Turning a dream into a reality

[papa_g]

I knew I would be driving a bmw since before I was a teenager. The day came, in 2009, when I bought my first car, and my dad tried to convince me to get something german, like a bm or benz. I chose a scion tC instead...my rationale being that maintenance would cost less, and bmws were known to break. I think I regret that day, because it did not take long before I HATED driving my scion. It was like a freakin 2 ton RC car. Its only saving grace was that it was a stick shift. Still, I knew that my next car would be a BMW.
Fast forward to 2015 - I again toyed with the idea of a german car (I was looking at the new generation of 3-series and C-classes) I visited a few dealerships from Seattle to Beaverton, OR, and could not make a deal. Ended up getting a VW tiguan, as I was coaching soccer as a side gig, and decided I needed the extra space.
Fast forward to 2017 - I decided I did NOT need the extra space, and started looking for the thing I really wanted: an E46. I started researching the topic, and saw that I could settle for something a little sportier, sexier, and not pay my life savings for an M3. I'm talking about the ZHP. I was in the market for almost half a year before I zeroed in on one in San Francisco. It needed work, but all things considered, the price was right.
Flew down there, and drove it back to Seattle. Now I am rebuilding what seems like half the engine, and can't wait to start using this as my daily.

2005 330Ci ZHP
87k miles
Silbergrau
Leather seats/alcantara steering wheel
black cube trim
no mods...pure

So far, I've done...
-New FLCAs & Bushings (Lemmy)
-New Rear shocks (billy)
-New air filters (Mann)
-New windshield washer pump (OEM)
-new xenons (OEM)
-New rear quarter window weather stripping (it was cracked and brittle. Bought the genuine glossy rail gasket, and did the cheap DIY on the shadow line gasket with 3M weather stripping)

Currently working on VCG, spark plugs, Dr. Vanos rebuild, oil filter housing gasket & trying to diagnose P0171/P0174 (lean code banks 1&2)
-Need to replace certain tensioners & pulleys, as apparently one of them is "splitting, causing uneven pressure", per PPI. I still need to remove the fan to check out the tensioners, and see which one they were referring to.
-Going to replace my PCV system as well, since I snapped the frikken valve cover breather tube when removing it. That thing is brittle af.
-I am getting the P0444 code as well, not really sure how to diagnose it, but people are saying there's a 90% chance it is a faulty fuel tank purge valve.
-I was gonna do a motor flush since I had to drain the oil anyway, but read so many cautions against it, saying it could potentially damage the engine. After opening the VC, things look pretty clean, so at the very most, I may just run a cheaper oil through the engine for 30 minutes then drain and replace with the good stuff (I am using Pentosin 5w-30. Any one have comments on that?)
-Then I will flush brake fluid (still currently running ATE Blue, will replace with Gold), tranny & PSF (Redline D4 ATF), differential (Redline 75w90), coolant (bmw w/ H20)
-fix 'window wobble'
-Lastly, I will get the front and rear bumpers fixed, do a full spectrum detail with retinting (5%...I like it dark) and then I will slowly do aftermarket upgrades.


Eventually:
-Black gloss kidney grills
-Electric fan swap....?
-aux cable
-air filter upgrade (still need to do more research)
-front struts may need to be done in the future, and possibly guibo in the near future.
-maybe something with the exhaust, i dunno
-maybe subwoofer, but i may have grown out of the bass slut phase

ANYWAY, I will be chronicling my progress on this thread, thanks for reading, and I look forward to any helpful input!

George

[Vas]

Welcome.

Btw love you avatar :)

[fredo]

+1. Did you find the car thru this forum ?

[PdZHP]

Silbergrau :thumbup

[papa_g]

Welcome.

Btw love you avatar :)

haha thanks

+1. Did you find the car thru this forum ?

Yes! Previously owned by Bruce, and he sold it to someone on the forums, and then i got it :)

Silbergrau :thumbup

wooot i prefer the darker shade, like a gun metal grey, but this looks boss too .:cool

[BMWCurves]

Post pics (again?)

[papa_g]

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[papa_g]

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[704sw]

Beautiful. She looks to be in great shape.

Much like you, I took a longer route to get where I ultimately wanted to be (including a pit stop in crossover land).

[papa_g]

Thanks, the interior is pretty decent, needs a thorough detail though.
I wanna keep this ting until one of us dies.

[BMWCurves]

That derriere is delightful.

[330i ZHP]

Congrats. Great car and welcome

[ELCID86]

Welcome aboard.


---
"ZHP is a garbage option anyway- just some cosmetic upgrades with a different cam and diff to claw back some of the performance lost fitting those hideous and heavy wheels. Any 330 with a 3.46 diff will smoke a ZHP every time. The whole Mafia thing reeks of childish behavior." - anonymous E46 fanatic

[johnrando]

Cool story, welcome!

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[papa_g]

Thanks again everyone. I am going to remove the fan, and am now contemplating the electric fan swap. Seems like people really like it. Maybe there will be a sale this weekend...

[papa_g]

did the OFHG on Sunday. Was up until 7AM, as I was trying to clean as much oil and crud from the area as I could. what a friken hassle. doing CCV system next. I will take off the intake manifold to make things easier, as well as clean up some more. Do people idle the engine for a number of minutes to see that there are no more leaks before driving?

[johnrando]

Yup

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[papa_g]

Intake manifold is off and new CCV system is in. Decided to deal with potential vacuum leaks and OBVIOUS vacuum leaks as I went.
-Replaced both tubes going to the F-connector, as they were old and brittle.
-replaced vacuum cap on back of manifold (used a Dorman cap, even though people are saying it will fail, i'll just replace it if it does.)
-hose going from CCV to dipstick tube had that really bad tear that people get... caused enormous vacuum and oil leak.

Gonna do a final cleaning of the area, then put the intake manifold back in. Then it will be on to fluids!

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[papa_g]

UPDATE:
New fuel cap (genuine BMW)
New oil
new gasket and clamps for PS reservoir + flushed PS (redline D4)
Flushed brakes (ATE gold; I was running super blue, making the flush easy)
Flushing cooling system w/ DI H2O before putting in 50/50 mix.

Took it for a test drive last night....she drives like a dream. Suspension is so tight after new FLCAs and rear shocks. Smooth idle even after not running for 2 months. I haven't checked for codes yet, but I will bet there are no more lean codes. The funny thing is, now that I am able to hear engine sounds better, I can hear the vanos rattle which I wasn't sure of before.
OH WELL, I will leave it for a future project, as I really don't want to open up the valve cover after JUST putting in a new gasket.
Next on the list are tranny and diff fluids. would have done them sooner but the fill plugs are stuck.
Also I've been getting a brake pad light since i bought the car, but PPI said pads are at 85%... I'll need to look into that.

[papa_g]

OK so my PS system is leaking heavily from the pressure hose to pump fitting and the reservoir return hose, I cracked the return hose when manipulating it, and need a new o-ring for the pressure hose, so I ordered those parts. also noticed I am leaking coolant from the coolant temp sensor on the lower radiator hose. Supposedly it also needs a new o-ring so I ordered those.
Here are the part numbers for anyone wondering:
Pressure hose fitting: 64508390601
coolant temp sensor: 13621743299

[papa_g]

Power steering system dealt with after noticing the high pressure hose was also leaking from various joints. Such a mess, but the garage is clean now. Noticed that the inlet transmission cooling hose is leaking as well...yay. Ordered the part from FCP, they had it on sale.

Got the front and rear bumpers fixed and resprayed. Shop could not get the front bumper 100% flush, even after replacing the bent reinforcement bar behind the bumper cover. Still it is loads better than before.

Got the lifetime alignment at firestone. Apparently the camber bolts on the rear control arms are "broken", so they could not fully adjust the camber on the rear wheels. They wanted to replace the control arms for this reason...

Did a couple fun little DIYs to reduce wind noise and reset the pretension on the coupe windows to make them not wobbly anymore.

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=647631

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=986621

Im gonna get it detailed and tinted before March. Can't wait to post before and after pics...

[slater]

Got the lifetime alignment at firestone. Apparently the camber bolts on the rear control arms are "broken", so they could not fully adjust the camber on the rear wheels. They wanted to replace the control arms for this reason...

yeah, it's not the arms that are the problem - that's kind of a lame suggestion on their part.

the camber adjustment bolts - which connect the lower control arm to the hub - are eccentric. the problem with these bolts is that over time, they rust, and the eccentric lobe on the bolt corrodes away, making them either totally frozen in the bushing, or not eccentric anymore, which means no adjustment can be done.

easiest solution? buy a new pair of bolts from BMW. :) i think they're ~$10/each. :cheers

[papa_g]

Nice I had a feeling it was as simple as replacing the bolts. My concern is gonna be getting the old ones out, i heard it can be a bicth.

[slater]

Nice I had a feeling it was as simple as replacing the bolts. My concern is gonna be getting the old ones out, i heard it can be a bicth.

they can be. here's what i've done when they're really stuck:

1. obtain new bolts, and nuts :)
2. loosen the old nut, but don't remove; loosen enough that the top of the nut is just past flush with the end of the bolt
3. try turning the nut back and forth at the head with a long breaker bar, kind of in a 'human impact wrench' style (it works for me); if you can get them loose, then remove the nut and tap them out. if you can't get them loose, proceed onto #4
4. get a 5lb sledge and give the nut some good whacks until it breaks free; then remove the nut and tape the bolt out.


that's worked for me in the past. but i imagine mine would be way rustier than yours, given climate differences.

[papa_g]

they can be. here's what i've done when they're really stuck:

1. obtain new bolts, and nuts :)
2. loosen the old nut, but don't remove; loosen enough that the top of the nut is just past flush with the end of the bolt
3. try turning the nut back and forth at the head with a long breaker bar, kind of in a 'human impact wrench' style (it works for me); if you can get them loose, then remove the nut and tap them out. if you can't get them loose, proceed onto #4
4. get a 5lb sledge and give the nut some good whacks until it breaks free; then remove the nut and tape the bolt out.


that's worked for me in the past. but i imagine mine would be way rustier than yours, given climate differences.

Nice! I am going to have to do this soon and go back in for realignment. They wanted to charge me over $1600 to do all the brakes and rear lower control arms.

[330i ZHP]

Nice! I am going to have to do this soon and go back in for realignment. They wanted to charge me over $1600 to do all the brakes and rear lower control arms.

Good lord

Slater’s idea is perfect

The good news, the eccentrics are on the outboard side of the control arm and not up in the subframe

[papa_g]

Good lord

Slater’s idea is perfect

The good news, the eccentrics are on the outboard side of the control arm and not up in the subframe

haha yeah I can't wait to try it out. I want to see if I can't just remove the old ones and clean them up a bit before I decide to buy new ones. If the firestone staff say they are broken, I am going to take it with a grain of salt.

[papa_g]

Going into the garage to try my hand at this. Wish me luck.

I am going to check my brakes and measure my rotors while I am there. I suspect I might have a stuck caliper(s) somewhere.

Also, in other news, turns out my fan clutch is dunzo. Found out when a friend stuck his hand in my fan and repeatedly spun it the other way, while at operating temp. Also, the radiator facing side was covered in oily dirt when I took it out for the first time. Ordering a new one from FCP.

[papa_g]

It is as I suspected. The bolt is not "broken". Using some PB blaster, I eventually loosened the nut and was able to adjust the camber. Nothing was seized. I even tapped the bolt out to take a closer look at it. It looks great! The one thing is the camber washer is a little frayed; the tooth looks like it got thrashed a little, so i will order a couple new ones. In the mean time, I put it back on, lubed up the bushing and put some antiseize on the bolt threads. I will be having a word with the guys at Firestone haha... broken my ass. They said they maxed out at -1.5º. Is this an ok rear camber? according to my report, I want to be at least at -1.8º. I know it depends on what I want from my car blah blah but i just want to be as close to factory spec as possible.

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[slater]

nice work, man! :cheers

crazy how clean they are...

[webster]

please don't take your BMW to Firestone...

otherwise nice work!!

[papa_g]

nice work, man! :cheers

crazy how clean they are...
Thanks! :cheers

please don't take your BMW to Firestone...

otherwise nice work!!
I get the concern. Not my first choice either, but that lifetime alignment is so tempting...
If you read my other posts, you might gather that I am a sucker for anything "lifetime", particularly warranties and replacements

[papa_g]

First detail!!! They destroyed the rear emblem in the washing process, so they gave me a new one :)
I apologize the pictures are so big, I reduced the file size and they still stay big for some reason.

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[slater]

looks great, man!

the rear emblem thing... it happens. it's just a BMW roundel sticker on top of the plastic. kinda sad, but easy enough to replace.

[johnrando]

+1

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[papa_g]

Did a lot more work since the detail:

- New eccentric washers in place. Alignment scheduled for this Friday; I am going to weigh down the car as well, per Bentley Manual.
- New windshield cowl, and I cleaned out all the detritus and dirt from the little gutter pockets at the sides...there was a lot, as well as a random philips head screw.
- New gas tank breather valve. Waiting for P0444 to go away.:begging
- New fan clutch. Oil leaked out of the old one. chipped the shrowd while trying to take the old one off :facepalm
- Completed the VANOS rebuild with Beisan kit! It was an 8 hour job for me hahah...:crying
- In an attempt to fix my poor city MPG, I replaced the fuel filter vacuum hose as it was brittle and rotten.

[SaltyNC]

Your detail looks great. When I bought the 300Ci, the rear emblem was damaged, and ECS had an emblem removal "tool" for $1. I usually just use several strands of dental floss, but thought for $1, WTH.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ecs-parts/bmw-emblem-roundel-removal-tool/bmwrrtool/

It's about a two feet piece of plastic package strapping...you know, the kind you see wrapped around large/heavy cardboard boxes for reinforcement. I think we know who the "tool" was, and it wasn't this piece of plastic. LOL

Man, you're really knocking it out. Good deal! I hope you're enjoying your ZHP project as much as I am mine.

Salty

[papa_g]

Your detail looks great. When I bought the 300Ci, the rear emblem was damaged, and ECS had an emblem removal "tool" for $1. I usually just use several strands of dental floss, but thought for $1, WTH.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ecs-parts/bmw-emblem-roundel-removal-tool/bmwrrtool/

It's about a two feet piece of plastic package strapping...you know, the kind you see wrapped around large/heavy cardboard boxes for reinforcement. I think we know who the "tool" was, and it wasn't this piece of plastic. LOL

Man, you're really knocking it out. Good deal! I hope you're enjoying your ZHP project as much as I am mine.

Salty

hahah so basically they sent you a giant piece of floss. They probably have entire rolls of that stuff laying around for packaging anyway. Now I wouldn't be surprised if they sold ECS labeled cardboard and market it as 'ECS Floor Mat'.
Thanks though, yeah I got the car really cheap, so I had some budget left over to do some serious work to it. I think I have all the remaining parts already in the garage, or they are on the way. It is a really fun project for sure!

[papa_g]

Finished my the tranny job. I chronicle the horror of the job in a new thread called 'DIY Nightmares' ----> http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?21296-DIY-Nightmares

It was a bitch.
But the tranny shifts a lot smoother now! Can't wait to get the DME update and make it even better.

Some pics.
My initial plan to remove the fill plug
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That didn't work, so I removed the tranny cross member and lowered the tranny enough to fit a breaker bar in there. Look at that filthy sump.
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Ended up stripping the plug because I used a T-40 instead of a T-45 (i swear a T-45 would just not fit for some reason). So we got a bolt extractor, and voila!
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Replaced sump and new filter, now the job to refill through the cooler.
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Make sure to pump oil into the line before inserting, to get air bubbles and any stray water droplets out.
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Everything seemed to be going well until i started pumping, and oil just leaked profusely back out from the cooler. I guess the pressure to overcome in there is too great for my set up. The tube I shoved in there was in pretty tight as well. I thought about taping it off or rigging something to prevent the leak, but decided to do it the old fashioned way.
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Ended up getting well over 2 gallons of old oil out. It was black and nasty, but didn't smell burnt so that's good. This picture is just under 2 gallons, but a lot spilled on the floor in the process of the whole job. Funny thing, is I was only able to get maybe 1.8 gallons of new oil back in, following the procedure for refilling the sump. Car is running well, but I think I will see if I can get some more in there next time I have the car on jack stands.
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And here is a little sneak peak into my next project :)
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[SaltyNC]

Thanks for posting some pics. I did new stainless lines a few weeks ago, and if you keep the brake pedal depressed with a board or rod/pipe, it won't leak a drop. I was all ready with my vacuum caps, but they weren't needed. Hopefully you won't run into any corrosion on your brake lines and have a repeat of the fill plug. I shot mine with PB Blaster in advance to give it some soak time.

[papa_g]

holding the brake pedal depressed does squeeze brake fluid out? I thought that was the point lol. Or maybe it squeezes out a small amount and then stops? Also is that potentially bad for the master cylinder piston or someother component that is under this constant pressure?

[SaltyNC]

If you depress the pedal and keep it depressed before opening the line, nothing will leak out. It's basically moved the piston to a position where brake fluid from the master cylinder is being blocked. It's like filling a straw or hose with water and capping off one end with your hand. The liquid won't come out until you remove your hand. No harm in keeping it depressed while doing the brake line swap. It's quick, easy, and almost zero mess.

[PetesZ]

Watch out these things are addictive.

About to buy BMW number 5.

I need help

[johnrando]

:like

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[papa_g]

If you depress the pedal and keep it depressed before opening the line, nothing will leak out. It's basically moved the piston to a position where brake fluid from the master cylinder is being blocked. It's like filling a straw or hose with water and capping off one end with your hand. The liquid won't come out until you remove your hand. No harm in keeping it depressed while doing the brake line swap. It's quick, easy, and almost zero mess.
I see, ok I don't know when I will have a full day to kill doing this, but I will take your advice.


I need help
tell me about it...

:like
:cheers

[danewilson77]

G man.... Way to stick with it. Everything is downhill from here. As Rob (Newjack)

#sticktoitness

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[Newjack]

G man.... Way to stick with it. Everything is downhill from here. As Rob (Newjack)

#sticktoitness

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lol don't give him false hope

It never actually gets easier, you just get better at channeling your anger to your tools

[papa_g]

thanks guys. appreciate all the help from this forum. If i convince myself it will only get worse, at least then I won't be disappointed lol

[Newjack]

thanks guys. appreciate all the help from this forum. If i convince myself it will only get worse, at least then I won't be disappointed lol

https://i.imgur.com/c4jt321.png

[papa_g]

i'm okay with the events that are unfolding currently.

[papa_g]

Full brake overhaul complete!
Got the car up on stands, and lookey what I found...has anyone done anything this retarded before :rofl
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(btw check out that clean ass tranny sump :) )
Did the diff fluid first, plugs came off with out much of a struggle. I was preparing myself for some nasty smelly ass black fluid, but the old diff fluid was relatively new! No where in the records does it say anything about diff fluid, but anyway, now I got some good redline fluid in there, so I have that peace of mind.
Brakes were a long project. Took the opportunity to clean up the calipers and paint them. Used a wire brush to clean them up, sanded them down a bit, did a couple layers of primer, followed by some high temp silver paint. Turned out pretty good!
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Cleaned up the wheel hub a bit as well, coated it with aluminum antiseize (per FCP euro DIY), that should make removing the rotors next time less of a PITA; I had to bang the rotors with a hammer this time.
Tried to adjust the e-brake while I was at it, and i think I messed up somewhere, so I need to go back and try again. The handle is really tight, but even after 7 clicks, it wont hold on a hill. I followed the 50's kid/ Pelican procedure.
New brakes: Zimmermann drilled rotors, Akebono Euro ceramic pads, StopTech SS brake lines, new pad wear sensors. Bled the system and took her out to bed the brakes. My street has some nicely spaced u-turns, and at 11pm, few cars on the road means I can really bed the crap out of these brakes lol
4 sets of 45mph to 10mph (moderate)
10 sets of 60mph to 15mph (aggressive)
then took her for a drive on the freeway for ~15 minutes

Final thoughts: DEFINITELY less bite, and so far I don't like it. Feels weird having to press the brake pedal down that much. Maybe I will get used to it; overall they work well. The biggest improvement is no more brake screech. It was really bad before; I think my rotors were warped. Did not notice any difference in the diff.

Clean up was fun
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[ZHPizza]

Awesome job. I actually think the magnetic hardware tray on the frame is genius...if you remember to grab it afterwards...

I have trash bite with Akebono pads too. Don't like it at all. That OE bite = that OE dust tho.

[Sockethead]

For the emergency brake, pull up three clicks on the e brake handle then do all your adjustment on the brake adjuster itself in the drum. Loosen up the adjusters at the brake handle if needed.
Less initial bite will take some getting used to. When I first put my Hawk pads in, they were the same way. I swapped the brake fluid at the same time and thought i messed that up but it was the pads... I don't even notice it now...

[papa_g]

Awesome job. I actually think the magnetic hardware tray on the frame is genius...if you remember to grab it afterwards...
I have trash bite with Akebono pads too. Don't like it at all. That OE bite = that OE dust tho.
The magnetic tray was down there for 200+ miles hahah i can't believe it didn't fall off. I decided to clean my wheels while I had them off. years of brake pad dust took its toll

For the emergency brake, pull up three clicks on the e brake handle then do all your adjustment on the brake adjuster itself in the drum. Loosen up the adjusters at the brake handle if needed.
Less initial bite will take some getting used to. When I first put my Hawk pads in, they were the same way. I swapped the brake fluid at the same time and thought i messed that up but it was the pads... I don't even notice it now...
Do I need to loosen the handle adjusters before working at the rear wheels? that is what all the procedures say to do

[Sockethead]

Yes, loosen them up first. The problem is if you use just the cable adjusters only, then only 1/2 of the shoe will be effective and it will never keep the car from rolling...you want to use the adjuster on the brakes until the pads are just starting to rub the drum (with 3 clicks up on the brake handle) sometimes you need to go a little tighter, you just have to feel it out. You shouldn't have to pull way up on the handle to keep the car from rolling but also, the should be no contact between the shoe and drum with the handle completely down...

[papa_g]

It's been a while, but here's what has happened since I was last here:
- little paint touch up here and there
- reglued ABC pillar fabric
- replaced A/C compressor, condenser, expansion valve, drier/receiver and corresponding o-rings. A/C works now, but it's still leaking from somewhere. Summer is over, so taking my time to get it fixed...
- restored headlights and replaced the brittle rubber things that clip on top of the headlights.
- sprayed grilles and 330ci badge with plastidip, followed by gloss coat. Really happy with the results.
- About to restore the center console with plastidip as well, and route my aux to the underside of the armrest.
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Big project coming up at my next oil change:
- oil, filter, o-rings, crush washer (gonna try liquimoly this time. running pentosin now)
- oil pan gasket
- ATF drain/fill (another one, just to use up the remaining valvoline I have in the garage)
- front endlinks and tie rods
- fuel filter and hoses
- motor mounts/tranny mounts

I'm probably gonna rent a lift for this one!

[BADCLOWN]

Excellent list of stuff knocked out, front end looks great!

[Sockethead]

IMO, you can never change the ATF too many times :)

[papa_g]

IMO, you can never change the ATF too many times :)
I have a feeling that I drained more ATF than I pumped back in at the last D&F. I'm gonna drain a little less than I plan on putting back in this time.

Excellent list of stuff knocked out, front end looks great!
Thanks :D

[johnrando]

Def good stuff!

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[papa_g]

decided to replace my fuel filter today. I had a suspicion it was the reason for my lean code, and the weird rattling sound that was coming from that area. Replaced the hoses and clamps while I was at it. The weird rattle sound is now gone, which I am really thankful for. The old filter did not even have that many miles on it, which is why I was hesitant to replace it in the first place. The gas that leaked out of it was pretty clean too. not perfect, but no where near some of those really bad instances you see on youtube.
Decided to do a smoke test as well, to see if maybe the vacuum leak is coming from the intake. Found a veerrryyyy small amount of smoke rising from the throttle body/ICV area. Could not really pinpoint exactly where since it was so little smoke. I know it is not the lower intake boot, since that is pretty new. throttle body gasket is new as well. My only hunch is maybe the lower intake is not seated properly, but I inspected it, and could not see a problem. Will look into it some more.

[ZHPizza]

Have you had the intake manifold off at all? That's the first place that we noticed smoke on Spenser's car, but it was leaking from the manifold gasket and sort of billowing out from underneath. I think there's some vacuum caps down there too that could be the culprit.

[san]

Could be ICV grommet as well.


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[papa_g]

Have you had the intake manifold off at all? That's the first place that we noticed smoke on Spenser's car, but it was leaking from the manifold gasket and sort of billowing out from underneath. I think there's some vacuum caps down there too that could be the culprit.
Yeah I removed, cleaned and reinstalled the intake manifold when I was doing the CCV system. put a new manifold gasket as well. I capped the vacuum ports already, but could always check to see they are still capped properly.

Could be ICV grommet as well.

maybe. It was my first time doing that involved of a project, and it's possible it did not reinstall everything properly. ICV grommet is new as well.

[ZHPizza]

Man...you may need to dig into this thing again if you can't pinpoint it with the smoke test. When we were chasing a leak on Spenser's car, we got the same result from the smoke test -- a little bit coming from the TB/ICV area. We pulled all of that off and reseated it, then still saw smoke. Turns out it was coming from the intake manifold to head seal. The gasket had gotten pinched during install months ago and the leak had slowly grown. Had to tear the whole thing down until we found it.

Is the lean code on one bank or both? That can help with troubleshooting.

[papa_g]

lead code in both banks. although, changing the fuel filter may have helped. I need to look at the fuel trim data to see if I am still running lean. Did you have to replace the gasket? I REALLY hope I don't have to tear everything apart again hahah.. oh man.

[ZHPizza]

lead code in both banks. although, changing the fuel filter may have helped. I need to look at the fuel trim data to see if I am still running lean. Did you have to replace the gasket? I REALLY hope I don't have to tear everything apart again hahah.. oh man.

Yup, sure did. BUT, being that you're lean on both banks, that means that your leak is upstream of the manifold or a fuel delivery issue as you suspect. If you saw smoke near the TB, then I would start there. Should be able to remove, inspect, and reinstall everything in an hour or so.

[papa_g]

Should be able to remove, inspect, and reinstall everything in an hour or so.
ok, that's interesting. So which bank was lean for Spenser? I forget, do I need to remove the DISA in order to get to the TB? I put a new o-ring on it, so I would prefer not to remove it.

[330i ZHP]

Man...you may need to dig into this thing again if you can't pinpoint it with the smoke test. When we were chasing a leak on Spenser's car, we got the same result from the smoke test -- a little bit coming from the TB/ICV area. We pulled all of that off and reseated it, then still saw smoke. Turns out it was coming from the intake manifold to head seal. The gasket had gotten pinched during install months ago and the leak had slowly grown. Had to tear the whole thing down until we found it.

Is the lean code on one bank or both? That can help with troubleshooting.

Painful tracing stuff like that

[papa_g]

Here is a quick snapshot of my FT at operating temp idle. It's about average for LTFT1. LTFT2 doesn't seem to change much, but LTFT1 will go as low as 2.8%, and as high as 5.2%. Must have gotten over 10% recently, because supposedly that's what it takes to trip the lean codes.
34052

[papa_g]

Just finished the biggest Project on the ZHP thus far.
- OPG
- Engine/tranny mounts
- front end-links
- front tie-rods
- steering giubo
- A/T drain n' fill (drained about 3 quarts and put 4 quarts of new stuff back. I was missing a quart from my last DnF)

This was actually one of my less frustrating DIYs, albeit one of the biggest. No real complications with the OPG process, except putting the pan back on took some wrestling. Nothing crazy though. Really took my time cleaning the inside and outside of the pan. No real sludge buildup, but the little bit there was I wiped up. Pump nut is gucci.
I encountered only 2 real problems that I was able to get through with God's help and a little perseverance:
- Tie-rods were corroded to shit. Needed a torch and copious PB blaster to get the ends off. Then unscrewing them from the inner arm was a bitch and a half.
- I was ill prepared for the tranny mounts. There is really no room in there to get them off without lowering the exhaust. I was dead tired and really didn't want to deal with it, so I almost dropped it entirely, until some more experimenting got those suckers off.

Wish I took some pictures, but at the time, I thought "these guys have already seen this shit a million times, fuck it"

[papa_g]

BTW I found that the air leak was from the top intake-throttle body margin. Reseated and tightened the clamp real good. I think this really helped.

[danewilson77]

Well done papa

Sent from my Note 9 using Tapatalk

[DeathTrap]

Wish I took some pictures, but at the time, I thought "these guys have already seen this shit a million times, fuck it"

Pretty much lol.

Good work!

[johnrando]

Nice werk. Always like to see the pics btw. :)

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[papa_g]

Nice werk. Always like to see the pics btw. :)

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Was about to throw these out, but then thought, might as well snap a pic for the fam
I am glad this old shit is out
34190

And here are the new fluids :)
34191

Car is sitting in the garage desperately waiting for an alignment. I tried driving it today and the tires were squealing sooo bad. Honestly afraid to drive it even a few miles to the alignment shop

[ZHPizza]

Lol your toe must be crazy right now. You can get it good enough with a tape measure and straight edge (lay a plank across the wheels and measure the difference between the front and rear). Just get the front wheels kind of pointing in the same direction and let the alignment shop take it from there.

[330i ZHP]

Maintenance, always a good time (sarcasm)

[papa_g]

Lol your toe must be crazy right now. You can get it good enough with a tape measure and straight edge (lay a plank across the wheels and measure the difference between the front and rear). Just get the front wheels kind of pointing in the same direction and let the alignment shop take it from there.
Yup, toe was crazy haha. Definitely was not careful when putting the tierods on. Adjusted it enough to make it safe to drive; basically just eyeballed it both look relatively straight. Taking it to Firestone tomorrow for free alignment, then will take it to a more reputable alignment shop next week to gitter done more accurately. Next monday was they earliest they could fit me in.

[papa_g]

A little late on this, but took the ZHP to a more reputable alignment shop after the initial alignment at firestone. Ironically the shop is located in the part of town with the MOST bumps and potholes. Aggravating. They aligned the steering wheel as well. All came out to over $200.
Next, after having jfoj from e46fanatics review my fuel trims and live data, we determined it was time for a new MAF. Ordered from FCP ($209). Before installing it, I did another smoke test, just to be sure. No more leak :) Put on the new MAF and I think she's running a bit better. I'm gonna do some more diagnostics and run the data logs again before making any conclusions.

[papa_g]

- Had my live data values evaluated again. I guess things are normal now :) Now tracking down strange sounds here and there to tighten everything up.
- Bought some genuine BMW rubber floor mats for the front only; don't use the back enough to warrant spending the extra dough.
- Also finally forced myself to refresh the center console plastic and reroute the aux while I was there. Added a new usb power outlet as well.DIY coming soon. Can you guess what I removed?
34493
34494

[DeathTrap]

Center console looks great! Did you just sand and paint it?

[johnrando]

It really does.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[holyc0w]

Can you guess what I removed?


The terrific coin holder?

[papa_g]

Center console looks great! Did you just sand and paint it?
decided to plastidip it. pleased with the result :)

The terrific coin holder?
winner

[Sockethead]

Looks great. Nice location for those ports.... far enough back on the console to be out of site and out of the way. My port is in the ashtray and it's a PITA when I have a wire hooked up...

[papa_g]

Looks great. Nice location for those ports.... far enough back on the console to be out of site and out of the way. My port is in the ashtray and it's a PITA when I have a wire hooked up...

Thanks man, yeah I think I could have made it look more professional, but for my purposes it works. Good thing is I can put a better plastic plate cover on there in the future if I want. DIY here --> http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?22039-Coin-carousel-delete-aux-power-outlet-retrofit

[papa_g]

Installed angel eyes last night. Big shout out to @Rovert and The Angel Eye Guy for the deal. Jumped on the 30% off group buy deal.
Decided on the turn signal method switchbacks (They flash amber with the turn signal and when locking/unlocking the car.)
Went standard instead of opaque per Trevor's recommendation; they blend in better inside the headlight when the lights are off.
34587
Ambers did work at first, spoke to Joey (the angel eye guy) and we concluded it was that the wire tap didn't pierce through the insulation.
34588
Problem solved :)
34589
ECU
34590
Oven time! Daughter always wants to help
Facelift coupes...smh. This was the worst part.
Cleaned the inner surface of the lens while I was there.
34591
34592
Again, shout out to Trevor for the idea of the wire loom. Really makes everything blend into the engine bay.
34593
34594
34595
34596

These things are SUPER bright! I wis I could get a shot of the rings, but no luck. Happy with the result!

[papa_g]

Here's a pic outside
34597

[Sockethead]

Cool! I knew you'd like them ! :)
Can you make a video of the amber coming on with the turn signal? I'd like to see that in action...

[DeathTrap]

Ooooo, those are nice!!

[papa_g]

Cool! I knew you'd like them ! :)
Can you make a video of the amber coming on with the turn signal? I'd like to see that in action...

For sure! Just a matter of remembering to do it; maybe tomorrow. I've never posted on youtube before so this would be a first
@DeathTrap thanks man, really enjoying them thus far!

[3LiterStraightSix]

For sure! Just a matter of remembering to do it; maybe tomorrow. I've never posted on youtube before so this would be a first
@DeathTrap thanks man, really enjoying them thus far!Awesome man! What a pain in the behind with the oven though... Another reason to make me stick with 4 doors [emoji38]

Sent from my ZTE A2017U using Tapatalk

[johnrando]

Glad you like, very nice!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[papa_g]

Made a little video on the angel eyes in case anyone wants to see them in action. excuse the poor resolution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZpaBZ1hHAk

[papa_g]

I am at 95k miles so I decided to change out the O2 sensors. My MPG sucks (18.8 mixed driving), so I am really hoping this fixes the problem, as it feels like I have tackled it from every angle... Can't wait to take her for a drive tomorrow and see if there's a difference.
Cleaned the engine bay while I was there
34657

[Sockethead]

Engine bay looks great!

[ZHPizza]

I am at 95k miles so I decided to change out the O2 sensors. My MPG sucks (18.8 mixed driving), so I am really hoping this fixes the problem, as it feels like I have tackled it from every angle... Can't wait to take her for a drive tomorrow and see if there's a difference.
Cleaned the engine bay while I was there
34657Have you done the Vanos seals?

[papa_g]

Thanks!
Yes VANOS was refreshed back at the beginning of 2018

[ELCID86]

Looks good. Interested to know if that helps the MPG. Mine is @22mpg. New plugs?

[DeathTrap]

Damn, that's a guzzler!
If it helps, I'm sure my O2s have 190k on them(I'm replacing things for the first time on my car, really impressive imo) and my mpg is around 24-26 mixed.

[johnrando]

Def looks great!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[papa_g]

If sensors are anything like the MAF, it might take a full tank of driving in mixed conditions until the car readapts and works at optimum efficiency. I feel like I’ve done everything there is to do in the 8k miles of driving the car: plugs, tubes/vacuum lines, lower intake boot, air filter, fuel filter, disa o-ring, MAF, purge valve, VANOS, misc. vacuum leaks, calipers, multiple oil changes + ceratec... looked into doing the fuel pump as well but it only has like 25k miles on it. Anyway, we’ll see!

[papa_g]

106k miles
wow haven't posted here in a while, but I just tacked a pretty big project so I figured I would document it here
Parts replaced:

-Oil + filter (Liqui Moly & Mann)
-Power steering reservoir fluid refresh (i do this with every oil change)
-Cabin and Engine Air Filters
-Windshield wipers
-Trunk shocks (they were no longer lifting the trunk and made the typical whining noise when opening and closing)
-R side bumper/fender liner. My brother drove over a curb and trashed the plastic trim piece. In doing so, he also broke the internal bracket on my bumper, so I did some plastic welding and realigned the bumper, and it is almost perfect.
-Cleaned my guide pins and regreased my pads to get rid of a persistent rubbing sound from my front brakes. We will see if that fixed it.
-My driver-side xenon went out randomly, and after doing some trouble shooting, i narrowed it down to a bad ballast. Ordered one over ebay, and it still didn't work. I then found the culprit: a broken wire in the headlight housing. Spliced it back and taped it, and we are all good. I was even able to return the ballast which was nice.
-Fixed the rattle coming from my subwoofer. The white long plastic piece came unglued from the overlying rear dash, and i learned it actually a whole for a screw, so I secured it from the bottom and stuffed a couple more tennis balls in there to make sure it never rattles again.


Tackled my cooling system as well, since my thermostat has failed (stuck open) and the water pump and radiator are original:
- Thermostat (Mahle)
- Water pump (Saleri)
- Radiator (Nissens)
- A/T thermostat (chinese)
- New o-rings; hoses seem in good shape

My expansion tank and a/t thermostat only had 30k miles, but even with careful removal of the ET, i still broke the thermostat, so i got next day delivery on amazon prime and will just replace it with an oem piece next time i have to touch the ET.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201212/21ef961566b8392dcd79605788703cef.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201212/21eb81ebc21c728e1460e501d16fc7c0.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201212/0bb4bc01143bf0460a8b4b90409c4293.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201212/c38d523c46efa50df7c6e9a7fc29a646.jpg


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[BMWCurves]

A lot of good maintenance there.

[papa_g]

Hopefully I can recoup some of the cost by selling the old radiator and water pump. I was actually surprised you can get a brand new Nissens radiator for only ~$70

[BMWCurves]

Hopefully I can recoup some of the cost by selling the old radiator and water pump. I was actually surprised you can get a brand new Nissens radiator for only ~$70

What is it made of? Cardboard, hopes, and dreams?

[johnrando]

Good updates.

Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

[papa_g]

What is it made of? Cardboard, hopes, and dreams?
Wasn’t able to find an OE Modine radiator, but I got my stuff from FCP Euro, and sometimes their parts are a little more expensive, which is maybe justified by their lifetime warranty.
$79 at FCP, so I assume you could find it cheaper elsewhere.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Vas]

What is it made of? Cardboard, hopes, and dreams?Had the same though but having installed a couple of them into various cars no issues at all with quality or fitment.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

[Will]

What is it made of? Cardboard, hopes, and dreams?

LOL!

I thought the same, then I got one for my ZHP. Surprisingly good quality and fit. Also got mine from FCP - I couldn't find a OEM Modine anywhere.

[Vas]

LOL!

I thought the same, then I got one for my ZHP. Surprisingly good quality and fit. Also got mine from FCP - I couldn't find a OEM Modine anywhere.Alot of the modine parts for the e46 are no longer available. Biggest ones are the radiator and expansion tank.

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[papa_g]

Alot of the modine parts for the e46 are no longer available. Biggest ones are the radiator and expansion tank.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

Good to know! People seem pretty happy w the Nissens one, and with the lifetime warranty I am not too worried. Happy that I dont have to worry about my cooling system for a while.

In regards to the brakes, after cleaning the guide pins, the noise seemed to go away, but yesterday I noticed it came back, albeit much more mild than before the cleaning. I think my pin boots are still gunked up and will require a good cleaning. They look to be in good condition so I wont be replacing them until my next brake job.

[cakM3]

Nice ZHP you have there George, and welcome :thumbsup

[papa_g]

Nice ZHP you have there George, and welcome :thumbsup

Thank you, Charlie. Your M3 is exquisite.

[papa_g]

Aimed my headlights and morimoto fogs last night. The headlights were high and to the right, and were cake to realign, but the fogs were such a pain. They started off really low, so I wasn’t getting much use out of them.

Every time I though I finally got it, I would tighten the housing screws only to find it had budged and was way too high or too low. Took me 30 minutes to do both, and in the end they are still a couple inches lower than a was hoping. Per the guidelines, if your fogs are up to 18” from the ground, the upper light limit should be 1.5” lower than your fog lights at 25’.
Headlights at 25’
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201224/6ac9069f5129b5e22cdcccc6f575d36e.jpg
Fogs at 25’
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201224/90fe840da1d9796ded6fc32e635133f9.jpg


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[cakM3]

... I wanna keep this ting until one of us dies.

:thumbsup

[Will]

I am at 95k miles so I decided to change out the O2 sensors. My MPG sucks (18.8 mixed driving), so I am really hoping this fixes the problem, as it feels like I have tackled it from every angle... Can't wait to take her for a drive tomorrow and see if there's a difference.
Cleaned the engine bay while I was there


If sensors are anything like the MAF, it might take a full tank of driving in mixed conditions until the car readapts and works at optimum efficiency. I feel like I’ve done everything there is to do in the 8k miles of driving the car: plugs, tubes/vacuum lines, lower intake boot, air filter, fuel filter, disa o-ring, MAF, purge valve, VANOS, misc. vacuum leaks, calipers, multiple oil changes + ceratec... looked into doing the fuel pump as well but it only has like 25k miles on it. Anyway, we’ll see!

Did the o2 sensors impact the MPGs? What are you averaging now?


Car looks fantastic.

[BMWCurves]

@papa_g - ugh, I installed my Morimoto fog lights last Christmas and still have not adjusted them properly. I don't use them because they'd blind people (sit waaaaay too high) and taking them out, adjusting, and then reinstalling them is a serious pain in the but. I feel your pain.

[papa_g]

Did the o2 sensors impact the MPGs? What are you averaging now?


Car looks fantastic.

Thanks! It’s hard to say, but I believe they did. If it were just the O2 sensors I swapped out, I would have a better idea but I think it was a mix of everything: MAF, tracking down all the vacuum leaks, fuel filter, etc.
Right now I’m at 19.5 but it’s because I had my mom idle the engine while I was away at school a couple times a week, so mpg went down. When I left, it was at around 22. I’ve also been doing more freeway driving so that helps.


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[papa_g]

@papa_g - ugh, I installed my Morimoto fog lights last Christmas and still have not adjusted them properly. I don't use them because they'd blind people (sit waaaaay too high) and taking them out, adjusting, and then reinstalling them is a serious pain in the but. I feel your pain.

It’s actually not HORRIBLE if you do it in your own drive way. I had to find a loading dock because my driveway is angled. Not fun when you are constantly paranoid someone is gonna come and threaten to call the police on you (actually, one squad car drove by and didn’t even stop to see what was going on).


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[cakM3]

Thank you, Charlie. Your M3 is exquisite.

thanks! still work in progress :)

[BMWCurves]

It’s actually not HORRIBLE if you do it in your own drive way. I had to find a loading dock because my driveway is angled. Not fun when you are constantly paranoid someone is gonna come and threaten to call the police on you (actually, one squad car drove by and didn’t even stop to see what was going on).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I need to do the same - my apartment and my folks' place both have angled driveways.

[papa_g]

Haven’t posted to my build thread in a while, but figured I would this time because of the magnitude of this project.

Want to give a thanks to people like roverT, BMWCurves, ivegotissues666 from e46fanatics, Davbrett from bimmerforums and some YouTube channels for all the DIYs and resources to make this project go as smoothly as possible. I’ll post links to the DIYs in a subsequent post.

So I happened upon a very clean natural brown interior, door cards and all, which even included heated seats and lumbar support (neither of which I previously had). I decided to have a ‘while I’m there’ project where I tackled a lot of issues I was having in the interior. This included:

- peeling fabric on all the pillars and headliner
- sound deaden doors and roof
- fix rattle in driver door
- repair/paint black cube trim of door handles
- grease and diagnose/fix sunroof issue

The rest of the project included:

- swapping out black interior for natural brown, including changing the faux wood trim for the black cube from the black door cards
- install new to me center console panel with the heated seat buttons (bought from cakM3
- route heated seat wires to seats (acquired from part out car)
- vacuum/ clean as needed
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/9dcd4be8a43dc904d6ba963e67e038b6.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/6ecba93b0cc6ea7fbbfae8342752ac82.jpg

Project started by harvesting the wires needed for heated seats from a donor vehicle. Figures I wanted wires that were color coded and had the correct pin shape, but it was a PITA to get them out.

Here they are attached to the center console panel wiring harness
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/c20f4c12154e87b74c47d3bad727669e.jpg

And here is my new center console panel
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/226d53428a144aaaed40501448cb3fab.jpg

Next I removed the black seats, and began to gut almost the entire interior
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/f14a67ad0dab91d30e6c9870c6170ebd.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/cb73b6f4db4c489976b491d31779ad3b.jpg

With everything out, I proceeded to reglue the headliner and pillar fabric. NOT a fun job. 10/10 would not recommend, but mine was really bad. Results were not ideal, but it will do for now.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/00351e4a8f22053e13a86902f5f9e06c.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/4c7f99702f23b34c63f3c1070264cdc0.jpg

I’ll continue the saga in the next post…

[papa_g]

With the door cards off, I wanted to swap my black cube trim to the NB door cards. I thought it would be easy, but this ended up being the most difficult and time consuming part of the whole job. There are so many ridged plastic clips holding the trim to the handle that I was lucky to only break a few of them.

With the black cube trim off, I put a few coats of satin black paint on them to cover the scratches
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/a58191a2211b8bd1d237d50a33814991.jpg

The final product:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/186bb4672316e607db673b06cefa8666.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/4573501e6fe1e2867f1bba6d07b36ed5.jpg

Next, I sound deadened as much as was reasonable. Did the door cards as well as the door frames, ceiling and trunk. Also put a layer of dynaliner under the rear seats, which I had insulated with butyl and aluminum after removing most of the original bmw crayon smell stuff.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/c27b4a7718159bbcb575595942c580cf.jpg

Also found the source of the rattle that was driving me nuts all this time. One of the bolts securing the crossmember brace thing in the door was loose. Probably mechanic forgot to fasten it when the PO had some work done.
Here is the thing that was rattling:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/c80be114967035514074ddc41787f6e2.jpg
And here is the bolt that was loose in the door jamb
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/3ad520418d33529c32ec1dfede39a963.jpg

[papa_g]

Last piece of maintenance was the sunroof, which when fully retracted, would pull the visor all the way back and not pull it forward when closing. I thought I would inspect the mechanisms, but everything seemed to be in working order. I cleaned up the dirt/dust and relubricated the moving parts. We shall see if that fixes it…
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/bedd02c9d13eeeb6180196e6176155e7.jpg

With everything fixed, I routed the heated seating wires to the harness beneath the seats
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/22a8a00993c5393cbbc8d3f00a44aff5.jpg

Putting everything back together was relatively straight forward
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/c3198936028df4035821a3979f22a334.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/9fed5b05b4fab46459d76121ee340f7e.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/516e7f176dbbd9173dd9719f1f1e3956.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/241f678ebeff01475556c859d5b25768.jpg

And when I reconnected the battery, I was relieved that everything worked and the airbags didn’t deploy haha.

This took me a whole week to complete, and I am dead tired. Looking forward to enjoying the new look and feel. Won’t be using the heated seats for a little while, but the lumbar support should be real nice.

[papa_g]

Noticed some interesting things in this project, like remnants of life at the bmw factory in Munich
Found this little guy hiding in the door sill under the carpet. Probably crawled in during production and got stuck?
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/c014f2c3a8b9664afc129c219b2533d1.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/706da6d64e79879123d9b69a184bbb04.jpg

And perhaps some old leaves from a German tree that got stuck above the headliner???
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220910/279c6a0c896b33b3895ac44a1d17f4c4.jpg

and here are those links I referred to for this project. Thanks again to everyone and happy wrenching!
http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?18307-Is-it-too-loud-**Sound-Deadening-Project**
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?1807374-DIY-ZHP-Black-Cube-Interior-Repair
http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?18663-E46-Coupe-Interior-Swap-and-Sound-Deadening-Guide
https://www.e46fanatics.com/threads/diy-non-heated-to-heated-seat-retrofit-lots-of-pics.341242/

[YoitsTmac]

Excellent update! It was a little odd seeing photos of an interior that looks so much like mine....and I recently pulled mine apart too. Also great to know we can refresh the cube trim! Mine is a little sad in some spots. I didn't understand, did you DIY the fabric replacement of the headliner and pillars, or a shop? Mine will need some love soon too and I know it's not fun... I tried to DIY my last car but it peeled quickly.

[fredo]

Yummy NB interior. Good job, sir !

[BMWCurves]

Want to give a thanks to people like roverT, BMWCurves, ivegotissues666 from e46fanatics, Davbrett from bimmerforums and some YouTube channels for all the DIYs and resources to make this project go as smoothly as possible. I’ll post links to the DIYs in a subsequent post.

https://i.imgur.com/xYhG3zA.gif

[papa_g]

Excellent update! It was a little odd seeing photos of an interior that looks so much like mine....and I recently pulled mine apart too. Also great to know we can refresh the cube trim! Mine is a little sad in some spots. I didn't understand, did you DIY the fabric replacement of the headliner and pillars, or a shop? Mine will need some love soon too and I know it's not fun... I tried to DIY my last car but it peeled quickly.

Yeah I DIYd it. The c pillars look worse than before I started, but at least the fabric is sticking now haha.
Not fun at all. I think what happens is the fabric shrinks via all the heat cycles and then becomes near impossible to glue back on correctly. I’ll probably have a shop do it professionally 1 day.

[Rovert]

https://i.imgur.com/xYhG3zA.gif

THIS. ����

[papa_g]

Over half a year since my last post, but car has been sitting since mid december due to a dead starter.

I recently started a new job and was very busy with a move, so I had really no time to work on the car. I just yesterday finished the starter replacement and it was a huge success. I am only now realizing my starter has been soft failing ever since I got the car at 86k miles. It starts up SOO effing fast now its almost unsettling haha.

Upcoming projects include:
- Fix the transmission leak once and for all (http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?24565-Stubborn-A-T-oil-leak)
- Front bumper and passenger wheel well trim replacement (new bumper from Umnitza is just sitting in my garage, tempting me with its perfection)
- Front wheel bearings