God, I love that steering wheel!
-Jeff | '19 JGC WK2
Sold: '03 ZHP
"There is a straight six engine at the front, a manual gear box in the middle, and drive goes to the back. That's page one, chapter one from the petrolsexual handbook." - Jeremy Clarkson
Ok. More progress. Some of you may have seen pics of my new headlights in the “what have you done” thread. I had zkw headlights and noticed the first time I was behind the wheel at night that they were burnt to a crisp.
So about a month ago I came across a guy on e46fantics who was parting out his sedan. I scored his pair of ALs for about $250 shipped.
I then ordered zkw-r lenses from ECStuning for $40 and MM lens covers off amazon for $100.
Prior to this I snagged a set of Gold V2 angels of e46 fanatics for about $100.
All in all, I’m in this project for just under 5 hundo.
Ok. Let’s get to work. This is the video I used to disassemble the ALs so that I can put in the zkw lenses....
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SaQfWLe528U
The hardest part easily was prying open the ball join inside and popping of the projectors. For anyone doing this, you need to apply force. Don’t be afraid to put some muscle into it.
***LENS FITMENT*** in other DIY thread for putting in zkw-r lenses purchased from places like The Retrofit Source, people are always saying how the lenses tend to be like 1mm too big to fit perfectly. Maybe I was expecting worse, but these lenses from ECS fell into the bracket well beyond my expectations. I highly recommend them.
Afterwards, I just reversed the whole process and I was done. It really was much easier than I anticipated. The ALs came with the AL specific mounting brackets so I didn’t have to dremel anything.
Ok on to pics....
Finished product
Installed
Ok here’s where I need a little help. I went out tonight to check out my work. Light output is incredible, compared to what I had with my zkws. However, is there a proper way to adjust the direction of the beams? Like is there a proper rule to follow?
The following pics were of the projections against my parents garage door. The car is parked about 20 feet away from the door. Originally the beams were pointed down at the floor. I just lined up the sharp line of the beam and matched it with the line marking the top of the lowest panel on garage. The panel is about 18 inches high. I guess I’ll just have to drive around and hope I’m not blinding people.
Ok still to do: have my neighbor help my wire up my angels to go on with my corner lights, and if like to maybe look into some new bulbs. I’m thinking CBIs. Enjoy!
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Nice werk
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Randeaux/Rando/John/jr - '06 Cic ZHP; Southern California
"ZHP or not, I still like you"
ZHP Performance Package, Cold Weather Package, Leather, Jet Black/Black/BlackCube, NAV, Anthracite Black "my individual" interior trim
ESS Stage 1 Twin Screw Supercharger, Sprint Booster, BMW Perf Intake, Magnaflow Exhaust, Dinan TB & STEP S/W, UCC Sway Bars, Apex EC-7 18x8.5 ET38
Suspension: AST 44100 dampers, Bimmerworld front adjustable end links, Swift springs (8K front, 10K rear), Vorshlag camber plates
Dynavin D99+, Hardwire V1 (w/V1 Connection), BSW Stage 1 Speakers, Kicker Amp/Subwoofer
BMW Performance Strut Brace, Orion V2 Angel Eyes, No-holes License Plate, SMG Paddle Shift Mod, Besian VANOS, Gold DISA, Fan Delete, M3 Side Mirrors
Note: Actual car no longer resembles signature picture
Look up on YouTube the channel Lightwerkz. They have a video to show how to allign headlights.
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His - 2004 Imola Red / Alcantara 330i | 6MT | ZHP |
Her's - 2005 Black Sapphire Metallic / Black Leather 330i | 6MT | ZHP |
Wowzer. Has it really been 4 months since I last updated this? Damn. Actually I’ve been pretty damn busy. Since my last post my wife and I moved out of our NYC studio and into our house in Westchester.
My grass has since gone to hell, but fortunately Olive is still green as ever. Once we got settled in and got the garage organized (it’s still a mess) I tried my hand at a paint correction.
The reason I took it from that angle was because everything from the A-column back looks great. I think after I attempt another PC next summer, I’ll look to have the front clip resprayed.
I might have mentioned that Olive was backed into last thanksgiving, resulting in a warped driver-side front fender.
I sourced an OG one from a junkyard and popped it on. Only thing is I can’t get the headlight to line up perfectly. Needs a little adjustment.
Since I moving into the new house we also had a baby. My wife always cringed every time I crawled under the car. But now I’ve got more poop on my hands than oil, and since I can’t find the time to get under the car i figured it would be a good idea start a relationship with an Indy in my neighborhood. They put in new front control arms, FCABs and RTABs. Car feels really good. Still a small shimmy in the wheel under breaking, so I might look into new rotors in the new future.
This shop will be retrofitting heated seats for me in December. I’ve had them sitting in the garage for a while- warm buts will be a much welcomed up in Westchester. While the seats are out they’ll also be swapping out the carpet for me as I begin the sand beige two tone. This is the goal....
Other than that stuff, I did oil change with Liqui Moly and also added ceratec and the fuel system cleaner.
In the mail right now is a pair of new Amber corners, so hopefully when I get them in the front will look brand new and the headlights can get readjusted to fit in properly. I’ve also got a new air filter for my performance intake incoming.
Stay tuned...
Good update. And, congrats on the baby!
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Randeaux/Rando/John/jr - '06 Cic ZHP; Southern California
"ZHP or not, I still like you"
ZHP Performance Package, Cold Weather Package, Leather, Jet Black/Black/BlackCube, NAV, Anthracite Black "my individual" interior trim
ESS Stage 1 Twin Screw Supercharger, Sprint Booster, BMW Perf Intake, Magnaflow Exhaust, Dinan TB & STEP S/W, UCC Sway Bars, Apex EC-7 18x8.5 ET38
Suspension: AST 44100 dampers, Bimmerworld front adjustable end links, Swift springs (8K front, 10K rear), Vorshlag camber plates
Dynavin D99+, Hardwire V1 (w/V1 Connection), BSW Stage 1 Speakers, Kicker Amp/Subwoofer
BMW Performance Strut Brace, Orion V2 Angel Eyes, No-holes License Plate, SMG Paddle Shift Mod, Besian VANOS, Gold DISA, Fan Delete, M3 Side Mirrors
Note: Actual car no longer resembles signature picture
Ugh I’m pretty annoyed today. Came out and found the clear on my rear bumper is starting to bubble and flake off a bit. I was contemplating having the front clip resprayed in the spring. This might convince me.
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