My NEW (to me) E91 320d

[EATYOURVITAMIN5]

Big news.

I recently took my car to ABS in Midrand as they've received generally favourable reviews by members of this forum. I'm overall impressed with the job but I do have a remark for those considering taking their car to get worked on.



Remark
It doesn't take an aeronautical engineer to notice that the bonnet alignment I had requested in my job card, wasn't done properly. This is particularly annoying as I was quoted an additional R850 in labour to align the bonnet.

Something to note is that if you look very closely, there might seem to be a variation in shade of Alpine White between the fenders and the bumper - I'd like to make it clear that I believe this is not a reflection of the job ABS did and more so the fact that I believe there was work done to this car prior to my ownership as there are visible signs of repair on the fenders. Given that this car was bought during a rainy evening with no service history whatsoever, I guess that's the bed I made and it was time I sleep in it, I guess.

 

[EATYOURVITAMIN5]

As I got home - I, as the youth of today might say, "locked in twin"(?) and with some odd half an hour, I managed to get it to the point where I was more or less happy with the result.




To say that I'm pleased with the end result would be an understatement.

There is not much left to do on the exterior but the next big move is a nice set of wheels - which I already have! I won't spoil too much but they are OEM.

I am waiting for stock of runflat tires and the look will finally be complete...

..until I find an LCI rear hatch that is..

 

[///M Individual]

Looking really good well done bud!

 

[Benji]

Car is looking fantastic! Cant wait to see the wheels

The unfortunate reality in SA is that you would rather go home and fix their job after having paid them to do it, rather than letting them have another go at getting it right. Because you just know they wont get it right and they will f$#k something else up while at it... I am doing the exact same thing after getting some PPF done at a "reputable" place

 

[M3boi]

So TL;DR, what all is needed to fit xenons into a non-xenon car? Xenon car footwell module and coding it to the car? Is the wiring for the xenons different too?

 

[EATYOURVITAMIN5]

Car is looking fantastic! Cant wait to see the wheels

The unfortunate reality in SA is that you would rather go home and fix their job after having paid them to do it, rather than letting them have another go at getting it right. Because you just know they wont get it right and they will f$#k something else up while at it... I am doing the exact same thing after getting some PPF done at a "reputable" place

Absolutely.

Clean, professional work in SA is so hard to find.. you don’t know who to trust anymore.

I was encouraged to go back and ask for a refund on the R850 since they didn’t at all do what I asked but I guess what’s done is done.

 

[EATYOURVITAMIN5]

So TL;DR, what all is needed to fit xenons into a non-xenon car? Xenon car footwell module and coding it to the car? Is the wiring for the xenons different too?

This car was actually a factory xenon car, the swap was far more straightforward.

Only real coding was letting the car know it now has LED turn signals.

I can’t speak on halogen -> xenon as I’m yet to experience that on the E9x platform. I’ve only done that on the e46 which was extremely simple.

NFRM is compulsory if you want the daytime running coronas as the FRM1 is not compatible with the higher load H8 bulb.

Also, the NFRM is responsible for the welcome lights and I’m a sucker for the eyes to light up when greeting.