William's 330Ci ZHP Maintenance and Project Thread

[Will]

Awesome work! And thorough documentation, too.

What's the diameter / thickness of the gasket you're trying to replace? Wondering if something like a foam weatherstrip seal from Home Depot would work (link)

If you need an extra pair of hands for work on your car PM me, I'm in the PDX (Hillsboro area) for a while (open ended trip).

[Will]

deleted.

[BMWCurves]

Update after a few spirited drives with the G.A.S. DISA rebuild, new intake boots, and large bore throttle body:
I do notice a moderate improvement in the 4k power dip that I was starting to notice recently, but otherwise my butt dyno isn't feeling much in terms of a bump in power or throttle response. Per ZHPizza's FS Thread, ZHP_Brandon felt:

On the highway, 4th & 5th seem to have a slight blip more in throttle response but I guess that is to be expected. Passing someone didn't feel like a chore in the last two gears like it once was. So my consensus is this, it feels to me that the car breathes more freely climbing through the RPMs. 3rd gear seems to have gained the largest change, don't ask me why. 3rd gear would normally be a spry sprint into the 5500-7k range but now it feels much more severe, almost like it wants to climb faster? Idk

Source: http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showt...954#post600954

Overall, not upset by it since I didn't expect much, and more just pleased knowing I have a clean-ish ICV, new boots, a rebuilt DISA, and maybe some power/throttle response improvement

EDIT: Forgot to add - I miss my GruppeM intake. BMW Performance is night, but it lacks the growl of the GruppeM.

Awesome work! And thorough documentation, too.

What's the diameter / thickness of the gasket you're trying to replace? Wondering if something like a foam weatherstrip seal from Home Depot would work (link)

If you need an extra pair of hands for work on your car PM me, I'm in the PDX (Hillsboro area) for a while (open ended trip).

Sorry for the late response, I somehow missed it.

Honestly, that weatherstrip seal isn't a bad option. My only real concern is whether it could handle engine compartment temperatures and not melt/fail in some manner.

Also, thank you for your offer to help, I appreciate it! I'll let you know if anything comes up. For the moment I'm okay.

[johnrando]

Glad that worked out

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[BMWCurves]

On my most recent drive out to Tillamook, the coolant temperature gauge kept moving to 3/4 under load. This was a new symptom for me; for some time I have had a low coolant light that would turn on intermittently, but was staying lit for longer and longer periods recently.

Every time I have checked the expansion tank, it needed maybe a 2-3 oz of fluid, but when I pulled over on this drive because of this new phenomenon, I found it was very very low, and I poured in maybe ⅓ of a gallon of distilled water to top it up while the engine was running. I have a leak somewhere, but not sure where, so I'll add that to the list of fluid-leak/replace items I need to perform/chase.

[johnrando]

GL on that.

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[san]

When I had a slow leak it turned out to be the thermostat gasket and I could only see it after driving the car for a bit and once it warmed up which makes sense for a thermostat. Good Luck!


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[BMWCurves]

When I had a slow leak it turned out to be the thermostat gasket and I could only see it after driving the car for a bit and once it warmed up which makes sense for a thermostat. Good Luck!


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Even though it has about 35k miles on it, I'm tempted to do a full coolant system refresh to just have peace of mind. Unfortunately, I previously purchased the parts from Turner so no free replacement. But if I don't replace the radiator, parts aren't overly expensive.

[BMWCurves]

Not really a part of my project, but my sister has been worried that her car needs to be run for fear of the battery completely draining, etc. I'm on rotation out at the Oregon Coast and so I'm more than happy to help her out, preserve some miles on my car, and get some seat time in a mostly stock ZHP to remind myself what a ZHP normally feels like. Some notable items about my sister's ZHP:

• It is a late 2005 6MT in Sparkling Graphite Metallic (SGM) over Black leather interior with Black Cube trim. I really love SGM as a color, and it being a late model it has the stock leather perforated wheel and leather shift and parking brake boots.
• Noise: The car has Dinan intake, throttle body, exhaust, and Stage II software installed. It sounds throatier and more aggressive under load than my father's all-stock ZHP, but not nearly as loud as my car that has a GruppeM intake, Custom ZHPizza Labs™ throttle body, and UUC TSE3 exhaust combination. I really like the aggressive sound of my setup, but I could see the Dinan setup for someone that wants something more than the stock sound. I do at times envy the quieter highway noise level from the Dinan setup over mine.
• Ride: My sister's car is rocking the stock Style 135 wheels which I think explains the heavier, "thuddier" ride I've been experiencing over the same uneven road from Portland to the Coast. Granted, her suspension is stock, and at 98k miles, is likely overdue for a replacement. But that said, I think more of it comes down to the wheels as I don't remember my stock suspension having this characteristic struggle to damp dips and bumps at highway speeds.
• Tramlining: My car has some tramlining, not terribly so, but compared to my sister's car it is noticeable. That is likely down to wider section tires up front (245s vs stock 225s) and more aggressive alignment settings in my car. I love how my car turns in when pushing it, but it does make for needing more concentration to keep the car going in a straight line on highway commutes.
• Steering feel: The steering feel is different between the two, but having not driven them back to back immediately, I cannot put my finger on it. Somehow my sister's might feel heavier? Not sure.
• Shifter: My car has the UUC short shift kit, which I quite like. It is quite notchy at times, but I like that feeling and I like that the height of the shifter itself is about stock height. My sister's car has some aftermarket short shift kit, but I think it achieves some of it's reduced shift distance through shortening the shifter height, which I don't like as much. The shifts themselves are less notchy/more soft and a little more forgiving, which has been pleasant to experience.
• Shift pedal: I have the clutch delay valve (CDV) removed and have a UUC part installed in its place that effectively does the same thing as removing the CDV. I believe my sister's has the valve in place as the shift pedal has the characteristic mushy feel mine had before the CDV removal.
• Seats: I installed the seats from an M3 and I have noticed that the cushioning is actually less than the stock seats. I wish they had a little more cushion than the stock seats, but my sister's don't have lumbar support and I have felt that in my back on the two hour drive I have to take. Additionally, the M3 seats sit a bit lower than the stock seats which I need for my tall torso. Also, the M3 seats provide far more side bolstering than the stock sport seats.

Otherwise, things feel similar between the two (as they should). I miss my autodimming mirror and aftermarket radio headunit, but otherwise, it feels like home.

[san]

Not really a part of my project, but my sister has been worried that her car needs to be run for fear of the battery completely draining, etc. I'm on rotation out at the Oregon Coast and so I'm more than happy to help her out, preserve some miles on my car, and get some seat time in a mostly stock ZHP to remind myself what a ZHP normally feels like. Some notable items about my sister's ZHP:

• It is a late 2005 6MT in Sparkling Graphite Metallic (SGM) over Black leather interior with Black Cube trim. I really love SGM as a color, and it being a late model it has the stock leather perforated wheel and leather shift and parking brake boots.
• Noise: The car has Dinan intake, throttle body, exhaust, and Stage II software installed. It sounds throatier and more aggressive under load than my father's all-stock ZHP, but not nearly as loud as my car that has a GruppeM intake, Custom ZHPizza Labs throttle body, and UUC TSE3 exhaust combination. I really like the aggressive sound of my setup, but I could see the Dinan setup for someone that wants something more than the stock sound. I do at times envy the quieter highway noise level from the Dinan setup over mine.
• Ride: My sister's car is rocking the stock Style 135 wheels which I think explains the heavier, "thuddier" ride I've been experiencing over the same uneven road from Portland to the Coast. Granted, her suspension is stock, and at 98k miles, is likely overdue for a replacement. But that said, I think more of it comes down to the wheels as I don't remember my stock suspension having this characteristic struggle to damp dips and bumps at highway speeds.
• Tramlining: My car has some tramlining, not terribly so, but compared to my sister's car it is noticeable. That is likely down to wider section tires up front (245s vs stock 225s) and more aggressive alignment settings in my car. I love how my car turns in when pushing it, but it does make for needing more concentration to keep the car going in a straight line on highway commutes.
• Steering feel: The steering feel is different between the two, but having not driven them back to back immediately, I cannot put my finger on it. Somehow my sister's might feel heavier? Not sure.
• Shifter: My car has the UUC short shift kit, which I quite like. It is quite notchy at times, but I like that feeling and I like that the height of the shifter itself is about stock height. My sister's car has some aftermarket short shift kit, but I think it achieves some of it's reduced shift distance through shortening the shifter height, which I don't like as much. The shifts themselves are less notchy/more soft and a little more forgiving, which has been pleasant to experience.
• Shift pedal: I have the clutch delay valve (CDV) removed and have a UUC part installed in its place that effectively does the same thing as removing the CDV. I believe my sister's has the valve in place as the shift pedal has the characteristic mushy feel mine had before the CDV removal.
• Seats: I installed the seats from an M3 and I have noticed that the cushioning is actually less than the stock seats. I wish they had a little more cushion than the stock seats, but my sister's don't have lumbar support and I have felt that in my back on the two hour drive I have to take. Additionally, the M3 seats sit a bit lower than the stock seats which I need for my tall torso. Also, the M3 seats provide far more side bolstering than the stock sport seats.

Otherwise, things feel similar between the two (as they should). I miss my autodimming mirror and aftermarket radio headunit, but otherwise, it feels like home.

The heavier steering feel on your sister’s car compared to yours is I’m sure down to the 135 wheels. I remember noticing the difference when I swapped the 135s for arc 8s on my car.


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