Very nice! When one isn't enough...
Very nice! When one isn't enough...
19" VMR VB3 CSL reps w/ General G-Max 3 A/S, BMW Performance short throw shifter, CDV delete, M54B30 swap, and a redneck CAI.
Nice car! How much did you pick it up for? I may be interested in your DICE connector - if you take it out PM me and let's see if we can strike a deal.
Ryan
Very nice! Bring it out to the weekly BMW meet tomorrow night. Casey Withers from the forum is here in town.
I paid right at KBB excellent value, with 2 sets of wheels and oem amber lights included. In hindsight I think it should've maybe been a little lower given the cosmetic condition of the car, but what's done is done. I'll post up when all the stuff goes up for sale.
Slammed this week. Otherwise I would.
So since this ZHP didn't have alcantara seats like my first one and had already had its Alcantara wheel replaced with a leather M3 wheel under CPO years ago, I was a little sad.
I figured to throw myself a bit of a bone I'd rock an alcantara wheel as long as it would hold out, while also doing my best to keep my hands washed and wear to a minimum.
Rather than pony up the $1200 for a ZHP alcantara wheel, I did a little reading. As it turns out, the ZCP alcantara wheel can be had for almost 1/3rd the price of the ZHP wheel, with the added bonus of tri-color stitching. Price I ended up paying was the same price as a tri-color stitch alcantara rewrap + core from Coby, and I figured a great condition leather wheel would go for more than the core value if I wanted to sell it. Still debating on that one - may keep it around for the inevitable degradation of the alcantara. TBD.
All that it takes is swapping the full multifunction button panel over from the ZHP wheel to the ZCP replacement....beyond that, plug, play, enjoy.
Pics:
Remove the switch panel loosening these two sets of torx screws:
(each side)
and you get:
Reassemble and you're done. Took about 45 minutes, if that.
The astute among you will note that the wheel appears slightly turned to the right. This is because I got it off one tooth. I figured since the wheel has a keyway on it that the column would as well, meaning you can only put it back together one way, right? Right?! No. So, the next day I blew it all apart, clicked one tooth CCW, all is well.
I swapped my headlight lenses. Stockers were pitted and gross:
While I had the headlights out I noted my lenses seemed a bit hazy. I noticed this while doing the bowl swaps on my last ZHP as well - not sure if its years of dust or just residue or what, but there was definitely some kind of film on my lenses when I pulled them out. You can just barely see it here (with a clean smudge through the center where I wiped it off:
So, not much of a DIY here but just swap on the new lenses. There are tons of headlight disassembly DIYs out there so I figured there was no point in spelling out the steps:
I also swapped the lower grill.
To remove the old one, just push back on it. It is retained by clips around the perimeter of the opening (somewhat visible here):
Once its loose, it becomes a frustrating exercise of fitting a large square peg through a small round opening. You have to separate the grill from its backing by releasing a second set of retaining clips, then wrestle it around left and right, eventually it will come out. Then wrestle the new one in, snap it back onto its backing plate, then snap it all onto the bumper. It was a total fawking PITA. I finished in the dark so no pics of the new one.
Doable, just be prepared to spend some time on it. Very. Frustrating.
I also realized like 30% of my photos are out of focus. Stupid P&S.
Oil change this past Tuesday with BMW Synth and a Mahle filter.
I also removed the DICE ipod thing from the PO and wired in my OEM aux audio input. All pretty standard stuff here so no pics.
Anyway, comments, questions, thoughts all welcome.
Next weekend is expansion tank, tstat, water pump, hoses, plugs. And maybe a window regulator if i'm feeling sprightly.
Very nice stuff.
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