Ownership Log // 2011 Jerez/Bamboo E90 M3 DCT

[Jb325is]

Well, I finally bought one of these things! I've been so close so many times over the years but they were either just out of my price-range or just not the right car at the right time. I'm originally a 5 series guy- started with a E28, went through a bunch of e34's during the stance period, owned 4-5 e39 M5's before they became ultra-desirable and had exactly (1) E60 M5 (6 speed!) that just felt like it was trying to explode at all times.

I ended up in this car due to a love/hate relationship with the W212 e63 that I sold to buy it. I bought the W212 because I needed a parent car that was cool, desirable and checked the "practical" box, while also having an automatic mode so my GF could drive it around without issue. The E63 checked all the right boxes, and the engine was amazing (M156 N/A) but the MCT 7-speed transmission was TERRIBLE- much slower than the DCT in manual mode and jerky and slippy in full auto mode. When the guy I bought it from expressed interest in buying it back- I obliged.

This led to a bit of a scramble to find a suitable replacement while I used my E30 as a DD and I stumbled across this 2011 on local marketplace for the low-end of the current market price. It had high-miles (140k) and a decent list of needs that probably drove some buyers away, but I checked it out just because it was convenient- didn't really expect much... When I did see it, I was shocked with the cosmetic condition, it was nearly perfect! The car drove alright, had an o2 sensor code and some EDC funkiness but otherwise it seemed pretty well cared for. I thought about it for a couple days and sent the owner an offer for well below current market price- which he accepted, so here it is:

2011 E90 M3
Jerez / Bamboo
DCT
Comp Wheels
H&R springs
H&R Front swaybar
FULL SuperSprint Race exhaust
ECU and DCT GTS tune
Dinan Carbon intake tube





Needs:

- Cheap carbon interior trim is WARPED like crazy. Need to replace center shifter surround and dash piece
- EDC repair- EDC buttons don't function, but you can get the EDC to go back to full-soft with the M-drive button. Need to look into this some more but for now it's not a bother
- TPMS sensors gone- I'll code these out
- Diff/Subframe bushings- Has a slight shimmy when shifting under load
- Exhaust change - IT IS LOUD! Need to add some resonators at the very least, working on this now.
- Oil Leak- Found this after purchase. See below for details
- Coolant Leak- Also found after purchase. See below

Upon inspection, got it up in the air and decided to sell the wheels. Going to a square 18x10 setup for multiple reasons. The M359's ended up being AG M359's, which was a bit of a surprise.









OIL LEAK! Pretty obvious what was happening here, but doing valve cover gaskets as wel









COOLANT LEAK! Not really a smoking gun on this. I ordered water pipe O-rings, gaskets for the coolant outlets, a thermostat and the little crossover hose. I'll clean it up and monitor after all of that



First round of parts:
- 18x10 Apex ARC 8 (Black)
- 275/35/18 Yokohama Advan V601
- Valve cover gaskets
- Spark plug tubes
- Spark Plugs
- Re-using bolts but new ATH Grommets
- Oil separator hardware
- Thermostat
- Water pipe O-rings
- Water outlet gaskets
- Crossover pipe (the one that always leaks)

Also looking into trading exhausts with some local guys to try and quiet this thing down a bit. We'll see how that goes. Hoping to have this all done in the next week, so more pictures then and hopefully I can move onto fixing things that I was EXPECTING to fix

[shimmy23]

congrats! you'll have her fixed up all pristine! i'd just ditch those springs and get a set of ohlins, code out the edc.

[wyatth]

Nice pick up, congratulations!

[elliotw44]

Congrats! Comp wheels FTW

[M3_Legend]

Congrats car looks really clean for the miles

[visor325i]

Nice E90, congrats!

Nice bikes too
I actually installed a hidden hitch on my E90 M3 for my mountain bike

[Jb325is]

Didn't really take many pictures along the way, but car is back together and seems to be leak free. Just for reference, on my valve cover procedure I did the following:

- RE-USED valve covers (143k). Bead blasted outside surface and gasket groove. Etch primed outside surface and gasket groove. Coated with VHT high temp wrinkle black
- RE-USED bolts
- Replaced grommets with AutoTuningHouse silicone rubber version
- Replaced Spark plug tubes
- Replaced O-rings and screws to mount Oil separators and Cam sensors

On the cooling system I did water pipe O-rings, water outlet gaskets (little square metal ports), and replaced thermostat/seal.





Wheels/tires installed with a 15mm spacer on the rear. Needs studs and a front spacer to be perfect.