Ownership Verified: My E90 320D M Sport

altoid said:
I may or may not be masturbating.
To an E90.
Diseasel.

Well done, man. Well done.
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Thanks, I think. :lol:

p0w3r said:
I'm not sure if that would work...if it doesn't I think a permanent solution you can try would be to remove the lens and try resealing it.
http://www.focusfanatics.com/howtos/resealingtaillight/

Good Luck and awesome bbk!
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It seems to have worked having let it 'breathe' for a while. Going to whip it off again this week and re-seal the sides whilst it's dry.

Cleaned it (again) and took some better photos of the new wheels & front brakes ...

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Brakes have bedded in now and make quite an impressive difference, definitely a worth while improvement. I've ordered a Bluetooth A2DP receiver for the Aux-in connection so I can wirelessly play music rather than tethering the iPod under the centre arm rest, hopefully it works okay!
 
Got to agree with hbriz, the m-sport badge is a bit tacky in my opinion, I think they're tacky even on a real M. But the car looks great besides that, I've always loved german/euro look, simple and stunning. Keep up the good work!
 
I don't think I've mentioned it here before but the M badge is only there temporarily to cover a scratch put there by the dealer when removing the 320 badge. Once it's fixed, it's coming off but it's pretty low on my list of priorities!
 
I'm not too bothered by the ///M badge since there's no number next to it, making it obviously a non-M car.

But that could just be infatuation talking. I've never liked an E90 until this one... :eek:
 
Paddy said:
I don't think I've mentioned it here before but the M badge is only there temporarily to cover a scratch put there by the dealer when removing the 320 badge. Once it's fixed, it's coming off but it's pretty low on my list of priorities!
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I wasn't gonna say anything because I figured you'd know better, lol.

Agreed that leaving the trunk debadged would look perfect.
 
Paddy said:
I don't think I've mentioned it here before but the M badge is only there temporarily to cover a scratch put there by the dealer when removing the 320 badge. Once it's fixed, it's coming off but it's pretty low on my list of priorities!
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Ah, fair enough! I didn't think you'd be the sort of person to deliberately put M badges on their 320d :p The debadged look is much cleaner and less tacky.
 
Another small update ...

I've been researching my options lately for a better way to integrate an iPod into the standard head unit. There is an aux-in under the driver's arm rest but needing to have the iPod tethered to it at all times was becoming a bit of a PITA especially when trying to change songs as the lead was too short (too long and it just got in the way of everything). The obvious solutions were a Dynavin head unit or a Dension gateway, both of which are quite expensive considering I just wanted to listen to the iPod with a little less clutter.

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Someone suggested I should try and pick up a Bluetooth Aux-In adapter which I never heard of before. After some research on various owner clubs and reading reviews on Amazon, I bit the bullet and picked up a Blackberry Bluetooth Stereo Gateway, a Sony Bluetooth adapter for my iPod, a mini USB cable and a short male-to-male 3.5mm audio lead.

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With everything neatly installed under the arm rest, I plugged the Blackberry into the USB charging port (it's just a Kensington 12V USB adapter) and primed the car (The E90 doesn't supply power to the 12V outputs until the car had the key in the ignition and the Start button has been pressed once).

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Next step was inserting the Bluetooth adapter into the iPod (this particular adapter uses a negligible amount of the iPod's battery and doesn't need to be recharged), turning it on and it automatically paired with the Blackberry device almost instantly.

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I'm certainly no audiophile but the sound, to me at least, is the same as when the iPod was connected directly to the Aux-In. The only downside is that the iPod can't be charged when the BT adapter is connected but the iPod Classic I'm using has a 36 hour playback life so it's just a simple case of keeping an eye on the battery life and charging when required. If I was using the iPod function of my iPhone, I wouldn't need the BT adapter plus I could charge the phone as normal through the in-car cradle.

The result is a perfect (and comparatively cheap) solution for those who want a wireless iPod integration in their car. I paid ?39 for the Blackberry Gateway and ?35 for the Sony Bluetooth adapter plus a couple of quid for the cables, so around ?100 maximum for everything required. It's all reversible and has the added bonus of if I sell the car, I can take these with me to the next car.
 
Not a whole lot to update on this, only been driving and cleaning it the last while. The iPod / Bluetooth install works a treat - pairs instantly, great sound and battery lasts for two / three days of solid driving.

NCT is booked for next Monday afternoon so I'm looking forward to seeing how it gets on. If it passes, I'll be treating it to a CSL carbon boot lid and a full paint correction.


I was working out west last weekend and managed to grab a few quick snaps during a break ...

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So out of curiosity, why the sound-degrading detour via bluetooth instead of just a simple 3.5mm line-in?
 
Paddy said:
- Lights Package (anyone care to elaborate on this?)
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led light that iluminat the car in the dark.

if you want to have more then 200 bhp, go for the bmw performance package. they change the intercooler for a bigger one. i have it on mine. it's worth the extra 500? to a simple remap.
 
Perc said:
So out of curiosity, why the sound-degrading detour via bluetooth instead of just a simple 3.5mm line-in?
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Bluetooth streaming is not that bad depending on the quality of the system. I've had bluetooth streaming in my last 3 cars and they worked fine. Plus it's awesome to have you mobile tucked in your pocket while driving and still access and playback music from the headunit.
 
I can hand on heart say that I'm finally, finally finished. Since I bought the car back in the middle of last year, I've had a set list in my head of what I wanted to do with it. As of this morning, I've finally ticked off the last item on the list.

This week has been a hectic one (although not for me really). I dropped the car down to Larry in CleanCar.ie for a full paint correction before collecting the car from him on Wednesday. The difference is unbelievable, it's like a new car. Yesterday evening, I brought it to a local panel beater to fit a carbon CSL style boot lid that I had sourced in the UK. Although the fit was perfect, the openings for lights / locks etc were slightly too small. David (panel beater / a man clearly of infinite patience) filed out each hole by hand to the exact dimensions as on the OEM boot lid.

Anyways, some pictures ...

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Now it's just a case of maintaining it and keeping it up to scratch after Larry & David's hard work. I know it's only a diesel, and I'm sure it will be derided by most on here but do you know what? I couldn't give a f*ck. I love it.
 
I am in love with your big brake kit!
 
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