For New Owners - What I wish I knew when I first bought my E9X M3:

[///mawana]

Great post, in addition, if you are going to supercharge it someday, don't wait thinking prices will come down, they won't!

[13Ghost]

A few other things I've learnt as a new owner that I would have found helpful in one thread... The answers are out there and credit is due to those who originally posted, so please search for more details and give credit where credit is due. On that note thanks Theodore for this thread and for your torque specs too!

1. Turning off your car
Long press on the stop button otherwise you'll be pressing it a couple of times.

2. Garage door buttons
Are only active while the car is running, not just on accessory.

3. Fuel octane rating
Requires premium fuel, minimum required 91, 94 recommended.

4. Jack points (the 4 boxes)
Require an adapter that you can buy cheap or make yourself. They measure 2 x 1 x .5 inch.

5. Wheel lugs
17 mm and need 120 NM which is equivalent to 88-90 ft lbs of torque.

[Dagamus_NM]

Excellent thread, thank you. The tips on here are great.

I've owned my e92 about three weeks now. Fun car with a good amount of power. The way the engine revs is quite exciting.

This car is almost as much fun to drive as my Z3M coupe was. Oh how I miss that car. I will get another when my son is old enough to ride up front. Need a car with a back seat until then.

[Brian Senaratne]

Hi, I have found that in my E93 M3 2012 that my rear break caliper is missing one part. shown in the picture are the front and rear calipers. could someone share their standard caliper so i can see if one part is missing.
cheers

[Mike1992]

Thanks

[ItsGary]

Originally Posted by 13Ghost

A few other things I've learnt as a new owner that I would have found helpful in one thread... The answers are out there and credit is due to those who originally posted, so please search for more details and give credit where credit is due. On that note thanks Theodore for this thread and for your torque specs too!

1. Turning off your car
Long press on the stop button otherwise you'll be pressing it a couple of times.

2. Garage door buttons
Are only active while the car is running, not just on accessory.

3. Fuel octane rating
Requires premium fuel, minimum required 91, 94 recommended.

4. Jack points (the 4 boxes)
Require an adapter that you can buy cheap or make yourself. They measure 2 x 1 x .5 inch.

5. Wheel lugs
17 mm and need 120 NM which is equivalent to 88-90 ft lbs of torque.

Hmm

1) you could also cut ignition by locking the car. At least I can with my car

2) I can open and close the garage with the ignition on (engine not running)

[M3drop]

Originally Posted by Brian Senaratne

Hi, I have found that in my E93 M3 2012 that my rear break caliper is missing one part. shown in the picture are the front and rear calipers. could someone share their standard caliper so i can see if one part is missing.
cheers

my rear calipers and front are different as well, just like in your pictures

[13Ghost]

Same with mine.

[M3MPH1S]

Originally Posted by Brian Senaratne

Hi, I have found that in my E93 M3 2012 that my rear break caliper is missing one part. shown in the picture are the front and rear calipers. could someone share their standard caliper so i can see if one part is missing.
cheers

What you are looking at is the "spring" that keeps the outer brake pad from moving around inside the caliper. There's no risk of it falling out, it just moves around very slightly and can produce some noise. Anyway, the front and rear caliper use a different spring design. In the picture on the left, look at the bottom of the circle you drew. There is a "plate" that has arms extending outward towards the top left of your circle. That serves the same purpose at the one in the other picture. If you work on other cars you will see an endless variation of the same concept.

[nj_brit]

What a great list - thank you!

[CHE///MIST3]

If your idle hesitates/stumbles at a stop, but runs smoothly past 600-700 rpms, have a look at your gas cap, it may be so old that the rubber seal has compressed beyond its ability to seal properly and you have, in essence, an open gas cap...which this car HATES. Get a new cap at your local BMW dealer for $32....that fixed the problem for me!

GM

[dgunn]

Great thread!!

[romero1990]

Originally Posted by CHE///MIST3

If your idle hesitates/stumbles at a stop, but runs smoothly past 600-700 rpms, have a look at your gas cap, it may be so old that the rubber seal has compressed beyond its ability to seal properly and you have, in essence, an open gas cap...which this car HATES. Get a new cap at your local BMW dealer for $32....that fixed the problem for me!

GM

I suspect mine having the issue. is there a quick way to check if that was it before buying a new cap? (sure, it wasn't expensive anyways)

[EJK7]

great write up

[DrakeFrst]

When the passenger handle took the car, it was already not in very good condition, but it did not rush into the eyes and simply forgot about it. But apparently the summer days had a very negative effect on her and it was already impossible to even notice the black plastic out of the corner of her eye. I don’t know why such a disease of the front arms, the rear arms are exactly the same, but they are still like new.

[Dagamus_NM]

Originally Posted by DrakeFrst

When the passenger handle took the car, it was already not in very good condition, but it did not rush into the eyes and simply forgot about it. But apparently the summer days had a very negative effect on her and it was already impossible to even notice the black plastic out of the corner of her eye. I don’t know why such a disease of the front arms, the rear arms are exactly the same, but they are still like new.

I think I am having a stroke reading this.

[BimmerRookie]

Originally Posted by DrakeFrst

When the passenger handle took the car, it was already not in very good condition, but it did not rush into the eyes and simply forgot about it. But apparently the summer days had a very negative effect on her and it was already impossible to even notice the black plastic out of the corner of her eye. I don’t know why such a disease of the front arms, the rear arms are exactly the same, but they are still like new.

wut

[tweny]

do rod bearings please. I learned the hard way. bought a pristine 2011 37k miles, and had to replace the engine after just 1.5k miles of driving it. get them done!

[drchuck72]

Originally Posted by ItsGary

Hmm

1) you could also cut ignition by locking the car. At least I can with my car

2) I can open and close the garage with the ignition on (engine not running)

If you lock the car with accessory power on, it may not be completely shut down and might drain the battery a bit while locked.

I don't know that this happens for sure with the BMW, but, when I left my wife's 2015 Mini Cooper S for Valet parking one weekend, they probably didn't know to double tap the ignition switch to shut the car down completely. After I picked up the car I got a message on the dash that the battery had discharged. The message only went away after I charged the battery with a battery tender. Even long drives didn't fully recharge the battery.

Just a thought and a case for fully shutting the car down when turning it off.

[ItsGary]

Originally Posted by drchuck72

If you lock the car with accessory power on, it may not be completely shut down and might drain the battery a bit while locked.

I don't know that this happens for sure with the BMW, but, when I left my wife's 2015 Mini Cooper S for Valet parking one weekend, they probably didn't know to double tap the ignition switch to shut the car down completely. After I picked up the car I got a message on the dash that the battery had discharged. The message only went away after I charged the battery with a battery tender. Even long drives didn't fully recharge the battery.

Just a thought and a case for fully shutting the car down when turning it off.

Locking the vehicle will put all modules into sleep mode. Which is why it's recommended when you have your car on a tender to leave the car locked

[Kole]

Originally Posted by DrakeFrst

When the passenger handle took the car, it was already not in very good condition, but it did not rush into the eyes and simply forgot about it. But apparently the summer days had a very negative effect on her and it was already impossible to even notice the black plastic out of the corner of her eye. I don’t know why such a disease of the front arms, the rear arms are exactly the same, but they are still like new.

Hate it when that happens, but It could’ve been worse.

[timwang6]

This is a fantastic thread!
Even owning a E92 M3 for a year I still have concerns of some of the things mentioned here. Looks like no worries for those. Gonna keep an eye on the idler pulley on mine soon...