marmel

Anyone in the deep south that can change over my F10 to NZ radio frequency? Plenty on trademe offering the service but none south of Christchurch. Don't really want to have to learn how to use E-Sys.

Does anyone know a source in NZ that hires out the tool? There is a place in Auckland but they only hire to workshops. I can handle the job with some assistance from a very knowledgeable father in law but I'd rather not drop the engine unless I absolutely have to.

27 minutes ago, Blackie said:

I videoed, maybe you can see something I missed?

My guess is it only likes official MDs or some sort of zoning restriction?

Thanks for trying. I'm pretty sure the minidisc format was never region locked. Not really.sure what is going on. It doesnt help that I cant seem to find a BMW instruction manual online that had minidisc instructions, I'm assuming they were mainly for the Japanese market?

I have just done downpipes on my N54, about to install a alloy charge pipe and am currently running MHD stage 1.

We will shortly have access to 100 octane fuel courtesy of NPD so I'm thinking of looking at stage 2.

How important is it to install a bigger intercooler given the temp at the moment isn't really getting above 10c down south?

1 hour ago, Blackie said:

Did you figure this out? Found a mate up the road who kept his MD collection so could check at the weekend 

No never got it sorted. I'd appreciate it if you let me know if you do manage to get your hands on a disc to see how it goes.

Had some downpipes put on today and had the wastegates adjusted as they had quite a rattle for the first minute or so when starting up.

Turns out at full vacuum one was still open about 6mm, be interesting to see how it drives now.

Hopefully I will get 12 months out of them before I have to pull the pin and replace both turbos.

Yes. I have recorded using an analogue cable in real time, so a 5 minute song takes 5 minutes etc. they play fine on the two MD devices I have. Even putting a blank disc in the MD slot in the car does nothing, normally MD players would come up saying blank disc etc.

Just now, Blackie said:

Correct. Mds play audio not mp3s

I have tried recording onto a MD using an analogue cable, made no difference.

Yeah I appreciate it’s hard to know what condition they are in until they are pulled out, car is my daily driver though so I don’t want it off the road for more than a week if I can help it. 

Turbos boost fine and don’t produce any smoke so hopefully they are in fair condition, it’s just the rattle that’s annoying and I’m going to install downpipes and I know this tends to amplify the rattle even more, would drive me crazy.

24 minutes ago, gjm said:

https://www.tomiokaracing.com/products/tr-twin-turbo-upgrade-for-bmw-n54

Yeah would be fun but I don’t need 600hp,  not even close. If I could make 350atw I would be more than happy, hence why I’m thinking of just rebuilding the factory units.

Anyone had their turbos from the N54 rebuilt?

I enquired at the only southern turbo specialist I could find but he said it wasn’t really worth it and gave me a price for new turbos.

i was thinking of getting the rebuild kits and wastegate repair kits and having someone rebuild them for me. Is this not really a viable option?

3 hours ago, E30 325i Rag-Top said:

Does there need to be a valid / playable disc in the slot for it to show as an option in the menu? With other BMW ICE systems you only get the choice of available options.

Also, I can't remember if MDs had a region coding / format thing on them, might need to be Japanese format for the disc to be recognised by the system.

Pretty sure the MD format was not region coded. I’ve tried several different file types, .mp3, .wav etc but none appear to work. Not sure if the player is faulty or I’m just not accessing it properly, can’t find any online instructions either.

So was that a CD playing or MD?

12 hours ago, dirtydoogle said:

Pull them off and give the housings to your local friendly machinist. Had some m57y ones done recently  all the shafts were flapping like crazy making a mental noise from exhaust leakage. Only cost a few hundred to re-bush

Yeah what I was thinking. Given they aren't that easy to get at and pull off I don't want to be doing it again in 12 months to fix anything else.

I have the wastegate rattle, lasts for the first minute when warming up then goes away. Turbo's seem to run fine, boost OK etc. 2006 E91, 170km's on the clock.

So, two choices (assuming I don't want to put up with the rattle).

1. Pull turbo's out, have the wastegate rattle fixed with the kits you can order from the US. Might fit downpipes whilst I'm there.

2. Pull turbo's out and rebuild - what are the options here? Just rebuild to factory specs or get them upgraded?

Any suggestions are appreciated as I haven't really dealt with turbo issues before. I have access to a hoist so would likely pull the turbo's out myself.

Cheers.

Are the Dvd/Minidisc in dash units combined with the CCC computer? I assume it is all one part. Just wondering if I went down the Android upgrade path what I could get rid of to make a bit of room to have other gauges/cubby hole but I suspect it is one combined unit?

10 hours ago, Tij said:

Awesome thanks for the link and feedback on the cable. Always good to get something through a NZ source if I can - which is not often haha. 

You are litteraly at the same stage I am, working on maintenance items ATM too so that a tune goes well, tossing up a walnut blast and I also was hitting up my friends for a battery charger, I have a 12v one but don't want to risk it. 

I'd be really keen to hear how it goes for you, Im working on a 07 n54 as well ?

Where do you guys source your plugs/coils from? NZ supplier or overseas? I've ordered a cable but also thinking I should probably look at doing some of those service items first.

Can anyone with an E9x with idrive and the DVD/MD combo in dash tell me if you see MD as a source option when scrolling across the screen.

The DVD/CD drive works fine and there is an option to select CD on screen although it is greyed out if no disc is present. The MD player on the other hand loads discs but there is no option anywhere on the screen to select MD as an input and I can't get it to play, the option isn't even there greyed out. At this stage I don't think it has anything to do with the recording format as I would of thought I would be able to at least see MD as an option on screen, greyed out or not.

Yes I know MD's are historic but I'm going through a nostalgic phase and reliving my youth ?

Pulled the centre console out to find out why the Aux in wasn't working on my E91 335i.

Discovered it was unplugged behind the rear panel at back of console due to wires being crushed in a 2cm section. Replaced the wires and it works fine, can't understand why someone would go to the trouble of pulling the console just to unplug the connector, why not spend 5 minutes and fix it why you have access?