[LotusBMW]

So a few of you will have seen my posts regarding engine & suspension mods, but this thread is one for the car it's self. I'm picking it up from Canberra tomorrow. I fly up in the morning and will drive it back to Melbourne. Route home is TBC but at it's longest I'll go through Kosciuszko National Park, to the Hume, then through Mansfield down through the Eildon National Park and then Healesville and home. Plenty of interesting driving and a great way to get used to my new car. It's got near worn rears so that'll make for an interesting experience. If the weather is crap, or there is too much snow I've got a few alternative routes, including down the Monaro Hwy to Cann River, or even the dreaded Hume.

Attached are some shots of the car from the carsales ad and my route home. If I have time I'll stop and take some pics as there should be some spectacular scenery providing the weather is good.

The car is bone stock M Sport and I think it's got some good options. The mod list is as follows:

• Oil / filter / service, coils and plugs all done plus a walnut carbon clean (HPFP and water pump were done by the current owner 12 months ago)
• JB4 - tune it later
• Down pipes
• Gruppe M replica carbon airbox (wouldn't normally do this but got one cheap so why not)
• Quaife ATB LSD
• Various suspension mods which I'm researching now
• Standard rims with spacers
• Vinyl wrap on the woodgrain (which I hate). Piano black, possibly carbon, possibly Titanium, but I need to make sure it matches the Grey Poupon biege interior...
• Possible exterior mods but I'll see how it all evolves

Overall I want to have a fairly standard looking car, but 'tough' looking. Those that care will know what I've done and those that don't, probably won't.

I'll keep posting images and updates as the car evolves.

[ATTN]

This was mine to Sydney

[donR]

Ahh.. very nice.. I looked at this one a while back before I bought my black one. Do you mind telling me what he ended up selling it for? I think the 335i tourings have been good value lately and I think that is the last used one available in Australia at the moment and they rarely come up. Though he has had it listed for a long time now.

A fine looking wagon

No doubt you might also be wanting to upgrade those 17s. I changed mine to 193 18s but have since picked up a set of 19s with normal tyres. I am not a fan of the run flats on the OEM wheels. Though I think those 17s do still look nice.

That drive back looks like fun.

You might also want to be subscribing to this thread if you are an E91/touring fan like me.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6139

I would be really interested to hear how you go with the vinyl wrap as I too dislike the wood grain interior in these cars.

[ATTN]

apologies, I should have stated that mine was 335i and bought from WA

[lemonpark]

very nice. looks good bro! I love how 'discrete' my car is and it's still a E92. People that don't know really don't expect the performance. Even better with a E90 or E91 haha. you'll love owning a N54

[drunkenup]

Ughh the things I would do to get this in the states

[JJH]

Nice one! And it's from my town!! I am looking forward to watching your build progress - good luck with it and the drive home. It should give you plenty of time to get acquainted.

[335i-boy]

Originally Posted by drunkenup

Ughh the things I would do to get this in the states

Ugghhh the things I would do to pay the price for cars that you do in the states..

[335i-boy]

I love E91's. Will definitely keep an eye on your build.

It would be interesting to see if rear wheel clearances are the same as pre-LCI E90's.

[LotusBMW]

Some pics of her in the driveway at home. No driving since I got back from my journey but I'll write up the drive home tomorrow.

[MJ80.]

Having owned both black and beige interiors now, the black is nice and sportyish... but the beige is fucking tits, feels like your in a private jet, so baller.

[LotusBMW]

Originally Posted by MJ80.

Having owned both black and beige interiors now, the black is nice and sportyish... but the beige is fucking tits, feels like your in a private jet, so baller.

Nice segway for an interior conversation. Personally I could NOT own one of these cars with a black interior. I love the Grey Poupon look of mine.

But I need to get rid of the wood grain as it's terrible. I've got a vinyl wrap guy lined up but I'm unsure what film to go for. Carbon is a little at odds with the beige, piano black would be good and will tie in with the dash nicely, but the centre console may wear badly and in the rear door trims there is nothing black to tie in with. Could go some sort of brushed silver?

Any ideas thoughts and comments on this?

[DR-JEKL]

Nice ride mate, I did initially consider an E91 as they're cheaper and thought it may be a good all rounder.

But when I had a look at them the cargo area is pretty damned cramped (more like a hatchback imo then a wagon such as a commodore) How have you found it for cargo room? I bought a cheap magna wagon as a daily beater and hauler.

The piano black trims look great, but are awfully hard to keep looking clean as any dust sticks out like dogs balls.

Brushed aluminium would be a good contrast for the ivory interior?

[JJH]

Nice buy! And hope you enjoyed the journey home.

What about a brushed titanium/grey wrap to cover the woodgrain? That should be a pleasing contrast to the interior and ties in with the experior finish.

[LotusBMW]

I'll consider the vinyl options but I think the brushed silver seems to be the best way to go. I still like the idea of carbon though...Will take the car down and see some samples before I do anything.

Anyhow, my trip home didn't quite go to plan. We've got a pretty restless 6 month old and I had to get home ASAP so took the following route instead and shaved a couple of hours off the journey. Still a great drive. Canberra to Cooma is full of well sighted fast sweepers and the scenery is great. Cooma to Cann River is far tighter and forested but also great countryside. Cann River to Lakes Entrance is pleasant cruising road and from there on back to Melbourne it's very straight and boring hwy klms...Took from 9.00 to 17.00 straight with a 15 min stop for a piss, Maccas and some fuel. The weather was very cool and sunny so perfect driving conditions.

So, the car was great. Met expectation on pick up and performed really well on the drive down. Plenty of grunt in standard form which made overtaking effortless and a very pleasant environment to be in, especially with my lovely beige leather! Seats were comfy, handsfree worked well, sat nav worked well, and the old iDrive I thought worked fine too. It has the following options

• M Sport
• Comfort Access
• Panoramic Roof
• Luggage Compartment Package!
• Xenon Lights
• Adaptive Lights

As stated in my other thread I thought the handling was the let down. It was competent (i.e. you can drive fast enough on it) but it's not involving or pleasant which is something I'll do something about fairly soon. I've not driven the car since I parked it on Friday night so be interested in how I feel about it on the drive in to work tomorrow.

Due to time constraints I didn't stop to take any photos so that's about all for the journey home.

The car is booked into Active Autowerke next week for the following items which I can't wait for.

• JB4
• CDPs
• Carbon airbox
• Coils & plugs
• Carbon clean

[LotusBMW]

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

Nice ride mate, I did initially consider an E91 as they're cheaper and thought it may be a good all rounder.

But when I had a look at them the cargo area is pretty damned cramped (more like a hatchback imo then a wagon such as a commodore) How have you found it for cargo room? I bought a cheap magna wagon as a daily beater and hauler.

The piano black trims look great, but are awfully hard to keep looking clean as any dust sticks out like dogs balls.

Brushed aluminium would be a good contrast for the ivory interior?

Boot is fkn tiny and the whole car is a disgrace of packaging, but I care not as 90% of the time it's only me in there. I just like the look (sleeper...) and the extra flexibility of the rear space with the rear seats folded is useful. My wife scoffed at the boot size when she saw it (I said the boot size...)

[donR]

Your car looks very good in the photos. Duco looks in a bit better condition than the black one I picked up.

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

the cargo area is pretty damned cramped

We had a Saab 9-3 sportkombi before the E91 and the Saab boot was a good 8-10cm longer. The E91 boot is also also not as high but the Saab was voluminous.

We could fit our 2 seater Phil & Teds length ways in the back of the Saab. The BM it has to go sideways but still fits.

The great thing about the E91 is you can open just the window on the tail gate which means once you shut it you can keep loading it up via the window and fit a lot more stuff.
The Saab you could load up as well but it was a balancing act without the open window and getting the tail gate shut was a pain.

It seems to me the boot space has been also sacrificed a little for extra rear seat leg room. Though our kids have really short legs so not benefit for us

However, in the E91 we can still fit 3 kid seats across the back seats

And with roof rails and roof pod we are ready for road trips.

[LotusBMW]

Carbon fibre airbox picked up this morning. Second hand (at least) and there is a lot more resin than carbon in it. There is some chipping on parts of it so I'll get the installer to check it out thoroughly before it's installed.

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by LotusBMW

Boot is fkn tiny and the whole car is a disgrace of packaging, but I care not as 90% of the time it's only me in there. I just like the look (sleeper...) and the extra flexibility of the rear space with the rear seats folded is useful. My wife scoffed at the boot size when she saw it (I said the boot size...)

Ahh OK, yeah I was dissapointed as generally the germans know how to make a small car spacious! It's something the neanderthal domestic wagons do so well!!

What did you thinks of the drive through bairnsdale lake entrance etc?

[quasio]

congrats on e91! .. love the look of them, I got mine earlier this year, black on black.

there was a beaut space gray LCI one earlier this year, but that got snapped up very quickly.

Rare, and great cars, agree on boot size, but it was a great compromise for me, fam car that goes.. and the boot surprisingly fits a LOT with the seats down.
Full ikea single seat sofa chair, (non flat pack), 4 wheels easily.. etc..

no its not commodore size, but i guess the 5 series is more meant to be the commodore size.

[LotusBMW]

Thanks for all your posts, but let's steer this conversation back to performance! Anyone running BC coilovers, or for that matter any other non standard suspension set up on their E91?

Cheers.

[LotusBMW]

First drive to work this morning. I'm wondering if the wagon part lets the chassis flex around a bit more than ideal. Feels like it needs chassis bracing. That said it wasn't as bad as I remembered it but it very fidgety over small lumps and bumps in the road. Disabled traction control and it actually slid fairly nicely on a wet greasy (well sighted) corner near work. Very nice torque delivery.

Checked tyre pressures which were all at 26psi! So took them up to 36 for what it's worth and can't say the ride got any worse. I got a low engine oil message this morning too, telling me to add a litre. Given it's getting a full service next week I'll ignore that but keep the engine loads light in the mean time.

Getting excited about the car once it's been fettled by Access. Also getting my E36 M3 back today with lightened flywheel and new clutch so am excited to drive that too! It's a BMW fest today.