What did you do for your ZHP/BMW today?

[Hornung418]

I also found two quarters and a dime...I'm rich biotch! I'm looking on ECS to see if I find anything that will essentially delete the Armrest.

I discovered how the Parking Brake sensor works and I found a co-axial cable as well as some other plugs that I'm sure I can delete from the interior harness.

Just started taking things apart to see if I could unlock the doors. Did a solid chunk of the work in the Arena Club parking lot .

[Ryans323i]

[SoCalZman]

just picked my car up from the local BMW dealer.
had all my pre road trip done:
oil change - purring like a baby tiger
power steering fluid change - I could SWEAR that the steering is lighter now. It seemed before the steering was very very heavy, but now its just slightly heavy. Maybe its in my head?
transmission fluid - another "maybe in my head," but it seems like it shifts easier too
diff fluid - might as well!
parking brake adjusted (again) - we will see if it holds on San Francisco's inclines/declines without me having to stand on the seats and pull up on the brake
rear subframe inspection - "no signs of wear or cracks"
BMW "spa service" - pretty much a thorough interior/exterior/trunk/engine compartment detailing. I am VERY happy with the results
AUX kit install - I don't have time before this weekend to put it in, so they ware happy to do it for me. works great. will love having tunes on my road trip to Tahoe.
Steve's new Nav disc - Thanks Steve! Unfortunately my old co worker's address subdivision is so new, its apparently not on the newer disc either! Which is might make sense since his house was under construction around or about 2-3 years ago.Ah well. I have a navigator and iPhones and iPads, etc. :-) And the disc will help out plenty in other ways. btw, my old disc was actually the one that came with the car (2004!).

Next week: ordering Bluetooth parts and the Intravee II

PS - BMW sells these neat little canvas "oil bags" which you can velcro to the side of your trunk and holds 1 qt of oil and has a funnel/gloves, etc in it. For only 5 bucks. Pretty neat Link so you can see a pic: http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E46-M3-...Bag/ES1885136/

[danewilson77]

Nice rake.

[Ryans323i]

your sig pic is hot

Thanks! C. Withers Media baby!

just picked my car up from the local BMW dealer.
had all my pre road trip done:
oil change - purring like a baby tiger
power steering fluid change - I could SWEAR that the steering is lighter now. It seemed before the steering was very very heavy, but now its just slightly heavy. Maybe its in my head?
transmission fluid - another "maybe in my head," but it seems like it shifts easier too
diff fluid - might as well!
parking brake adjusted (again) - we will see if it holds on San Francisco's inclines/declines without me having to stand on the seats and pull up on the brake
rear subframe inspection - "no signs of wear or cracks"
BMW "spa service" - pretty much a thorough interior/exterior/trunk/engine compartment detailing. I am VERY happy with the results
AUX kit install - I don't have time before this weekend to put it in, so they ware happy to do it for me. works great. will love having tunes on my road trip to Tahoe.
Steve's new Nav disc - Thanks Steve! Unfortunately my old co worker's address subdivision is so new, its apparently not on the newer disc either! Which is might make sense since his house was under construction around or about 2-3 years ago.Ah well. I have a navigator and iPhones and iPads, etc. :-) And the disc will help out plenty in other ways. btw, my old disc was actually the one that came with the car (2004!).

Next week: ordering Bluetooth parts and the Intravee II

PS - BMW sells these neat little canvas "oil bags" which you can velcro to the side of your trunk and holds 1 qt of oil and has a funnel/gloves, etc in it. For only 5 bucks. Pretty neat Link so you can see a pic: http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E46-M3-...Bag/ES1885136/

Sometimes I get low on PS fluid and the steering gets very heavy, so it's conceivable that a fluid change would affect the steering feel.

[sna77]

Need to find some kind of cover that will essentially delete the arm rest. For now I'm going to see if I can actually get used to not having it there. Going to be doing mostly city driving/ spirited driving it seems. Shouldn't matter, but it's always the little things that you miss.

If someone is in need of an arm rest you can PM me and we can work something out.

The early e46s didnt have the arm rest standard. You can buy the center console without armrest for cheap $. Or find someone with a 99 323 that wants to trade.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...41&hg=51&fg=35

[aurelius]

Sometimes I get low on PS fluid and the steering gets very heavy, so it's conceivable that a fluid change would affect the steering feel.

Motivation to flush your PS fluid can be found in the form of a BMW Service Info Bulletin. Download it HERE.

[SoCalZman]

I dont know what I would do without my armrest. I would give up my sunroof before I gave up my armrest!!! ....from my cold, dead elbows I say! haha

Motivation to flush your PS fluid can be found in the form of a BMW Service Info Bulletin. Download it HERE.

wow I wonder if my stiff steering had anything do do with this. I am glad I insisted they flush my system out. I should also point out that my fluid was NOT low.
PS. where do all these really informative and interesting TSBs come from? Is there a site that has them all somewhere?

[Hornung418]

The early e46s didnt have the arm rest standard. You can buy the center console without armrest for cheap $. Or find someone with a 99 323 that wants to trade.

Right now I'm just trying it out. If I do act on it, it will be new, I don't want someones 13 year old center console
I want the Euro Tray and the coin holder delete, as well as smoker's package delete. That should be it for the interior. My main motivation for removal of the arm rest is because my friend sat on it when he had to crawl through the Drivers side. Any bump in the road results in a squeak that will drive any man, no matter how tough, insane.

I dont know what I would do without my armrest. I would give up my sunroof before I gave up my armrest!!! ....from my cold, dead elbows I say! haha

I'd give up my sunroof in a heartbeat. I'm going to be doing a lot of City Driving/ Spirited drives Serves me no point to have an armrest right now. But I'm just trying it out for now. It is definitely different...

I believe the term you are looking for is "Because Racecar."

[LivesNearCostco]

Yesterday I had my indie drain and flush the transmission fluid. Went from Royal Purple Synchromax to Redline MTL. Had 15,000 miles on the RP fluid and it seemed to be performing fine but shifts didn't feel as smooth as when new... I would say the smoother shifting lasted for about 10,000 miles with the RP. With the new MTL, it feels very similar to the old RP fluid, perhaps just a touch smoother. Sent fluid sample to Blackstone Labs.

When I first asked him to do it a few weeks ago, he said that it would be overdoing the maintenance to replace the tranny fluid with only 15,000 miles, but I insisted, partly because I had already bought the fluid and a proper BMW flat/hollow drain plug to replace the generic/solid drain plug I put in 2 years ago.

Two weeks ago paid off the ZHP loan. At the time my credit union only offered low rates on used cars MY 2004 or newer, so I got a 3-year signature loan from LendingClub.com. Paid it off after 2 years and 3 months. Hopefully won't need to get another car loan for a few years.