First BMW... Long time in the making! So disappointed.

[Apexrex]

I'm just kidding- sorry for the clickbait . This car is awesome- as is this community. Greetings from Redlands, CA!

I come from a background of mostly Mustangs, a C6 Z06, A Focus ST (autox junkie car) and a couple of WRXs. For a long time I've wanted to scratch the M3 itch as it's always seemed to be one of those all around amazing cars that every petrolhead should drive at some point. With our daughter going on three years of age I decided it was time to leave practicality behind, and search for a E92 M3.

My search led me to Phoenix a few weeks ago where I was finally able to pick up a relatively simple (I like simple personally) 2008 Interlagos Blue E92 M3 DCT with 44,500 miles on it
Only options were DCT, Interlagos Blue, and Black leather interior. Otherwise stripped- hoping she is a lighter model.

I have put around 600 miles on the car so far and plan to put another 100 on this weekend. So far my initial impressions are:

Pros:
* It's a freaking M3- the only V8 M3 at that...that appeals to my 'Murca V8 preferences
* The attention to detail and quality of construction is indeed a step above what I am used to- even the C6 Z06.
* Handling is amazing. Love the balanced feel and control this car provides. Very confidence inspiring.
* The top end seemingly endless pull of the S65 is intoxicating
* Subjective admittedly but these are great looking cars. Subtle in many ways but with enough presence to draw looks.
* Did I mention it's an M3?

Cons:
* BMW should be embarrassed for putting such a quiet exhaust on such a fantastic car and behind such a powertrain. Axle-back will be the first mod.
* You have to be a mix of a computer engineer and mechanical engineer to DIY / work on these things (battery swaps, tuning, etc.) but I'll learn with time.
* The oil / rod bearing issue- but every car has issues...LS7 was valves dropping and blowing 14k motors... I'll take a 2k one time fix to buy me 70k+ of fun miles.
* The DCT...sadly I love manuals and am still adjusting on driving this thing. it's my first car that hasn't been a straight manual. The auto mode seems to chug and have dead spots when decelerating or randomly accelerating- somewhat remedied by manual mode but still 2-1 and 3-2 downshift timing seems critical. Cool tech, when you are going WOT it's really fun but for DD / city driving sort of annoying and makes me miss the fun stick.

In summary- thanks for all of the great info you have already provided as a community. I have a 90 day 3k mile warranty, plan to run up as many miles as I can and send off a Blackstone test to see if the lead / rod bearings need attending to. Other than that bring on the axle back and pulley- rear tires will surely follow next.

I'm located in the Redlands / East Highland area of SoCal if anyone is around or would like to meet up I'm always up for wrenching, hanging out, cruising, etc.!








As you can see...I prefer blue





Looking forward to meeting more folks around here. Cheers!

[tony093]

hey, good looking car man...

[yidgyi]

Car looks great!

[ASBSECU E93]

Welcome.

Great color!

The exhaust is purely personal preference - but you'll find a glorious compliment of different exhausts for this car. And, each will have their own unique and distinct scream

On the DCT - I believe a tune will help with the shifts and feel. I'm a manual guy too, but you'll come to appreciate how slick the DCT can be.

If/when you're ready for a BIG mod, think supercharger (Harrop)....ENJOY!

[Helmsman]

Welcome Apex! With a 2008 I'd suggest you check the software level. If its original, an update will make wonder to the DCT. You'd get all modules updated while at it incl ECU, well worth to pay the dealer for.

[jdamore]

Whats a new guy post without the word drop; intoxicating! Hehe JK. Nothing but love.. welcome!

My advice would be consider forgetting the axle back (for now at least) and get a mid pipe that will actually make more power and give it more volume. Catless if you dont mind the smell.

[Apexrex]

Haha! Thanks for the warm welcome folks. Good point about the software update. We will be taking the car in at some point soon to check on the steering wheel airbag recall so that would be a good point to have them check the version.

Is there any good aftermarket cable / software that can check / clear codes / register batteries etc.? Think I have read about a Bavarian Technic option but last I read it lacked the ability to register new batteries. Would such a diagnostic be able to tell me what software version / DCT version it's at?

I will likely end up throwing in some test pipes and an ESS tune as well. Unfortunately we now live in the republic of California (A big change for me coming from SW Colorado where there were 0 emissions). So I will just have to swap back and forth every couple of years. I also don't want the car to be TOO loud or have a strong catless odor to avoid run-ins with the police so I'm leaning towards going with a stock X with test pipes to retain the secondaries and resonators. I would also love to put an ESS or similar blower on this car but until I find "that" Smog shop in SoCal...I think I'll have to hold off. If anyone knows "THAT" smog shop...please feel free to PM me if you know what I mean .

Thanks again for the warm welcome!

[Flying Ace]

fucking clickbait, I was about to rail on you. Congrats, looks good.

[Ink09]

Congrats and welcome to the club!

[ASBSECU E93]

Originally Posted by Apexrex

Haha! Thanks for the warm welcome folks. Good point about the software update. We will be taking the car in at some point soon to check on the steering wheel airbag recall so that would be a good point to have them check the version.

Is there any good aftermarket cable / software that can check / clear codes / register batteries etc.? Think I have read about a Bavarian Technic option but last I read it lacked the ability to register new batteries. Would such a diagnostic be able to tell me what software version / DCT version it's at?

I will likely end up throwing in some test pipes and an ESS tune as well. Unfortunately we now live in the republic of California (A big change for me coming from SW Colorado where there were 0 emissions). So I will just have to swap back and forth every couple of years. I also don't want the car to be TOO loud or have a strong catless odor to avoid run-ins with the police so I'm leaning towards going with a stock X with test pipes to retain the secondaries and resonators. I would also love to put an ESS or similar blower on this car but until I find "that" Smog shop in SoCal...I think I'll have to hold off. If anyone knows "THAT" smog shop...please feel free to PM me if you know what I mean .

Thanks again for the warm welcome!

Carly for BMW is a solid choice - OBII scanner via App and WiFi.

[roastbeef]

Congrats on the pickup! Come out to auto club and stretch her legs with speeddistrict on 11/19-20.

Welcome to the club.

Oh, please don't put caliper covers on your m3. It's not allowed.

[schnitzed328]

There is a dct tune either dinan or gts... They are around $265..plus labor.. Depending where you go..

I have the dinan dct tune... Car is way better than before...no more weird excel when it down shifts...

The dinan or the gts tune will bring the car in automode when you first slap the stick to the right

[BimmerRookie]

Great pick up and welcome to the club! Try looking up Carly for BMW. A few of us on here use that and it does everything from coding (including battery registration) to pulling codes for diagnostics.

Also, not bashing on you as much as the previous owner, but OEM 220Ms look way better in their stock form than whatever the PO did to those.

[AustinMsport]

Originally Posted by BimmerRookie

Great pick up and welcome to the club! Try looking up Carly for BMW. A few of us on here use that and it does everything from coding (including battery registration) to pulling codes for diagnostics.

Also, not bashing on you as much as the previous owner, but OEM 220Ms look way better in their stock form than whatever the PO did to those.

Welcome from a fellow 08 IB e92 owner!

I third Carly. You can code all kinds of cool stuff plus read codes.

Looks like gloss or satin powder coating. I have 220's as well and have debated powdercoating them just like this. I don't think it looks too bad and probably even better in person. Agree though that with the thin spokes this isn't the best wheel to go black on.

[Sephiroth]

tldr

y u sell zed oh six?

[loveskiing]

Nice pick up! Yes, by all means think about a tune, axle back and X-pipe. If you do a search there's a myriad of threads re: suggestions/combos which other members have/recommend. After much deliberation I went with the Corsa axle back, ESS X-pipe, and ESS tune...love that combo!
Welcome to the club!

[BimmerRookie]

Originally Posted by AustinMsport

Welcome from a fellow 08 IB e92 owner!

I third Carly. You can code all kinds of cool stuff plus read codes.

Looks like gloss or satin powder coating. I have 220's as well and have debated powdercoating them just like this. I don't think it looks too bad and probably even better in person. Agree though that with the thin spokes this isn't the best wheel to go black on.

After having anthracite Apex EC7's, I've come to appreciate the beauty in clean 220Ms. I too have considered getting them refinished, but I refrained from doing so. If anything, I'll have them repaired from PO's curb rash and chips.

[Saandiaago]

Glad you love the car. I have a DCT too but rarely keep it in auto mode. One thought though is you may notice some lag in shifting if you are on auto mode with 3 bars or less. Maybe use that little rocker panel and bump it up to 4 or 5? You'll get some nice rev matched downshifts out of the DCT as well.

[Denk]

Congrats! Keep the DCT in sequential mode 4 minimum. Yeah, the stock exhaust is weak. Fortunately, there are a bunch of aftermarket options. Good luck and enjoy your new ride, she's a beauty!

[DSilk]

Originally Posted by Denk

Congrats! Keep the DCT in sequential mode 4 minimum. Yeah, the stock exhaust is weak. Fortunately, there are a bunch of aftermarket options. Good luck and enjoy your new ride, she's a beauty!

Agreed. With a proper exhaust the V8 sounds amazing.

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by Apexrex

Haha! Thanks for the warm welcome folks. Good point about the software update. We will be taking the car in at some point soon to check on the steering wheel airbag recall so that would be a good point to have them check the version.

Is there any good aftermarket cable / software that can check / clear codes / register batteries etc.? Think I have read about a Bavarian Technic option but last I read it lacked the ability to register new batteries. Would such a diagnostic be able to tell me what software version / DCT version it's at?

I will likely end up throwing in some test pipes and an ESS tune as well. Unfortunately we now live in the republic of California (A big change for me coming from SW Colorado where there were 0 emissions). So I will just have to swap back and forth every couple of years. I also don't want the car to be TOO loud or have a strong catless odor to avoid run-ins with the police so I'm leaning towards going with a stock X with test pipes to retain the secondaries and resonators. I would also love to put an ESS or similar blower on this car but until I find "that" Smog shop in SoCal...I think I'll have to hold off. If anyone knows "THAT" smog shop...please feel free to PM me if you know what I mean .

Thanks again for the warm welcome!

Hej Apex,

as the guys said - Carly for scanning/clearing, coding and a pile more, must have app for little money.

Believe you need a dealer to read your current sw level though, done in a blink using their key fob reader.
To get you a feel for the levels check below link. Obviously revision has increased since, up to X89-16-500 isch, what you want to make sure of is that you're on a version that include the 240E ECU which I believe will sort your DCT too (the first '08 DCT sw apparently was quite bad, while the actual box hardware is the same and really solid and smooth with proper sw). http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=797020

Cheers

PS. While we're at it, here's another nice source for info for the M3 maniac..: http://www.bmwmregistry.com/model_faq.php?id=50

[Apexrex]

Ohhh nice! I will be checking out Carly today- thanks for the suggestions!

I'll be showing my BMW ignorance here but... I knew I hadn't seen these stock wheels in black before but somewhat thought it might have been an option or something since the finish looks darn near factory level. Must have been powder-coated by the previous owner.

And on that note...my first gremlin popped up this morning- low tire pressure left front... got out- checked air (27 psi) and filled it to 35- still showing low so I am assuming the TPMS is bad Maybe I can work this into a proposal / excuse for a set of lightweight Apex ARCs to the wifey lol.


As for the questions about the Z06- I still regret selling it but circumstances necessitated it. (those are the real calipers in the pic btw ). I picked it up in July, 2013, Had a Katech Torquer cam and Lingenfelter heads (largely to remedy the valve failure issue), and exhaust put on and tuned. About 1 month later we received news we were unexpectedly expecting our daughter (now 2.5 years old). I clung onto the car for another 7 months but finally decided it wasn't the right thing to do so I sold her. Still miss it- nothing like driving a 600hp 3000lb car!


I'll try driving the DCT in 4 instead of 3 where I have kept it for the most part thus far. I was a little afraid of 4 or 5 since it seems some partial throttle shifts are a bit chuggy / harsh so I was thinking 4 or 5 would make that worse?

I'll look into the Dinan and GTS tunes as well. Thanks again for all of the great information!