and get the GC street plates with 2.5" and then get the corresponding swift spring (~7", 65mm, 7N/mm). Might not lose too much money going this route, but I'd really be happy to make the e46 springs work and stay on OE mounts.

The rear swifts came super fast (thanks Barry - 3DM)



Also pictured are Whiteline subframe bushings - I'll detail that next time



Here's the current stack. I mentioned earlier that it was nice that Ohlins provides cushioning, but I still found it inadequate.



So here's what I've done. I took that little, thin top rubber donut and put it down below, under the plastic seat for a little extra cushion there. Then, up top, I made my own bigger, thicker pad for where the spring perch sits against the body.



The spring is a bit shorter than ohlins, but there's plenty of adjustment. There was an even shorter option still, but both Barry and I thought twice about having so much of the perch's threads above the spring. So just a little weight loss here

Took it for another romp, and WOW so much better. Felt sharper and more responsive all around, which I was not expecting (flat ride?). And of course, as expected, I was not squating all the way down after a dip. It's firmer, but not harsher! Even trying to compress the car as much as possible, there's still no rubbing or bottoming out! The front still does dive a little much, so I still want 400lb.

Now that it's stiffer, I felt comfortable lowering the rear to my desired look which is tires *just* tucked. I'm really really loving the car. Now, I want some more power and noise!

[Tbonem3]

Alright, my favorite type of modding! Chassis!

The Bilstein B8s have been great. The swift springs have been pretty good - I just feel like they needed the front rate to be closer to 3xxlb not low 200s as the front would dive a bit too much. The 1" drop looks great, but you're on the bumpstops too much. I tried to alleviate that by reducing the stack above the spring for more travel. That is, cut mounts up front and Monroe (dinan copies) RSMs. I was pretty happy, but this was always a temporary solution until I got Ohlins or MCS.

I actually had bought the ohlins off a local back in summer of 2023! But with moving, no garage and a new baby, I just couldn't get to it.

I went with Ohlins due to their popularity for E46 and E90 as well as their known quality. Price was a bit cheaper back then, I paid $2500. Also, I could re-use the new front mounts that I had cut down. I wanted to use them becuase I planned to use Dinan fixed camber plates which add 6mm of material to the stack. So 10mm of cut mount minus 6mm of dinan plate = still about 4mm of "free lowering" And the rear RSMs have similar. I really want to avoid solid bushings on this car, esp up front. I haven't found that many camber plates options and they all seem pretty hardcore, so sticking with stock mounts was key. GC street is the only viable option for me, but they're $700, so I hope to acheive my goals with just stock mounts.

I was also, at first, impressed with Ohlin's spring rate choice of 343 (60N) & 685 (120N). I felt that they got the E46 wrong with 400/628 (I think it should be 343/628 or 400/685).

After installation, however, with my type of driving, I still don't think 343/685 is enough, so I'll be looking to go up to 400/784, but I'll touch on that later...




So first I disassembled the Bilstein fronts, as I knew I needed to modify the mounts before installing the ohlins.



You take out the bearing to expose the backside of the 3 studs - you have to pop them out



Gotta have a big vice!

Then pop them into the Dinan plates. I used some sockets to create pockets for the studs to go into so that I could press them flush, actually, beyond flush.






Doesn't take long at all if you have a good method.

Now to install...



Ohlins asks you to preload the spring by 6mm, then height adjustment is done with the strut body, where the hub clasps it. Only bad part, the adjustment knob is on the bottom. Everyone has theirs up top for adjustment in the engine bay




Very nice parts, easy to work with for adjustment. I set the damping knob about in the middle for now.

On to the rear...



Comparison of Swift 672 (12kg) versus Ohlins 120N (685lb). Not too different. Ohlins is shorter to allow for adjustment perch.




At least the rear's adjustment knobs are up top, but that area is covered by liners doh! I have no problem leaving liners out, but some have made nice holes in them for access. Maybe I'll get around to that.



Ohlins is great at making sure NVH is limited. They provide rubber and plastic sheets/seats. Having said that, the sheet was barely 1/16" (prob just 1mm) and the footprint (OD minus ID) was pretty small, like 3/8". So next time I'm in there, I'll replace with my own 1/8" thick rubber sheet, and I'll make a larger footprint.

Still, on the first drive, it was almost as quiet and soft as stock. Just slightly harsher - maybe I can mitigate it further.

more coming...

[Tbonem3]

Some small updates before I post about my suspension changes, to keep things chronological.

New OEM wipers for the upcoming rainy season



New air filter. Cleaned the dust/pebble out of the housing.



And now most importantly, at very little cost luckily, I was able to replace the worn CIC button. You can't buy this from BMW, and buying a whole new controller is $$$.

Aliexpress to the rescue!



Oh and I got lucky and found a like new set of Factory BMW Black Chrome grilles. I thought I grew out of blacking out things after going with a factory look on my E46, but since I'm modding my E90 in a particular way, and because I love this black chrome on my X7, I wanted to give it a try on the E90. These parts are NLA, though I did see ECS listing them for $6xx recently. I got these for $200. The differenc between these and typical gloss black (like from IND) is significant. Not cheap at all. Goes well with my not cheap E88s I think.

[0-60motorsports]

Thanks Kevin! Once I install the ohlins, drop the rear a 1/4", dial in a little more camber, and then polish/coat the car again, I think it's gonna be perfect!

That'll look really good.

[Tbonem3]

Thanks Kevin! Once I install the ohlins, drop the rear a 1/4", dial in a little more camber, and then polish/coat the car again, I think it's gonna be perfect!

[kaiv]

Not usually a fan of Jerez but this is absolutely gorgeous and perfectly executed!

[0-60motorsports]

Thank you Ejaz!

My pleasure T! Always an admirer of your attention to detail.

[Tbonem3]

Thank you Ejaz!

[0-60motorsports]

Wow it looks amazing

[Tbonem3]

Some updates since February...

Scored a nice set of Audiotec Fischer MATCH underseat subwoofers off ebay. I've been wanting to upgrade, but these shallow neodynium driven speakers are quite pricey, and not many are available within the U.S.

These were the only stock speakers left in the car, so now everything has been upgraded. Still need to tune it a bit, but it's the same resistance and similar specs to logic7 woofers, just more bass/power. The goal would be to have such good bass response that I could ditch the 10" sealed sub in the trunk, but it's just not really possible from a shallow 8" I still will take the better bass response from these around 200hz - 80hz.




The E90 is such a sieve compared to the E46. With E46, I'd get a little water dripping from the hoffkink, but the E90 seems to spill it from all over the place, particularly the doors. Pretty neat invention from Autofiber - MF strips with magnets to soak up the dripping water. I plan to have spotless water in the future, but this is great for preventing ugly waterspots on the skirts.




Second oil change (2nd anniversary of ownership), but I'm moving to motul for both my cars. I've run castrol forever, but price and availability are worrse and worse plus the formulation is likely much different to the TWS we all grew up with. Motul was the best brand I could find at reasonable prices, esp because you can buy 5L jugs (about $50 per). For e90, I'm using the standard full synthetic 10w60 "8100 x power", but for the S54, I'm using their new 5w50 Ester ($60/5L). I trust motul, and I haven't veered far at all from castrol's specs.



When I had bought the car, the passenger fender liner was torn up and the belly panel was barely hanging on. Did my research and was leaning towards these popular alloy panels some companies are making, but I was worried about airflow and too much rigidity compared to the factory piece. I decided to buy new, at least new comes with the bowden cables, as mine were missing. I had replaced the fender liner last year, but it wouldn't fasten to the beat up pan until now.





I noticed that the original ebrake handle was getting a line of wear down the inside of the top. Not horrible, but I'm really trying to have the interior look very low mileage.



Other than the fairly worn (for 65k) steering wheel, everything's been replaced or cleaned and coming across as like new now. There are some little chips on the EDC/DSC/sport button strip which is common, but I'll just touch that up as those buttons are like $250 - no thanks. I had cleaned the interior and the camera was out, so I took some intimate shots of the "finished" interior sans steering wheel.







My usual tire supplier, America's tire was doing a sale on Michelin, and I had grown tired of seeing the stretched 245/275s on 9.5/10.5 so I bought 265/285 PS4S. I love the meaty look on 18". I recently did similar with the E46 going from 245 on 9" (no bueno) to 265 (actually 255 yoko a052 which is really a 265) on 9.5" (bueno).

Interestingly, because I bought the tires off their ebay store (rather than local store I guess), they shipped them to me. But 285s were back ordered, so I had them go to the tire shop a week later.



Putting the 3mm spacer back on and re-torquing. The little spacer gets the wheel/tire perfectly flush to fender (I don't want poke).



Rears got done the next week. I used a 3mm spacer because I wasn't sure of clearance at first, but now I see I should be able to fit a 5mm.






Other than pushing the rear out 2mm more, I've very happy with how 265/285 ps4s look and fill out the fenders. I also plan to lower the rear a little when I install the Ohlins, but this is what I've been wanting for 2 years! In between stock and a typical enthusiast look. More functional, a bit more reserved, but the shiny BBS still set the car apart, and the car feels so damn good with lighter/wider wheels/tires. Can't wait for the ohlins!

[Tbonem3]

Prep'ing the E88s for install....

Cleaned using Meguiar's Ultimate wheel cleaner (iron remover/soap) + autofiber MF applicator






Clean




Detail time!



I also ordered, ahead of time, an extended and protected 17mm lug socket for these deep pocket centers



Time to polish. Mother's MAG polish for the barrels/lips (exposed metal), and Griot's Boss perfecting cream for the painted centers



Gyeon Pure Evo ceramic coating



All done!



Now prep'ing the vehicle's hubs. I clean off deposits/surface rust with red scotch pad and wd-40 (magic combo!) I also picked up some ceramic enamel paint, in black, to paint the inside of the hubs since they'll be exposed as these wheels don't take a center cap (BMW nor BBS).



Oh my



Fuckkkkkk



Some full body shots. I really wanted something special to set the car apart, and this is it! I'm not one for exterior/cosmetic mods, so this is my way of standing out and having both the OE+ look AND the top tier aftermarket look.




Only downside is that the tires mounted were for E46 (245/274). They're PS4S and they're not very worn, so I'm going to use them up during the winter and then go to 265/285 to finalize everything in 2024. Not loving the stretched look, but I'll survive since it's rainy season anyway. I added 3mm spacers so the stretched tires didn't look too sunken in.