Matth5

EBC have a different procedure compared to Stoptech: Pretty detailed guide here: http://ebcbrakes.com/articles/bedding-in/ They say to drive the car gently for several hundred miles before doing the bed-in procedure. I've probably done barely 100km so far, too soon still. Will probably do it during or after my trip this week, that'll certainly put enough KMs on the pads to bed them.

Firstly, I like the way they look on the car. Only been some slow driving to and from work, but I like the feel so far. Sharp, but not as jerky as the OEM pads that I felt in the BM Workshop loan cars, these are easy to modulate. Feel might change once I burn through the bed-in layer. So far I like them, but need to test with some hard driving still. I've heard slotted rotors can make a noise from air passing through the slots. I notice a slight 'helicopter' like sound when cruising in a quiet street with the windows down, I doubt everyone would notice though. Perfectly quiet braking action so far, no squeak at all. Also I've got my old rotors and pads. Plenty left on the pads. No idea how usable the rotors are still. Can't figure out what brands they are. Will figure out what to do with them. Are worn rotors any use?

I was at about 130 000km at the time. I had the BMW PPK tune flashed by BM Workshop, it's milder than the MHD tunes. Mine broke, exactly same as the example on the BMS site here: http://www.burgertuning.com/chargepipe_upgrade_N55_N54_BMW.html I was lucky enough to find the C Clip attached to a piece of the charge pipe on an engine undertray but the rubber o ring was gone. Had to order the stupid o-ring from a BMW dealer for $15 and wait 2 weeks for it to arrive from Germany. I tried to make an oil filter o-ring fit but it didn't work. BMS doesn't include one with their CP so you have to get one if yours is lost. Mine is an N55 though, seems to happen more easily with them. Probably because they run with a bit more boost but the charge pipe isn't any stronger. ATM I'm running MHD Stage 1 98.

Mechanical warranty is worth it. Autosure has lost thousands on my 335i haha. 330i's are pretty good though, but I'd still lean towards getting the warranty for peace of mind.

Contact some BMW Specialists to see what it would likely cost. Maybe send it for a pre-purchase check and ask for them to quote on that at the same time. Expect more issues to come up shortly after purchase, budget for it. There's always something.

I bought one of those cables off Ebay and got lucky, it works fine with MHD. Got the OTG cable from my local PBTech. Digging through my purchase history it's this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-INPA-Ediabas-K-DCAN-USB-OBD2-Interface-Full-Diagnostic-With-FT232RL-Chip-/381105593326?hash=item58bba9dbee&item=381105593326&vxp=mtr Charge pipe install... well make sure you have some decent free time for your first go as it's a bit of a pain but it's easy enough to do on the driveway. Make the c-clamp on the inter-cooler side nice and tight, take it for a test drive and then tighten the clamp a little more when it's warm. On my first time I didn't tighten it enough and mine popped off later on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, trying to re-connect it with a hot engine aint fun. I think MHD is the best choice these days. JB4 on it's own is just forcing up boost without altering other parameters, I never felt too comfortable about the way it works.

If it has the Performance exhaust you'll see M Performance or something engraved on the exhaust tips. If they look plain then you've probably got the standards one. They were only an addon, not a factory option. Regardless, you've got lots of good options on yours. M Sports package is a good one to have, the M Sport body kits stand out nicely.

If you're going far from home without the new chargepipe, flash back to stock. I live in Auckland, and had only been running the BMW PPK (mildest tune you can get) for 2 weeks. It decided to explode when I was near Thames for a long weekend road trip. Spent my trip in a crappy rental, on Monday I had to drive back to Thames in the rental to rescue my car. Fun times... There is no warning, you won't see it coming, it just goes 'bang'. It's as if BMW engineered the chargepipe to explode with more boost than stock, to help catch out people tuning the car's under warranty.

The RDA slotted/dimpled rotors and EBC Redstuff pads are on the car. She's still at the workshop, picking her up in the morning. Fresh fluid too. Will be giving this setup a good test when I head up North between Christmas and New Years, assuming the traffic isn't crawling everywhere.

BMS, made by CPE. It does push against my power steering lines a bit but it's ok. Yours from Cobb by any chance? I've seen some fitment complaints about it.

Chargepipe absolutely has to be your first mod. Stock will explode not long after a tune. Don't learn the hard way like me. Start with MHD for tunes, the off-the-shelf tunes are a good start, there are several to choose from based on your mods. Consider a custom tune at a later point once your hardware mods are finalised and you've had time to make sure you car is well sorted - you will likely find new problems when you start modding it And the best deals to be found are by importing stuff yourself. I don't think you'll find much locally.

No. This is attached to the side of the engine. Easy DIY. In my case, original is part 11747626351. I replaced with the updated part 11747649407. I bought it from FCPEuro.

Hey Herbmiester. I had a similar problem. Logs showed my car would hit target then quickly drop off. BM Workshop smoke tested and found no leaks. I swapped the pressure converter (your N54 will have two) and that fixed it. Broke open the old one out of curiosity and found there's a plastic membrane inside that had torn a little.

Brand new, original box. Ordered from the US. They were meant to go on my car but I decided to use something else. Front: Akebono EUR918A Rear: Akebono EUR1170 These should fit BMW 3 Series E90/E91/E92/E39 BMW 335i and 335d They may fit 330i and X1 35i as well. If you're not sure and don't know how to check, tell me your rego and I'll find out for you. These are ceramic brake pads, they are designed to dust much less than the standard brake pads. If you like clean wheels these are for you. From my research the differences compared to the standard BMW pads are that they are not as sharp when you press gently, on the pedal, it's smoother so you need to press a bit more. You may or may not like that depending on your taste, if you're not using BMW pads currently you may not notice that change. If you like driving aggressively or on a track you might not like that, but it may make regular driving more comfortable. You can Google "Akebono Euro Ceramic" if you want to do some research before buying. They get mostly good reviews. $295 Pick up in Botany Downs(my home) or Ellerslie (my work) I'll charge $20 for shipping as long as there are no special costs associated with your area (eg rural delivery).

Looks like BMWorld/Brent has one on Trademe http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/bmw/exterior/auction-1223424335.htm He's on this forum.

I'm gonna +1 to the "get an E46" suggestion. Be picky, and you can get a nice one with a proper 6cyl engine. Maybe even a good 330i. I'd pick a high end E46 over a low spec E90 any day... My previous car was an E46 328i, now I drive an E92 335i. I still think E46's are awesome.

Much better. You should have some fun and rip up those rears before you replace them with the right size. A tuned 335i should have no trouble destroying them... Since you mod your car a fair bit I think following M3 tyre specs would be good.

The E9x 4 cylinder engine has a horrible reputation for reliability, not to mention it's the most boring model to get... The straight 6s are great. Maintenance still isn't cheap and repairs will be pricey, but they can be very reliable if you do your homework and take care of them. If you go for the 335s, the turbos again come with a new set of issues and they are expensive to look after. Mine has given me some hassle, I do properly thrash it though The straight 6 engines without turbos are a nice sweet spot of performance and reliability.

When? From what I've read they were rubbish until they changed ownership a few years ago, the Redstuff Ceramic/Kevlar pads seem to get good reviews.

So EBC pad prices aren't too bad in NZ. Although the two places I called in Auckland have no stock of the reds until Jan next year. So I bought them off a UK store on eBay. Dirt cheap, only about $340. Downside is it could take up to a month to ship. It's "Royal mail international". I emailed the seller to ask if I could pay for faster shipping... ECStuning and Empowered Auto were on the upper range of the price scale for these so I didn't go with them. I've got the Akebonos, need to list them on Trademe. FCP sure do ship fast, they're awesome. Pity they don't sell the Redstuff pads.

Reading up about the Akebonos has me changing my mind. From what I gather they can fade pretty fast with hard driving. I like to thrash my car on twisty roads, I have overheated brakes before... so looks like these wont suit me. Think I'll get Textars and put up with the dust. They're cheap and besides the dust, seem to be very good.. Hawk Street 5.0 are twice the price, any reason they're worth it? Less dust, but double the price just for less dust doesn't seem worthwhile. I'll probably put the Akebonos up on TradeMe, I'm sure someone who doesn't thrash their cars like me would like them. I'm also reading about EBC Redstuff. Kevlar/ceramic based, low dust but high performance.

I'm aware that there's less initial bite than regular pads. But I'm hoping with the size of the 335i brakes it won't be much of an issue. Also I have the style 225 wheels, cleaning them is not pleasant Pads should arrive on Monday, so maybe next weekend I'll get this all installed.

Think the Pitstop / Midas places will be fine to do a brake job and replace brake fluid on this car? I know they can't flush out the fluid in the DSC unit without having the BMW software (INPA), but unless it's really old that should be ok. Just a bit more convenient stopping by one of these places on a Saturday rather than booking the car in. And seeing as I'm at 140 000km... brake lines with doing? It's a 2010 so car isn't that old but KM's are pretty high.

I think they mean the one in the first post. The one from Turners seems to be a very different story

If you take price into account. The SV6 as a brand new car is much more car for your money than anything European or Asian... The equivalent cars from BMW and the likes is far more expensive. A BMW 320i is more expensive than a Holden SV6, if I was buying new and that was my price range, I'd pick the Holden for sure. Used is a different story... hence I'm not driving a Holden