Finally a sillieidiot progress thread...Redux

[sillieidiot]

Ok, so I was trying to post something on e46fanatics and it kept erroring (database error) out. It was just a small update, but it still pissed me off lol Fuck you database error! So I'm going to do what I said I would do before and re-post the entire contents of my build thread again here. Luckily I have all the posts in OneNote so it's just going to be a fairly quick copy/paste. You will see posts where I quoted members from e46fanatics. I kept those cause I posted updates while quoting them. I had to date all of the posts since they will obviously be totally wrong here lol I also broke up my original first post into 2 posts. It was a huge PIA to scroll the long first post every time I wanted to update my mod list. I probably won't fix the smileys. I use them a lot, but ZHPMafia doesn't have good selection of smileys to where I could even convert them.


Originally posted (2/21/2014)

I figured it was time I made a build/progress thread. It's mainly just for me to look back on the things I did to the car. Special thanks to Tom, David, Anthony and the rest of the guys at European Auto Source, Mike@F1autohaus (not around anymore), Paul@euro-spec (now dtm-spec), Hank @ Elite auto body, Wayne @ A1 autobody, Gregory @ Challenge, all the OG fanatics that I met, the older SGC members, and everyone else I'm too lazy to include.

I wanted to thank my longtime, loving girlfriend, Samantha for understanding my addiction. She even helped out by buying some of the mods :luv:

And I also wanted to thank my Dad. Without him, I wouldn't even have been able to get the car. A lot of my early paint work was paid for by him as gifts from holidays/birthdays.

I'm going to try to include pictures of the mods I did in order. But I don't remember the exact timeline or even dates lol I should have made the thread earlier, then I wouldn't have to remember the order :lmao: Also please excuse the crappy pictures lol It gets better later on in the thread since I actually started using real cameras to take pictures

Here is my current mod list (as of 7/11/2021):

Vehicle Info

2006 330ci
Alpine White with Black interior
6 speed manual

Exterior

BMW Performance grills
Challenge CF roof - 1x1 (first one ever made :thumbsup:)
Custom OEM M3 front fenders w/ grill delete, side markers added, inner lip flattened
Custom OEM Mtech 2 front bumper w/ molded CS splitters & reflector delete
Custom aluminum scrape plates (powder coated black)
OEM Euro blind-spot glass
OEM CSL rails
OEM M3 mirrors
OEM M3 rear fenders (inner lip flattened)
OEM M3 side skirts
OEM Mtech 2 rear bumper
Vorsteiner CSL trunk - DVWP
Vorsteiner VRS vented hood - Double-sided w/ silver CF vents (race version)
XPEL ultimate clear bra - full front w/ wrapped edges, door cups, roof, mirrors

Interior

35% 3M tint all around
BMWPedals Clutch stop (now called PedalHaus)
Custom AUX input/jack
Custom BMWPedals - black w/ heel extension (now called PedalHaus)
Custom OEM M3 non-sunroof headliner and A/B/C pillars wrapped in newer style black fabric
EAS Silver CF interior trim
EAS Silver CF tool box
OEM ZHP Perforated leather steering wheel w/ yellow center line
OEM ZHP shift knob

Lighting

Custom lighted door handles using OEM E92 LEDs
Custom Morimoto LED fog lights (Glass cover retrofit) (not installed)
EAS Aurora angel eyes (Prototype)
F1 Autohaus LED corners/Reverse lights (Prototype)
F1 Autohaus LED interior kit (Prototype)
HID fogs lights - 6000k
OEM E92 LED license plate lights
Osram CBI bulbs

Suspension

AST 4100 dampers
Bimmerworld front adjustable endlinks
Mason Engineering front racing strut bar
OEM BMW front strut reinforcement plates
OEM Z4M FCABs
OEM ZHP control arms
Rogue Engineering RSMs
Swift springs 8K Front & 10K Rear
Turner Motorsport Adjustable camber arms
Turner Motorsport front/rear sway bar kit
Turner Motorsport rear adjustable endlinks
Vorshlag race camber plates

Brakes

OEM BMW Performance rotors
Motul RBF 600 fluid
Painted OEM brake calipers (semi-gloss black)
Performance Friction Z-rated pads
Stoptech SS brake lines

Wheels/tires

Apex ARC-8 18 x 9.5 et35 (Square setup)
Michelin PSS 255/35/18 F/R (Square setup)
Macht Schnell stud kit - 75mm
OEM BMW updated center caps w/ chrome ring
Turner hub extenders
Vorshlag 5mm spacers - front

Engine

ESS Tuning TS2+ Supercharger kit - Custom painted in Cerakote Glacier Black (not installed on car yet)
G.A.S DISA upgrade kit
Mishimoto silicone intake hoses (Custom electrical tape mod to get rid of all the logos)
Mishimoto silicone radiator hoses (Custom electrical tape mod to get rid of all the logos)
Stewart water pump

Transmission/Drivetrain

CDV Delete
Custom Autosolutions SSK (replaces every component including the carrier)
OEM M3 Transmission mounts (bought, not installed)
Rogue Engineering SS clutch line
Redline fluid

Exhaust

BimmerBrakes Gen3 replica headers (bought, not installed)
Magnaflow 16533 full catback exhaust

[sillieidiot]

(2/21/2014)

So here we go. My car when I first bought it (sometime in 2006). The most stock picture I have is the car with tints (35% all around) Damn that front bumper was ugly :rofl:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4396/36450579905_01f8db7fb6_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1Kue)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4337/36313497611_ca03dd20ec_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUaGp)

After a couple of months, I couldn't stand those anymore, so I got the OEM Mtech 2 kit (they didn't have replicas at the time, but I wouldn't have bought it anyways. OEM FTW). Got the kit from Tischer. They sent me the sedan sides, but since it went straight to my painter. It was already painted by the time I realized it. I rocked it anyways for a while. The front bumper was bent/damaged when I got it. But they promptly replaced that one. GF paid for the front bumper :luv:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4437/36450579765_b1c21ace16_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1KrP)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4430/35615428404_5a324ae599_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdo3q)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4356/35615428304_713d7a5962_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdo1G)

Then sometime after that (same year) I think my angel eyes died and Umnitza wouldn't warranty them as well as all the other stuff that happened. I just ripped them out, and worked on some small lighting stuff. LED exterior/interior, projector fogs, 6000k bulbs. The normal lighting upgrades you go through at this phase.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4398/35615428164_fb8afa5da3_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdnYh)
(crappy corner bulbs I got off a member, that got it from Umnitza lol)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4375/36282279682_c5925334e6_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh9aGf)
(F1 autohaus bulbs)

After those mods, I don't know WTF order I did these next few mods. But from 2007 to Bimmerfest 2008 I guess these are the mods I did. I remember that I bought an Eisenmann sport. I don't have any pictures of it apparently. But then I sold it so that I could use the money to buy this rare hood.

Vorsteiner Double-sided CF with Silver CF vents (race version which I was told was even lighter/stronger than normal). I thought I had a better picture, but I guess I lost it.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4376/36282279382_3e04e58d10_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh9aB5)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4402/36313496451_d3b29b1055_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUamp)

Pretty much after I got that hood, my modding sort of snowballed from there. I focused mainly on aesthetics though as I was under warranty and didn't want to mess with **** too much.

Then of course I got a CSL trunk to match. Got this one from Euro-spec. As I recall, fitment was pretty good for a replica trunk. Had to do a lot of dremeling though, but it was a great selling point later on.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4398/36313496261_82102ca700_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUai8)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4360/36282279012_ebfecbe217_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh9auG)

The projector fogs output sucked ass so I took them out and gave it to a friend. Then threw in 3000k fogs at some point and put on some Club Sport splitters as well.

Here's how it looked in Bimmerfest 2008

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4379/36450578115_06eccaf50d_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1JXn)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4348/36450577865_b315d2faef_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1JT4)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4363/36282278482_50607b3594_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh9aky)

Again I don't know when the hell I did these mods, but it must have happened sometime between Bfest 08 and 09. I started modding on a Bfest yearly cycle for some reason.

I sold the CSL trunk, then got an OEM style CF trunk. Surprisingly, the fitment was even better than the OEM trunk lol didn't have to dremel anything I don't think.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4385/36313495391_cd13c3735e_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUa38)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4346/36282278082_792092278c_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh9adE)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4364/36313495201_59e2274795_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjU9YR)

I got a silver CF diffuser to match the vents. There weren't any available at the time so I had to ask Paul @ Euro-spec to make one for me.

Then I got the bright idea to do a custom silver CF insert in the license plate area too. Had Oshin02 do the work. He sucks. He totally didn't know what he was doing at all. Probably knew less about CF than I did. The CS splitters I left for him was in even worst condition. :censor: But since I was already in the hole, I made the best of it on the trunk. Painterdude, which was my painter at the time :thumbsup:, did a heck of a job and clean it up. Made it way nicer better than when I gave it to him. Still not perfect, but I lived with it for a while. I'd eventually upgrade to another trunk later on.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4430/36450576815_449c5ac53a_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1JyX)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4442/35615427014_d1a449b78b_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdnCs)

Painted the hood too

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4334/35642773183_7a285cc816_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WiCwG8)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4416/35615426814_313400a24b_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdnz1)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4428/35615426684_8e45924c50_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdnwL)

And this is how it looked at Bimmerfest 2009

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4353/36450576435_1e3f8c01e0_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1Jsp)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4427/35642772383_2daa7b0ea5_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WiCwsk)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4367/36053562660_c508f46769_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVW6j)

[sillieidiot]

(2/21/2014)

Anthony @ EAS took some pictures of my car sometime after.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4424/36053562470_d430e6f4a8_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVW33)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4402/36404861806_fdc25f1afc_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYr69)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4345/36053562170_617c7a9cab_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVWS)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4381/36053562060_db87c51a63_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVUY)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4365/36053561900_db967c0dab_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVSd)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4334/35642771533_37757b7c94_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WiCwcF)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4397/36053561850_9e64d5298b_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVRm)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4354/36053561650_5dd13f498d_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVMU)

Moving on to the next mod cycle, I guess from looking at pictures, I didn't do much from Bfest 09 to 2010. I think I my tires were pretty worn down on the stock runflats. And I went on the skidpad for SoCal Euro 2009. Bad idea, totally chewed up my already messed up tires lol I already bought 19" VMR VB3s sometime before Bfest 09. We'll touch more on this later.

So I think sometime during this phase. People were just starting to get on the car vinyling craze. Then Don Nguyen came out with the 3M Di-noc ones (which he didn't anyone to know. More on that later) and everyone goes crazy and tries to put it on everything. I contacted him to see if he had a silver CF version. He said that he did not. Then I set about to find the manufacturer, which was 3M from my research so that I could find a silver CF one. I got samples, and well they didn't match at all. So there goes that idea. To this day, because of this, Don Nguyen never gives me a quote on anything, and hates me lol Oh well.

So I get some matte black vinyl, and then I DIYed it myself (cause you know, he's unwilling to work with me). I had to do it twice cause I messed up the first time. Looked pretty good for a first timer, but I was too lazy to do the rails so I just left them lol For some reason I don't have pictures I took of it either. Here's a useless one:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4407/36053561580_c5120858f1_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVLG)

So back to the wheels, which was the last mod I added on for the 2009 year. I had been complaining that I needed tires, but didn't want to pay for them. As luck would have it, I would get exactly what I wanted :lmao: I went to a Charity car show and donate iono what, I forgot the show already. But while standing there, my good friend Jason (Devious1) tells me I should enter the drawing they are having. I was reluctant, but did so anyways. Well the last drawing of the day was a free set of tires from Toyo Tires. I won LOL So that's how I get my wheels put on. To this day, I think Jason is still pissed about that, cause I entered right after him and won :rofl:

Again guys, one crappy picture for now. Better pictures will follow suit.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4371/36053561510_72c8a830c1_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVKu)

For the start of 2010, my girlfriend bought me one of the things I've always wanted. Silver CF interior trim from EAS. Tom @ EAS gave us a great deal to boot. I had nothing to do on a rainy day (yes it rains in CA) so I installed them. Here's some more subpar pictures (I didn't realize that I had a lot of these lol). Don't worry Anthony @ EAS will do it some justice later on in the thread.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4365/36053561310_5c9e8a0cda_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVG3)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4361/36053561220_56ae4afca7_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVEu)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4343/36053561100_0d70a781ef_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVCq)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4391/36053560860_d0147fb949_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVyh)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4418/35642770623_0d65dfac67_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WiCvVZ)

A couple of months later, I hit a huge chunk of asphalt that was launched from a truck. Most of the damage was on the splitter portion of the bumper, the rest was cracked paint on the bumper which I covered up with touch up. I didn't have the money to repaint at the time, so I did the next best thing. Covered it up with CS splitters from Euro-Spec.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4350/36053560730_a274f24b66_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVw3)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4420/36053560600_b45d60d8ba_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVtN)

Some time after that, I swapped out my sedan Mtech 2 sides for M3 sides (painted by Hank @ Elite autobody). I added a ZHP shift knob and I lowered my car on Tein S-tech springs. Here's how it looked at Bimmerfest 2010

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4381/36053560490_f7c44f56e9_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVrU)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4342/36053560250_8e0e3a2fe9_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVnL)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4389/36053560200_2c306e5f58_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVmU)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4424/36053560020_c149470850_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVViN)

Then sometime after that, I had another mini-shoot with Anthony @ EAS

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4353/36404860926_4d1e784b8a_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYqPY)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4414/36053560070_fc3c09d63c_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVjE)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4391/36053559570_e60a5cb4df_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVVb3)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4345/36404860626_32f550ca4b_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYqJN)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4389/36053559410_5475876165_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVV8h)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4378/36053559270_e12f348b88_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVV5S)

It's going to get pretty thin here. From Bfest 2010 to 2011, I didn't really do anything exterior wise. I swapped the 3000k fogs for 6000k, and got new LED bulbs.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4352/36053559080_96588d1ed2_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVV2A)

The next mod was the Rogue Engineering SSK from EAS. This I got as a birthday gift from my GF :luv: But it wasn't all gravy. First of all, after the install, I found out that they gave me a defective lever. It was super short and not center plus the fact that the notch was wrong and wouldn't let the shift knob connect to it. After about a month going back and forth, they finally send me a replacement lever (the replacement lever felt like they gave me the stock one coming from the defective one lol). Worst company to deal with, it wasn't EAS's fault at all, since Rogue didn't even reply to them either. From then on, I vowed never to buy anything from Rogue if I could. I also bought RSMs from them, but that was bought at the same time as the SSK (just not installed yet). The performance from it was abysmal IMO. It has a lot of slop even in gear, and the throws were barely even shorter. I planned to get a replacement later on.

Some time after that I installed the Macht Schnell stud kit bought from EAS. This was also a birthday present from my friends. I also took off the Tein springs and sold it to a member here. It sucked riding around stock height again lol

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4332/35615423064_684113c1f3_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdmsm)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4341/35615422974_6c7e07b192_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdmqN)

Then Bimmerfest 2011 came around. And surprisingly, I do not have a single picture of my car that year.

[sillieidiot]

(2/21/2014)

Now onto the new modding cycle of Bfest 11 to 12 (which was a big modding year for me BTW). First thing I got that year were some CBI bulbs. I only have pictures of the boxes for some reason :rofl: They just came out at the time, and I believe I was one of the first to get them.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4422/36053558920_948f853acb_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVUYQ)

A couple of months go by, and my good friend DrusC5s (I think it's now Drew@SwiftMotorworks) started parting out his car. I was looking for a VCSL trunk, but the FRP one (since I planned to paint the whole thing for a cleaner look). Well he had one for sale, but it was single sided CF. It was too good of a deal to pass up anyways, so I bought it. It was carbon black, and since I didn't have money at that time, I just drove around with it in that color lol More on that later though

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4436/36053558820_3211e0cfca_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVUX7)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4422/35615422804_1f8bda39d3_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdmnS)

Then I sold my silver CF diffuser and put back on the OEM black diffuser to match the black trunk.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4427/35615422764_c6406e4ece_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdmnb)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4357/35615422634_acb0eedbf6_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdmjW)

The next month, I got a set of BMW Pedals from EAS. I got the black ones. The install was pretty easily with their template thing. The black they use is a deep purple, hence why the picture looks like it's purple. But under normal lighting, it's black.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4417/35615422414_b2c48731b1_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdmg9)

For some reason, with the pedals, I couldn't exactly do Heel-toeing like I wanted. I could do it, but it just felt harder. So I contacted Brian @ BMWPedals.com to see if something could be done. I told him what I wanted, and then he came up with this extension for it. To test it out, I made one out of cardboard using a 1:1 template he sent me and tried it out.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4380/35615422294_52876aa9c3_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdme5)

I don't have a picture of the final product either lol I'll post it at the end of the thread if anyone is really interested to see.

Ok remember the trunk I got from my friend? Well I've been driving around with it for like 3.5 months without painting it or anything. At this point, Dru has been telling me how much he regrets selling his trunk, and the one he got to replace it, he hated. Well lady luck to the rescue again. I was browsing the forum again and found the exact trunk I wanted in the first place for sale (VCSL FRP one). Hit up drew and tell him, that if he buys that, I'll trade him his old trunk back so he doesn't have to repaint. So now I went from a Carbon black trunk to a Silver Grey trunk. It was a really nice color. My friend Brian N. (or Naruto19) fell in love with it so much that he eventually sold his car to get an SG M3 lol :lmao:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4394/35615422214_7c2ac39f9a_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdmcG)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4359/35615422074_59874c6bf3_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdmah)

I did the OEM license plate LEDs mod while I was at it.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4341/35615421994_7b4fd411e5_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdm8U)

My next big mod was a new suspension setup. I bought AST 4100s with 650r/550f Hyperco springs from Vorshlag. I also got their front camber plates and the front reinforcement plates. I already had the Rogue RSMs from earlier on in the year that was going in at the same time.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4416/35615421924_b945a51787_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdm7G)

I don't have any install pictures. It took me awhile to get everything adjusted to how I liked it. At some point during my testing/setting up phase, I broke the stock endlinks that I used with the suspension. I ended up getting a pair of Bimmerworld endlinks to replace them. It's been solid ever since.

The next thing I did was get my trunk and m3 mirrors painted. I bought these mirrors like sometime in 09, but never installed it or anything. I sold the mirror glass so all I had were the mirrors. I mainly didn't want to install them because I have ribbons and would had to retrofit the motors in. Still didn't do it after I got them painted lol

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4363/36053557930_df6ca133bf_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVUFL)

I did however install the trunk. Along with this other mod, silver CF toolbox that I got when I got my interior trim, but never put it on either. Pictures of the trunk were taken without any adjustments done to it yet.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4398/36053557790_5b447e624f_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVUDm)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4379/36053557650_92384a7d00_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVUAW)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4372/36053557540_41d9cd5dc7_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVUz3)

The next mod was a mod that I already did, but took it out. I got some angel eyes again. This time it was a birthday present from Tom @ EAS. :thumbsup: Honestly, I think he gave them to me in 2011, but I didn't install them until the following year lol They were prototype Aurora rings for the facelift coupes that they never released. They are great rings; I wished that they were able to bring these out for the E46 market.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4356/36053557430_7398f1a16a_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVUx9)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4424/36053557330_dc1abf53c3_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVUvq)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4401/36053557120_66384fa0ba_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVUrN)

Then I went to EAS and had Anthony take some more pictures again Oh yeah, I also got the OEM BMW Performance brakes with PFC pads. Don't know when I did it exactly in the year, but apparently I did it sometime this year since you'll see it in the next few pictures lol

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4415/36053557000_5f3f51736b_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVUpJ)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4379/36053556860_dc332ff223_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVUnj)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4333/36053556810_961abc0f2f_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVUms)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4388/36053556680_4f11824bde_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVUjd)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4404/36053556560_2c1d3e6991_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVUh9)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4346/36053556410_6256d8351e_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVUey)

So a few weeks before Bimmerfest 2012, my M3 Euro glass finally came in. That meant I had no choice but to finally put in those M3 mirrors. No more excuses now.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4416/36053556420_27693134d0_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVUeJ)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4348/36053556310_90924f8f6e_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVUcQ)

The next thing to go on was my OEM Perforated steering wheel. I got this wheel like back in 2008 LOL I just never installed it because I was undecided on what I wanted. I had like 3 other M3 steering wheels. I had a used tri-stitch which I sold for a like new one. Then decided that I didn't like tri-stitch so I sold that one for a brand new black stitch one. I wasn't satisfied, so then I got this perforated one. Best decision ever, feels great.

Here's a blurry picture of one of the M3 wheels I had before I sold it

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4436/35615420194_b75ba090d0_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdkAS)

Here's the one I installed. I added that yellow center line too.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4425/36404858876_42dd59c3e5_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYqdC)

A couple of pictures of how my car looked at Bimmerfest 2012

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4348/35615419954_6cede896dd_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdkwJ)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/Wgdkvb]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4434/35615419864_6a78d71c03_o.jpg[/url

[sillieidiot]

(2/21/2014)

A couple of months go by, and I got really tired of the matte black vinyl. I liked the look, however the vinyl scratches too easily. That and I never wrapped the rails (because I was too lazy), so I decided to take it off.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4355/36404858626_02134f203a_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYq9j)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4371/36282270152_bc4f17dc94_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97RW)

Then I did the lighted door handles mod. I used the OEM E92 LED lights. Then cut them and retrofitted them into the keyhole covers. I was finally able to use one of my other mods I bought way back in the days while I was at it. I don't have any good pictures (yeah same song) since it's hard to get a good shot of it.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4431/36282270112_1eaf3da8f3_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97Rf)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4405/36282270062_b1ccf698d6_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97Qo)

Another couple of months go by and my friend Brian N. wanted to do his last shoot ever (with his 330). So we set something up with Scott Chu. Here's a couple of pictures.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4432/36282270012_72950c04ae_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97Pw)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4425/36404858306_c3cbaefb03_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYq3N)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4437/36404858046_7b1ec81311_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYpYj)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4353/35642764843_dc9417dd64_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WiCudk)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4345/36282269722_6582b895d5_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97Jw)

The rest of the pictures of the shoot can be seen in this thread (also in better quality):
https://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=971868

The next mod I got, was a small group buy that I set up for a few of my friends (with the help of EAS's business address). It was to get the Mason Engineering Front Racing Strut Bar. They were for the updated ones too. This was the only mod that I can recall, that I put on the same day I got it :rofl:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4364/36282269552_e46abf0836_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97FA)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4339/36282269472_0373da8c63_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97Ed)

To end the 2012 year, my friend Brian N. wanted to part out his car and sell it to my other friend. Which meant a lot of work on my part ugh. The majority of the parts went to friends so I guess it wasn't too bad. I bought from him the two things that would have taken the longest to sell/get rid of. That and the fact that he gave me a great price and payment plan.

So I picked up his square set of 18 x 9.5 Apex Arc-8s wrapped in 255/35/18 Michelin Pilot Super Sports. And I also got his Magnaflow Full Catback exhaust. Sounds great. A little on the quieter side for my tastes. But I saved a ton of weight compared to the stock setup lol

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4369/36282269352_f5da338a71_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97C9)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4365/36282269312_a34cfbc57e_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97Bs)

For the start of the new year of 2013, my hood got slightly damaged by a rock. Hit it, dug up some paint and accelerated a clearcoat failure. At first it was small, I didn't do anything about it. Then a couple of months later, it got really big and ugly lol But I pretty much just dealt with it still. I decided that I'll be repainting the entire front clip to also address the front bumper damage from way earlier as well as a couple of dings on the front fenders. Also I wanted to get clear bra to help prevent chips. I spent the rest of the year saving up money pretty much.

Here's a couple of pictures I found of the Bimmerfest 2013 year.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4371/36282269232_f097acf2d2_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97A5)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4401/36282269182_afc0b17d4f_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97zd)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4347/36282269102_21d84a0541_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97xQ)

[sillieidiot]

(2/21/2014)

So as I was saving, I looked in the classifieds one day and saw an M3 fender for sale. Hmm I always wanted M3 fenders. I got a quote from Wayne @ A1 autobody. It's totally doable, so I bought that fender (Thanks Kalim & Albee for the help). Spent the next couple of months working/looking for another cheap one and got that one too. Sorry I don't have any pictures of the fenders themselves.

Then the summer of that year, a really good deal for a black non-sunroof headliner came up. It included all the pillars and bits needed to convert my grey headliner to black (like visors and stuff too). Only thing was that it was pick up only in Vegas. Yeah, roadtrip LOL I dabbled about it. Set my own price limit and offered him that much. Of course, my bad (good?) luck, he accepts it. So yeah I bought it.

I swapped out the pillars and some of the stuff so that I could sell the stock ones to recoup. Can't find pictures of that either lol

So a couple of months go by, and I'm just about ready to get everything done. I sort of hit a snag, well not really. I delayed it, but for good reason. Plus now I can put my non-sunroof headliner to good use.

Too lazy to rewrite it so here's an excerpt:

So since OEM CSL roofs are now discontinued. I was waiting eagerly for the roof made by Evolve to come out. It looks pretty good in pictures and everything, but the thing that I couldn't get over was the price. Their MSRP was way more than OEM, I believe. Not only that, roofs made by other manufacturers for other BMW models were still cheaper.

So after being disappointed, I decided to try and contact Challenge Engineering. They make CF roofs for the E90 M3 and F10 M5. From the roofs that I've seen and some of their other CF stuff, the quality looks great...
Link to thread:
http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=455231

That's my username on M3forum if you can't already tell. Gregory @ Challenge was pretty receptive to the idea, I still had to convince him though, hence why I made the thread in the first place. Then he gave the go ahead and it was on it's way. Of course everyone wanted pictures of the roof and fitment pictures, and since I was the one to bring it up, I offered to be the guinea pig (hence the delay). There was a significant delay due to bad weather but it finally arrived at Challenge and he took some pictures.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4362/36407802166_df593b190a_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xteva1)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4360/36285117162_eabedb89ca_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XhoHbj)

Looks good? Well there was more bad weather on the way and it severely delayed the roof getting to me. Not to mention, Brian N. kept nagging about it all the time. Seriously, it comes when it comes lol I decided to go ahead and drop my car off and hope that it would come sometime during the month, as it was quoted that long to just do my front. The roof install would just extend the date anyways.

A couple of weeks later and I'm delighted to this (I honestly didn't know when it was coming because FedEx tracking was absolutely useless when there are weather delays. It never updated and told me that it wouldn't be here until the following week):

after a lot of delays from FedEx, it's FINALLY here!!! Sorry for the amount pictures, and some of them are probably not even focused. But I was too excited. I'll be dropping it off at the body shop either later today or tomorrow.

Here's some pictures lol I tried taking some macro shots as best as I could.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4411/36453378435_b47d982740_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg6oK)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4388/36453378395_811d0f77e7_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg6o4)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4359/36453378255_1edffd98e6_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg6kD)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4334/36453378235_5ddd550dd7_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg6ki)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4374/36453378135_9e55136539_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg6iz)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4403/36453378085_ea873d224a_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg6hH)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4434/36453378035_e593c5a0a6_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg6gR)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4420/36284939482_6ca3659d33_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XhnNmS)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4436/36284939372_39219165f4_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XhnNjY)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4435/36284939342_37a0feeeca_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XhnNjs)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4416/36284939302_6a1ffdb29b_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XhnNiL)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4387/36453377805_f29a7e409b_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg6cT)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4360/36453377705_dc86105695_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg6ba)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4379/36453377635_63b37b2b40_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg69X)

The roof looks gorgeous. I can't stop staring at it lol It looks like the OEM roofs that I've seen. But I can't be too sure now since I haven't seen one for awhile. But it's incredibly hard for me to take photos that could represent how beautiful it looks. Definitely needs to be seen in person to appreciate.

As for when the install would be finished. I think my car is supposed to be done in 2 weeks. I'm getting other stuff done to it right now so yeah. I think this would be the last thing they install probably.

I ended up dropping it off the same day, since I don't have a car, and my friend offered to take me since he happened to be available right at that time. Of course Brian N. here was pissed as hell at this point. He didn't get to see it in person LOL So of course, the end of the week, I had to go with him so we can "take pictures" of it.

His post on M3forum:

Saw the roof today at the body shop with Hieu. Took some photos sorry if they aren't the best. I think my camera is breaking. We took around 60 but only a few came out alright. We also forgot to bring a microfiber to clean off the dust. :lolhit:

I know it's cliché but I will say it anyways. It looks so much better in person than any of these pictures can show. :drool:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3813/12529581713_0cdb05b402_b.jpg

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2840/12529945184_1efa49bc2f_b.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7448/12529454655_9ffa460d2c_b.jpg

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2878/12529447435_dd65cfcb46_b.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3826/12529451755_0f59ec3942_b.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3671/12529449285_cd0caacaaf_b.jpg

So yeah, now that we're up to speed, this is where I'm at right now. Hopefully the car will finish soon, then I'll post some pictures. Then I plan to do a detail (more like Brian N. will do it, and I watch) and then get it clear bra'd.

[sillieidiot]

(3/26/2014)


bump for updates.

here's a small one.

Saw my car at the shop. Actually, I've been there a few times since I dropped it off. But didn't take many pictures. I took 2 like a couple weeks ago, but I didn't feel like it was enough for an update. But there is enough today.

wheels look so much bigger without fenders lol:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4420/36282269042_03915aaed7_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97wN)

headliner and sunroof out:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4364/35642764203_e4bc421f42_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WiCu2i)

Then today I came by, since I was in the area and I see that they are getting ready to put the roof on. I had them just put on the roof for me to take some quick fitment pictures. I quoted a post I made on m3forum so I don't have to rewrite everything.


Sorry guys, again, for the late update. I guess there was some delay from fedex (i think they have it out for me or something :thumbsdown:) for the glue required to put on the roof. They just received it today, but won't be gluing it until the owner comes back later today (i dropped by unannouced since it was on the way). But I did get some pictures of just the roof on the car for you to show fitment.

Keep in mind, the roof panel HAS NOT been glued on yet and it's not in it's FINAL position.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4425/36284939012_5846654cdf_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XhnNdL)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4399/36284938962_8790710093_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XhnNcU)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4416/36284938832_8efa34ef70_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XhnNaE)

This obviously needs to be moved over. I forgot to take one of the other side.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4422/36453377355_225ef11e72_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg658)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4392/36453377285_25e03d0091_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg63V)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4355/36453377255_f4a5dccb55_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg63p)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4340/36453377215_d715afe536_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg62H)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4442/36284938562_b93d21410c_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XhnN61)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4366/36284938402_8f67cb566f_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XhnN3f)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4377/36453376785_384e56940c_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg5Ui)

The guys there told me that the fitment was spot on. It could have passed for OEM if I didn't already tell them that it wasn't :thumbsup2: They said that they don't even have to do any cutting, just need the glue and to put it on and it should be good. Great news for me i guess lol

yeah so there you go. now i'm more excited to see the car finished.

[sillieidiot]

(4/3/2014)

iono if i consider this an update. but i took some crappy cellphone pictures. so i'm going to post it lol basically they glued the roof down. and put the glass back on.

now that the roof is on, they are shooting for next week to finish the rest of the car.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4337/36453376545_a3ecf3a5ef_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg5Qa)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4382/36453376385_7b5643ba60_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg5Mp)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4379/36453376295_7889f7e92d_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg5KR)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4402/36453376225_5b6783ddde_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg5JD)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4378/36453376075_2886c12c5c_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg5G4)

damn, my finger managed to sneak in a shot

[sillieidiot]

(4/17/2014)


Awesome, definitely one of my favorite facelift coupes ever. Can't wait to see more pics :thumbup:

thanks man :clap:


Damn Hieu! Your car is looking good! Loving the updates....can't wait to see everything put back together and cleaned....I bet your car is going to look awesome! :thumbsup:

i know i can't wait. but sadly, i guess it's not going to be done week :(. but it looks like i maybe only have to wait another week. snuck in a quick picture before i left.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4367/36282268932_8b967818ef_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97uU)

fenders look good on the car. my hood now fits even better which is a plus. but it's getting really close to the hard deadline. if they don't make it next week, i won't be able to make bfest :(

[sillieidiot]

(5/15/2014)


damn i cant wait to see it done! im not coming over until you get the car back LOL

better not forget the money for the lip lol


I literally lol'ed when I read that part of your post :rofl:

:rofl:


almost there, so close:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4349/36282268912_5ea792228c_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97uy)

picture wasn't really the greatest. the car was on a small hill facing down. it was really hot so i just took a quick picture and got the hell out of there lol

[sillieidiot]

(5/16/2014)

Ok so now with the distraction out of the way. Got my car back yesterday. I took some pictures today with my temporary POS phone. Posting it up anyways mainly because Jason (Devious1) told me the pictures I sent him sucked ass lol

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4379/36282268792_810f953556_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97su)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4337/36282268722_7a9104f837_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97rh)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4417/36282268662_439e776423_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97qf)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4345/36282268642_5008861d47_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97pU)

Still a few things that I need to go back and take care of, then clear bra. then i can drive the car again. But man, first time driving the car in 3 months, the car was light as hell. Felt way lighter than it is usually.

[sillieidiot]

(5/20/2014)

looks so nice, i took another picture :drool::
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4375/36404856436_1f2eb3dcf7_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYpuy)

[sillieidiot]

(5/26/2014)

Small update:

Here are some pictures Brian N. took of my car at the gas station on his iPhone.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4360/36282268432_fa2e9d6e66_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97mh)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4379/36282268322_35d4290e3e_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97jo)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4341/36282268172_dd42230b05_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97gN)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4373/36282268042_ed719b159c_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh97ey)

Ignore the gas pump :eek:

You can't really see the CF on the roof as well. But don't worry, I got you guys covered with this update to my CSL roof thread on m3forum:


Alright, it was a nice day today and the car was outside so I'm finally able to take more pictures of the roof. I guess this is fit/finish pictures part 2. I wanted to take pictures of the roof before I put on my clear bra so you guys have a more accurate feel for the finish.

The red that you see, is from the camera. I think it's from the sun being directly behind. The roof is still pretty dirty. I only did a quick wipe down.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4395/36453376025_511a3a89bc_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg5Fc)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4384/36453375955_43f82e07a6_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg5DZ)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4393/36453375905_b289894da5_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg5D8)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4335/36056349610_202f82fa45_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WWbdyb)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4421/36453375845_13d7e527e5_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xxg5C6)

Pictures just can't do it justice. Well I guess not with my photography skills anyways lol

All fitment pictures have been updated in the first post as well. Time to jump on it for you stragglers that have been holding out :thumbsup2:

Still a few things needed to be done on my car and I should be good for this modding year:
- adjust height (m3 fender arch sits higher than non-m, so there's a gap now)
- vinyl window trim gloss black (have vinyl, just lazy lol)
- install CSL rails (stock ones are on right now, waiting for them to come in)
- re-attach my angel eye wiring
- clear bra (should be done in a week)
- detail (courtesy of Brian N.)

I think that's all that is needed, I forgot

[sillieidiot]

(6/3/2014)

Was super busy the last couple of days. But here is a nice update.

So yesterday, I spent the day running around picking up stuff that we needed for the short detail/paint correction needed for the clear bra. I dropped off the car to get a few minor adjustments as I mentioned and got the car back the same day. Washed it too so that it could be ready :excited:

Then this morning at 6am, we started the detail so that I could make my 9am appointment for clear bra (I didn't make it :rofl: more on it later).

Brian N. did basically all the work, I only did the parts that required hand polishing lol

Brian started off claying the car, but because of fresh paint, it took all of like 15 mins to do the front and roof lol

Next was the CF roof (used an MF pad w/ Menzerna FG 400)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4341/36450562195_531e1f99d1_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1EdT)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4432/36450561915_bc16db2d66_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1E94)

Then the hood next using a brand new MF pad with the same polish. Here's a shot of him on the vents:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4370/36450561745_88a14e472b_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1E68)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4336/36313481401_7f0a463581_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjU5SV)

Didn't take any pictures of the fenders since while he was doing that, i was hand polishing the kidney grill area. I also watched him do the headlights. My headlights weren't that bad, but might as well since it's getting covered too.

Next up was the front bumper:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4391/36313480931_679c42d871_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjU5JP)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4416/36313480771_bb878033a2_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjU5G4)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4430/36313480671_b0b23e975f_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjU5Ek)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4351/36313480281_5d334fe1c5_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjU5xB)

Finally went back to the CF roof to make it extra glossy. Cause you know, that's the most important piece (Used a white foam pad w/ Menzerna SF4500):

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4431/36313480031_60ba7b9d7c_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjU5ti)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4340/36313479911_fa5e4bf435_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjU5re)

While he was doing the finishing touches on the roof, i hand polished the door cups since that was getting covered too.

Yep the roof looked like glass :str8pimpi. So nice. Then with our crappy phones :banghead:, we tried to take pictures of it cause this would be the only time you'd be able to see it after polishing and before clear bra.

Nothing came out great, but here are my attempts anyways:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4416/36282266592_778fd2a0f6_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh96Ny)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4374/36282266542_03e911fa6c_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh96MG)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4367/36282266502_dd7d537d3e_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh96M1)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4334/36282266442_7e046b2461_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh96KY)

So back to the 9am time. When we decided to go ahead and make the roof more glossy I was already cutting it close. Then I wasted more time by trying to take pictures of it. I ended up 30ish minutes late :lmao: But they were cool about it though.

Special thanks to Brian N. for waking up early, driving up here just to detail :bow: Now go buy the roof already ;)

[sillieidiot]

(6/16/2014)

Here's some pictures from when I got my car back from clear bra. It was the same day we did the polishing, but I was too tired/lazy to go through the rest of the pictures.

Anyways, I got a full hood/fenders/bumper wrapped. Along with the CF roof, mirrors, headlights, and door cups. They did a great job @ Protective Film Solutions in Santa Ana :thumbsup:. You can't even see the seams unless your face was directly in it. Especially on my hood where the vents are. That's where you should see the most seams and it's perfect.

Here's a few pictures I took after I picked it up:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4440/36282266372_70019160d2_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh96JL)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4430/36282266332_82c21894ab_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh96J5)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4336/36404854046_02ba748da4_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYoMm)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4397/36404853876_49020a9fae_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYoJq)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4390/36404853766_8ed0a7783b_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYoGw)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4419/36282266062_e3cb006dc9_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh96Dq)

I tried taking a picture of the seam on the bumper line. They had to cut around it since there's not enough surface area for the film to stick if you push it in side. It was hard to capture the seam even still.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4430/36282265982_0a6dfe2287_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh96C3)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4435/36282265922_1fc64f77aa_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh96B1)

Then the roof, it still looks as good as when we polished it. Like nothing was ever there :str8pimpi

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4396/36282265742_9c2eb4dd71_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh96xU)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4345/36282265652_ebdaf74475_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh96wm)

Obviously, I plan to take better pictures later. It's just I'm not allowed to wash my car right now. Car is getting dirty as hell :(

fast forward to yesterday, I finally did my oil change. It was overdue like 3 months ago since it's been sitting at the shop. Oil was pretty dirty.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4414/36282265562_96c37e42a6_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh96uN)

My makeshift oil drain. The real ones cost too much lol

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4418/36404852736_ba21dc5950_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYooL)

While I was doing that, I took the time to snap some quick pictures of my lighted door handle LED modules for the members that PMed me about it. I used the e92 ones. The e90 ones have 3 LEDs in them and are larger in size as opposed to 2.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4359/36404852556_a65725a6ca_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYokE)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4393/36404852396_97bebb4aa6_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYohU)

I also took a picture of my BMWPedals (now called PedalHaus) heel extension that I had Brian@BMWPedals made. It also lifts the pedal up like 1/4" or something. I forgot the exact thickness. You can see their clutch stop (this was prototype version 2) in the back too.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4433/36404852276_64afeb043b_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYofQ)

Overall, I'm happy with the bra so far. I already scrapped on my bumper, and destroyed a little bit of the clear bra that overlapped down the splitters lol I guess I hit it pretty hard, and the film did it's job as best that it could since the scratches in that area were way shallower than the parts that weren't protected. I need to make a plate to protect that area now.

And then another fail happened to me yesterday. I was about to install my SS brake lines, when I realized that I got 2 fronts doh! :facepalm: I bought this like back in July/August 2013 lol Luckily, Robert@EAS is taking care of me on the exchange.

edit:
Just updated my first post with my current mod list too.

[sillieidiot]

(7/8/2014)


so cleannnnnnn

Thanks man

update:
I got these like a week or so ago.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4426/36404852136_7a5247b260_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYodq)

BimmerBrakes Gen3 reps. I don't plan on putting them on any time soon though. I plan to send them to Swaintech first to have it coated, then go from there.

Then today, this came in for me:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4439/36404851976_f8fe37532f_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYoaE)

They are just the CSL rails. I'll take some pictures of the rails after I put them in I guess.

[sillieidiot]

(7/14/2014)


Saw Hieu's car in person... pics don't do it justice. It is gorgeous!


This car is definitely coming along! Can't wait to see what's next. I have the same pedals on my AW E46. I picked them up at Bimmerfest and loved the little brackets that help guide your drill bit during install. Made it 100x easier than when I put ACS pedals in my old car.

thanks guys.

so one of my CSL rails came in scratched and chipped from ECStuning. Now I have to wait until September for a new rail :facepalm: I don't understand why they didn't just wrap the damaged rail as nice as they did for the undamaged one.

Anyhow, I washed my car today. Even washed my wheels, which i'm normally lazy to do. Supposed to have it detailed this week by Brian, but he's hurt himself so maybe next week i guess.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4380/36404851886_d0d3ba752e_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYo97)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4416/36282264912_df9dbe62b2_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh96iA)

[sillieidiot]

(8/12/2014)


tastefully modded. love it! :thumbsup:


car is looking good man!


car is looking good man! i miss my e46!


Ditto. Can't stop picking through this thread.

thanks guys.

So some updates...

My friend Jason (Devious1) decided to sell his car. So while we were parting his car, I took the chance to trade him a couple of things that I wanted. I got his Turner Motorsports sway bars and rear adjustable camber arms.

Some pictures during the install process:

Stock ones:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4356/36282264832_38f73509f8_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh96hd)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4387/36404851596_888afdb362_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYo47)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4368/36404851506_ae6b58709f_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYo2y)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4394/36282264602_257681b1c2_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh96df)

Turner ones (dirty, but still in great condition nonetheless):

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4431/36404851326_11fcca2e2e_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYnYs)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4358/36282264432_26faf5c546_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh96aj)

During the install process, I couldn't adjust the front shocks on the ASTs to adjust for preload on the sways because one of my lug nuts were seized so I just left it like that. But the next day, when up on something and then here a loud pop. I was like "damn, I just broke those endlinks." Well turns out, all it did was break the endlink bracket loose. After taking off the seized lug nut, I lifted up to adjust it and all was well. Luckily those endlink brackets can be adjusted, if it was welded on, something would have broken for sure.

Currently, they are set to soft/soft for the front/rear bars. And the rear camber arms is set to -1 deg, cause that's how it was on his car. I plan to get an alignment after i do my lines and lower the front.

Then the next day, I couldn't take it being dirty as hell anymore. So I washed it.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4339/36282264382_7fcd7ca81d_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh969s)

Today....

I went to EAS to pick up my rear SS lines finally. It was an exchange because I got 2 fronts instead of a front/rear set. I also bought one lug nut to replace the one that got seized on my stud.

Took some pictures while I was out front lol

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4401/36282264282_e0a97e5f21_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh967J)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4365/36404850986_683791d624_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYnSA)

My gf wanted one too :D
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4418/36282264172_fc245e1482_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh965Q)

and their newest addition to their shop...

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4408/36404850846_4968aacf27_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYnQb)

I'm really loving how my car looks right now. I'll probably take care of the SS lines and brake flush + CDV delete sometime this week.

I was going to ask Anthony to take some pictures, But decided not to. I'll ask him once i get the shadowline vinyl done and finish the adjustments on the car. That would be my final round of mods for now.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I just put in an order for a custom Autosolutions SSK for my car. It won't be here until like October or something though, I can't wait for it.

[sillieidiot]

(8/14/2014)

I got my other CSL rail in finally. I got it wrapped in Xpel yesterday. I am not buying these again, have to wait to damn long, and if it's damaged like last time, wait even longer. So I wrapped it. Looks good, again, can't even tell. I am getting it installed at A1 tomorrow.

A couple of pictures (for some reason my phone took them in B&W):

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4341/36404850676_680faf4692_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYnMf)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4364/36404850396_ae999c65a8_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYnGq)

[sillieidiot]

(8/17/2014)

Installed the rails yesterday @ A1. I guess they beta-linked my rails the first time around lol but they got it off pretty easily which was cool. I decided to use 3M double sided tape this time around. But so far it doesn't really sit down correctly :banghead:. So I think I'll just go back to gluing it again.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4436/36404850156_db23da76a2_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYnCh)

Wayne and his assistant:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4337/36404849896_b530093542_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYnxN)

Took off the first rail in great condition (driver's side):

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4407/35615410704_490c2fbee1_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdhMf)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4382/36404849656_5fe478d5d2_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYntE)

The other side, not so much :( (passenger side):

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4358/36404849486_1bd37aabb3_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYnqJ)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4402/36313474691_2458cf4466_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjU3Te)

Installed (don't mind the marks, just dirty.):

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4347/36404849246_ca81b97efa_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYnmA)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4408/36282263222_e9a949e762_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh95Ns)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4333/36282263162_b57287b384_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh95Mq)

Not much difference between the rails. The CSL rails used thicker gauge metal so it felt heavier. It deletes the roof rack holes, which i never use anyways. And I replaced it because my stock ones didn't have the rubber when they repainted it, and the huge gap bothered me lol

so today...

Washed the car again. No I didn't do it because I wanted to waste water lol

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4429/36404848976_336c69c596_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYngW)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4417/36282263032_15b016585f_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh95Kb)

Brian was coming over. You know what that means...:excited: Yep, detail. Went through it pretty fast today, a lot faster than before, but it's probably cause we did one like less than a year ago.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4382/35615409724_a74beb9669_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdhum)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4413/35615409664_c16c0826a5_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdhtj)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4370/35615409544_3c5d4fa903_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdhrf)

I didn't take much pictures after he finished polishing. We tried out a new nano glaze from Wolf's Chemicals after he was done polishing the car. I guess it's like a permanent glaze of sorts that is also used as a pre-cleaner for the new sealant I got. I had HardBody sealant before, it was super glossy and super slick already. But the new Bodyguard (which is the successor) came out and I had to try that too lol

So far I only put on one coat, I needed to wait until tomorrow to do the second coat. I'll try to take some pictures, but no promises cause I'm busy as hell tomorrow too.

[sillieidiot]

(9/17/2014)

So I got a really bad rock chip on my front bumper. It was so bad that it actually took a chunk out of my bumper, but luckily, with my clear bra on, the chunk is hanging by a little flap. I'm going to glue it back down to minimize how bad it looks. But the rest of the car seems good so far. Just bummed that it happened though :cry:

Then I went to EAS for an alignment last Friday. My settings weren't as optimal as it were last time cause I guess the arms were seized. But I might go back to get it readjusted. If I do, i'll loosen the rear camber arms for them so that they could actually adjust it more.

While I was there, I asked Anthony@EAS to take those really nice pictures of my car again. Pictures came out great (even though we had that weird orangey light from the fire), thanks again :bow:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4439/36053543490_cde1607c84_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVQoN)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4438/36053543380_ed8bc9e715_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVQmU)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4432/35615409324_fde07bea58_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdhns)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4413/36053543040_6b03f89f20_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVQg3)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4356/36053542570_0691a73bbe_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVQ7W)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4386/36450550795_43e655d399_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1AQk)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4425/36053541890_6ece44daaa_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVPVd)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4336/36053541650_9dbef3d59f_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVPR5)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4392/36053541480_25b814df20_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVPN9)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4436/36053541030_ef6a33621c_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVPEo)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4409/36053540960_c60cf70439_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVPDb)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4381/36450549345_c9439717f4_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1Apk)

My skid plates seem to have done their job though. While my car was on the lift, I checked it out, and i must have scraped on something hard lol

I also did attempt to apply the gloss vinyl before taking some pictures. But I did not like the look of the gloss vinyl at all. From like 4ft away, looks perfect. But from up close, the amount of orange peel bothers the **** out of me. Not to mention, I would have to do the upper trim in 2 pieces rather than one piece since it can't make the bend at the rear window. I may revisit this later once I find gloss black vinyl that looks better when seen up close.

I'm pretty much done as far as exterior goes...for now.

Next up is my custom Autosolutions SSK that is currently being made. I probably won't install it until like winter break probably since I don't have much time nowadays.

[sillieidiot]

(10/23/2014)


Roof looks good. Well done


Sent from BimmerApp mobile app

thanks :)

Yesterday, I talked to a cool e46 m3 owner on the drive to school. Kind of hard to talk and drive at the same time side by side lol I guess he just brought his Apex to get tires, saw my car and zipped up (he was in his e39) to tell me how it looked. I didn't even notice him until he said hi lol

So today one of my friends brought this link to my attention:
http://www.bmwblog.com/2014/10/22/alpine-white-bmw-e46-330ci-tuning-build/#

Though the info about EAS building my car is wrong, but whatever, I don't mind helping them out.

Then I searched and found out that EAS posted my car on their blog:
http://europeanautosource.com/blog/sillieidiot-s-alpine-white-e46-330ci.html

which led to these tiny blogs picking it up:
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/clean-bmw-e46-330ci-has-more-than-one-ace-up-its-sleeve-photo-gallery-87075.html
http://www.automnews.com/?p=59099
http://www.autonews.name/bmw/bmw-330ci-e46-by-european-auto-source/

[sillieidiot]

(11/7/2014)

Ronald sent me some pictures of my custom Autosolutions SSK awhile back that I was too lazy to post. Posting it now since I'm up early for no reason. Currently it's just the shift lever, selector rod, and that little piece at the end (forgot what it's called). Ronald still has to make the shift arm (or shift carrier for those that don't know). He's been super busy, so that's like all he's done, and he's doing it as a side project so probably not going to finish by winter break for me to install it lol

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4411/36450549095_5c2879ce31_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1Ak2)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4389/36053540300_b4df739c61_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVPrN)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4338/36053540010_790e0e2076_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVPmN)

[sillieidiot]

(11/30/2014)


Legit Hieu! I need to swing by sometime and check it out! I need to order one of those shifters too damn. Those updated CSL rails look sweet! Might need to swap mine out too HAHA

yeah, whenever i actually install it. it's probably going to come, then i don't install it for like 6 months lol


anyhow, it rained today, so I just took the chance to wash my car. I haven't washed it since like sept when i went ot EAS for the alignment. the sun started coming out at the end so i quick dried it and snapped a couple of pictures :pimpin: didn't wash the wheels though, but whatever, looks fine ;)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4380/36053539710_19cce41d52_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVPgC)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4428/36053539520_1bdeac09a9_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVPdm)

still loving the cf roof. i keep trying to capture it, but it never comes out right lol

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4356/36053539180_b5bee2eee1_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVP7u)

[sillieidiot]

(5/24/2015)

not much of an update here, but seeing as how I haven't posted in like a few months here some update pictures that aren't really updates lol

I just took some pre-Bfest pictures the other day. But I didn't take any pictures of my car at Bfest. Well I did but they all came out bad lol The only update is that I finally got around to sealing my CF roof and vents, so they are even more glossy now. But it's not much of a difference since they were already glossy to begin with. Here's some pictures I just snapped off my phone without editing. Hopefully I'll have a more meaningful update next time :rofl:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4410/36450594545_04e71c445a_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1PQD)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4346/36404872296_52fb6a1072_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYud1)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4359/35642784443_d766f4ee2d_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WiCA3g)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4391/36053574040_bc6e02b9f2_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVZtw)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4342/35642784233_0243820f26_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WiCzYD)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4343/35642783973_da521ed940_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WiCzUa)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4332/36053539070_4b0bdda482_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVP5A)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4378/35642783763_7a5297050f_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WiCzQx)

[sillieidiot]

(11/14/2015)

Not much of an update here. Everything you guys have seen before. But here's some back story. In August, my car got damaged (not my fault). The damage was mainly the hood, front bumper, headlights, and some aero ducting. I was so sad/angry, I didn't bother taking pictures of how it looked damaged. I just took it to the shop straight that day.

I was ready for the worst with the hood, but my body shop told me the clear bra held it together really well that they were able to fix the hood. The damage was around the kidney grills mainly. I got new BMW performance grills since both fell out somewhere on the way to the body shop. It was broken anyways so whatever. I got a new headlight as well since the tabs were broken and transferred my angels over. The front bumper was an easy fix, again clear bra helped.

So like 3 months later, I drove it yesterday to get clear bra installed again on my hood/bumper. Looks good again. I only took two snaps while they were finishing up on the car so yeah.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4401/35642783693_86a14fd7f0_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WiCzPk)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4368/36053573680_432735260d_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVZnj)

The only truly new "mod" is that I got some aluminum scrape plates made by a friend. I have been using some temporary plastic ones for awhile now and they are scraped up to hell, but held up. They are pretty thick. I just need to paint the top side black before I install them. The plastic ones are currently on the car in the mean time.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4362/35642783593_1c3ec644c5_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WiCzMB)

Excuse the fingerprints lol They look too good already in their unfinished form to even put on the car tbh

My current plans are to do all the preventative maintenance I was supposed to do in August in the first place. As for the shifter, I held off on it because of this. I plan to hit up Ronald to get it fully finished early next year when I have some more funds.

[sillieidiot]

(2/11/2016)

Not much of an update. I did an oil change sometime ago. I then bought some Turner hub extenders and put them on. I had a lot of vibration in the front wheels ever since I put on my 5mm spacers. It really bothered me so I finally put on the extenders. It pretty much fixed like 80% of the vibration. I think the other 20% is honestly because I need to balance the wheels lol Since I now only get the vibration at around 65 MPH. It's perfectly smooth up until then unlike before. I also powder coated the scrape plates and installed them too. It's already chipped, but it saved my bumper. A car turned into me, so to avoid them I hit a dip/hole or something like that. Heard a loud scrape and I was like :ben: But when I went to check, bumper was perfect. The plate is scraped to hell on the bottom and the corner, and there's a chip/dent on the top side. Working as intended lol I'll probably replace them down the line, and make another version with holes in it to clear the screws I have under there for better contact. I'm still using 3M double sided tape and it works perfectly fine.

I kept the stock cap in good condition in case I ever want to put it on. Most likely not lol:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4401/35642783443_91f6b57bce_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WiCzK2)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4414/35615436664_2ec4f86213_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdquQ)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4385/35615436454_6c8716d0be_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdqrd)

As for future plans:
This year I'm supposed to do all my preventative maintenance. And possibly rear end reinforcement and LSD. But my rear bumper's clear coat has been coming off after the rain came (prior damage). It is really starting to bother me, so I think I'll probably take care of that. I might finish the rear fenders while I'm at it, but who knows. I need a good deal on some M3 rear fenders. But we'll see how it goes I guess.

[sillieidiot]

(8/10/2016)

Here's a small update. It's actually not for my car lol But I just wanted to show you guys one of these projects that have been keeping me busy. Just finished this one up, and it's e46 related so yeah.

I don't know what his username is on here. But maybe he'll post if he see this.

Just a normal projector retrofit project. You just don't really see many of these done to a facelift coupe headlight.

Headlight specs:
- OE Halogens retrofitted with Mini-D2S projectors
- Khoalty Helios angel eyes
- Osram CBI bulbs
- Morimoto XB35 HID kit w/D2S adapter (mounted in the factory ballast location, not shown in pictures)
- White LED bulbs (dunno where he got them from)


Headlights getting ready to be baked. (The zebra blanket makes it return to the stage once again :rofl:)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4407/35647401303_321198cd3d_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wj3fti)


How it looks opened with the original halogen projector:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4346/36286898262_91fc6a59a0_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XhxQCW)

Test fit with the Mini-D2S projectors and angel eyes. I believe the projector wasn't fully mounted in this picture. See the heat gun? Well during the test fit, the lens got stuck together again :banghead: :ben:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4419/36286897462_070d1f1ff5_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XhxQp9)

Finished products :clap::

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4375/36286897302_d45d03fff5_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XhxQmo)

This was a teaser picture that I sent to the client. The angels were powered by a 9v battery so they weren't as bright:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4411/36286897062_7a3dd6a68e_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XhxQhf)

I attempted to take some pictures of it lit up at night. Didn't turn out good with my camera skills lol But here's the best of them I guess:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4399/35647401633_d31d03cbe7_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wj3fyZ)

The LED corners were blinking so that's why they look dim here:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4365/36286896812_1a9a2a862e_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XhxQcW)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4405/35647400393_d3e803701a_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wj3fcB)

Cutoff picture. We were like iono 20ft from the wall or something. Taken from the moonroof cause I was too lazy to get out :P

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4428/36286897812_4cb4d66878_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XhxQvb)

While doing it it made me really want to give it another shot with my car. But eh, I know I'm too lazy to do it for my own car. If I'm getting paid sure lol

But now I'm freed up for a bit, so I'll probably start knocking out those preventative maintenance items soon.

edit:
Jon wanted me to throw these up. His friend took them. Looks better I guess, but it's just his car with angels on lol Then again, it's not like you could tell that I did anything. Which to me is how it should be.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4439/36318066351_438e8f8005_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XkizPM)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4355/35647400123_2cc1c6a869_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wj3f7X)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4352/36318066291_b74b172e7a_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XkizNK)

[sillieidiot]

(10/31/2016)

Very small update:

The BMW rental is gone and I can drive the car again. I just got back from a Vietnam trip. Still haven't done any of those preventative maintenance that I was planning on doing. I forgot to buy some things so those are on the way. I almost bought a used TS1 lol

Today, I dressed up my car for Halloween. Well I just gave it some teeth :rofl:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4439/36313512321_86f6469e2d_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUf52)

Pretty much all I got so far.

[sillieidiot]

(12/3/2016)

I finally have a large enough update worth reading about lol.

I finally got around to starting to install all the preventative maintenance stuff that I've been telling you guys that I planned to do.

Picture of the box of stuff. I was too lazy to take everything out to show you what I actually bought. It's missing some stuff in the picture because I only remembered to take a picture of the box after I already started :facepalm:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4383/36313511981_4bd81dfc4b_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUeYa)

I started like last week. First up, I finally got my custom Autosolutions SSK from Ronald finally. The thing has some heft to it, and looks well made. I like the fact that he etched my name into the side of it lol

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4425/35615436174_efb4aab76d_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdqmo)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4399/36313511611_ff7b49bb3a_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUeRM)

My buddy, John, came over to help. So up it went. Taking the exhaust off and stuff is so much easier with the lift. I also have a transmission jack, so no one has to like hold the exhaust. But I mean the Magnaflow catback I have is pretty light for two people anyways. We had to lower the transmission to get to the shifter coupling. Man that **** is such a :censor: to get off. I never want to take it off again lol I only remembered to take pictures after the exhaust and everything was off and we already started putting everything in :rofl:

The picture shows the new custom carrier, selector rod, and lever.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4408/35615435974_336c9360ba_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdqhW)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4334/36313511441_587262d08e_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUeNR)

We did run into a little problem though :( So when I got everything in, and I went up into the car to test it out, I noticed that the shifter was no longer centered. It's like .5" off to the passenger side. It's like basically shifted a whole gate over so neutral is like where 5/6 would be. But since the SSK throws are shorter than what I had before, I could still shift through all the gears fine lol I phoned Ronald, and after some troubleshooting, we think it's the selector rod. From my preliminary findings, it looks like the offset is slightly off.

So there goes that, I just sent him both my factory and his custom selector rod and am now awaiting the new one to be made and sent back. He confirmed that the offset is off like 2mm and that would cause it to be off by up to 10mm at the top.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4409/36053538770_8e41822eb7_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVNZq)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4413/36313511391_0693a29d72_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUeMZ)

So when I pull it all the way to the left, it looks like it's centered

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4361/36313510871_d1121d7749_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUeD2)

Let go, and it's off

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4393/36313510641_dca70a067a_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUez4)

So since I couldn't do anything, I left the car up on the lift for like 3 days to wait for the part since I didn't want to put the car down and lift it back up again. But that was all pointless because over the weekend, it was going to rain :ben: So that meant I had to clean up everything and put the car down so that I could cover my lift and stuff from the rain (since my lift is mounted outside). it rained until like Monday? I think?

On Tuesday, since the car was down I decided that I would just go ahead and start tackling the VCG, DISA and all that stuff. The things that I planned to do that day were:


Clean ICV
Clean TB
Replace intake hoses with Mishimoto silicone intake hoses
Upgrade the DISA with the German Auto Solutions DISA upgrade kit


I didn't take much pictures of what I did then lol All I have are a couple pictures of the G.A.S. DISA stuff.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4414/35615435474_06919456dc_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdq9j)

Scraping off the molded silicone o-ring part is super time consuming. Here's a picture with the unit fully assembled without the new o-ring installed yet.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4339/36313510231_425d93f39b_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUerZ)

The Mishimoto silicone hoses have their branding on it everywhere. But as most people who know me, I don't like to have too much of that stuff. I just ended up taking some black electrical tape and putting it on where the logos were to keep it more low key.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4362/36053538410_7b433f698d_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVNTd)

Then decided to end the day here and cleaned up :P

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4337/35615435284_372866e513_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdq63)

Then Wednesday, John came over again to help me tackle the rest of the stuff. Since we were short on time this was what we got done:


Replace VCG
Replace spark plugs
Remove washer bottle
Cleaned the valve covers and surrounding areas a little.


My engine was pretty clean. In fact, the VCG was still somewhat malleable. It actually made it more difficult to take off the valve cover than when it's all old and brittle. The seals around the spark plugs though were old and basically broke off like chips.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4379/36313509911_27501af8df_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUemt)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4394/36313509731_a1a1f985ab_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUein)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4440/36053538250_f0f1ab3564_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVNQs)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4408/36313509611_457518a63b_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUegi)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4435/35615434884_b1cc422d02_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdpY9)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4440/36313509381_5930e02c43_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUeck)

I forgot to take pictures of the plugs, but they did not look good :rofl:

Put everything back and basically cleaned up with time to spare. I don't think you could tell a difference between how it looked dirty and sort of clean here lol

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4436/36053538070_7a225947bb_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVNMm)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4434/35642781513_16753f1b4a_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WiCzaK)

So we actually started to do the next part of my long to do list. Took the electric fan off, and the belts to get ready to do the cooling system refresh tomorrow. And that's pretty much where we're at. It's so much easier to take off the fan on my car lol There's like a ton of room in front of the pulleys now, I'm not used to that.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4352/36313509121_501a3bbca8_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUe7R)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4399/36450590725_ba425488d9_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1NGM)

Snapped a picture of the way the serpentine belt goes for reference later. Look at how cracked the belts were :yikes:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4359/35615406294_3014fe32da_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdgtd)

Thursday, I planned to tackle the rest of the cooling system refresh. Things to do:


Replace belts
Replace expansion tank
Replace water pump with Stewart water pump.
Replace thermostat
Replace coolant hoses with Mishimoto silicone coolant hoses.
Coolant flush


I decided against doing the radiator because it was still in very good condition. I'll probably replace that on the next refresh. I also didn't do the pulleys yet because I haven't figured out whether I want to do a power pulley set, or just go with OEM again. Or maybe put on a supercharger :idea: which would replace the pulleys too.

Taking off the belts was easy. But man, taking off the expansion tank was ridiculously hard for some reason. I spent like a good 2 hours pulling on that POS to finally get it out. And then the coolant hoses. God dammit, also very hard and also took me 2 hours to take those off. That's pretty much all I was able to do that day lol

Reused my transmission jack to drain the coolant

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4345/35642781343_c3f9b59e27_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WiCz7P)

Expansion tank removed

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4386/35642781193_754af35c08_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WiCz5e)

When I took off the expansion tank, I saw this metal cylindrical thing come out. I was like WTF is this?! I've never seen it before. Then I check the new one, I guess it's meant to stay inside the tank. Good to know, I wasn't driving around with random metal parts in my system :lmao:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4357/36313508421_2d75e9135a_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUdUM)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4378/36053537800_9f8ac1e08c_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVNGG)

My radiator hoses are in super good condition. I could totally sell this. Same thing with my expansion tank lol But I probably won't, iono.

Hoses removed, picture taken from the bottom.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4424/36404868016_b1cbbd0eca_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYsWd)

Comparison of the OEM vs. Mishimoto ones (with the black electrical tape mod)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4371/36450546845_39c05e89e6_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1zEe)

I need to go buy distilled water for the coolant too. That's pretty much where I'm at. I was busy yesterday, and it's windy as hell so I haven't touched the car. Ronald@autosolutions sent me a text that he shipped out the selector rod, so I'm looking forward to that. Hopefully, it won't be too windy later today and I could try get some more of the stuff out of the way.

[sillieidiot]

(12/3/2016)

The weather was pretty nice today. John came by again to help knock out the stuff we were working on Thursday. It was pretty straightforward for the most part. Remove the water pump pulley, then thermostat, then water pump. Then put everything back.

Thermostat removed. Looks perfectly fine like all the other parts. Can you tell which one is the new one?

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4404/36313507801_58429f47c9_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUdJ6)

It's the bottom one, for those that are playing along.

Next was the water pump. Nothing wrong with it, but the old one had some rust where to pulley mounts to.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4436/35615433734_365016f450_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdpCj)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4369/36450588965_ba9392d005_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1Nbr)

Thermostat/water pump reinstalled

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4350/36053537660_e6cc689198_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVNEh)

New belts and the Mishimoto silicone radiator hoses. These fit pretty much perfectly. The only thing was that on the top one, the clamp was hitting the engine hoist bracket. All we had to do was just loosen it and move it out of the way.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4411/35615433324_1573cf347a_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdpvf)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4430/36450588545_8a87105cfb_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1N4c)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4385/36450588265_b037dcacc9_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1MYn)

Then I replaced my washer bottle finally. I deleted my headlight washers back when I did the whole M3 fenders thing. So my washer bottle had always been leaking because factory reservoir had the hole for the headlight washer pump and it kept leaking from there. So I bought a non-headlight washer bottle along with a brand new washer pump to go with it. I'm finally glad to have a working, non-leaking washer fluid pump/bottle now lol :excited:

As you can see, on the bottle on the top right, you have the headlight washer pump. Then that hole you see under it is the one for the normal washer pump. On the bottom bottle, there's no hole/space for that headlight washer.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4429/36450546605_186c4c8069_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1zA6)

Then finally went back to put the DISA in, and started putting on the Mishimoto silicone intake hoses. It looks like I ran into the same problem that a few people have reported here where it seems like the hoses are too long :facepalm: Why haven't they fixed this yet?

Here's some pictures to show how much it's off by.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4373/36450588105_b318b0800d_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1MVB)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4343/36053537410_8d49b041ec_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVNzY)

Pretty much since we were stuck at that point. Just decided to call it a day after I put the cabin air filter housing and stuff back in. This is how it looks currently with everything install except for the air intake stuff.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4420/35615432904_7a7f44e872_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdpo1)

I'm going to look online to see if there is something I'm not doing right on the intake boots and if there's anything else I could do. In the meantime, I'll be reaching out to them to see if they could provide a solution.

There's not much left to do after this. I won't be free to work on it at least until Monday.

Things to do next week:

Install intake hoses/air filter
Oil change
Fill coolant
Fuel filter
Clean speed sensors
Finish SSK install when the selector rod arrives

[sillieidiot]

(12/7/2016)

I had a couple hours to spare today so I started working on the selector rod that came in from Ronald on Monday. Install was pretty much straightforward. It looks way more centered now.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4420/36450587925_bd3171d551_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1MSv)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4368/36450587845_440acf3313_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1MR8)

Here's a mockup picture I took. Nothing has been screwed on put into place properly. If I had to be picky, I would say it's off by only a couple mm now. But I'm happy with how it is now. Thanks Ronald :thumbup:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4339/36450587645_6e94ecb23a_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1MMF)

Exhaust and everything back in.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4383/36450587475_7ceea252b2_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1MJK)

And that's about all the daylight I had. Here's how it's sitting now all dirty.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4379/35615405994_75ff2ffb84_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdgo3)

I'm waiting on Mishimoto right now. They replied to me asking for my invoice and some pictures. Then I haven't heard from them since. Don't know what the deal here is. I'll try to call them tomorrow if I have some time to spare to see what's going on.

Things left to do. I swear this list is like never ending because I keep remembering stuff I need to do after I finish something else :banghead::

Intake boots/air box/filter/DISA (Waiting on Mishimoto)
Oil change
Fill coolant
Fuel Filter
Clean speed sensors
Windshield Cowl
Re-install strut bar

[sillieidiot]

(12/9/2016)

Took care of a few small things yesterday. I finally put the rubber dust boot back in. It's still such a PIA to get this thing in.

Here is me starting, only to realize that it wasn't going in because it's upside-down :facepalm:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4343/36450587295_9bb668fd7e_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1MFD)

Got the sucker in though

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4361/35615432404_d37b8ef52f_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdpeo)

Then while I had my shifter console apart. I figured it was time to do the ashtray delete that I always wanted to do. Basically I just changed it to another storage tray. It took some minor modifications to get it to fit since that storage tray isn't made for the smoker's package bracket.

Before (taken before I re-installed the dust boot):

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4372/36450587065_e1b94277ab_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1MBF)

This little LED and black plastic cap was in the way. So I pulled the LED out, and dremeled the plastic piece so that it's the same length of the smaller one that you see in front of it.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4363/36313505641_e12ca3da84_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUd5R)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4352/36404865536_b24c12464d_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYscs)

After. The top part of the tray isn't straight because I think I had something lying on top of it for awhile. But it bends back out easily:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4397/36053537270_34ec8144d3_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVNxy)

And what am I going to use it for? Just to store my AUX cable lol I did put the AUX cable in the ashtray before, but sometimes it got stuck on the cigarette holder side.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4388/35615432244_802cc548dc_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdpbC)

The next thing I did was clean the speed sensors. Well it wasn't needed at all because they were clean as hell. I don't remember cleaning them. But everything came out easy as hell and the bolts were like barely tight.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4387/36404865366_80546dbfa3_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYs9w)r

So I finished that way faster than I thought I was. So then what to do? I figured, since the wheels are off. Might as well paint the calipers right? lol I was pretty lazy to thoroughly clean them though. So I just did the bare minimum and just spray the **** out of it with brake cleaner and wipe it down. Then I went ahead and painted it using a brush so I didn't have to mask anything off :rofl: I went for a semi-gloss look because glossy would take too many coats :P

Before:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4357/36450586445_4465b69fa4_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1MqZ)

After (Looks glossy in the picture for some reason. Maybe it wasn't dry yet.):

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4356/36404865226_9546545a93_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYs77)

Yes I know, they are taken from different sides because I forgot to take a before picture while I was painting lol I only realized that I should take a before picture after I finished painting the other 3 calipers already :lmao:

Pretty much all I got done. I just ended up doing more **** that wasn't on my agenda lol

Oh yeah, I wanted to show people the newer BMW screw driver. This thing is awesome. They are god damn geniuses lol I loved the one we had, but this one is so much better.

The handle is black

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4432/36313505041_2ba657b513_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUcUv)

There's a 10mm socket at the end (as you can see, I have been using it lol)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4376/36053537050_be3f0ab268_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVNtL)

On the side you put the screwdriver part in, you have an 8mm socket

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4441/36450586175_40e56996c6_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1Mmk)

And a slot to put the metal stick in to make it a T-Handle so you can have more leverage for those bolts

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4387/35615431924_b48350aa85_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdp67)

Awesome right? :thumbsup: lol

[sillieidiot]

(12/10/2016)

So today, I decided that I was just going to fill the coolant and start on my other stuff rather than waiting for Mishimoto. Well, I didn't get too far. Pretty much started filling, then I hear something leaking. Looked around, and bam, lower radiator hose is leaking from the connection point :ben: Great another Mishimoto product fail. I haven't even used it yet and it failed on me. So now I gotta wait until Monday to contact them again to get this sorted out. I already fired off an email, but I doubt that will get to them.

I'm unsure of what the problem is, but I suspect it's a bad o-ring.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4419/36404865006_d57d60d44b_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XsYs3j)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4375/36450585685_f4a2210cb5_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1McT)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4371/36450585335_fe385740b8_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1M6R)

When I took off the intake boots, I was wondering why I couldn't even get the lower one on all the way. Well I found the problem.

From the lip of the TB to the outer edge of the groove it's 3/16".

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4356/36450585065_f42e2abd10_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1M2c)

Hmm, so why is the edge of the lip to the groove on the Mishimoto hose 5/16"? Also, it wasn't cut straight so some sections for 4/16" up to 6/16" (i know, i should simplify the fractions, but it's easier this way)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4398/35615431474_2b4b76d0c8_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdoXm)

I marked it all the way around the hose in case I want to cut it later.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4421/36450584565_36b26186e6_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1LSz)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4409/36313502581_68a43b05d8_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUcb6)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4410/35615430994_e612a51f13_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdoP5)

It's perfect on the OEM hose

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4340/36450584775_615d8b601e_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1LWc)

I didn't take pictures of this, but I also measured the ICV part. So the ICV connector starts exactly .5" after the TB part goes in all the way. Well they are way off here. So now I need to cut off another 3/8" off that one.

They should have put an alignment tab on the lower hose. It's hard to hold it in place while you're tightening it. It keeps moving back out. Even if the hose were perfectly cut, I doubt I can even get it to the angle that it needs still.


So with nothing done, to make things more tedious for next time. The weather decided to sprinkle/drizzle on me. So that meant I had to clean up and cover the lift. Ended my day early.

At this point, I'm thinking I should try to get Mishimoto to give me a refund and I just go back to OEM. We'll see though.

[sillieidiot]

(12/15/2016)

So I finally got into contact with them by calling them. They explained to me that their email system is stupid as **** :facepalm:. So apparently if you email them more than once, you get reset to the end of the queue for each email you send after. Um...why? And if you attach pictures, they don't come in full-size for them either.

I would recommend just calling Mishimoto if you need to contact them and just forgo their whole email system altogether.

Anyways, they are sending me new intake boots that may or may not fit. But either way, they are giving them to me so that if the new ones don't fit, I have a set that I can cut without worrying too much. Also cutting the hoses doesn't void the warranty apparently.

For the radiator hoses, based on those earlier pictures I provided, they said that there's no o-ring. I opted to warranty the hoses, and took them off to send them back. But there is an o-ring when I took it out :confused:, it's just flat as hell.

This is what the o-ring looks like from the defective one

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4387/36313501631_58a04c572a_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUbTH)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4413/35615430874_97d634d869_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdoM1)

This is what it's supposed to look like (taken from one of the non-defective ends)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4442/36313501451_8b27519022_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUbQB)


They said that the hoses are shipped in California so it should be here by Friday. So hopefully it arrives on time, because I fly out Saturday afternoon and I won't be back for like 2 weeks.

Since I had to take the fan out again, and I was lazy to clean it the first time. I took the time to wipe it down a little more this time. Looks pretty new now. Better then being all brown/yellow and dusty lol

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4373/36313501051_af2db41d37_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUbHH)

And then my hood latch seemed like it was catching. Basically the latch part that you pull out (black piece) was rubbing against the actual latch (silver) and after awhile, they get kind of rusty and it makes it harder to pull. I just went ahead and put some synthetic grease on it for now. Maybe, I'll buy a new latch later down the line.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4351/35615405784_a5530a3cc5_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdgjq)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4344/36313500801_b193d607b9_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUbDp)

[sillieidiot]

(12/16/2016)

:facepalm: :ben: God dammit, i'm pissed. I sent the hoses out on Weds. Literally like after I talked to CS. Then replied to them by email. Then I called them on Thurs to make sure, and they still didn't do anything until today. Then I called in today, and they want to charge me $15 so they can get it shipped out today. Dude, I told you guys that I need it by Friday at the latest because I have to fly out. There is no point in processing it today, because it's going to come tomorrow and I will be gone. So yes, I can wait to see if you can waive the fee you for all this trouble. You didn't do what you were supposed to, come on. :slap:

[sillieidiot]

(1/1/2017)

mini update:

So I came back from Denver on Weds. The next day, it was sunny so I was able to work on the car. I got the hoses from Mishimoto last Friday I believe. Inspected the coolant hoses and they have all the o-rings on them. Then I re-applied my electrical tape mod :rofl:

As you can see, it looks better in all black instead of with the logos lol

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4351/36282283152_d01dca89ea_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh9bJ5)


Put everything in. And did the initial coolant fill until it came out of the bleed screw.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4349/35642778063_b4b94a1dce_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WiCy9g)


Then I went to start it up, and car didn't start :( Well it has been sitting outside for weeks with me being unable to start it lol I checked the voltage and it was like 7v :yikes: Well, then I spent the next couple hours pushing the car out from the backyard into position so that I could get it charged by one of the other cars.


It's alive :excited:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4440/36450582745_fd4bd83d73_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1Lkc)

It barely had any gas in it, so I figured I'd drive and get some gas. I still didn't put the air box in with the intake hoses yet, and it still had the stock F-connector. So I was driving around with a huge vacuum leak, and the car felt extremely bogged down from heat soak.

But man the shifter :D Shifts were short and very precise. I love it. I couldn't really try pushing the car a little to play around with the shifter, but it felt really good. Just from that 5 minute drive roundtrip, made me think that it was totally worth waiting two years for it lol. I got to let Ronald know, once I drive it some more.

Basically that was all the time I had left. It already started to drizzle a little bit. So I just parked the car back into position so that it'll be ready when I come back and it's not raining to do the oil change/fuel filter.


Took a picture of one of the wheels to show how the painted black calipers came out. Looks pretty good.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4346/36313499791_29c71590b2_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUbkZ)


When I got back inside, I started inspecting the intake hoses that I received. Everything looked good except for the lower boot. The cuts were definitely better this time around. But the lip that goes into the the groove in the throttle body looks like it's melted or some ****. Since it was late, I just fired off an email to them. I don't expect them to reply back for awhile since it's the holidays though.

This was the only good picture I could get showing the defective part.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4402/35615405604_f3b60ea688_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdggj)


So last time, they made me pay $10 shipping to get these hoses. They waived $5 as a courtesy for me. Then they waived another $15 prior to that since their policy is to charge per item (so $30 - $15 - 5 = $10). I was still :ben: that I had to pay still even though they didn't get it out on time like they told me they were. Nothing I could do about it.

But I better not have to pay this time to get replacements for the replacements.

Probably won't be another update until the end of next week or something. It's been raining the rest of the week so I couldn't do the oil and fuel filter. Then I leave on Monday for Seattle. Hopefully the car starts when I get back :rofl:

[sillieidiot]

(1/9/2017)

So I got back Friday morning. And on Saturday I set out to do work. It was still wet from raining earlier in the morning; but having just come back from Seattle/Vancouver, the weather was too nice to not to go ahead and get something done before it starts raining again like on Monday. My goal was to get it in running condition. So that meant I was going to do the oil change, and work on fitting the intake despite Mishimoto having sent me some more defective ones. I decided to delay the fuel filter because my battery is simply not charge enough. I wouldn't be able to pull the fuse and do a few starts LOL

I don't remember why I took this picture. Probably to show how it was damp? Beats me, but here's a picture

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4346/36450582335_bb024f70fa_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1Ld8)

Then started the usual oil change. The oil was dark as hell lol But at least it was still liquid, unlike the rubber/sludge that I saw in a gif on Reddit the other day :rofl:

I also need to straighten out that subframe brace too, but I'll do that another day.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4398/36450582045_edeb451a74_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1L88)

While the car was up, I checked out my scrape plates. They were getting pretty messed up lol It's actually starting to fall off, but I'm going to remake the plates again later so whatever.

Here's some shots to show which part clearly has the most wear

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4349/36313499261_19aea09901_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUbbR)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4331/36450581665_daea2ea964_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1L1z)


Done with the easy part :thumbup:


The next part was the intake. So I took everything apart again, including the DISA. I then fitted the defective lower intake boot on the TB to see how it fits. As I suspected. The fit and the angle of the boot was way better due to the better cuts. But, it doesn't sit in the TB groove and doesn't make a complete seal because of the melted section making it wider than the groove.

So since I had sort of a template for the lower intake hose, I started cutting the one that I had to make it fit like the defective one did. I already did the initial cutting on the TB opening side that I had marked a couple updates ago. Those measurements were spot on. For the ICV part, I had to cut an additional 1/8" off the 1/2" I had already taken off :facepalm: That pretty much gave me the angle that I needed, I could not get the lower hose to turn anymore at that point.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures of that part. Actually, I don't have pictures of the whole cutting/fitting/measuring part at all lol

The upper hose they gave me was pretty much exactly the same as what I currently have. At this point, it's all trial & error as I go along.

Brian N. came by to give me a much needed hand. So we started by fitting and eyeballing the cuts :eeps:

Here's an a couple of old pictures I took before to show you what we basically started with with the upper hose fitted

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4373/36450588105_b318b0800d_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1MVB)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4343/36053537410_8d49b041ec_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVNzY)

So we started cutting the end that goes to the metal connector they have. Our main focus was to get the hose to turn more towards the driver's side (away from the engine) until we could get the opening of the MAF side somewhat parallel to the airbox. We did quite a few cuts, some of them we considered was very aggressive. But even then they weren't enough :wtf: :banghead: The position was pretty much set by the hoses connected to the F-connector. Since I didn't have any hoses to extend that portion, it's more or less near the stock location now. So it's not hitting the DISA like what others have done.

We got it to turn as much as we could and cutting a lot off. I couldn't cut it anymore because then the connector wouldn't fit. After all that cutting, the MAF side still wasn't parallel to the airbox yet :facepalm: Now the intake hose is more to the left, but it's also angled down like an 1" :hmm: From the test fit it looked like I could force it up that inch to get it to the level that I needed, so our next focus was to cut the MAF side of the intake hose.

So the first cut was to cut it to make it parallel to the airbox. Then we cut it so that the MAF angle would be facing down because when you pull up on the intake hose, it's now facing straight up into the air instead of straight into the airbox. That took a few tries to get it right. We got it super close, so all that was left was to force it in the rest of the way. Finally, got that sucker in :censor:

I reused my factory F-connector. It seemed to fit perfectly with a perfect seal so far. There's no leak that I could see. But I have a couple of the aluminum F-connectors if it needs changing. Makes for an even more factory look which is what I like.

Here's what my filter looked like :lmao: I don't remember when the last time I changed it was

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4364/35615429644_7b02535ccc_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdopN)

And here is the fruit of our labor :D

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4385/36053536580_16323c5edc_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVNkE)

That seriously took a ridiculous long amount of time. Like 4 hour total to make this thing fit. Hence the night picture.

This is how much I had to cut off :thumbdwn:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4367/36313499161_9870ac7742_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUba8)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4332/35615429504_e1cb08a414_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdono)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4366/36282281352_ba7ece1b9d_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xh9bc3)

That was literally 1/3 of the hose that we had to cut off just for the upper intake hose alone :tsk: :thumbdwn:

There's even more pieces I cut off before that, but I threw those away before I realized I should have taken a picture.


With that finally installed. I put the strut bar back in. Of course, during the re-install, i drop one of the nuts :banghead: It is forever lost now. But I have plenty of spares, so that was an easy fix.

Some closer shots of our work during the day with the Mason bar installed.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4401/35615429374_bccaa77b71_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdok9)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4399/36450581075_218fba33d6_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1KQp)

Engine looks good, and car runs now. No leaks as far as I can tell.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4371/35615405304_8d5363a88c_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdgb9)

Car feels good to drive now. Only thing that sucks right now is that my ZHP shift knob is loose from when I broke it way back when trying to fit it with the Rogue SSK. So it vibrates like crazy and I feel like I could pull it off any time accidentally during a shift lol

Took a picture of the car, just cause it looked good just sitting there lol

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4424/35615429164_97480bb154_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdogw)

At least from that angle anyways. My bumper paint is really getting unsightly now :(

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4417/35615428994_10326b9ee8_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WgdodA)

It will get taken care of in the future for sure.


Special thanks to Brian N. for coming over and helping me with the intake hose retrofit :bow: :bow:

I don't think I could ever recommend someone to get this. If it were just a little bit a cutting, then sure. But this is too much. I injured myself a few times in the process cutting myself with a really sharp razor. If I weren't wearing gloves, it would be worst LOL Their customer service have been ok at best. When emailing them, it takes at least 2 days to get a reply. Calling them is the best way. But if the CS person you need to talk to isn't there and they ask to take your name to call back. They won't. I've never received that return call.

I'm awaiting their resolution for the defective ones they sent. But it's the weekend, so probably won't receive a reply until Tues. I'll probably call on Monday and see.

So I have only a couple of items left to do now:

Fuel filter
Windshield Cowl


That would finally complete this round of preventative maintenance.

Meanwhile, I added a couple more things to my overall list of things to do/replace like a new shift knob. I probably won't get around to the fuel filter and stuff until next week. I'm letting my dad borrow the car while I work on his new car the entire week. I just hope that it comes back in one piece next week :rofl:

edit:
Edited my mod list on the first page to warn people against buying the intake hoses. The radiator hoses were fine. The new ones with good o-rings fit perfectly and did their job. We'll see about their longevity.

[sillieidiot]

(2/17/2017)

Still didn't do those 2 remaining things. It keeps raining over the weekend. I did buy new PIAA Si-Tech wipers for the rain. They work well. I think the "treatment" that they make you apply does most of the work though. I still get some streaks, but it's because the wiper goes across my banner and that's when you see the streaks as the wiper comes down. When it goes up, ti's perfect. I gotta replace that banner too, but I'm way too lazy lol

As for the Autosolutions SSK mini-review? Man this thing is awesome :thumbsup: The shifts now are super precise. It always returns to center and doesn't have any slop or play in it. My throw ratio is a little shorter than 30%. I forgot what exactly. But the first week, I kept jamming my hand into the knob because I was expect it to go farther than it should. Then the rest of the time, I wasn't sure if I was actually in 5th or 6th LOL But now that I have gotten used to it, it's nice. I kind of miss playing around when the shifter is in gear now. Before I would have a ton of play in gear and even more so in neutral. Now, all of that is pretty much gone. It's also not as notchy as the RE given the shorter the ratio either. My shifter effort actually got a little easier because now I also have a weighted selector rod. The RE just used the stock one. I totally recommend getting one. It was totally worth waiting the 2 years for him to make it for me lol Thanks Ronald :bow:


As for my other NEGATIVE update :cry: So yesterday night omw to the movies, I was driving along the slowly just going in the slow lane. Then I see this SUV trying to get over in my lane. I let him pass cause I'm not in a rush, and he cuts across from the lane next to me onto the exit which he barely made. Basically my focus was just on him passing so I don't hit him. Then WHAM and then I hear metal just scraping along the ground. WTF?! I didn't even see what I hit, I kept driving and clear the metal dragging sound kept going so I pulled over. So basically I hit something so hard that it took off my scrape plate. I just took it off and threw it in the passenger side. When I pulled into the parking garage, I checked it out :(

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4378/36313498251_c799b95371_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUaTr)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4389/36313498191_ae1bb491e1_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XjUaSp)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4392/35615404964_f19b8e3d81_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Wgdg5h)

The plate looks fine for the most part
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4356/36450580165_a927842fc0_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Xx1KyH)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4373/36053536070_55675d0311_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WVVNbS)

Whatever I hit left some brownish debris. Brian thinks it's some piece of wood :dunno: But I'm surprised at Wayne's mold work though. It's pretty much fine all in the front where he molded it. The only damage is isolated to the part I hit.

I don't plan to fix this until I do my rear fenders now. At this point, I'll probably just buy a whole new bumper and splitters and start over since it's already been injured too many times lol I'm just going to put the plate back on and that should be good. I'm also contemplating on whether I should clear bra the front bumper after. Because I seems that I keep getting the front destroyed lately (basically once a year for the last 3 years), it would be cheaper to just redo it each time then have the clear bra lol Wayne is going to be pissed when I make his do this again :rofl:

As for the LSD and stuff. I'm still waiting on an M3forum member to make the reinforcement plates. Once I get that, I'll start planning to get the whole rear reinforcement and LSD swap done at once.

[sillieidiot]

(2/19/2018)

Hello guys. How has it been going? I've been fairly busy with the new job and everything. So I'm pretty much out of town all the time now. I'm about to head out to another project as well. Felt like I haven't done **** to my car in forever. But I just realized it's only been a year :facepalm:

Anyhow, I finally have another worthy update. This one has been a long time in the making :excited: But all the pieces have finally come together. So I guess this is the mod for this year.

Brian, pointed me out to an M3forum member that was parting out his car like iono 6 months ago. Hit him up for the rear fenders. He said it would take awhile to finish parting before he can give me whatevers left. Fast forward to today, he was nice enough to even deliver the car to me (well to Wayne). :thumbup:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4658/39656940674_60b68aa8c2_b.jpg
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4749/39656939234_dbcd1f6516_b.jpg
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4603/39656937824_8a62fbf698_b.jpg

The car is actually in really good shape, other than that front part. There's a lot more parts on the car than I expected there to be. I saw that he left the window trims, so I'll probably install that on my car in the mean time. Delay getting the gloss black trim for a little while longer lol

I'll be dropping my car off on Thursday. I probably won't see my car finished until like the end of the year :rofl: I'm still keeping my MT2 for the rear. Which I haven't seen anyone done, so we'll see how Wayne does this. He's already trying to convince me to go M3 rear :tsk: But yeah, there you go. Now I gotta go :bump: Brian N.'s build thread ;)

[sillieidiot]

(2/23/2018)

Hit this like a month ago. Finally got the car up to check. Looks nasty :eek: Now I know I gotta replace that brace when the car comes back.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4619/39548053385_8aa3d2f9fe_b.jpg
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4623/39548051965_6d5eb0563a_b.jpg
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4631/39548049985_c7b4236c85_b.jpg

Dropped off the car yesterday as well :cry:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4618/40444363231_5ea0e61581_b.jpg

Post 41 (9/15/2018)

Ok so I got my car back. Sadly, it's not done :rofl: I had an issue with the CF trunk that I bought from Streamline. Fitment was not as described and going back and forth with the seller for months so that delayed the process :thumbdwn: Since I needed to keep test fitting/take pictures of the trunk on the car and stuff. And I could only do this every 2-3 weeks because I'm out of state when I work. Trunk issue still not resolved, so I'll be keeping my current trunk for the mean time.

Anyways, I had to take it back because I needed to smog the car. I have been away for work since I dropped off the car so I haven't had time. So I had Wayne put on my trunk, didn't matter about fitment, I just needed it to be fit to drive. Got the car back like 8/14. Then I left for work, then right after went to Vietnam to take care of something.

Came back 8/28.

Got the car smogged. So I figured since I have the car back, I'm going to take care of a few things that I have been meaning to do before I give it back to the shop.

9/3 (Labor Day) update.

JR and I did some work. Originally I was supposed to a bunch of things to my car, but I got lazy because I knew that I have to order some parts later and will be lifting the car back up.

Done on my car:
- Replaced springs from 650R/550F Hyperco to 560R (10k)/448F (8k) Swift springs. I had them forever, but was lazy :rofl:
- Changed caster on Vorshlag camber plates back to the OE position in the center to accommodate the caster change from the Z4M FCABs. This in turn now increased the amount of positive camber I can have now. The shaft of the strut was hitting the sides and limited me to a minimum of only -2.4 deg.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1861/30799736848_20b6fa09fd_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NVEGHE)

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1900/30799736078_b907f16700_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NVEGuo)

On his car:
- Diagnosed the clunk that he's been hearing on his front suspension. Turned out it was a bad end link. The same one we tightened last time. Took both end links off. He will be ordering new adjustable ones.
- Replaced his front corner bulbs with stealth bulbs to get rid of the egg yolk.
- Upgraded his old fluted fog housings to the newer clear glass ones.

Then ordered parts I needed and took advantage of the "sale" FCP euro had. Not really much of a sale, but the couple of things I wanted were so might as well.

9/12 update.

I got my parts. Was super excited to see them and get them out of the way :excited:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1874/30799734658_88a9c4e455_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NVEG4U)

Then as I was going through them to make sure everything is there. They didn't give me the transmission mount. Ok no problem, I can do that later. Then I check the FCABs…hmm they look the same. :hmm: Maybe it's not side specific? Check pictures on FCP. God dammit, I have 2 of the same sides :facepalm:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1888/30799734028_fc63601aaf_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NVEFT3)

Called them up to get this sorted out. In the mean time, I will install all the other pieces I got first.

9/13 update.

I attempted to work on the car. I didn't get much done. I wasted 3 hours, getting the car up, taking pictures, and browsing the forums :lmao: Then spent like 40 mins hammering out my underbody brace. I contemplated on cleaning it, but got lazy. Then I decided to finally check to see where my oil leak was coming from. Yep, CCV. Inspected other parts of the car…motor mounts totally need replacing. All the bushings I'm about to replace are shot too.

I looked at the tires, I knew that there were really bad. But yeah, it's bad. I need to find some spares for now for sure just to get the car to EAS to get tires.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1884/30799732688_c7439c5f2c_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NVEFtW)

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1849/44620995762_0aa479ea14_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2aZ1gt9)

They look like that on all 4 corners lol

Oh I finally found that strut mount nut that I dropped like a year ago. Now I don't have to buy a new one sweet.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1861/30799729778_43b5eeefce_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NVEEBL)

Took some pictures of the underbody of the car.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1882/30799738158_af70d7137d_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NVEH7f)

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1860/30799737978_ac31caa2e8_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NVEH49)

You see all that damage to the brace and exhaust? I have no idea :wtf: it was. Seriously looks like guts and teeth :eek:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1888/30799729248_12750e8043_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NVEEsC)

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1875/30799727538_9e424f169f_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NVEDX9)

Here is the end result after I hammered the brace. Looks a lot better. I was too lazy to clean, so I will revisit this later. It can't go on until FCP euro gives me that other FCAB anyways.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1842/30799726868_29ef166334_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NVEDKA)

Then I had to clean up because dinner plans. I was able to get started on the control arms. On the passenger side, it's like 90% off. I just need to use the pickle fork and sledge to separate inner balljoint. The driver's side is like 70% done. Need to pickle fork both the balljoints.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1850/30799725078_1c4fc54ddf_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NVEDdJ)

Yesterday.

Didn't get much done. I spent some time cleaning the oil pan while I was sitting under there thinking of what I was going to try to do.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1850/42880267230_342ed6948f_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/28kbzwf)

Then attempted to take off the control arm on the driver's side. Basically gave up on that for now lol The angle that I need to be for the pickle fork to do it's thing in is made for like right-handers. I'm left handed :facepalm:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1861/29752778227_0a0b38d227_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Mk9LoX)

So I'm like **** this, go to the other side since it'll probably be easier for left-handers. Well…what do you know? Comes off easy as hell. I didn't even use PB Blaster at all on that side. :woot:

I'm upgrading the control arms to ZHP control arms.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1898/29752777017_a84634f27f_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Mk9L36)

Then I attempted to put in the one correct FCAB I have. Hammered it like 90% of the way, then had to clean up and leave for the day.

So close, yet so far…
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1863/29752776067_9b69450e0c_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Mk9KKH)


Don't know if I'm continuing the work today. But I'm definitely taking tomorrow off because football.

[sillieidiot]

(9/20/2018)

9/17 update.

My buddy Pat came by to give me a hand for a bit. Got the driver's side control arm off, quick and easy. :thumbup:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1952/44768255412_e29882bb22_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2bd21CC)

Then we attempted to continue hammering the Z4M FCAB that I had installed 90% of the way. That **** was not moving :angry: I hit it so hard with my mallet that I broke the mallet :ben:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1953/44768254562_ebd8f048d7_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2bd21nY)

After like 30 mins, we were like :censor: this, do something else. Went to do the tie rods. Everything went smoothly and easily. I didn't measure the tie rods like you were supposed to though. Just eyeballed it lol

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1943/44768253442_6ec662058e_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2bd213E)
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1841/44768252692_9d5757b4af_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2bd1ZPJ)
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1886/44768252362_24881e89de_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2bd1ZJ3)

Then went back to the FCAB. Decided to just take the new control arm off to see if we can just bang it outside of the car. It seems like it's even harder to do off the car and without a rubber mallet.

So that's it for the day. I'm going to buy a new mallet tomorrow and start over. I'm hoping that my other FCAB from FCP euro comes tomorrow that way I can get them both installed. Then I can finally put the car down.


9/18 update.

FCP euro, where the :censor: is my FCAB and transmission mount? Been like a week since I told them and it's still not here. Still have no tracking. They told me they sent an email with tracking, didn't get that. First time using them, not having a positive experience so far...

Anyhow, JR came by for a bit. We worked on changing out his corner bulbs because one side is dead already. That took like 30 mins or so.

Then we tried to put in the FCAB I had on. Didn't work. The wood just took way too much power out each hit. Then decided to go to Home Depot and buy a new rubber mallet. Bought the heaviest and most expensive one they had.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1846/44768252062_a54bc38c4e_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2bd1ZCS)

Came back and even with banging the **** out of it, didn't do anything. Seriously?! :ben: How the hell is it this hard? I know that when I was doing it before, it went it in not too bad. So I decided that I’m going to take it off and start over. Couldn't take it out by hammering. So went to AutoZone, returned the pickle forks and rented a 3-jaw puller.

Bushing came off easy. Then lubed it up with some quick detailer and bang the **** out of it. Went in way easier this time. So my original hypothesis was correct in that since the lubrication dried, that's why it was so hard to move. Good to know. Next time, finish the FCAB install in one sitting :facepalm:

Dam you POS bushing :rofl:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1896/44768249832_2c5b89aec9_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2bd1YYq)

Looks good though now that it's in.


JR then had to leave before he hit traffic on the way back home. Meanwhile I was sitting there deciding whether or not I should go in. Decided to do the steering coupler. It was way easier to do on the lift. Literally like a 5 minute job.

Old vs. New:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1911/44768250652_e6ed5bd663_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2bd1Zdy)

And that was it. No parts meant I couldn't do the other side. I could have taken off my exhaust to prepare for the transmission mount. But I didn't want to commit to doing it yet :rofl:


Today's post that I quoted myself from a thread I started on a different forum.


Didn't know where to put the thread, so I put it here. Right now I am furious at them. Just woke up to a shipping label created email. Seriously?!

So I ordered on 9/7. Paid for shipping to get my parts faster. It arrives 9/12, that same day I check the contents. They gave me two FCABs of the same side and it's missing the transmission mount I ordered. I called them within the 30 mins I received the package and it was near end of day for them to let them know. CS person says that it will be expedited and shipped to me asap. So you would think it would come like in 2 days maybe a week tops right? Didn't get any email about tracking like they told me, emailed them. They keep telling me it's shipped already (which I know is BS cause where is my tracking?). Then today, which is 8 days later, they finally ship it (technically, didn't ship, only label created). WTF. So it's going to come next week? How does it take so long to process a **** up on their part? I don't even know why I paid for shipping then. The original reason was so that I could get it faster, but if it's going to come incorrectly and then get delivered correctly at the original "free shipping" delivery date.

Oh yeah, I contacted the FCP euro member that was here to see if he could help me. Couldn't help me and told me to email them. So what do you do?! Just general questions and PR I'm assuming?

Honestly, I only paid more for FCP euro parts for the service. It wasn't about the lifetime warranty or anything. I care more about service support. It was highly rated here. I find it severely lacking. I guess they are only good if you get the right parts the first time and their easy warranty (which I haven't tried). None of my items are going to fail any time soon for that to happen anyways. And if you do need assistance, if you're not planning to start the project for like a month out, then you're fine.

So now, because this part is going to arrive next week or two in which I won't even be in town, I'm forced to go find/buy the part locally to get it installed.

edit:
Special order only part. Awesome. It'll come next week as well. If I knew it was going to take FCP this long, the dealerships could have gotten it to me like yesterday. Guess I'll just wait for the part to come in.

So yeah. I'm pretty much stuck cause I can't button the car up until the part comes in. Hoping it comes in earlier than next week.

[sillieidiot]

(9/24/2018)

9/22 update.

OMG, the part arrived from FCP euro faster than I thought it would. :yikes: I immediately checked to make sure it was the correct side that I needed. Cool perfect :thumbup:, the transmission mount was also there. Finally, I can finish up the car.

Since my car has been sitting on the lift for like over a week, there was quite a build up of air in the system. So when I went out, I wasn't able to lift the car up to the highest setting. Well I could, but I wasn't comfortable with doing so. It was on the first setting, so I just did everything there. I decided that I would forgo the transmission mounts for now because that requires taking off the exhaust. It would be easier on the highest setting. So I'll do it next time.

Putting the FCAB on was quick. Took like 2 mins tops. For the most part, the remaining bits that needed to go on didn't take long. Probably like an hour total to put on the control arm, under body brace, and the splash shield. :craig:

Last shot before I put the splash shield on.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1936/31020192558_23934f7aa0_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Pg9Awb)

It actually only took me longer because my tires were so bad, I went ahead and put on a couple spares I had. I moved the ARC-8 rears to the fronts which surprisingly had better life than the fronts for some reason. :hmm: Then an M68 in the rear and an X5 spare wheel on the other side.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1961/31020191778_654514c654_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Pg9AhJ)
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1919/44893432311_5375ed8387_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2bp5zn2)


Today's update.

I spent some time to do some maintenance on my lift. Cleaned it a little. And bled it to get all the air out. Now it's back to full working condition. Good as new. :thumbsup:

Last picture for the day. I raised the fronts up like 1 full turn. Don't think it made a difference.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1901/29956607387_7396677b85_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/MDarGP)


I was originally set to buy new tires as well. But that timeline got pushed back due to this parts incident. I did contact EAS to see if they could get me anything today (I have to drop off my car on tomorrow). But if not, I'll just take it to Wayne's as is, and the tires can go on when I get the car back.

So with all these done, the car is ready for tires, then alignment. Technically, I need to do the RTABs (which I have sitting in a box somewhere). But I'm bundling that with my rear reinforcement at a later date.

[sillieidiot]

(10/28/2018)

So as many of you guys know, the ESS TS S/C has been discontinued. I was planning to purchase it next year right after I got my rear fenders taken care of. Well Tom@EAS told me when I went to buy something that ESS told them that it's no longer for sale from any vendors. There goes that plan. I contacted ESS and originally, they told me yeah that’s it. :( I say originally, will come back to that later.

After hearing that, I decided that I'm going to use my funds for a different purchase since my car is essentially finished with no S/C in sight. Put down an order for a Tesla Model 3. Got the long range RWD version. :excited: was debating on car or S/C so no twinscrew made it easier.

Ok so now going back to what I mentioned earlier. A week later, I'm in a world of pain LOL :rofl: My Model 3 was getting delivered, and AJ tells me that there are 4 complete units still left and that I can buy one directly through him. Seriously?! :banghead: :ben: :censor:

I mulled over it for a few days. Then I decided to just go ahead and buy it too. :facepalm: I'd regret not getting it later tbh. Went ahead with the TS2+. So now I'm in a world of pain trying to come up with the money for both lol I have to work a ton more now to make this happen. I'll probably be gone for most of next year due to this. My friend, John T. wanted me to give him an honorable mention for helping making it happen lol So there is it lol

So for my Model 3 delivery. Originally, the car came with rear bumper damage. It was broken. They tried to tell me they can't fix it and I should take it as is. Yeah right. Refused delivery. So crisis averted for a bit money wise. I was able to put that towards the TS2+ first now.

Fast forward to yesterday. I'm took delivery of the Tesla again. So now the LR RWD models can no longer be ordered. So I have to take delivery of this car no matter what and go through the service center to fix stuff with it after. Here's some pictures of it.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1902/43774473140_87bbb33392_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/29GcBMw)
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1964/45541825442_bc22a37d51_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2conL3W)
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1965/31734633558_059b33b2d1_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/QmhhWs)

This car was a lot better than the last one. There's really only a front bumper issue with the paint. It's like it wasn't completely painted. But as far as panel alignment and everywhere else, it looks good.

Plans for the car is to get that bumper fixed, then immediately get clear bra. No other mods since my money is now all gone lol

I also got a notification that my TS2+ is on it's way. It'll come on Halloween night. Well that sucks, because I fly out again on the 30th. So not only do I not get to play with my new car, I don't get to open the supercharger to marvel at it. Hopefully I'll come back in like 10 days. It better not get stolen. My house has been a target lately.

I also have to figure out what I'm going to do with my headers. I'm definitely going to put it on for the TS2+. My original plan was to test fit first, then send it off to Swaintech to get it coated. That is like so much work because I will have to do the install twice. So now I'm thinking about just sending it to get it coated without first test fitting, then installing it once it came back.

I still have to find some high flow cats for it. I just can't handle the gas smell all that much nowadays. When I was a kid, shit smelled good. Now, not so much. Any suggestions for some cheap high flow cats I could use for now?

I got quotes from EAS for the S/C install as well as VANOS seals, motor mounts, and headers. Seems like it's going to be expensive to get everything else done at the same time. The S/C labor isn't too bad though. Now that I'm low on funds, I might have to go ahead and do the VANOS seals, headers and motor mounts on my own. Probably the transmission mounts too cause I'll have to take off the exhaust anyways. I'm debating on doing the S/C install on my own. :b:

I also need to get a baseline dyno before doing all of this. So much work. We'll see though. I'll figure out everything when I get back from the next project. I'll definitely be enlisting for some help to install these things probably.

[sillieidiot]

(11/3/2019)

ugh. Everyone pisses me off :banghead: FedEx won't let me do a vacation hold for more than 2 weeks. Cause I'm supposed to be gone for like 3. ESS doesn't want to ship it to EAS or have FedEx hold it at location. They require to be shipped to my PayPal address. Yeah I know to protect yourself, but come on, can't go to EAS which you guys have a relationship with? Tom will vouch for me. Then my family. They were home when it the delivery guy came. I told them to expect it, still didn't get it and tried to claim it never came. I have a camera and showed them proof.

I'm pretty sure it's going to be shipped back to ESS at this rate since I'm all the way in GA right now and can't get it.

[sillieidiot]

(11/17/2018)

So I actually had fun on a project for once. I mean I pretty much spent all day admiring this pretty lady :luv: and not doing anything useful LOL I honestly regretted asking to leave early. But I flew back early to get my SC. Stupid FedEx. Sorry, Angela :cry: (if you're still reading). So it told me that it will be delivered on the 16th. I flew back on the 15th. Then yesterday, it updated and told me 19th WTF?! My dumbass :facepalm: told Ms. Angela this and you know what happened :brent2:

But I called them and managed to fix that. They put it on the next delivery truck and I got it.

I signed for it, shoved it in my Model 3 and drove to go drop it off at EAS. Although the trunk is large in that car, the opening wasn't wide enough so I had to use the back seat. I'm pretty sure the box would have fit in the e46 if I had it. Told Tom & Steve @ EAS to check over the parts when they came because when I got it, the box was starting to open up. Hopefully nothing was damaged. Pretty much just going to be there until I get my car back from Wayne. That's all the updates I have so far. :hi:


edit:
So I just saw Brandon (Brendon? Brennan? lol) post a picture of my TS2 on zhpmafia. The unit is silver instead of black. God dammit. I hate this SC right now. :ben: So I came home to pick this up and it's not exactly what I wanted. I should have just listened to her and stayed back and screw the package. So now I'm waiting on ESS's reply to see if I could exchange for a black unit. When I hit them up before asking them about the TS2 units being black, they told me that all the units they sell were black. Except this one apparently. FML right now. :banghead:

[sillieidiot]

(1/2/2019)


Pics?

This is all I got lol These were pictures taken to show the coating guys to see if it was possible for them to do it without taking apart the unit.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7919/45855308544_b965f2f711_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2cS5rE1)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7917/45855309534_a243b1c8fe_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2cS5rX5)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4848/45855308874_4444c9dcce_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2cS5rKG)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7852/45855309324_1194e902a7_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2cS5rTs)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4836/45855308344_67b5c261ed_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2cS5rAy)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4895/44761493740_bf14c0b22c_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2bcqmC5)

I'm going to try to bring the unit over to the coating guys (maybe tomorrow?) to see if they could take a look in person. If they still can't do it, then guess we'll have to take it apart.

[sillieidiot]

(1/16/2019)

Small update for my car:

So it's been raining here like crazy so on the car side I haven't seen much progress in the body shop. But on the SC side. I went to EAS and picked up the unit and dropped it off at OC Custom Coating to get my SC ceramic coated. They usually do guns and stuff like that. I figure if I'm going to get it painted, might as well do something that would stand up better than powder-coat. It has tighter tolerances for guns, and the coating I want is good with heat.

I asked them to see if they could coat my SC without taking it apart. After a few days, they got back to me and gave me a quote that was 3x the original one :facepalm: :( lol But given that they could do it without taking it apart, I gave them the go ahead. I totally forgot to take a before picture though :facepalm:. I left them a message asking them to, but iono if they will. They told me that it was easier to coat the entire unit rather than masking off the charger part that was already powder-coated. So the entire thing should be coated in what they call Glacier black. It's like a satin black.

Should look something close to this:
https://www.cerakotehightemp.com/uploaded/thumbnails/db_file_img_2497_autox300.jpg


Was told the process will take a month. I'll be at work in a month, for a month lol So I won't see this thing until like March.

I'm sure everything will be done this year. I'm not looking forward to spending all this money at the beginning of the year.


On another note...

I've been modding Samantha's car :rofl: I'm going to try to make a build thread for this car early in the beginning. So I'm going to document some stuff down here in case I forget later.

Last week, I had Extreme Autowerks in Brea install Spectra Photosync 45% ceramic tint on the sides and rear on her car. Again, since it's been raining, it's taking forever to dry. Can't roll down the windows. Car looks darker than I thought it would be. But could be because it's cloudy.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7823/32891765018_0a2dbf183d_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/S7wTNS)

Then I installed reverse LED bulbs. There was like no DIYs for this on the 2 series forum whatsoever when I tried looking it up. Turns out you have to take the tail light out just to replace the bulb :facepalm: Luckily the tail light is rather easy to take off. The other issue I ran into was that I couldn't put the car in reverse and get out to check the bulb. The LEDs only go in one way so I have to check to make sure it's on each time. I ended up asking for help so that someone can put it in reverse while I do the install.

I don't know why the whole tail light is LED except for the reverse bulbs. The ones I installed were way brighter, and it's a nice straight white color.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7825/46714452652_05c1fa0df5_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2eaZMgs)

Then I bought the Bimmercode app and BT OBD2 thing. Coded a few things that I hated on her car even though I don't really drive it. I could have used E-sys. But I was too lazy to set it up so I just bought the app. I got rid of the warning you have to click OK on every time. Couldn't figure out how to get rid of the welcome gongs. I think they took out that option in the LCI models. I enabled door lights on reverse, should help with some light on the curb for parallel parking. Changed reverse lights to LED even though there's no warning. Oh the other thing I didn't like was the damn radio. It stays on, on whatever the current volume is until you close the door and lock it. I made it so that it turns off the moment you open the door. My model 3 does that **** too, but luckily the volume goes down when you open the door and instantly turns off as soon as you close the door.

Fast forward to Sunday. She hit a pothole and blew out her tire. Luckily, it happened locally so I gave her a spare and just drove it to my house where it sits until the rain is out. EAS now sells Michelin tires, so I hit them up to order one and will be going there to get a replacement.

I can't figure out if I like her car on ARC-8s or not. :hmm: Probably need to lower the car a bit first to know for sure. But I flip back and forth every time I pass by it to do something outside.

What do you guys think? I know, blurry picture.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4916/46714452042_66b5775fe1_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2eaZM5W)


That all for now. Can't do much else until it stops raining.

[sillieidiot]

(3/19/2019)

Ok so I've been gone for forever to Huntsville, AL. I hate that city now. They tried to deploy 100 people to do like what a team of 600 people would normally do. Then it rained all the fucking time, with no sun either. I tried to go home after 2 weeks, but my PM told me she needed me an extra week. Switched me to nights :facepalm: then the week after, I tried to go home again, and the PM kept me there for 2 more weeks :ben: And she switched me back to days OMFG. It took me the entire week to just get used to nights because I had no days off. Seriously, I was getting depressed. I thought about selling my car LOL My friend's wife told me to keep it cause it was pretty :luv: Iono how that works, but it worked lol

Ok rant over. So I have some updates on my car. Let's see. From what I remember my last few updates were useless and didn't describe shit about why my car is taking so long lol

First, I dropped my car off last year to Wayne. Deadline was whenever, just work on it on your spare time because I'm always gone for work anyways, I won't miss it. (I actually do miss it though :() Well, then for 8 months, I was dealing with the stupid ass Streamline CSL trunk BS. Back and forth between work out of state and going to my car to try to fit/measure the trunk to show to this dumb ass that it doesn't fit. Then after awhile we work out a deal that he will refund me. Then what? Well shipping to your country costs more than the trunk LOL So he didn't want to do it. So 8 months later, what do I have? This POS bad fitting (but really light) CSL trunk. Had to call my CC to get a chargeback to get my money back. So that delayed the whole thing by 9 months.

Then, I had to smog the car, took the car back for a month. Delayed again. At the same time, Miss Samantha was buying a car M240i, sold her car so she borrowed it, sort of.

Gave the car back at the end of last year basically, and he started working on it a little. Most of the work was just taking off the rear fender off the M3 shell without destroying it.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4803/46862378002_0f313c163a_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2ep4Wjw)
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7824/46862377162_da6dfd50a6_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2ep4W53)
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7811/46693785934_94f059b1be_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2e9aRLJ)
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7861/46862377552_436ebaa24e_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2ep4WbL)


Ok now we're caught up lol While I was at work in that last project I was ranting about, my TS2 was done being coated by the guys at OC Custom Coating. Luckily they were cool with me not being able to pick it up for a month while I was being held captive. :banghead:

I picked it up today. So they ended up coating basically then entire supercharger because it was easier to do without taking the S/C apart. I chose to do their coating that had their best heat dissipation properties. It's not exactly like a black. It's more like a really, really dark grey. But that's only if you see it in like bright sunlight. It looks black otherwise though. It should look good once installed. :excited:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7800/46501726065_32d45d082e_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2dRcv4F)
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7885/47416922271_5c682f44b8_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2ff581B)
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7915/46501725205_dc07b67cd6_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2dRcuNR)

Then I drove straight to EAS cause they are like down the street from these guys. Hung out with Tom for a while talking about random shit. They asked if I will get the TS2 installed this decade LOL Then put the SC on a cart they had and pushed it to the back.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7889/47364138522_d2e24302a9_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2fapAeY)
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7927/47416921771_ac4b619ac8_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2ff57RZ)

After that, I drove to Wayne to see some progress on the car. Looks like he started really working on it. The rear fender is off on one side. Rear windows and stuff are out, and the car is covered in white dust lol Car is ridiculously dirty. He showed me the problem areas that he was working on to get the inner fender part to work. Told me that I wasn't rubbing on the outside on the fender lip (cause I pulled the shit out of it knowing I would do the rear fenders lol). But I was lightly rubbing on the inside. Should be fixed after this though lol

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7900/46501722885_75dfe69dfe_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2dRcu7R)
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7852/47416919881_e0d5842dc9_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2ff57ip)
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7818/47364137402_0de4ace6bd_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2fapzUE)
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7831/47364137002_0d1294c7e1_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2fapzML)

My lonely good trunk just sitting here. Iono wtf happened to the other trunk lol

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7902/46501720895_64250ac659_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2dRctwx)

I just wanted a macro shot here :rofl: I guess they didn't break my CF roof taking off my windshield again?

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7862/46501720085_fbce549aaa_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2dRcthz)

So yep, I'm only back for 12 days, so I tried to do all that **** all in one day. I have to leave again on the 30th ugh. So now the car is just waiting on Wayne to finish it so that the rest of the stuff can get done.

So when Wayne's done here's a list of **** I need to do:

Get oil change.
Possibly need to replace the battery again
Do VANOS seals
Replace the radiator hose that will be under the SC because it'll be a bitch later to do.
I decided to hold off on the headers and just do that later one after warranty is over when I get Frank Smith or whoever to tune it and take that into account.
Get tires
Get an alignment
Possibly do motor mounts
Replace transmission mounts


Basically, I'm just trying to lower the cost of install from EAS for now.

[sillieidiot]

(1/4/2020)

Happy New Year.

I didn't get **** done last year lol And I don't really have any updates :rofl:

I did come across these pictures of the lift. So same time last year, due to some circumstances, I donated my lift setup to JR. These things worked wonderfully for like the 5 years that I had it. Plus the hydraulic cylinders finally started to leak after 5 years so I had to remove them in order to repair them anyways.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49068170317_c11c941057_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2hKZcwv)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49068170202_c10ef2c8e4_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2hKZcuw)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49067445998_3b32cb7ce1_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2hKVudf)

it was a :cry: day to see it go.

I have no pictures of it at the new location. Why? Because it's been a year and we still haven't installed it at JRs place :facepalm: lol I've been going to his house every time I'm back, never do lift stuff :rofl: Goal for this year though is to get that installed so when i get my car back I can get stuff done for the SC (don't remind me :facepalm:)

[sillieidiot]

(4/18/2020)

Did this like a couple of days ago. But since covid19, no car and nothing to do, I made this :idea:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49779762991_2c4a04501a_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2iQSieH)
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49779765216_941acb7ea9_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2iQSiU5)
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49780096917_48ca3d3c97_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2iQU1v4)


It's the trunk tool screw holder thing. My tool box keeps falling off cause the groove in the piece is too small for the thickness of the fiberglass on my CSL trunk. So I just made this and made the groove larger lol I don't have my car to test yet, but at least I got the basic shape and thread sizing down. It'll only take seconds to adjust the groove size and like an hour to print another one if it doesn't fit.

I actually made a few things, but this was the only e46 specific thing. I made a Pi Zero W case the other day. Making a letter opener today :rofl:

[sillieidiot]

And finally, to the post that I wanted to post in the first place lol



Covid19 Project 12? Iono, I keep jumping through them to cure my boredom.

So I started working on other parts of the car that I was too lazy to do. Since there's nothing to do since the pandemic, I might as well do it now, cause I'll have to do it later.

Anyways, I've had these Morimoto LED fog lights since they were first released. I never installed it lol I did, however, put them on JR's car to test if they work. They did, then sat in the box they came in for like iono 2 years? Well it's time to modify them.

The one thing I don't like about the LED fog lights is that it doesn't look OEM when installed. I bought them anyways cause I knew I would fix it later :lmao:. The main reason I didn't like how it looked? It was because it didn't have the glass covering them. They look just like how the projector fogs looked pretty much. I ran that set up already and didn't exactly like the look then either. Output looks good, but when I look at the car with them off, it's eh.

So my solution :idea:? Combine the two lol Originally, I set out to just put the innards of the LED fogs into the OE fog light housings. But they were such a bitch to get out. I was trying to remove the LEDs without destroying the original housing in case it didn't work in the fog lights. It was pretty much impossible. So onto my next solution. I just bought some aftermarket fog light housings for $35. Then I'm going to remove the glass off that.

Got the aftermarket fog light here:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49895918006_612baebe0d_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2j28C5o)

LED:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49895918086_8e30861e13_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2j28C6L)

Originally, I was going to just try to take the glass without cutting the housing. But it's held with black silicone. It doesn't really respond to heat well. You pretty much have to cut it with a knife. The glass has a lip that goes down, so while I can cut the silicone on the outside, I can't go any deeper. So fuck it, I'll just destroy them to get to what I want. :rofl:

Taped up, just in case before I go to Dremel them:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49895918186_c52f9b35fc_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2j28C8u)

Glass off the housing:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49896226427_13826a7892_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2j2acKZ)
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49895917901_f784a13f61_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2j28C3z)

Now to cut off the plastic part so I only get the glass. It wasn't too bad. Got a new cutoff wheel and made my first couple of cuts to see how far I can go before I hit the glass. Once you determine that, the rest of the cuts was easy.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49896226367_4b0bc0da78_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2j2acJX)

Cleaned up all the remaining silicone and then test fit:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49895401698_9431c5bd55_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2j25YAw)
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49895401583_ac6a567870_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2j25Yyx)
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49895918771_581ab7bfb5_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2j28Ciz)

It looks like it was meant to be there :hmm:

Next step was to figure out how to plug up some of the holes so I don't get too much fogging when it rains and stuff. For the most part, the LED fogs are weatherproof. Originally, I was going to try to use an o-ring or something to plug the gaps. But there were too many gaps since this housing is like an open piece. So I just decided to stick some desiccant inside where you can't really see it. Good enough. If it becomes a problem, I'll revisit this.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49896226847_d84d709b9d_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2j2acTe)

I was going to just use black silicone to glue up everything as that is what was used before. Even the OE ones. But I decided to go with the black butyl headlight sealant instead. The one where you need to bake to make it soft. One reason was so that if the glass breaks/cracks later down the line, I can just replace them using the same method. Same with the LEDs ever failing. I can just take the glass off and transplant them on the new one. It'll save me a lot of time later lol

Normally, I would use a single continuous strand. But since I couldn't get my fingers in some parts of the fog light to massage it so that it can stick and spread around, I had to break it up into a couple sections.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49895918641_379419c4a1_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2j28Cgk)

Ready to bake:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49895918541_9dcd1a919b_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2j28CeB)

I didn't end up baking it. I just hit it with a heat gun. I wasn't sure if the LED could handle the heat.

All done. As OEM as I could get it. The edges having glue stick out in globs doesn't matter tbh. It'll get covered up by the fog light trim:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49895401253_583a149fda_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2j25YsR)
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49895918331_f919c57619_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2j28CaZ)


Obviously not the best pictures. But I dropped by the body shop to do a test fit to see how it would look. Looks exactly like how I imagined it would look.

OE:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49899012707_c2883f92c9_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2j2pu2i)

LED:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49898704246_3b8b0a630d_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2j2nUk1)

I wrapped it in Xpel, but shit was hard lol Didn't come out right. I guess I'll do it again later or something.

I can already tell that adjusting it will be a bitch to do with how it's designed. I plan to test on JR's car again. Probably do the adjustments on his car too.

It took me like 2 weeks. But, you could finish this whole project in like half a day if you had all the parts for anyone wanting to do it. I wasted a lot of time trying to do shit the hard way. :facepalm: Then more time waiting for stuff to come in from amazon with their non-existent prime shipping currently.

[sillieidiot]

Ok, I managed to post everything without accidentally skipping a post lol Also, no one interrupted me. Stupid 30 second between posts. Could have done it way faster lol

Also, looking through my thread. I forgot that even when I had projector fog lights. I retrofitted them so that they could be behind the glass too :rofl

[Oli77]

Great read! Thanks for transferring all here. Having a lift at home must be great.

[t.er]

Lol don't tell me you pulled your car outside while it was missing one of the rear quarters :rofl

[sillieidiot]

Great read! Thanks for transferring all here. Having a lift at home must be great.

Yeah, it definitely helps. I did everything before on other people's cars and it was a bitch. Then when I went back to do stuff on my car with the lift, I"m always like, it's not as bad as I remembered lol Like the SSK. Man that was a PIA on jack stands.

It's been at JRs place just sitting there though lol We might actually get to install it soon.


Lol don't tell me you pulled your car outside while it was missing one of the rear quarters :rofl

Nah, the car was already outside for some reason. That's why the picture sucked. It was right up against the fence, so I had to try to take the picture as far away as possible. I couldn't get the whole front bumper even with the ultrawide angle lens.

[johnrando]

Finally! [emoji2][emoji41]

Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

[BADCLOWN]

Do you have a link for the company that produces the CF interior trim and tool shell on the trunk?

[sillieidiot]

Do you have a link for the company that produces the CF interior trim and tool shell on the trunk?

Nah, it used to be an EAS product. It was discontinued way back when I got it I think.

[BADCLOWN]

Bummer, thanks though. Very cool build, can’t wait to see the charger on. I think that’s going to be my next step as well but going the VF route

[t.er]

Came across this ad (https://www.kijiji.ca/v-other-auto-parts-and-accessories/city-of-toronto/bmw-e46-m3-zhp-330-parts/1503354584) while casually browsing Kijiji for E46 parts. Look who's car it is, I wonder if the parts are from that car? :rofl


https://i.imgur.com/9MBJOZml.jpg

[sillieidiot]

Man I swear people are always taking my car to try to sell their parts. I had that happen a couple years ago where they took my pictures and tried to say it was their hood.

[johnrando]

Man I swear people are always taking my car to try to sell their parts. I had that happen a couple years ago where they took my pictures and tried to say it was their hood.That's crazy!

Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

[sillieidiot]

Now for some updates. I have been busy. I just take pictures and it auto uploads and forget about them. But I took a week off this week to unwind, hence updates lol :hi

7/11/20:

No idea when I did this. But the date on the pictures say it was July. So I assume it was another COVID project lol

Had Wayne take my rear deck out since everything else was out. I just did what everyone else did and just cleaned it up and painted black with fabric paint.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51157811211_901b269687_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWD9XM)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51157812301_c71b885376_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWDahz)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51158921305_98a11fe594_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWJQXk)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51158599459_fefbcb68f1_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWHchg)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51158050438_54e72c7d47_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWEo5o)

Came out great. It does make the fabric more stiff to the touch, but whatever. Not like I ever touch anything back there.

Cleaned the vent thing while I was at it. I was going to hit it with Dlux, but lazy :chillin

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51158051783_a3b60ee7db_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWEotz)


8/18/20:

Due to COVID, body shop wasn't really open. But once they were back, I dropped by one day to see my car's progress. Everything still apart.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51157813641_6880990ffd_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWDaFF)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51158922685_d4cbe21d40_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWJRn8)

He did get the driver's side fender on. It's painted because it came off the AW donor M3 shell.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51158600969_8e17d00c71_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWHcJi)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51157813701_29eba7379b_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWDaGH)

Poor car…so neglected…:(

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51158600824_07d49b16d6_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWHcFN)


11/11/20:

I'm pretty sure I went back to work in Sept. Went to NC on a project. Then did 32 straight 16 hr shifts for Hoag here. :eyetwitch So when I was free, went to visit the shop.

Car was being primed and prepped for paint.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51158601224_78f83093fb_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWHcNG)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51157813926_2dfb336cf2_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWDaLA)


1/18/21:

Was busy at work. I'm now on a long term project at St. Joseph.

Car has been painted. Looks good.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51158052268_6d891f7328_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWEoBW)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51157152362_0d0a4c5610_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWzM7j)

Those ZHP wheels definitely don't fit now :rofl

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51158052283_315fdbc167_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWEoCc)

Like the fronts. I had Wayne flatten the lip while he was at it. So I don't got to deal with rolling fenders or any of that stuff lol

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51158923240_c23ab25484_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWJRwG)

I think the inner lip usually sticks out like 10mm or so. It's like 2-3mm now :spit


4/20/21:

Things are going back on, albeit, at a snails pace lol

Rear deck is back on. I guess I should do something about those speaker grills. I’m leaving the rear head rests off. Not like anyone sits back there.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51157814886_e04f3d4d81_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWDb49)

Tail lights are on. Trunk fitted. There are some nicks and scratches on the trunk from where ever Wayne stored it. I don't plan on repainting the trunk since I will be getting a new one. Just waiting on them to make it. I'll have him touch it up in the mean time.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51158602059_7662edda8d_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWHd46)


Dropped by today. I needed quotes about the other car I'm modding :facepalm

He put on one of my side moldings. Had to buy M3 ones. He also put on the CSL rails. The rest of the stuff that goes on the trunk.

I only took pictures of the window trim. Since the rubber on my window trim was bad. Went ahead and powder-coated it. Put the rubber gasket back. Then I did that one DIY with the rubber seal. Hope it holds lol

Bought the gloss black lower trims while we're at it.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51157944422_19cb115e33_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWDQyw)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51157944402_f74a1f4af8_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kWDQyb)

It looks like I'm going to need new side markers cause that shit is yellow lol

I'm also starting to work on stuff that I was lazy to do because the car wasn't done. Here's my current to do list:


Get tires for ARC-8s
SMOG
Airbag recall


Those are the only urgent ones at the moment. Tackle the rest later lol I have a huge list of things to do including suspension upgrade.

[ZHPizza]

Your favorite mod here is probably gonna be the rear headrest delete lol the visibility is just supreme

[sillieidiot]

Your favorite mod here is probably gonna be the rear headrest delete lol the visibility is just supreme

They never really bothered me tbh. I feel like I don't look at the rearview as much as I do the sides because of my blindspot mirrors. But it looks way cleaner without them. I just got to get around making the caps for the holes. Maybe 3d print something. After I fix my 3d printer. No idea what's wrong with it.

[YoitsTmac]

Subbed. One of my favorite E46's on the road. This thing inspired me so much when I was younger, I was always keeping up on it. Now I can as an adult too :) Keep up the good work, love how crazy this build is.

[t.er]

This thing inspired me so much when I was younger, I was always keeping up on it. Now I can as an adult too :)

lol I was like 10 years old when Hieu bought this car :rofl

[johnrando]

[emoji1787]

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[sillieidiot]

Subbed. One of my favorite E46's on the road. This thing inspired me so much when I was younger, I was always keeping up on it. Now I can as an adult too :) Keep up the good work, love how crazy this build is.


lol I was like 10 years old when Hieu bought this car :rofl

Man this makes me feel old lol Been like 15 years. Car is still not done :facepalm

[sillieidiot]

Ahh stuck on the rear bumper. It's the only thing keeping my car from finishing now. Should I just throw the m3 bumper like everyone else? I see why no one does what I want lol

[t.er]

Lol the definition of scope creep. M3 bumper... then M3 quad exhaust

[sillieidiot]

Yeah, I mean I'm going to do quad at some point. car looks too wide for the rear for just dual. I wonder if I can find some aftermarket M3 bumper that is somewhat close to what I'm trying to do lol

[sillieidiot]

It's going…

Off my previous list, I sort of got 2/3 done. Ordered tires, they are on backorder. Completed SMOG.

6/11/21

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51272431300_4088eb1191_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2m7LBwd)

So took the car back for smog. Pretty much only put the car back together enough so that I could drive around the neighborhood to get the monitors ready.

First time I drove it in a long ass time. Car felt great other than the suspension which is shit lol But I sold my suspension. A story for later in the future…

Serenity finally gets to meet Aspen :wub

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51271575763_3d8c0b3d43_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2m7Gecz)

Was modding the M240i while doing my smog drives concurrently. I didn't have any stickers, so it took god damn forever to get the monitors ready driving around in the neighborhood. My area is full of cops :facepalm

You can follow the M240i progress here if you're bored:
Sillieidiot's...er...SamBam's M240i progress thread
(http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?22100-Sillieidiot-s-er-SamBam-s-M240i-progress-thread)
6/17/21

Then I went to smog, monitors ready but they were giving me shit about the silicone intake hoses. I passed smog with it last time so wtf? Whatever, ended up buying some cheap aftermarket ones off amazon for like $20 and installing it.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51272128159_be58acfd69_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2m7K4pD)

Honestly, I was like how TF did we install it. I was having a hard time taking them off for some reason.

6/21/21

So all of my pillars were bad. I mean they were decent, but leaving it at Waynes, after awhile they were just got worse somehow. Same with my headliner. It's sagging now, totally didn't do that before I dropped it off. But it was inevitable.

We didn't even put the pillars all back in cause it was bad. So I ended up going with Wayne's suggestion and going to New Line Upholstery.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51272429925_6be076d71a_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2m7LB7v)

Got a quote from Jesse, and decided to go ahead and get it done. The fabric that I was going for is more like what comes in the newer BMWs. It's a more padded fabric with a little more texture. It's also darker cause it's actually black instead of a dark grey/charcoal. I chose it over alcantara because I don't like the nap not being uniform, plus the fact that I drive the E46 with my windows down, so it's harder to take care of/clean.

6/25/21

Picked up the car. They did a great job. It looks good. The part that I didn't like mainly was how the A pillars were done. In trying to keep that stupid little plastic piece that covers the screws, it bulged out because the fabric is thicker. I sent it back to the drawing board.
Just a quick picture while the car was there, really just to update this thread lol

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51272131239_d0cc897fb0_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2m7K5jK)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51271578728_8613b21292_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2m7Gf5G)

Still working on what to do with the visors. Mines really dirty so they were like a few shades lighter. I'm planning to clean it up to see if it's a better match. If not, then just dye it or something.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51271578743_898e3cb1f4_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2m7Gf5X)

7/2/21

Jesse and his team came back with an even better solution for the pillars. And I loved how it came out :thumbsup

So what they came back with was to wrap the whole entire thing. No more strip. I didn't want it anyways, don't have to clean between the cracks and no ABS logo. It's cleaner IMO.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51304983015_9793a7fb68_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2maDs1F)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51303222582_16306258c0_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mauqGo)

I know, not the best pictures. Also, don't even mention the cracking vinyl LOL

Another attempted shot of the rear.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51303969551_b03c8ff386_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mayfKa)

I'm starting to collect parts for the E46 to get it ready for the SC. Dunno when the rear bumper will be done though. I'm not pressing too hard though. I got other shit to deal with for now.

[johnrando]

Good stuff!

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[sillieidiot]

Oh yeah, So I talked to Ronald@Autosolutions. Asked him if I needed to upgrade to the Gen 2 shifters that everyone was about to install. But he told me they are actually based off my custom kit that he made for me so there's no need. He had to make some concessions to make it so that it could be mass produced. But the larger pivot and the ergonomics are now, all based off my kit. The pivot ball is slightly different since it's going into your current shift carrier, and mines was made with it's own carrier.

That's good to know. Saves me money. Not like I there was anything wrong with mines, but I probably would if it was a significant upgrade just cause lol Although, now that I think about it, selling it would be difficult. Unless I took off the shift carrier too.

[sillieidiot]

So I finally started replacing shit to get ready for the SC. After 3 days of this, I'm already lazy to do the rest of the stuff lol

DAY 1 (8/16/21)

Anyways, on my drive over to JR's, I looked down and saw my car passing a milestone. So took a picture. Not the best, but I was driving lol

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51389811648_eff7ca9e66_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mi9dBj)

The plan for this round was to replace the coolant hard lines, dipstick o-ring, and OFHG. I skipped some of the other stuff since apparently I won't even need it on the TS2.

Requires taking off the intake manifold. Man why the hell was it so hard? Lol

Got through the easy stuff

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51389811608_e3c56dc08c_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mi9dAC)

Also, the torx to my hydraulic tensioner pulley was partially stripped. I needed a T52 :spit I just wrapped the T50 up with a few rounds of electrical tape and hoped that it held long enough just to take off the belts. I'll let future sillie deal with it when we go to put the belt back on.

A shot of JR getting DEEP in there as we moved on to taking the intake manifold off.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51389556666_5aa91cc21e_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mi7UP5)

God, it didn't help that my engine bay was dirty as shit from all the sanding dust.
After a lot of cursing and stuff, we took a break. I took this picture lamenting my decision to start this project lol We were like what? 25% at this stage :help

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51389556691_6d9dc36c8c_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mi7UPv)

F*** Y*** S*** :guns Got it off. Actually, we didn't take it all the way off. There was a fuel line or something still attached. Didn't want to bother with that so we just move it to the side. Also broke the return line that goes to the CCV (you can see it sticking out in the pic). Luckily, I bought all the CCV parts (before, I found out that I didn't need it :facepalm).

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51388795827_5ccb143d93_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mi41Da)

Took another much needed break after this. I was like how are we going to put this back together correctly? :scratchinghead Debated on whether or not we should continue. We did. Just to swap the hard lines since we already did the coolant drain and it's literally just those 2 things. JR thought it would be easy. Took us like another hour or so of us cursing on why tf it was so hard to pull. Broke stuff off of it and it still didn't budge.

The method that finally prevailed was: Ok this looks like it would be better for you cause, right handed (JR). You got this. Then for the other hose, oh it's left handed (me), damn I gotta do it :rofl

These 2 fucking hard lines. I hate you :mad But I'm glad I replaced it. Because the one on top was actually broken inside with pieces in the engine. Also the o-rings on them were flat af.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51390293749_e30f7c8760_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mibFVp)

Looking at this picture now, I just realized that I took a picture before I cut the blue zip tie. And somehow we managed to zip tie the correct stuff to the hard lines and route the alternator wire and all the other stuff correctly LOL

Cleaned up some of the area, then I was like hmm. I didn't know there's stuff in here. I figured I would take a picture because I plan to not see this for a long while.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51389557061_1679170424_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mi7UVT)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51389812613_bc7ec0bdf8_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mi9dTX)

I was going to clean the area. But I was like fuck it. Too lazy lol I only wiped the puddles of coolant and oil and stuff.

We decided to stop here for the day.


DAY 2 (8/17/21)

Damn I was sore af. Then I had to get up and drive up there again and do the second half of the stuff. We started later in the day, so I didn't think we would get as far.

So the focus was replacing the OFHG, dipstick o-ring, the bottom coolant hose, the return line to the CCV we broke and putting everything back together as much as we could.

Didn't remember how to do the OFHG so had to look up DIY. It was somewhat fairly painless to take off. If anything, putting it back to align it took longer. I also forgot to keep note of which bolts were what :facepalm But Pelican Parts DIY to the rescue. I also replaced the VANOS oil return line too.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51390293864_3ef568b326_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mibFXo)

Only picture I took lol

Spent the next several hours figuring out what we did so we could go backwards in order to put the intake back on. Then we got to the part where the fuel vent hose needed to go on the side nipple all the way on the corner of the engine. FML this has got to be the hardest FJDASOGNEOQ!!! Hose to put on. We literally spent like a couple hours on this part.

First of all, the hose was WAY smaller than the nipple/tube that it has to go over. Then you have this SHORT ASS FUCKING hose that barely makes it there. WHY?! GOD DAMMIT WHY?! :crying

I found the other end of it while we were figuring out what to do. Since this all project all of a sudden turned into GOD TIER MODE. I was like screw it, pulled the other end off. Well it wouldn't come off. I had to use a blade and cut it off without seeing it. Even when I cut it, It held on for dear life. Like HAHAHAH JK you thought you found a cheat huh? nono

Kojima, you designed this level didn't you?

After I finally got it off. We went to buy longer versions of the hose, and tried to use a larger size as well. Larger size didn't work. The connection on the bottom was too small. So had to make due with the current hose size which is still god damn impossible to put on. After several attempts, tried putting the hose in hot water to get it on. We were only ever able to get on like 40% of the distance. Fuck it, it's good enough, doesn't look like it'll come off. I think I got like 24" of the hose (the original was already like 12" wtf), I didn't even cut it. Shoved the rest in the back of the car and plugged the other side in. This paid dividends later.

We took the intake manifold off a few times while trying to figure out how to route hoses and connectors and such. The one that sucked was the power lead for the starter. We clipped it on a clip that we though it might have gone to. And it made it extremely short. Had to take the damn thing out off just so we could reroute it. It took some time, but we finally got it back on.

After taking another well deserved break, I figured we should switch gears and put the alternator and belts back on. Seriously FU past sillie :slap At this point, it was like 10pm. And here we're struggling to put the god damn serpentine belt on. That stripped torx? It went from T52 to T54 at some point before not even being able to be used. We couldn't hold it long enough for me to safely put the belt on without some serious injury. What normally takes like 30 seconds, took like an hour lol Ended up trying a HEX. Got a 5/16th to fit, added some electrical tape to make sure it's in there good. Hammered the socket in. We had one shot at this lol Got that bitch on :fingerscrossed

EAS can deal with it now :mwah

Put the rest of the parts in. It was pretty smooth sailing from this point since it's just putting the easy stuff back on. Filled the car with oil, I skipped the funnel cause it was taking too long. I was doing pretty good until I didn't :spit Then the coolant, well that was just awful lmao I spilled a ton of that too lol I didn't want to wait for the slow funnel. It was like 230am at this part.

Finally, everything is back. Go to start the car and it dies right away :eyetwitch Son of a bitch. Tried a couple more times and no go. Gave up. It was too late to troubleshoot so I just left for the day.


DAY 3 (8/18/21)


So JR was busy today, so I just did the troubleshooting on my own. I was kind of lazy, but since it was all cloudy and stuff I decided to drive up. Seriously, iono what we could have done wrong. I went through all the shit on the drive back to JRs house. Honestly the 2 biggest issues I could think of is it's either fuel related or vacuum/air related.

I was going to start it again and figured it was a hiccup. But after priming the fuel pump a few times, I was like nah. I'll just go check it out. I decided to start looking for vacuum/air first. It's like the first thing we needed to take off anyways so yeah. THEN I SAW IT :jawdrop This glint that wasn't supposed to be there.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51390293849_f530df2650_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mibFX8)

YES!! Thank god it was something easy. Honestly fuck these aftermarket Chinese OEM style hoses. They were somehow more difficult to put on than my silicone intake hoses lol So I swapped my hoses back on.

It's ALIVE!!! :happyspidey

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51388795862_f33ad406c7_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mi41DL)

So this time, turned on and stayed on. Although it was still running a little rough. I looked around and saw the vacuum line connected to the F connector had a cut in it. Must be from when we were moving it around. I replaced it with the hose that I bought the other day for the Kojima level.

And everything is good. Car is up and running and everything seems to be good. There was coolant dripping when I was backing up, but it just turned out to be all of the coolant I spilled while pouring it into the car LOL


Taking a break from that train wreck of install lol

The next thing up to do is the VANOS. Got to do the seals and anti-rattle kit. I also have fuel filter, motor mounts, transmission mounts. I think that's it as far as getting the car ready for the TS2 goes. I need to replace my current suspension and get tires, but I can do that later.

[t.er]

lol T52 to T54 :rofl


also LOOOOOL JR

http://i.imgur.com/aqmZf.jpg

But seriously nice work!

[johnrando]

Lol. Hieu, quite the detailed post, lol.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[sillieidiot]

Lol. Hieu, quite the detailed post, lol.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

I told you that I would remember our pain lol

[johnrando]

I told you that I would remember our pain lol[emoji3]

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[sillieidiot]

So...still don't have my rear bumper. But my car is drivable. We switched gears and started on JR's manual swap. Been a month, we're only at the 50% mark cause of all of those "while we're here" stuff.

So yesterday, I dropped my car off at EAS to get the TS2 installed. Will be getting tires at the same time. The guys there didn't believe it would show until my car actually made it there in the sad state it's currently in. To me it drives great, except for the bad alignment, horrible suspension, and weak AC lol

I'll just do the VANOS shit and the rest of the stuff after lol I still need new suspension, rear bumper, and fix some little knick knacks on the car. Then detail.

[johnrando]

[emoji1360]

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[sillieidiot]

As I previously stated, I dropped the car off at EAS like 2 weeks ago. No deadline, so they can do it whenever.

So it's there for:

ESS TS2
New tires, and will put my ARC-8s on the car
M3 motor mounts


Whenever they get the tires and wheels on. We're going to figure how large of a spacer I need. I think if it's going to be like 20mm, I'm just going to buy new wheels. Maybe I can run et22 square.


Anyhow, yesterday, I dropped by because I wanted to do some things while the bumper was going to be off the car. I needed to look for my fog light wiring on the passenger side. It was missing last time. Turns out that it was lodged behind the brake duct. I had to remove it in order to get it out. I also took off the wiring harness that I had for the HID fogs that I never used. Last thing I did was take off the HID kits that I mounted on the bumper reinforcement bar. Seriously, in my quest for clean install, I always make shit harder for myself later lol

They told me when they were doing the baseline dyno, the power was surging because of the DISA. Pretty sure that was our fault lol I was like screw the o-ring cause I won't have a DISA after this.

Here's some pictures I took while I was there.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51533051408_0eaf806ce1_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mvNmNm)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51533051543_3051a6caf5_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mvNmQF)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51533526089_fa11810b7d_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mvQMUv)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51532007562_9d4a7feefa_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mvH1v1)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51532007682_cef9888cb8_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mvH1x5)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51533051388_db76d9fac0_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mvNmN1)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51533526124_49851d3a22_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mvQMV7)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51533525999_a5c19f36c4_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mvQMSX)

They are doing a lot more Tesla stuff now. So maybe suspension for my Tesla, after my E46 is done? Lol

[johnrando]

[emoji1360]

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[sillieidiot]

So…I'm currently on a remote project and a project at a local hospital. I have been working double shifts for the last 3 weeks. I'm so tired of this shit :crying The consequences of my actions lol I still have the rest of the month to go. So there's not much updates. I don't even drive the car, I'm pretty sure my battery is dying/dead.

Anyways, to catch up on what happened from last time.

Got Nick@EAS to take some pictures for me. I'll have to come back to get some more when I have the rest of my car back together.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51694518765_6cbd777e3c_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mL4Vqi)

Installed

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51694518750_83247a3506_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mL4Vq3)
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51693899978_dbeea795b7_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mL1Kty)

It's looking all pretty in black. Now I just need to do the TB. I feel like I should get a BBTB while I'm at it. I'll deal with that later.

Anyhow, after they installed it. PS died. WTF. Why? I had the LF-20. So I just took the time to do the LF-30 upgrade while I was at it. This is a whole debacle in itself. Bought the needed HP line. Then I bought a rebuilt LF-30 pump. The problem is the pump didn't come with brackets, so I bought a used LF-30 to get the brackets as seen here:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51694517995_12bfe8fe72_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mL4Vc2)

They installed it, then this happened.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51693628211_33cc1453e7_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mKZmFV)

So it turns out the rebuilt one I bought didn't fit the HP line that was meant for it. Why? Dunno :facepalm Went to back and forth for awhile and they ordered 2 more units with the same problem. So I decided to do a refund and then just rebuild the used that I bought.

The seals were cheap. I bought it from this guy that's on bimmerforums. The guy, he is a total :asshat. Seriously. I hit him up to meet up so that I could get it faster. Then his dumbass doesn't understand how to use email, gets angry at me because he keeps replying to the same message multiple times. Blames me, then cancels the meet and tells me to pay over PayPal. I bought the seals online, took like 3 days to get to me. When I could have just picked it up locally.

Then the shop that I got the rebuilt unit from tells me that they found a rebuilt one that fits the HP line. Since I didn't receive the refund yet, I was like why not. Picked it up and gave it to EAS. Faster than me rebuilding the LF-30 I have.

So now I have a used OE LF-30 with rebuild seals possibly for sale. I might rebuild it and clean it up before selling it. Figure that out later when I have more time.

During that whole time, I was bored. Posted this on reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/BMW/comments/qcz5s3/anyone_spruce_up_their_car_for_halloween_heres/

Then I made some for my friend and SamBam's car.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51692833677_30528c0034_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mKVhv4)

I didn't really like how the triangles looked with my friend's m240, so I made different teeth for SamBam lol

Which you can see at this link:
https://www.2addicts.com/forums/showpost.php?p=28175248&postcount=11


Then I dressed up the model 3 while I was at it.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51694572795_d2f73577e8_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mL5ctR)


Fast forward iono 2 weeks ago? Car is done yay

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51694306524_4cd50427b8_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mL3QjY)

I literally only had time to pick it up and drive it home :(

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51693628071_5101461d87_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mKZmDv)
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51694306349_9fbf2e6751_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mL3QgX)

I feel like I need to do something to cover up this hole I now have right here where the brake fluid is. There used to be some carpet covering.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51693628056_8c3829370a_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mKZmDf)

All nice and stealth looking. I just got to paint the TB.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51694306369_08170677e1_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mL3Qhi)

This is where she's been sitting for the last couple of weeks.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51692833532_1d14981a18_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mKVhsy)

The 265s look good. I guess I don't really need to space it out as much as I thought I would.

Driving home, car felt nice power wise. Other than just pushing it going straight on the freeway. That's about all I could do because the suspension I'm on is shit lol I have no sway bar endlinks and all of the shocks are shot. But I am working on that.

I'm working with EAS to get the MCS 2WNR.

Rich (ItsRichieRich) helped me secure new end links. I got some Whiteline ones this time around. Thanks Rich :thumbsup

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51693898973_d93306c612_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mL1Kbe)

I still need to go get my rear bumper lol Maybe next month. I don't have time. I don't get much sleep nowadays. And I'm doing this post while "working" lol

Until next time..

[t.er]

Damn, what a journey. Also I feel you on work... also why I haven't been on much. I need to update my thread as well lol

[AM1GO]

So I finally started replacing shit to get ready for the SC. After 3 days of this, I'm already lazy to do the rest of the stuff lol

DAY 1 (8/16/21)

Anyways, on my drive over to JR's, I looked down and saw my car passing a milestone. So took a picture. Not the best, but I was driving lol

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51389811648_eff7ca9e66_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mi9dBj)

The plan for this round was to replace the coolant hard lines, dipstick o-ring, and OFHG. I skipped some of the other stuff since apparently I won't even need it on the TS2.

Requires taking off the intake manifold. Man why the hell was it so hard? Lol

Got through the easy stuff

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51389811608_e3c56dc08c_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mi9dAC)

Also, the torx to my hydraulic tensioner pulley was partially stripped. I needed a T52 :spit I just wrapped the T50 up with a few rounds of electrical tape and hoped that it held long enough just to take off the belts. I'll let future sillie deal with it when we go to put the belt back on.

A shot of JR getting DEEP in there as we moved on to taking the intake manifold off.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51389556666_5aa91cc21e_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mi7UP5)

God, it didn't help that my engine bay was dirty as shit from all the sanding dust.
After a lot of cursing and stuff, we took a break. I took this picture lamenting my decision to start this project lol We were like what? 25% at this stage :help

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51389556691_6d9dc36c8c_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mi7UPv)

F*** Y*** S*** :guns Got it off. Actually, we didn't take it all the way off. There was a fuel line or something still attached. Didn't want to bother with that so we just move it to the side. Also broke the return line that goes to the CCV (you can see it sticking out in the pic). Luckily, I bought all the CCV parts (before, I found out that I didn't need it :facepalm).

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51388795827_5ccb143d93_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mi41Da)

Took another much needed break after this. I was like how are we going to put this back together correctly? :scratchinghead Debated on whether or not we should continue. We did. Just to swap the hard lines since we already did the coolant drain and it's literally just those 2 things. JR thought it would be easy. Took us like another hour or so of us cursing on why tf it was so hard to pull. Broke stuff off of it and it still didn't budge.

The method that finally prevailed was: Ok this looks like it would be better for you cause, right handed (JR). You got this. Then for the other hose, oh it's left handed (me), damn I gotta do it :rofl

These 2 fucking hard lines. I hate you :mad But I'm glad I replaced it. Because the one on top was actually broken inside with pieces in the engine. Also the o-rings on them were flat af.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51390293749_e30f7c8760_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mibFVp)

Looking at this picture now, I just realized that I took a picture before I cut the blue zip tie. And somehow we managed to zip tie the correct stuff to the hard lines and route the alternator wire and all the other stuff correctly LOL

Cleaned up some of the area, then I was like hmm. I didn't know there's stuff in here. I figured I would take a picture because I plan to not see this for a long while.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51389557061_1679170424_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mi7UVT)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51389812613_bc7ec0bdf8_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mi9dTX)

I was going to clean the area. But I was like fuck it. Too lazy lol I only wiped the puddles of coolant and oil and stuff.

We decided to stop here for the day.


DAY 2 (8/17/21)

Damn I was sore af. Then I had to get up and drive up there again and do the second half of the stuff. We started later in the day, so I didn't think we would get as far.

So the focus was replacing the OFHG, dipstick o-ring, the bottom coolant hose, the return line to the CCV we broke and putting everything back together as much as we could.

Didn't remember how to do the OFHG so had to look up DIY. It was somewhat fairly painless to take off. If anything, putting it back to align it took longer. I also forgot to keep note of which bolts were what :facepalm But Pelican Parts DIY to the rescue. I also replaced the VANOS oil return line too.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51390293864_3ef568b326_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mibFXo)

Only picture I took lol

Spent the next several hours figuring out what we did so we could go backwards in order to put the intake back on. Then we got to the part where the fuel vent hose needed to go on the side nipple all the way on the corner of the engine. FML this has got to be the hardest FJDASOGNEOQ!!! Hose to put on. We literally spent like a couple hours on this part.

First of all, the hose was WAY smaller than the nipple/tube that it has to go over. Then you have this SHORT ASS FUCKING hose that barely makes it there. WHY?! GOD DAMMIT WHY?! :crying

I found the other end of it while we were figuring out what to do. Since this all project all of a sudden turned into GOD TIER MODE. I was like screw it, pulled the other end off. Well it wouldn't come off. I had to use a blade and cut it off without seeing it. Even when I cut it, It held on for dear life. Like HAHAHAH JK you thought you found a cheat huh? nono

Kojima, you designed this level didn't you?

After I finally got it off. We went to buy longer versions of the hose, and tried to use a larger size as well. Larger size didn't work. The connection on the bottom was too small. So had to make due with the current hose size which is still god damn impossible to put on. After several attempts, tried putting the hose in hot water to get it on. We were only ever able to get on like 40% of the distance. Fuck it, it's good enough, doesn't look like it'll come off. I think I got like 24" of the hose (the original was already like 12" wtf), I didn't even cut it. Shoved the rest in the back of the car and plugged the other side in. This paid dividends later.

We took the intake manifold off a few times while trying to figure out how to route hoses and connectors and such. The one that sucked was the power lead for the starter. We clipped it on a clip that we though it might have gone to. And it made it extremely short. Had to take the damn thing out off just so we could reroute it. It took some time, but we finally got it back on.

After taking another well deserved break, I figured we should switch gears and put the alternator and belts back on. Seriously FU past sillie :slap At this point, it was like 10pm. And here we're struggling to put the god damn serpentine belt on. That stripped torx? It went from T52 to T54 at some point before not even being able to be used. We couldn't hold it long enough for me to safely put the belt on without some serious injury. What normally takes like 30 seconds, took like an hour lol Ended up trying a HEX. Got a 5/16th to fit, added some electrical tape to make sure it's in there good. Hammered the socket in. We had one shot at this lol Got that bitch on :fingerscrossed

EAS can deal with it now :mwah

Put the rest of the parts in. It was pretty smooth sailing from this point since it's just putting the easy stuff back on. Filled the car with oil, I skipped the funnel cause it was taking too long. I was doing pretty good until I didn't :spit Then the coolant, well that was just awful lmao I spilled a ton of that too lol I didn't want to wait for the slow funnel. It was like 230am at this part.

Finally, everything is back. Go to start the car and it dies right away :eyetwitch Son of a bitch. Tried a couple more times and no go. Gave up. It was too late to troubleshoot so I just left for the day.


DAY 3 (8/18/21)


So JR was busy today, so I just did the troubleshooting on my own. I was kind of lazy, but since it was all cloudy and stuff I decided to drive up. Seriously, iono what we could have done wrong. I went through all the shit on the drive back to JRs house. Honestly the 2 biggest issues I could think of is it's either fuel related or vacuum/air related.

I was going to start it again and figured it was a hiccup. But after priming the fuel pump a few times, I was like nah. I'll just go check it out. I decided to start looking for vacuum/air first. It's like the first thing we needed to take off anyways so yeah. THEN I SAW IT :jawdrop This glint that wasn't supposed to be there.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51390293849_f530df2650_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mibFX8)

YES!! Thank god it was something easy. Honestly fuck these aftermarket Chinese OEM style hoses. They were somehow more difficult to put on than my silicone intake hoses lol So I swapped my hoses back on.

It's ALIVE!!! :happyspidey

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51388795862_f33ad406c7_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mi41DL)

So this time, turned on and stayed on. Although it was still running a little rough. I looked around and saw the vacuum line connected to the F connector had a cut in it. Must be from when we were moving it around. I replaced it with the hose that I bought the other day for the Kojima level.

And everything is good. Car is up and running and everything seems to be good. There was coolant dripping when I was backing up, but it just turned out to be all of the coolant I spilled while pouring it into the car LOL


Taking a break from that train wreck of install lol

The next thing up to do is the VANOS. Got to do the seals and anti-rattle kit. I also have fuel filter, motor mounts, transmission mounts. I think that's it as far as getting the car ready for the TS2 goes. I need to replace my current suspension and get tires, but I can do that later.

Next time you clean that area (or any grease for that matter) use Lamp Oil, takes off grease and wax easy


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