General Information
So I don't typical make threads on most cars I purchase. As I pretty much move on quickly 3-6 months tops I will keep a car. I may post a teaser here or there but thats about it. This one was going to be the same but decided to keep it. My daughter will start drivers Ed next spring and whelp this the perfect first car. And for the price I picked it up for I could never come close to replacing it. So here we have it. It is a 2008 328XI wagon. I drove up to Wisconsin a month ago to check it out. The previous owner was a nice guy. But I don't think he literally washed the inside or outside the entire time he had this car. The original owner(I am 3rd) lived in Barrington and it was regularly serviced by the dealer and the underside is pretty clean. So I get up there and at first glance loved the Arctic Metallic (Rare Color). Then start looking around and already could tell it was going to need a lot of work. Took it for a quick drive and well it was not the greatest experience. Had a very bad odd steering wheel feel when hitting brakes on and off and also pulled to the left when braking from speeds. So at this point I was about to walk away from the deal. The seller seemed overly motivated and asked me what I would offer. I put a low ball number out there and he was not too shocked. We ended up striking a deal and well here it is officially. I have already put a lot of time/labor into making it run like a champ. Which it does now! I have a few more goodies coming over from china to update the tech of the vehicle as well. I now have 3 wagons in my fleet. ( I GOT ISSUES)
Quick List of maintenance performed
- Thrust arms, Control Arms, Endlinks, Ball joints (What a beotch those were).
- Changed Transmission Fluid and filter( It shifted weird when it was cold out. After I changed fluid no more shifting issues!)
- Wet sanded and polished headlights. ( They were so pitted and discolored it was ridiculous.
- Deep cleaned interior. Like I said it had inch layer of dust and grime.
- Changed out Cabin Filters and changed oil to Liqui Moly
- Changed out power steering fluid. It looked more like diesel fuel than power steering fluid.
- Put new Valve cover on it. It was leaking pretty good and was no longer enjoying burnt oil smells in the cabin. (Another pain in the d***ck job)
- Swapped out original steering wheel for sport wheel.
- Put Goodyear tires all around.
First Thing I wanted to sort out was the odd steering/suspension issue. I ended up tracking it down to worn out thrust arm on the driver side. While I was there I replaced control arms/ball joints/thrust arms/end links. I also changed out rotors and pads all around. It drives like a dream now straight as an arrow no issues when breaking. Did not take pictures but you can see in this photo all new hardware.
Headlights After I sanded and polished. Trust me when I say these look 100% better now.
Cleaned up interior. It was pretty filthy.
Swapped out Valve Cover. I rather not do this again on a N52 motor. I have done many BMW valve covers and this just was a pain beyond belief. There is absolutely no room to get it in and out. You have to fully remove the cowl. Unplug and relocated every single wiring harness there is including fuel injectors. Then after that you have to perform a Valvetronic Motor adaptation. This goes into the eccentric shaft that sits just underneath the valve cover. You also have to be very carful removing this Valvetronic motor as it has a high spring tension. Anyhoot fired the sucker up the first time and it ran like absolute shit mohahahha. Took out my TOPDON scan tool and performed adaptation. Ran better but still was having issues. Double checked all my coils and noticed some of the electrical connectors not seated perfect. Got all that buttoned up then was throwing a code for O2 sensors. Welp of course you have to disconnect all those harnesses as well. So apparently I did not seat one perfectly. After all this work it runs like a boss again. My back is not happy with me. Getting the cover back on with out the rubber gasket that sits in the cover falling out is a chore.
Here is Nasty cover before.
Engine with cover off. Its the heigh of the eccentric shaft that makes this job such a pain.
Here its seated after about two minutes of swearing.
All back to together
And here is the sport Wheel I just put on today.
Quick List of maintenance performed
- Thrust arms, Control Arms, Endlinks, Ball joints (What a beotch those were).
- Changed Transmission Fluid and filter( It shifted weird when it was cold out. After I changed fluid no more shifting issues!)
- Wet sanded and polished headlights. ( They were so pitted and discolored it was ridiculous.
- Deep cleaned interior. Like I said it had inch layer of dust and grime.
- Changed out Cabin Filters and changed oil to Liqui Moly
- Changed out power steering fluid. It looked more like diesel fuel than power steering fluid.
- Put new Valve cover on it. It was leaking pretty good and was no longer enjoying burnt oil smells in the cabin. (Another pain in the d***ck job)
- Swapped out original steering wheel for sport wheel.
- Put Goodyear tires all around.
First Thing I wanted to sort out was the odd steering/suspension issue. I ended up tracking it down to worn out thrust arm on the driver side. While I was there I replaced control arms/ball joints/thrust arms/end links. I also changed out rotors and pads all around. It drives like a dream now straight as an arrow no issues when breaking. Did not take pictures but you can see in this photo all new hardware.
Headlights After I sanded and polished. Trust me when I say these look 100% better now.
Cleaned up interior. It was pretty filthy.
Swapped out Valve Cover. I rather not do this again on a N52 motor. I have done many BMW valve covers and this just was a pain beyond belief. There is absolutely no room to get it in and out. You have to fully remove the cowl. Unplug and relocated every single wiring harness there is including fuel injectors. Then after that you have to perform a Valvetronic Motor adaptation. This goes into the eccentric shaft that sits just underneath the valve cover. You also have to be very carful removing this Valvetronic motor as it has a high spring tension. Anyhoot fired the sucker up the first time and it ran like absolute shit mohahahha. Took out my TOPDON scan tool and performed adaptation. Ran better but still was having issues. Double checked all my coils and noticed some of the electrical connectors not seated perfect. Got all that buttoned up then was throwing a code for O2 sensors. Welp of course you have to disconnect all those harnesses as well. So apparently I did not seat one perfectly. After all this work it runs like a boss again. My back is not happy with me. Getting the cover back on with out the rubber gasket that sits in the cover falling out is a chore.
Here is Nasty cover before.
Engine with cover off. Its the heigh of the eccentric shaft that makes this job such a pain.
Here its seated after about two minutes of swearing.
All back to together
And here is the sport Wheel I just put on today.
