Materials to Maintain Your ZHP IIIII Hand Protection IIIII Tools to Maintain Your ZHP
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  1. #141
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Austin TX
    Posts
    7,606
    Rear bumper looks great. May I ask how much did you pay ? My shop charged me $300 some years ago but the quality was just ok.
    2005 IR / black / 6MT
    157,000 miles

  2. #142
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Location
    SF Bay, CA
    Posts
    1,266
    Quote Originally Posted by fredo View Post
    Rear bumper looks great. May I ask how much did you pay ? My shop charged me $300 some years ago but the quality was just ok.
    $300 is pretty decent! There were quite a wide range of prices, mine was in the upper end at ~$600 CAD. I found some sketchy shops on fb marketplace that would do the front + rear for $450 CAD, and their work looked pretty good in pictures. But I ended up not wanting to take a chance since I bet those paint jobs won't look so good in 2-3 years
    2004 BMW 330CI ZHP (well, technically ZAM)


  3. #143
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Location
    SF Bay, CA
    Posts
    1,266
    Before my next event I got some inspiration from ZHPizza to check oil temps, since I had been seeing up to 140C oil temp on track with the eKombi. The eKombi splices to the wires coming directly off the oil level sensor, which doubles as a temp sensor on the M3s. I was curious to know how well the eKombi temps correlated with the actual oil temp sensor in the head, so I plugged my laptop in while running INPA and went for a drive:



    Turns out the correlation is pretty good. At operating, eKombi pan temps were within 5C higher than DME reported head temps, and the delta between the two never exceeded that value. So I guess I should just keep an eye out on track, as I don’t want to thin the oil out too much.

    Next, I went ahead and swapped the rear springs out – going from 550 lb/in (out-of-box rates from GC) to 900 lb/in for a flat-ride setup:



    Also went ahead and set the corner scales up. This will be the first time trying out the corner balance/alignment tools I’ve made:



    With the slope of my garage, the bolts I intended to use for the feet were too short at the front, so I had to use the bolts meant to retain the slip plates. Oh well, they still work, even if the bolts for the slip plate are now too long.

    Front:



    Rear:



    Out-of-the-box corner weights, with me in the driver’s seat. Ride heights dictated by measuring the spring seat height using calipers got it close enough:



    With the corner balancing done I turned to checking the alignment. Man, these slip plates are so nice. Absolutely no need to roll the car back and forth after adjustments!

    Then, locked the steering centre with my steering rack alignment tool and a bungee cord:





    The setup:





    The result – rear toe was on point, ~0.6 mm toe in on each side. Front toe was ever so slightly toe-in on one side, and ever so slightly toe-out on the other (I forget the values). Could be down to measurement error or the front wheels not quite straight. Anyways, I elected to leave it as-is, since the car drives straight-ish (although the tires have camber wear, which does induce moments that can counteract uneven alignments, evidenced by the differences with my street and track setup).

    Anyways, the next day I hit the track again. Got down to a 1:26.23, still ~3/10ths off my PB, but another 3/10ths faster than the last 2 outings. With the 900 lb/in springs, the car felt more twitchy and you could play with it a bit more, I definitely like the balance now. But now with the stiff springs, the rear inner wheel was spinning up on certain corners.



    As the day went on the tires started feeling a bit greasy. Rather than try to PB I decided to try for consistency and was able to set a few 1:29-1:30 laps within a few 10ths of each other, with minimal tire wear.

    In an attempt to alleviate spinning up the inner rear wheel, I decided to swap the RTABs for spherical bearings. I decided to go with Moog Camry bearings (K200786) because they were dirt cheap, at $25 USD per bearing. I also used the free ball-joint press rental from Crappy Tire (Autozone for folks down south), unfortunately the tool was bent (along with a bunch of other complications) so I had to improvise to get these suckers in:







    I also went ahead and de-crusted my RTAB pockets with the POR15 process and some seam sealer:





    Installed with new M14 bolts and deform-threaded locknuts:



    Unfortunately, I didn’t realize the brake line rubbed on the upper CA. Still usable, it’s just the outer plastic/rubber layer, none of the braids were chaffed. But I’ll replace both rears anyways since FCP has just the pair in stock:



    Finished it up with another alignment – started with ~4 mm rear toe-in, got it down to ~1 mm when I was done.

    The last thing I did was to fix the slow retracting seatbelts. I was inspired by Sreten – cleaned the belt with some carpet cleaner, then use silicone spray to lightly lube the belt. Retracts much faster now!



    Yet again another track day. My friend and I are starting to suspect our tires are heat-cycling out. We both got our tires at the same time last year, and they’re not really hooking up as well as they were before. My friend got lowering springs and a rear ARB for his MK7.5 GTI and he also can’t best his times. I feel like my driving is definitely getting better compared to last year, so that could be making up for the tires – in fact I was on track to beat my PB, but it was snubbed by another car. I did 2 consecutive flying laps – a 1:26.33, then the next lap had fast sectors up until the last corner. Also it’s quite cool to see how close the two laps were, downloaded a free video editing software so I could overlay them:

    2004 BMW 330CI ZHP (well, technically ZAM)


  4. #144
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Posts
    879
    What oil are you running? I've seen some track guys switch to 10W60 for track days, might make sense for you as well with the temps you are hitting.
    330i Base | Mysticblau | Slicktop | 6MT

  5. #145
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Location
    SF Bay, CA
    Posts
    1,266
    Quote Originally Posted by Galapolis View Post
    What oil are you running? I've seen some track guys switch to 10W60 for track days, might make sense for you as well with the temps you are hitting.
    Brotella-T6 5W40. I haven't heard of people using something that thick for M54, but might be a good idea to prevent premature rod bearing wear!
    2004 BMW 330CI ZHP (well, technically ZAM)


  6. #146
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Posts
    879
    Quote Originally Posted by t.er View Post
    Brotella-T6 5W40. I haven't heard of people using something that thick for M54, but might be a good idea to prevent premature rod bearing wear!
    Yeah make sure to only use it for track days of course, might be a bit inconvenient to change oil just for that but it'll definitely be even more inconvenient to replace rod bearings.
    330i Base | Mysticblau | Slicktop | 6MT

  7. #147
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Location
    SF Bay, CA
    Posts
    1,266
    It’s been a while – big backlog of updates needed. Last track day was August 20, 2021. Looking at my photo archive, the next big thing I did was install the OE Westfalia trailer hitch I bought off eBay. At the time I had an upcoming cross-country move (will get into this later) and given I had 4 tires, a fairly sizable toolbox, all my scale/alignment jigs, etc. the most cost-effective way to move was to tow a trailer. Having seen a few guys on old M3F and E46F do this, I figured it would be no problem for me as well.

    A couple options immediately came to mind:


    1. Buy the curt hitch, which requires you to drill like 6/8 holes into the thin-ass sheet metal of the spare trunk well
    2. Buy the Westfalia hitch off Schmiedmann ($$$)


    … or do option 3 and buy a used OE Westfalia hitch off eBay.de, which ended up being cheaper than either of the above. So that’s what I did, and I got to work:







    The only downside is that a couple weeks after buying the hitch, the reinforcement plates that go behind the frame rail flanges in the trunk were not included. But like my front ARB reinforcement plates, I was lucky to have access to a waterjet, so I just got those made up:













    All installed – left the diffuser off as I did not want to deal with popping it off again, since my trip was so soon. And I wanted to start packing it away:



    Off to the track for the last time, got down to a 1:24.51. Honestly I felt like I was overdriving the car with too aggressive steering input, but I re-bled the brakes and was able to carry more speed into the T7/T8 kink. Anyways, it’s a substantial improvement over the ~1:26s I was able to manage, and I couldn’t ask for a better end to my track days in Ontario.



    Also, whoops – thank god for FCP warranty:



    Started to give the car a once-over before the trip. Noticed one of the exhaust clamps for the BMWP muffler was cracked, so replaced it:





    Having never towed a trailer before, I rented one just for a day to try it out. No problems actually towing and driving around, just had to wrap my head around backing up.



    Onto detailing: before the cross-country drive, I wanted my paint protected. As such I bought a bunch of new products, and set aside ~4-5 days where I could spend ~10-12 hours a day on the car. Below is a summary of what I did:

    Exterior
    - Strip wash with Meguiar's car soap and dish soap mixed together
    - Spray CarPro IronX to remove metallic contaminants
    - Clay with Autoglym clay bar to mechanically remove all other contaminants
    - Wipe down with CarPro Eraser to get rid of any residue that may remain on the paint
    - Hand-compound RIDS with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound
    - Polish all painted surfaces with Meguiar's Ultimate Polish + Lake County CCS Pad (orange, light polishing) and a Harbour Freight DA polisher
    - Wipe down with CarPro Eraser to get rid of any remaining polishing residue
    - Apply 2 coats of Jescar PowerLock + with an Adam's Hex Grip applicator
    - Apply 1 coat of Collinite 845 with another Adam's Hex Grip applicator

    Glass
    - Wipe down with Invisible glass
    - Apply 1 coat of Soft99 Glaco glass sealant

    Interior
    - Vacuum carpets (not dirty enough to warrant shampoo)
    - Vacuum floor mats, shampoo, rinse, and wipe dry
    - Use Autoglym Leather Cleaner, followed by Autoglym Leather Conditioner on all leather surfaces
    - Use Meguiar's Quik Interior Detailer for all other interior surfaces like dash, centre console, etc.

    Wheels and Tires (off the car)
    - Strip wash with Meguiar's car soap and dish soap mixed together (wheels weren't dirty enough to warranty anything else)
    - Apply 1 coat of Poorboy's Wheel Wax to all exposed surfaces of the wheel
    - Apply Autoglym Instant Tire Dressing, wipe off with a damp towel to a matte sheen

    Some pics:

    First time using IronX, it was quite interesting to see the "bleeding":



    Man, my car hasn't look this good in ages:







    Swapped back from my bucket to stock driver's seat, so much easier to clean with the extra room:



    The slickness and depth of the paint is pretty unmatched, I'm quite impressed. It's my first time using the PowerLock + and Collinite 845 combo, but I see why everyone talks about it. Time will tell how durable these products are!

    Checked and adjusted the alignment one last time before the trip. At this point, it is end of Sept 2021:

    2004 BMW 330CI ZHP (well, technically ZAM)


  8. #148
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Posts
    879
    I'm always amazed at your ability to retroactively update your thread. Hope we'll see some Canyon pics soon!
    Last edited by Galapolis; 02-13-2022 at 02:46 PM.
    330i Base | Mysticblau | Slicktop | 6MT

  9. #149
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Austin TX
    Posts
    7,606
    Quote Originally Posted by Galapolis View Post
    Hope we'll see some Canyon pics soon!
    +1. Did you already register the car in CA ? Here in TX they said there's a long waiting time due to Covid. We are talking months before you can grab an appt with the DMV.
    2005 IR / black / 6MT
    157,000 miles

  10. #150
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Location
    SF Bay, CA
    Posts
    1,266
    Quote Originally Posted by Galapolis View Post
    I'm always amazed at your ability to retroactively update your thread. Hope we'll see some Canyon pics soon!
    Quote Originally Posted by fredo View Post
    +1. Did you already register the car in CA ? Here in TX they said there's a long waiting time due to Covid. We are talking months before you can grab an appt with the DMV.
    Haha, next up are some nice road trip pics, but I did post them here before.

    I did register my car back in October when I got here, but yes the wait here is also super long - I still do not have my plates. Well... I'm not particularly complaining since anything with a toll (fastrak and the many bridges we have here) are free for me. Those fees do not go north of the border!
    2004 BMW 330CI ZHP (well, technically ZAM)


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