Materials to Maintain Your ZHP IIIII Hand Protection IIIII Tools to Maintain Your ZHP
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  1. #311
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
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    Greensboro, NC
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    3,650
    Holy hell what updates! The brake booster spring tool was genius, and the end result of that interior is jaw dropping.

    Bravo, my good man.
    Emma - 2005 BMW 330ci ZHP 6MT Estorilblau Individual

    Sportline 8s 18x8.5F - 18x9.5R | APEX ARC-8 18x8.5 Square | aFe Intake | 135i Brembo F/R Calipers | 26mm Front/20mm Rear Sway Bars | Z4 Mirror
    M3 Dead Pedal | Lexus ES300 Yellow Fog Light Retrofit | Koni Yellows/H&R Springs | Llumar CTX 40% | Coby Tri-Stitch Wheel & Boots

    Awaiting Install: M3 Wing Mirrors

  2. #312
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Austin TX
    Posts
    7,606
    Amazing results, good sir !
    2005 IR / black / 6MT
    157,000 miles

  3. #313
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Chicago area
    Posts
    1,920
    Wunderbar

    Quote Originally Posted by ZHPizza View Post
    I know it was labor intensive, but you truly just turned the Spanish turd into a very valuable collector car, and you did it freaking right.

    applause.gif
    And people say you can't polish a turd. You just have to polish long and hard to turn it into a diamond.

  4. #314
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Frankfurt, Germany
    Posts
    682
    Quote Originally Posted by ZHPizza View Post
    So watching you restore these cars is definitely entertaining, but I am absolutely enthralled with seeing the progression of your skills and creativity. I think it's safe to say that you've found a calling that perfectly matches both your abilities and passion.

    I know it was labor intensive, but you truly just turned the Spanish turd into a very valuable collector car, and you did it freaking right.

    applause.gif
    Thank you for the kind words, Nate! Each car brings something new to the table and this E31 was a big learning experience for me. Also, a big risk as this is the first time I bought a car that wasn't running.

    Bringing old turds to their former glory is definitely something I see myself doing. It's manual labor and exhausting work but I'm passionate about it and enjoy every bit of it.

    But this is also one of the reasons why I want to come back to the States. Everything is simpler there, no language barrier, cars are cheaper and demand and supply is endless. Just a bigger playground. Here I have to jump through various loops and the most challenging part is finiding the right cars which is followed by a disappointment of not being able to road trip the car back home.


    Quote Originally Posted by 704sw View Post
    Holy hell what updates! The brake booster spring tool was genius, and the end result of that interior is jaw dropping.

    Bravo, my good man.
    Thank you, Spenser! I had inspiration for that tool but it worked flawlessly, it would be impossible to push it in by hand.
    Since seeing the interior in person I knew it would come out amazing, just needed a good clean.


    Quote Originally Posted by fredo View Post
    Amazing results, good sir !
    Thank you, Fredo!

    Quote Originally Posted by holyc0w View Post
    Wunderbar

    And people say you can't polish a turd. You just have to polish long and hard to turn it into a diamond.
    Lol, some turds can indeed be polished. I was lucky the clear coat was good so the paint could be restored.

  5. #315
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
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    6,847
    amazing. Good thing your clear coat was thick enough to polish!

  6. #316
    Quote Originally Posted by Sreten View Post
    But this is also one of the reasons why I want to come back to the States. Everything is simpler there, no language barrier, cars are cheaper and demand and supply is endless. Just a bigger playground. Here I have to jump through various loops and the most challenging part is finiding the right cars which is followed by a disappointment of not being able to road trip the car back home.

    Lol, some turds can indeed be polished. I was lucky the clear coat was good so the paint could be restored.
    Yeah but in the US you can't find cool 850i's with a stick very easily, and a lot of the cool 80's/90's stuff never made it over here, like the E34 M5 Touring, a bunch of the Alpina models from that era, and just all sorts of whacky options that we never got here in the US. Like you can buy a 520i in Europe with the M-Sport body kit, whereas in the US that's reserved for 2003 540i's only. And there are all sorts of cool Individual cars over there that we never got.

    Polishing paint is stupidly labor intensive but it's so satisfying at the end of the day. I polished the heck out of my 330i's hood, and it came out amazingly well, considering that I used a super cheap Harbor Freight DA with cheap Meguiar's cutting/polishing compound.



    Mine didn't come out perfectly either, but I also didn't want to go too hard since I'm not sure how much clear coat I have to work with. This time around I limited myself to just a cutting compound + polishing compound. Once I get a paint depth gauge and verify that I have enough clear to work with, I'll try wet sanding to get some of the deeper scratches and etched-in defects out.
    2003 Slicktop ZHP 330i - Maintenance Thread

  7. #317
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Frankfurt, Germany
    Posts
    682
    Quote Originally Posted by derbo View Post
    amazing. Good thing your clear coat was thick enough to polish!
    Thanks! Yeah, that was lucky. I used paint depth gauge as I polished to make sure I have enough clear coat to work with it.

    Quote Originally Posted by dannyzabolotny View Post
    Yeah but in the US you can't find cool 850i's with a stick very easily, and a lot of the cool 80's/90's stuff never made it over here, like the E34 M5 Touring, a bunch of the Alpina models from that era, and just all sorts of whacky options that we never got here in the US. Like you can buy a 520i in Europe with the M-Sport body kit, whereas in the US that's reserved for 2003 540i's only. And there are all sorts of cool Individual cars over there that we never got.

    Polishing paint is stupidly labor intensive but it's so satisfying at the end of the day. I polished the heck out of my 330i's hood, and it came out amazingly well, considering that I used a super cheap Harbor Freight DA with cheap Meguiar's cutting/polishing compound.

    Mine didn't come out perfectly either, but I also didn't want to go too hard since I'm not sure how much clear coat I have to work with. This time around I limited myself to just a cutting compound + polishing compound. Once I get a paint depth gauge and verify that I have enough clear to work with, I'll try wet sanding to get some of the deeper scratches and etched-in defects out.
    I agree that Europe has more cool cars but it comes at the price. E34 M5 touring prices are up in the sky. I'd love to get my hands on some cool Alpina's like E39 B10 or the most desirable one for me E38 B12 but the cheapest ones start at $37k. You need deep pockets to play around here, lol.

    I saw the hood results in your thread, it turned out great. On E31 the clear coat was thinnest on the roof but it still had enough thickness left to polish out.
    Paint thickness gauge is a great investment, I use it all the time when I inspect cars to check for repainted panels and signs of accidents that were repaired with excessive use of bondo. I didn't find excessive use of bondo on E31 despite having some panels repainted.

    Here's one sweet ride the US didn't get. I have to admit I was never super into E36 design but my heart is pounding for this one badly.

    My favorite BMW color - Estoril blue and the ultimate inline-six, 3.2 L motor with 321 PS. I want it just based on the color and those lovely ITB's.




  8. #318
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Branford, CT
    Posts
    16,055
    ^ The 1994 E36 M3's with the euro-spec S50B30 are now eligible for import to the U.S. Granted, "only" 286hp, but just a couple of more years and the S50B32's will be available as well.
    BP
    2005 330i ZHP / 6MT
    Imolarot / Naturbraun
    2003 330iT / 6MT
    Orientblau / Naturbraun




    It's not the car you drive, it's how you drive it.

  9. #319
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Frankfurt, Germany
    Posts
    682
    I wouldn't mind getting my hands on S50B30 either.

    Update incoming though not as exciting as the last one.

    Finished few loose ends on the E31.

    There was an oil leak which is very common for the M70 engine coming from the timing chain tensioner.



    The O-ring gets hard and oil leaks past it. Cheap and straightforward fix with a couple of remarks - mark the position prior to removal and set the same tension when installing it back as the tension is determined by turning the screw at the end, and it's important to make sure the piston at the end engages the chain tensioner properly.













    Replaced the brake master cylinder as it developed a leak.



    Next is to sort out the dead pixels in the MID and apart from that, the E31 is up for sale. I'm not in a rush but I'm ready for a new project and it's time to pass the torch.

    I caught up with some maintenance on the M5. I had new engine mounts sitting in the trunk since late last year.
    I initially ordered Lemforder mounts and received Made in China ones with poor and weak stud design. I sent them back, ordered Ruville and got the same Chinese crap, then ordered Corteco and got Chinese junk again.

    Out of those 3, Lemforder looked the best but I didn't want to take any chances and reluctantly paid the stealer price and got a pair of original mounts.







    Here's how Lemforder looks like.







    Quality of Ruville mounts was hilarious.





    Corteco. No wonder these studs snap off so easily.







    No issues with the OE mounts and they matched what I removed from the car. Pretty easy DIY, I jacked up the engine by the oil pan, R&R mounts, use thread locker and torque down everything to spec.

    Old mounts weren't too bad and didn't have obvious cracks, just compressed. Wetness on them is from WD-40.





    Some fine small vibrations that were present between 2.000 and 3.000 rpm are now eliminated and the car feels tighter.

    I had a very small but annoying power steering leak from the line that runs from the cooler to the steering box. There are no OEM options for this line in Germany and I was forced to get it from the dealer.
    They delivered COHLINE hose which is available as OEM in the US so no need to order genuine stuff cause you'll end up with the same thing but pay more.





    Removing the banjo bolt from the steering box is not that difficult using a joint socket but putting it back is a bit challenging because there are 2 crush washers and there's no way I can get my hands down there as it sits next to the frame rail and there really isn't any room.
    So I improvised and used a piece of tape just along the edge of the bottom washer to hold it in place while I fish it through and start to thread it in, then I used a long screwdriver to remove the tape.



    Took some patience but it worked and so far no leaks.

    Next, I set about installing SS brake lines. These are just delicious.







    I bought all 6 lines despite having D2Racing BBK in the front with SS lines because the certificate is needed for TÜV which I can only get if all 6 lines are from the same manufacturer weirdly. Though I didn't touch the front lines.







    Middle lines weren't that bad actually. Rears looked okay as well.





    Then I bled the system using a power bleeder and DIS to cycle the pump.





    It was time to get new brake pads for the front as the current ones are pretty low. This is a direct quote from European D2Racing website:

    When the components of the kit are worn, such as the brake discs or brake pads, AP parts can be fitted onto our brake kit.
    Also, the brake pad from the following well-known brands: AP, FERODO, MINTEX, EBC, PAGID, CARBON METALLIC AND HAWK can be fitted onto our kit.


    I also wrote to D2Racing support to confirm this and they said yep all of them fit 100%. So I decided to try Ferodo DS2500 and order pads that were listed for D2 and AP calipers.

    Old pads.





    New Ferodo pads which don't fit properly in D2 calipers, they hang over the rotors by good 3-4mm and don't cover the rotor surface as they should.



    Sent them back and order a new set with a different part number thinking I ordered wrong pads but ended up being the same.



    Backing plate and friction surface are identical on D2 and Ferodo pads but the position of the friction material on Ferodo pads is different which causes them not to fit properly.
    I emailed Ferodo about this issue and they responded to 2 of my emails and then they stopped. D2Racing replied once saying they don't know anything and just bailed and ignored the rest of my emails.

    After getting nowhere with Ferodo, I opted to try EBC YellowStuff and found a part number in the EBC catalog that was unique to D2Racing 8 Pot calipers.

    I ordered them from the UK and they arrived fairly quick.



    However, the issue was the same.









    EBC customer service was a lot better and they responded quickly. They told me these are designed primarily for AP racing calipers and that there might be fitment issues with other calipers which is funny because there is no mentioning of this in their catalog related to this part number, just that they are a direct fit for D2 8 Pot calipers.

    I emailed D2Racing again which responded that it doesn't look right and that I can order D2 pads from them. So the statement on their website and what they told me is total bull and in fact only D2 pads can be used with their calipers as Ferodo and EBC don't offer anything else. I suspect it's the same with other pad manufacturers.

    If I paid $2,600 which is what this BBK costs and which luckily came out of previous owners pocket, I'd be pretty pissed right about now. Your choice of pads are only limited to D2 and if you are a type of person who tracks the car chances are you want to have a bigger selection of pads.
    Luckily, I'm not that guy and I order D2Racing Sport pads not having other options. They are carbon ceramic compound and described as a fast road/light track pads which should be a step up to D2 Street pads which I have now. Delivery time is 2-3 weeks and hopefully these finally fit.

    Moving along, I continue to experiment with tranny fluid. I got tired of terrible cold shifting properties with Liqui Moly MTF 5200. The shifting with this oil is smooth as butter when the car is warm but when it's cold, it's hopeless and I can barely use the 2nd gear for the first 10 minutes.

    I went with Castrol Syntrans B 75W this time around, BMW MTF LT-2 approved oil and advertised as specially developed for BMW M gearboxes. I ought to put more miles on it but so far it seems the best. Cold shifting is much better compared to before, still not perfect and nothing will be but I can use the 2nd gear normally from the start and warm shifting is just as smooth.



    My M5 is one of the first facelift examples with a 09/2000 build date and experts will know that cars before 12/2000 come equipped with the old type of Vanos accumulator which means that my M5 rattles like a bastard for a couple of seconds during warm startups while it's dead quiet on a cold start. This rattle is totally harmless and doesn't affect the performance at all but the racket was bugging the bejeezus out of me since getting the car.

    My previous 05/2001 M5 had none of this and I wanted to try and address this by installing a new style Vanos accumulator which incorporates a shutoff valve to prevent oil draining from Vanos and supposedly eliminates this start up rattle. All of this is described in detail along with installation procedure in the service bulletin released by BMW that's floating around.

    Service bulletin also says that cars after 09/2000 rolled off from the factory equipped with an electrical connector that's needed for the new accumulator. Sadly, my M5 didn't have it which meant I had to do the wiring as well, not a big deal just requires more time.

    New parts needed for the retrofit.



    The first job was to route wires from bank 2 - one connects to module 2, pin 8 on DME and the other one is ground which connects in bank 2 wiring harness.

    Off with the plenum cover. PS don't judge me on the filthy engine bay, it's a drivers machine and it'll be cleaned up soon enough. :D Crumbling firewall covers are also on the list but I'm refusing to spend absurd $250 on new covers from the dealer!





    Routing the wires. Remarkably, I managed to remove both covers for the wiring harness without breaking any clips.





    The tricky bit is routing the wire to DME. I used a good old wire coat-hanger method.







    The part number for the pin for DME:

    61131393704 - just a pin
    61130005197 - pin with wire

    Then I tapped into the ground and tucked everything back together.



    Since I had the plenum removed, I decided to replace throttle position sensors as part of preventive maintenance. Found a very good deal on OEM Hella sensors on Amazon, $22 each.



    I bought this nifty thin ratchet for removing tough accessible Phillips screws that hold TPS on the back of the engine. I was able to remove 3 of those screws easily with this tool but the last one stripped and I used small vice grips to remove it just as easily.



    Before parking the car and begging the work, I hit the hardware store in the morning thinking it will be easy to find M4 x 25mm hex bolts to put instead of Phillips screws. As it turns out, these need to be specially ordered, checked other 2 stores in Frankfurt and they didn't have them either. So I settled for the next best thing which was M4 x 25mm Allen head which is easier to remove in the future if necessary.

    Hella sensors are def OEM as you can see the BMW logo scrapped off on them.



    Anywho, with those replaced, I moved to remove the old Vanos accumulator.
    To get to the bolts that hold the bracket for the accumulator following needs to be removed - fan clutch, belt, tensioner and pulley, top alternator bolt removed and lower one slackened, then the eye bracket can be removed and bolts accessed.

    Old one.



    New accumulator and bracket ready to go in.



    Installed Bosch EV1 connector and connected it to the accumulator.





    That pretty much sums the retrofitting of the new Vanos accumulator.

    While I was in there, I also ordered parts to replace the filter and O-rings on the Vanos pressure regulator.





    Pretty easy to do and the filter was filthy.



    With the new accumulator installed and wired next step was to test it. Grabbed a multimeter and with the ignition on, I was getting 0V, with the engine running also 0V so clearly not working.
    I had a friend (BWM on the forum) to check the voltage on his '03 beast and he was getting 0V with ignition on and 1.8V with the engine running.

    Service bulletin mentions that the cars prior to 09/01/2000 will require DME to be reprogrammed with newer software that will allow activation of the shutoff valve which the previous accumulator didn't have. It goes further and briefly describes the procedure for reprogramming DME using DIS.

    The first step was to check which version I had.



    The programmed control unit was indeed never touched and dates to 31.08.2000 so onto the programming.



    DIS determines which part numbers/versions are compatible with the DME in the car.





    Entering the programming section and then simply follow the instructions.















    I had battery disconnected while I was working on the wiring so the language defaulted back to Italian.



    I made sure that the laptop was connected with a charger, the battery on this old laptop was good but I didn't want to take any chances and potentially brick the DME.

    Programming initiated.





    Snail speed.



    Loading...



    Still reading?



    Did you know that the average speed of a garden snail is 0.03 mph?



    Almost there.



    As an IT guy by profession, I was just waiting for it to slap me with an error so I can start pulling my hair out.



    Done!



    Well, no. Its German brain has to do it zweimal just do be sure.



    Quicker this time.



    After 18 minutes it was done.





    Verified that the new version is installed which it is.



    Started the beast and checked voltage at the connector and got 1.8V!



    I didn't have enough time to do thorough testing last night but I warmed up the car and left it turned off for 10-15 minutes and usually in this short timespan I'd get just a hint of the rattle upon restart but yesterday there was nothing.
    However, I'm not calling this a win just yet as the real test will be when I start the car after a couple of hours of it sitting because that's when it rattles like a bastard the most.

    For the end, pictures of the M5 and 850i chilling together and a shell of Maserati Ghibli lurking in the background.




  10. #320
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Greensboro, NC
    Posts
    3,650
    I’m convinced you spend as much time writing your updates as you spend actually working on the car to make said updates.
    Emma - 2005 BMW 330ci ZHP 6MT Estorilblau Individual

    Sportline 8s 18x8.5F - 18x9.5R | APEX ARC-8 18x8.5 Square | aFe Intake | 135i Brembo F/R Calipers | 26mm Front/20mm Rear Sway Bars | Z4 Mirror
    M3 Dead Pedal | Lexus ES300 Yellow Fog Light Retrofit | Koni Yellows/H&R Springs | Llumar CTX 40% | Coby Tri-Stitch Wheel & Boots

    Awaiting Install: M3 Wing Mirrors

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