Type of modification on your E90

[David Yong]

David, I'd think twice about the 8,000K lights....I wouldn't go more than 6,000K, you lose so much lighting range/brightness.

Yeah, I heard too that 6,000K or 6,500K is a good choice. Anyway, the price here is ridiculous. For D1S, it is priced at RM 1,850!

 

[megatnh]

Fellow Beemerians
I m planning of getting either 18in or 19in wheels for my 320i. however having a 150hp car I m not too sure of fitting a 19in rims for fear of underpower/harsh ride whatsoever. Have any of 320i folks here use the 19in and willing to share the experiences?

I fitted a M Sport Steering and the site effects found ;the softness but firmed leather make me want to squeeze em a lot , tendency to drive fast is high due to sporty feel?, gosh I like to hang my fingers on the steering 2 & 9 o'clock bumps(?)....

 

[KL2DC]

megatnh,

If you're worried about performance go with 18s...19s are for mainly for looks.

When I stepped up from 16s to 18s I felt a slight sap in acceleration due to the heavier rolling stock. But of course the dividends in grip and steering feel was worth it.

Of course, try to get the lightest wheels possible...

The car actually rides better with the 18" RFT set up over my previous 16" RFT setup. But of course non RFT will be even better, I don't think you'll notice a degradation in ride comfort then..

 

[E46Fanatic]

The car actually rides better with the 18" RFT set up over my previous 16" RFT setup. But of course non RFT will be even better, I don't think you'll notice a degradation in ride comfort then..

KL2DC, any theories on how come the 18's RFT rides better than the 16 RFTs? I'm contemplating going with 18's staggered but am already not happy with the ride quality on 17s... Releasing air to below recommended pressures is a quick fix for the ride quality, but with the RFT's you'll notice the thread on the sides of the tyre wearing out fast with this quick and dirty fix. Basically the side wall is holding up the tyre on the sides only which causes the premature wear.

 

[megatnh]

KL2DC/E46Fanatic

I have been thinking of getting either 18in M or AC wheels..not too sure how heavy they are compared to existing 17in rims that I m using currently...

 

[ken]

KL2DC, any theories on how come the 18's RFT rides better than the 16 RFTs? I'm contemplating going with 18's staggered but am already not happy with the ride quality on 17s... Releasing air to below recommended pressures is a quick fix for the ride quality, but with the RFT's you'll notice the thread on the sides of the tyre wearing out fast with this quick and dirty fix. Basically the side wall is holding up the tyre on the sides only which causes the premature wear.

Hi,
I'm on rear 255/35/18 n front 225/40/18. What tyre pressure should i use? from the side of the front driver car door, its recommeded that we use 2.8 bar rear n 2.6 bar front. that's rather high side right? i've lowered to rear 2.6 bar n front 2.5 bar. wat do u guys think is ideal? i can't seem to feel any diff in ride comfort compared to new. cheers

 

[KL2DC]

Ken, I'm happy with 37psi all around, I've played around with it a lot but found this to be a happy compromise, turn in is more balanced.

megatnh, generally speaking OEM wheels are quite heavy, more so with the RFTs, but at least the wheels are robust.

E46F: I think the Bridgestone RE050 RFTs are better than the crappy EL42s A/S tires I was upgrading from. I also suspect the extra width might've helped.

 

[E46Fanatic]

E46F: I think the Bridgestone RE050 RFTs are better than the crappy EL42s A/S tires I was upgrading from. I also suspect the extra width might've helped.

Good point. I think you are right. With narrower tyres, holding up the same weight of the car, there is more force per sq inch on the narrower contact patch, which will cause higher heat and wear on the tyre. I've seen a completely deflated RFT in the driver training (one of the cars had a flat), and the tyre looks.... fully inflated!! Talk about tough sidewalls... So the sidewall seems remains as hard whether its on 18's or higher profile 16's... just that the contact patch pressure is more distributed on the wider profile tyre perhaps a good thing for distribution of shock and impact??!

Any engineers wanna chip in on this theory ?

 

[Bimmer910]

Hey guys,

MEGATNH, what did it cost for the M-POwer steering wheel ? does it come with the paddle shift ? was it a problem to install ? It looks tight!

As previously posted, am looking at buying 18" rims direct from the states. The prices seem reasonable. Im tired of seing bimmers with the same ol' rims...

Any drawbacks ? Im thinking of verde kOAS rims which are compatible with the E-90. No staggered set up for me, cause rotation becomes difficult. http://www.victoriatire.com

They are offering these rims with Zeno strata????tires. Anyone know anything about em ?

And finally, does anyone know what kind of increase the GrupeM intake makes to a 320 ?

cheers guys.

 

[megatnh]

bimmer910
if you are using the sport steering , u only need to change the steering. However , if u dont have the sport steering u need to get the complete package i.e steering, airbag and panel cover. Apparently, the latter will cost more

the M steering operates fine with my car and I m not too sure what do u mean by tight...

So far I m a much happier man after changing to M-sport leather steering ...

 

[David Yong]

Fellow Beemerians
I m planning of getting either 18in or 19in wheels for my 320i. however having a 150hp car I m not too sure of fitting a 19in rims for fear of underpower/harsh ride whatsoever. Have any of 320i folks here use the 19in and willing to share the experiences?

I fitted a M Sport Steering and the site effects found ;the softness but firmed leather make me want to squeeze em a lot , tendency to drive fast is high due to sporty feel?, gosh I like to hang my fingers on the steering 2 & 9 o'clock bumps(?)....

Strongly suggest that you go with 18" for your 320i unless you dun mind on the drop in performance/power and higher fuel consumption.

 

[David Yong]

Hi,
I'm on rear 255/35/18 n front 225/40/18. What tyre pressure should i use? from the side of the front driver car door, its recommeded that we use 2.8 bar rear n 2.6 bar front. that's rather high side right? i've lowered to rear 2.6 bar n front 2.5 bar. wat do u guys think is ideal? i can't seem to feel any diff in ride comfort compared to new. cheers

I'm on 18" too but not with staggered setup. Running on 235/40/18 all round and I pump 33 psi for front and 35 psi for rear. It's good for me. Try it out for yours.

 

[megatnh]

Strongly suggest that you go with 18" for your 320i unless you dun mind on the drop in performance/power and higher fuel consumption.

dave
just to get the feel on high FC using bigger wheels of more than 18in, what FC are we talking about, currently i am running at 10L/100km...

 

[David Yong]

dave
just to get the feel on high FC using bigger wheels of more than 18in, what FC are we talking about, currently i am running at 10L/100km...

My cousin e90 320sei is running on stock 17" RFT and his FC is 9.8L/100km.

Mine e90 325i before on 17" RFT is 12.5L/100km. Now mine with normal tyres 18" is 15.2L/100km.

My brother's E46 318i 2.0 litre running on 18" normal tyres FC is 11.8L/100km.

Hope this give you an idea of the FC.

 

[megatnh]

hey david
the higher FC is not because of running at higher speed after getting 18in wheels

 

[Schwepps]

David, are you really getting 15.2L/100km or is that a typo? That's too high IMHO!

What happened with the problem you had regarding excessive oil burn similar to Macheet's? He had serious blow-by remember? Did you get that sorted?

 

[David Yong]

This is the e-mail I've sent to AB on 12th June right after my car was sent in to them to check this problem;

Dear Vijay,

As highlighted to you numerous times on my car high engine oil consumption, pls find the report on the frequency of oil top up on my car as follows (car was bought on 16th Aug 06):

At 3,466 kms on 2nd Oct 06
At 8,662 kms on 20th Nov 06
At 10,642 kms on 20th Dec 06
At 12,242 kms on 19th Jan 07
At 15,705 kms on 28th Feb 07
At 19,030 kms on 19th Apr 07
At 22,138 kms on 29th May 07

As you can see from above, my car needs to top up 1 liter of engine oil at an average of every 3,300 kms travelled (the indicator will indicate oil level at minimum and need to top up a liter of oil). Averagely I need to top up a liter of oil every month!

You are aware that AB have done the compression and leak test to my car and have also did a physical oil check which shows that my car is consuming
0.25 liter of oil for every 1,000 kms travelled. This is high as compared to other car of the same model. For your information, AB has also changed the engine oil sensor at mileage of 10,642 kms but this problem remain unsolved till now.

In my opinion, this is very abnormal for a new car. Need your immediate attention to rectify this matter as I have been travelling in and out of your workshop for so many times without getting a concrete solution to this matter. It's causing me a lot of hassle and time wasted over this matter.

Pls revert back as soon as possible before I decide on the next course of action to rectify this matter. Thanks.

This is the e-mail that I shoot out this afternoon;

Dear Vijay,

It has been 11 days since our last communication and I still do not receive any news from you yet.

This is taking too long and I was very disappointed too when the sales people calling me to ask me to purchase a new car instead of waiting for the result from BMW Malaysia! I don't know what you guys trying to do here. To close another sale by asking me to buy another new car or to solve the problem of my existing car which is less than a year old and is under warranty???

I am going to escalate this matter to BMW Malaysia; How can their authorized dealer is more interested to sell another car than to solve customer's car problem!!! Is this the way to solve problem??? I have been complaining about this matter since the day I took delivery of my car in August 2006 but until today I don't see any solution to it!!!

 

[David Yong]

David, are you really getting 15.2L/100km or is that a typo? That's too high IMHO!

Yes, my FC is 15.2L/100km and is extremely high. I suspect it could be related to my high engine oil consumption problem. I am complaining this to AB too.

 

[Schwepps]

Oooo! Sounds like you do have an engine problem then. The oil burn and 15.2L/100km is ample indication. Suggest you waste no time in escalating this in the strongest terms to BMW Malaysia.

Don't rule out getting a new car if the terms are favourable. That is sometimes the easiest solution all round...for customer, dealer and distributor. Remember my story of a bunk S80 dashboard? Rather than swop it, FA and VolvoM decided to offer me a new car and worked it such that I didn't have to put in more cash and handled all the paperwork. All I had to do was sign on the dotted line and get a new car after using the first one for 7 months. The instalments just stretched out more. That slightly faulty unit went to one of their managers as a company car.

 

[David Yong]

Oooo! Sounds like you do have an engine problem then. The oil burn and 15.2L/100km is ample indication. Suggest you waste no time in escalating this in the strongest terms to BMW Malaysia.

Don't rule out getting a new car if the terms are favourable. That is sometimes the easiest solution all round...for customer, dealer and distributor. Remember my story of a bunk S80 dashboard? Rather than swop it, FA and VolvoM decided to offer me a new car and worked it such that I didn't have to put in more cash and handled all the paperwork. All I had to do was sign on the dotted line and get a new car after using the first one for 7 months. The instalments just stretched out more. That slightly faulty unit went to one of their managers as a company car.

I wouldn't rule out new car "if the terms are favourable". I agree with you absolutely but they are asking me to top up RM 30k for the same model or RM 45k for the sports model!!! They trade-in my car at RM 230k and sell the standard, sports or whichever model to me at the normal retail price! Then what is so attractive that I need to consider changing car instead of changing engine??