The Nurple | E91 6MT - manual BMW Sport Wagon Content)

I've done a ton of driving, it's time for an update now that I'm back in FL.  I bought the car with 183,xxx miles.  It now has 190,xxx

In mid-Novemember drove from home in NE FL to my parent's place in upstate NY.  I took a few nice drives through the woods & to/from the airport for some business travel.  Then I drove to Raleigh, NC to pick up my son...only to drive back north to Philly for turkey-day.  Then, to BWI so Kiddo could fly home.  Back to my parents house in NY.  Finally, home to NE FL.  I stopped in at my Brother's house in Philly to break-up the drive a bit.  I also stopped in to see a good friend in north Jersey for a night on my way home. The longest single-stretch was ~14 hours (NJ to FL, and FL to Philly).  

Mechanical:  No issues other than the motor mounts that I replaced when I got to NY.  The oil leak has improved, but not 100% solved.  There's also some leakage from around the power steering pump.  Now that I'm home it's time to get the car up on jackstands.

Maintenance/Consumables:  I'm due for an oil change soon.  I was planning to make a decision about the oil pan gasket when I changed the oil...so I'll need to get to that soon.  I'm annoyed that there's no dipstick to use an oil evacuator.  Things would be so much easier.  

Light Bulbs:  A kind person informed me at a red light that my brake light was out.  While replacing the bulb I found the housing had melted aroudn teh bulbs...fairly common from what I've read.

One of the fairly-new front tires (Pirelli P-Zero summer tires) started to show signes of separation where the sidewall meets the tread.    Both the fronts were more worn on the outer edges.  The rears were pretty close to the  wear-bars when I got to NY, so I decided to replace all 4 tires w/all-season HP tires, in case I make another trip up there this winter.  Turns out the alignment was off...which was causing the issue. The car drove straight...but wasted the tires.  PO must have skipped the alignment when he replaced them.  

I'm not happy with myself w/the tire replacement.  I had ordered all-sesasons (no seasons?) from TireRack, but canceled that when I realized I could get everything done for a similar price from the local Pep Boys.  As much as the Pirelli tires looked great, I need something a little more durable & inexpensive.  I expect i'll be logging lots of highway miles, so efficient & cheap is fine for the straight-roads in FL. decided on Kumho Ecsta all-season high-performance tires in the same size as the prior Perilli P-Zeros.  225/40/18.  I had Kumho tires on my MKIV GTI & I liked them.  There were cheap...but Unfortunately, three issues compounded and i'm kicking myself.

Issue 1.  Pep Boys allows you to make a reservation for installation...but that reservation doesn't actually reserve a spot:

It's still first-come-first serve.  I showed up at a few minutes before 8 AM and was 3rd in line...w/a total of 6 reservations at 8AM.  I know I should have called the day before.  I went for a walk to get coffee & make a few phone calls.  After 2 hours my tires were installed (faster than promised!). Before leaving I asked about the alignment I paid for & turns-out, they never did it.  At nearly noon they finally tell me my car is done.  The wheels are a mess, tire soap all over the wheels and tires.  The tires also look a bit more narrow than they should.  At this point I was late for handling some issues at work to the point it might impact me financially...so I took the car & went to the airport.  It had snowed the night before so my car was filthy.  I figured i"d just clean the wheels off when I cleaned  the car.  When i got home from my trip I jumped in the car & started driving to FL.  

After driving through the rain I realized 3/4 wheels were curbed all the way around the rim.  It looks like they took a grinder wheel to each of the wheels.  Also, the tires say they're 225/40/18 (OEM Size for 335i sport package wheels...style 162)  but the rim protector is inside the edge of the rim. They look like stretched tires.  The steering dosn't have the same weighty feel as before, it's much, much lighter.  Finally, I think the diameter is also different.  I noticed the speedo was reading a little high before, but it's now reading 6-7% higher than GPS.  E90s are known to have a higher indicated speed (BECAUSE EURO, BRO)...but these just feel shorter.

I'm mad at myself for spending $600 (mounting + tax + alignment) and not taking the time to make sure everything was right.  The tire shop should have stopped after one tire and asked if I wanted  something different.  I should have asked them to clean off the wheels before leaving...to reveal the damage I suspect they were trying to cover up.  I also should have paid to re-mount different tires rather than settle for something that doesn't look how I want it to.  I called Pep Boys corporate yesterday, they promised a callback with a problem-solver today.  There are locations here in FL, hopefully I can figure it out.  When I was in NY I was actually trying to find 17" wheels/tires...but all the used wheels either had snow tires mounted, had no tires & overpriced, or just out of my tire budget. 

Sunroof Drains: After cleaning the drains again it rained heavily before thanksgiving & the car stayed dry!  A few days later it rained heavingly & the passenger back footwell was damp.  Not flooded, but definitely damp.  I think the drains are clear, but the seals are letting in more water than they should.  Until I order the seals & get them replaced I've spread a thin layer of dielectric grease along the sunroof seals.  I think the thin layer of grease should slow down or minimize any water incursion until I can get the seals replaced.   

I drove through some heavy rain on the way home & everything seemed dry.

Once I get the seals replaced I'm going to drop the headliner & make sure there isn't a leak around the roof rails or a body seam.  

Headliner:  I've watched a few videos on headliner replacement & plan to DIY. I'm not sure where to order material...if I could match the a-b-c pillars that would save a lot of work.  I checked with one upholstry shop and they quoted $2k...becasue they said you have to remove the whole sunroof assembly (same as the owner's X3, apparently).  

Stereo: I couldn't figure any rhyme or reason for the intermittent issues.  Some parts of the drive I'd drive 5-6 hours w/perfect function.  On the last leg home it would sometimes play for 10 minutes before cutting out.  The final leg of the trip it would just cut out every 10 seconds.  I am getting an SOS error, which I thought the optical loop i added should have fixed.  I do think water got in the panel w/the SOS call button.  Driving around town yesterday it worked fine in ~10 minute intervals.  Maybe it can fully dry out now that I'm back in FL where it's warm & sunny?

My risk mitigation was to bring a sony bluetooth speaker.  It paid off...because I used it from VA to FL.  

The BMW forums mention software coding for things like deleting the SOS system, removing the TPMS errors, fixing the speedometer optimism, etc.  What's the recommended hardware for this?  I know there are BMW_focused diagnostic tools as well.  

Did this car come with runflats?

My experience is that tires on BMWs of this era and newer always look stretched. My wife's car uses ALMOST the exact same size tires (225/45-18) and they look stretched as well. She has the factory Pirelli Cinturato P7 runflats.

Its also my experience that new tires = less steering effort. I would run them to the ground if you cant have PepBoys come with an alternative, the price you paid is not bad at all.

Regarding the headliner, I have heard Joann fabrics has something. This might be worth checking and its here in Florida, but I have zero experience with them:

Headliner Express

Slippery said:

Did this car come with runflats?

My experience is that tires on BMWs of this era and newer always look stretched. My wife's car uses ALMOST the exact same size tires (225/45-18) and they look stretched as well. She has the factory Pirelli Cinturato P7 runflats.

Its also my experience that new tires = less steering effort. I would run them to the ground if you cant have PepBoys come with an alternative, the price you paid is not bad at all.

Regarding the headliner, I have heard Joann fabrics has something. This might be worth checking and its here in Florida, but I have zero experience with them:

Headliner Express

Runflats were standard on these cars, most people convert to conventional for ride quality.  Runflats were also +$250/each.   I keep a compressor & plug kit in the car...but I'll double-check the internets before going to pick-and-pull...but, apparently E60 (5 series) space-saver spare & jack should work.  I'd hate to get stuck in the middle of nowhere.    The tires were cheap & drove OK over the 1,200 miles home.  If it weren't for the wheel damage I would have just settled w/the situation.  I wish I had checked the alignment before the front left tire started to separate...I was planning to get 17 inch wheels then spend money on tires.  

It's been a while since I've shared an update on the Nurple.

It's now got just over 192,000 miles.  The Service Engine Soon light came on a few weeks ago so I changed the oil.  I thought the oil life indicator said it was good for a few thousand more miles...but I think the factory recommended interval is something wild...like 15k miles.  Changing the oil was pretty straightforward, other than the fact there's no dipstick...so I couldn't use my oil evacuator.  I still couldn't see where the slight power steering leak is coming from.  It looked like maybe where the hard line meets the rack...but it's kind of hard to see & even harder to access.  A problem for another day.

• The service engine Soon light isn't actually a "service light" in these cars...it's actually the equivalent of a check-engine-light.  I'm getting P0128 code, which indicates coolant is below operating temperature.  The Internets says the thermostat is likely failed...fortunately, BMW designed them to fail in the "open" position. DIY write-ups say to plan for a 3-hour job (radiator-out). Thermostat is only $80.  I believe PO said the water pump is new...so that would be disappointing to have a new water pump w/a faild thermostat.   I'll have to do a bit more research to see if there are other causes. 
• The oil leak returned within a few weeks of tightening those pan bolts.  I'll probably order the gasket & bolts needed, I may plan a trip up north this spring, so I'll plan to do it on the lift while I'm up there.  I could do it in my carpark...but I need a jack that can get the car higher than my current one.  
• I haven't done anything about the wheels/tires.  Frankly, I've just been too busy to dedicate a few hours out of my workday to sort it out.  New boss, new expectations have me running around in circles trying to keep everyone happy.  I've been making progress on directing people to do the work, rather than doing the all the work...which is helping. 
• I did replace the sunroof seals.  It hasn't rained heavy enough to evaluate...so fingers still crossed. 
• Headliner still needs replacing. I'll order material in the next few weeks.  I like to drive with the windows down...so the saggy roof panel needs to go.  Also, spring/summer comes around I won't want to have the sunroof shade open all the time...so the headliner needs fixing.  
• The stereo still has intermittent issues cutting out.  I can't figure out any rhyme or reason.  It's only intermittent. 
• The car is still driving great.  I took a drive down A1A and snapped a few pictures a few weeks ago.  the car was way dirtier/dustier than the pictures show.
• 

To follow up on your tire drama, those are style 182's and they come on sport package E90 335i and 330i from 06-08.  They come as a staggered fitment, so 18x8's in the front with 225/40/18s and 18x8.5's in the back with 255/35/18s.  Since those rims aren't OEM to your car, I wonder if the PO put on a set of all rears for "performance".  A set of 225s on an 8.5" in rim would probably look pretty stretched.  When I bought my E91, I was "lucky" enough to find that the PO of my car replaced one of my fronts with a rear so I had 3x8.5" wheels and 1x8" wheel.  

As far as coding goes, I coded the TPMS in my E91 from the sensor based to ABS-based system using the free BMW Tools package and a K+DCAN cable off of ebay.  Bimmergeeks.com sells one thats supposed to be good too, and now they have an android app to do coding and such in a bit more user-friendly way.  

In reply to rothwem :

Thanks for the advice on the bimmergeeks coding solution, I'll look into it.  

3 wheels the same size?  I'll have to take a closer look at all 4 wheels on mine, I suppose all 4 may be 8.5 instead of 8...I'll need to check that.   Tirerack shows the 335i/330i as square w/all 4 using 225/40/18.  The PO added spacer to the rear to fill-out the wheel well a little better.  I didn't check the rim width because Perelli tires looked right & were all 225/40.  I suppose all 4 may be 8.5 instead of 8...I'll need to check that.   

Nice Shot Wagon shots!

May I manipulate more?

In reply to etifosi :

Sure thing!  

The Nurple is still very, very good.  I've done a lot of driving...currently just over 199k miles in the middle of a FL to NY/Philly road trip.  The car is still driving excellent.  

I still haven't fixed the leaky oil pan gasket. I'll likely order parts this week, since I'll likely have access to a lift while i'm in the NE. If not, I'll just manage the job on jackstands.

Good news...I did finally figure out the leaky roof.  I cleaned the drains (again) and replaced the sunroof seals, but still had water on the rear floor mats.  I did sit in the car in pouring rain until I could see where the water was coming from.  Turns out, the water was coming from the door.  I think someone suggested I check the vapor barrier early on.  Once I had the door panels off I realized that it wasn't the vapor barrier.  The door panel fasteners are designed with a foam gasket to seal against the hole.  Someone used the incorrect fasteners (w/out gaskets) so it was leaking through those the holes/fastener.   I've since confirmed in very heavy rain that it's now water tight.

I also replaced the saggy headliner.   I had to wire-wheel the old foam off & re-glue the brackets.  Being my first time doing this, I bought cheap headliner material ($40 w/lots of extra)...and it's a good thing.  I laid the fabric well, but I trimmed too agressively & didn't leave enough material to fold over.  I'll likely be doing this again...probably in black next time.  I skipped the A & B pillars and visors.

I also had issues getting the sun shade reinstalled correctly.  Lack of info & missing hardware that doesn't seem available unless you buy an entire assembly.  It was a PITA.  NExt time will be easier (once I track down the right hardware).

I recently switched phones & haven't been able to transfer over my pictures of the headliner project.  Here's one from the other day.  Very different than Florida.

Looking good and love the color. My parents had a silver one. 

I'm not sure where your E91 is leaking from, but if it's behind the glovebox, there's a good chance water is coming in from the blower motor, due to the rain guide/seal in the engine bay (underneath the cowl) coming loose. At least that's where the leak was in my E82 (essentially same chassis). 

I took a photo and linked a video in my build thread, which might help in the event your car is still leaking: 

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/e82-128i-when-your-projected-track-car-turns-into-your-daily/258441/page6/

In reply to roninsoldier83 :

I'll read that thread & keep a close eye on that spot.  To clarify...it's not leaking any more.   It was leaking from the door, but once I replaced the fasteners the leak is gone. There have been a few very heavy rainstorms & everything is dry.

I left the Wagon at my brother's place in PA and flew home to FL for two weeks for some work stuff.  I flew back up on Friday night & found the battery to be very, very dead.  At a few points in the prior weeks I had partially shut the trunk, leaving the trunk light on.  No idea if I did that, or if it went dead just from sitting.

Unlock doesn't work?  Sure, just use the key to manually unlock.  Unfortunately, manual unlock had no response & the entire lock cylinder came out.  AAA showed up & the pop-a-lock guy could pull the door handle & the lock would come up...but it wouldn't ulock and would spring back down into the door.

I tried briefly to add 12V power to the side marker light, hoping that some additional power would provide enough to hit the remote unlock.  No luck.

Pulling the hood release from outside the car is complicated & not likely possible w/out significant effort.  In the future I may look into installing a bypass release.

An E91 facebook group yielded a creative (last) result.  By peeling off/back the taillight on the hatch so you can reach inside the door and pull the emergency release handle.  This worked & i managed to climb through the car to pull the hood release.  The doors would not open even when pulled from the inside (until the battery had power again).  Dumbfounded by the design of this system.  I was able to glue the taillight back together, which seems OK now.

It took a while before the car got enough of a charge to jump...but it was able to start, idle & has been restarting since.   I drove it 4 hours once it was started.  I'll plan to get the battery tested before I drive home to FL.

I do think something in the lock cyl is broken/missing, or I busted something when I was trying to unlock w/the cylinder removed...but I also think w/the battery completely dead that the key wouldn't work.    

The car sat outside while the tropical storm passed overhead & it remained dry inside...so I'm now certain I solved my water issues.

I do still love the seats, the handling & the smooth power delivery.  

The Nurple is still motoring on w/only a few minor complaints.  Mileage is somewhere around or 205k or 207k miles now.  I've thought about selling it more recently & using the $ towards a car for my son. He needs something newer than the minivan that matches his age & has 200k miles.   For the kid, he wants a newer BMW.  I'm inclined to avoid anything with a turbo.  The model 2011 year F10 (528i) is the newer body style, and the only year it was made w/the N52 engine.  There are still plenty of E60 (2004-2010) 528i available w/low miles for reasonable price. The key will be finding on that's been well cared for & doesn't have issues.  I don't think he cares as much about the age, as finding a car with a nice interior & no dents.  

I let the E91 sit for +2 weeks over the christmas holiday & the battery died again...so I had to re-break the taillight.  I did buy a new lock mechanism for the front door...I'll install it soon.   Once I've done that it'll be time to buy some new taillights for the hatch.

• I noticed some coolant splashing around the expansion tank.  The rubber gasket on the expansion tank cap was hard/brittle & had shifted out of place.  I replaced the cap & it hasn't been an issue.  
• The power steering reservoir was grimey, I assumed it was cracked or the main hose was weeping.  I cleaned it up & couldn't see anything wrong.  I noticed the cap was missing the rubber gasket so I replaced the cap & put on a new gasket...issue solved. 
• The power steering was whining a little at low speeds.  I flushed the PS fluid and it's no longer making the noise.  I've read that the power steering reservoir has a filter in it...so if it does start making noise again I'll replace the reservoir.  
• When investigating the noise I noticed the pully on the belt tensioner wasn't spinning freely. Bought a new pully & will install it soon.
• The hedlights were looking pretty foggy.  I used a multi-stage kit from McGuire's.  800, 1200, 2000, then polish.  They look 100x better.  Kit didn't come with any UV protectant, unfortunately.  
• I found the hardware I needed to fix the rear sunroof shade. I think it came off the track because I didn't attach one the sliders.  I'm probably going to redo the headliner in black...so I'll wait until then to fix the slider.

I completely forgot about the thermostat CEL until it got cold a few weeks ago & it surfaced (FL).  It fails in the "open" position, so it only becomes an issue when it's cold outside.  This will probably get bumped to the top of the to-do list.

I ordered the oil pan gasket and new bolts.  If I'm going to eventually sell this car, I want to get it as close to 100% as possible.  

Now that the car is clean I should go take some more pictures.

Why not pass it on to your son? 

In reply to Slippery :

We bought the car thinking he'd be driving it primarily.  He's drives it occasionally when I'm with him, but he doesn't want to drive a manual transmission on a regular basis.  The YOUTH! I think he also got excited about it because I was excited about it.  Being a somewhat new driver he felt way more confident in the minivan.  Also, it turns out not everyone things wagons are cool.  Apparently, there are people who prefer coupes and lowered sedans.

Considering the nature of traffic & drivers here in FL...I'd hate for him to get rear-ended because he stalled out at a red light (he's stalled at lights a few times & it makes him very nervous), so I won't push the manual trans issue.   He's 17 and will be going away to college in August ~5 hours from home (FGCU).  I was ready to pull the trigger on an E90 or E92 (sedan or coupe) for him, but his mom started thinking something bigger might be safer.  He'll probably be doing some road trips once he's away at school to visit friends at other colleges.  Interstate traffic on I-75 and I-4 is like a Mad Max movie.  We should probably just buy him a minivan w/less mileage or a generic HondaYota...but we can do better than that, right?

The kid has a good work ethic.  Straight-A student, varsity athlete w/mostly AP and dual-enrollment (college) courses.  He did power washing last summer with a friend's business (the friend went away to college out of town) and also worked at a donut shop.  The donut shop went through some mgt. changes this fall & stopped scheduling the high-school kids.  They never fired them or even said anything...they just stopped putting them the schedule.  I think he's got another job lined up once in a few weeks, once winter sports are done.

In reply to Hoondavan :

That makes sense.

I have of son, same age as yours, got him a 2008 X3 with that same N52 engine. Its been a good car so far. Bought in Seattle and drove it to Florida. He is also moving to college this fall and it will probably end up being my middle's daily as he will not need a car in college.

Just throwing it out there, e83 X3s are cheap and might be worth investigating. I think 2007+ have the N52, previous have the M54 engine.

In reply to Hoondavan :

please reply here when/if you decide to sell.

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Hoondavan :

please reply here when/if you decide to sell.

Hey you already have an amazing wagon! Let some of us poors get our hands on unicorn wagons.

clutchsmoke said:

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Hoondavan :

please reply here when/if you decide to sell.

Hey you already have an amazing wagon! Let some of us poors get our hands on unicorn wagons.

*my wife* has an amazing wagon. I have a spicy malibu.

@AngryCorviar:  I'll post it here if I do decide to sell it.  Values for these cars are all over the map.  It's not hard to find an AWD car with a stick shift and 200k miles for $4k to $5k.  Sport seats and RWD tends to be at a premium, at least in the south.  The lower mileage cars sell in the low teens.  Is the spicy Malibu the version that's wagonesque w/teh hatch and fold-flat rear seats?  Those are weird in a good way.

@Slippery:  You're right.  I've seen a few X3 and X5 with lowish mileage for good prices.  I think they've both aged pretty well.  The kid really wants something sporty.  He liked the X3 we sat in, but a sedan or coupe in black is what he really wants.  If he were going to be closer to home I'd be tempted to buy him a 6 series & be prepared to fix it all the time.    

Will the school let your son bring a car his freshman year?  Most schools don't allow freshman to have cars on campus...

docwyte said:

Will the school let your son bring a car his freshman year?  Most schools don't allow freshman to have cars on campus...

Good call-out. Yes, they do allow freshman to have cars. It's certainly not something he'll "need" to have.  Candidly, I think his mother is strongly in favor of him having one so he can come home occationally on weekends.

In reply to Hoondavan :

It's this kind of spicy Malibu:

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Oh my....is that one of those fancy RWD V8 powered Malibus (Holden/G8)?