WyattH | E90 M3 ZCP

[wyatth]

Cleaned, conditioned, and coated. I figured this can't last long, so I made it over to Alameda for some photos.

[Jive]

Meh. Needs to be slammed and some mad camber and you’ll get my attention...

















Looking forward to swapping keys this weekend brosef.

[wyatth]

I've long wanted to drive Highway 130 up Mt. Hamilton to the Lick Observatory, a popular road east of San Jose for local enthusiasts. I took the day off and finally made it happen.

My route is shown below. I went uphill from San Jose and downhill towards Livermore on Mines Road. The portion in red was about 2.5 of my 4hr roundtrip journey (10am-2pm to avoid traffic on the freeways to/fro). 100% of that red stretch was in M Mode. I've never been able to keep it in M Mode for that long since real world roads usually aren't that good. 90% of it (closer to all of the uphill side) was in 2nd gear, but there were a few stretches on Mines Road where one could possibly, maybe, theoretically wind out 4th.

Well it's now my favorite road in the Bay Area. It was smooth, properly banked, had good visibility, a balance of extremely technical sections with good straights, pretty/scenic, etc. There were also tons of pull outs for passing or photo ops, but I was having too much fun to stop for photos. Supposedly it can fill up with cyclists on the weekend (as most good roads around here do), which is why I scheduled this for a weekday - and it was empty for me!

The car felt fantastic. The suspension, tires/alignment, and brakes are all transformative. Prior to these changes, I would have said my E46 was better in this tighter, technical stuff. Now no more, especially with DCT. This thing simply boogies and just asks for more. Though E46s still feel more agile and playful, I am very happy with how versatile this car is.

Some cool info and photos of the road: https://www.total911.com/route-130-california-usa/

[akkando]

Originally Posted by wyatth

I've long wanted to drive Highway 130 up Mt. Hamilton to the Lick Observatory, a popular road east of San Jose for local enthusiasts. I took the day off and finally made it happen.

My route is shown below. I went uphill from San Jose and downhill towards Livermore on Mines Road. The portion in red was about 2.5 of my 4hr roundtrip journey (10am-2pm to avoid traffic on the freeways to/fro). 100% of that red stretch was in M Mode. I've never been able to keep it in M Mode for that long since real world roads just aren't that good. 90% of it (closer to all of the uphill side) was in 2nd gear, but there were a few stretches on Mines Road where I wound out 4th.

Well it's now my favorite road in the Bay Area. It was smooth, properly banked, had good visibility, extremely technical, was pretty/scenic, etc. There were also tons of pull outs for passing or photo ops, but I was having too much fun to stop for photos. Supposedly it can fill up with cyclists on the weekend (as most good roads around here do), which is why I scheduled this for a weekday - and it was empty for me!

The car felt fantastic. The suspension, tires/alignment, and brakes are all transformative. Prior to these changes, I would have said my E46 was better and more fun in this tighter, technical stuff. Now no more, especially with DCT. This thing simply boogies and just asks for more.

Some cool info and photos of the road: https://www.total911.com/route-130-california-usa/

I'll have to check out route 130

[wyatth]

^ Yes you do!!


I also made it out to Bird's Landing, which has some fun roads around/through a massive wind farm. I work in the renewables industry so find particular interest out there.

[wyatth]

I cleaned up the strut bars with red Scotchbrite (this was easy and I recommend to everybody!) and titanium hardware, and added a brass coolant bleeder screw from Bimmerworld.

Before and after, one down and one to go.

[wyatth]

I recently met up with my good friend and fellow member Jive, who has a '13 ZCP, fantastic spec and minty condition. He just installed an AA filter, pulley, HFC midpipe, and muffler, so we swapped keys and tossed the cars around on our croissant run. 3 things stood out:
(1) The drive reminded me that the E92 feels sportier than the E90. It's slick looking and just having 2 doors, a carbon roof, etc. makes the whole thing look and feel a little more like an occasion and like a proper sports car. While that's also partly why I like the E90 now, in 10-20 years I'd probably prefer an E92 in my garage over an E90 when practicality or blending in doesn't matter.
(2) The AA goodies feel and sound the part. Very smooth with noticeable power gains (surely due to the midpipe, since I have otherwise similar bolt-ons). The whole setup sounds fantastic, but is on the louder side for me. AA makes good parts.
(3) The Dinan sway bar actually does it's part. When I first installed the bar a while back, I didn't think I noticed much from it (middle setting). Turn in seemed a little flatter, it was a little more sure footed and neutral, but it was just ... mild. The camber plates were a more noticeable improvement. I've been very happy with the combination lately and strongly recommend the pair, I just attributed most of it to the plates. However, driving the stock E92 ZCP through the hills reminded me how much flatter the Dinan bar runs. On to the pics.

[Eson]

This journal is giving me m3forum.net nostalgia... and I love it!

[AC/DC]

[QUOTE=wyatth;25819881]I went full moron and out of boredom ordered some titanium mounting hardware from Ti64.com and a brass coolant bleeder screw from Bimmerworld. Nobody will notice them (I can't even get a camera to focus on them but that's probably on me), but they subconsciously make the engine bay seem cleaner and finished. So while they are very low on the value/recommend scale, I'm somehow happy with them. At the same time I cleaned up the strut bars with red Scotchbrite (this was easy and I recommend to everybody!). It's all in the details.



Very nice! I'm doing the same thing very soon as my spring project, plus upgrading the power steering reservoir, oil change, and swapping to my Apec EC7s!

[wyatth]

Originally Posted by Eson

This journal is giving me m3forum.net nostalgia... and I love it!

You mean I’m doing the exact same things, but it’s white with 4 doors?

Originally Posted by MBimmer2011

Very nice! I'm doing the same thing very soon as my spring project, plus upgrading the power steering reservoir, oil change, and swapping to my Apec EC7s!

Thanks! Which PS reservoir did you opt for?
If I was tracking I’d probably be looking into one (or adding the Brembo overflow reservoir). I was getting some overflow when I first got the car, but after a PS flush and new reservoir gasket, it’s been staying dry. I have a reservoir sock over it in case some fluid wants out, but it hasn’t been needed yet.
Also, no issue but you forgot a [/quote] in the post above.

——

Super minor, but the gloss finish of the iND start button was bothering me. It was well done, but didn’t seem right. So I removed the button, hit it with some matte clear coat, finished it with some magic eraser, and then reinstalled it with a new MY08 bezel. I do prefer the LCI bezel with a black button, but the black ring looked weird with the colored button. Very pleased with how it came out.

[christoepurrr]

Thanks to this thread for giving me the push to upgrade/refresh my headlights. My headlight covers were also not in the worst condition, but there were some rock chips from the previous owner. Figured I'd replace em with new lenses and upgrade the projector lenses while I'm in there

Upon researching regarding disassembling the headlights, I read about further improving the light performance via removing the RV shield as well as adjusting the adjustment screw for the shield. Still got one more headlight to go ...

[wyatth]

^ Glad I could be that extra push.
And yes, removing or trimming the RV shield is part of the process for best results. I trimmed it on my E46, but I’m not sure what method BayOptiks went with.
I continue to love the lights. The in-fill, distance, and width are all much improved, and the cut off looks awesome.


———


Met with member Jive this morning for a routine croissant run through the hills. I loaded up the car seat from my wife’s car so that we could put both of our kids in the back together.
E90 > E92!!!

[wyatth]

Modest update as I just crossed over 54K and will hit 2 years of ownership next month.




Dinan Performance Software
I recently swapped tunes to the Dinan [Stage 1] Performance Software for a variety of reasons. Overall I felt no difference from my previous Stage 1 tune, as expected. Still smooth, strong, and tingly. If you want customized features or plan on going Stage 2, this isn't for you. But I like the features of this tune, and have decided against Stage 2, so am very happy with it. I had the flash done at BavPros in Berkeley, a local Dinan authorized shop - great place, highly recommend it for locals or East Bay folks looking for Dinan work.

Intake Cleaning
One reason for the tune swap was because I needed to reflash anyway to pass my CA SMOG test. The previous tune would have passed with just the cold start function reverted, but since I was flashing anyway I wanted to mix it up. Also due to the SMOG test, I removed the intake and while it was out gave the filter a cleaning, and hit the engine bay and airbox with 303 protectant.
It's hard to say the Dinan intake is objectively worth it's price tag, but I'd be damned if it isn't a work of art that fits perfectly. Removing and reinstalling it also reminded me of the difference it makes. While I can't say outright power is improved according to my butt dyno, it does add noise and response (especially noticeable on downshifts). I love it.
I was also surprised by how dirty the filter got in just ~1 year and ~4K miles since new. It surely wasn't due for a cleaning and I wouldn't have yet if it wasn't out already, but it was surely discolored with a light layer of dirt all over. These engines move some air!




Interior Trim
After removing the center trim and start button a few times (first to put the red in, then to swap to the pre-LCI bezel, then again after coating the button in a matte clear), the trim's pin receiver started to fatigue a bit and just wasn't holding it factory tight anymore. $1 and 30 seconds later and it's now tight as new. Totally happy with how the button and bezel turned out now, and my guy agrees.

[M3_Legend]

Beautiful and Clean M3

[romero1990]

Originally Posted by wyatth

I've long wanted to drive Highway 130 up Mt. Hamilton to the Lick Observatory, a popular road east of San Jose for local enthusiasts. I took the day off and finally made it happen.

My route is shown below. I went uphill from San Jose and downhill towards Livermore on Mines Road. The portion in red was about 2.5 of my 4hr roundtrip journey (10am-2pm to avoid traffic on the freeways to/fro). 100% of that red stretch was in M Mode. I've never been able to keep it in M Mode for that long since real world roads just aren't that good. 90% of it (closer to all of the uphill side) was in 2nd gear, but there were a few stretches on Mines Road where one could possibly, maybe, theoretically wind out 4th.

Well it's now my favorite road in the Bay Area. It was smooth, properly banked, had good visibility, extremely technical, pretty/scenic, etc. There were also tons of pull outs for passing or photo ops, but I was having too much fun to stop for photos. Supposedly it can fill up with cyclists on the weekend (as most good roads around here do), which is why I scheduled this for a weekday - and it was empty for me!

The car felt fantastic. The suspension, tires/alignment, and brakes are all transformative. Prior to these changes, I would have said my E46 was better and more fun in this tighter, technical stuff. Now no more, especially with DCT. This thing simply boogies and just asks for more.

Some cool info and photos of the road: https://www.total911.com/route-130-california-usa/

I tried once up at night. The road is somewhat horrible on the way up to Lick. Or probably just visibility. Gonna try it during the day and see how that goes.

My fav night run is Saratoga up to 35 and then 84 down to Woodside.(alt is Palo Alto Hill. but way too many residential along the way though. )

[M3_Legend]

Beautiful and Clean M3

[wyatth]

I just crossed 55K and figured there’s been enough to merit an update here!


Eisenmann Sport -> BMW M Performance Exhaust

I prefer things on the quieter side, so these two exhausts had long been my favorite options for the E9xM. I originally went with the Eisenmann Sport because it sounds great with or without a midpipe change and I wanted to keep future tuning options open. IMO, the MPE sounds best with the factory midpipe, and having recently decided to keep that (volume/rasp, smell, CARB … just not worth the trade-offs for me), I picked up an MPE to experiment and compare the two. Yay, science!

I really, really like the Eisenmann muffler. It has the perfect volume, with a hair of bass at idle/cold start, and a throaty roar to redline. It sounds muscular, deep, like what you could expect from a V8. It also feels faster. I don’t mean it makes meaningfully more power (although the testing/data indicates it flows better), just that the sensation of acceleration is greater with it. It’s a hair louder than the MPE (but does not overbear the intake sound at WOT) and you can just feel the muscly bass in your buttox, back, and hands.

The MPE has a unique tone, almost hollow and metallic. Now I don’t usually like raspy or hollow, metallic notes. But this is exotic, thrilling! The problem is, it’s damn quiet inside the car! As in, nearly how I remember the factory muffler sounding. This sounds better, just not much louder. And because it has no deep bass, it can nearly disappear at different RPMs/loads/frequencies. Neither muffler has detectable drone, but the MPE is nearly silent while cruising on the highway.

Both are very well made, but there’s a little more art to Eisenmann’s craft. Both fit perfectly, as you’d expect. Both include connecting pipes. The Eisenmann pipes are mandrel bent and coated, which is nice. The MPE drops ~25lbs while the Eisenmann drops ~8lbs.



I like the look of both mufflers. The Black Series mufflers are clean, as are the exposed Inconel MPE cans. However, I much prefer the smaller, straight cut, thin wall tips of the MPE. The Eisenmann tips look great too, I just wish they were straight cut and the chrome portion extended a little further towards the cans.





So, which muffler stays?

Well damn, maybe both. They both have ~8K CA miles on them so are in perfect shape, are both E90-spec which is harder to come by, and are both the respective versions to have IMO (V2 for the MPE, and Black Series with polished tips for the Eisenmann). I can’t definitively say which I like more overall, and ultimately would be sad to see either go. So they’ll both stay for the time being and perhaps one will become garage wall art or I'll rotate between them every year, who knows. In the meantime, friend and member @Johal is storing the Eisenmann for me on the back of his Melbourne.



OE European Visors

A small touch for the interior, I replaced the factory vinyl/stickered sunshades with a pair of OE European shadowline cloth visors. I can’t say they’re worth their premium (let’s be real, they’re visors) and yet I still really like them. They feel supple and remove a hard-touch plastic surface from the car, and sticker-free is a clean detail when you park with the shades folded down.







Dinan Monoball FCAs

I’d long been interested in a front moonball kit due to all of their positive feedback, but was incredulous that the claims could come without compromise. I had Dinan monoball RTABs on my E46 and they were great, but I didn't want to make this car as hardcore. And given that my car lives on the street (albeit not a daily), I value manners on real world pavement. I recently drove my friend and member @eson's Dinan S2 E92M in order to see how the Dinan coilovers felt, but ended up only thinking about how great the front monoballs were! The braking stability and steering precision were instantly noticeable, and equally important, the impact on ride quality was nil.

So I bought new OE (TRW) front tension arms and the Dinan mononball kit. The original arms had 55K and still looked good to be honest, so any difference is due to the monoballs and not fresh arms. I can already tell that I like this kit. They also eliminated the final bit of the notorious 80mph shakes (98% of which was solved with road force balancing the tires). Buttery smooth, but firm and precise. I’d describe the impact on ride quality being equal to an extra 1-2psi in your front tires, a total nonfactor (especially coming from me). (Thanks Evan @ Tischer!)

Have a file photo:





Fall-Line DCT Pan & Service

The primary weak point on the DCT unit is the bottom pan gasket, though the side (and top) can leak too. Whether this is due to an inferior gasket or a plastic pan that warps is TBD. Mine was weeping from the bottom and though it was minimal and hardly urgent, I wanted to be proactive. And while it probably would have been cost efficient to just replace with OE parts every ~50K, I wanted a permanent solution.

The SLON pan is very popular on the board, but I was interested in trying the new Fall-Line pan. They both have improved baffling versus the factory pan, but the SLON baffles are bigger. They both have improved cooling fins. They both fit with the factory trim panel in place. The Fall-Line pan is angled so that it rests level to the ground and is not the low point on the car. I am not facing heating issues on the track, so both were overkill for me, but I valued the clearance over the extra .5L the SLON pan offers (the volume of which merits the extended pickup). I also liked the Viton o-ring approach offered by Fall-Line, but I’m sure the SLON Loctite approach also works.

I replaced all of the factory stretch bolts (F$!), both DCT filters with OE (Vaico), and gave it 6.5L of Pentosin DCT-F (versus the 5+ instructed with the OE pan!). The original fluid and filters looked totally fine, smooth and dark honey brown. (Thanks to VT Motorworks)

At 55K the DCT obviously wasn’t yet in need of a service, so I wasn’t expecting much from this. And that’s exactly what I got. Maybe it’s a little smoother in some situations? Either way, the pan fits perfectly and is extremely well made/packaged. It definitely shows my long term expectations with the car. For reference, I have GTS DCT software and the box was topped off with the GTS fill method last year. (Thanks Cat @ iND)

More photos here: https://futureclassic.us/blogs/news/...um-dct-oil-pan













55K Service

It’s been about 1 year and 3K from the last oil change, so in goes 1 bottle of Techron, 9L of Castrol TWS, and 1 OE filter.





OE European Bumper

I was driving on the freeway when a hand tool in the back of a truck a few lanes over fell out. It bounced off the road and across the freeway, hit a barricade next to me and then back in front of me. With nowhere to go, I braced for impact. I got pretty lucky in that it whacked the bumper but otherwise didn’t touch anything (the hood, grill, ducting, windshield, new lights, etc.).




I actually grew to really like the amber reflectors, and my front license plate didn’t really bother me. The bumper was otherwise in great condition, so I was pretty bummed. But to make lemonade out of the situation I went with an OE Euro cover. I had it painted and installed with a new center grill and corner felt under panels (neither of which were broken, but cheap enough to make it all look new “while you’re in there”). Big kudos to RJ’s Paint Shop in Pleasanton for anybody in the Bay Area. (And thanks Cat @ iND for the bumper!)

A few current shots with the new iPhone 12 Pro.

[Space Fox]

Your attention to detail continues to inspire me. That's one lucky e90 to have you as its owner!

[wyatth]

^ Well those are awfully nice words, thank you!

[dmitriyo]

This is fantastic! Well done! looking forward to the updates!

[ForTheLoveOfTheDrive]

I just recently picked up a 2011 E90 ZCP and am also in the Bay Area. Watching this build definitely gave me a ton of inspiration. I really enjoyed reading your journey. Keep up the awesome work 👏🏼

[94jedi]

Loving your build, wyatth