William's 330Ci ZHP Maintenance and Project Thread

[Vas]

I had replaced that sensor as well. Went with an OE BMW part.

[BMWCurves]

I received the BlueMagic Polish from Amazon today for ~$6. I had seen this work on hcbeck's car so I figured I'd try it on mine before trying to swap out the side markers for fresh ones. Overall I think it went pretty well. I couldn't remove the side marker on the driver's side so I had to polish it on the car and take care not to scuff up the paint in the process. The polish didn't eliminate the yellowish hue completely, but definitely reduced the fuzzy/opaque look and reduced the yellowish tone. Not bad for $6 that I can use on my other lenses as well as metal bits like the exhaust.

The Packaging


Passenger side - Before:


Passenger side - After:


Driver side - Before:


Driver side - After:

[FL116]

I received the BlueMagic Polish from Amazon today for ~$6. I had seen this work on hcbeck's car so I figured I'd try it on mine before trying to swap out the side markers for fresh ones. Overall I think it went pretty well. I couldn't remove the side marker on the driver's side so I had to polish it on the car and take care not to scuff up the paint in the process. The polish didn't eliminate the yellowish hue completely, but definitely reduced the fuzzy/opaque look and reduced the yellowish tone. Not bad for $6 that I can use on my other lenses as well as metal bits like the exhaust.

The Packaging


Passenger side - Before:


Passenger side - After:


Driver side - Before:


Driver side - After:

This seems like a great product. I will have to use it one day.

[BMWCurves]

My Bimmian painted reflectors came today (link: http://www.bimmian.com/REF/46). I had tried getting in contact with them via email for several weeks about fitment but they never responded so I eventually just decided to call them. There was a lot of miscommunication but finally it was decided that the ZHP coupe bumper shares the same reflector as the E46 M3 bumper so they could be used. I ordered them last week for $60 shipped. The swap was easy enough. Rather than using the suggested screw driver and risk scratching the paint or worse, I used a wide plastic trim removal tool I had on hand. It worked well because the width helped push down the spring equally across the reflector and with a little effort, they popped out. I popped in the new painted reflectors and it was done. One thing I did notice is that the painted reflectors are about 1mm shorter in length than the OEM amber reflectors so there's just a sliver of really dirty paint that is exposed. I'm not sure how much I can do about that, but really isn't noticeable unless you're right there next to it. Overall it was the cheapest option I could find, the ordering was a bit of a brouhaha but if you just order it as if you have an E46 M3 you won't have any issues. Installation was easy provided you have a wider tool like I did and the paint matches perfectly. I think it is a very subtle visual improvement.

Before:


After:

[johnrando]

Nice

Sent from mobile

[BMWCurves]

Received some goodies from Turner Motorsport so I can hopefully get to do some brake maintenance this weekend. The package also included the plastic valve cover bolt plug (part no.: 11121726089) that I accidentally broke during my maintenance a month ago, which I promptly put in earlier today:

[BMWCurves]

Today I did some brake maintenance. I replaced all the OEM brake lines with StopTech stainless steel brake lines I purchased from Turner Motorsport (link: http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-17...-approved.aspx). I used two guides that were very useful detailing most aspects of the procedure:

Front brake lines: http://m3.madrussian.net/diy_front_brake_lines.shtml
Rear brake lines: http://m3.madrussian.net/diy_rear_brake_lines.shtml

A few things I would add to the above guides: there may be a significant amount of grime and dirt around the housing where the brake lines meet the hard lines and that you should clean that up before installing the new lines. I'm hoping I didn't knock any dirt into my lines by accident. Also, the clip on the bracket on the rear brake lines takes a ton of effort to get off. I had to get pliers and pull upwards on the clip while I stood on the bracket in order to get it off.

While I was in there I replaced the clutch line with UUC's stainless steel clutch line (link: http://store.uucmotorwerks.com/stain...l-xi-p466.aspx) along with their "unlock" aka modified clutch delay valve (CDV) (link: http://store.uucmotorwerks.com/unloc...kit-p1382.aspx). I opted to keep the modified CDV instead of just connecting the SS clutch line directly to the hard line because I already had the part, but I don't think it was strictly necessary in order to get the desired/improved clutch feel. The most useful guides I found and used to help me along are below:

Stainless steel clutch line: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=411194
CDV replacement: http://www.bmw330ci.net/projects/cdv.php

I should add that it took some 20 curse-filled minutes for me to dislodge the clutch line from the housing with the clip. It was really in there and required the use of vice grips to get it out. Otherwise relatively straight forward if not a bit difficult with the confined space (I chose not to remove any panels to free up work space under the car).

To flush and bleed the system I decided to try and use a pressure bleeder, specifically Motive's pressure bleeder (link: http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-28...pean-cars.aspx). I used Pentosin DOT4LV and I followed two guides during this process:

Guide 1: http://www.bmw330ci.net/maintenance/bleeding.php
Guide 2: http://www.dvatp.com/bmw/brake_fluid_flush

Unfortunately, I ran into a snag. Reading through most guides it seems that you only need one liter of brake fluid to complete a flush, but I definitely ran out after one liter. So I have to put this off until Monday when I can go down to my local BMW dealership and get OEM DOT4 low viscosity brake fluid (part no. 81220142156). Some research has led me to believe it is comparable to the Pentosin brake fluid. Some websites list the BMW part number as the part number for Pentosin DOT4LV. Either way, I'm going to have to reflush my system with a whole bunch of BMW's stuff.

Also, there was pretty constant bubbling coming from my rear passenger brake caliper during bleeding, and it was incredibly slow draining from my driver side rear. Any ideas what would cause that? I'm hoping the latter wasn't a sign I knocked some grime into my brake line or caliper.

Pics:

Clockwise from top left: Motive pressure bleeder, TMS catch can, 1L of Pentosin DOT4LV brake fluid, UUC SS clutch line, UUC modified CDV, rear StopTech SS brake lines, front StopTech SS brake lines:


Car on stands and ready to be worked on:


New SS brake line installed on front driver's side:


Old brake lines, fronts on the left, rears on the right:


New SS brake line installed on rear driver's side:


UUC SS clutch line and modified CDV installed. It was way more of a pain in the ass than I expected:


My pressure bleeder set up during my failed brake flush/bleed:

[johnrando]

No idea. Got it fixed?

[BMWCurves]

No idea. Got it fixed?

Negative, ghostrider. I'm going to try flushing it again later today with the new brake fluid I picked up from BMW.

[Ssparrow]

I read something over on e46f about constant bubbling coming out. Turns out the guys bleed screw was a little stripped or loosened too much that it had a constant bubble. I think he removed the bleed screw completely and cleaned it up and added some Teflon tape to the threads. Maybe that's what you have going on? Good luck!