[The_E92_Fan]

This weekend I did a LOT of work to my car and discovered a few things that may help others tho are doing the same thing. A lot of this information can be found through some real digging, but I figured it's relevant to the forum DIY-ers, so why not.


Rolling Fenders

For those getting wider tires, lowering, or looking for that hellaflush look, there's fender rolling! You can't roll the front fenders, they're plastic. That leaves the rear. It's very easy if you know the limits of rolling fenders on these cars. I bought the sunoco roller off of amazon for $55, and whaddya know, the unthreaded bar issue was real. I had a tap and die set on hand so I made the new threads 7/16 and it only took a minute to do. After that, the roller worked great! (Get a new 7/16 nut too). Start by taking off the wheel, spacers, and the fender well guard. Then take a dremel and cut the lip at each end of the fender to prevent the body from bowing in as you roll the lip. Then with a pick of some sort, clean the dirt in the "V" that you'll be rolling in. Then bolt up the roller with your lugs. Hand tight is fine, just make sure it cant wiggle on the hub. With a heat gun, hold 6" away looking 45* up at the fender, moving back and forth for 30 seconds to a minute. Whenever the fender is almost too hot to touch, its time to roll the lip in. I found that having the roller wheel 90* was the only useable angle for rolling. You will put a decent amount of pressure on the fender from the wheel before you start rolling. Your aim is to roll that lip until it is vertical. It doesn't matter where on the fender you start, as its all getting rolled anyways. Theres going to be a 1/4" lip on the bottom that you can never roll in because there is a fair amount of tough sealant in the "V". I took an hour trying to roll that lip up and it NEVER moved. If you want the pulled look, I would assume you just put more pressure on the fender and roll for longer. My fenders pulled a little by just by rolling the lip. An extra tip would be to take off the 7mm screw that connects the rear bumper to the body to allow more flex. Just put it back after.


Installing new struts and springs

Struts
My car has 145k miles on it. The M-Sport suspension was pretty tired so I purchased an H&R Race Cup Kit. I figured an upgrade would be nice since it was time to replace the struts/shocks/springs anyways. I also purchased Turner adjustable end links to help keep the sway bar tidy. You SHOULD replace the end links when lowering, but its not the end of the world if you don't. The E92 335i has 11.5" front end links, and since i was dropping an expected 2" i found the 320-335mm end links would probably fit the bill (they were perfect, by the way). It was then time to install. Take the wheel and and spacer off. Also remove the front half of the fender liner. Open the hood and remove the 11mm bolt to the strut tower bars. Then remove the three 13mm bolts to the strut mount. Prepare for the strut dropping out by placing a jack or wood under the rotor. The control arms will rotate down considerably, and that's fine. The drivers side has the xenon leveling sensor. If that silver bar pops out of the ball joint, it's a PITA to get back on. Remove the 18mm bolt to the strut clamp. Remove the end links if you are replacing them. Detach the sensor wires. At this point, all that's left is the strut itself to be removed. You need to install Macpherson strut spring compressors. Autozone lets you rent these for $55 for up to 90 days, all your money including tax is returned after rental. If you have one, take a 3/8 to 1/4 socket reducer and inset it into the space between the clamp, and rotate it 45*. Leave it there and you should very easily be able to remove the strut. I have not found a method that is easier than this to remove the struts. Remove the strut, wrap it in a towel, and place it horizontally on the ground. Open the dust cap and impact the strut off. OEM nut should be 20 or 21 mm. Replace what needs to be replaced and reverse the steps to completion. The most useful trick here is the 3/8 to 1/4 socket reducer. It made the strut removal idiot proof. No hammer required.

Shocks/Springs
Installing shocks and springs is relatively easy. There are good videos on the subject. Jack up the car, remove wheels. You can keep spacers on if you have them. Jack up the rotor a few inches until the lower control arm is hear horizontal. Don't tip the car over! Take off the shock nut on the bottom of the large control arm. From the passenger area, take off the poppers and peel back the felt panels until you can see the black rubber disk covering the top of the shock. Open it up and use a wrench (ratchet wrench makes this very easy) with socket on top to remove the nut. Drop the jack and pull out the shock. Then take off the outer bolt to the lower control arm (not the eccentric). Push down the control arm and pull out the spring. Reverse these steps to finish the installation.


Replacing Headlight Lens

There are a few good videos online about removing the 335i headlight lens. You'll get most of what you need out of that. Theres nothing tricky about removing the headlight assembly. Just make sure you remove the bumper first. Pull out your 3 main bulbs (turning, headlight, angel eye). Some videos show dremel tools cutting open the lens. I do not recommend the amateur enthusiast try this, as you can easily damage the parts inside. Instead, set the oven to 210*F and put the assembly on the rack for 5 minutes. Make sure you remove the bottom plastic bar before this, so the assembly is smaller and easier to handle. After the time is up, carefully take the assembly out and with a wide flathead screwdriver, begin to pry the lens off. It shouldn't take much force to start removing it. If you have to try hard put the assembly in the oven for a few more minutes. After the lens is off, make sure to clean off the sealer as much as possible. I replaced the sealer with the stuff from a tube "glue gun" style. It is a lot easier if you open the end of the tube as if you were about to press out, and then put the tube in the oven to soften it. Opening the tube prevents it from possibly exploding under pressure from heat. I can tell you with certainty, pressing out cold sealer is a nightmare. Put a copious amount into the valley and evenly press the new lens on while the sealer is still warm.

Feel free to ask about steps that i may have left out. I hope this can be referenced by others in the future to make their DIY weekend project easier.