New car for Mrs B

[Bing]

So Mrs Bs car was written off by a lorry a couple of weeks ago - she and Wee Bing are fine, low speed impact at a junction that trashed one side of the car. It was a 53 plate Honda though, so not economical to repair. It had 138k miles on it anyway and has needed replaced for a while. The worst thing about it has been the whole accident management process, just frustrating and long winded... oh, and the £780 spent in October a few weeks before the accident on servicing, brakes, discs, wishbones and a couple of other suspension parts :x

Anyway, we managed to find her an 07 plate 318i SE auto with just 34k miles on it, decent history, decent condition, cruise, part electric heated seats, auto wipers and lights, professional hifi, lighting pack, split folding rear seats and a few other bits. Power is obviously not high - think it’s 125bhp - but for her driving most of the time that’s fine... and it does drive lovely compared to an ancient Honda.

It’s just got standard 16” wheels (it’s her car not mine, so I’ll settle for changing the centre caps for now :wink: ... However it needs :

Engine manifold plastic cover - got
Private plates transferred - got
New petrol cap lanyard - got
Demisting headlights - something I am familiar with from my last Z...
Brighter headlights - another familiar problem easily fixed
Rear centre oddments tray to cover the through load hatch - like hens teeth and €133 from Germany new !!!!

Bloody BMW and their plastic parts Mark-up...

So, I am quite excited to sort a few bits on it as I’ve not really had to do anything to the M in the way I did my 3.0Si. However, this post is a very long-winded way to ask - what’s the best / friendliest / most knowledgeable forum for 3ers ?

And yes, I know I need pics, of course - they will be in the next post

 

[Bing]

Pics, before you all have a go :

 

[Marlon]

Very nice Bing, and only 34k miles and great spec - Mrs B must be well pleased

 

[Bing]

Yeah, she’s very happy. The only thing it doesn’t have that she’d like is a leather interior... a full set of which can be had for £600 on eBay :evil: ... but we’ll stay away from that right now as I have neither the space nor the time - and possibly not the skill - for that sort of tomfoolery :lol:

 

[rally-chris]

Take a look at e90post.com for an E9x centric forum - IIRC there are UK specific sub forums as well as the international technical sub forums.

Chris

 

[RickRob]

34k on an 07 plate is crazily low - not many Zeds that low!

Looks good - hope Mrs B enjoys and lorries avoid!

 

[Bing]

Take a look at e90post.com for an E9x centric forum - IIRC there are UK specific sub forums as well as the international technical sub forums.

Chris

Thanks Chris, appreciate that

 

[jamie_z4]

Easy to fit an interior I can fit it for you in about an hour if you find one! Looks nice

 

[jabber]

I had a 320d e90 for a while very comfortable and easy drive

 

[Bing]

34k on an 07 plate is crazily low - not many Zeds that low!

Looks good - hope Mrs B enjoys and lorries avoid!

Yep, very low - only done 6k miles in the last 4 years. That had resulted in it not being serviced for the last 4 years, as the owner was obviously going on the service indicator :roll: ... but it’s had oil and filters changed before collection, and I am booking it in to my indie for a proper service in the next couple of weeks.

There are virtually no stone chips and no car park dings. It’s got a couple of scratches, a couple of poorly done touch-ups, and a small scrape on the rear bumper, but nothing a good smart repairer couldn’t sort in a morning so I will probably try and sort all that after Christmas. The colour is very forgiving though, so it passes the 5m test easily.

Cars with twice the mileage in worse condition with fewer toys were only £4-500 cheaper - so I think we got a really good deal. Only major issue with these I have read of are cam chain guides going, which *can* lead to a complete engine-out repair if it all falls apart completely. However it doesn’t seem so common on the petrol engines, the cam chain is at the front rather than the back (unlike the diesels) so easier to repair, and it gets noisy long before it fails completely. Apparently an owner who is aware/attentive will hear it before it goes completely and the repair is maybe a couple of hundred quid.

 

[Bing]

Easy to fit an interior I can fit it for you in about an hour if you find one! Looks nice

Thanks, I will bear that in mind

Though Christmas and a desire to refurb my own wheels means I’ll hold off on the idea for a while...

 

[Bing]

I had a 320d e90 for a while very comfortable and easy drive

Yeah - I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth and quiet it is, and I really don’t miss the power for pottering about. Only thing for Mrs B is that the steering is quite heavy. I don’t mind that, but I don’t know why it is so heavy as I wouldn’t have thought it would have a hydraulic system.

 

[jamie_z4]

I had a 320d e90 for a while very comfortable and easy drive

Yeah - I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth and quiet it is, and I really don’t miss the power for pottering about. Only thing for Mrs B is that the steering is quite heavy. I don’t mind that, but I don’t know why it is so heavy as I wouldn’t have thought it would have a hydraulic system.

Early e90s are a bit heavy, I had a late e92 which had servotronic which was a bit better

 

[Stevie.w]

Hi Bing. Liking the motor, respect to the misses for preferring rwd. I'm old school also, as is my misses. She has M235i that's awaiting its winter tires.

 

[Bing]

Hi Bing. Liking the motor, respect to the misses for preferring rwd. I'm old school also, as is my misses. She has M235i that's awaiting its winter tires.

Thanks Stevie - for something so ‘basic’ it’s actually a really nice car. However it’s her first RWD drive car, which is making me a little nervous, but tbh she won’t notice 90% of the time down here for the journeys she does... and when it gets proper icy I will be taking her to an empty car park for a little tuition. If she we were in Scotland I’d have insisted on something different and FWD/AWD for her own safety :lol:

I’d love to be able to persuade her into an M235i, but we’ll see how she does with this one first :wink:

 

[Silverzedtom]

Hi Bing. Liking the motor, respect to the misses for preferring rwd. I'm old school also, as is my misses. She has M235i that's awaiting its winter tires.

and when it gets proper icy I will be taking her to an empty car park for a little tuition.

‘And this is how you make the perfect figure 8...’

Looks nice, I’m sure it’ll serve you well at that mileage!

 

[rally-chris]

I had a 320d e90 for a while very comfortable and easy drive

Yeah - I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth and quiet it is, and I really don’t miss the power for pottering about. Only thing for Mrs B is that the steering is quite heavy. I don’t mind that, but I don’t know why it is so heavy as I wouldn’t have thought it would have a hydraulic system.

Pre facelift (LCI) E90s are all hydraulic PAS I believe. They changed to electro-mechanical (like z4) as part of the efficient dynamics stuff that came in with the facelift (58 plate onwards).

Chris

 

[Bing]

I had a 320d e90 for a while very comfortable and easy drive

Yeah - I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth and quiet it is, and I really don’t miss the power for pottering about. Only thing for Mrs B is that the steering is quite heavy. I don’t mind that, but I don’t know why it is so heavy as I wouldn’t have thought it would have a hydraulic system.

Pre facelift (LCI) E90s are all hydraulic PAS I believe. They changed to electro-mechanical (like z4) as part of the efficient dynamics stuff that came in with the facelift (58 plate onwards).

Chris

Ah, ok - that makes sense. We wanted a facelift in part for the efficient dynamics benefits, but unfortunately our budget couldn’t stretch quite that far at such short notice

 

[jamie_z4]

I had a 320d e90 for a while very comfortable and easy drive

Yeah - I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth and quiet it is, and I really don’t miss the power for pottering about. Only thing for Mrs B is that the steering is quite heavy. I don’t mind that, but I don’t know why it is so heavy as I wouldn’t have thought it would have a hydraulic system.

Pre facelift (LCI) E90s are all hydraulic PAS I believe. They changed to electro-mechanical (like z4) as part of the efficient dynamics stuff that came in with the facelift (58 plate onwards).

Chris

Nah mate my father in law has a 11 plate lci which has still got the standard hydraulic stuff but I had an 11 plate coupe with servotronic which was assisted

 

[Mr Tidy]

Sad way to have to change cars but that looks like a nice sensible car with some choice goodies Bing, and it is certainly low mileage!

To be honest I'd avoid BMWs with the Efficient Dynamics - I had a 123d with stop/start. I can't help thinking that is probably why the stupidly expensive AGM battery died just after 4 years and 55K miles, followed by the starter motor at 6 years and 77K. I always turned it off after that!

As it's Mrs Bing's first RWD car, might a set of winters be worth getting for a few hundred quid? There are some on here just now.

Anyway I hope it serves you well.