[_ink]

well done mate!! FINALLY!!

Didn't think the seat swap would be that involved!

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by Socket

Loving the pics Shane, your car is spotless
Seats look beautiful mate, what a difference

Far from spotless, but it is coming up to 10 years old soon! It wont be long and I can apply for an historical car rego and only have to pay $60 per year to rego it haha

I must say the fox red has grown on me, I still dont like the fox red seats with fox red door cards and extended leather I think its too much but with black armrest and door cards it contrasts nicely and tones it down a bit.

Originally Posted by tawfeeqh

Good job mate! I reckon few cosmetic upgrades on the exterior will make it look even hotter. Like a 1M front bar, m3 side skirts and an msport rear bar. Just a few suggestions i'm sure you've thought of already lol

Lol yes trust me I was going to buy a M3 front bar back in 2012 (I've had the M3 ducts in a box ready to go since then!) but was focusing on performance more so then looks.

After the NBT install is done shortly I'll be doing a bodykit of some sort

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by _ink

well done mate!! FINALLY!!

Didn't think the seat swap would be that involved!

I guess its what you make of it, I tend to over complicate matters and procrastinate...

Firstly the seats were heavily contaminated and I spent hours over a period of weeks cleaning them.

Removing the contamination revealed that the drivers seat side bolster was in poor condition and needing dying. I took months decided on a course of action. After much research I ended up with a cheap ebay dye kit from the UK which worked really well.

Then I decided I wanted to change the centre console and bought a used item. Since I was going from non heated seats to heated M3 seats I also had to suss out a heated seat button with PDC (a new item was crazy price of about $600 by memory...)

Ripped it all out then just got busy with uno life... and then decided I was going to go ahead with a NBT retrofit and was waiting until we were definately placing the order before ordering a USB port for the centre console and cable for NBT then had the port installed in the centre console and finally just needed some time to install everything.

If I was just doing the seats you could R&R in about 4 hours or less. The rear seat is tricky to do with one person.I must admit the centre console was pretty tricky especially when you're a big fat bastard like myself squeezed in the car on my hands and knees haha I was fkn cursing when I had everything together nicely all I had left was to install the gear shift trim surround and idrive controller then I couldnt find the cable for the idrive controller... fark had to remove everything again and find the cable and tuck it back up the front of the controller... Sadly I didnt take as much time/care reassembling it a 2nd time so need to pull it apart again when I do the NBT and do it properly!

[Socket]

Next time you need a hand, yell out. Happy to come up to Sydney to help out

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by Socket

Next time you need a hand, yell out. Happy to come up to Sydney to help out

Haha I'm another 2 hours further north of Sydney in a little place called Newcastle

Would love a photoshoot with your car side by side though, hopefully I may be able to get down to the tassy drive later in the year (the great ocean rd and tassy has been on my bucket list for a long time!)

[JJH]

As always Shane, a thorough job! She's looking great

[Socket]

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

Haha I'm another 2 hours further north of Sydney in a little place called Newcastle

Would love a photoshoot with your car side by side though, hopefully I may be able to get down to the tassy drive later in the year (the great ocean rd and tassy has been on my bucket list for a long time!)

Double space gray shoot would be awesome, maybe when we get to Sydney for the NBT install weekend
Tassie drive is a must mate. You need start planning now to make it a definite rather then a maybe

[DR-JEKL]

My car was overdue for its annual oil change. I must admit I had let it lapse by a month or so purely as its probably done about 2k kays in 12 months, and 90% of those kays have been on the freeway (oil temp held for long duration, v’s lots of short trip stop start trips the oil could be diluted due to high fuel content)

I’ve had a stash of M1 and BMW oil filters so figured what the heck it won’t hurt to do an oil change as I’m running 50% E85 and maintenance on a car is always a good thing as fresh oil keeps vitals such as engine internals clean and varnish free, and is also very important for ancillary items such as the turbo’s on our platform (Those recommended BMW servicing guidelines are ridiculous!)

I installed a fumoto drain valve years ago, it makes oil changes extremely easy and clean. I simply drive my car up on some planks of timber jack from the central lift point, lower on my custom jack stands remove the oil filter and leave in housing to drain slot some cardboard on the floor wriggle my guts under the car drop the plastic under tray flap to access the engine sump, slip on some hose on the fumoto drain valve nipple and then drain the oil into an empty oil container that I had retained from a previous service. I wait until I have ~ 2L then close the valve and put in a 2nd empty oil container and then leave to drain for a few hrs.

Once drained close the valve remove the hose put plastic flap back onto under tray lower vehicle and then fill with 6.5L of fresh oil, wack a new oil filter in and voila done!









I’ve been sitting on the sidelines for the past few years waiting to see what the best turbo option will be. Back in 2013 it was RB (basically the only option!) then VTT came onto the scene, and then others such as pure, hexon etc
I was hoping that with all these new offerings we would have more efficient turbos that produce reliable power and all the competition will drive prices down, as back in 2013 it was $5.5K for RB’s and your car made ~ 350rwkw on 98 (no-one locally had really pushed the boundaries with E85 on RB’s at that stage)

Fast fwd a few years and E85 has proven to be an excellent source of fuel for this platform, and provides fantastic BFYB power on oem turbos for a small outlay. I decided to spend my $ on a M3 driveline to handle the additional power once/if I went to upgraded turbos instead (as the oem 335i open diff, sloppy sussy bushes etc would struggle to transmit the power effectively)

Personally going to the next step was going to be expensive as I would need a new clutch with a SMF to hold the power of aftermarket turbos and the oem dual mass flywheel is known to cause misfires when attempting to hold 350+ rwkw.

My car has now done 86k kays albeit they’re mostly hwy kays (minimal stop start traffic) and holds 316rwkw with sticky NT05’s just fine currently but the ideal clutch would be the spec twin plate. This has proven to be quite streetable and yet also hold big HP alas it’s also very expensive… I have read quite a lot about how underrated the spec torque ratings are of their clutches (they’ll hold much more then rated for) and it was noted that Shiv (Vishnu and arguably one of the N54 innovators for the aftermarket tuning industry) ran a st2+ on his WR drag car running drag slicks not radials. Most guys in 2016 recommend running E85 and upgraded turbos a stage 3+ would be best…

The spec stage 2+ has a thicker friction plate compared to the stage 3+ (so in theory should last longer) but the stage 3+ has a more aggressive friction compound so alas it holds the power albeit also transmits more NVH…
The spec stage 3+ is much cheaper than the spec twin plate (marketed as a PTF or motive twin plate) and I’ve read that the stage 3 + is very streetable by some owners and they prefer this to the oem setup. I’m not one really to purchase budget parts for my car but at the end of the day we have to try and contain the build budget to somewhat sensible numbers so alas I decided to purchase a spec stage 3+ and spec SMF as it will definitely hold the power for 400KW+













For a clutch replacement the following additional parts are required for install (thanks to VTL for his assistance on some of the part #’s):

8 x Flywheel Bolts (Part# 11227520706) pre 2009 8 bolt flywheel (only require 6 for 09+ builds)

5 x Transmission Mounting Bolt/Bellhousing Bolt (Part # 23001222894)

1 x Throw out clutch release bearing (Part #21511223582)

The spec clutch comes with a spec throw out bearing but a lot of guys state that they have issues with it you’re best to use an oem spec TOB.

Also a lot of guys state that the pilot bearing is an extreme PITA to install and you’re best not to replace this.

If you’re performing a clutch swap with a DMF check VTL’s thread here:

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1191143

Clutch options:

When dropping the gearbox the shifter carrier bushings are easier to access.
UUC supply these bushings (which improve shift feel and reduce slop) and ECS do also with their own line of bushings

Clutch fork lever: 21517564027

Fork pivot pin, the oem item is plastic ECS offer a brass option
https://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E90-33...are/ES2992391/

Rear main/crank seal: most guy’s state this should be replaced as it’s a gearbox out job, yet Vince said it’s also a pain to replace and to just use ATV sealant when reinstalling the box. I’m in two minds about this one as I know another forum member who has a rear main seal leakage atm on his 335i…

2 x Exhaust gaskets (I had a new set installed when my m3 driveline was installed last year (I’m hoping they can be reused – Part # 18307553603)

Transmission mounts – a lot of guys use E46 M3 mounts but they’re also supposedly not much stiffer then the 335i items.. Rogue engineering mounts are held in high regard and UUC also manufacture the mounts. I have a UUC SSK in my car, and it’s one of the best mods done. The shifts aren’t notchy it’s literally like a rifle bolt snick snick through the gears.

UUC offer bushes in 3 variants street street/track & race. At this stage I’m most likely going to go with the street/track type.



So my choice of turbos is what I have to decide on next… I would like to have a ST but I don’t really wish to go through the hassle of customising a manifold etc as I know this will take months on end in R&D etc.. The US guys are somewhat spoilt for choice with available solutions! Having said that I must admit I prefer the oem look of an engine bay with the oem twins, over a ST.. Especially in the case of the unlikely event the boys in blue were to pull me over and ask to pop the hood..

The hexon RR600’s and possibly the 700’s seem to fit my budget and needs best. I currently have a stage 2 fuelit LPFP, with the RR600’s and running a E40-E50 mix I should be right for fuelling and this would net me an additional 50rwkw+ in conjunction with RB silicon inlets.

I had contacted Jeff at top gear solutions and if I was to send a set of cores to hexon he would supply a set of RR600’s for $2421 USD ($3216 AUD) shipped to my door. There’s also the possibility of getting them slightly cheaper if a few other forum members are keen for new hexon turbos 
Mulling things over it may be worth the extra to pay the additional $ for the RR700’s to have that extra headroom for future power if required.. I don’t intend to run PI just yet or a stage 3 LPFP I’m sure the 700’s on E40 would still provide decent response and peak power..

When installing new turbo’s like the clutch there are also additional items which require to be replaced and are optional.

Turbo fitting kit (ECS, FCP etc all have their own unique part numbers)
Fluids such as engine oil coolant etc

Optional:

Engine sump seal and bolts (once use items)
Engine mounts: it’s common to upgrade to 335IS mounts which have a stiffer rubber insert, or alternatively AD engineering do some solid mounts for the hardcore types!

I will purchase all these items when I finally decide on what turbos to go for…

[vtl]

Nice, hopefully that clutch won't be too noisy. Might have to raise the idle speed to avoid some of the noise.

Just to clarify with the rear main seal:

The cover for the rear main seal shares a small portion of the sealing surface with the oil pan gasket. If you remove the cover it will unseal that section of the oil pan gasket and possibly cause an oil leak. The DIYs I've seen say you just seal up the oil pan->rear main seal cover with RTV after changing the seal.

I thought this was super dodgy and elected to not touch it, unless you replace the oil pan gasket at the same time I think its a perfect way of causing an issue rather than preventative maintenance.

[DR-JEKL]

Have no real updates lately, but managed to get the car out for a blap and meet some lads from a FB group called drivemasters



https://www.facebook.com/groups/473272072719152/

Drivemasters is open to all marque's and models so join up on the page!

We had a few 1M's a really nice E39 M5 and a really really nice 840i (the guy who owns the 840i sold the M5 and handed it over to its new owner that day as he has a new M2 coming:





















On the day there were a few Newcastle boys and we convoyed with some lads from QLD to go for an early morning blap down to Gosford to meet up with the sydney guys from the M Club at the Gosford car musuem.

https://www.facebook.com/paul.youngb...2888817174641/

The Gosford car musuem is arguably the finest private collection of cars on display in Australia, it literally has something for everyone with Porsche's (959 & GT!) fezza's (a la ferrari!) lambo's (two miura's!) RR's a big mac 675lt american & australian muscle cars jap cars etc etc

http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/i...30-gp7ot5.html

https://www.facebook.com/gosfordclas...useum/?fref=ts


In other news a few months ago a few guys on the forum purchased an NBT kit, and the el president socket was the guinea pig which he has sucessfully installed thanks to BMW yoda's help (AKA vtl). Vince has kindly offered to install mine and cashedupbogan's NBT systems so hopefully this weekend I'll have it all fitted!

Not much point really going into much detail as socks has everything covered here:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...080234&page=87

I'm really looking fwd to this mod

[NeT335]

Red e39 m5 ohhh and that e31 probably the cleanest 840 I have seen so far. I don't like and never been a fan of alpina wheels but the car itself looks immaculate.

Why do you guys always have the best colour combinations and cleanest of the rarest cars? All the m5s and e31s in vic are just disgusting

[Socket]

Great day out mate... some beautiful cars there (thanks for sharing dem pics) +1 to Nics comments above

NBT fit out this weekend then you will be cruising with NBT goodness lel

[tawfeeqh]

+1 e39 M5.

I think I will always love the shape of the e39, will become a timeless classic. It was the last model before bmw kind of when wild (and controversial) with the design of the e60. Post the e60 release the e90 came out and with that model they certainly reduced the curves a little and made a little more subtle.

Found one for sale on carsales. Low kms with a supercharger kit resulting in 365rwkw

Check out this BMW e39 M5.
https://www.carsales.com.au/private/...SSE-AD-3576941

I owned a e39 530i for 5 years and I loved the raw sound of its inline 6. Was a very well built solid car in my view.

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by NeT335

Red e39 m5 ohhh and that e31 probably the cleanest 840 I have seen so far. I don't like and never been a fan of alpina wheels but the car itself looks immaculate.

Why do you guys always have the best colour combinations and cleanest of the rarest cars? All the m5s and e31s in vic are just disgusting

Both the 840i and M5 were literally like they had been driven off the showroom floor! The 840i was originally from Melbourne he said (unsure about the M5) but he said he was the 3rd owner of the M5.

Like yourself I hate alpina wheels but on this thing they looked great!

Originally Posted by Socket

Great day out mate... some beautiful cars there (thanks for sharing dem pics) +1 to Nics comments above

NBT fit out this weekend then you will be cruising with NBT goodness lel

Hell yeah bring my atari 2600 pong style graphics of the CCC idrive into 2016 with the NBT onboard HD and usb port which supports video from an external HD will be bloody awesome also!

Originally Posted by tawfeeqh

+1 e39 M5.

I think I will always love the shape of the e39, will become a timeless classic. It was the last model before bmw kind of when wild (and controversial) with the design of the e60. Post the e60 release the e90 came out and with that model they certainly reduced the curves a little and made a little more subtle.

Found one for sale on carsales. Low kms with a supercharger kit resulting in 365rwkw

Check out this BMW e39 M5.
https://www.carsales.com.au/private/...SSE-AD-3576941

I owned a e39 530i for 5 years and I loved the raw sound of its inline 6. Was a very well built solid car in my view.

Likewise I did and still have a soft spot for E39's, the shape is a timeless classic and I love them in red! That S/C M5 has been for sale for 6 months or so I believe (high asking price I guess)

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by vtl

Nice, hopefully that clutch won't be too noisy. Might have to raise the idle speed to avoid some of the noise.

Just to clarify with the rear main seal:

The cover for the rear main seal shares a small portion of the sealing surface with the oil pan gasket. If you remove the cover it will unseal that section of the oil pan gasket and possibly cause an oil leak. The DIYs I've seen say you just seal up the oil pan->rear main seal cover with RTV after changing the seal.

I thought this was super dodgy and elected to not touch it, unless you replace the oil pan gasket at the same time I think its a perfect way of causing an issue rather than preventative maintenance.

Hmm yeah I'll have to go MHD to raise the idle speed!

When seeing this video literally 2 days after I bought mine I shat myself (a few minutes into the video this guys setup is exactly what I have!) but talking to a few owners with this setup they said nah its not bad once you get the hang of it (seems like this guy being a noob didnt quite master the use of the grabby clutch initially)

Hmm will have to wait and hold off on rear main seal perhaps when i do the clutch

[Coupes33]

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

Have no real updates lately, but managed to get the car out for a blap and meet some lads from a FB group called drivemasters



https://www.facebook.com/groups/473272072719152/

Drivemasters is open to all marque's and models so join up on the page!

We had a few 1M's a really nice E39 M5 and a really really nice 840i (the guy who owns the 840i sold the M5 and handed it over to its new owner that day as he has a new M2 coming:





















On the day there were a few Newcastle boys and we convoyed with some lads from QLD to go for an early morning blap down to Gosford to meet up with the sydney guys from the M Club at the Gosford car musuem.

https://www.facebook.com/paul.youngb...2888817174641/

The Gosford car musuem is arguably the finest private collection of cars on display in Australia, it literally has something for everyone with Porsche's (959 & GT!) fezza's (a la ferrari!) lambo's (two miura's!) RR's a big mac 675lt american & australian muscle cars jap cars etc etc

http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/i...30-gp7ot5.html

https://www.facebook.com/gosfordclas...useum/?fref=ts


In other news a few months ago a few guys on the forum purchased an NBT kit, and the el president socket was the guinea pig which he has sucessfully installed thanks to BMW yoda's help (AKA vtl). Vince has kindly offered to install mine and cashedupbogan's NBT systems so hopefully this weekend I'll have it all fitted!

Not much point really going into much detail as socks has everything covered here:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...080234&page=87

I'm really looking fwd to this mod

Drivemasters and ///M Club Australia have some good drives. They are set up in all States and have regular drives. I have been on a few and they pick the most winding roads in Australia.

[DR-JEKL]

I haven’t updated my build thread in ages!

Last year I had the NBT installed with rev cam by VTL and am very happy with it. The rev cam was a huge task took quite a while to install, but I’m very happy with the image quality from a cheap ebay camera (much better then my OEM setup in my B7 passat!) and the NBT is a huge improvement over CCC I had in terms of speed (the CCC was so laggy and clunky) functions, screen resolution etc etc I decided to go with the more modern touch controller (you can scribe a letter on the rotary dial when looking for a street/area etc) mainly for aesthetics as it’s a great modern looking controller (typically most guys go with a CIC controller) but the disadvantage with going with the touch controller is that the E9X never came with one from the factory so there is no off the shelf console trim that will accommodate this controller, thus a custom trim has to be made up.

I still hadn’t gotten around to doing this yet, but I have a CIC trim ready to mod by slightly enlarging the CIC cutout to suit the touch controller profile (the touch controller is a few mm wider) with a dremel then to wrap the trim.

NBT info thread: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...&highlight=NBT

Since purchasing my car in 2012 I’ve always been keen on a M3 bodykit as I had the crappy non msport 335i. Shortly after purchasing my car I had purchased the oem genuine M3 front bar air ducts to retrofit to the rep M3 front bar when ordering a BMWP from Germany. I had held off on the M3 rep kit as deep down I wanted to go oem with the proper M3 widened guards and was hoping to find a wrecked vehicle that I could nab parts from.

Unfortunately to do so you need a massive list of parts. you need the bonnet, fenders, front bar (you need all items for them to fit as 335i bonnet wont fit 335i guards front bar etc) then items like washer bottle, fender lings, bumper supports, various fasteners etc etc These parts can also be quite expensive. I had found a few wrecked M3’s but alas they were always interstate…

Since purchasing the car I had mainly focused on performance mods, but I’m now at the stage where I’ve maxed out the oem turbos and done most of the suspension work I had set out to do so I had enough waiting so decided to bite the bullet and just go with a M3 rep kit from Jason @ eurodivision (you may have seen the GB thread here:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1324693)

I was hoping to get this all done before xmas but like any mod it always take much longer than anticipated! Unfortunately Jason @ Eurodvision had everything in stock except the bonnet, so I had to decide to either go ahead and fit the kit without the M3 front bonnet or to wait until Jan for it to arrive and fit everything together once it had arrived. I decided to wait for it as the M3 bonnet with powerdome provides a menacing look!

I purchased the M3 rep front bar, side skirts, fenders, metal bonnet, M tec rear bar and the ED CF quad diffuser (I had the oem dual exit diffuser fitted as I had to wait to get the car back with mtec bar fitted before fitting quad tips and quad CF diffuser) and BMWP style bootlid spoiler.

As for fitting and painting of the kit, I was going to go to my local BMW approved panel shop and have the kit sprayed as I believe metallic grey is a difficult colour to match. The majority of the oem paint on my car seemed to be in pretty good shape as the car had always been kept undercover but there were areas of the car that had clear coat damage on the bonnet and passenger side rear wheel arch.

This was evident when checking with a paint thickness gauge, the rear wheel arch the paint was a lot thicker then the other areas of the car:

rear wheel arch which ha had a paint repair:



original paint much thinner:



Clear coat damage:







I had enquired in the past on getting these areas touched up and basically the painter said you have to respray the entire panel. So since I was getting the F&R bar fenders bonnet passenger side rear quarter and side skirts painted I decided to go ahead and get the entire car resprayed so that the paint on all panels match and it should look great with fresh paint on all panels.

I had the car resprayed by Hung Tran @ excell panel and paint @ Warwick Farm PH: 0434961731. Hung is a 335i owner himself and has fitted a few kits to this platform now, he mainly specialises in modified JDM vehicles (S2000’s, EVO’s, RX7’s, WRX’s GTR’s etc) and I had him quote me a few prices to fit these items or to do the full respray using Valspar or Glasurit. I wanted to go with the glasurit but it was quite expensive, in the end I decided that since my car spends 99% of the time in the garage the cheaper yet not as long lasting Valspar paint would be the way to go. Upon dropping the car off to Hung he had cars everywhere in and outside his paint shop requiring full resprays (he’s very popular which is a good sign!) and the car was left with him and I had the bodykit sent directly from eurodivision to Hung @ Excell panel and paint.

Hung said the biggest issue on my car was removal of the factory paint, as anyone who has attempted to polish their BMW’s will know the ceramaclear on these cars is incredibly hard! The kit was trial fitted and once Hung was happy he started respraying the car. I had asked Hung for some pics and he had sent me through a few pics of the car painted straight off the gun so to speak (no wetsanding or polishing) and was blown away with the reflections and glossiness of the paint. Hung then wetsanded the entire car to remove any paint defects and orange peel then correction via buffing.









Eventually it was time to collect the car and the car looked great glistening in the sun! I was quite surprised at how well the kit fitted, the rear bar side skirts are as good as oem, the fenders fit great (maybe a mm or two wider gap then oem against the bonnet) and hung got the bonnet fitment looking good also it sits flush with the guards albeit a tiny bit too low against the front bar( but I hate when I see M3 rep bonnets with massive gap where it meets the front bar/kidney grille area!) and the M3 front bar fits OK, all the reps I’ve seen have a little gap around the headlight.

By having the car wetsanding it literally looked like Hung had promised flat like glass! The oem paint is renowned for having copious amounts of clear which results in an orange peel textured paint finish (this helps mask any minor panel defects and copious amounts of clear helps aid in paint protection to maximise the life of the paint and increase its durability) the finish of the paint looked so much different to what I was use to! I’m certainly glad I decided to pay the extra $ and have the whole car resprayed rather then just have the new parts painted and fitted.

It was great to finally have the car back, and I couldn’t wait to get the car home to give it a decent clean up (Hung had the paint looking spotless, but inside the door sills, under the bonnet etc was some polishing and wet sanding residue that needed cleaning to bring the car up to my standard) I spent the next day going over the car giving it a decent clean and was amazed how flat and glossy the paint is he has done an amazing job!

Before respray:









Door jamb before detail with polish wet sand residue:



Door jamb after a quick clean:











Since I had fresh paint on the car I decided to start investigating options on how to protect the paint. The XPEL PPF started at around $1800 (half bonnet fenders and front bar) up to $6k for the entire car, body armour 9H to paint, rims & glass was $800. The film is great for protection but like a wax or coating eventually it needs to be removed from the car as it becomes dull and worn and fresh film needs to be reapplied… So I figured at that cost perhaps in 3-5 years time if I still have the car I’m better to pay $1800 then and just respray the front bar and bonnet rather than pay that now for a film… I decided not to go with body armour 9H and investigated some DIY ceramic paint coat options. I had read that some pro strength glass coatings need to be removed by wetsanding eventually, whereas the consumer ranges are just removed by conventional polishing. So I decided to go with the DIY option as I don’t mind detailing my car and I’m keen to learn more regarding ceramic coatings and hopefully I’ll also save a bucks by DIY! The products I was considering was carpro UK, Gyeon mohs, nanolex Si3D, Gtechniq crystal serum light & kamikaze miyabe or kamikaze ISM.

All the aforementioned coatings are all good products and they each have somewhat unique properties, but I eventually decided on the Kamikaze miyabe & ISM coatings. I also purchased the kamikaze overcoat which is an amazing detailing spray that you spray on the vehicle every 2-4 months as a maintenance product for the coating, but it can also be used as a standalone spray on the car providing short term protection.

Once you have applied a glass coating (GYEON, Gtechniq etc) you do not use a typical detailing spray or wax as these can have detrimental effects on the coating causing a streaked murky finish. Instead you can use a dedicated drying product (typically detailing sprays are applied when drying with MF towel) or periodically a dedicated glass coating maintenance spray.

Miyabe:http://detailcentral.com.au/kamikaze-miyabi-coat-30ml/

ISM: http://detailcentral.com.au/kamikaze-ism-coat-30ml/

Overcoat: http://detailcentral.com.au/kamikaze-over-coat/

Vids:

The kamikaze products were the most expensive out of those I had considered albeit the main reason I chose to try the kamikaze range was that these products have excellent reviews and it seems the application removal was better than most products making it suitable for a DIY’er like myself.

Typically you either apply 2 or 3 coats of the desired coating and be done with it, but some detailers get fantastic results by layering with separate products by applying 2 coats of miyabe and one coat of ISM (this layering technique is used for other products such as GYEON Mohs & cure and Gtechniq CSL & C2V3) which gives the paint an excellent depth of glossiness and protection with the thicker layers.

Apparently the miyabe is very easy to apply/remove producing a candy type of shine whereas the ISM is a thicker stickier product which produces a more natural deep wax like shine. Before applying the sealers to the paint though I need to wait at least 30 days for the solvents in the paint to gas out so to speak. As the paint dries over time the solvents in the paint react at a microscopic level as they cure and harden over time, and if a sealant is applied this can hamper the outgassing process of freshly applied paint.

So I have a few more weeks to wait until I can prep the paint and start commencing to apply the kamikaze coatings, but I’ve purchased the products I require so I’m all ready to go.

I also purchased specific glass coating MF application cloths & removal MF towels which must be discarded after each use, as the residue coating will harden as microscopic glass like shards on both the application and removal pads and if reused could cause potential damage by scratching the surface.

Once I’ve completed the detail I’ll be sure to update with the results!

I’ve still got a few things to complete on the bodykit. I have these quad tips to get fitted (black chrome) and then I’ll fit the ED quad diffuser which is a duke dynamics style diffuser.









I’m not too keen on redrilling the front bar to fit my rego plate, so I’ve decided to use heavy duty outdoor double sided tape. This stuff is excellent and is extremely strong and was $11 from officeworks:

Scotch outdoor adhesive tape:



All in all I’m very happy with how the car has turned out!

Big thanks to Jason @ Eurodivision he was a champion to deal with, and Hung @ Excell panel and paint for the amazing paint job J

In other news I think after almost 5 years my Bosch S5 battery is on its way out. After being at the paint shop for weeks I got a low battery warning and my idrive etc shutdown during the drive home… Bosch have a new Australian distributor based in QLD, I spoke to them last week they were going to send me a new battery to my local Bosch dealer. (would prefer fitting a new battery then taking a chance and getting stranded somewhere!)

Bosch have changed their model numbers and they have a new australian distributor and have been a PITA to deal with, but for anyone who's chasing a new bosch S5 the model # to get is 574.068.

The varta’s were around $300-350 whereas the Bosch S5’s seem to be a tad cheaper around $200-250 by memory and I cant complain really with the life of my old bosch S5 which was only $150 odd fitted back in 2012.

[Socket]

Awesome write up and glad to see your build thread back on the first page mate lol. Car looks absolutely stunning, literally looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor. Second best space grey in the country hahaha

[AUSf22]

Wow the paint job looks phenomenal, good to see those black kidney grilles finally on!

Take some proper photos soon pls

[JB4-335]

Looks awesome Shane. What a front end transformation.

[Coupes33]

Car looks really smick Shane.

[EB89]

Those exhaust tips look wicked, where are they from?