Materials to Maintain Your ZHP IIIII Hand Protection IIIII Tools to Maintain Your ZHP
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Western WI
    Posts
    3,059

    Attack of the Silver Grey Sedan!

    I spent several months searching for the right car. The ZHP isn't rare but it isn't very common either. I began looking into flying to another city to buy one and driving it back. One of my regular routines during my search was to check the inventory at Minnetonka BMW and Motorwerks BMW (both in the Minneapolis area). In early February 2008, Motorwerks had a 2004 330i listed with no pics or details. After speaking to someone on the phone I knew immediately by his description it was a ZHP. After a short test drive and some price haggling we made a deal. This is what it looked like when I got it (not my pic but mine looked identical).



    I opted for the OEM clear corners and sidemarkers because I was intent on keeping OEM quality and appearance as much as possible.

    At the Eurowerks show in 2008:


    Some window tint to keep the sun from fading my interior. 35% on the front, sides and rear.



    Couple of simple upgrades after that were an iPod connecting/charging cable (iSimple)that allows me to still use my steering wheel controls and factory radio as well as a hard-wire kit for my radar detector. I also swapped out the chrome grilles on the car for a pair of matte black ones.

    Fall of 08 Wheels & Wings show (yes, it's a show with cars, bikes and planes! Cool event with over 1,000 cars every year.)


    One thing that always bugged me was the gap between the front tire and fender. I looked into lowering springs but nobody could guarantee a ride height or performance level so I started looking into coilovers. A bunch of the guys on E46 Fanatics use KW and after learning about the stainless steel bodies' reliability against rust, I was sold. I needed a 10mm spacer up front for clearance with the OEM wheels. Plan on spacers and longer wheel bolts if you are using the OEM ZHP wheels. 5mm is minimum needed but 10mm is better for a more "flush" look. The KW V2's were installed in January of 09 and have been perfect.

    Winter Mode with the coilovers, OEM wheels and Blizzak snow tires:

    Compared to stock:

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Western WI
    Posts
    3,059
    One day, I noticed my headlights were aimed very low - about 20 feet in front of the car. I guessed it was the headlight auto-leveling sensor and after removing the front passenger wheel, my guess was confirmed.



    If you look closely below, you can see where the previous owner simply took the old sensor and ran a wire through a hole and then wrapped it around the broken end. They topped off this magnificent work with some sort of epoxy. Like this was ever going to last long term...


    Removal is easy. There are two 4mm hex screws on the sensor where it attaches to the bracket. Once you get those off, get out that trusty 10mm wrench (seems like 90% of the nuts and bolts on an E46 use 10mm) and a pair of needle nose pliers.

    The sensor is attached to the control arm via a ball jointed arm. Behind the nut is an area to grab with the needle nose pliers while you use your 10mm wrench to loosen the nut. You may find that after you loosen the nut that a socket driver works easier.

    The last step in removing the old sensor is to remove the connector plug. Taking time here is very important since forcing it or using tools will only break the clips. Looking at it for a couple seconds I was able to figure out where to press to seperate it without breaking anything.

    The easiest way to get it all back together was to first mount the new sensor on the bracket using the two 4mm hex screws, attach the leveling arm to the control arm and lastly connect the wiring plug.


    Here's a look at new vs. old sensors. Note that when installed, the leveling arm actually points to the left.




    Unfortunately, when I got it all back together, I discovered a cracked fog light lens...



    After some research, I found that the OEM M3 foglights were identical but they have "clear" glass instead of the "fluted" style shown above. Since it was so much easier to find M3 fogs, I just put a pair of those in.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Posts
    15,433
    Nice. Good idea for a forum.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Western WI
    Posts
    3,059
    Sometime around when I fixed the headlight level sensor, I also added an OEM M3 strut bar and a Gruppe M intake. Writing this reminds me that I still need to take pictures of those items. The strut tower bar was put in to help avoid mushrooming of the strut towers that can happen from hitting potholes.

    The Gruppe M intake was put in because it makes amazing intake sounds. Seriously, you have to hear one sometime. Low rumble at lower RPM's to a howl that almost sounds like an exotic car at WOT. I've tried to make a video before but nothing does it justice.

    Next up was wheels...

    19" VMR V710's
    19x8.5 front ET35 with a 235/35/19 tire
    19x9.5 rear ET45 with a 255/30/19 tire
    Tires are Dunlop SP Sport Maxx

    I had to get my fenders rolled due to my ride height. Once that was done, ZERO rubbing.








  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Western WI
    Posts
    3,059
    Sadly, not much was done in 2010 on the car (mind you, I got the car in Feb of 2008). Unfortunately, I didn't really have any funds for modding due to the downturn in the economy so I was just grateful to be able to keep what I have.

    I sold the VMR wheels at the end of 2010. After two years of the same wheels, I was getting the itch for something new or different. I still haven't decided what that will be. I was about to buy some OEM ZHP wheels that were refinished when something shiny caught my eye...

    I've wanted to get a limited-slip differential for this car since day 1. Problem is, they're really expensive and the M3 LSD doesn't just swap right over like it does on earlier 3 Series cars. So I had almost given up until I learned that a few folks had swapped over the M3 driveline by also swapping the rear subframe.

    I started looking but the rear diff alone from an E46 M3 usually goes for $700 on eBay. Complete rearend setups were $1,500 or more plus shipping. I found a guy that was selling one locally from a car that took a hit on one side that damaged a control arm, brakes and an axle. The diff, subframe and other side's control arm, axle, trailing arm, etc were in good shape. I picked it up last night and unloaded it into the garage this afternoon. Price paid? $500.

    So now the plan is to tear off what I don't need and sell it, keep the parts I need and buy a driveshaft and an axle. I wish I could say that this will be done soon but the reality is that I'll probably wait until it's warm to tackle the weekend-long project of installing this.

    Big benefits I'm looking to get out of this are; LSD and a stronger rear subframe in case I decide to go SC or turbo later on.


  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Asheville, NC
    Posts
    2,591
    haha. Nice! this is what you were talking about when you told me you had something in store we would like. Perfect. I like. for the price. For the Mod just cause.
    "No, Donny, these men are nihilists, there's nothing to be afraid of"

    09 135i Msport 6mt
    04 330i ZHP (sold)
    David

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Western WI
    Posts
    3,059
    Yup, this is what I was working on. Getting the whole thing for $500 will definitely help lower my investment costs on this mod. I should be able to get $100 to $200 for the parts I remove and sell. Looking to get the whole thing done for less than $900.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Baton Rouge, LA
    Posts
    1,586
    Nice writeup! What wheels are you running since you sold the VMRs?
    Lance
    Autobahn South
    S/ASH
    My car finds your lack of faith disturbing

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Western WI
    Posts
    3,059
    Quote Originally Posted by pyreguy View Post
    Nice writeup! What wheels are you running since you sold the VMRs?
    Thanks. Currently running the OEM wheels

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    beirut, lebanon
    Posts
    248
    i really like the rims in ur picture , if u think of changing them i would recomend installing th 19'' m3 csl rims they would look really nice on ur zhp
    Last edited by danewilson77; 02-03-2011 at 03:15 PM.

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