Intro - New to the world of ///M(3)

[Trance]

Finally after 4 weeks in the shop, the ///M is coming home!! Complete with new rod bearings, billet Throttle Body gears, and new thermostat, it will be fun to get re-acquainted. May have to re-learn how to drive it after 4 weeks in the daily (C180 Kompressor)!

[XIX]

Just a query mate, how come it was in there so long ? Was part of it ordering parts in ?

Hope you enjoy having it back !

[Trance]

As they say...all the slices of swiss cheese just lined up on this one. Was a combination of me stuffing up and not paying for parts prior to the work, then some delays in getting parts, mechanic being off crook, and later on BMW having issues with some air freight.

Nothing to do with the capabilities of the workshop, in fact Josh has been great with maintaining updates. I also did mention that there was no rush (when he offered to work later to get it done) and I would prefer he got descent rest and did the job perfectly.

[XIX]

Originally Posted by Trance

As they say...all the slices of swiss cheese just lined up on this one. Was a combination of me stuffing up and not paying for parts prior to the work, then some delays in getting parts, mechanic being off crook, and later on BMW having issues with some air freight.

Nothing to do with the capabilities of the workshop, in fact Josh has been great with maintaining updates. I also did mention that there was no rush (when he offered to work later to get it done) and I would prefer he got descent rest and did the job perfectly.

Ah the perfect storm ! Was gonna say, I thought it was a 2 or 3 day job hahaha, maybe a little more, but not a month !

[Trance]

Sneaky welcome home shot! Oh gawd when will those damn Lakin custom brackets arrive so I can burn that horrid state plate! :P

[Trance]

Mail run today yielded a new grill for the M.

Clearly a nod to the F80, I do like the fact that the tri-colour is metallic and just lifts the profile of the front end a bit. Appreciate it's not to everyones taste, but then again, it ain't their car!

[American Dave]

I like it a lot but that state plate has to go

[dnbosiris]

Originally Posted by Trance

Mail run today yielded a new grill for the M.

Clearly a nod to the F80, I do like the fact that the tri-colour is metallic and just lifts the profile of the front end a bit. Appreciate it's not to everyones taste, but then again, it ain't their car!

Nice, how much is one of those grilles?

[Rajvosa]

looks good but the left stripe looks like the wrong colour? maybe the lighting, but it looks more like atlantis blue then similar to laguna seca blue... (especially the first pic)

[Trance]

Originally Posted by dnbosiris

Nice, how much is one of those grilles?

Looking at about $150 off PooBay.

Originally Posted by Rajvosa

looks good but the left stripe looks like the wrong colour? maybe the lighting, but it looks more like atlantis blue then similar to laguna seca blue... (especially the first pic)

Being a non-genuine item there will be variations in colours, but I'm not going to get too worried about whether it's the right shade of blue. If I fall out of love with it there are lots more options.

[XIX]

Originally Posted by Trance

Finally after 4 weeks in the shop, the ///M is coming home!! Complete with new rod bearings, billet Throttle Body gears, and new thermostat, it will be fun to get re-acquainted. May have to re-learn how to drive it after 4 weeks in the daily (C180 Kompressor)!

How many km's have you got mate ?

I am doing my RB's soon and engine mounts and Josh had mentioned the throttle body gears, but I have read many times the electronic still fail after the gears are changed ?

Also why thermostat ? Overheating ? Or is there some prevantative thing I have missed ?

[Trance]

Originally Posted by XIX

How many km's have you got mate ?

I am doing my RB's soon and engine mounts and Josh had mentioned the throttle body gears, but I have read many times the electronic still fail after the gears are changed ?

Also why thermostat ? Overheating ? Or is there some prevantative thing I have missed ?

Just over 55k on the clock. Throttle body gears are a worthwhile step to include IMO. Josh mentioned that if you catch the TB gear issue early enough then the electronics will be fine. Problems arise for those that simply clear the codes and keep driving. The strain of the binding plastic gears can cause the electronics to overwork resulting in a sort of arc-flash on the motherboard...at that point they are cactus. Josh is able to tell by looking at the motherboard whether this has occurred (small black burn marks between solder points). Of course this is no guarantee - as always.

Thermostat was actually just dumb luck. On the test drive after the RB's were done Josh noticed the car not coming up to temperature and associated cooling module error codes. After investigation found the faulty thermostat. He said it was an unusual problem so I wouldn't be looking at doing this unless necessary.

Hope that helps

[XIX]

Has it made any difference to the drive ( the TB's ) ?

Funny I had a similar thing with my e36 M3 (s/c ) back in 2005 as well, same thing, Andrew (bm tek) hadn't seen it before. I wont worry for now then as mine seems to warm up just fine thankfully

[Trance]

Originally Posted by XIX

Has it made any difference to the drive ( the TB's )?

Well, it basically went into the shop straight after the engine light came on so from my perspective it drives the same as it did before. Having said that, when the check engine light came on for the TB's it did go into a semi limp mode - poor throttle response and what not.

I could have just cleared the codes and gone on for a while longer but I'm a bit OCD about having things the way they should be on my cars.

[Trance]

Originally Posted by American Dave

I like it a lot but that state plate has to go

Ask and you shall receive....todays mail run netted the last piece of the custom plates puzzle. Just gotta head to DOT tomorrow to collect the plates and complete the swapperoonie.

[American Dave]

hahahahaha nice mate

[aussiem3]

Originally Posted by Trance

Just over 55k on the clock. Throttle body gears are a worthwhile step to include IMO. Josh mentioned that if you catch the TB gear issue early enough then the electronics will be fine. Problems arise for those that simply clear the codes and keep driving. The strain of the binding plastic gears can cause the electronics to overwork resulting in a sort of arc-flash on the motherboard...at that point they are cactus. Josh is able to tell by looking at the motherboard whether this has occurred (small black burn marks between solder points). Of course this is no guarantee - as always.

Thermostat was actually just dumb luck. On the test drive after the RB's were done Josh noticed the car not coming up to temperature and associated cooling module error codes. After investigation found the faulty thermostat. He said it was an unusual problem so I wouldn't be looking at doing this unless necessary.

Hope that helps

I recently changed my thermostat. The car has 80k km - '07 build. It was easy to do although messy. I spilled coolant every where. I think the error codes remained dormant for a long time because I had checked the codes. No it's all good because the temp comes up to 80 Celsius quickly and then remains around that. Thermostat failure is something you could live with for a while because it doesn't have lasting damage I think!

[XIX]

Originally Posted by aussiem3

I recently changed my thermostat. The car has 80k km - '07 build. It was easy to do although messy. I spilled coolant every where. I think the error codes remained dormant for a long time because I had checked the codes. No it's all good because the temp comes up to 80 Celsius quickly and then remains around that. Thermostat failure is something you could live with for a while because it doesn't have lasting damage I think!

Depends if it fails open or closed.

[Trance]

Plates are on....aaaahhh much more betterer!

[XIX]

Originally Posted by Trance

Plates are on....aaaahhh much more betterer!

Nice !

Ill keep an eye out for you

[///IVI III]

a lot better.. !!

Give me a rev if you see me..!

[Prodigy.]

Haha only just twigged who's thread this was due to the new plates..