What did you do for your ZHP/BMW today?

[az3579]

Yup I even removed my tinted led tail lights. Too many people trying to race and cops always eyeing me out. Got old haha.

I mostly liked the look as it grew on me. I bought them and was severely on the fence at the Reunion (that was a couple of days after I installed them), and eventually went from "hate" to "like", but never "love". I eventually ended up putting the ambers back because the LED bulbs have much more effect with the ambers. The lights were too dark during bring sunlight to harvest the benefits of LED (more immediate and brighter, yielding in higher safety). Plus, I miss the character and appeal that ambers have on an Imola car. I always loved red on amber, and is one reason why I would kill for a Natural Brown leather interior for my car...

It's getting harder to find enthusiasts with ambers nowadays!

[webster]

gloss black kidneys and clear bumper reflectors added today, in addition to new clear side markers added 2 days ago. those damn corner reflectors were a total nightmare to install. the clear replacement pieces were WAY too big for the slot, resulting in me having to file the top edges down. problem is, i don't have a filing tool. so i ended up using the corner edge of the concrete curb in the street in front of the house. yes, i sat there in the street rubbing the reflectors against the curb. i probably looked retarded. but finally i got them in.

on the 2nd piece, as i finally got it to pop in, the very top corner cracked and fell off from the pressure. i was so pissed! probably a good hour of work just filing these stupid things and one of them cracks at the very last second. oh well. you can barely tell. i will probably always notice it though, that's just how i am. it's the reflector in the 1st pic, the top right corner that cracked. only slightly noticeable, right? (this is where you all tell me you can't even notice...lol). i guess i should just consider myself lucky i didn't crack the whole thing in half (as i read on some DIYs)...

here are a couple quick night shots taken right after i finished. even in the dark i think it looks MUCH cleaner. and yes that is a tiag e46 you spy in the background. it's a 325i that belongs to the neighbors, who also have an e46 330i. we make up a good section of the block





next up: will be performing the shark injector software install tomorrow after work, looking forward to that!

[az3579]

When it comes to aftermarket parts, stuff like a file becomes necessary. It really would have saved you a lot of time and effort. Look on the bright side; at least you can always buy another pair if you screw one up.

[webster]

yeah, lesson learned. but i don't know if i can justify another $20+shipping for a new pair and go through all that work again just for one tiny little corner edge piece of plastic that nobody but me will ever notice is missing...

[johnrando]

Looks good Webster!

[s!ke]

CLeaned the Alcantara wheel!!!

[webster]

CLeaned the Alcantara wheel!!!

oh ye, forgot to mention, i did this the other day as well. best results were with the remington fabric shaver after light moisture had been applied from the towel. really cleaned up the fuzzy little lint pills that had accumulated all over the wheel. looks and feels much much much better

i had mixed results with the magic eraser though. it definitely soaked up some oil and dirt. but it also started to disintegrate shortly after application and leave little white pieces all over the wheel.

[az3579]

yeah, lesson learned. but i don't know if i can justify another $20+shipping for a new pair and go through all that work again just for one tiny little corner edge piece of plastic that nobody but me will ever notice is missing...

You could order it elsewhere, not from the same place. Perhaps you could get a higher quality part from another vendor.

[webster]

you're supposed to be telling me that no one will notice!

[atl2pdx]

I guess I'm hijacking a hijacked thread! Today I had the antifreeze, brake fluid and fuel filter changed and I changed the air filter. Tomorrow I'll be cleaning the MAF and installing a US SPEC iphone adapter.