PranK

I think you may have misunderstood a little. The rear subframes on E90s will move/squirm under hard acceleration because they have such soft bushes. This isn't like getting the arse out, or even anything really to do with traction, I have no problems with the traction. Its a stability thing and a known weakness as the newer 3 series has solid bushes.

Yep, that was my understanding. What I'm trying to fix is the lateral movement under acceleration.

Yeah, I agree.

The rubber bushes for the E90 are just not strong enough. Even with a moderate power gain the rear is loose and squirmy under power. There are OEM M3 bushes but the consensus is that these are also not a big enough improvement. There'll be almost no increase in NVH with poly and the rear will be much tighter. In terms of stiffness of ride, this wont change at all I don't think, it will simply allow the suspension to do what its supposed to do rather than allowing the movement in the bushes to get in the way. I'm really looking forward to it, but front bearings first!

Yeah, we have a few filters too, the main one is the 4 stage I use for the aquarium water (yes, it gets better water than the people in the house). I'm always shocked when doing my 12 monthly replacements.

Welcome! I love the wagons. Any pics? What do you have planned?

Its testament to Neil to see so many people leaving messages here. I was so upset to see this thread yesterday, time does silly things to you, it didn't feel like so long ago that I saw Neil but regardless of that, its still far too early for him to be taken. He, Mel and Monty were such positive and lovely presences at so many events. The three of them were always a pleasure just to be around. I'm heartbroken for Mel. @Duncan beautiful post mate, you captured so much in that, far more than I could have. Thank you.

Last weekend I changed out the noisy bearing in the rear. It went fine except the axle was super stuck in the hub. I eventually got it all swapped out over two days. The car is so much quieter but the ABS light came on. I freaked out thinking I'd put the bearing in backwards or used one without the integrated magnet for the speed sensor (lower E90's use a ring attached to the axle rather than built into the bearing). I checked the 2nd bearing I got, seems I got it right (black side in first). I bought a new Bosch speed sensor from eBay which arrived today, 10 mins to fit and cleared codes. No more ABS light. My gut says I probably damaged it when pressing the bearings in and out as it kinda hangs in a bad spot - i should have removed it. Anyway, whatever, its quiet and fixed. I think the front bearings are ready for changing now, I can hear very slight noise that would have been masked by the dead rear one. Front ones are bolt in thankfully. Also bought the Nolathane rear subframe bushes and a Whiteline 16mm rear sway bar (OE is 13mm). I had this bar on my 330i but cbf'd removing it so just got another. The subframe needs to be lowered to fit the bar so i'll do bushes and bar at the same time. I was really temped to get solid aluminium bushes but they are really expensive and the whole subframe has to come out, not just be dropped which is not something I'm keen to do.

Party pooper.

N54 time.

Damn, thats gorgeous!

Welcome Aaron!

Looks great! Its gonna be super fun. Welcome!

Damn that looks tidy. Does it make bearings quiet?

Only for slow connections and some mobile users. The pics load eventually, was just an FYI.

Looks great. 1700kg? She's a bigger girl than she looks! Duncan your linked images are huge. Some are around 9mb even as thumbnails. When linking to your own images the site can't resize them properly. Just FYI.

Digging this D. Nice one.

Oh cool, thanks for letting me know.

Careful. 🤣

Going to do rear wheel bearings and rear subframe poly bushes next. I have Whiteline subframe inserts (they're supposed to take up the empty space in the bushings) but its still too soft. I did consider going solid aluminium subframe bushes but they can cause stress cracks in the body and the subframe so I'll just go with the black poly bushes instead. The car is super squirmy when giving it a bit.

I know, but I'm banking on just enjoying it soon once I've fixed things. I want to get some upgrades done soon rather than repairs. I'm relying on my experience with the 330i that once you get to everything that previous owners neglected it can just be a reliable tracked street car.

Post a link and I'll add it.

Welcome @DraftySquash! If you open an image in Dropbox, just right click it and 'copy image' - you can then just paste into the editor here. I have fixed your images but the auction pics just linked to the same pic twice. With the engine temp, are you saying you've only ever seen the car at temperature? I think if its sitting idle and the temp is in the middle, it sounds ok. Just keep an eye on it if you're worried and see what happens in traffic as thats the real test. @Murray_Calavera we've been in this new house almost 3 years and I haven't gotten the garage cleaned up but as soon as its tidy in there a Quickjack is my first purchase! Especially with how often I have to lift the BMWs! 😭

Yeah but I found that using the controller wheel tilt thing was just as bad as the stick in terms of graduating inputs. I need that force feedback. I'm super keen to get some LC pedals. I'm not about setting up some crazy rig, my setup now is very budget but even at this level I'm enjoying it so much more. The new Thrustmaster (could be the worst company name in history) entry level LC pedals come in around $350 I think which is doable. Pedal control is my 100% focus for improvement in GT7 and ACC. When you get it right (or at least not wrong) there are significant gains to be had.

Its not always like this! 🤣