Alex's Titanium Silver ZHP Coupe Project

[amunsey688]

Hey everybody. Some of you already know me as I have been a member for a few weeks. For those of you who don't, I'm from the Raleigh/Wilmington, NC area. When I came down to Wilmington for college, I realized my Chevy Silverado would not be the best vehicle for parking in the small city parking spots and traveling back and forth to Raleigh. He lended me his 540i to get me through the school year, but he ended up needing it up about a month ago as we sold two of our vehicles at the same time and no longer had any extra vehicles to use. Driving his 540i made me fall in love with BMWs all over again, so I set my eyes on the ZHP. After about a month of searching and calling owners, we located a silver ZHP coupe in Atlanta, GA. As I was extremely confident this was the car for me, my dad and I headed down to Georgia the night we found the car. We arrived the next morning and I fell in love with it. However, on our test drive we got a call from a guy who had a Dinan ZHP in Alabama. Guess what we did? We told the owners of the Atlanta ZHP owners we needed to check one more car out, and we headed on to south Alabama to see the next car. We got to Alabama and found the car to be in much worse shape than the pics suggested. It had many things that were broken, and even appeared to have been repainted on the rear quarter panel (of course the owner denied any such thing). We turned around and headed right back up to Atlanta and bought the silver BMW. All in all, I clocked about 20 hours of driving and 8 hours of asleep over the course of the 3 day trip. It was well worth it though as I couldn't be happier with my car. The car has been meticulously maintained with records dating back to when it was new including the original window sticker.

Some of the parts that need work or replacing:
-front bumper to be repainted
-lower grill to be repainted black (as it has faded a bit)
-new corner bumper clips
-new grille (as some of the brackets have cracked)
-windshield trim replacement
-rear window trim replacement
-dent removal
-deep wheel cleaning
-Alcantera steering wheel refurbishment
-A/C pillar replacement
-Leather refinishing
-Driver's seat bolster restitching
-Rear deck sub rattle

Mods and upgrades I would like to do
-Lip spoiler
-Aux port
-Window tinting
-Auto dim rearview mirror
-Performance intake

I look forward to my journey with this car. I have attached some pics that were taken the day I got the car. Since then, I have detailed it and restored the headlights. I will post additional pics of the car when the weather clears up.

[amunsey688]

Some interior shots

[ELCID86]

Glad you found a keeper. Congrats again.

FYI: There are a couple of DIYs here on Alcantara wheel restore and one on restitching the seat bolster.

[PirateZHP]

Nice, Alex! I look forward to seeing it in person!

[amunsey688]

Glad you found a keeper. Congrats again.

FYI: There are a couple of DIYs here on Alcantara wheel restore and one on restitching the seat bolster.

Thanks! I'll make sure to check those out. I probably will take it to an upholstery shop to get the bolster done, but I plan to restore the steering wheel myself.

[amunsey688]

Nice, Alex! I look forward to seeing it in person!

Thanks Matt, I look forward to seeing you and your car as well!

[jakksfor20]

Glad you found a keeper. Congrats again.

FYI: There are a couple of DIYs here on Alcantara wheel restore and one on restitching the seat bolster.

Can you provide the stitch repair DIY?

[Avetiso]

Awesome ride! Got some stuff to work out, but that's all part of the fun, right?

[Lanister]

Can you provide the stitch repair DIY?

Check #1 post of my project thread (link in the sig)

Log entry for 08/20/13.

[ChrisCSL#25]

Nice car! It looks a lot like mine.

[illirep]

Nice looking coupe. I really like titanium silver over dove gray leather!

[amunsey688]

Awesome ride! Got some stuff to work out, but that's all part of the fun, right?

Exactly! Makes the car more mine if I have put some time into it

[amunsey688]

Nice car! It looks a lot like mine.

Thanks! You have a very nice looking coupe by the way

[amunsey688]

Nice looking coupe. I really like titanium silver over dove gray leather!

Thanks, I appreciate it!

[Lanister]

Nice to see another coupe in the family. Looks like you'll be going through a fair amount of the same cosmetic repairs that I've gone though recently. Check out my project thread for pics and DIYs.

[gmurphy]

Alex your car is very nice looking! I will enjoy reading your future posts!


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[amunsey688]

Nice to see another coupe in the family. Looks like you'll be going through a fair amount of the same cosmetic repairs that I've gone though recently. Check out my project thread for pics and DIYs.

I'll definitely make sure to check your project thread out!


Alex your car is very nice looking! I will enjoy reading your future posts!

Thanks Garry! I love the look of your car as well!

[danewilson77]

Nice TiAg. Welcome.

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[jakksfor20]

Check #1 post of my project thread (link in the sig)

Log entry for 08/20/13.


Thanks. I did the exact same thing in my 323 to both seats. I used some thread that I removed from the steering wheel cover on the wife's sedan. We replaced it with a new wheel. Was hoping maybe there was a slightly "better" fix, but this will work on the coupe........When I get around to it.

[johnrando]

Welcome. GL with the work, very nice car.

[KevinC]

Whoever sourced the pillar trim pieces for BMW, I hope got shitcanned years ago. What an epic fail! Had to replace all 4 A- & C-pillar pieces when I first bought my car 2 years ago. One C was hanging the covering off it just like in your pic, went in to buy something, came out and the other was now doing the same thing. Seems that 100% of these cars do it sooner than later. Sheesh.

Car is looking great, keep hammering at it, one little detail at a time. It's a rewarding experience (if a bit of a wallet drain!).

[cakM3]

Alex, may I recommend getting a set of BMW Performance front grills? I think they will add to your TiAg ZHP coupe :thumbsup


My ///M started out TiAg/Grey Nappa Leather....now it's been completely changed....:)

[Lanister]

Alex, may I recommend getting a set of BMW Performance front grills? I think they will add to your TiAg ZHP coupe :thumbsup


My ///M started out TiAg/Grey Nappa Leather....not it's been completely changed....:)

+1

[ELCID86]

Colin had black grilles on his coupe. Looked like this for reference:12259

[amunsey688]

Alex, may I recommend getting a set of BMW Performance front grills? I think they will add to your TiAg ZHP coupe :thumbsup


My ///M started out TiAg/Grey Nappa Leather....not it's been completely changed....:)

I will definitely consider that when I am replacing my grills this summer. By the way, I took a look at your ///M. It is beautiful!

[cakM3]

...By the way, I took a look at your ///M. It is beautiful!

Thanks! It's still work in progress :) Lot's of mods still planned for my ///M :wub

Alex, you'll get your ZHP looking sweet soon! :thumbsup

[Reckless]

Awesome pickup - and I think the best thing about it that I could see is the lack of the moonroof. Mine has been nothing but a high center of gravity 60lb PITA. Amunsey, you are headed down the exact path I have been on for the past 2 years. I refused to make a project thread when all I have been doing is maintenance, but the the first mod is in the mail so I will start one soon and you can see the progression of a similar coupe. Good Luck and you are not too far from me. If you need any help don't hesitate to ask.

Brian

[amunsey688]

Awesome pickup - and I think the best thing about it that I could see is the lack of the moonroof. Mine has been nothing but a high center of gravity 60lb PITA. Amunsey, you are headed down the exact path I have been on for the past 2 years. I refused to make a project thread when all I have been doing is maintenance, but the the first mod is in the mail so I will start one soon and you can see the progression of a similar coupe. Good Luck and you are not too far from me. If you need any help don't hesitate to ask.

Brian

Thank you man. I will definitely let you know if I need any help and will be looking out for a project thread from you. Great looking car!

[ZHPurrr]

Another TIAg! :)

Nice work on the detail. Cheers!

[ELCID86]

Updates?

[cakM3]

Updates?

+1

[quikryptonite]

Would this article and accompanying video accurate portray the process for us with an E46?

http://blog.bavauto.com/17336/bmw-diy-video-how-to-replace-windshield-perimeter-trim-gasket/


http://youtu.be/U6YTW4_cqpw

[danewilson77]

Would this article and accompanying video accurate portray the process for us with an E46?

http://blog.bavauto.com/17336/bmw-diy-video-how-to-replace-windshield-perimeter-trim-gasket/


http://youtu.be/U6YTW4_cqpw
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