BCM's Ultimate E90 Member Hangout.

[KL2DC]

Yeah, I find the RE050A very hard too! It's too noticeable and a real bane everytime I drive my car!

They're rock hard !! Especially if you leave the air pressures at the high speed setting, like me....

 

[Juan Powerblow]

Yup, I had good experience from the Contis on AB's loaner too and even in my initial set of 17"s on my E92! It was so much better! Well, I guess it's non-RFTs for me when I change my tyres eventually!

 

[E46Fanatic]

Sent the car to AB sungai besi and had the steering hose changed. Unfortunately, the Steering pump was also leaking. Both changed in a day, but steering still feels heavy. Also was informed that the brakes are giving way. Was adviced to change all discs. Does that sound plausible ?

Ya. I find the stock BMW brakes better than typical stock Jap cars and the discs hardly warp. On the E46, the front discs were changed at 25k kms and then again ~50-60k kms. You can actually physically inspect your discs to see how much of it has been eaten away.

 

[Equalizer]

Yup, I had good experience from the Contis on AB's loaner too and even in my initial set of 17"s on my E92!

I had been an early complainant about RFTs too and in fact seriously considered changing out of the Contis when I was about 3000km ..... but a remarkable thing has happened - the tyres seemed to have "run-in" around 5000km and now that I am running 7000km, they feel very bearable at about 220psi all round .... Looks like this set will be running till botak then!! The entire suspension setup seems to have run-in also because there is a significant lack of "bouncing" now compared to when the car was new. Wonder if any of the rest felt this too

 

[KL2DC]

Equalizer, actually my stock suspension dropped a little after run-in. I honestly can't remember if I noted any changes to the ride quality after run-in and I thought my Bridgestone EL42s remained quite crappy lol

 

[rookie]

Now that you mentioned it, the RFTs and suspension/spring do feel less bouncy, but whenever I hop into my friend's Volvo S40 Sports with 18 inch wheels, I still feel my E90's ride is harder even with 16 inch wheels

 

[danc]

rookie,

That is the funny thing. In fact I find the ride on the 16 in harder than on 17 in for the E90 i.e. 320 vs 325. Maybe it's just my imagination, but try and do a back to back butt comparison for yourself.

 

[Juan Powerblow]

I had been an early complainant about RFTs too and in fact seriously considered changing out of the Contis when I was about 3000km ..... but a remarkable thing has happened - the tyres seemed to have "run-in" around 5000km and now that I am running 7000km, they feel very bearable at about 220psi all round .... Looks like this set will be running till botak then!! The entire suspension setup seems to have run-in also because there is a significant lack of "bouncing" now compared to when the car was new. Wonder if any of the rest felt this too

I hope you're right cos ideally, I was hoping to change to non-RFTs only when my current RFTs wear out. I'm noticing some slight improvements over smaller speed breakers but it's still far from ideal.

 

[E46Fanatic]

More reason to meetup to do our "butt test" session LOL.

I'm envious of the ride quality each time I step into my collegue's new Merc C230 V6 sports which comes stock with sports suspension and staggered 17's setup. Its nice and supple and yet feels sporty. Engine wise, the BMW N52 feels more torquey in mid range and more willing to run than the V6, but the 204hp V6 is not bad at all. Redline for the V6 is slightly over 6k rpms only and doesn't give the scream of BMW's I6 when the RPM needle goes ~6 - 7+k rpms. The BMW feels more exciting, and raunchy while the Merc feels more refined.

 

[ken]

Yes guys, should meet up for "butt test session" as suggested by E46 Fanatic.
I'm on RE050 RFT 18". finding the ride ok with sports suspension set up. But according to tyre shop, he says that the ride quality & handling will improve tremedously with Michelin PS2. I'm really hoping to check out the ride on other fellow members without RFT.

 

[energy]

Importing car from Japan to Spore

Hi guys,
What do you think of importing a car from Japan to Spore? I will be in Tokyo for 6 months and thinking of doing that. Any websites or contacts?
Just got info from LTA spore about importing a car from Japan to Spore:


----------------------------------------
We would like to inform you that only new vehicles or used vehicles of not
more than 3 years can be imported into Singapore. A surcharge of $10,000
in addition to the following fees and taxes would be applicable if you are
importing and registering a used car:-

1) Registration Fee (RF) = $140
2) Additional Registration Fee (ARF) = 110% of OMV
3) Certificate of Entitlement (COE) = Quota Premium
(Category A, B or E)
4) Customs Duty = 20% of OMV
5) Road Tax = Calculated based on Engine
Capacity

OMV refers to the Open Market Value of a vehicle when it is first imported
into Singapore. It is assessed by the Singapore Customs (SC), taking into
account the purchase price (cost), freight, insurance handling (CIF) and
all other charges incidental to the sale and delivery of the car. The value
may therefore differ for almost every car. For more information or
clarification on CIF and OMV, you may wish to contact SC at:-

Singapore Customs (SC)
55 Newton Road #08-01
Revenue House
Singapore 307987
Tel: 6250 8663
Customer Service Line: 6355 2000
General Enquiry: customs documentation@customs.gov.sg
QSM: 1800-225 3866
Email: customs_feedback@customs.gov.sg
Website: http://www.customs.gov.sg
----------------------------------------------------

 

[David Yong]

Yes guys, should meet up for "butt test session" as suggested by E46 Fanatic.
I'm on RE050 RFT 18". finding the ride ok with sports suspension set up. But according to tyre shop, he says that the ride quality & handling will improve tremedously with Michelin PS2. I'm really hoping to check out the ride on other fellow members without RFT.

Yes, yes..... lets organise another round of meet up for the E9X.....

Date ?
Time ?
Venue ?
Who ?

 

[E46Fanatic]

I just redeemed the free BMW Driver Training which AB offered together with 20 others freeloading with me . Bundy, Kevster and EEric were the main instructors with Hammond and Ivan Khong (YSKhong's son).

Benefited a great deal, and after 18 years of driving, it amazes me how much bad habits or wrong techniques I have accumulated all these years. We weren't taught how to handle emergency situations, correct techniques on hand movement behind the wheel or even correct seating positions during our JPJ driving lessons and test. So this was good la.

The best part was actually pushing the E90 325i to the limit, which I will unlikely do on the street, and knowing how much the car can take and how it'll behave at its threshold and when it goes "off". On the limit, the E90 is very well balanced, and its easy to control the car in an understeer or oversteer situation even with DTC off. Its just that we have to get used to the feeling as not to panic when the real thing happens. I find that old habits was to grip the steering very tightly in an emergency situation, and looking at obstacles which are looming fast towards the car instead of looking at exit points to drive towards to. Common mistake in emergency situation which causes panic. With eyes firmly on where you wanna go, and correct steering movement techniques, its easy and fun to get out of such situations.

The E90 was purely amazing, and for a stock standard car, wheels, suspension and auto box (our cars had less than 100kms on the ODO ), it really performs esp on the track. I would say as best as any mass produced consumer saloon can perform around Sepang. During the taxi ride, the car is very neutral, and drifts around turn 2 and turn 3 very well and along fast sweeping bends on the limit (120+ kmh), hard and fast underbraking and very good directional shifts to the next corner. Definitely something like say a stock Accord or Camry will fail miserably to accomplish with such poise and composure.

So at the end of it all, what I've learned is the amount of driving dynamics BMW engineers have put so much effort in when designing the E90 that its really superb stock standard even with an autobox for hard hard driving. We don't usually explore this to the limits, but after the training, I am aware of where these limits are and what to do when approaching them. I've also learned, that these cars are really "raped and abused" LOL. The cars stood up well, and the only sign was some of us experienced the engine dying after hard oversteering and drifting excercise when we come to a complete stop. Kinda funny for an auto and we'll have to put the car back to park and fire up the engine again. Could be a built in mechanism on the computer saying, the driver is "nuts" and shuts down the engine after it comes to a complete stop LOL.

Just watch out when buying a used E90 325i in Siver/black or Black/Grey heh. Make sure there are no sticker glue marks which resemble BMW Driver Training on the doors appearing amist soap bubbles the 1st time you wash your car. What a nightmare it would be LOL. BTW 1 fresh set of tyres is completely destroyed after ~3 training sessions clocking only just over 100 kms.

Highly recommended... but it can get quite car sick as I experienced, when you are riding passenger, So take motion sickness pills to enjoy the session better

 

[Schwepps]

Thanks for the excellent writeup E46F. I wasn't sure I'd go to mine as I've done two of these before with Volvo and Merc, but you've whetted my appetite!

I think it's high time you change your nick as you're obviously an E90F now...

I'm quite surprised that they sell the training cars! Jeez! Are you certain and what does "pre-approved" mean...pre-approved by drivers who've thrashed them good?

 

[Zoggee]

E46fanatic,

Now you know how good BMW Instructors are.Most drivers around not only BMW owners take their driving for granted.

Now you've gone thru the defensive driving from BMW...why not join us for some fun on July22nd....shud be fun la.

Ask JPB....he knows. he..he..

 

[Juan Powerblow]

Zoggee!! For that event, I'll try to rope in E46F but the pwobwem is I'm not bringing in my E92 and I'm sure E46F won't bring in his E90. So how???! It would be nice if BMW Driving School can rent their E90s to us, heh!

Anyways, I'm getting pretty happy with my E92's engine performance. It's beginning to feel even better than my ex-E46 325i i.e. in terms of low and mid-range torque. Just the other day, I play-play with a red Masserati hot on my tail and I managed to hold him back before exiting the highway.

 

[ALBundy]

E46F, glad to hear that you had a great time. I am sure you enjoyed the short little video on RFTs

 

[E46Fanatic]

Yea I was quite impressed on the % of BMW Instructors who are from the club. I think its not just driving that they are good at, but they were very polished, patient and polite even when we kept failing to follow the right instructions. There are a lot of good track drivers around Sepang on Sunday free practice sessions, but this bunch were the ones who could also instruct, articulate well, and was very professional.

Zog,

Its unlikely I'll take my car to the track to run la. Too precious LOL... and too poor to afford the wear and tear cost from hard track driving . I've taken my Civic EK4 SiR a few times before to BT3 and Sepang, but have since then learned how much it costs to maintain a track driving hobby. Loved it, but very sakit hati for the car...

 

[ken]

Hi E46Fanatic,
How much does it costs to join the driving experience course? I bought my car from Sapura Auto. Can i call up the Salesperson or its exclusive for ABavaria only? sounds like good fun. Cheers

 

[E46Fanatic]

I believe the BMW driver training is by BMW Malaysia. AB buys up slots to give their customers free BMW driver training as part of their car sales promotion, and so does Sapura auto. Individuals pay RM1,500 per lesson i think. Can check with the Instructors (Kevster, Albundy etc) for more info.

Worth a shot asking your sales person about this training. For my case, AB only offered this for a limited time to pressure buyers on the fence to commit to signinig their chequebooks before the promo is up. Could be the same for Sapura Auto.