William's 330Ci ZHP Maintenance and Project Thread

Stock boring calipers = keep it simple color aka black or silver IMO

Also chiming in with the silver/black vote. I do like the uniqueness/contrast of yellow, but only if they were performance calipers of some sort and not the same hardware that's on every 330 (and 325?).

I painted my rear calipers phx yellow with the G2 kit. It matches the BBK Phx yellow. Don't know if that helps.

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Originally Posted by anandoc

My opinion - but the stock calipers are not large enough to be shown off in a bright color such as yellow. If I saw another E46 with painted calipers in something bright such as yellow or red, I would mutter "sigh...poser". It just doesn't look right. A conservative color such as silver or black would make it look clean and OEM-ish and prevent it from rusting and looking like crap.

Again, this is a personal choice - if painting it yellow makes you happy, go for it!!

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Originally Posted by az3579

I agree that the stock calipers don't have enough of a presence. With that said, I'd say it still would look great in said colors from a contrast perspective, but you do run into that "just painted calipers" thought that some people get on the street.

Against blue, I'd choose yellow all day long. Black or silver are a bit too boring for my personal taste. Can't wait to get a second car so I can remove my black Wilwoods and give 'em a proper yellow paint job! Of course this matches my personality; I'm far from conforming, like to be unique, and am a bit of an oddball, so highly contrasting colors are what I'm all about. ;)

The best advice I can give is go with what reflects your personality. Do you like to stick out, or are you more subtle?

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Originally Posted by Vas

Stock boring calipers = keep it simple color aka black or silver IMO

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Originally Posted by ZHPizza

Also chiming in with the silver/black vote. I do like the uniqueness/contrast of yellow, but only if they were performance calipers of some sort and not the same hardware that's on every 330 (and 325?).

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Originally Posted by johnrando

I painted my rear calipers phx yellow with the G2 kit. It matches the BBK Phx yellow. Don't know if that helps.

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Appreciate the input, gentleman! Thankfully I have time to mull it over. I'm not really into silver despite that being the factory color. I think I'll either go loud with yellow (I think it looks decent with the black 330i I posted) or black to give it some contrast with my APEXs.

Picked up a used set of clear yellow fog light housings from the current owner of the Estorilblau coupe. The pile keeps growing...

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Originally Posted by BMWCurves

Picked up a used set of clear yellow fog light housings from the current owner of the Estorilblau coupe. The pile keeps growing...

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That's what I'm saying! My pile of parts keeps getting larger and larger lol. Hey, with the Apex wheels, did you notice you a huge difference in ride comfort and handling?

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Originally Posted by Ridgey

That's what I'm saying! My pile of parts keeps getting larger and larger lol. Hey, with the Apex wheels, did you notice you a huge difference in ride comfort and handling?

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When I switched from my factory 18" style 135 wheels to the 17" APEX ARC8 wheels I definitely a noticed a small improvement in ride quality. I couldn't tell you if that was due purely to a lighter wheel and less unsprung weight (~28 lbs vs 17.2 lbs), different tire compounds (old Toyo Proxes vs. fresh Continental ExtremeContact DW), or the taller sidewall when downsizing from the factory 18" to 17." I will say that they are more comfortable ride-wise, and I found a noticeable improvement in handling and grip as well. The car is much more planted than before. Where bumps on a certain road used to upset the front wheels or make the rear wheels skitter about, it now absorbs those bumps and stays firmly planted to the ground. It was an expensive upgrade, but I'm aware of it each day I drive it and am especially grateful when I drive on some twisty backroads.

I had a thread trying to figure out wheel sizing a while back. The first post has most of my questions along with my final decision on sizing, impressions, and an interesting Road and Track article on decreasing wheel mass and its improvement on rotational inertia and acceleration: http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showt...Size-Questions

The M3 front strut bar arrived yesterday evening. My father looked it over and says it looks basically brand new and has all the associated hardware! I'm very excited. Now I have to figure out if I need those extended hex nuts for the strut tower since I have the strut reinforcement plates and the strut brace. Can you use the normal strut tower nuts, or do I need those extended ones (part no. 51717895241, link: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...h/51717895241/)

Crappy phone pic:

http://i.imgur.com/fP2wfqW.jpg

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Originally Posted by BMWCurves

The M3 front strut bar arrived yesterday evening. My father looked it over and says it looks basically brand new and has all the associated hardware! I'm very excited. Now I have to figure out if I need those extended hex nuts for the strut tower since I have the strut reinforcement plates and the strut brace. Can you use the normal strut tower nuts, or do I need those extended ones (part no. 51717895241, link: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...h/51717895241/)

Crappy phone pic:

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William, the 6 nuts that came with your strut tower brace (as pictured above) are infact part# 51717895241 and can be used even with the tower reinforcement plates. I too have the strut tower reinforcement plates and I have the ///M3 strut brace installed with these nuts and its fine.

Ah nice! I didn't even notice they were the same. I just assumed they were the same part as our strut tower nuts. Saves me some dough.