AggieBlake's '05 ZHP school bus + track car - Maintenance and Mod Log

[AggieBlake]

Time to consolidate my posts into a single thread so I can keep track of things. In November 2015 I purchased a 97k mile 2005 ZHP 330i 6-speed hoping that it could serve as an excellent daily driver, school bus to get my two kids to kindergarten, and occasional track/auto-cross weapon. I'd seen great things with the Spec e46 SCCA class, and was confident this chassis could meet those goals within my budget. I purchased a titanium silver over black alcantara from Supreme Auto Imports in Florida after an encouraging PPI.

The experience was painless and I've been very pleased with the car. The PPI indicated that the VCG and OFHG would need to be replaced soon which I took care of ASAP along with a preventative cooling system rebuild. Here's the full list of maintenance and mods I have done thus far...

Nov 2015 (97663 miles)... Vehicle recieved

Dec 2015 (97910 miles)... VCG replaced with OEM, new NKG plugs installed, braking system flushed with Motul RBF 600, replaced both sagging A-pillars, cleaned and shaved steering wheel

Dec 2015 (98100 miles)... OFHG replaced with OEM, full cooling system replaced with Turner Motorsports kit (Behr radiator, OEM expansion tank and level sensor, Stewart hi-flo water pump, UUC alum water pump pulley, Behr thermostat, upper and lower radiator hoses, expansion tank hose, temperature sensor, BMW coolant + water wetter), tensioner and idler pulleys, drive belt and AC belt, oil change with 0W-40 Mobil 1, Mann filter, new magnetic drain plug and washer, CDV delete and bled clutch.

Dec 2015 (98300 miles)... Installed new AFE Stage 1 CAI

Jan 2016 (98400)... First track day in ZHP! Ran 4 sessions. Car ran flawlessly

Jan 2016 (99000)... Scoped inside of chassis near subframe mounts to confirm there are no cracks and to verify that BMW installed reinforcement blocks in post 10/2004 e46's

Feb 2016 (99400)... Installed Lemforder M3 engine mounts, UUC black transmission bushings, used Corsa TSE3 exhaust, and flushed transmission with Redline MTL and differential with Redline - Video of sound with Corsa installed: https://www.dropbox.com/s/juhr1rw6m6...%20PM.mov?dl=0

Feb 2016 (99500)... Installed AKG black differential bushings, Koni sport rear shocks, Rogue RSM's

Feb 27 2016 (99600)... Replaced RTAB's with Z4M RTAB's and poly limiters

Mar 10-11 2016 (99800)... Installed Koni sport struts, lemforder strut mounts, strut reinforcement plates, and power flex black FCAB's

June 11-12 2016 (102000)... Second weekend at the track in the ZHP - just keeps getting better!

January 2017 (105500)... replaced driver's window regulator, replaced steering guibo, lubricated clutch throw-out bearing, bypassed clutch interlock

Feb 2018... inspection II

May 2018 (112000)... rebuilt shifter, replaced driveshaft guibo, changed oil

[AggieBlake]

Site admins, please let me know if you prefer this thread built differently than I've done above. For each item I linked to previous posts in other threads where I discussed the work. I don't know how to move those posts to this thread, or if that's even a good idea.

[AggieBlake]

A few choice pics...

[BMWCurves]

Nice! I forget, why did you pick UUC trans mounts over say OEM M3 or other options?

[AggieBlake]

Because they were free :-)

I have a friend who wrenches for Bimmerworld and he had these lying around.

[Vas]

Good progress soo far. Thumbs up

[johnrando]

Nice

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[BMWCurves]

Because they were free :-)

I have a friend who wrenches for Bimmerworld and he had these lying around.

Roger, that's a nice perk!

[AggieBlake]

This was NOT the smoothest weekend of repairs on the ZHP. I made the mother of all blunders while replacing the RTAB’s - I got disoriented under the car with a breaker bar and, rather than loosen an RTAB carrier bolt, tightened it till it snapped. This was all that came out. The rest was stuck deep in the hole.



After ordering a new bolt from my local dealership, I picked up a bolt removal kit. Unfortunately, I could not find a left-hand-thread 19/64” drill anywhere (the proper size for the removal tool for this bolt). So I took my chances with a right-hand-drill. My luck did not hold. The bit caught a few millimeters into the bolt and spun it out INTO THE CHASSIS. Rather than panic, I decided to go ahead and complete the RTAB job. Thank God BMW designed the bolts to fail before the welded-in nuts!! The threads on the nuts were fine. With new bolts in hand I installed my Z4M RTAB’s and poly limiters. Everything went fine, but now it was time to go fishing for that 1” long bolt shaft. I had taken the car for a test drive and confirmed that I could indeed hear it clanging inside the chassis on turns and bumps. So I spent two hours fishing through every chassis access hole with various implements that had strong magnets on the end. I tried everything, even removing the back seats to fish from there. Nothing worked. Despair was setting in. Fortunately, I had access to a borescope. The next day I sent the camera down the access hole that’s in the front side of the rear wheel well in our cars, and located the bolt deep in the “pocket” that’s just forward of the RTAB carrier. Without much hope, I stuck a magnet on the end of the camera, threaded the camera into the chassis and planted the magnet right on the bolt. To my surprise, the magnet held! The bolt came out. There was much rejoicing. Here’s the bolt shaft on the end of the borescope magnet, and a second pic with the broken bolt reunited. Thank God.



As for the actual maintenance… the rear end is definitely more planted! I like the dynamic feel with these parts. My only complaint is that over low speed, large deflection (i.e. garage entrance, speed bump) the limiters squeak (kind of like a clicking sound). I know everything’s torqued properly (double checked with torque wrench), and from what I’ve read online, it seems to be the cheap poly limiters I went with. Should have sprung for Vorshlag. I’m going to try a Bimmerworld suggestion and lube them with dry teflon spray and see if that takes care of it. If not, I’ll eventually upgrade to the Vorshlag limiters. Fortunately, it only happens at low speed and large deflection - so it’s silent when driving at normal speeds.

[Vas]

Nice Job