[Telly Addict]

As seems to be the fashion, I thought I'd share my journey to e92 bliss

Well I’ll start at the beginning of this journey. For years I had promised myself an e92 335d. Back in 2009 I undertook a major change to my career and so began a 4 year slog of preparing myself for and subsequently going for the change. I was successful in selection and embarked on 3 years of training, which luckily I was also successful in before finally finishing last year and took up my first position in my new career.

All this time I was watching, waiting, searching, monitoring and building a picture of my ideal e92. I figured a budget of around £18-19k. I would have liked an LCI, but reckoned on being lucky to get a decent spec’d one in my budget. The car had to be an M Sport, but I wasn’t that bothered about colour; every e92 I saw looked equally beautiful in whatever colour it happened to be. Apart from red. I’m sorry if anyone here has a red one, but I just don’t think it suits the car. Not for me anyway, each to their own I guess and there may be those reading this that have a red e92 and are perfectly happy and that is great, but I was mentally constructing my perfect car and red just didn’t figure.

So with that one exception, the external colour didn’t necessarily matter. The interior though…that was a different matter entirely. After I spotted a couple of cream interiors, my ideal car simply had to have the cream interior. Turns out that most e92s with cream leather were Le Mans blue cars. So I started looking at LM blue e92s. One option that I decided early on that I didn’t want was the aluminium trim. I can’t understand the logic behind making it the standard trim, because to me it makes the interior look ‘cheap’. Ok, when you see it in the flesh it doesn’t look so bad, but even still…it reminded me of something Ford might do.

Anyway, fast-forward 3 years and as chance would happen, the perfect pre-LCI appeared in my sights shortly after beginning the search in anger. Now this car had almost every option ticked and not only had the cream leather interior, but it was the Individual Champagne Nappa leather interior with the Individual Piano Black trim. As expected the car was blue, but not just LM blue…this was the Individual Velvet blue. If Carlsberg did e92s... To say I was excited when I found this car would be a tiny bit of an understatement…it had the full electric memory seats, front PDC, adaptive lights, high beam assist and professional Sat Nav. Everything I was after in fact, apart from the stereo, which was the base professional head unit. The only thing ‘wrong’ was that she was higher mileage than the 60k limit I was aiming for – at 69k, the cost of warranty would be higher, but given her spec I couldn’t let her get past me.






I travelled from Scotland down to Northampton to pick her up. That rates as one of the single most exciting days of my fairly busy life to this point (I’m in my 40s) – it was properly like Christmas day. I did the deal and drove across to stay with a friend that night in Norfolk, before travelling back up to Scotland the following day. It was bliss. I was able to eek out 50 mpg in the 45 odd minutes of driving the A47 to the A1 at ~50 mph speeds, whilst able to dismiss lines of slow-moving traffic at previously unheard-of rates of acceleration/deceleration. Utterly mesmerising. At the north end of the A1 I decided to follow the A68, instead of the usual A66/M6/A74M. Now that is a bit of a roller-coaster road that I hadn’t been on in a long time and it wasn’t long before I noticed that the suspension in my new baby wasn’t quite as well-behaved as I had hoped for. Over rises and round fast bends the rear end was very flighty and not particularly confidence-inspiring…it felt like the shocks weren’t damping nearly enough and the rear wheels were ‘bouncing’ over ruts or bumps – particularly when the rear was light. With that established, I completed the journey still blissfully happy, but careful not to push her too hard on corners or over rises (and all within the national speed limits of course).

So straight away, I had something to rectify on the car, namely the suspension. I really liked the spring rate of the suspension, it just felt under-damped. So after a lot of research, I settled for a set of Bilstein B4 Sport shocks. I wanted to retain OEM comfort levels while tightening things up a little. The B4Ss achieved this in spades.






One thing I omitted was that the previous owner had replaced the tyres for NRFs after replacing both rear alloys due to cracks. Conti Sport Contact M3s were fitted and were also a profile size larger – so 235/40/19 and 255/35/19. The NRFs combined with the Bilsteins make the ride awesome. The ride comfort is excellent, bumps are soaked up with zero fuss and the handling is now what I had originally hoped for – responsive, controlled and supremely confidence-inspiring. Result.

While I was improving things, I rewired the paddles so that pulling the left one changes down. Pushing it changes up, so you can still control shifting with either hand, but it just feels ‘right’ now.

I still had the base stereo, so set about to rectify that. I read countless threads about hifi upgrades and speaker choices and toyed with the thought of going for the Alpine upgrade. However, I felt that given the spec of the car, she deserved something a little more special. So I opted for the Blaupunkt THA 555 Amp with harness, Ground Zero component speaker set with OEM tweeter door pods and Gladen underseat Subs. I also got soundproofing for the doors. I spent a day installing everything and then some considerable time on setting up the Amp. The result is incredible. Easily the best sound I have experienced in a car and rivals some of the home setups I've been lucky enough to experience. I have found myself putting all my old music onto my iPod just to experience it in the car!










With the music sorted, I took the family on holiday to South of France in the car. What a journey! 3,000 miles round trip and I have to say, the highlight was getting there and getting back What I did notice on the trip, was that the Sat Nav had difficulty in reading the 2013 Nav disc I bought off eBay. Once back, I booked her into my dealer and they replaced the Sat Nav unit under warranty and serviced the AirCon under my service plan. Now she has no difficulties in reading the new Nav disc.

One of the first things I did for the car was get the full warranty from BMW. I got the fully comprehensive one with no excess as I wanted peace of mind. As it turns out, it was a good investment as I’ve got my money back on the first visit to the dealer. A noise from the back was traced to a worn wheel bearing and replaced. Whilst there, a full vehicle check was carried out after which the mechatronic seal was replaced, they also flushed and replaced the gearbox oil as part of the job, replaced the turbo boost pipe seals, replaced x2 rear lower control arms and followed with a full 4 wheel suspension geometry check and adjust. This was particularly well-timed as I had just replaced the shocks at the time!

I am really happy with the look of the car, but thought a couple of little things could do with a refresh. Not really impressed with the orange halo lights, I got a set of the 64W Cree LED bulbs from Ish which transformed the lights! They are so bright that you can drive with just them at night, almost. A set of smoked LED side-indicators and black kidney grills completed the look. I now think she looks beautiful and purposeful, without being over the top or bling. Subtle is good. I considered getting the M3 rear lip spoiler that everyone goes on about, but never actually got round to it.




I always thought that the silver MV4s were a little too bright for the colour of the car and it wasn’t long before I decided to get them repainted in anthracite. While the wheels were off it became apparent that they had a few flat spots so I had them completely refurbished – straightened and then powder coated in silver anthracite. To facilitate this, I bought a set of cheap 313 reps off a fellow e92post member. These also turned out to be bent so had to be straightened as well. Now they’ve been on for the best part of the year and I really like the style, despite them not having the best finish lol. I also got a set of chrome-plated wheel bolts.












While I was improving the running gear, and with the 313s showing so much more of what lay behind them, I wanted to replace the brakes as the discs had a fair bit of surface corrosion around the hubs. So I got a set of OEM discs front and rear (ATE), hopped on a group buy of Yellow Stuff pads and got a set of pad sensors from the dealer. At this point though, the weather turned cold so I never got the chance to fit it all and it’s still sat in the garage!

The final ‘improvement’ was the purchase of an M3 steering wheel, which I’ve only just fitted! I'll add a picture of it fitted this weekend.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my journey. It is coming to an end soon and she will move on to a new adoring owner. It has truly been an awesome year and well worth the wait.

Cam

[Ajs_435d]

Good stuff, 335d are great love mine.

[bazz780]

Excellent write up. Really took me through the journey. What makes you want to sell up?

[Telly Addict]

I only ever intended to own her for a year, maybe 18 months if circumstances allowed. It's been nearly a year now and I'd like to sell her with a couple of months warranty left, so her new owner can enjoy the same peace of mind I did. We have a family car as well and truth be told, we have 1 car too many now so holding on to her for another 6 months would be impractical. I've ticked off all the boxes in my ownership, my bucket list as such and she was always a luxury. A sublime luxury true, but a luxury never-the-less.

[PJJD]

That's disappointing mate Stunning colour with spec to match. What will you be replacing it with?

[mob17]

Nice write up and a shame you're selling!

How did you get BMW to replace your CIC? I thought they would have said they are not responsible for 3rd party discs?

[timp7748]

Beautiful car. Always wanted a Velvet Blue E46 Clubsport.

[richk84]

nice colour, shame you cant keep it for longer

[Telly Addict]

Originally Posted by PJJD

That's disappointing mate Stunning colour with spec to match. What will you be replacing it with?

Nothing mate, we don't need 2 cars.

Originally Posted by mob17

Nice write up and a shame you're selling!

How did you get BMW to replace your CIC? I thought they would have said they are not responsible for 3rd party discs?

Cheers buddy. It's pre-LCI so CCC - it was taking a long time to read OEM discs too, so they replaced it. Which was jolly nice. They have been top-drawer to be fair, anything that's looked in anyway dodgy they've just replaced. The benefit of a no-excess warranty in a nutshell.

*Edit: I just added a photo of the trip computer from the trip up just after buying her

[Jamie_E92]

beautiful car! good luck with the sale, though personally i'd refit the 225 M wheels as the Reps would really put me off!

Jamie

[Telly Addict]

Originally Posted by Jamie_E92

beautiful car! good luck with the sale, though personally i'd refit the 225 M wheels as the Reps would really put me off!

Jamie

Yeah cheers Jamie, it's a personal choice thing that I will leave up to the new owner. The 225s are in boxes looking all new and spangly and will be going with the car (it all fits in the car, just) as part of the sale, along with the set of new brakes that are still in their boxes...

[Greg330]

What a stunning colour combo, don't see many like that!

[Telly Addict]

I forgot - when she was getting all sorts fixed on her first visit to the dealer, they also replaced the inlet manifold because the swirl flaps were leaking. I remember at the time thinking how glad I was for getting the warranty...I really got my money's worth. Oh and they did the security update at the same time. Like I said, great dealer.

[DavS1]

Nice car, good write up and sorry you have to see it go! I'm also in Scotland, what dealer did you 'deal' with? as they sound like the ones to go to!

[Telly Addict]

Originally Posted by DavS1

Nice car, good write up and sorry you have to see it go! I'm also in Scotland, what dealer did you 'deal' with? as they sound like the ones to go to!

Pm'd mate

[achu]

can't believe you're selling this beauty... that colour is awesome... and i love the cream and black interior... how were the sounds??

[Telly Addict]

Originally Posted by achu

can't believe you're selling this beauty... that colour is awesome... and i love the cream and black interior... how were the sounds??

Thanks mate, yeah it is the perfect combo in my opinion . The sounds are just fantastic. I can listen to any genre of music and enjoy it to the full, it's probably what I'll miss the most

[old grey steve]

Colour combos spot on. Like what i see keep it up

[Telly Addict]

Originally Posted by old grey steve

Colour combos spot on. Like what i see keep it up

Cheers mate.

Photo added of the M3 wheel fitted.

[Telly Addict]

For sale thread now up...

[Telly Addict]

Originally Posted by Jamie_E92

beautiful car! good luck with the sale, though personally i'd refit the 225 M wheels as the Reps would really put me off!

Jamie

I think you were right mate, I'm putting the 225s back on with new rubber next week.

[Telly Addict]

Went to look at a bike today in Perth. What an awesome drive there and back...mind you, the car is covered in flys now.