BCM's Ultimate E90 Member Hangout.

[Equalizer]

i can see her pulling away from me n she was only changing gears at 5500 rpm while i was hitting redline 7000rpm.

Ken - I mean this as a complement to you, so please dun get me wrong - I really admire and envy you for having the good fortune of a wife who can take her car to 5500rpm !! Congrats!!

 

[Schwepps]

Not to mention owning a Golf GTI that can out-pull a 268bhp E90 330i at lower revs! Perhaps BMW should learn a thing or two about gear ratios from VW

 

[E46Fanatic]

Ken,

What a sweet hubby/wife thing to do together LOL... It helps that your wife has the GTi in the stable. Its somehow just not the same with that minivan or SUV...

 

[E46Fanatic]

I just kicked-down my engine last night after doing 1,100 kms. Told E46F about it who was quite reprehensive cos it's said in the manual that run-in period is 2,000 kms. I don't remember seeing this in the manual even tho I thot I've read it quite thoroughly.

It's at the higher revs that I miss the 2.5L in the E90 325i the most. My redline is only up to 6,250 rpms compared to 7,000 rpms in the 325i and those extra revs are sorely missed. I guess that's why it takes 8.6 secs to reach 100 kmh compared to 7.7 secs in the 325i.

....

I've shared with some friends here that I'm only baby-sitting this E92 323i for 2 years plus and have to look for a new car then. The impending new 5er model seems like an obvious choice but now I'm contemplating the E92 M3. Heh!

Ya I was quite surprised to read that it was 2000 kms instead of 1000kms. The M54 was 1000kms if I am not mistaken. Also did a google search and the US E90 fellas also have it in their manuals for break in period of 1,250 miles. About right la. Apparently its not just for the engine, but the tranny too.

Actually, I don't think there will be perverse short term effect if you break the break in rule. Besides, my car came with just over 100km on the ODO, and my guess is that it saw the redline a few times as well during this period... Sigh.

Bad news for me is that I am not just babysitting the car for a couple of years only. Unless I get a stroke of fortune between now and then LOL.

 

[KL2DC]

Yep, break-in was recommended at 1,200 miles...as usual folks have differing opinions on this. I remembered the first time I hit 1,200 miles, I had been driving the car every night before bed and on that night I stayed out quite late

 

[danc]

Yup,
Same here, once I hit 2000 km, I started to floor the throttle. Step pass the click in the pedal, hold on and watch the rev bounce off 7000 rpm before it shifts. It feels NICEEEEE!

 

[KL2DC]

Yup,
Same here, once I hit 2000 km, I started to floor the throttle. Step pass the click in the pedal, hold on and watch the rev bounce off 7000 rpm before it shifts. It feels NICEEEEE!

especially in DS and Step mode... Fun times...

 

[E46Fanatic]

BTW, what kinda FC readings are you all seeing in your car, now that the engine is all run-in. I'm getting 12.7ltr/100kms now, which is not much diff than the E46 325i. I saw a short period of low 11's on the E46 for normal city driving before I swapped out to 18's.

 

[E46Fanatic]

BTW, I applied a layer of Autoglym EGP sealant on the car today. SG is a funky color and I can't decide if I like the color more with softer deep glossy look or shiny hard reflective look. In the BMW promo materials its shown in the latter characteristics. I'm leaning on the latter which I prefer. The look will then dictate which products I'll use on the car.

 

[danc]

In the recent photos that KL2DC helped me post, I was using AG Ultra Deep Shine and then sealed with AG EGP.

As for milage, in town driving I am getting about 8.2km/l.

 

[KL2DC]

E46F, even with zaino polymer sealant, when the correct light hits, there's no masking the sparkles in the paint. I love it.

 

[E46Fanatic]

Danc, thats about 12.1 ltr/100km. Decent but comparable with the E46. The engine is supposed to be around 10% more efficient than the M54 based on marketing lit and has more efficient 6 gear ratios. I am guessing the run flats which weigh more than standard tyres also impact the FC. Then again, our cars come with heavier 17's stock and 255 rears. The E46 had lighter 16's and narrower 205 when it was stock.

 

[E46Fanatic]

E46F, even with zaino polymer sealant, when the correct light hits, there's no masking the sparkles in the paint. I love it.

Personally, I find the shine of polymer/synthetic products brighter, more reflective and harder. The deeper softer look comes more from carnaubas, and natural waxes. Both looks good, but suits different colors better. Black colors (my ex cars) look best with softer, glossy and deeper characteristics. Wicked! SG I think suits the harder more reflective look.

 

[danc]

I find the 325 FC, just so so I guess. I used to get the same FC in my 3 litre accord. If you read the E90 spec, they claim the 2.5 lit and 3.0 lit FC is very similiar, I guess that is why in the US they just used a detuned 3.0 lit for the 325/328.

 

[David Yong]

Surprisingly my FC is 17.2 ltr/100km. Dunno why it is so high. Must be something wrong. My engine oil consumption is more alarming. Since the day I got my car in August 2006, I have the following oil top up:

1st top: 3,466 kms in Oct 06
2nd top: 8,662 kms in Nov 06
3rd top: 10,642 kms in Dec 06
4th top: 12,242 kms in Jan 07
5th top: 15,705 kms in Feb 07
6th top: 19,030 kms in Apr 07

In my 3rd top up, AB suspected problem with my oil sensor as within 1 km after top up of oil, the indicator shows minimum level again. AB did compression test and test on the engine oil sensor. They confirmed it's sensor faulty and replaced a new unit for me.

But.... looking at my record above, it seems like the problem is still around. Now my mileage is 21,534 kms and the oil level is almost at the minimum level already. My last top up was at 19,030 kms which was only last month!

How about you guys ? Do you have such problem ? Or any idea what happen to my machine ???

 

[danc]

David,

To me it sounds high, but I guess it also depends on how you have been driving. I have not topped up my engine oil at all and I am now at 10,000km. The only reason I did is to change my oil at 10,000 km by AB and thats all.

I do mostly town driving.

 

[KL2DC]

Personally, I find the shine of polymer/synthetic products brighter, more reflective and harder. The deeper softer look comes more from carnaubas, and natural waxes. Both looks good, but suits different colors better. Black colors (my ex cars) look best with softer, glossy and deeper characteristics. Wicked! SG I think suits the harder more reflective look.

Actually I'd go with a synthetic for a black car for the ultimate wet paint look...

SG is such that its a dynamic color that even with a synthetic the sparkles come out under different light.

 

[KL2DC]

David, looks pretty high...I think I documented my oil consumption somewhere, I can't recall the mileage points atm but I topped up twice within 13,500 miles (when I brought the car in for 1st service) and the car hasn't needed a top up since then (oil meter holding steady)...

 

[Schwepps]

High fuel and oil consumption...sounds like a compression problem, maybe in only one cylinder so there's no appreciable power loss.

Jeez, I've never EVER had to top-up oil in any of my cars whether new or old. Ran the new W211 for 10 months before the first service indicator came up, and never had to top-up anything the whole time! What IS it about BMWs and reliability? Reading this forum is depressing sometimes. I'm not looking forward to finding out whether I'm lucky or not when mine arrives.

 

[rookie]

Hi David, your FC seems too high, but again I guess it depends on traffic conditions and how heavy is your right foot The number of oil top-up doesn't seem right though. Are you sure you don't have a leak somewhere?