My Mystic Adventure...

[cakM3]

That camera is very small and quality is great. I like it.

I also put in a 128GB microSD card and have my dash cam in parking mode . . .

[cakM3]

Today I made progress on my OEM M3 side mirror retrofit. A fellow enthusiast friend of mine has his own workshop with every tool imaginable with over 6 hydraulic lifts and numerous Porsches in various stages of development in his many projects. In his workshop he has built an industrial paint booth where he can also paint an entire car in and offered it to me for when I am ready to paint my side mirrors

Today while mulling over doing the necessary modifications to my mirror baseplates it occurred to me to ask if I could use some of his tools at his workshop to finish trimming my baseplates and he said yes so I came over with my baseplates and he helped me trim off the posts on the back of the baseplates and I did the rest trimming off the edges for sedan fitment.

Now that this has been done, the hardest part of the retrofit is complete. I now have to paint the baseplates and mirror housing so this will be done over the course of the following week and once my 2k clear arrives I can complete the painting of my side mirrors and then start the reassembly process.

Seeing I started this awhile ago, it is nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel regarding this retrofit which I really want for my ZHP

EDIT: Mirror housings have been prepped for primer and base coat. I am now working on my mirror base plates so they can be ready for primer and base coat paint. By next weekend I will have my mirrors painted so they can both be reassembled and then mounted.

[RUS_ZHP]

Your car will look mega cool with M3 mirrors! Can't wait to see them installed

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[cakM3]

Your car will look mega cool with M3 mirrors! Can't wait to see them installed

I still remember when you guys stopped over to visit and we ended up installing M3 side mirrors on your touring.

I'm looking forward to installing these on my ZHP. Yes, it should look amazing when installed

[cakM3]

I got all my paintable parts sanded and ready for primer and paint but today is far too humid to paint (currently at 94% humidity) so I'm waiting for better days until I paint everything.

Better to wait and get it done right when conditions are right for painting





I can focus on removing that one sticker off my mirror housing today.

Today, July 4, marks my third anniversary with my ZHP. The day I rescued her. A lot of work have gone into her in those three years and I'm determined to follow thru with the journey I have started. I'm really enjoying my ZHP as my daily now. Stereo sounds amazing, loving my M3 gauge cluster retrofit, Bilstein suspension is a dream, car is so much more reliable since my full cooling system overhaul project. I'm looking forward to doing more upgrades/mods as my build progresses

Looking back this shows all the work I have put into my ZHP during my ownership:






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[cakM3]

My final maintenance before my annual road trip has been completed this afternoon with the engine oil, rear diff oil and fuel filter being changed out.

The dealer used
- 0W 30 motor oil p/n 83-21-5-A42-D39
- Synthetic GE oil p/n 07-51-2-293-972
- Fuel Filter p/n 13-32-7-512-019

Of the three jobs done replacing the fuel filter was the most expensive. Since I had ZERO maintenance history associated with my ZHP when I purchased it, I felt it would be important to establish a good solid maintenace base line from which I can go forward in this car's care and maintenance.

My primary focus has been fixing what has been broke with this car and getting this car caught up on all critical maintenance upgrading it as I progress along. I still have more I want to do before I can say I am done with the maintenance aspect of restoring this ZHP. Ahead of me I have the following I would like to accomplish:

- Restore the Power Steering system
- replace high pressure hose/line
- replace both low pressure hose/lines
- replace power steering reservoir
- verify power steering pump is good, if not replace with LUK20 power steering pump

- Rod Bearing replacement
- look at replacing timing chain and chain guides/tensioners
- Check cylinder pressure
- replace rear main seal
- replace clutch with a new BMW OEM clutch (keeping engine stock)
- replace engine gaskets
- Overhaul VANOS system

As I have said, I would like to . . . by the look of this I'm thinking I'm heading into engine rebuild . . . I may end up doing this and if I do I may look to put in stronger parts into this motor. We'll see just how deep I end up going down this rabbit hole...

I still have all cosmetics to sort on this car and source an OEM BMW left front fender to replace the rep fender the previous owner used. Cosmetics will be the very last thing I will work on sorting thru once all maintenance has been done with this ZHP. So far in my first three years of ownership I feel I have made decent progress on my car. I have much more I want to get done . . .

[cakM3]

I started painting out my OEM M3 mirrors and have painted my base plates in Glossy Black paint to match the Shadowline trim on my ZHP. The mirror housings are painted in Mystic Blue paint.


The passenger side base plate

the driver's side base plate


and driver's side mirror housing




The passenger side mirror housing drying at the moment





next will be applying the 2k clear to these parts to bring that shine to them. I will be applying two light coats and one final good coat to finish off each part


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[John in VA]

Any sanding prior to adding the clear coat?

[cakM3]

Any sanding prior to adding the clear coat?

I did some very light wet sanding using 1500 grit then dried the parts and cleaned them using windshield cleaner, wiped clean so there was no lint before spraying clear. I have slight orange peel on my finish which I will lightly wet sand then compound polish once done. Here's how they turned out after applying clear to them

Driver's side mirror base plate

Passenger's side mirror base plate


Passenger's side mirror housing



pictured below are both driver's and passenger's side mirror housings


I got everything done just in time to put everything away as the rain clouds started rolling in to dump more water all over. For now I will leave all parts as they are in my garage so the clear can set and get hard before I try doing anything to these parts. Good thing is I am finished painting these mirrors. Looking forward to reassembly and mounting of these mirrors.

[cakM3]

Clear coat is hard but I will allow it to cure before doing anything. Just wanted to take the mirror enclosure to the car to see how well the paint matches. It looks good to me.

Not bad for a rattle can job . . .


I also ordered four Torx screws used to mount the OEM M3 side mirrors
P/N: 07-14-7-196-375