Chronicling BSA's 330Ci SGM ZHP

[bloodspatteranalyst]

Here is a thread to help me keep track of what I've done to my car, and what still needs to be done. Hopefully this can help others in my situation. I'm a first-time car owner and driver, so I have no DIY experience.

Purchased the vehicle on 3/29/14 with 193100 miles

As of 4/21 (in chronological order):

- New Bosch wiper blades
- Cabin air filter
- Cleaned MAF sensor, and new air filter
- Installed auxiliary input through glovebox
- Power steering flush using Royal Purple Max ATF. Flushed 3 times.
- Plasti-dipped grills matte black
- Fixed shorted cigarette lighter power outlet using a new fuse

4/26:
- Khoalty LED license plate lights

Maintenance:
NGK spark plugs 193.5k

Still need to do:

- Oil change (incl. oil filter + oil level sensor, which is broken)
- Front brake rotors and pads incl. sensor, brake flush
- Rear differential bushing (currently experiencing nasty-sounding clunks when shifting between R,D,P)
- New fog lights (including wiring, since I can't seem to find the existing wiring harness)
- Differential fluid flush
- A/T fluid flush (will probably try to delay this until I can do it on my own; the shop is asking for $495 parts and labor)
- Engine mounts
- Right front inner tie rod
- Rear mirror housing cover
- Fix the malfunctioning adaptive headlights

I tried replacing the fuse for the adaptive headlights, hoping it would be an easy fix. Unfortunately, the LED is still blinking. Any ideas?
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Here are a few pics from my recent projects

Plasti-dipped matte black grills. Took about 45 minutes including drying time. Applied 3 coats. I used the rust-oleum "flexidip" ripoff at home depot, but it works just like plastidip.



(yes...I need to wash my car soon...)
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Replaced fuse #47 with a 30A fuse (instead of the 20A that previously installed) to fix the cigarette lighter. I'm glad it was as simple as a blown fuse, and that I didn't have to take the actual power outlet out.



The culprit was this little shit. I have no idea how it got there:



Note to others: check to make sure there's nothing conductive in the power outlet before you replace the fuse. I made the mistake of not checking, and blowing a new fuse in the process. Check first, then replace the fuse.
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Installed auxiliary cable that ran from rear of radio headunit and through the glovebox. This one took a few hours just because of the awkward position you have to be in to work on it. I was initially concerned because the PO had an ipod cable running out of the glovebox that looked aftermarket. Still have no idea where that's coming from, but its somewhere behind the center console. Who cares. I have the aux working and that's all that matters.



_________

Now for some things i need to fix.

Half of my rear mirror housing is missing. I did not notice this when I purchased the car, and the PO did not point it out. Easy to miss from the driver's side.



Looks like an easy fix, but the part (which is, btw, just ONE side of the housing) costs $50 on ebay

Still need to do the headliner repair.



I'm going to just use spray adhesive. I'm trying to remove the light housing to get the pillar out, but it won't budge, even with the interior trim pry tools I have...

Also....does anybody know what this is?



Bonus pictures. I'm glad it's night time so you guys don't see how dirty my car is




I look forward to working on this car. Stay tuned.

[derbo]

Nice start!

That mirror cap should not cost $50!!!

http://www.ecstuning.com/ES87371/

[bloodspatteranalyst]

That is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you! I was going off of ebay prices

[Avetiso]

Nice.

[ELCID86]

Nice work. The cover on the ceiling is for the glass break sensor. Pull it down/off and see if you have one--most likely not.

Looks like the pealing cloth is on the c-pillar which is a fairly easy fix with spray adhesive. Follow the DIY and be sure to let it dry until tacky so it won't bleed through.




Thumbs, iPhone, Tapatalk.

[danewilson77]

Fixed...it was because when I initially installed default was Western Europe!!

Nice backup.

Pony ip for new c pillars. You'll be much happier.

Samsung Galaxy S5...

[cakM3]

Also....does anybody know what this is?

This is an enclosure for the BMW alarm system. This is where the Ultra Sonic Sensor module resides. If the alarm is activated and you break the windows to get in or if the windows are open and you stick your arm inside, the alarm will go off.



The Ultra Sonic Module looks like this


It snaps into the cover housing like this


and plugs into the wire you see in the hole just above the headliner. Then you place the cover back in place as shown in the first picture...


Hope this answers your question Retrofitting the BMW alarm system is fairly easy and there are diy's out there for this. For example here: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=823451

Then you code the car so that it knows it has an alarm system and you're all set

[johnrando]

Nice post and work. GL w/it all.

[bloodspatteranalyst]

Good info, thanks.

This bumper damage came from the PO.



The shop said I'd need a new bumper. I'm thinking it's salvageable. Honestly, I could go without repairing it. It doesn't look that bad in person :P

[Hornung418]

That inner piece is plastic welded to the bumper. I'm sure you could take the bumper off and take some epoxy and refit it yourself.