Valve cover gasket was easy, plugs and coils were easy, water pump was shockingly easy. The single "failure" was when the serpentine belt self-destructed.
My experience with the N52 was great honestly. I owned a 2007 328i from 2007-2019 and put over 120,000 miles on it. The only engine issues it had were the water pump failing at 90,000, and the oil filter housing gasket leaking.
In terms of performance, bushings have already been covered, but I haven’t see a Z3 steering rack been mentioned yet. It basically makes the steering snappier and the car feels more go-kart-y.
Go with good solid OE quality coated rotors, and a low dust pad like Zimmerman and Akebono, Brembo, etc. You'll probably never push the limits of the stock brakes if youre not tracking the car.
When I was converting my E46 M3 to a race car, I looked at AP Racing products. At the time, they had two kits for the E46 M3: a street kit with a fancy looking four pot caliper and 355mm rotors, and a race kit with super dull looking 4 pot caliper and 325mm rotors. That's 7mm *smaller* than stock. I went with the race kit. I generally do 25-45 minute sprint races with the car and I've never had even a hint of fade.
a brand-new, OEM, plug-and-play Denso 471-1114 compressor is [$197.98 is on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Denso-471-1114-New-Compressor-Clutch/dp/B001UC9IMI) with prime shipping right now. It comes pre-filled with oil and with a new manifold (even though it's not in the photo). To me it was totally worth the extra $130 buying a new OEM compressor assembly. No Ebay quality to worry about, no time shimming up a new clutch, and the compressor itself is all new.
Just an FYI for you and whomever might come across this post. Bmw alternators are amazing and have removable voltage regulators. Just had a voltage drain that I diagnosed as a bad alternator on my e61. New voltage regulator for $30 and I’m back on the road, this was about 4 months ago. Saved me a lot of money when I was considering a chain store alternator, and it’s all oem equipment now. After this I learned that most of the time it’s not the alternator that goes bad, just the regulator. But almost no one makes alternators with removable regulators anymore.
My rims cracked on my BM, and I had to get a replacement set asap, and found a refurbed set with Firemax FM100, they are cheap, like £80 a tyre cheap lol for 255/30/19 but the dry and wet grip is excellent, the road noise is half what the Re050 were (200+ per tyre) and the ride is 100x better, honestly feels like a different car over the Bridgestones.
My buddy has them on the rears of his FBO 335i right now. They're not terrible for basic to spirited street driving. They can't handle any power at all though.
I hate akebono pads. They last a long time but feel like crap and don't stop the car nearly as well.
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