How my Leon BTCC BECAME A 330 d m sport E90!!!

[holmefield]

Hi all I've been a member for sometime and have read loads and loads of readers thread but never got around to doing one myself, so time to change that me finks..

So about 12 months ago I was driving around in a lovely 520D m sport Lci Bmw, I'd done loads to it remap, 19" AC Schnitzers window tints on and on BUT it was just boring to drive and didn't excite me........so up for sale it went.

I'd fancied a BTCC leon about 6 years ago but never got around to getting one, so with mine gone I Bought a lovely Genuine Fr Pd Btcc off a member on here...Here it is before I started to modify it

After much modding it became this

Lowered on Eibachs, Shark stage 2 tuned Dpf delete Drl's Xenons Electric boot pop Facelift climate control, Rcd310 4D carbon wrapped parts and so much more...it was so nice to drive and gave great MPG around 44mpg week in week out not bad with 215bhp to play with..BUT im 40 and it just wasn't a middle aged mans car who has to ferry the kids around + the wife moaned about how hard I'd made the ride OOPS....so with heavy heart I sold it.....

Goodbye Seat LEON....

 

[holmefield]

So with the leon gone I had two weeks to get a car before my insurance was ended, and as is always the case when you look you can never find...I've always loved Alfa 159 Ti's and after viewing an 08 plate low mileage that was remapped and Dpf deleted already, I had a deal in place to buy it.

Just before I set off to pick it up I decided to HPI it ( I'd seen the sellers HPI and done the MOT check and all was fine ) but for the sake of £20.00 I thought I'd do one anyhow as you can prob guess???????????????????

yep there was a mileage ERROR BIG TIME and the buyer even tried to say was mistaken and wasting HIS time!!!

So with that out the window I was again stuck, I'd wanted a 330 D MSPORT when I got the 520 D but just couldn't afford the spec I wanted ( 330's fetch strong money ) but the ones within my budget were either high mileage or poverty spec..

So after lots of looking all over the web I found one but it was miles and miles away and the seller was getting lots of calls as it was a MEGA spec'd one which is rare...

Long story short I managed to get it.

Quick run down is.......

330 D M Sport..none standard options fitted

Adaptive Xenons
Xenon Angel Eyes
Lemon Leather
Full memory seats, with full electric movement.
Heated seats
Electric sunroof ( haven't had one for years, and keep forgetting I've got one )
Bluetooth
Voice comms
60/40 Split folding rear seats ( very rare option )
Mini fridge in arm rest
Split folding arm rest
Electric foldup mirrors ( as the leon they fold up with the key fob )
Upgraded HiFi speaker pack
Upgraded Headunit pack

and some other stuff I've missed...

 

[holmefield]

I've had the car 2 weeks and I promised myself I wasn't going to mess with it, that didn't last long im afraid.

I've 4 D carbon wrapped the Ally dash and door inserts as the ally was starting to show its age.
I've gloss blacked the front kidney grills
Ordered All white Led's for the interior lights and puddle lights, mine came with the extended light package which means lots of bulbs to change
I've got yellow wrap for my front fogs
The inner rear lights have a white section on them, the new facelift ones are all red, so this weekends project is to spray the white red with plasti-kote red glass spray, fingers crossed over how it'll turns out..if its crap I can always peel it off..
I've added 12mm hub-centric spacers to the rear to give a nice staggered look

It came with OEM 189 18" Bmw alloys 8J front 8.5J rear which had just been refurbed and the last owner had sanded and painted the hubs and calipers silver so they all look minty fresh..

 

[Daniel M]

Looks nice mate. Shame to see the leon go though.

 

[M20FES]

That looks nice mate and jealous of the spec. You did well there

 

[holmefield]

The main problem with Bmw's is knowing how far to modify then without going chav!! or spending way to much money..i spent way to much on the Leon in the end, don't get me wrong I loved the leon and the way it drove was great it just felt quick in real world daily driving and always gave good Mpg...

But the ride was hard to start with and I don't think the Eibachs helped, and I felt @ 40 it was time to remove some the kid in me and accept that I was middle aged ha ha...I think the main think that made me go a Seat leon from a Bmw was this FORUM as many of you know theres lots of FORUMS out there but a lot of them are LESS than FUN places to interact with others.. Where as on here folks are always up for sharing info or telling you what parts you need to make something work, I've even been given free parts off members on here and had free Vag-com work done..so it was with heavy heart that I sold my Leon on but as stated above it had reached the stage of tune/modification that meant it wasn't a kids run car anymore

The E90 330 D M SPORT does everything it says on the tin, its Bl__dy quick when you floor it sounds so nice for a diesel and feels so nice to drive...Theres down sides to them

1. its a 3.0 litre so it aint going to match the Fr Pd on Mpg but so far my average is coming in @ 39Mpg against 45 Mpg for the Leon, it will get worse in winter as these cars take an AGE to warm up ( about 8/9 miles or near 15mins driving!!!
2. Service parts are always going to cost more it takes 7.5 litres to do the old change and I've heard the air filters a pain to do.
3. They really arnt good in the snow.
4. I have NO SPARE and mines NOT on run flats, but @ around £250.00 for the spare wheel and jack kit from BMW ( read robbers ) i'll be keeping a close eye on Ebay
5. Wet weather can be fun / challenging )

So i'll keep posting updates and pictures if that's ok as I like this forum and theres a nice mix of folk on here....

 

[holmefield]

That looks nice mate and jealous of the spec. You did well there

Yer it took a while to find this spec, I looked on pistonheads autotrader gumtree just about all over, then this one popped up whilst I was looking on pistonheads.

I phoned the bloke @ 9.50pm and he'd already got somebody viewing it the next day!! but that viewer decided on an Auto...

So I drove straight down from work the day after and agreed a deal which included a fair chunk off as he was picking his 335I up the day after...

 

[holmefield]

Looks nice mate. Shame to see the leon go though.

It was a shame I honestly loved that leon it was just so nice to drive and bl__dy quick but family commitments decided it for me in the end....

 

[holmefield]

M20FES I love what your doing to yours I'd like to change the Alloys next year I hoping to go down the VOSSEN route 19" around 8.5J front and 10J rears.. but there EXPENSIVE....

 

[holmefield]

mini update time, so the LCI models ( basically LCI means facelift ) have all red rear lights with just a little bit of white for the reverse light.. mine been the pre-LCI had a big white section on the inner light section which looks dated so as I didn't want to spend £300 + for LCI rear lights ( there LED, but also need coding to work ) I had to think of a cheaper option, I tried wrapping them but they looked pants!

So I got some PLASTI-KOTE red glass paint took them off and did this

im pretty happy with the results for £5.50.

I mite add another couple of coats @ a later date, there lighter than the opposite lights due to the fact its white underneath so its never going to full match up but they look better than the pic shows..

Next up was the Ally interior trims around the dash lower centre console and doors, its real Ally on Bmw's which is a brushed finished which is UN treated so there prone to dings and scratches, time for a wrap, my weapon of choice is 4D carbon gloss wrap.

I've ordered some more 4D carbon wrap for the lower rear diffuser @ the bottom of the bumper its currently matt grey, no matter what colour you get there all matt grey..I've considered having this part carbon dipped with a high polish and still mite go down that route if the wrap looks crap..i should hopefully have this done next week...

 

[holmefield]

Future mods are

1. Remap by E-maps should be around 275bhp
2. mite go down the Dpf delete route, which should see around 285 bhp
3. 19" Vossen wheels 8.5J front 9.5/10J rear
4. space saver spare and jack kit
5. Maybe rear window tints
6. Private plate
7. and enjoy driving it............

 

[holmefield]

So my 4D carbon wrap arrived today for the rear diffuser, so after Tea I wipped it off, the lugs holding it in place are proper tight as and wrapped it...

Now by the time I went to re attach it to the back bumper it was 7pm and it was dark so out with the ALDI Led torch and the job of putting it back on...Now it was tight coming off before I wrapped it so it was a RIGHT PIG with wrap over the lugs to re-attach it, so after swearing pushing knocking and lots of pushing it went back in....heres the pics, i'll add pics on the car tomorrow....

Next up is to wrapped the front fogs with amber/yellow wrap when I figure out how to get them off without removing the bumper

 

[M20FES]

top job on the wrapping. That would be over £1k worth if it was real

 

[holmefield]

Yer it was a pig to get on & off thou, it looks spot on in the day light to..I promised the wife I wouldnt spend loads of money on this car so most jobs/mods will be done by me @ the lowest price, im not doing to much thou only engine mods will be a remap & possibly a stainless back box to enhance the V6 throb...

 

[Daniel M]

Great wrapping skills, they look very good!!

I cant wrap stuff at all, get angry and rip it off haha

 

[M20FES]

Great wrapping skills, they look very good!!

I cant wrap stuff at all, get angry and rip it off haha

yes sometimes it does take a few goes. Always worth getting more wrap then you think you will need

 

[holmefield]

Great wrapping skills, they look very good!!

I cant wrap stuff at all, get angry and rip it off haha

Im not the most patience of people if im honest but I just find It best to start from the middle & work out to the sides slowly + use lots of heat & stretch gently + take your time..