OMG its a BMW ZHP!!!!

[DirtyPillows]

So I thought i start my web journal of mods and upgrades I have done and will Plan to do. Though I can guarantee that my journal will be the slowest nonetheless I feel its necessary :biggrin

However on this glorious day I have achieved 100+ hp. Yes I know you must be asking yourself how did he do it? Simple I say

Remove old roundel that has been hindering airflow and awesomeness
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv324/Dirtypillowz/2011-03-11_16-36-22_123.jpg
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv324/Dirtypillowz/2011-03-11_16-36-30_737.jpg
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv324/Dirtypillowz/2011-03-11_16-36-40_681.jpg
And Replace with new and improved GUARANTEED 100+ hp Roundel
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv324/Dirtypillowz/2011-03-11_16-37-15_524.jpg
:jawdrop


Haha well neways this was my first modification if wanna say. But im happy that it is no longer ugly, thought my car was like the ugly duckling or got smack with the dumb stick but now no longer :fistpump. Hopefully next i will take the car to the dentist and rework them grills black. Probably should save more money up so i can re-spray car ie that front bumper. But one step at a time.

[mimalmo]

You will need to host the pictures on Photobucket or similar website and then enter the URL here using the pic insert tool (icon next to the globe).

[pyreguy]

Good job! There is no excuse for an imperfect roundel! :)


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[Mtnman]

I like it. The respray of the mesh is easy. I do it about once a year. pop that sucker our and hit it with some flat black. easiest in warm weather. If you need help, let me know. Ive written about it before, but forgot where.

[MrMaico]

I like it. The respray of the mesh is easy. I do it about once a year. pop that sucker our and hit it with some flat black. easiest in warm weather. If you need help, let me know. Ive written about it before, but forgot where.

I would sure appreciate a DIY on getting the mesh grille out without having to remove the bumper David. Unless it's different on a 4 door (looks a bit different on realoem) I just don't see how there is any room to get it out......or in even. If you decide to post something in the DIY section please mention it here too so I don't miss it.

http://mrmaico.smugmug.com/Cars/BMW-ZHP-misc/IMG0820/1236213703_2d89K-M.jpg

Damn, that a/c condenser looks rough up close!

Thanks....Barry

[Mtnman]

Barry,
You have to pop it towards the radiator. Push hard and fast at each attachment point. There are about 8 or 10 points where it is held to the bumper. The mesh, and the solid plastic piece behind it are connected together, so they will push backwards together, and need to be removed together. THis is easier when it is warm, or make sure your car is in a warm garage, or put a heater blowing on the plastic for half an hour or so so it is supple. once it has been disconnected from the bumper, try to wedge it as far to the drivers side as you can. It will go over farther than you think. once it is all the way over to the drivers side, you should have enough area to slide your hand in on the passenger side, and bend the piece of solid black plastic enough to start it coming out of the bumper. Once you get there, you're done! It took me an hour the first time i did it because I was scared as hell to break something. Hope that helps. If it doesnt, or you need more details, pm me. I get them on my phone, and i can pm you my phone number if we need to talk you through it.

Best of luck.

[MrMaico]

The mesh, and the solid plastic piece behind it are connected together, so they will push backwards together, and need to be removed together.

Thanks David, got it now. That's the thing that was throwing me off. I assumed that back 'adapter' stayed in place. I'll have to give it a try when it warms up some more. I was thinking about doing it like Marcus does and painting it in place with a brush but after seeing that pic of mine I'd like to paint the adapter too.

Thanks again....Barry

[DirtyPillows]

So for my next venture i shall be participating in an autox. Now what i need the ZHPMafia family to help me with is to enter this event and finish it without breaking something. What that means is im looking to make sure my current suspension is not all messed up and to fix parts where need be. Hopefully i wont have to change my actual springs and shocks but what im concerned is everything else, i.e. bushing, control arms, ball joints and what not. At best i wish if someone who knows about bimmers in the Maryland area can take a look at my car(not looking to spend money for mechanic to tell me some i can figure out by asking you guys) but if not ill have to do with taking pics and what not. So in your guy's professional opinion what are key things to look out for in my suspension. Things that may be already weak in a 80k car. As i have no info on what has been done to the car previous my purchase. Thanks for your guy's help.

Dirty

[danewilson77]

Few guys in your area.....I'm always here as a backup, if you want a lil drive brutha..

Droid! Srs Legitness!

[jvr826]

If you have the original front control arm bushings at 80k, you're probably due for new ones. I have seen DIYs posted here recently, quite easy to do yourself. A visual inspection is valid, but replacing them anyway is a good thing to do at that mileage. If they're just ugly and not making any weird handling or noises, then they won't ruin your fun.

Springs and shocks should be OK for another 10k-20k miles, then shocks likely. You can inspect them for leaks now. Even if they are leaking, they won't prevent you from enjoying your first autocross experience either.

Check the rear shock mount at the top, inside trunk, under trim panels on either side. They are prone to premature failure. There are upgraded parts available from some tuner sites (bimmerworld, turner, etc) that are much more beefy and very simple to install. In fact, if you're going to inspect them, you may as well order new ones and just replace them while you're in there looking at them. Getting access is most of the hassle.

Check the rear swaybar bushing mounts, they can fail. I've had mine beefed up cuz I beat, er, use my car for it's intended purpose. No issues even with 30+ track days and 15 or so autocrosses. I had it at a shop for some welding work and just had them do it while it was there.

I highly recommend the Sock Mod to prevent your p/s reservoir from spewing all over your nice clean engine. Check the level and make sure it's correct, if low, add ATF to top it off. If you don't know the history of it, change it. DIYs around for that too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1pzRJMwRx0

Other than those things... if your car is driving fine and not making any weird clanking noises, you should be good to go. Be sure to torque lug bolts when you get to the event. If you don't have a torque wrench, someone around you certainly will. Make sure to pump up your tires some, 38-40psi. Stock suspension has very little negative camber up front and you'll roll over the sidewall of your tires if the pressure is too low. You can ask others with similar car/tires what they run and adjust yours. I like to show up with too much air and let some out... that way I don't have to dink around with a pump to add air, easier to remove it.

Your engine may tick (lifters) after a few runs, but it will go away on the drive home. Top up the motor oil so it's at or just above the full line. It's OK to run a little more. Even tho I do this, mine still ticks... it's a feature of the E36 and E46 and freaks out first timers. It's normal.

[DirtyPillows]

I have a question. I know our diff is an open diff so when I turn one wheel in one direction the other should spin in the opposite direction. Now is this true for both wheels because when I twist my rear passenger side tire the otherone does twist but when I try to do that for the driver side that is not the case. Thoughts??????

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[danewilson77]

Wut?:shifty

Droid! Srs Legitness!

[DirtyPillows]

When spinning the tire( car is lifted off the ground) of my passenger rear tire causes the driver side rear tire to spin in the opposite direction. This is because of the open differential on our cars ( i know that at least). However when i spin the driver side rear tire my passenger side does not move. Is this normal or is my diff bad or what?

[danewilson77]

I thought it would happen the same way on either side...unless the ebrake was on.

Droid! Srs Legitness!

[az3579]

I thought it would happen the same way on either side...unless the ebrake was on.

Droid! Srs Legitness!

That's only if you have an LSD.

[danewilson77]

That's only if you have an LSD.

Yeah....I guess. So is his operating by design.

Droid! Srs Legitness!

[DirtyPillows]

No ebrake was down. But i did find out that i needed new diff mount its no completely bad but has a rip in it. Tomorrow ill try to look at front end ill also post pics soon of what i saw and you guys can look to see if stuff is bad. Because i really dont know what im looking at lol.

[gr330zhp]

If you have the original front control arm bushings at 80k, you're probably due for new ones. I have seen DIYs posted here recently, quite easy to do yourself. A visual inspection is valid, but replacing them anyway is a good thing to do at that mileage. If they're just ugly and not making any weird handling or noises, then they won't ruin your fun.

Springs and shocks should be OK for another 10k-20k miles, then shocks likely. You can inspect them for leaks now. Even if they are leaking, they won't prevent you from enjoying your first autocross experience either.

Check the rear shock mount at the top, inside trunk, under trim panels on either side. They are prone to premature failure. There are upgraded parts available from some tuner sites (bimmerworld, turner, etc) that are much more beefy and very simple to install. In fact, if you're going to inspect them, you may as well order new ones and just replace them while you're in there looking at them. Getting access is most of the hassle.

Check the rear swaybar bushing mounts, they can fail. I've had mine beefed up cuz I beat, er, use my car for it's intended purpose. No issues even with 30+ track days and 15 or so autocrosses. I had it at a shop for some welding work and just had them do it while it was there.

I highly recommend the Sock Mod to prevent your p/s reservoir from spewing all over your nice clean engine. Check the level and make sure it's correct, if low, add ATF to top it off. If you don't know the history of it, change it. DIYs around for that too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1pzRJMwRx0

Other than those things... if your car is driving fine and not making any weird clanking noises, you should be good to go. Be sure to torque lug bolts when you get to the event. If you don't have a torque wrench, someone around you certainly will. Make sure to pump up your tires some, 38-40psi. Stock suspension has very little negative camber up front and you'll roll over the sidewall of your tires if the pressure is too low. You can ask others with similar car/tires what they run and adjust yours. I like to show up with too much air and let some out... that way I don't have to dink around with a pump to add air, easier to remove it.

Your engine may tick (lifters) after a few runs, but it will go away on the drive home. Top up the motor oil so it's at or just above the full line. It's OK to run a little more. Even tho I do this, mine still ticks... it's a feature of the E36 and E46 and freaks out first timers. It's normal.

Great post Jeff! I found it very helpful! :)

[jvr826]

My pleasure!

[DirtyPillows]

Just ordered my front wheel hub. Hope fully this will fix the noise im getting.

Quick question though I did the test where I push the lifted wheel front 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions and I got no noise or play when we spun the tire around I could not reanimate the noise I hear while driving. The only hints I have that it is my front right tire is that now car vibrates slightly as I drive straight and when load is on tire it vibrates more harsher. While when load is off that tire during turns car has no vibration. So what do you guys think?

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[danewilson77]

Spose to grab wheel at 12 and 6 to check for bearing wear.

Just change it out. I think the nut gets torqued to 240 ft-lbs. Make sure you check.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[DirtyPillows]

Roger it just got shipped from ecs so I don't kn how long it will take to get here. But im right in thinking that vibrations like that are usually wheel bearings? I just want to be 100% sure so I can enjoy nice ride to bfe :).

Im also looking for tires that are used and cheap that I can get on those style 71 so I can have them on for bfe as well can't wait for next week :D

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[danewilson77]

I would tend to say....vibrations are typically caused by bushings, either cabs or ball joints, as well as out of balance wheel. In my experience noise is the prevailing symptom. Kind of a whoooooshing sound.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[DirtyPillows]

It's a glorious day my fellow ZHP owners. For I have finally got around to fix my Front Wheel Bearings. Let me tell you I feel like i just got a new car. Reason why this took so long as from the post previous to this, is that i had to order my socket online. I could not find anywhere in store a socket large enough for the hub nut. Ill post some pics later of the hub that was damage so people can get an idea of how the vibrations are created from a bad wheal bearing.

[Johnmadd]

It's a glorious day my fellow ZHP owners. For I have finally got around to fix my Front Wheel Bearings. Let me tell you I feel like i just got a new car. Reason why this took so long as from the post previous to this, is that i had to order my socket online. I could not find anywhere in store a socket large enough for the hub nut. Ill post some pics later of the hub that was damage so people can get an idea of how the vibrations are created from a bad wheal bearing.

Glad it fixed your problem. New bearings can make a car ride like new, first time I did my e30 front ones I was amazed at what it did for the car.

[danewilson77]

It's a glorious day my fellow ZHP owners. For I have finally got around to fix my Front Wheel Bearings. Let me tell you I feel like i just got a new car. Reason why this took so long as from the post previous to this, is that i had to order my socket online. I could not find anywhere in store a socket large enough for the hub nut. Ill post some pics later of the hub that was damage so people can get an idea of how the vibrations are created from a bad wheal bearing.

For anyone else, I have the bearing tools, for future repairs.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[echo46]

How difficult is this DIY? From what I have read it seems the hardest part is loosening the hub then pressing the bearings?

[danewilson77]

How difficult is this DIY? From what I have read it seems the hardest part is loosening the hub then pressing the bearings?

Not hard. One hour per side.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT