Wobz

[az3579]

thirdly - i don't know if it's just me, but your back wheel looks cock-eyed in this picture above and the one you posted of your winter wheels. do you have a bent control arm? it just looks like it's sitting too far back in the wheel well...

Nope, this is normal. Take a look at E46 sedan pics online... they look the same to me. Specifically look at a ZHP because that'll give you the same size wheel as a reference. Last 3 pics I looked at looked the same.

remember that not all tires are the same width, even if they are listed as the same size. the 255/35/18 PSS have a 9.5" wide tread width - that's pretty fat for a 'normal' 255. and, they are very square-shouldered.

Yeah that's another problem I discovered after I had ordered. The freak-of-nature shoulders on the PSS are definitely interesting, but I made it work. Look at it this way - I forced myself to get something I probably would have slacked on for another few years.

re: the diameter, the 255/35/18 PSS is 25". the 245/35/18 PSS (i run these now) is 24.8" in diameter. a difference, but not huge.

I did want as much "free" height that I could possibly get from the car, even if that meant getting 'only' a 3-5 mm higher ride height. I'm perfectly fine with this for now. I'll raise the car a touch more the next chance I get.

so where is it rubbing? on the fender lip?

I think so...

also, if you ever decide to sell those CHs... let me know.

We'll see...

I rubbed on 255 RE11s w/ 18x8.5 +40. I rolled, sawoff the threaded bolt and still rubbed on the inner fender. I think I need to increase my rebound settings and stiffer springs.

I never had an issue with 17x8.5 et40 wheels running 255/40-17's (Bridgestone Potenza RE-11's) all around (pretty much same diameter). All I did was roll the fenders to not have clearance issues with that particular size. When I got the BBS wheels mounted on 245/35-18's, I had to shave some plastic off in the rear for it to not rub. I'm surprised you rubbed with 18x8.5 255/35's.

[orange260z]

I'm going to Porsche you guys yet.

You are outlining my EXACT plan.... Scary!

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[slater]

Nope, this is normal. Take a look at E46 sedan pics online... they look the same to me. Specifically look at a ZHP because that'll give you the same size wheel as a reference. Last 3 pics I looked at looked the same.

weird. it definitely looks off to me - here's my car, the wheel sits evenly front-to-rear in the rear wheel well. to me, it looks like other E46s - and yours looks off.

[az3579]

weird. it definitely looks off to me - here's my car, the wheel sits evenly front-to-rear in the rear wheel well. to me, it looks like other E46s - and yours looks off.

I can't help you. Lol
There isn't anything wrong with my rear suspension, I can assure you of that.

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[Vas]

I can't help you. Lol
There isn't anything wrong with my rear suspension, I can assure you of that.

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Didn't you have an issue with your akg rtab?

[az3579]

Didn't you have an issue with your akg rtab?

Not anymore.

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[az3579]

It looks like someone went on another shopping spree...

Now in my collection of craziness is an F10 M5 shift knob and boot (Part # 25112284205). I longed for a lit shift knob again after the previous one got worn enough to bother me, so I purchased this F10 M5 knob with its gorgeous OE lighting. I decided to be daring and retrofit the shift boot as well! It was very time consuming, and I'm not entirely sure it was worth the effort since the new boot doesn't quite sit properly on the E46 frame, which causes issues with installation of the frame. I followed this DIY (which was excellent!): http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=471240
The fact that the leather has no grain to it also bothers me, as I'd like to match my Dakota leather seats.

We'll see in time if I decide to swap it out for a new OE one.



New knob, right out of the package:





As you can see, it was previously stapled to the frame. Glue also held it in place. I had already begun to remove the staples when I snapped this pic.





The glue is some strong/nasty stuff...





Finally removed from the F10 frame.







Used my old leather shift boot frame to mount it to. Here is the E46 frame without the boot:





I positioned the new boot to the frame and secured it with clothespins per the DIY so I could remove a couple at a time and glue the boot down in those sections.





Attached to the E46 frame "successfully"!:





I used quick splices on the cigarette lighter wiring to wire up two extra wires, to which I will attach a connector that fits the shift knob's connector. I attempted to put a terminal on each wire and put them in an OE connector, but that process proved to be a real pain in the ass. I spent at least an hour trying to get these damn terminals on, and went through all but one of my 6 terminals that came with my "repair kit". For reference, the part number of the "repair kit" I purchased is 61132360043. Here is a pic of what comes in the kit:





Tested the knob's lighting for functionality:





Here's my ghetto'rigged setup for now. I had to do this temporarily because for some reason, the lighting wouldn't work when the terminals were inserted into the connector and the connector was plugged in. I have to figure out why, but I also need to order another connector repair kit because I am down to a single spare terminal and I'm not happy with the crimp job I did on the two terminals that I did manage to finish. I need to order a proper crimp tool because all I had to use with my pliers. I will be revisiting this once I have the proper tools...

One of the wires is wrapped in fabric tape so it doesn't short with the other terminal. They are hooked up directly to the pins on the shift knob connector.





All done!





The shift boot doesn't quite sit right. It bulges up a bit at the edges where the stitches are, which I feel is twisting the frame slightly. There are also gaps on either side of the boot, which is going to drive me crazy, I can just see it. If I can't finagle this thing to sit properly, then I'm ordering a new E46 leather boot and I'll cut this one off the shift knob.

You can see the boot stretches slightly in 5th gear...





The money shot. This doesn't quite properly show the exact lighting match with the rest of the interior lighting, but it certainly does match.







On to the next - I also installed 25W CREE CANBUS LED bulbs into my brake light and running light sockets to "complete" my LED bulb upgrade for exterior lighting. I say "complete" for two reasons:
1) I still haven't decided on whether I want LED license plate lights. I like the warm glow they provide with the incandescent bulbs, and no LED that I've found seems to be able to provide a "glow" instead of a cold harsh light.
2) I forgot to order the trunk lights! Now all but the trunk running lights are LED. I ordered another pair last night so I could swap those out as well.

This is my solution to LED lighting without having to buy Depos or Eagle Eyes, neither of which I like the look of. I like the OE look for tail lights, so I opted to use LED bulbs instead and get the same effect! Unfortunately it's nearly impossible for me to catch a good picture of the lighting as it is now because LED is super hard to capture in pics when they're on for some reason. I'll try with my DSLR and see if it makes a difference.





Before, with my mismash of different bulbs. I had a weaker white LED bulb in the brake light socket, I had matching (to the new bulbs) 25W CREE CANBUS amber LED bulbs in the turn signals already (bright!), and incandescent running light bulbs.





Now, they all match! All are 1156 bulbs, even though my turn signals require 7507 (euro bulb carriers that came with my OE tail lights). I still managed to get the 1156 bulb in there though, and it works just fine.





I will attempt to get good pics of the lighting somehow, some day...

[BMWCurves]

Very cool. Sorry to hear that the shifter boot didn't quite work out. Sadly that's the way of some DIYs.

What bulbs did you use for the interior lighting of your trunk? I'm considering swapping those out for something brighter.

[az3579]

Very cool. Sorry to hear that the shifter boot didn't quite work out. Sadly that's the way of some DIYs.

What bulbs did you use for the interior lighting of your trunk? I'm considering swapping those out for something brighter.

Stock. Only one bulb works. lol
When it comes to interior lighting, I prefer a warm color, not the harsh light that LEDs provide. I especially hate the fluorescent lighting at work for the same reason. I may go the way of LED for the trunk purely because I'm rarely in there, but that's undecided along with the license plate lights.

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[BMWCurves]

Stock. Only one bulb works. lol
When it comes to interior lighting, I prefer a warm color, not the harsh light that LEDs provide. I especially hate the fluorescent lighting at work for the same reason. I may go the way of LED for the trunk purely because I'm rarely in there, but that's undecided along with the license plate lights.

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Gotcha, misread that. Yeah, it just can get dark in there sometimes so I'm considering a brighter LED solution.