So after 18 months of E89 ownership, I began looking around and decided to go for an E85. My criteria was simple - had to be 3.0 in really good condition, have heated seats, full service history and a fair spec. As luck would have it a 2004 3.0i SE in beautiful condition came up for sale here in Cornwall. Now I know that low mileage is not necessarily a good thing and this car had only done 39,000 miles, but it had a very full service history, an interesting well documented life story (including original invoice for £34,175) and a near faultless MOT record. It hadn’t been messed with either, so plenty of scope for a few upgrades of my own
It was only being sold as the fastidious owner was tempted by an Alpina. A quick call to the specialist from whom I had originally bought the E89 and I sold it back to them there and then. A test drive put a real smile on my face, so funds in hand I bought it…. see pics below.So now that I’ve owned the car for a month, I’m still smiling. It’s a different driving experience that’s for sure, more back to basics, but I feel more connected with it. Feels really tight to drive, a bit of a time warp. I bought it as seen with just one month’s MOT, so first thing was an MOT. Sigh of relief, passed no advisories
On paper it isn’t due a service, but this is going to be a keeper for me, so it’s booked in next week with my local Indy, who I know well, for a full service and check over to see if there is anything I should get done immediately/longer term. I’ve already purchased a new rubber air intake boot and brake vacuum hose, both of which I can see need replacing.Spec. includes: M Sport Suspension, electric memory seats, folding electric mirrors, xenon headlights, and Hi-fi pro carver system. I’ve got stuck straight in and last week fitted a Gaptech Roof Module and Grom USB3 for Bluetooth music streaming and phone. Gaptech installation is well covered on the forum and very simple, works straight out of the box, so I won’t go into that. The Grom installation is also well covered in multiple posts over the years, but I have got a few hints/comments to make which others might find helpful. I’ll post a follow up on that installation soon, it works very well, but needed a bit of planning.
I’ve also fitted my ‘Buckley’ Stainless Steel Knob (had it on my E89), and changed to clear side indicators as the orange was clashing with the red brake calipers
Another first aid box is on order to go under the driver’s seat – a bit less storage room than the E89. After that it’s going to get expensive as the BRAND NEW Run Flats ( 
) have just got to go as they did on the E89 I’ll post again on that as the 108’s, whilst looking good at a metre, have had a poor refurb at some point. Current thinking is I will get a set of MV2’s with MPS4 and keep the 108’s with their set of run flat Potenzas for the Winter and perhaps refurbish properly in the future.More updates to follow on this thread.
Cheers
I know 108's are prone to corrosion and I've read that spraying over the wheel as one piece helps reduce this, but spraying over the titanium bolts as well