New member... Pics of my 04 330i ZHP
Hi, I've been a longtime member on fantatics, and finally got around to posting pics of my ZHP there when someone suggested that I join this site... So here's the cut and paste introduction!
After owning two e46s (an 01 325i MT and an 04 325xi auto) I decided to buy the car that I had always wanted-a ZHP sedan.
I had a list of requirements that was pretty long so it made searching a bit of a challenge:
- 2004 ZHP Performance Package sedan
- <60k miles
- Black leather interior (I hate the alcantra)
- Manual transmission
- Either silver gray or titanium silver
- OEM Navigation
- Xenon headlights
- Cold Weather Package
That was quite the laundry list-and I knew that the search might take a while. The only thing that wasn't a "must" for me was the Premium Package-I could easily add the only thing I cared about from it (auto dim mirror) to the car. After months of searching I finally found the car I wanted-a silver gray ZHP in Virginia. The car met all of the above requirements except the mileage was slightly higher at 80k, and it needed some minor body work. I had the seller email me high resolution pictures of the damage (rear fender and hood) and forwarded them onto my body shop for an estimate. They figured it would cost me less than $1k to have everything fixed properly, so I arranged for a pre-purchase inspection at the closest BMW dealer to the seller in Virginia. The PPI came back with the usual array of things that you'd expect on an e46 with 80k miles-nothing major. To be safe I also ran a Car Fax and a had a friend at a BMW dealer run its service history report. No red flags so I pulled the trigger.
I'd already planned to fly out to pick up the car, and the $150 one-way ticket to DC from Boston meant I could take my 6 year old daughter with me on the trip. After calling my insurance company and making the necessary arrangements, my daughter and I flew out to DC with a bag of clothes, her booster seat, the BMW Sirius module, the license plate from my old car and a bank check. When we arrived the seller was waiting for us in the airport parking lot. She showed me the car, which was in the condition I expected it, so we attached the plates I gave her the check and she was on her way. I sat in the parking lot with my daughter for about 15 minutes and connected the Sirius module (a necessity for an 8 hour drive home to Boston) which snapped in and activated without issue. Once the car was ready we took the day and toured the Smithsonian museums and walked around DC for the afternoon before starting the journey home in the afternoon. No surprises on the way home, although the oil light came on somewhere outside of Philly so I added a quart when filling the tank, and was good to go. When I arrived in Boston, I dropped the car off at the body shop where they fixed the hood and fender and returned the car to me in about a week. From there I took the car to my favorite BMW repair shop, Bavarian Performance Group in Winchester (www.bavarianperformancegroup.com) and let them have it for a few weeks to go through it and do all necessary repairs.
Over the last year, the following is the list of repairs and modifications that I've done to the car. A few of the things I had already from my old e46's, such as a Bluetooth and Sirius module, but many things I bought new. Next month I plan to do the suspension over. After that, I plan to just enjoy the car for a while...
Body / Exterior
- Hood and rear fender fixed and repainted. Replaced the sound insulating under hood while I was at it.
- Replaced headlight lenses
- Replaced both Xenon bulbs with original Philips Xenon bulbs
- Purchased OEM European clears for the front turn signals, side markers and taillights. Installed silver bulbs that flash amber in the clear lights.
- Installed OEM European Aspherical Mirrors
- Replaced both the front (cracked) and rear (damaged by tint) windshields and removed tints from the side windows
- Replaced all 4 of the curbed ZHP wheels with new ones and updated the center caps to the new style ones BMW now uses. Decided on Michelin Pilot Super Sports for the tires, which have been fantastic so far.
- For my winter tires, I used my old style #96s. I purchased new Nokian WRG2's for snow (although I generally take my wife's X3 when it snows and keep the ZHP tucked into the garage).
Performance
- 3.73 Limited Slip Differential from diffsonline.com
- BMW performance short shift kit
- Dinan intake, exhaust, strut tower brace, Stage 2 engine software
- UUC clutch stop
- removed clutch delay valve (CDV)
Entertainment:
- Updated the OEM Navigation system to the latest OS software and bought current maps
- Had my friends at Sound-in-Motion (www.sound-in-motion.com) install a reverse camera by using a Nav-TV module. Once the Nav-TV module was in, I also had them install an iSimple media wire to allow my iPod to display video on the Nav screen and play audio through the auxiliary input
- OEM Bluetooth.
- Aux
- Intravee II. The best iPod solution for the k-bus BMW's with Navigation.
- OEM Sirius
Mechanical:
- VANOS repair
- Inspection II
- Cooling system: Water pump, thermostat, expansion tank, hoses, valve cover gaskets
- fuel pump
- Brakes. New OEM pads and rotors
- guibo
- new battery and battery tray
- Installed OEM alarm.
Interior:
Having purposely sought out a ZHP with leather seats, I planned to replace the shift boot, e-brake boot and alcantra steering wheel with an M3 steering wheel and black leather boots. I feel this is a much cleaner look for the car.
- M3 steering wheel
- new ZHP shift knob
- replaced alcantra boots with black leather
- first aid kits
- Compass mirror with Universal Garage Door Opener (UGDO)
- OEM umbrella
- rear side sunshades (for the kids in the back seat)
- M door sills
- New floor mats
- replaced A-pillars (they were peeling)
- replaced armrest, coin tray and cup holders (paint was chipping slightly and the old armrest made creaking noises)
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