BMW and M Power Owners

Voxination said:
You've been quiet recently! Still enjoying the car? Lights look good, have you sorted out the coding to stop the flickering on start-up and error codes or just going to live with it?
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Hey buddy, I've been really busy recently so not had too much of a chance to be active on here, so lurking it is for now.

Still loving the car :) She's due an oil service in the next few weeks but apart from that I've not really done much with her. I'd really like to get a full detail done before the winter kicks in but it's just finding the time at the moment. Also wanting to get a walnut blasting done on the engine as she's reached the mileage where it's recommended to keep the car performing tip-top..one of the downsides of direct injection engines unfortunately.

Have been having thoughts about changing her recently, but I'm really not sure what else there is out there to replace it with, so chances are I'll be waiting until the F30 335i comes down in price a bit. The E92 gives me everything I need and still puts a smile on my face every time I see or drive it :)

I coded the lights myself with NCSExpert..was only a 10 minute job once I'd done some research into what needed changing.

How's the 330 going? Are you any closer to replacing it with a 335i? :)
 
Glad all is well with you and it :) not tempted by an M3, or do you want to wait to get newer tech?

Coding sounds a relatively easy job then, was reading up online and saw some having troubles so wasn't sure if it could be DIY'd.

330 is still going strong, rolled over 95k the other day and have sorted loads of little things on it recently. Should finally be getting a new steering wheel sorted in the next two weeks once Jack at royal steering wheels is back from holiday, only took me a year to decide to get one lol.

It will be staying with me until early next year then shall start looking at replacements. Had a drastic reduction of mileage recently so although the E92 is tempting, it would definitely have a V8 under the bonnet ;)
 
Voxination said:
Glad all is well with you and it :) not tempted by an M3, or do you want to wait to get newer tech?

Coding sounds a relatively easy job then, was reading up online and saw some having troubles so wasn't sure if it could be DIY'd.

330 is still going strong, rolled over 95k the other day and have sorted loads of little things on it recently. Should finally be getting a new steering wheel sorted in the next two weeks once Jack at royal steering wheels is back from holiday, only took me a year to decide to get one lol.

It will be staying with me until early next year then shall start looking at replacements. Had a drastic reduction of mileage recently so although the E92 is tempting, it would definitely have a V8 under the bonnet ;)
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I would absolutely love an M3, but I'm saving for a house deposit at the moment so can't justify the extra outlay and running costs at the moment. You should definitely take the plunge though..would be awesome!!

The coding was surprisingly easy actually. Read a lot of posts with people having issues, but found a post on e90post which contained all the settings and it worked first time :)

Here's a couple more pics of the LCI lights at dusk. If I'm honest I actually prefer the sidelights of the pre-LCIs, but love the general look of the LCIs:

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shaank said:
scratch, looks much fresher at the rear, the LCI rear lights look great, good mod :)

Any other plans for the car?
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Thanks for the compliments guys :)

To be honest the next money I spend will be more on preventative maintenance such as servicing, walnut blasting and a suspension refresh.

There are lots of mods I'd like to do but now I'm a bit older I really can't be bothered with fitting wheels, lowering the car etc etc. I'm trying to keep things subtle and only make mods which are OEM and easily returned to standard in case of any warranty issues.

So far the list of mods is small:

LCI rear lights
40W Cree Angel Eye LEDs
BMW Performance exhaust
Full interior LED refresh
BMW Performance gear shifter
BMW Performance black kidney grilles

I'm tempted to fit an Performance rear diffuser just to finish off the rear end, but apart from that I doubt I'll be doing any more.
 
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[TW]Fox;26866310 said:
LED Angel eyes :(
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What's the problem with LED angel eyes? That's exactly what the LCIs use, except they use a bulb for each ring rather than the 1 per headlight that the pre-LCIs use.

This is a pic of mine with my old 20W LEDs fitted. I have now upgraded them to 40W and they are now brighter but not excessively so.

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If you get the LED angel eyes, get 80W with a decent cooler on them. 40W is crap.
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You can't get 80W Angel Eye LEDs to my knowledge. Generally sellers call them 80W when actually they are 2x40W bulbs. Mine are a genuine 40W per bulb with huge heatsinks and little cooling fans.
 
scratch said:
Thanks for the compliments guys :)

To be honest the next money I spend will be more on preventative maintenance such as servicing, walnut blasting and a suspension refresh.

There are lots of mods I'd like to do but now I'm a bit older I really can't be bothered with fitting wheels, lowering the car etc etc. I'm trying to keep things subtle and only make mods which are OEM and easily returned to standard in case of any warranty issues.

So far the list of mods is small:

LCI rear lights
40W Cree Angel Eye LEDs
BMW Performance exhaust
Full interior LED refresh
BMW Performance gear shifter
BMW Performance black kidney grilles

I'm tempted to fit an Performance rear diffuser just to finish off the rear end, but apart from that I doubt I'll be doing any more.
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Add to that list - New number plates, use 3m dual lock velcro instead of screws and it looks much much cleaner.

You'll also need the performance gaiter to match the shifter, otherwise it will look very odd. If you're going in that direction there is also a performance steering wheel cover which ties in with it.
 
Burned_Alive said:
Add to that list - New number plates, use 3m dual lock velcro instead of screws and it looks much much cleaner.

You'll also need the performance gaiter to match the shifter, otherwise it will look very odd. If you're going in that direction there is also a performance steering wheel cover which ties in with it.
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I know..I know :) The 3M pads I ordered didn't arrive in time so I impatiently attached the new plates in the same way the old ones were.

To be honest I actually think the shifter looks fine without the gaiter. I'm loathed to pay £80/90 for a gaiter..it's the same price as the shifter was! The steering wheel cover is nasty though; it looks fine if you have the alcantara Performance wheel, but just looks odd if you don't.
 
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scratch said:
What's the problem with LED angel eyes? That's exactly what the LCIs use, except they use a bulb for each ring rather than the 1 per headlight that the pre-LCIs use.

This is a pic of mine with my old 20W LEDs fitted. I have now upgraded them to 40W and they are now brighter but not excessively so.





You can't get 80W Angel Eye LEDs to my knowledge. Generally sellers call them 80W when actually they are 2x40W bulbs. Mine are a genuine 40W per bulb with huge heatsinks and little cooling fans.
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Sorry I meant 40W. I bought 20w and they were crap.
 
[TW]Fox;26866814 said:
The problem is that without the LCI front lights it just looks too aftermarket.
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We'll just have to agree to disagree on that one :) I think it freshens up the front end and compliments the xenons perfectly. It certainly looks better than this (imo):

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Agreed front end looks much better with the white halo's rather than yellow-ish halo's.

I did this on my 335i and also the X6. No complaints, it looks better, it doesn't look after market or chav unless the car didn't come with halo rings in the first place, then it looks out of place. IMO of course. Others here disagree of course, but it's what keeps it varied :D
 
Belloni said:
Was it easy to fit the LCI back lights? I much prefer them to the pre-LCI.
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Very easy. The actual physical lamp swap too about 20 minutes and only requires 8mm and 10mm spanners and a flat-head screwdriver. The coding requires a working copy of NCSExpert (along with suitable OBD cable) and the ability to read how-tos :)

The LCI lights don't plug directly into the pre-LCI wiring, but BMW themselves sell a harness to convert it for £25.

I bought my lights second-hand for £350 including the harness. Might sound like a lot but you'll be able to sell them on for the same money you paid for them down the line and they're always in demand on BMW forums, so it's more an investment than just splashing cash.
 
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