What did you do for your ZHP/ BMW / MINI today? #2

[Rovert]

[Will]

Been working on a secret project and I made a massive leap in progress tonight after a two week stalemate in the R&D. I am retrofitting newer systems into the E46 from other cars and today I officially kept my retrofit kit awake. Up until now it would fall asleep within seconds of getting power. Now I’m working on a custom chip in a custom harness so anyone can do this retrofit with zero work. Give me a couple more weeks and I will reveal my shenanigans.

Bought a ton of stuff for the new ZHP: transmission stuff, gaskets, cooling system, chassis reinforcements. My wallet bleeds for mercy.

Sounds interesting!
Any chance you're retrofitting the active headlight from a facelift coupe into a sedan or pre-facelift coupe? I'd love to have those in my m3.

[YoitsTmac]

This made my morning . My best friend is so cool - looks somewhat like that person. She knows this project is important to me and when I showed her the rats nest of wires and computers in my room she basically did this face. Not because she cares, but because she knew that’s the reaction I wanted.

Sounds interesting!
Any chance you're retrofitting the active headlight from a facelift coupe into a sedan or pre-facelift coupe? I'd love to have those in my m3.

No but F30 LCI LED headlight retrofit is likely a project this summer. Sound interesting to you?

Edit: I’m talking about the projectors if that’s not clear

[Will]

Stretched the legs of the ZHP again with another roadtrip. After returning from Austin, TX, and a brief stay in socal, I headed north.

Gas was over $5.30/gallon in Sacramento, that hurt. It's much more palatable at under $4 here.

Arrived in Portland late last night. Duration of trip is open ended.

[Will]

No but F30 LCI LED headlight retrofit is likely a project this summer. Sound interesting to you?

Edit: I’m talking about the projectors if that’s not clear

That should be interesting. I had the LEDs on my i3 and they were great.
If they're competitive with the FXR retrofits then you'll have a hit with the e46 crowd. Good luck with the rats nests and keep us posted!

[YoitsTmac]

Sounds interesting!
Any chance you're retrofitting the active headlight from a facelift coupe into a sedan or pre-facelift coupe? I'd love to have those in my m3.

Yeah I loved them on the G20. I have Morimoto Mini D2S on my pre-LCI coupe. If you’re looking for a light upgrade with a sharp cutoff, then you should PM me. They will be on sale as of November 20th.

[AM1GO]

It was long overdue on my son’s daily (VCG, OFHG, CCV, etc.) Got low radiator coolant warning a few times lately, had little to no heat... adding water didn’t help much, no visible leaks, coolant not oily, oil had no coolant mixed in, pressure test passed, was losing a quart of oil each 1000 miles, had vacuum leak codes that was unable to track smoking it out....

Decided will do all at once... learned a few things...

1) if your hard cooling pipes not leaking DO NOT try to replace them, they WILL break, which means PAIN. You will have to take off water pump and thermostat to clean up the debris. Cleaning the residue will take half day to get proper tools, etc. Plan ahead! I didn’t. Sadly.

2) If you install Cold Weather CCV, the only way you can install it properly is with the intake OFF because it fits TIGHT. Check vacuum plug is not missing under all of that foam covering CCV.

3) cleaning all oil, steering fluid, and coolant will take time, budget an extra half day for it. I found it easier to use Lamp Oil to clean up gunk, takes off heavy oils and/or wax.

4) When reinstalling thermostat, water pump - get NEW hardware... using small torque wrench and going slow on old (no rust) studs/nuts I heard specific “crack” I thought I broke the stud... it took me a day to get replacement studs and new nuts from FCP (thanks big help)... could not get one of the studs out, it would not budge using 2 nut method... had to use an extra nut with a nylon washer, that took it out. Torqued again to 80 in/pounds, extra carefully this time.

5) taking out lower radiator hose is like wrestling with a bear, took me 30 mins, had to pry it on the side of the radiator bracket, nothing else helped.

6) draining coolant from the block, get one of those “form-a-funnel” to avoid any mess. Was unable to torque the bolt to specs so did it “good-and-tight” specs. Replace the washer.

7) was able to find a few bolts and nuts that disappeared years ago in the engine bay... some of them end up in the housing below brake booster.

8) reassembling next, coolant pressure test before I take manifold goes back in. Hoping it will pass as I opted not to use any RTV on the hard pipes but had some pitted areas.

9) PO used black RTV to glue DISA to the intake. Don’t do that! Took me good few hours to clean up DISA and intake. DISA was also rebuilt using GAS kit.

10) if you have replaced plastic pulley with some anodized aluminum MAKE sure you have some anti-seize on the water pump, or you will have troubles taking it off. Besides mine was flaking anodized solution and looked not that great after just 2 years.

11) Crank shaft sensor gasket... if yours original it will likely leak, replace the sensor or the gasket “while you in there...”. Mine leaked.

12) biggest oil leak was from VANOS line, not from VCG, not from OFHG although both needed to be replaced.

13) Intake gasket, although pliable, need to be replaced due to age and wear. Get new intake gasket even though some youtubers say you won’t need it.

14) Throttle body gasket, if replacing ( I did ) make sure it goes in tapered side in, read the instructions on the gasket and or comparing to original. Both sides are NOT the same!

15) Vacuum plugs on the back of the intake WILL be hard and likely cracked. Get new big and small plugs.

16) you don’t have to take off injectors/fuel rail when removing manifold, just unclip fuel line, remember how it routes.

17) when removing hard water cooling pipes remember routing and replace one by one. I messed up some knock sensors plug wiring and had to take off already installed rubber hose to the lower pipe.

18) installing manifold, remember to put knock sensor plug into a bracket, you have to do it by feel.

19) hard cooling pipe removal/install order... I took off top pipe first. Installed it last. Had to wrestle a bit and worried it could mess up sealing gasket as it was going at an angle. So far so good. Just be careful. That was also a reason not to use any RTV as it could be messed up if not installed cleanly and be more of a problem than solving one.

20) thick vacuum hose that goes to top intake F connector needed to be replaced. New from BMW is $20 or so... I got reinforced 5/16 gates 28410 water heater hose for < $1.50/ft at Oreillys, will see how it holds up. A little thicker than Bmw hose but I don’t see any problem so far.




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[papa_g]

Thanks for the insights! I’m sure it will help some people some day.

In regards to the vacuum plugs behind the intake, I’ve been using the Dorman brand you can buy at autozone for last few years with no problem.


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[sillieidiot]

I moved my car from 4 cars up the street to a spot that is right at the beginning of the of the opening to the garages. It's parked in front of this car that never moves. Now there will be 2 cars that will never move lol I swear my battery is dying already.

[pedro2u]

winter doldrums have arrived