Martlet The Gray 330i ZHP

[Tatarin]

I am adding a new member to my BMW stable:
Welcome the Martlet, a 330i ZHP sedan with 109,000 miles on the clock.
Some appearance flaws that need addressing:

1) Bumper Alignment
2) Driver's Side Black Plastic Molding Alignment

Wouldn't be a project without some issues and outstanding maintenance. The car came with nothing more than a title, so in the coming weeks I will be addressing some of the maintenance items:

1) Oil Change + Filter
2) Wheel Alignment
3) Rear Shocks
4) Shot AC [Fixed with a simple R134A Recharge]
5) Check mounts and bushings
6) Exhaust leak (Where is the most common place?)
7) ABS/Yellow Brake Light (Sensors?)

Some pictures for your viewing pleasure.
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[fredo]

Looks good. Any interior pics ?

[danewilson77]

Awesome. Congrats!

Sent from my S8+

[704sw]

Looks great. Silbergrau is such a great color with the sedan's black trim.

[Oli77]

Silbergrau love right here.

[Tatarin]

Interior is mint.
Black leather upholstery, alcantara steering wheel, black cube trim.
Working on shampooing the carpets later this week, pics to follow.

[droman81]

Silbergrau love right here.

Second that!


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[san]

Congrats!


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[Tatarin]

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Well, Firestone just took a shit on one of their best customers and handed me a worthless excuse that they cannot align my car because they do not have a "special tool."
I call a load of crap on that because they did align my two other bimmers. Which leads me to beg the question: How badly can a corporation like Firestone and its parent company - Bridgestone need warm bodies that they seem to get just about anyone with a warm body and a pulse to work on a car?
Some clueless techs aside, this did lead me to order new suspension for the Martlet with adjustable camber plates and various height adjustments.
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I will be taking my car to get corner balanced and aligned at a shop that doesn't make baseless excuses.

[ELCID86]

I've asked the firestone here twice about doing alignment. They said they can't... I know others on here that have the lifetime alignment from them. Really odd.

[johnrando]

That is BS. Regardless, sweet ride. Like the name, story behind it?

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[Tatarin]

I've asked the firestone here twice about doing alignment. They said they can't... I know others on here that have the lifetime alignment from them. Really odd.

Well after a well placed complaint, I was able to get a response from the GM of the store. He mentioned that he could get someone on it as soon as Friday 8/18/2017. Update forthcoming.

[Tatarin]

That is BS. Regardless, sweet ride. Like the name, story behind it?

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Martlet is usually a symbol of the fourth son in Middle age England. It is a "mythological" bird without legs, known as restless and unable to land.
First son gets the kingdom, second - priesthood, third - marriage and title, fourth - chance to start his own kingdom.
I treat it as a "Self - Made" title without being so cliche and in-your-face.

[johnrando]

cool, thanks.

[Tatarin]

Well I know what you have been craving, and I aim to deliver.
I have got a sickness and the only cure is more beauty shots!
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[Tatarin]

Well, like all cars in my stable, the Martlet is getting a few small upgrades here and there.
I wanted a sleek way to charge my phones without disturbing the dynamic of the dashboard.
The cigarette lighter was broken, so I decided to peruse the interweb and find something that wouldn't look too tacky or tacked on.
I found this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M7V1ME1/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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I liked the idea of getting a decent charge for my devices, ability to use my (useless) cigarette lighter, and the fact that I could cover it when I was not using it with a stock plastic cover. The dimensions fit the stock cigarette lighter profile and required very little modification with a rotary tool.
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Let your imagination fill in the gaps of the process.
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Once you remove the panel, you will see two wires, a brown wire with your un-shielded connector and a red and yellow wire that has the constant hot.
Please disconnect your battery when doing this, knowing that some of you may not, consider the fact that it its the amperage that kills you, not the voltage. That being said, this probably won't kill you, but it will give you a dead arm.
Here is how it looks in the car:
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I hope someone will find this :ninja (ninja) power and battery status readout install useful.
One thing to know is that this set up will *eventually* kill the battery. Seeing as how the meter is constantly on. I may try to sneak a little toggle switch in the ashtray next to the Volt Meter to remediate that fault later.

[danewilson77]

Badass

Sent from my S8+

[holyc0w]

Well I know what you have been craving, and I aim to deliver.
I have got a sickness and the only cure is more beauty shots!

Missed this somehow. Looking good! :thumbsup

[Tatarin]

Missed this somehow. Looking good! :thumbsup
Thanks!
Up next, is getting the stance dialed in with some fresh struts.

[slater]

that USB thing is cool.... i might need to get one of those!

[704sw]

that USB thing is cool.... i might need to get one of those!

I have it sitting in my Amazon cart right now.

[anandoc]

Thats a cool mod.

I went with this charger. It fits in snug and I can close the cover without having to take it out everytime.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00MA8JZ10/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[BMWCurves]

Thats a cool mod.

I went with this charger. It fits in snug and I can close the cover without having to take it out everytime.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00MA8JZ10/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have this same one. Maybe by Anker. Works great.

[Tatarin]

I have this same one. Maybe by Anker. Works great.

I don't find an easy way :p

[johnrando]

Sweet mod!

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[Tatarin]

Labor day build log update:
1) Installed KYB G2 shocks all around.
First impressions, the car rides much smoother than on stock shocks. The rods on the KYBs are much thicker than OEM. Overall drive is much more comprised and less "crashy." My driveway is 1/8 mile long gravel road with a bunch of potholes, I hit every single one and the car stayed true.
2) Installed a thicker front anti-roll bar
First impressions - no difference. I feel like you can achieve the same feel with a set of brand new bushings. Maybe the difference can be felt at the limit.
3) Installed a dashcam. You can follow my guide in the stork build thread in my signature, similar steps.
Hardwired it to the stock homelink harness and tucked all the wires in. The process is no different from the V1 hardwire process covered in multiple videos on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO_cZZdFPP4

Next up, I have to figure out why the rear of the car is sitting lower than stock (springs are stock). I was thinking about re-conditioning the springs by baking them in the oven for a few hours. Gotta get some use out of that sophomore metallurgy course. I'm off to find an oven that goes up to 1100 degrees.

[Whammy]

Welcome! Great pics!!

[Oli77]

I installed KYBs and love them as well.

[Tatarin]

I installed KYBs and love them as well.
All these mods happened at 111k miles.
They ride great! I went to drive the car on the twisty roads and it is a beast. Everyone who is anyone will tell you that you want progressive feel from your suspension. These shocks with stock springs give that feeling.

[Tatarin]

The other day I ordered up some parts for the Martlet and first one showed up:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-BMW-E46-325i-325Xi-330i-330Xi-GENUINE-Front-Bumper-Center-Impact-Strip/221206121863?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
(http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-BMW-E46-325i-325Xi-330i-330Xi-GENUINE-Front-Bumper-Center-Impact-Strip/221206121863?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649)

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Had I read the description I would know that this impact strip did not work with the ZHP bumper; but I digress.
To pull off the bumper trim all I had to do was pull on the license plate holder trim and voila.
With a little yank, it came right off.

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To make it fit, I had to cut off 4 top center tabs.
It clicks right into place and with a little movement of other trim pieces, I was able to close the gaps.
5 minute project.

[danewilson77]

Mmph. Nice work

Sent from my S8+

[Tatarin]

Hello and welcome to another installment of my beer fueled engineering.

To start off, who pays $200+ dollars for the E46 roof racks?
Not this drunken lunatic wielding power tools.
If your girlfriend is begging you to go shred the mountain snow, and you are handy, this build is for you.
This is version 2. I had built a different version of the DIY roof racks that I will post below. This version is like building out of legos - extremely easy.
Please note, you do have to spring for SS M6 bolts and galvanized unistrut. Otherwise depending on the amount of exposure - rust.
Here is a list of what you will need to build your own function-over-form roof racks:

4 3/8" and 1/4" opening 2" unistrut right angles
82 inches of skinny 1/2" unistrut
4 ninety degree 3/8" swivel bolts
4 1-1/4" M6 Bolts (Stainless steel or galvanized)
12 3/8" washers
4 crush washers
4 1" long 3/8" bolts
4 3/8" lock nuts
4 1-1/2" by 1-1/2" crush foam pads to avoid wrecking the paint.
Paint of your choosing


Taking a look at the pictures, you see that the assembly is self explanatory.
Starting from the bottom and working your way up:


Place the crush foam under the unistrut right angles on the 1/4" opening side. (glue to your liking, I didn't)
Push the 1-1/4" M6 Bolts through the crush foam and through the 1/4" opening of your right angles
Attach the M6 bolted assemblies in the receiving channels under the trim on the roof of your BMW
Cut the 82 inches of skinny 1/2" unistrut in half to get two 42" pieces of uni
Attach the swivel bolt end to the right angle of the roof rack assembly bolted to the car in step 3 with a washer and a lock nut (loosely - tighten at the end)
Place your cut 42" unistrut on top of the right angle pieces
Attach the 42" uni to the top opening of the swivel bolt with a 3/8" bolt with a washer and a crush washer.
Tighten the bolts at the connections starting with the m6 and working your way up
Paint to your liking

As you see, in the back you clear the roof by about 1/8" so don't haul anything heavy up there. This design is intended to hold a pair of skis and a snow board. As always - don't be stupid and try to sue me when this thing flies off your roof. You should not transport anything on your roof racks or drive around the city or at freeway speeds with them attached to your vehicle. nono ;) ;) If you catch my drift.
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Gap in the back:
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Hardware:
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Version 1 requires more hardware. Take a look at the pictures below:

You will need all of the above materials sans the swivel bolts.
4 3/8" opening 2" unistrut right angles
62" of unistrut cut in half
4 1-1/2" long 3/8" bolts
4 unistrut channel lock nuts or
4 3/8" nuts
4 lock nuts with washers
4 crush washers
Welder. I would definitely weld the vertical brackets before they slide off and scratch the paint.


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As always, mix and match approaches. Don't be an :asshat and you will make it to the mountains with no problems.
I intend to ziptie my snowboard and skis to the unistrut, it has the handy dandy openings to help me with that.

[danewilson77]

Perfect! Looks OEM!

:waldo

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[johnrando]

Awesome!

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