[midnight-wagon]

Introducing Midnight



Hey folks!

Excited new e91 owner here to contribute. I grew up crawling around back roads of Texas in my dad's station wagon affectionately dubbed "The Abuse-mobile," and after getting hooked on M539 Restorations, I knew I had to have a touring. Inspired by Project Cologne, I started my search over our family summer vacation thinking that we would end up with an E39 or E46 true project car with only one basic requirement -- no classic BMW beige interior! This E91 popped up on my Craigslist searches, and after a week or so I couldn't resist checking it out. After discussions with the family, my wife insisted that she'd rather I expand the budget than plan to spend 20 hours a week on the car.

Enter Midnight

2008 BMW 328i Touring (E91)

Options:

• Sparkling Graphite over Dakota Grey
• Rear Wheel Drive
• Automatic Transmission
• Sports Package:
  - M Sports Suspension
  - Sport seats w/ electric adjustments and memory
  - Sport steering wheel w/ shifter paddles
• Adaptive Xenon headlights
• Original 161 wheels replaced with after market at some point, an aesthetic upgrade from my perspective even if it's not OEM classy
• M Sport front bumper added at some point

Acquisition date: November 5th, 2023
~112,500 miles at purchase

Naming: Arrived at after 4 rounds of ranked choice voting with the family. Our family minivan is Luna Twinklestar, so we wanted something loosely related. My personal favorite was the Harry Potter inspired Mad-eye Moony, but Midnight won out. 2023 was the year of Taylor Swift, and her influence is strong in a household with a 9 year old girl. It's grown on me.



Initial Impressions: Midnight is a well-loved daily driver, not a collector's specimen. The exterior looks great from any distance and up close has the expected wear of a 15 year old car. There's one larger chip on the hood, the rear trim over the hatch has been wrapped, there's some clear coat fade on hood, and the door handles look tired. The interior is in overall good condition with a few trouble spots: driver's door armrest and center console are notably worn, there is a small tear in stitching for driver's seat, and the sunroof cover is showing some sag.

Maintenance Records and History:

It looks like Midnight moved from Georgia to Texas in 2018, where it was owned by an enthusiast that took great care of the car and serviced it at a couple of different reputable indie shops. It changed hands again locally sometime in late 2021 to early 2022, and the records get noticeably sparser.

The Good (Items covered by reputable shops):

• Valve cover gasket, eccentric seal, adjuster gasket
• Oil Filter Housing Gasket
• Spark Plugs done twice (sign of troubleshooting?)
• Transmission serviced
• Differential serviced

The Hopefully Good (Self service repairs):

• Intake Manifold Gasket
• Starter (Bosch)

The Bad:

• Tires were shot
• Oil pan gasket is unsurprisingly leaking, situation doesn't seem urgent
• Suspension is untouched at 112k miles and feels rough on the city streets

The Ugly:

• Started seeing hidden water pump codes recently

That's all for now! I'm a delighted owner driving it around town daily. I plan to do as much maintenance in my driveway shop as possible and (inspired by Project Sportification) give some regular updates here. Stay tuned!

[GavinE91]

Your car looks great. Hope to tote along a family in mine one day in the future

First road trip I took my touring on (soon after purchase) left me with an exploded rear tire. Since then, it’s been a dream. I hope you enjoy yours the same I do mine. Every drive brings a little bit more ethusiasm and appreciation

Cheers!

[StradaRedlands]

Fantastic color, tint, and wheels... it all goes together!!!

[eljay]

Another E91 thread! Awesome!!! 👍

It looks great and you've made a good list and checked it twice. 😉

[PunsGalore]

Great spec

[Mike K]

Nice on the RWD! It makes DIY stuff much easier.

Welcome!

[CoralRed]

Another Texas e91!! Yes!

Welcome!

I’ve got a pre-Lci RWD/Manual/ZSP car (and an e46 touring lol).

[midnight-wagon]

Originally Posted by GavinE91

Your car looks great. Hope to tote along a family in mine one day in the future

First road trip I took my touring on (soon after purchase) left me with an exploded rear tire. Since then, it’s been a dream. I hope you enjoy yours the same I do mine. Every drive brings a little bit more ethusiasm and appreciation

Cheers!

Ouch! Looking back at the original listing photos, I can't believe the tires look as good as they do, but the real problem seems to have been some inconsistent wear on rear tires that I didn't notice until I pulled them to get at the parking brake adjustments. Unclear to me if I need an alignment, the steering is fine. Four new tires now, so hopefully no explosions!

[midnight-wagon]

Originally Posted by eljay

Another E91 thread! Awesome!!! 👍

It looks great and you've made a good list and checked it twice. 😉

Your thread is a big inspiration for future fun! Hopefully I can avoid a multi-year backlog of updates 😉, but I've already got a list piling up.

[Mike K]

New tires eh? Maybe get the alignment sussed...

[dreamcheng]

nice wagon! love the color combo. the n52 will keep going as long as you take care of it. enjoy!

[minicrazy592]

Oh, I recognize that building! Hello neighbor and fellow E91 owner!

[M-technik-3]

Good looking car, how does the ac do with the Texas heat?

[midnight-wagon]

Originally Posted by dreamcheng

nice wagon! love the color combo. the n52 will keep going as long as you take care of it. enjoy!

That's the plan! Once I started researching I fell in love with the stories of N52 simplicity and longevity.

[midnight-wagon]

Originally Posted by minicrazy592

Oh, I recognize that building! Hello neighbor and fellow E91 owner!

Wow! PM me if you ever want to catch up, I'm not at the threshold yet. I have been on the lookout for months and only seen one E91 in the area (silver and poorly cared for). There's a nearby white E34 badged as a Dinan 5 that looks amazing.

[midnight-wagon]

Originally Posted by Mike K

New tires eh? Maybe get the alignment sussed...

Definitely, I've been dragging my feet on that because I plan to revamp most of the suspension. At some point I'll need to be honest with myself about how quickly that will happen

[midnight-wagon]

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

Good looking car, how does the ac do with the Texas heat?

Very good question... It was described as working very well on my test drive. That day it was sunny and 70 degrees and we had the A/C blowing cold, but it was far from a taxing Texas summer day.