M3boi
Well-known member
Maybe get some EGR blanks laser cut out of 304 stainless, will hold up to the heat a lot better than alu and will be cheap to do!
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Read the WELCOME ALL BMWFANATICS post.
Can a 200,000 km F30 320d Still Be a Good Buy?
- Thread starter Clint@MMS AUTO
- Start date
Maybe get some EGR blanks laser cut out of 304 stainless, will hold up to the heat a lot better than alu and will be cheap to do!
I think we maybe onto something here.
I've done about 3 of these so far.
I also removed the intake manifold again this week the valves looked super clean. I refitted the swirl flaps, its easy to refit swirl flaps on this n47 because its just a gasket plate that needs changing. So now i think its going to be even more efficient in general but still has lots of pull for a little 4 Cyl.
Yes thanks, I do have the Stainless laser cut plates coming soon. in the meantime, the double Alu plates are holding up well but will be changed out soon.
Got another trip coming up soon so will see how it does during that drive.
WHERE WE ARE NOW - 320d UPDATE
So far, owning this car has definitely been a learning experience, but still a very pleasant one. The car goes incredibly well and, despite everything we’ve done so far, it hasn’t really given me any trouble that I couldn’t deal with.
At this point, everything feels and rides like an “almost new” car. The suspension refresh has probably made one of the biggest differences overall. Going over bumps and uneven road surfaces is actually a pleasure now. Everything is working as intended, the car feels properly damped and controlled, and there are no more knocking or clunking noises from the suspension.
The handling and steering have also improved massively, especially with the F80 M3 lower control arms. The way the car turns into corners and holds a line now is completely different. The front end feels much sharper and more direct, and it makes me think that with a slightly wider and stickier set of tyres, the M3 control-arm conversion together with a fresh suspension setup has to be one of the best handling upgrades you can do to an F30.
The only small item still outstanding there is the headlight level-sensor link. The F30 and F80 use a slightly different arrangement where the link attaches to the control arm, so the original one doesn’t quite work with the new setup. I found a link rod from a 7 Series that looks like it may work, so I’ve ordered one and will give that a try when it arrives.
As for the brakes, I’m actually happy with the standard setup. They’re not the M Sport Brembos, but for normal street use they bite quickly and stop the car very well. I’ve had to stand on them properly a few times and the car stops hard and confidently, so I’m leaving the braking system alone for now.
I also updated my spreadsheet today to see exactly what has been spent on the car since buying it.
We’re currently sitting at: R84,587
So basically R85k in parts, maintenance, upgrades, fluids, detailing, electronics and all the other little things that somehow keep finding their way onto the shopping list. 😂
That figure doesn’t include any labour because all of the mechanical work has been done in-house. My labour bill basically consists of buying the guys lunch every now and then, so I’ve saved a considerable amount there. 😂
Here’s where the money has gone so far:
Cooling System - R8,880
Suspension & Alignment - R16,700
Engine & Gearbox Mountings - R2,700
Engine / Performance - R7,650
Cosmetic & Detailing - R11,589
Fluids - R6,493
Service Parts - R3,685
Lighting - R2,406
Other Bits & Upgrades - R24,484
And somehow the list still isn’t finished. 😂
But looking at how the car drives and feels now compared with when I bought it, I really don’t regret doing any of it.
The goal was always to take a higher-mileage F30 320d, work through it properly, address the age-related issues and see just how good one of these cars can still be at over 200,000 km.
So far, the answer is: very good.
There are still a few little things I want to sort out, but mechanically it’s getting very close to where I envisioned it from the start.
So far, owning this car has definitely been a learning experience, but still a very pleasant one. The car goes incredibly well and, despite everything we’ve done so far, it hasn’t really given me any trouble that I couldn’t deal with.
At this point, everything feels and rides like an “almost new” car. The suspension refresh has probably made one of the biggest differences overall. Going over bumps and uneven road surfaces is actually a pleasure now. Everything is working as intended, the car feels properly damped and controlled, and there are no more knocking or clunking noises from the suspension.
The handling and steering have also improved massively, especially with the F80 M3 lower control arms. The way the car turns into corners and holds a line now is completely different. The front end feels much sharper and more direct, and it makes me think that with a slightly wider and stickier set of tyres, the M3 control-arm conversion together with a fresh suspension setup has to be one of the best handling upgrades you can do to an F30.
The only small item still outstanding there is the headlight level-sensor link. The F30 and F80 use a slightly different arrangement where the link attaches to the control arm, so the original one doesn’t quite work with the new setup. I found a link rod from a 7 Series that looks like it may work, so I’ve ordered one and will give that a try when it arrives.
As for the brakes, I’m actually happy with the standard setup. They’re not the M Sport Brembos, but for normal street use they bite quickly and stop the car very well. I’ve had to stand on them properly a few times and the car stops hard and confidently, so I’m leaving the braking system alone for now.
I also updated my spreadsheet today to see exactly what has been spent on the car since buying it.
We’re currently sitting at: R84,587
So basically R85k in parts, maintenance, upgrades, fluids, detailing, electronics and all the other little things that somehow keep finding their way onto the shopping list. 😂
That figure doesn’t include any labour because all of the mechanical work has been done in-house. My labour bill basically consists of buying the guys lunch every now and then, so I’ve saved a considerable amount there. 😂
Here’s where the money has gone so far:
Cooling System - R8,880
- Full aluminium oil filter housing assembly with coolers and thermostat
- Aluminium coolant flange
- Thermostat
- Thermostat housing
- EGR delete kit
Suspension & Alignment - R16,700
- Bilstein M Sport front shocks
- Bilstein M Sport rear shocks
- F80 M3 lower control arms
- Front shock mounts
- Spring pads
- Tie rods
- Stabiliser links
- Rear shock mounts
- Rear bump-stop kit
- Wheel alignment
Engine & Gearbox Mountings - R2,700
- Left engine mount
- Right engine mount
- Transmission mounts
Engine / Performance - R7,650
- N47/B47 downpipe
- PCV valve
- Swirl-flap plate
- Xcede custom software
Cosmetic & Detailing - R11,589
- Front lip spoiler
- Rear diffuser
- Mud flaps
- Gloss black mirror caps
- Boot lip spoiler
- Kidney grilles
- Mirror glass
- Apex Detailing interior and exterior treatment
Fluids - R6,493
- Motul gear oil
- Motul ATF
- Motul DOT 5.1 brake fluid
- Liqui Moly 5W-30
- Motul Diesel All In One Ultra
- Motul engine oil
- Motul engine flush
- Motul coolant
Service Parts - R3,685
- Three oil filters
- Air filter
- Cabin filter
- Fuel filter
- ZF 8HP gearbox service kit
Lighting - R2,406
- LED headlights
- LED fog lights
- LED number-plate lights
- LED interior lights
- New fog-light housings
Other Bits & Upgrades - R24,484
- Wi-Fi ENET adaptor
- M Sport steering wheel
- BimmerTune
- COR, registration, licence and disc
- New AGM battery
- Start/Stop button
- 12.3-inch CarPlay/Android head unit
- Reverse camera
- M1/M2 steering-wheel button module
- Paddle-shift wiring hardware
- Jack pads
And somehow the list still isn’t finished. 😂
But looking at how the car drives and feels now compared with when I bought it, I really don’t regret doing any of it.
The goal was always to take a higher-mileage F30 320d, work through it properly, address the age-related issues and see just how good one of these cars can still be at over 200,000 km.
So far, the answer is: very good.
There are still a few little things I want to sort out, but mechanically it’s getting very close to where I envisioned it from the start.
Thanks for the breakdown Clint.
As an academic exercise, please add the labour costs as well. That will give a realist estimate for those of us who aren’t mechanically gifted.
ANOTHER KZN DRIVE & A FEW SMALL THINGS
The car has been going really well, and last weekend we did another trip down to Amanzimtoti. Average fuel consumption for the trip was around 5.3 L/100 km, but this time I definitely wasn’t driving conservatively. We used around half a tank getting there, so absolutely no complaints.
Early into the drive, a white F30 330d came blasting past us. N57 torque is a whole different story. 😂 Once the trucks eventually moved out of the way, all I saw was a puff of smoke out the exhaust and he disappeared into the distance. You can see just how many trucks were on the road that morning. Definitely not one of those calm, relaxing N3 drives. 😂
We made it to Bergview with around three-quarters of a tank remaining. It still feels strange stopping at Bergview, then driving straight past the fuel pumps without having to fill or even top up. After leaving there, we got caught in some proper standstill traffic, but once that cleared we continued the rest of the trip without any drama.
While we were in KZN, I checked the EGR blanking plates after the issue we had on the previous trip. The twin-plate setup held up perfectly this time with zero issues.
Coolant level was good. Engine-oil level was good. No leaks. No drama. Exactly how I like it.
We eventually made it back to Johannesburg and the return trip used just over half a tank of fuel.
Once home, the stainless-steel EGR blanking plates I had ordered had arrived.
The existing aluminium plate was already properly sealed against the EGR port, so rather than disturbing that seal again, I retained it and added the steel plate behind it for additional strength and heat resistance. Hopefully that’s the end of the EGR blanking-plate saga now. 😂
With Johannesburg temperatures already climbing, the cooling system is also going to start earning its keep. We’ve already refreshed the major cooling-system components, addressed the known plastic weak points and filled the system with Motul Auto Cool Expert. I’m going one step further and adding Motul MoCool for some additional cooling-system support during the hotter months.
While the car was back up in the air, I removed the undertray and had another good inspection underneath. Bone dry. No visible engine-oil leaks. No visible coolant leaks. For a High km BMW, I’m very happy with that.
I also checked the vibration damper pulley while I was there. It still looks good, with no visible cracking or obvious deterioration, so there’s no reason to replace it unnecessarily at this stage.
Next up was one small thing that has been annoying me ever since fitting the F80 M3 lower control arms... The headlight level-sensor arm.
The F30 and F80 use different mounting arrangements where the level-sensor link attaches to the control arm, so the original F30 setup didn’t work properly with the M3 arm. In the meantime I had cable tied it while i looked for the correct solution.
I managed to find a new link rod from a 7 Series for cheap that looked like it could solve the problem. The orientation of the mounting points was slightly different, so I transferred one of the ball pins onto the original F30 arm.
And it worked perfectly. Everything is mounted properly again and, more importantly, it looks OEM. Happiness. 😂
Since the new suspension has now had some mileage to settle in, I also took the opportunity to loosen, correctly preload and retorque the front suspension on both sides.
Lastly, I swapped the car back over to the genuine MPPK ECU. I want to drive it for a while on the MPPK calibration using the same tank of fuel I brought back from KZN before eventually refitting the Xcede-tuned ECU. It should make for an interesting back-to-back comparison now that I’ve spent some proper time driving the tuned setup.
And that’s all for today’s episode. 😂
The car has been going really well, and last weekend we did another trip down to Amanzimtoti. Average fuel consumption for the trip was around 5.3 L/100 km, but this time I definitely wasn’t driving conservatively. We used around half a tank getting there, so absolutely no complaints.
Early into the drive, a white F30 330d came blasting past us. N57 torque is a whole different story. 😂 Once the trucks eventually moved out of the way, all I saw was a puff of smoke out the exhaust and he disappeared into the distance. You can see just how many trucks were on the road that morning. Definitely not one of those calm, relaxing N3 drives. 😂
We made it to Bergview with around three-quarters of a tank remaining. It still feels strange stopping at Bergview, then driving straight past the fuel pumps without having to fill or even top up. After leaving there, we got caught in some proper standstill traffic, but once that cleared we continued the rest of the trip without any drama.
While we were in KZN, I checked the EGR blanking plates after the issue we had on the previous trip. The twin-plate setup held up perfectly this time with zero issues.
Coolant level was good. Engine-oil level was good. No leaks. No drama. Exactly how I like it.
We eventually made it back to Johannesburg and the return trip used just over half a tank of fuel.
Once home, the stainless-steel EGR blanking plates I had ordered had arrived.
The existing aluminium plate was already properly sealed against the EGR port, so rather than disturbing that seal again, I retained it and added the steel plate behind it for additional strength and heat resistance. Hopefully that’s the end of the EGR blanking-plate saga now. 😂
With Johannesburg temperatures already climbing, the cooling system is also going to start earning its keep. We’ve already refreshed the major cooling-system components, addressed the known plastic weak points and filled the system with Motul Auto Cool Expert. I’m going one step further and adding Motul MoCool for some additional cooling-system support during the hotter months.
While the car was back up in the air, I removed the undertray and had another good inspection underneath. Bone dry. No visible engine-oil leaks. No visible coolant leaks. For a High km BMW, I’m very happy with that.
I also checked the vibration damper pulley while I was there. It still looks good, with no visible cracking or obvious deterioration, so there’s no reason to replace it unnecessarily at this stage.
Next up was one small thing that has been annoying me ever since fitting the F80 M3 lower control arms... The headlight level-sensor arm.
The F30 and F80 use different mounting arrangements where the level-sensor link attaches to the control arm, so the original F30 setup didn’t work properly with the M3 arm. In the meantime I had cable tied it while i looked for the correct solution.
I managed to find a new link rod from a 7 Series for cheap that looked like it could solve the problem. The orientation of the mounting points was slightly different, so I transferred one of the ball pins onto the original F30 arm.
And it worked perfectly. Everything is mounted properly again and, more importantly, it looks OEM. Happiness. 😂
Since the new suspension has now had some mileage to settle in, I also took the opportunity to loosen, correctly preload and retorque the front suspension on both sides.
Lastly, I swapped the car back over to the genuine MPPK ECU. I want to drive it for a while on the MPPK calibration using the same tank of fuel I brought back from KZN before eventually refitting the Xcede-tuned ECU. It should make for an interesting back-to-back comparison now that I’ve spent some proper time driving the tuned setup.
And that’s all for today’s episode. 😂
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