Jump to content
WI BIMMERS - Wisconsin's BMW Community

Nick's e90 build


Nick_F

Recommended Posts

Just starting a build thread to keep track of my progress and hopefully entertain a couple people

After coming from Honda's, a couple si's and 5 integras when I was in high school I knew I needed to get back into the car world after driving an almost unbearably reliable accord for 3 years. So I started the search for a manual e90. After about a year of looking and checking a few out that turned out to be absolute piles I found one in Texas at a Carmax and decided to pull the trigger. A couple weeks later it finally showed up here in Milwaukee and was in great condition cosmetically and mechanically so I was finally done searching. 

So far I have done pretty simple things as it is my daily and will stay that way, hoping to get into a 335i e92 for a fun car eventually 

Mod list to date minus all the fun maintenance 

ARM motorsport stepped 5" intercooler

Koni yellows with Vogtland sport springs

BMS intake

MHD stage 2+ e30 tune

VRSF catless downpipe

MRR U02 18x8.5 +35 front 18x9.5 +38 rear

Next steps are installing Mtech rear bumper, after I placed my ordered the front was out of stock sadly, and making the tough decision to either paint them or wrap the car.

day 1.JPG

Snapchat-1020007419.jpg

Snapchat-216409211.jpg

20191005_092039.jpg

20191011_164125.jpg

Snapchat-747254785.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, YoungCR said:

Bummer on the front bumper delay. How was the Car Max buying/shipping experience?

The delay gives me a little more time to decide what route to go at least. It was surprisingly smooth and pressure free. If I buy another car from a dealer they are on my short list.  The nice thing with shipping the car with them was I wasnt obligated to buy the car but I did have to pay the shipping fee. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A couple other things I did early on. The wood grain had to go. I wrapped it with some satin black vinyl and it has been holding up awesome. After that I ordered a wrapped flat bottom msport wheel from Latvia which I ended up liking a lot more than i thought i would 

20200429_191523.jpg

20200429_191550.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, B C said:

Looks great. LCI E90 rears look so much better than pre-LCI. This is a 2011 N55, right?   

 

Yea rocking that n55 which has been extremely reliable minus the hpfp which might be going again. Thank goodness for fcpeuro's lifetime warranty! I cant wait for the mtech rear bumper, I think it makes the car look so much better

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/13/2020 at 11:21 AM, Nick_F said:

Well got a few parts in the last couple weeks. As far as the trunk lip, not sure I'm crazy about it. Havent mounted it yet, just used tape to hold it down for a test fit so it might look a little off

20200513_111813.jpg

20200513_111759.jpg

I've always been a fan of paint matched spoilers on non-m cars.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Well oil pan went extremely smooth and ended up doing a complete front end refresh. Should have taken more pictures but got into worker bee mode. Thankfully my friend has a lift or this wouldve sucked

 

But unfortunately now the clutch is slipping when wide open -_- time to research. Anyone have advice on switching to a single mass flywheel and also with sticking to oem clutch or upgrade?

20200522_174554.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, B C said:

Do you have a  CDV/clutch delay valve/clutch destroyer valve?  I would remove that to help prevent slippage. 

I didnt even know that was a thing, ill have to take a look into that. The last thing I wanna do is have to do the clutch again in the near future. Ended up going with the 335is clutch and a new dual mass flywheel because I dont wanna deal with the chatter on the single mass since it is my daily 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dont know how much its slipping, but removing the CDV MIGHT help with the slipping.

Ever since the E36 there has been a CDV in manual cars. Its as simple as unbolting the CDV from the clutch line (near the clutch slave) and reconnecting the line, omitting the valve, then bleeding the clutch.
Static friction coefficients are much greater than dynamic friction coefficients, and while that isnt really an accurate analogy for the CDV or a clutch, the delay in full clamp pressure allows slipping to start which makes it easier to continue slipping. 

Who knows, removing it MIGHT buy you a little additional time. I'd be curious to see if it reduces the slipping.  I have never known of anyone who prefers to drive a car with a CDV so you can feel comfortable about removing it. If you dont like it, pop it back in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Biggest downside is you no longer have something to blame crappy shifts on. You gotta own up to them yourself. 

Other than that, no.  There are some half-baked theories on why the CDV exists such as  "They put it in the E46 M3 as a bandaid for chassis cracking issues!!!" (wrong) or  "They put it in so new drivers dont stall the car!!!" (wrong)  Im fairly certain its just a simple means for reducing shift shock primarily for driver comfort with component wear reduction as a secondary benefit. 


LMK how it goes

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well getting close to my witts end sadly with this car. Just noticed a whine a couple days ago while driving that sounds like the transfer case or front diff. Not sure what the future holds for this "build". Its pretty strange, it only happens while the car is rolling but doesnt matter if it's in gear or neutral. However if I'm rolling in neutral it goes away after the rpms drop to idle but if I tap the gas while still in neutral it comes back. Need to do some further digging. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

45 minutes ago, B C said:

My suggestion: Change your transfer case oil ASAP. Like, consider not even driving it if thats possible, otherwise keep driving and plan on throwing in a used t.case soon

I just changed the oil today because of the noise and this was afterwards. I changed it also probaly 15k miles ago. You think the transfer case is shot?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.