Hello!
It's about time I started a build/ownership thread of sorts. My new E91 is my 6th BMW now, and it’s quickly becoming my favourite... if I put the fact it's missing a pedal to the back of my mind anyway! I’ve always been a manual/stick shift fan but, auto aside, this was otherwise a pretty much ideal car for my somewhat modest needs. The ‘box does kinda suit a Touring though, and it’s certainly better behaved than the auto in my old 535d ever was, so it gets a pass.
It's also about time for a thread because I've got pretty hands on with this in the 2 months I’ve had it.
So, what’s the car then? It’s a 2006 E91 330i M Sport, in Le Mans Blue with Dakota Beige leather and walnut - the same inside as my old E90, as it happens. Here are some pics:
This is closing in on 130k but has seemingly been well kept so far. The first owner had this serviced 9 times at BMW (in advance of their normal intervals - bonus!) up to 85k. The second owner added 5 stamps at the same BMW indie in London. I’m the third owner now and bought this in the middle of August.
It’s nicely specced, with about £11k (!!) worth of options, going by an old price list I found online. That’s small fry today, option wise, but 15 years ago that would’ve been a big mark-up on the base price. Here goes:
Editions And Packages
S337 M Sports Package
S710 M Leather Steering Wheel
S715 M Aerodynamics Package
Comfort And Interior Equipment
S402 Panorama Glass Roof £1130
S418 Luggage Compartment Package £175
S430 Outside Mirror With Automatic-Dip £250
S431 Interior Mirror With Automatic-Dip £0
S459 Seat Adjustment, Electric, Memory £870
S481 Sports Seat £0
S488 Lumbar Support, Driver/Passenger £225
S493 Storage Compartment Package £90
S494 Seat Heating Driver/Passenger £275
S4AE Armrest Front, Retractable £110
S4NA Interior Mirror With Digital Compass £60
£3,185
Multimedia
S609 Navigation System Professional £1925
S612 BMW Assist £0
S616 BMW Online £0
S620 Voice Control £0
S633 Preparation, Mobile Phone, Business £525
S672 CD Changer For 6 CDs £290
S677 HiFi System Professional DSP £805
£3,545
Driver Assistance And Lighting
S502 Headlight Cleaning System £0
S508 Park Distance Control Front/Rear £355
S522 Xenon Headlights £470
S524 Adaptive Headlights £745
S544 Cruise Control With Brake Function £0
S563 Light Package £180
£1,750
Wheels And Drive
S205 Automatic Transmission £1600
S226 Sports Suspension Settings £0
S249 Multifunction Steering Wheel £0
S2MF Alloy Wheel, M Spider Spoke, MV3 £0
£1600
Environment And Safety
S319 Integrated Universal Remote Control £170
S322 Comfort Access £510
S358 Climate Comfort Windscreen £115
S761 Individual Sunshade Glazing £265
£1,060
TOTAL - £11,140
Crikey!
The tl;dr/nice bits are adaptive xenons, Bluetooth, Comfort Access, electric/heated/memory seats with lumbar and bolster support, front and rear PDC, Logic7, pan roof, and the vintage Pro CCC. That's quite the contrast to my old E90 - itself another 2006 N52 330i - which has Pro CCC and, erm, that’s it.
Mentioning the old E90 once more, with that also having the beige and walnut interior, the E91 immediately felt familiar. Almost too familiar though, and there wasn't much "new car feel" to it. I’ve had the E90 for nearly 4 years and 45k now, so when I say familiar, it really is! That’s a lot of time to be spent swimming in beige. Anyway, having left a deposit, on the way back from the test drive I started to think about changing the interior - yep, before even picking it up! The rear door cards came to mind as being potentially tricky to find, as there aren't many UK cars with Logic7/HK/Individual Audio.
Happily though, after picking it up (and finding it has atrocious wheel wobble at the front at 50mph or so - damned London test drive!) I found a nice looking interior just a couple of weeks later.
I’m currently off work…
The breakers aren’t that far away…
They said they’re happy for me to visit and nab some other bits…
Hands and fingers adopt a Montgomery Burns position.
A plan is definitely formulating, but that’s for a later post... or several.