[bimmermech123]

Originally Posted by neilvan

I'm around west endGTA /Hamilton so there are a few around here

I'm in Hamilton too lol, can't find any scrap yards around here except Kenny-U-Pull which almost never has inventory

[lowrydr310]

Not today, but last week I hit a pot hole and it made a nice picture in my sidewall. I carry a plug kit and compressor, but that wasn't going to fix this. I've even driven (temporarily, short distances) with sidewall punctures that I've patched but this time it was a big flap that I couldn't fix. Since I was far from home, I got AAA to tow me to the only tire shop nearby that was open at the time, and they installed a used tire to get me on my way. Tire was the wrong size, too narrow and sidewall too thick, and it had a bulge in the sidewall but it got me home. Then a few days later I found a perfect matching used tire!

I'm wondering if there's any other damage from the impact, or if I got lucky and it was just the tire that suffered. I don't feel any unusual vibrations and visually the strut and control arms look fine. The rim looks fine too aside from the rubber scuff marks where the tire impacted it. Two years ago I had an issue with high speed vibrations (70+ on perfectly smooth roads) and after two attempts at road force balancing my tires I learned one tire was out of round and no balancing would have countered it. I left it alone thinking I'd just wait until I needed new tires. Well this out of round tire was the one that got the puncture from the pot hole, and it's been replaced. I just don't have any smooth roads nearby to test the new tire out yet to see if that resolved the vibrations.

[dephrank]

Found a leak in the flex pipes so got new ones and had em welded on by an exhaust shop. The difference is night and day. All this time, was thinking the exhaust was loud by design

[FimbulWinter]

Gasket at 50k miles, I use elring gaskets and didn’t replace the valve cover.

[tcphoto]

FimbulWinter I did mine over two years ago and just replaced the gasket, no issues so far. It’s a straight forward job but there’s so many little things to pull or move before getting to the gasket but I know how much I saved doing it myself.

[colorado.e9x]

RealJ22 cool thing about those alpinas is the hidden valve stem in the center cap . Always liked that idea. Too bad they're not 19s
-
On things I've done today- more ACC retrofit prep. Couldn't stand all the corrosion. Wire brushed it and sprayed all the metal black. Also my new trim pieces arrived

Since the M3 style bumpers naturally do not have an ACC trim, I'm going to do something similar to what I did on my old bumper for my ram intake. If its possible, I'll be doing that again as well.

stormtrooper_f80 was my original inspo for the rings. To give you an idea, the ACC will be in the left ring, and a tube into the intake box will be in right ring.

[BlackNight28]

Once again I attempted to clean the wheels of the brake dust from factory pads! Alas, to no avail. Have ceramic pads and rotors ordered and will solve this soonest. Feeling better now.

[FimbulWinter]

Originally Posted by tcphoto

FimbulWinter I did mine over two years ago and just replaced the gasket, no issues so far. It’s a straight forward job but there’s so many little things to pull or move before getting to the gasket but I know how much I saved doing it myself.

I done it at an indy shop, labor cost here for this job is $20
Sadly I don’t have the tools.

[GnomeChild]

I didn't do any work on my car today, but I spent an exorbitant amount of money sourcing parts together for a bracketless B58 coil install, something exactly along the lines of this member's install:



I figured I would always need a bracket or plates to install B58 coils but after seeing someone do it without, I absolutely jumped on the idea to do so. I may do a DIY writeup to share my experience once I get around to installing these

[fazm]

I'm making progress. I'm 4/6 on installing the MILVs and have a rhythm going now. The install method in the instructions isn't working for me, the springs are still too tight, so I'm just using my spring tool to take the spring off, seat the MILV, then put the spring back on. The most time is spent making sure the spring is back on the rollers correctly.

I'm hopeful to start buttoning up the car tomorrow.

Had a really excellent scare earlier today: I decided to replace the eccentric shaft sensor while I'm in here. Sadly, the bottom bolt on that sensor can only be accessed through a hole in the plastic timing chain guide and my bolt fell into the timing chain cavity. I thought I was toast! I managed to fish it out with a magnet and I'm back in business. When I went to install the new sensor, I glued the bolt into my 10mm socket to avoid that risk a second time.

I'm deffo getting some intimate bonding time with my bmw! I probably will not plan to do a major service solo next time. A second set of hands and a little bit of moral support go a REALLY long way on this stuff and youtube and bmw bros via text only cover so much.

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by BlackNight28

Once again I attempted to clean the wheels of the brake dust from factory pads! Alas, to no avail. Have ceramic pads and rotors ordered and will solve this soonest. Feeling better now.

I can't believe the difference from putting some Akebonos on... stock pads are the dirtiest things ever! I had to clean them weekly just to keep ahead of the layer of grime... now it's just whenever I feel like it!

[Runnin'Rich]

FAzm, instead of gluing the bolt into your socket you can do the ‘Ed China’ trick. tear off a bit of plastic bag, spread it over the socket before inserting the bolt head into the socket. The plastic will stop the bolt from falling out of the socket. Go to a thicker bag if it’s not tight enough

Looking forward to hearing your review on the MILVs

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by Runnin'Rich

FAzm, instead of gluing the bolt into your socket you can do the ‘Ed China’ trick. tear off a bit of plastic bag, spread it over the socket before inserting the bolt head into the socket. The plastic will stop the bolt from falling out of the socket. Go to a thicker bag if it’s not tight enough

Looking forward to hearing your review on the MILVs

a piece of masking tape also works well, and if you apply it to the inside of the socket on a few flats is far less likely to fall away and into some place where it's a problem.

I usually just put some tape on two flats of the socket.

[tcphoto]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

I can't believe the difference from putting some Akebonos on... stock pads are the dirtiest things ever! I had to clean them weekly just to keep ahead of the layer of grime... now it's just whenever I feel like it!

I installed the Zimmerman/Akebono kit on the front of my car two years ago and am amazed how the dust has disappeared. I'll do the same on the rear when it's time.

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by tcphoto

I installed the Zimmerman/Akebono kit on the front of my car two years ago and am amazed how the dust has disappeared. I'll do the same on the rear when it's time.

That's the combo I did as well. The rear needed new pads/rotors, and I tried to put off the front as long as I could, but perpetually cleaning the dust was just lame. Swapped out the fronts as well, and NIGHT AND DAY difference. Zero perceived braking difference. No downside to doing this!!!

[fazm]

I got it all done and the car started back up. Once I got the valve cover on and bolted down I was amazed at how fast it all went back on.

Next upgrade will be simple: stealth hitch

I'll do an effort post with pics some time in the next week.

[colorado.e9x]

fazm next up n54 mani and a tune from 22rpd

[GnomeChild]

Got quite a bit done on my car today...

Started off the day heading to a buddy's house to diagnose my creaking steering rack. Long story short is it ended up being my brakes (huge relief!) so we did a quick service and all the noise is gone!

Then we took out my seats to swap out my faded/melted seatbelt buckles. No Airbag or Seatbelt code after swapping buckles which was a huge relief as well!

Then we swapped my LUX 180 Angel Eyes out for LUX H8 189s. Honestly the upgrade was fairly disappointing, and I kinda miss the "flash down" fade of the 180s when they turn off. The 189s just shut off right away without doing anything cool or even fading away like the handle lights do
I guess it's more modern/OEM but I always thought the flash was kinda cool...

The replaced 180s are for sale if anyone is looking for a cheaper entry into the best Angel Eyes for our cars

The rest of the day was spent fixing up little nick nacks here and there like redoing my cabin filter cowl bolt upgrade, replacing trunk shocks, and swapping my chinsey LCI wiper arms for the beefy pre-LCI arms + new wiper blades

Lastly since




I winded down the day by preemptively installing my new LCI secondary control stack. Finding the LCI specific controls with only the button for the rear sunshade was a pain and took some time. All the other ones I found were always pre-LCI stacks with the heated seat buttons in the corners or the Euro stacks with the front PDC and hill climb assist buttons or a combination of options except only the sunshade button.

Finagling the ribbon cable up and away from the trim mounting points, around the radio, and to the HVAC control module that has a provision for for the plug in the back took a little bit of tedious balancing of the trims upon reinstallation but I managed



Now I just need to get off my ass and install my Sunshade/rear speaker shelf and "M" JBBF with the relays for the sunshade controls and code the option to my car. Those have been sitting and on my "to do" list for years

That being said, my HVAC panel/trim seems to be a little loose now after reinstall and I don't believe it ever was before...
I tried removing and refitting multiple times but it was loose everytime; it uses a pretty primitive mount on each side and doesn't appear like any clips are broken so I'm kinda stumped

[fazm]

Originally Posted by colorado.e9x

fazm next up n54 mani and a tune from 22rpd

Manifold and throttle body are already out in the shed.

I'm calling 22rpd some time this week once the SVB noise gives me a minute to breathe.

[jsunma]

800 mile round trip today to Western NY. 15 years and 230K miles, and this car keeps doing what it does best :-)

[mecheng77]

Originally Posted by GnomeChild

Got quite a bit done on my car today...

Started off the day heading to a buddy's house to diagnose my creaking steering rack. Long story short is it ended up being my brakes (huge relief!) so we did a quick service and all the noise is gone!

Then we took out my seats to swap out my faded/melted seatbelt buckles. No Airbag or Seatbelt code after swapping buckles which was a huge relief as well!

Then we swapped my LUX 180 Angel Eyes out for LUX H8 189s. Honestly the upgrade was fairly disappointing, and I kinda miss the "flash down" fade of the 180s when they turn off. The 189s just shut off right away without doing anything cool or even fading away like the handle lights do
I guess it's more modern/OEM but I always thought the flash was kinda cool...

The replaced 180s are for sale if anyone is looking for a cheaper entry into the best Angel Eyes for our cars

The rest of the day was spent fixing up little nick nacks here and there like redoing my cabin filter cowl bolt upgrade, replacing trunk shocks, and swapping my chinsey LCI wiper arms for the beefy pre-LCI arms + new wiper blades

Lastly since




I winded down the day by [...]

What’s so special about pre LCI wiper arms?

[Cpet]

Originally Posted by GnomeChild

Got quite a bit done on my car today...

swapping my chinsey LCI wiper arms for the beefy pre-LCI arms + new wiper blades

Originally Posted by mecheng77

What’s so special about pre LCI wiper arms?

Never heard others' opinions on this before, but I prefer the look of LCI wiper arms. They are much sleeker due to the thinness and straight design. The blades are extremely easy to swap, not sure if the old style is also that quick.

Interesting that the sedan retained the old style for 09, the first year of the facelift, before changing over in 2010.