and the car search begins....

Chuck Branscomb · **Posted:** Fri Apr 11, 2014 2:50 pm

Oh and once you're out of warranty period, grab a 3 stage intake off a 2006 330i or any of the Z4/X3/X5 3.0 models from a junkyard (couple hundred bucks) and then get the tune for it from Active Autowerke, and you magically turn it into a 255hp 330i.

Karl Shultz · **Posted:** Fri Apr 11, 2014 3:52 pm

Chuck Branscomb wrote:

Oh and once you're out of warranty period, grab a 3 stage intake off a 2006 330i or any of the Z4/X3/X5 3.0 models from a junkyard (couple hundred bucks) and then get the tune for it from Active Autowerke, and you magically turn it into a 255hp 330i.

No sh!t? Do you mean intake as in the stuff upstream of the throttle body, or the entire manifold? The warranty on Kara's car is expired.

Chuck Branscomb · **Posted:** Fri Apr 11, 2014 4:30 pm

Karl Shultz wrote:

Chuck Branscomb wrote:

Oh and once you're out of warranty period, grab a 3 stage intake off a 2006 330i or any of the Z4/X3/X5 3.0 models from a junkyard (couple hundred bucks) and then get the tune for it from Active Autowerke, and you magically turn it into a 255hp 330i.

No sh!t? Do you mean intake as in the stuff upstream of the throttle body, or the entire manifold? The warranty on Kara's car is expired.

The entire intake manifold with its associated 3-way DISA valve and all. Here's a massive thread on it (some misinformation in there in spots I think I recall from reading it a long time back, but the gist is there): http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=381371

Turner offers a complete kit, but if you source the parts at a yard, and just get the special AA tune, it can come out a bunch cheaper: http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-176947-n52-330-intake-manifold-software-upgrade-for-128i325i328i528iz4.aspx

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:17 pm

Now that's some sweet info.... Thanks Chuck!!

Karl Shultz · **Posted:** Fri Apr 11, 2014 10:00 pm

Oh gosh. That's a bit more ambitious than I'd hoped.

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Fri Apr 11, 2014 10:33 pm

Karl Shultz wrote:

Oh gosh. That's a bit more ambitious than I'd hoped.

But it's a pretty huge bump, too. For a mod that still keeps you pretty factory. I'm thinking about it.

Definitely not going the Turner route, though, since apparently Black Forest in Cary is an Autowerke dealer, so you can get it flashed there.

--Donnie

steve remchak · **Posted:** Fri Apr 11, 2014 11:09 pm

This is Rodney we are talking to here..... I'll be amazed if he still has the car when it reaches 50K.

Chuck Branscomb · **Posted:** Sat Apr 12, 2014 7:32 am

The late model 328i some of you have might already have the 3-stage intake if it has the N51 version of the N52 motor. In that case "I think" it is really easy to unleash the thing with just a tune? Do some research on it. I don't really know the details, but I think BMW added that manifold to the later model 328i to get back some power lost with reduced compression and a few other things done to have it qualify as a SULEV vehicle which some states now require. You can see if you already have the N51 by running the last 7 digits of your VIN through a site like http://www.bmwarchive.org/vin/bmw-vin-decoder.html and looking at the build sheet.

Chuck Branscomb · **Posted:** Sat Apr 12, 2014 3:14 pm

steve remchak wrote:

This is Rodney we are talking to here..... I'll be amazed if he still has the car when it reaches 50K.

Let's see how quick we can get him to turn...

Rodney,

Look what I just stumbled across: [url]http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?endYear=2005&zip=92651&keywordPhrases=zhp&listingType=used&listingTypes=used&transmissionCode=MAN&transmissionCodes=MAN&mmt=[BMW[330I[]][]]&vehicleStyleCodes=SEDAN&modelCode1=330I&makeCode1=BMW&startYear=2003&showcaseOwnerId=608450&searchRadius=0&listingId=361479061&Log=0[/url]

No sunroof, just like Jackie's car except this one has heated seats.

EDIT: not sure why the link isn't active -- cut and paste I guess.

BriceJohnson · **Joined:** Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:33 am **Posts:** 2230

That's just mean. . .

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Sat Apr 12, 2014 10:19 pm

Chuck Branscomb wrote:

steve remchak wrote:

This is Rodney we are talking to here..... I'll be amazed if he still has the car when it reaches 50K.

Let's see how quick we can get him to turn...

Rodney,

Look what I just stumbled across: [url]http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?endYear=2005&zip=92651&keywordPhrases=zhp&listingType=used&listingTypes=used&transmissionCode=MAN&transmissionCodes=MAN&mmt=[BMW[330I[]][]]&vehicleStyleCodes=SEDAN&modelCode1=330I&makeCode1=BMW&startYear=2003&showcaseOwnerId=608450&searchRadius=0&listingId=361479061&Log=0[/url]

No sunroof, just like Jackie's car except this one has heated seats.

EDIT: not sure why the link isn't active -- cut and paste I guess.

don't see it listed....besides, too late now, have this e90 home. All I've got to say it's one the best driving cars I've ever been even if it is an autotragic.... I know VK will be happy to know I have a few things the dealer needs to address. Gotta love a warranty...

Chuck Branscomb · **Posted:** Sun Apr 13, 2014 7:36 am

RodneyWright wrote:

don't see it listed....besides, too late now, have this e90 home. All I've got to say it's one the best driving cars I've ever been even if it is an autotragic.... I know VK will be happy to know I have a few things the dealer needs to address. Gotta love a warranty...

You're better off with the E90 anyway, far more reliable platform than E46s. My wife's car still just keeps on going with very few issues (door lock actuator, oil filter housing gasket leak) since the warranty expired at 50k miles...we've had it for over 8 years now and 120k miles. The E90 M3 now has 26k miles on it, and it's never had a warranty claim...as hard as it must be for VK to believe, the car has been perfect since new.

RobLupella · **Posted:** Sun Apr 13, 2014 1:04 pm

Karl Shultz wrote:

I really like Leith BMW's service department a lot. I worked with Jason Williams as my service advisor, and Chris Longo turned the wrenches on the car.

Yeah, there are some silly things about how electronic and modern they are. I'll never understand all the whirring and buzzing the various motors do when I'm standing next to the car shortly after locking it. Not having a dipstick is silly. Runflat tires are silly. Etc, etc. But you already knew all that stuff.

Changing the oil is really easy. There's a trap door in the undertray that's actually located correctly for draining the pan.

I found the OEM Bosch wiper blades to be really awful. They hop and skip all over the place. Ended up buying some other brand - Trico maybe? They've been fine.

Oh, and nice find on getting one with fold down rear seats. That's one thing I wish ours had.

And they don't go joyriding with your wheels

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Sun Apr 13, 2014 8:43 pm

so good news and I don't have to take the car in for service. I had one of the rear lights go out. After some research it was just a simple blub. It's the way the lights are sculpted that threw me off. Simple fix. The other issue was just me not taking time to read the manual. Everything on the cars works as it should now. I'm pleased w/ the purchase. Great driving car. A big bonus is this one doesn't have the iDrive or nav, so less to go wrong and something I don't need to update/upgrade.

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Sun Apr 13, 2014 9:02 pm

RodneyWright wrote:

so good news and I don't have to take the car in for service. I had one of the rear lights go out. After some research it was just a simple blub. It's the way the lights are sculpted that threw me off. Simple fix. The other issue was just me not taking time to read the manual. Everything on the cars works as it should now. I'm pleased w/ the purchase. Great driving car. A big bonus is this one doesn't have the iDrive or nav, so less to go wrong and something I don't need to update/upgrade.

I dunno, man. I normally hate all car built in nav and screen business, but iDrive has me hooked. I love it. Plus I think it has features you can't get otherwise, like the ability to set a timer to start your interior fan -or- just leave it running when you park (and it'll turn off after 20-30 minutes so as not to kill your battery). Very nice on hot days when you are somewhere you can't leave windows down. You can also make your programmable radio buttons be hot keys to go straight to screens like that instead of radio stations if you want. And the joystick is WAY better to use than ANY touchscreen ever put in a car once you get used to it. The iPhone integration also works pretty well and is very "pretty", anyway. It's just cool seeing nice album art and all that when listening to the iPhone stuff.

Anyway, I know I'm probably not going to sell you on it, especially since you already got your car, but for others out there, it's really actually good for factory stuff. I like it enough that it'll make me prefer BMW products in the future, in fact. And THAT is saying something.

--Donnie

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