BMW e90 AW LCI

[Riaad]

Hi Guys,

Ive been on the forum for a while now, just never got down to starting a showroom thread. See intro here : https://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=76074.

Anyways, Ive always had an appreciation for cars...from watching every episode of top gear (repeatedly), going to the car sales at Durban Drive-in every weekend with my Dad and even to building up the toyota tazz on the side of Speed n Sound mags:hammerhead:

My passion for BMWs began with an Alpine White e30 with blue seats...one of my favorite cars that my dad has ever owned, however, it was sold to make way for an Alpine White e34 which didnt stay long in the family and many years went by without a BMW in the garage...

Fast forward to 2009...Was time to purchase a new vehicle and using a my teenage influence...i convinced my dad to get a BMW instead of a Merc:fencelook:.

One thing was for certain...the colour had to be Alpine White!

and a 2009 320i steptronic m-sport with style 193m wheels, xenon lights and sunroof was welcomed into the family

These pics are from 2012, car had no visual mods at the time and was hardly used with just 33000km on clock...

I feel that this is a good starting point for this thread, with more updates to follow.:thumbs:

 

[Cornel]

welcome and enjoy your stay here

 

[michael.joseph]

Gorgeous car u got there mate... i might b a lil biased.

Congrats man. Many safe miles ahead

 

[Riaad]

Fast forward to December 2013, I was in need of a newer campus car, I was using a c180 kompressor at the time (yeah, my dad ended up getting one of these:tiptoe, whilst my dads daily became a x1 2.0d and the e90 got benched aside.

along came this...a 2008 320i m-sport manual with 80000km and balance of extended mp...

I was quite chuffed with the manual gearbox, but i had no idea why the ride height was so high as compared to the LCI, did complain but was assured that it was normal:hammerhead:

More updates to follow:thumbs:

 

[SylisM]

Like the write-up, looking forward to more updates especially because the E90 is one of my favourite BMWs:smilebounce:

 

[Dirtydeedsman]

The LCI just looks better in very single way. Pre LCI is not bad but seeing it in the same trim as the LCI... Damn

Nice cars there

 

[Riaad]

Update No.3 ...

So this one doesn't of starts of well...after 1 month of owning the pre-lci e90, the car got caught in a storm, and the next the day the computer box was flooded...car sat at SMG for 2 weeks until BMW SA stepped in and they processed the claim...after the repair, we decided it was time to sell whilst MP was still active...

So back to needed a car for campus:thumbdo:...this is when i took over "ownership" of the LCI...first on the list was smash and grab as the car was being parked outside in the blistering sun, opted of the darkest tint available (15% was legal at the time, well to my knowledge:smilebounce...

Due too the car still being on MP and my lack of funds (student life), it stayed as is for awhile...

Fast forward to more recent times...this is where the mods start rolling in:smilebounce:

updates coming shortly:cartel:

 

[Riaad]

And now, one update to bring us to November 2017:smilebounce:, will try to keep the order in which things were done as accurate as possible...Heads up...lots of scrolling...Okay here we go...

Following the smash and grab, i decided to do the m stripes (this was back in early 2015 when it was not a common site)...

immediately i realised it doesnt work to well with the chrome surrounds...Plastidip to the rescue (matte black, i didnt have the glosifier:thumbdo:...used to apply some tyre polish after every wash:tiptoe:...did its job tbh)

Lets just throw in some soapy style 193s :fencelook:

Okay, moving along to 2016...unfortunately my car is plagued by the useless base sound...so i made it my mission to find some oem tweeter housings...after a few months, I stuck gold and picked up a, I would say "brand new" set including oem tweeters...had these fitted along with an Alpine amp and an Alpine 12" sub enclosure...was decent, but not what I was looking for... was removed from my car shortly after (new plans in motion for 2018).

After having the plastidip on for about a year...i grew tired of the dullness...had my grills painted gloss black ...and did not reapply the m stripes (the grills were looking so epic, that i did not want to do anything more to them)...

Shortly after...my perfect condition style 193s said hello to a kerb at around 50kph (guy came into my lane in a sharp left hander..causing me to swerve)...front and rear made contact and my heart skipped a beat...had a look at them and thought they were done for...

Rear

Front

Fortunately my tyres were still fine, as i had recently replaced them...

Refused to drive my car with the rims in this state, I took them to Total Wheel Rebuild, luckily it was just layers of paint that broke off so all they had to do was sandblast and repaint...
Now I was not about to have only two freshly painted wheels, so decided to do all four, and then decided why not a colour change while I'm here:smilebounce:...Went with a custom Anthracite with a satin finish paint job...behold...

This brings us to 2017...

Attended the Kzn Breakfast Run...

Then the SABeemer Underground Event...

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Okay, moving on to some considerable changes...I noticed my left xenon bulb was acting up...so decided to visit Jabsport (Stealers wanted r3700 per bulb:roflol

Since changing bulbs on an e90 LCI is a speech... I opted to upgrade all of the lighting...Phillips 6000k Xenon Bulbs, 160w LED angel eyes, white fogs and full LED interior...
Before...

Mind the dirt...these places are not easily accessible for me to clean:hammerhead:

and one of the interior...

Being inspired by a fellow fanatic...I adopted a black and white scheme for my Bmw Roundels...did every badge and I think it really compliments my car.

Next up, since i had my car debadged ...it was time to get rid of that oval exhaust...Headed straight to A.C.E...and he fitted on a custom made twin tailpiece (slanted and a 10mm offset)...

Prior to fitting the tail piece, I managed to pick up DieselFans ex e90 330d diffuser...and got them and a fellow fanatics e90 grills painted gloss black at SMGs ARC...the outcome is stunning...

and we end off this over long post with a milestone...

Hopefully more updates to come in the new year, hope you guys enjoyed the scroll through this post:chef:

 

[sash]

Other than the constant scrolling and zooming in and out...
Great work.

 

[michael.joseph]

I totally understand the love for Alpine White.



Lovely car, keep the updates coming:thumbs:

 

[KPM3_30]

Looking sweet bud! :bravo:

 

[Riaad]

Other than the constant scrolling and zooming in and out...
Great work.

bro...you need a better browser :hammerhead:

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I totally understand the love for Alpine White.



Lovely car, keep the updates coming:thumbs:

Next on the list is a set of gloss black splitters...when i eventually find a setmgwaiting:

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Looking sweet bud! :bravo:

Aweh shot man:ty:

 

[BadSam435i]

There's just something about an AW LCI E90 :blowheart:... Stunning man!

 

[Bmw.wp]

:bravo: Also a big fan of the Alpine white.raise:

 

[Shuaib1]

Nice man car is looking great:bravo:

 

[BeemerFanatic]

Pics are too large resolution.

Car looks awesome

 

[rash777]

So on the lights... both rings dont light up? am i seeing that correctly?

Car looks awesome man... :bravo:

 

[Dirtydeedsman]

Beautiful work :bravo:

 

[Riaad]

So on the lights... both rings dont light up? am i seeing that correctly?

Car looks awesome man... :bravo:

Both light up, just the inner one is alot brighter than the outer, not so noticeable with the xenons on...but if i have just the rings and fogs on...then you can see it...something i have to live with as its just the way that the headlight was designed:thumbdo:

 

[Riaad]

As the year draws to an end, I find it quite fitting to reflect on the year and update this thread:smilebounce:

Starting off with the BmwFanatics National Breakfast Run '17...the drive was a spectacular, and a decent turn out. Here are some pics that I snapped...

These arrived a few days later from CarbonSport...after months of searching:thumbs:

I test fitted them and they completely change the dynamics of the car (definitely worth it)...

On to some actual maintenance...Rear brake pads were almost worn out, so decided to replace them before the sensor worn out...kept things OEM and fitted a set of Textar Brake Pads...Simple DIY to start off with

Quality seems good, I have done about 1500kms with them, no squeaks or noticeable brake dust to complain about.

Okay back to the exciting stuff :smilebounce:
Had the car detailed at Supertech (3rd time I have used them, pretty happy with the workmanship especially once you consider the price and convenience of the service). After a wash, clay, polish and wax...this is the outcomeraise:

Next step was to finally brand the car with my free BMWFanatics stickers received on the breakfast run...

Even though the Carbon fiber splitters looked absolutely flawless, i decided to be bold and keep the gloss black theme of my car...Back to SMG, had the splitters finished in gloss black and fitted...and i can say without a doubt...#noregrets :inlove:

In between getting the splitters painted and fitted, I had to replace a tyre (really bad uneven wear)...surprisingly Supertech were the cheapest by R500:hammerhead:

Planned on attending the SABeemer Breakfast Run...and it was time to treat my seats to some care...They were pretty clean to begin with, but once again...pretty happy with the outcome (used Meguiars Gold Class Rich Leather)...

Clean on the left...

Reflection is always good...

A Big Thanks goes out to KPM_330 for the OEM AW slimline spoiler...perfectly contrasts the car on the whole and complements the gloss black diffuser raise:

All in time to attend the SaBeemer Breakfast Run...

And lastly, used the car to the South Coast for the Christmas Weekend...

2017 was a good year in terms of visual mods, overall reliability has been good and just yesterday I hit 80k kms...hopefully 2018 goes well:tiptoe:

once again, hope you guys enjoyed the scroll :ty: