My BSM '12 328i Sport Line Journal

S4NoMore · 05-14-2015, 05:20 PM

So winter was.... winter. I guess it dragged out a little longer than we'd all like, and we had our fair share of snowfall events.

I'm very happy with my choice of the Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 tires. I was confident going to and from work even in the midst of heavy snow before the plows got to do much work. This is terrible for the front end of the car, but oh well. Some day I'll do the M sport bumper and put Xpel film on it.

Most of the time, of course, the roads were clear or damp, and the Pirellis felt great. Very crisp handling, allowing the car to retain its nimble nature. I had the non-runflat variant, so the ride quality was definitely better than my standard setup, albeit I have the 18s.

S4NoMore · 05-14-2015, 05:42 PM

Mishimoto posted on here looking for a development N20 car, and I'm not too far from them so I began talking to the forum rep. It turns out that I know the manager of product development, and he reached out to me as well. I do want a catch can, and an intercooler would be great, so I obliged as I may as well get them at no cost if I can.

Once the weather started to clear up and I got the E30 out of storage, I left Heidi in the hands of the good people at Mishimoto.

I was very impressed by their office, they have a well-furnished space complete with 3D printers and a touch-probe for digitizing. This is indeed their headquarters, as I also learned it isn't an Asian company despite the name tending to give that impression.

The only drawback to the space is the lack of a ramp, so they make do with a 4-post lift seen above. They were developing an intake for the CLA45 at the time.

(pardon my dusty wheels, the car had been recently washed and this is that initial blow-off of the rotor surface rust)

Here's their first blog post on it: http://engineering.mishimoto.com/201...l-fabrication/

They do a great job writing up their projects and documenting the details.

S4NoMore · 05-14-2015, 05:55 PM

In the first week of April after getting the car back from Mishimoto and doing the 15k/annual service, I happily swapped from winter to summer mode.

As I pulled off each wheel, I spritzed down the wheelwell with Adam's all-purpose and went to town with my Karcher electric pressure washer. It took longer than I expected for the water to run off clear (from starting as nasty gray/brown). I then applied a fresh coat of WheelWax inside and out to the 397s, and put them back on rotated front to back.

Here's a random shot of the F30 with the E30:

Yes, I'm a BMW nerd.

S4NoMore · 05-14-2015, 06:49 PM

With the weather on my side, I finally decided to tackle the Adaptive Xenon headlight retrofit. I've had the parts since December taking up space.

Here's my before picture:

and after:

Disaster struck when the control module I bought from a dismantler/retailer in europe didn't work properly. I tried to be nice and asked to return it, but the poorly-written emails turned nasty and demanded a restocking fee of nearly 50%. At that, I disputed the charge with Paypal and shipped it back to them.

I popped in my brand new module and it still tripped the adaptive headlight warning, with no corona rings, so I started reading up on what might need to be done to a new never-been-used module. That led me down a path of ECU-flashing, downloading the full psdzdata, deleting E-sys and the data and starting over, and my frustration building. I posted to Bimmerfest and someone jogged my memory that I never simply re-did the VO coding after putting in the new module. That was it, and now the retrofit is complete and functional, a big relief.

S4NoMore · 07-18-2015, 12:59 PM

I picked up a foam attachment for my basic Karcher electric pressure washer, making my excessive car washes just a little better and easier..

In late May, Mishimoto had me back to test fit their intake and install a prototype oil catch can. I feel better having it, and I'm curious to see what it catches. After 100 miles it was already showing moisture.

Here's a little over 1000 miles, a little accumulation to show:

And 2100 miles of buildup:

Not much, but not nothing. We'll have to see what several thousand more miles does.

wolves · 07-18-2015, 03:16 PM

My car's at over 55k now and I'm thinking when I tune her she needs the catch can but looks like I'm late on that. Your car looks great!

DrivenByE30 · 07-18-2015, 11:59 PM

Great journal S4noMore!

Greatwork!
I used to be like this... Until i got a family...

S4NoMore · 07-20-2015, 03:38 PM

Thanks for the kind words wolves and DrivenByE30 ! I hope to continue even if/when I'm able to start a family, but that's not on my radar quite yet

S4NoMore · 12-06-2015, 06:40 PM

This fall I got some warranty work completed which I've been trying to maneuver over the past couple of regular service visits.

In late spring / early summer I began noticing slower than usual cranking as I started the car, particularly after it sat for several hours or overnight. The car would always turn over but it just seemed labored in doing so, especially compared with brand new loaners. I also had repeated incidents of MSA failing to restart the motor after stops.

In the past year or so I've also been experiencing a sort of quiet "knock" from the front left suspension, but only if that corner hit a bump while turning right around 25-45 mph. The dealer had been unable to replicate, and I let it go while narrowing down those conditions.

In August the CEL came on after so many failed MSA restarts, so I brought the car in. My dealership found that the clutch sensor was giving a bad signal so it was replaced. I took this opportunity to drive the car with the foreman and pretty easily replicated the noise I'd been hearing, explaining that I had researched the issue and read about success after replacing the steering rack. He agreed, kept the car another day to investigate and the rack was ordered.

My cranking symptoms didn't get much better, and the technicians were calling it normal, so when the rack came in for installation I shared videos that I had recorded. They couldn't deny that it seemed abnormal, and suggested a battery replacement as the car is approaching 4 years since being built. Seemed logical to me, and happily I can report that the car is back to normal now. The suspension noise has not returned and I've not had any MSA failures or unusually long startups... knock on wood.

Aside from that, I've been fine tuning my detailing regimen with Adam's products, and Heidi is now protected with liquid paint sealant for the season ahead. The catch can was pulled for the past couple months to not raise any suspicion at the dealer, and it just went back in this weekend - I'm interested to see what it collects in the cold weather. I'm waiting for the daytime temperatures to dip into the 40s before swapping onto the winter shoes.

A pic for your viewing pleasure:

S4NoMore · 02-09-2017, 09:24 PM

I still have this car, it's continued to be great. Just did the rear brakes, almost 40k miles. They wear out before the front due to the electronic LSD, so I'm told. Makes sense. The CBS still shows a crazy amount of miles remaining on the fronts, but maybe that's because I haven't worn down to the sensor yet. I'll have to take a closer look in the spring. Oh and I got a new Nikon, my first SLR, and I'm loving it so far.

[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/690/32...4b456127_c.jpg[/img]

I went for a couple photos while breaking in the pads, this one might be my favorite:

[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/701/32...47ccbf34_c.jpg[/img]

Today it finally snowed here in PA, though I've had the winter setup on since early December (for temperature). The accumulation wasn't all that bad, I should have washed the car just for this photo lol..
[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2896/3...2f81c304_c.jpg[/img]

But don't worry, I hit up the heated pay-n-spray and washed it afterwards!
(This is an iPhone 7 photo)
[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/542/32...7b603fd4_c.jpg[/img]

S4NoMore · 02-12-2017, 10:15 PM

When I initially had the catch can installed it was summer, which is mainly why there's not much accumulation in the photos above.

Here's what was caught in 3,000 miles of winter driving:

[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2550/3...86271568_c.jpg[/img]

[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2534/3...bc475c09_c.jpg[/img]

[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2725/3...fe84f352_c.jpg[/img]

[img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/653/32...e6cebce3_c.jpg[/img]

Mostly fuel & water, but with a definite layer of something nasty.

05-14-2015, 05:20 PM	#23
S4NoMore Major 253 Rep 1,003 Posts Drives: 16 340i, 15 X3d, 91 318i Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Philly suburbs iTrader: (2) Garage List 2016 BMW 340i [0.00] 2015 BMW X3 28d [0.00] 1991 BMW 318i [8.66]	So winter was.... winter. I guess it dragged out a little longer than we'd all like, and we had our fair share of snowfall events. I'm very happy with my choice of the Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 tires. I was confident going to and from work even in the midst of heavy snow before the plows got to do much work. This is terrible for the front end of the car, but oh well. Some day I'll do the M sport bumper and put Xpel film on it. Most of the time, of course, the roads were clear or damp, and the Pirellis felt great. Very crisp handling, allowing the car to retain its nimble nature. I had the non-runflat variant, so the ride quality was definitely better than my standard setup, albeit I have the 18s.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

05-14-2015, 05:42 PM	#24
S4NoMore Major 253 Rep 1,003 Posts Drives: 16 340i, 15 X3d, 91 318i Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Philly suburbs iTrader: (2) Garage List 2016 BMW 340i [0.00] 2015 BMW X3 28d [0.00] 1991 BMW 318i [8.66]	Mishimoto posted on here looking for a development N20 car, and I'm not too far from them so I began talking to the forum rep. It turns out that I know the manager of product development, and he reached out to me as well. I do want a catch can, and an intercooler would be great, so I obliged as I may as well get them at no cost if I can. Once the weather started to clear up and I got the E30 out of storage, I left Heidi in the hands of the good people at Mishimoto. I was very impressed by their office, they have a well-furnished space complete with 3D printers and a touch-probe for digitizing. This is indeed their headquarters, as I also learned it isn't an Asian company despite the name tending to give that impression. The only drawback to the space is the lack of a ramp, so they make do with a 4-post lift seen above. They were developing an intake for the CLA45 at the time. (pardon my dusty wheels, the car had been recently washed and this is that initial blow-off of the rotor surface rust) Here's their first blog post on it: http://engineering.mishimoto.com/201...l-fabrication/ They do a great job writing up their projects and documenting the details.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

05-14-2015, 05:55 PM	#25
S4NoMore Major 253 Rep 1,003 Posts Drives: 16 340i, 15 X3d, 91 318i Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Philly suburbs iTrader: (2) Garage List 2016 BMW 340i [0.00] 2015 BMW X3 28d [0.00] 1991 BMW 318i [8.66]	In the first week of April after getting the car back from Mishimoto and doing the 15k/annual service, I happily swapped from winter to summer mode. As I pulled off each wheel, I spritzed down the wheelwell with Adam's all-purpose and went to town with my Karcher electric pressure washer. It took longer than I expected for the water to run off clear (from starting as nasty gray/brown). I then applied a fresh coat of WheelWax inside and out to the 397s, and put them back on rotated front to back. Here's a random shot of the F30 with the E30: Yes, I'm a BMW nerd.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

05-14-2015, 06:49 PM	#26
S4NoMore Major 253 Rep 1,003 Posts Drives: 16 340i, 15 X3d, 91 318i Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Philly suburbs iTrader: (2) Garage List 2016 BMW 340i [0.00] 2015 BMW X3 28d [0.00] 1991 BMW 318i [8.66]	With the weather on my side, I finally decided to tackle the Adaptive Xenon headlight retrofit. I've had the parts since December taking up space. Here's my before picture: and after: Disaster struck when the control module I bought from a dismantler/retailer in europe didn't work properly. I tried to be nice and asked to return it, but the poorly-written emails turned nasty and demanded a restocking fee of nearly 50%. At that, I disputed the charge with Paypal and shipped it back to them. I popped in my brand new module and it still tripped the adaptive headlight warning, with no corona rings, so I started reading up on what might need to be done to a new never-been-used module. That led me down a path of ECU-flashing, downloading the full psdzdata, deleting E-sys and the data and starting over, and my frustration building. I posted to Bimmerfest and someone jogged my memory that I never simply re-did the VO coding after putting in the new module. That was it, and now the retrofit is complete and functional, a big relief.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

07-18-2015, 12:59 PM	#27
S4NoMore Major 253 Rep 1,003 Posts Drives: 16 340i, 15 X3d, 91 318i Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Philly suburbs iTrader: (2) Garage List 2016 BMW 340i [0.00] 2015 BMW X3 28d [0.00] 1991 BMW 318i [8.66]	I picked up a foam attachment for my basic Karcher electric pressure washer, making my excessive car washes just a little better and easier.. In late May, Mishimoto had me back to test fit their intake and install a prototype oil catch can. I feel better having it, and I'm curious to see what it catches. After 100 miles it was already showing moisture. Here's a little over 1000 miles, a little accumulation to show: And 2100 miles of buildup: Not much, but not nothing. We'll have to see what several thousand more miles does.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

07-18-2015, 03:16 PM	#28
wolves Second Lieutenant 29 Rep 261 Posts Drives: 2014 BMW 328i Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: United States iTrader: (0)	My car's at over 55k now and I'm thinking when I tune her she needs the catch can but looks like I'm late on that. Your car looks great! __________________ 2014 BMW F30 328i - Base line 8AT, Alpine White, metallic black roof, Megan Racing CF decklid, CF canards, CF eyelids, CF rear diffuser, matte black kidney grills, gunsmoke tail lights/reflectors, VMR 721 Hyper Silver 19x9.5/19.x8.5, 5mm spacers all around, Bilstein B8s, Injen CAI, H&R Sport Springs, muffler-deleted quad pipe, 20% 3M rear tint, M Performance Pedals
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07-18-2015, 11:59 PM	#29
DrivenByE30 Brigadier General 592 Rep 3,870 Posts Drives: '12 F30 Lux 335i 6MT Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: OC - SoCal iTrader: (0)	Great journal S4noMore! Greatwork! I used to be like this... Until i got a family... __________________ all 3 are MT > F30 Luxury 335i 6MT- The dream driven... _..._4/12/12 ED trip MASSIVE photo thread here <<<
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07-20-2015, 03:38 PM	#30
S4NoMore Major 253 Rep 1,003 Posts Drives: 16 340i, 15 X3d, 91 318i Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Philly suburbs iTrader: (2) Garage List 2016 BMW 340i [0.00] 2015 BMW X3 28d [0.00] 1991 BMW 318i [8.66]	Thanks for the kind words wolves and DrivenByE30 ! I hope to continue even if/when I'm able to start a family, but that's not on my radar quite yet
	Appreciate 0 Quote

12-06-2015, 06:40 PM	#31
S4NoMore Major 253 Rep 1,003 Posts Drives: 16 340i, 15 X3d, 91 318i Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Philly suburbs iTrader: (2) Garage List 2016 BMW 340i [0.00] 2015 BMW X3 28d [0.00] 1991 BMW 318i [8.66]	This fall I got some warranty work completed which I've been trying to maneuver over the past couple of regular service visits. In late spring / early summer I began noticing slower than usual cranking as I started the car, particularly after it sat for several hours or overnight. The car would always turn over but it just seemed labored in doing so, especially compared with brand new loaners. I also had repeated incidents of MSA failing to restart the motor after stops. In the past year or so I've also been experiencing a sort of quiet "knock" from the front left suspension, but only if that corner hit a bump while turning right around 25-45 mph. The dealer had been unable to replicate, and I let it go while narrowing down those conditions. In August the CEL came on after so many failed MSA restarts, so I brought the car in. My dealership found that the clutch sensor was giving a bad signal so it was replaced. I took this opportunity to drive the car with the foreman and pretty easily replicated the noise I'd been hearing, explaining that I had researched the issue and read about success after replacing the steering rack. He agreed, kept the car another day to investigate and the rack was ordered. My cranking symptoms didn't get much better, and the technicians were calling it normal, so when the rack came in for installation I shared videos that I had recorded. They couldn't deny that it seemed abnormal, and suggested a battery replacement as the car is approaching 4 years since being built. Seemed logical to me, and happily I can report that the car is back to normal now. The suspension noise has not returned and I've not had any MSA failures or unusually long startups... knock on wood. Aside from that, I've been fine tuning my detailing regimen with Adam's products, and Heidi is now protected with liquid paint sealant for the season ahead. The catch can was pulled for the past couple months to not raise any suspicion at the dealer, and it just went back in this weekend - I'm interested to see what it collects in the cold weather. I'm waiting for the daytime temperatures to dip into the 40s before swapping onto the winter shoes. A pic for your viewing pleasure: Last edited by S4NoMore; 11-04-2016 at 06:38 AM..
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02-09-2017, 09:24 PM	#32
S4NoMore Major 253 Rep 1,003 Posts Drives: 16 340i, 15 X3d, 91 318i Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Philly suburbs iTrader: (2) Garage List 2016 BMW 340i [0.00] 2015 BMW X3 28d [0.00] 1991 BMW 318i [8.66]	I still have this car, it's continued to be great. Just did the rear brakes, almost 40k miles. They wear out before the front due to the electronic LSD, so I'm told. Makes sense. The CBS still shows a crazy amount of miles remaining on the fronts, but maybe that's because I haven't worn down to the sensor yet. I'll have to take a closer look in the spring. Oh and I got a new Nikon, my first SLR, and I'm loving it so far. [img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/690/32...4b456127_c.jpg[/img] I went for a couple photos while breaking in the pads, this one might be my favorite: [img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/701/32...47ccbf34_c.jpg[/img] Today it finally snowed here in PA, though I've had the winter setup on since early December (for temperature). The accumulation wasn't all that bad, I should have washed the car just for this photo lol.. [img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2896/3...2f81c304_c.jpg[/img] But don't worry, I hit up the heated pay-n-spray and washed it afterwards! (This is an iPhone 7 photo) [img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/542/32...7b603fd4_c.jpg[/img] Last edited by S4NoMore; 02-09-2017 at 09:43 PM..
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02-12-2017, 10:15 PM	#33
S4NoMore Major 253 Rep 1,003 Posts Drives: 16 340i, 15 X3d, 91 318i Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Philly suburbs iTrader: (2) Garage List 2016 BMW 340i [0.00] 2015 BMW X3 28d [0.00] 1991 BMW 318i [8.66]	When I initially had the catch can installed it was summer, which is mainly why there's not much accumulation in the photos above. Here's what was caught in 3,000 miles of winter driving: [img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2550/3...86271568_c.jpg[/img] [img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2534/3...bc475c09_c.jpg[/img] [img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2725/3...fe84f352_c.jpg[/img] [img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/653/32...e6cebce3_c.jpg[/img] Mostly fuel & water, but with a definite layer of something nasty.
	Appreciate 0 Quote