The Darkness// AutoX/Track/Weekend Canyon Slayer, The Chronicles

[AWhiteZHP]

Greetings everyone,
This thread will be used to (continue) documenting my recently acquired sedan. Those of you who stalk the forum probably recognize this car, as I had the pleasure of purchasing it from Whammy, who meticulously cared for and maintained it for a little over four years. Whammy also made some very tasteful modifications. The original thread can be found on this forum if you're looking for a full history lesson!
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First, a little background:
Earlier this year I got out of the Army, somewhat panicked and sold my beloved track-prepped E46 M3. Though I do not regret it, because the ///M is an expensive letter on the track, I deeply missed a proper sports car. About a month and a half ago, I decided to start searching for an E30 to turn into a track weapon, only to realize that they're not near as easy to find as they used to be. Browsing CL, I spotted this gorgeous machine and realized that this would a better direction to go, and I'm glad I did. This is actually my third E46, the first was an Alp.White ZHP that met its fate stopped on the highway because some young paratrooper thought his phone was more important than driving.
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Onto the car:
I purchased The Darkness at 185K and have never been so confident in a purchase. Whammy deserves all of the praise, this car is healthier than 90% of what you'll find on the market today. He also gave me a great foundation to work with, it currently sits on an H&R Sport/Billy combo which provides a better ride quality than any other cup kit I've experienced, except for the Koni FSD... but those are too soft for my liking. Stopping the car is a PFC Z-Rated/ECS Slotted setup which is perfect for anything I could want to do on the streets as well as some light track use. Other mods were made, but we'll discuss those later.
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My crystal ball:
This will slowly evolve into an animal that eats inferior vehicles on the track, autoX course, and in those "Mexican" canyons. It will first serve its purpose as my HPDE car within the next few months, weather permitting. I'm a Mech. E. Student heading into the automotive industry, so the funds to transform her into an M3 Sedan won't be present for a while. Straight line speed will never be a priority, this will be setup to achieve the best handling and overall driving characteristics achievable from an E46. Most importantly, even though this car will not see much daily use, I want to keep it as street worthy as possible. This means that I will keep my full interior and all creature comforts, and I will not *intentionally* modify anything that deducts too much from its factory comfort. I'm hunting for find slip angle in comfort.
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How ECS is going to take my money:
-BC BR Coilovers, this is an awesome budget coilover, fully adjustable, with a solid build quality. A little worried about the lower pillowballs, but we'll cross that road when we come to it.
-Turner Sways, the factory front bar is clearly biased towards comfort, and a bigger front sway should decrease some articulation and help us hold the road a bit better... Sadly, I wont have a reason to go bigger in the rear before I find an LSD.
-Some Ferrodos for the track, or maybe some PFC's!
-A proper, moderately aggressive alignment for a little more responsiveness
-Michelin PSS's or Pilot Sport 4S's, what do you guys think? I'm not going to R888's for a while.
-Subframe Bushings, as well as RCAB's replaced with a monoball design if they exist.

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[Vas]

Welcome.

Glad to see the car stay in the family

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[johnrando]

+1

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[PetesZ]

+1 on sway bars. I went with hotchkis fronts.

Also just swapped the 3.07 differential to the 3.64 differential from an automatic zhp.

Got cont dws all season street tires on atm. Way too easy to over drive the tires.

[DeathTrap]

Good plans. Subscribed to see your future progress.

[fredo]

Congrats. You found a good ZHP. :thumbsup

[Whammy]

There's my girl!!!!

[danewilson77]

Welcome. Great having you on board.

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[AWhiteZHP]

Thanks for the warm welcome everybody, it is a phenomenal example of a well cared for ZHP.

Straight away, I knew the FCAB's had a good chance of being toast after 40,000 miles on Colorado roads. For those of you who don't know, we have the third worst roads in the country and these bushings were obviously designed for use on smooth-as-glass Bavarian roads. Even with that being said, the OEM FCAB's were just a poor design. Polyurethane is a better solution provided its lower in the durometer range, but urethane doesn't allow enough fluid motion where its needed because its job is to keep the control arm as static as possible. The solution for me were Turner Monoballs and its one of the best modifications I've made to any of my 46's. I've put about 200 miles on them since install, which was easier than any rubber bushing I've had to install, and the results have been outstanding! The monoball eliminates any improper deflection inside of the housing while still articulating the way the original bushing was designed to do. The result is mental steering and a dramatic increase over the visceral, mechanical feel we all love in our ZHP. If you're soon to be in the FCAB market and want to feel what right feels like, entertain these as an option!

I'm still running a conservative alignment and DWS06's so I haven't pushed it to the limit with good rubber like I will on track, but an expedient(6/10) drive through my favorite local Mexican canyon demonstrated what it feels like when an E46 isn't having a mid corner suspension geometry identity crisis... and it was intoxicating. We'll see how they hold up now! Sorry for the potato quality photos, but below is a picture of the bearing uninstalled and another photo of the bearing installed with car on the ground, to show its neutral rest position.

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[Vas]

Any issues with the install? Also do they come pre-greased or do you have to grease them prior to install using their tool kit?

[AWhiteZHP]

You must grease them during install, and then upon every oil change, per TMS.

Install was easy, I had to use emery cloth on the DS Control arms due so a tacky adhesive where the bushing was mounted, as well as clean up the threads on the DS as well, but they’re a lot easier to install than rubber. If you were installing new control arms at the time, the install could’ve been even easier because popping out the inner ball joint would prevent any binding while lining lollipop up with the chassis.

[ZHPizza]

Man I just pulled the TMS monoball FCABs out this morning for OE rubber. The one next to the exhaust was popping so bad once it got warm that I thought I had a crack in my subframe. I was ready to just ask for my money back but your review has me thinking I'll give them another shot.

[AWhiteZHP]

Wow, sorry to hear that man. That’s strange, what were your grease intervals? Did you stick to moly grease? I’d definitely talk to TMS and tell them what’s going on. The design philosophy is direct steering with durability to boot, so I’d want my money back too if one of those elements are missing LOL.

[ZHPizza]

Wow, sorry to hear that man. That’s strange, what were your grease intervals? Did you stick to moly grease? I’d definitely talk to TMS and tell them what’s going on. The design philosophy is direct steering with durability to boot, so I’d want my money back too if one of those elements are missing LOL.

Oh it started right after install. I guess it was binding, but the bearing wasn't resisting motion from what I could tell and it was slam full of Redline CV-2 w/ moly. I'm already emailing with them about the loose fitment on one of the Lemforder control arms, so they're tabled for now.

Anyway, welcome and glad to see you continuing on what Whammy started! I see that you have a comfort wagon, so what made you opt for a ZHP for a toy instead of another M3?

Also, how do you like the PFC-Z pads with those rotors? I've been thinking about trying them out, but am struggling to find a good rotor to pair them with.

[johnrando]

Great info re: TMS monoball. I recently went with the Z4M ones so won't be trying those anytime soon. Good to know for future options.

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[danewilson77]

You must grease them during install, and then upon every oil change, per TMS.

Eff that action. State method of application. Thanks

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[AWhiteZHP]

ZHPizza- I'm interested to see how turner responds to your situation. I was surprised at how freely the monoball can rotate inside of it's housing, but I figure that Turner should have their manufacturing processes down pretty well by now.
In regard to brakes- I really think that this combination is as good as it gets on the street and on an autox course without going to a BBK. The Z-Rated's need so little temperature to be effective and I have never felt them fade on the street, even with brisk downhill runs. Many M3 owners love them on the track, as they're incredibly easy to modulate. Depending on experience/driving style, you might be able to smoke them on a track but it'd better be hot, and you'll have to resemble a young Randy Pobst. I'll probably run these for a few of winter lapping days before deciding on my next pad.

Dane- Greasing the TMS Monoballs is about as easy as greasing any zerk. Basically, you need to attach TMS's(Schwaben's) needle adapter to the grease gun of your choice, the flush-style grease zerk is located at the 6 o'clock position on the back of the bushing housing. To grease, you press the needle end into the center of the fitting in order to depress the spring loaded ball which will allow grease to flow freely into the cavity. You do have to use a little finesse, but if you've ever greased any zerk, this will be cake.

[AWhiteZHP]

So in other news, I was planning on running the DWS's throughout this winter because of their low temp range. The 235's make for a nice ride without much tramlining but I just couldn't find any confidence in them. After the monoballs went in, I could really tell how soft the Continental sidewall was. The solution was a new set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4S's in 245/35R18. The 235 Conti's were actually quite a bit taller at 25.4" versus the stock 25" tires, so going DOWN to a 245/35 gave me that little bit of simulated gear reduction, so it was a no-brainer all around.

Before I give my little review on this tire, know this: The PS4S is the Pilot Super Sport successor, and the PS4S is better in every way... so far at least. For reference of comparison, I've put the Potenza S-04, The Continental DW and DWS series and Pilot Super Sports through their paces in the past two years so I think my tire spidey senses are pretty in tune at the moment. I wanted to put a few hundred miles on the tires before reviewing, and I wanted to feel them in all temperatures and conditions (exc. snow/ice obviously). So now that the tires are scrubbed in, here's my verdict:

This is THE tire for anybody who puts a lot of miles on their car both on road and on track and wants a hyper-consistent tire that won't disintegrate in less than 10k miles. First, we'll talk about performance on the street! The first thing I noticed on the PS4S was the lack of noise and harshness compared to the PSS. The PSS always had good street manners, but they definitely felt more in their element when being driven above 6/10 whereas these PS4S's feel as compliant on the street as any performance tire I've been on. My fiance drives a '11 Civic Si on Pilot Sport A/S3's and I feel like they have a more traditional Pilot feel. The impressive part is how well they communicate given their road manners! I'm as confident putting this tire into a corner as I am with a warm R888. Throughout the corner you can feel what every tire is doing, where you need to transfer your weight, how close you are to the threshold and they get vocal when you start to toe the limit. It gets better as the tire warms up, but they also seem to behave better than the PSS in temps under 60*. The only downside, and this is so not something I would complain about with this setup but in comparison to the Conti's that came off, these do tramline more. As I've previously mentioned, our Colorado roads suck; they're crowned, grooved, faulted, cracked and full of craters. The tramlining is to be expected, and its actually not half as bad as the S-04's were on OEM FCAB's. I give the tire a 9/10. I cannot award that last point until I hit the track.

So with that said, I'd like to address something for anybody looking into tires and considering these. When researching their on-track performance, a lot of people had complained about the tire getting greasy after a few hard laps on hot days. Most of the drivers that feel this way are piloting high horsepower, heavy, RWD cars equipped with an LSD. This isn't a track tire, it's a street tire that can be driven on the track. While its possible to generate a lot of temperature in a Vette/Mustang GT/M3/M5/911/etc., I think only the most competent driver could surpass the limits of this tire on most tracks in an open-diff E46 unless you're severely over-driving the fronts. On HPR for example, that big right-handed sweeper can cook the rears with a limited slip easily, but I can't foresee this being an issue on the ZHP... yet. Take what I say with a grain of salt, I wont be able to verify this until next summer when the track will actually be warm enough to produce the needed heat.

Here's some more mediocre pictures showing the fitment of the 245's on mature H&R Sports. No rubbing, ever, no matter what.
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And the front.
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[BMWCurves]

Thanks for the update! I have heard very little in the way of negative comments about the PS4Ses except for their price.

[Whammy]

Updates....

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[AWhiteZHP]

Well, I certainly wouldn't call a 9 month update "fashionably late" but here we are!

I'll start off by saying that this has been the best ownership experience I've had. This car is rock solid, dead nuts reliable and I spend most of my time convinced that the odometer is lying to me. Supposably we're just a few thousand miles away the 200K milestone but the car act's and drives like it shipped out of Munich last week.

So being a BMW, it's probably fitting to cover the maintenance and repairs in the last year. With the exception of an inner tie rod that I killed in Compton, I've not had the slightest issue. Here's what I've done:
-A deep cleaning, where I went through the car and removed every piece of corroded hardware and either polished it or replaced it. I'm a bit obsessive so I spent a total of ~20 hours cleaning 190K miles of debris out of every crevice I could find.

- This deep cleaning included a full "detail" where I shampooed all fabric and corrected the paint. I'm really impressed with how this pain has worn for the past 16 years. A light cut following clay revealed a nice, new layer of healthy clear coat. I then sealed the paint with CG Jet Seal, which I reapply after every wash. Honestly, I just need to go down the ceramic road because Colorado is f*cking brutal on paint... and everything else.35483 35484 35485

- Right after this cleaning, I decided I'd drive the car across the country to SoCal for a few days because the Angeles forest has smoother roads than we do. Compton roads are not as good however, and after driving through what felt like 14 miles of rally stage, I could tell there was a tiny bit more play in the steering. So after the 1,000 mile drive home I replaced the worn out Meyle TR's with a fresh Lemfoerder(sp?) TR's. Alignment was set back to kill mode and off we went. Here is the aftermath of 2,400 miles in five days of driving. Fun fact; we encountered a surprise snow storm in the Utah mountains IN LATE MAY. PS4S's and icy roads led to countersteering down the shoulder of 7% grade for over a mile. DSC actually proved it's worth, as did the perfect weight distribution! 35486

- I changed the oil with Mobil 0W-40 at 189K and am getting ready to switch to Rotella T6 (now at 194K).

- I've neglected changing the old rear diff fluid because I want an excuse to go Wavetrac.

- I know some people are going to be upset with me not properly evacuating the A/C system, but I hooked a can of A/C Pro up and topped off the R134a. Vent temperatures are now 34* out of sunlight @ 95* ambient. This was done in March and the A/C is still just as efficent. One of the most enjoyable parts of owning this car, weird I know, is the stellar A/C performance despite lack of window tint. To my knowledge, the system is original and it's as healthy as can be. 35487

- I've worn through 2mil of PS4S on all four corners in about 8K miles. This is damn good given the heat cycles and slip angles seen by the tires. A. LOT.

- The TMS monoballs were regreased during the last oil change and I've enjoyed every minute on them, I'd still recommend them to anybody who puts their E46 through the ringer on less than perfect roads.

And that's all I've done. Last November I picked up an '84 MB 300D to restore and drive daily. I'd finished the mechanical restoration by January and deemed it "my daily driver", pulling the BMW into the garage. That lasted for a solid two weeks before the two cars traded places. This ZHP that I bought as a weekend canyon carver has became my everyday car, damn it! But I just don't care to drive anything else. When I wake up in the morning, I have to decide whether I'm going to drive a stock 2011 Civic SI, the diesel Benz or the Darkness. The Darkness wins almost every single day. The only fault stored in the DME has been an occupancy sensor (which I couldnt care less about). That's it. Nothing more.

This is what the future holds:
- OEM engine and trans mounts from FCP should be here this week. I'm replacing these preventatively because I like keeping things in perfect order. The rubber is cracked but there's no movement under the hood, I could probably get away with these for another 60K miles if I didn't drive like I meant it.
- I'll be switching to Rotella while I'm under there, and will also put some fresh Redline in the rear diff.

- A proper short shifter. I've never loved the E46's shift characteristics, I wish it felt like as good as the '11 Civic SI's. How do you guys like Rogue Engineering's Octane SSK? I've heard great things about them, I just hope it isnt TOO short. I like my shifter to be positive and confident and too short of a throw increases the likelihood of a pricey shift.

- A Wavetrac LSD. This is what I want more than anything, but it's also the most expensive. This car is super competent with an open diff, but it'd be so much better. I've dialed in the alignment to be as neutral as can be but I'd like a slight oversteer bias. I don't want to induce the understeer geometrically, thus an LSD is my only option. I'm not interested in the OS Giken or clutch type LSD's because of the added maintenance, the Wavetrac just seems like a great plug and play.

- Either BC Racing BR's or KW V3's. Obviously there's a huge price gap between the two, so I'll choose based on my choice to go LSD or not. The Bilstein HD's are still hanging in there, as are the H&R Springs, but I've lost some dampening as the setup is almost 60K miles old now.

- 2 of the VMR's are slightly out of round, so I'll be in the market for some stronger 17's as soon as these 18" PS4S's are spent.

Most ZHP owners fit adjustable sway bar's in an attempt to increase turn-in or induce oversteer. With an open diff, I think you're better off chucking the rear sway bar. Once I tie both rear wheels together with a Wavetrac I will re-evaluate.

Fuel Economy is consistently 25-26mpg while commuting, and 30-32 on the highway. I've been really impressed by this, because I think the pre-cat O2's are original so I'm not sure how they're still doing so well.

I want to note, for any prospective E46 owners, this is what happens when a car lives (most of) a life of religious maintenance. The PO coughwhammycough composed the most beautiful maintenance spreadsheet I've ever seen. The PO doesn't know this, but I thank him every single time I wake the M54 up just to see and hear it's perfectly quiet, perfectly smooth, perfect operation. I don't want to jinx myself by saying this, but having a 200K mile E46 be Honda reliable never gets old.

Here are some more festive photos
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Somewhere in Angeles National Forest
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Edit (8/7/2019): I forgot that I replaced the main tensioner pulley with an INA unit for $10. Also, I'm on my second set of PFC Z-Rated pads. I'll run them until they're no longer sold, I'm convinced they're the best pad on the market for a street driven car that does light track duty. Only on a HARD downhill run on very few roads will I experience fade. I'm talking about repeated threshold braking, downhill, high altitude from 100+ down to 40ish. However, if there was an S54 under the hood, I'd need more friction area and a torquier pad.

[ZHPizza]

Damn that's an obsessive amount of work - I love it!

Glad to hear that you're switching to Brotella. @704sw and I just did our oil pan gaskets and it's amazing how clean the Brotella keeps things compared to other oils.

For the short shifter - I've heard some bad feedback on the rogue kit and the UUC kit is obviously the mack daddy for shortness/notchiness. I have the BMW Performance shift lever sitting in the garage waiting to go in as it sounded like the best of both worlds: a shorter throw but maintains the BMW smoothness.

When you say you want a wavetrac diff, do you mean you want the wavetrac brand or a Helical diff? Because I have an MFactory Helical LSD for a 3.07 rear end in my garage. Can't install it in a higher final drive diff so I guess I need to sell it.

[AWhiteZHP]

ZHPizza, I'm stoked to hear that you guys have had good look with T6. In a dream world, every vehicle I own would be on a strict (lol-B)rotella diet.
And I should've said that the only helical diff I do not want is a Quaife; not a fan of the design. But I'd be more than interested in your Mfactory LSD if it fits my GI-Bill college student budget (hehehe).
I really like the idea of the 330d shifter. If I went through and replaced every bushing/wear component, I wonder if it'd loose the notorious BMW rubber shifter feel. That'd be a good thing!
Also, I owned my first ZHP while I was stationed at Bragg, these ZHP's have so much more umph at sea level, I'm jealous!

[johnrando]

Grt updates

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[Whammy]

Well, I certainly wouldn't call a 9 month update "fashionably late" but here we are!

I'll start off by saying that this has been the best ownership experience I've had. This car is rock solid, dead nuts reliable and I spend most of my time convinced that the odometer is lying to me. Supposably we're just a few thousand miles away the 200K milestone but the car act's and drives like it shipped out of Munich last week.

So being a BMW, it's probably fitting to cover the maintenance and repairs in the last year. With the exception of an inner tie rod that I killed in Compton, I've not had the slightest issue. Here's what I've done:
-A deep cleaning, where I went through the car and removed every piece of corroded hardware and either polished it or replaced it. I'm a bit obsessive so I spent a total of ~20 hours cleaning 190K miles of debris out of every crevice I could find.

- This deep cleaning included a full "detail" where I shampooed all fabric and corrected the paint. I'm really impressed with how this pain has worn for the past 16 years. A light cut following clay revealed a nice, new layer of healthy clear coat. I then sealed the paint with CG Jet Seal, which I reapply after every wash. Honestly, I just need to go down the ceramic road because Colorado is f*cking brutal on paint... and everything else.


While I happy to hear the car has been quite reliable, it's a little painful to hear! :( I shouldn't have sold LOL. I'm glad you're giving her the attention she deserves. I wish I had skillz to do the type of cleaning you did. Refresh my memory, what did you do to resolve the rear tire rubbing the fenders?




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35485

:drool :drool :drool :drool :drool :drool :drool :drool :drool :drool :drool :drool



- Right after this cleaning, I decided I'd drive the car across the country to SoCal for a few days because the Angeles forest has smoother roads than we do. Compton roads are not as good however, and after driving through what felt like 14 miles of rally stage, I could tell there was a tiny bit more play in the steering. So after the 1,000 mile drive home I replaced the worn out Meyle TR's with a fresh Lemfoerder(sp?) TR's. Alignment was set back to kill mode and off we went. Here is the aftermath of 2,400 miles in five days of driving. Fun fact; we encountered a surprise snow storm in the Utah mountains IN LATE MAY. PS4S's and icy roads led to countersteering down the shoulder of 7% grade for over a mile. DSC actually proved it's worth, as did the perfect weight distribution!
35486

- I changed the oil with Mobil 0W-40 at 189K and am getting ready to switch to Rotella T6 (now at 194K).


Why switch to T6? The only instance I've heard of using it is in Jeeps because of additives for the Jeep I6 4.0L engines and metal wear.



- I've neglected changing the old rear diff fluid because I want an excuse to go Wavetrac.


Mmmmm, LSD!



- I know some people are going to be upset with me not properly evacuating the A/C system, but I hooked a can of A/C Pro up and topped off the R134a. Vent temperatures are now 34* out of sunlight @ 95* ambient. This was done in March and the A/C is still just as efficent. One of the most enjoyable parts of owning this car, weird I know, is the stellar A/C performance despite lack of window tint. To my knowledge, the system is original and it's as healthy as can be. 35487


Glad to hear!



- I've worn through 2mil of PS4S on all four corners in about 8K miles. This is damn good given the heat cycles and slip angles seen by the tires. A. LOT.

- The TMS monoballs were regreased during the last oil change and I've enjoyed every minute on them, I'd still recommend them to anybody who puts their E46 through the ringer on less than perfect roads.

And that's all I've done. Last November I picked up an '84 MB 300D to restore and drive daily. I'd finished the mechanical restoration by January and deemed it "my daily driver", pulling the BMW into the garage. That lasted for a solid two weeks before the two cars traded places. This ZHP that I bought as a weekend canyon carver has became my everyday car, damn it! But I just don't care to drive anything else. When I wake up in the morning, I have to decide whether I'm going to drive a stock 2011 Civic SI, the diesel Benz or the Darkness. The Darkness wins almost every single day. The only fault stored in the DME has been an occupancy sensor (which I couldnt care less about). That's it. Nothing more.

This is what the future holds:
- OEM engine and trans mounts from FCP should be here this week. I'm replacing these preventatively because I like keeping things in perfect order. The rubber is cracked but there's no movement under the hood, I could probably get away with these for another 60K miles if I didn't drive like I meant it.
- I'll be switching to Rotella while I'm under there, and will also put some fresh Redline in the rear diff.

- A proper short shifter. I've never loved the E46's shift characteristics, I wish it felt like as good as the '11 Civic SI's. How do you guys like Rogue Engineering's Octane SSK? I've heard great things about them, I just hope it isnt TOO short. I like my shifter to be positive and confident and too short of a throw increases the likelihood of a pricey shift.

- A Wavetrac LSD. This is what I want more than anything, but it's also the most expensive. This car is super competent with an open diff, but it'd be so much better. I've dialed in the alignment to be as neutral as can be but I'd like a slight oversteer bias. I don't want to induce the understeer geometrically, thus an LSD is my only option. I'm not interested in the OS Giken or clutch type LSD's because of the added maintenance, the Wavetrac just seems like a great plug and play.

- Either BC Racing BR's or KW V3's. Obviously there's a huge price gap between the two, so I'll choose based on my choice to go LSD or not. The Bilstein HD's are still hanging in there, as are the H&R Springs, but I've lost some dampening as the setup is almost 60K miles old now.

- 2 of the VMR's are slightly out of round, so I'll be in the market for some stronger 17's as soon as these 18" PS4S's are spent.


I'd be curious to see how a SSK improves the shifting of the car. I loved the shift when I removed the clutch delay value. To be honest, I wanted to change out both engine and trans mounts. Glad to hear you are doing it. I would not wait.



Most ZHP owners fit adjustable sway bar's in an attempt to increase turn-in or induce oversteer. With an open diff, I think you're better off chucking the rear sway bar. Once I tie both rear wheels together with a Wavetrac I will re-evaluate.

Fuel Economy is consistently 25-26mpg while commuting, and 30-32 on the highway. I've been really impressed by this, because I think the pre-cat O2's are original so I'm not sure how they're still doing so well.

I want to note, for any prospective E46 owners, this is what happens when a car lives (most of) a life of religious maintenance. The PO coughwhammycough composed the most beautiful maintenance spreadsheet I've ever seen. The PO doesn't know this, but I thank him every single time I wake the M54 up just to see and hear it's perfectly quiet, perfectly smooth, perfect operation. I don't want to jinx myself by saying this, but having a 200K mile E46 be Honda reliable never gets old.


I miss the exhaust note and the morning drive to / evening drive home from work.



Here are some more festive photos
35488
Somewhere in Angeles National Forest
35489


:drool :drool #doubledoubleproteinstyle



Edit (8/7/2019): I forgot that I replaced the main tensioner pulley with an INA unit for $10. Also, I'm on my second set of PFC Z-Rated pads. I'll run them until they're no longer sold, I'm convinced they're the best pad on the market for a street driven car that does light track duty. Only on a HARD downhill run on very few roads will I experience fade. I'm talking about repeated threshold braking, downhill, high altitude from 100+ down to 40ish. However, if there was an S54 under the hood, I'd need more friction area and a torquier pad.
:fistpump

[Whammy]

Got your email today. Sorry to hear you can't find a roof rack. I'd check the FS section and maybe e46F. I can't believe they're going for 500+

[DeathTrap]

Got your email today. Sorry to hear you can't find a roof rack. I'd check the FS section and maybe e46F. I can't believe they're going for 500+https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ezhpmafia%2Ecom%2F forums%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D22490&share_tid=22490&share_fid=14392&share_type=t

There is one in the classifieds

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[ZHP Dave]

Which roof racks are going for $500?!?!?!

[ZHPizza]

Got your email today. Sorry to hear you can't find a roof rack. I'd check the FS section and maybe e46F. I can't believe they're going for 500+Uhh I have two of those in the garage as well...

I should sell some shit

[Whammy]

Uhh I have two of those in the garage as well...

I should sell some shit

:rofl

[ZHP Dave]

Uhh I have two of those in the garage as well...

I should sell some shit

Yep. I have one sitting in the garage I haven't used in a few years. Maybe I should dust it off and list it for sale.

[Whammy]

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ezhpmafia%2Ecom%2F forums%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D22490&share_tid=22490&share_fid=14392&share_type=t

There is one in the classifieds

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Yep. I have one sitting in the garage I haven't used in a few years. Maybe I should dust it off and list it for sale.


Uhh I have two of those in the garage as well...

I should sell some shit

I am starting to wonder if he meant both base rack and bike rack components (eg. Thule, Yakima, etc). I was only selling the base rack, not the thule bike racks I have.

[AWhiteZHP]

Whammy, the tires weren't actually rubbing on the fenders but rather the stud that mounts the bumper to the inner fender (the one with the clip that breaks/rusts on every E46. When the rear bumper cover was replaced, it seems like they probably snapped the original stud like I have multiple times, but didn't trim the stud to the proper length when the welded on the new one. So I took an oscillating tool w/ a carbide blade and removed the bad juju.

I've decided to switch to Rotella for a couple reasons; one, Mobil is a good oil for light duty only. It doesn't stand up AS WELL to extreme temperature cycling, whereas Rotella T6 does. Rotella is engineered specifically for extreme conditions. Two, Mobil use to be BMW approved, which is where it got it's reputation on the internet. It was a cheap option that you could pick up a Walmart with BMW's stamp of approval. BMW LL-X certification *mainly* revolves around the detergents/additives that prevent rings from sticking. In my experience, I've only found seen this issue in engines that see extended drain intervals, typically 10K> miles. Amsoil is actually the only oil I've personally seen (not saying only, just my experience) that had a high enough additive content to actually make a difference. More additives aren't always better, and Amsoil uses about 2.5x the norm which helps in some functions but not in others.

And dude, the act of shifting this car is great. The combination of the SS clutch line and CDV delete is magic! And the shifts are so buttery smooth, I always hated how notchy the M3's transmission was when it was at anything less than operating temperature. If I could just perfect the throw...

If you're not eating a double-double animal style, are you even at InNOut?!

[AWhiteZHP]

And yes, I'm referring to the bar AND rack setup when I mention $500+. I understand how much they cost, but I'm cheap and like deals. I've also gotten burned on a few forum purchases so I've come to like touching things before I buy them. True story, for the past 4 months I've been trying to sort the steering box in my Benz. I paid an unnamed douche bag on PeachParts a total of ~$600 for a "rebuilt box". He first sends me a box that was fifty shades of f*cked, not rebuilt but rather spray painted. The box leaked like a stuck pig when I installed it. So I tell him, he assures me that this never happens and promises to properly rebuild my original box if I send it to him. I FOOLISHLY send him my box, wait a month and get it back. Install the "rebuilt box" and I shit you not, the dude replaced a seal or two, painted the box and shamelessly sent it back. Sorry for the novel, needed to get that off my chest.

But this morning I realized that I do not want to drive my minty E46 down the roads that lead to good singletrack. So in about an hour, I'm going to go to Walmart, buy the cheapest trunk rack I can, and mount it to the Corolla. Sweet Rolla pics to follow, buckle up!

[Whammy]

Whammy, the tires weren't actually rubbing on the fenders but rather the stud that mounts the bumper to the inner fender (the one with the clip that breaks/rusts on every E46. When the rear bumper cover was replaced, it seems like they probably snapped the original stud like I have multiple times, but didn't trim the stud to the proper length when the welded on the new one. So I took an oscillating tool w/ a carbide blade and removed the bad juju.


Motherf#@23$@$!!!! My wife gave me soo much grief over that noise. The shop I normally took the car to didn't find that. They thought it was the tires even though it was stock size. Grrrrrrrr......................................... ....




I've decided to switch to Rotella for a couple reasons; one, Mobil is a good oil for light duty only. It doesn't stand up AS WELL to extreme temperature cycling, whereas Rotella T6 does. Rotella is engineered specifically for extreme conditions. Two, Mobil use to be BMW approved, which is where it got it's reputation on the internet. It was a cheap option that you could pick up a Walmart with BMW's stamp of approval. BMW LL-X certification *mainly* revolves around the detergents/additives that prevent rings from sticking. In my experience, I've only found seen this issue in engines that see extended drain intervals, typically 10K> miles. Amsoil is actually the only oil I've personally seen (not saying only, just my experience) that had a high enough additive content to actually make a difference. More additives aren't always better, and Amsoil uses about 2.5x the norm which helps in some functions but not in others.


Ok.



And dude, the act of shifting this car is great. The combination of the SS clutch line and CDV delete is magic! And the shifts are so buttery smooth, I always hated how notchy the M3's transmission was when it was at anything less than operating temperature. If I could just perfect the throw...

If you're not eating a double-double animal style, are you even at InNOut?!

We should find a cars and coffee and meet up. I can't make the next Lafayette event as I'll be out of town.


And yes, I'm referring to the bar AND rack setup when I mention $500+. I understand how much they cost, but I'm cheap and like deals. I've also gotten burned on a few forum purchases so I've come to like touching things before I buy them. True story, for the past 4 months I've been trying to sort the steering box in my Benz. I paid an unnamed douche bag on PeachParts a total of ~$600 for a "rebuilt box". He first sends me a box that was fifty shades of f*cked, not rebuilt but rather spray painted. The box leaked like a stuck pig when I installed it. So I tell him, he assures me that this never happens and promises to properly rebuild my original box if I send it to him. I FOOLISHLY send him my box, wait a month and get it back. Install the "rebuilt box" and I shit you not, the dude replaced a seal or two, painted the box and shamelessly sent it back. Sorry for the novel, needed to get that off my chest.

But this morning I realized that I do not want to drive my minty E46 down the roads that lead to good singletrack. So in about an hour, I'm going to go to Walmart, buy the cheapest trunk rack I can, and mount it to the Corolla. Sweet Rolla pics to follow, buckle up!

Tsk! Get a base rack, buy Thule bike racks, and rock it.

[BMWCurves]

I don't have experience with the Rogue unit, but I quite like my UUC SSK. I'll be up front, it is more expensive now than when I purchased it, and I did not have a great experience with UUC's customer service. However, I love it in my car and between the shifter, the steering wheel, and the pedals, it's one of the most used items when driving, so I can justify the expense.

I should say, I had the shifter come apart on me after a long trip - a circlip failed and the retaining bolt slipped off. No actual damage or issue with the unit, just the circlip holding it in place broke. Easy enough repair, just a pain in the butt to get the car to where I needed to be. I have not heard anyone else on the internet having this issue so I wouldn't write it up as a common flaw to the UUC shifter

[AWhiteZHP]

Glad to hear that you like the feel. Mind me asking what customer service problems you've had? Any idea what actually caused the circlip to break?

[AWhiteZHP]

As promised, I bought a $40 rack and threw it on the back of the Rolla. Great success. Would've loved to mount bikes on the Bimmer, but I'm half convinced that my bike is cursed and I don't need to contaminate the darkness with that bad Juju.
35539

I replaced engine mounts, intake boots and switched over to Rotella yesterday. Surprisingly, I think the boots would've lasted another couple years. The engine mounts on the other hand, came out in pieces and puking oil. The engine does seem to run better with Rotella in it's veins and it's apparent in most conditions. I'll send a sample into blackstone when I drain it. I'm planning on 2 lapping days in the next month, but I'm not going to drain before 5,000 miles because I also want to see how it's performed in the cold/every day conditions.

On a not-so-good note, I think I'll be replacing the VMR's before I hit the 200K mark. I'm thinking about dropping down to a 17" wheel so I can have some more sidewall. Tires are also wayyyyy cheaper when wrapping a 17" wheel. I've always been an Apex fan but everybody has them. I've always been a Volk fan and SSR Type C's are neat, but I don't think they'll look great in 17" form. So I'm still open to just about anything, if anybody has any wheel ideas for a black sedan, post them! I just want them to be strong enough to stand up to daily driving on these jagged roads.

Whammy, I'm down for a C&C. I was born and raised here and have never been to a Colorado Cars and Coffee. I've always been scared to roll up on a posse of bugeye WRX's on XXR's and Racelands LOL. Ten years ago, the local PD would've put a quick stop to any group of modified cars hanging out in a parking lot at 7am!

[fredo]

OEM style 68 are always a good choice, IMHO. They are 17".

[BMWCurves]

Glad to hear that you like the feel. Mind me asking what customer service problems you've had? Any idea what actually caused the circlip to break?

When I received the unit I had my mechanic install it and he had issues getting it to fit correctly. Turns out that UUC shipped the unit assembled backwards. Had a lot of back and forth and UUC took a lot of prodding to get them to admit they were wrong. They sent me another unit that was correct, but it felt like pulling teeth.


On a not-so-good note, I think I'll be replacing the VMR's before I hit the 200K mark. I'm thinking about dropping down to a 17" wheel so I can have some more sidewall. Tires are also wayyyyy cheaper when wrapping a 17" wheel. I've always been an Apex fan but everybody has them. I've always been a Volk fan and SSR Type C's are neat, but I don't think they'll look great in 17" form. So I'm still open to just about anything, if anybody has any wheel ideas for a black sedan, post them! I just want them to be strong enough to stand up to daily driving on these jagged roads.


Despite their online popularity, I haven't seen a single other BMW in my area with APEXes. I love mine. Waaaaay lighter than the factory Style 135 wheels and still lighter than the Style 68s.

[ZHPizza]

Despite their online popularity, I haven't seen a single other BMW in my area with APEXes. I love mine. Waaaaay lighter than the factory Style 135 wheels and still lighter than the Style 68s.

Same here bruh. They're popular on the forums but you tend to underestimate how spread out us forum folks are.

[Whammy]

As promised, I bought a $40 rack and threw it on the back of the Rolla. Great success. Would've loved to mount bikes on the Bimmer, but I'm half convinced that my bike is cursed and I don't need to contaminate the darkness with that bad Juju.
35539

I replaced engine mounts, intake boots and switched over to Rotella yesterday. Surprisingly, I think the boots would've lasted another couple years. The engine mounts on the other hand, came out in pieces and puking oil. The engine does seem to run better with Rotella in it's veins and it's apparent in most conditions. I'll send a sample into blackstone when I drain it. I'm planning on 2 lapping days in the next month, but I'm not going to drain before 5,000 miles because I also want to see how it's performed in the cold/every day conditions.

On a not-so-good note, I think I'll be replacing the VMR's before I hit the 200K mark. I'm thinking about dropping down to a 17" wheel so I can have some more sidewall. Tires are also wayyyyy cheaper when wrapping a 17" wheel. I've always been an Apex fan but everybody has them. I've always been a Volk fan and SSR Type C's are neat, but I don't think they'll look great in 17" form. So I'm still open to just about anything, if anybody has any wheel ideas for a black sedan, post them! I just want them to be strong enough to stand up to daily driving on these jagged roads.

Whammy, I'm down for a C&C. I was born and raised here and have never been to a Colorado Cars and Coffee. I've always been scared to roll up on a posse of bugeye WRX's on XXR's and Racelands LOL. Ten years ago, the local PD would've put a quick stop to any group of modified cars hanging out in a parking lot at 7am!

Ok, I was thinking the Lafayette C&C, however I won't be at the Sept one due to being out of town. Maybe the Oct one?

[san]

When I received the unit I had my mechanic install it and he had issues getting it to fit correctly. Turns out that UUC shipped the unit assembled backwards. Had a lot of back and forth and UUC took a lot of prodding to get them to admit they were wrong. They sent me another unit that was correct, but it felt like pulling teeth.



Despite their online popularity, I haven't seen a single other BMW in my area with APEXes. I love mine. Waaaaay lighter than the factory Style 135 wheels and still lighter than the Style 68s.


Same here bruh. They're popular on the forums but you tend to underestimate how spread out us forum folks are.

+1

Seen zero cars with Arc 8s in MI


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[AWhiteZHP]

Gents (and ladies maybe?), I've decided to sell the ZHP. I'll be moving soon and cannot take a fleet of cars with me. Replacing the ZHP is a '14 Audi S4, a bit more friendly on these snowy Colorado roads. Sorry Whammy, for calling you a neurotic owner, its only because you are and I appreciate it, lol. Also, I'd be happy to discount the car for a forum member, because I'd love to witness this cars future. I'll post the CL ad here in case anybody wants to gander, and I'll properly post in the classifieds when I have time. https://denver.craigslist.org/cto/d/broomfield-2003-bmw-330i-zhp-6mt/6998998462.html

I'll also post pics of Audi, cause you know, I'm stoked to have a sports car I can drive year round.

[DeathTrap]

Excellent read. Makes me feel somewhat sane. GLWS. Hopefully she finds a great new owner!

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[johnrando]

GLWS

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[Whammy]

Gents (and ladies maybe?), I've decided to sell the ZHP. I'll be moving soon and cannot take a fleet of cars with me. Replacing the ZHP is a '14 Audi S4, a bit more friendly on these snowy Colorado roads. Sorry Whammy, for calling you a neurotic owner, its only because you are and I appreciate it, lol. Also, I'd be happy to discount the car for a forum member, because I'd love to witness this cars future. I'll post the CL ad here in case anybody wants to gander, and I'll properly post in the classifieds when I have time. https://denver.craigslist.org/cto/d/broomfield-2003-bmw-330i-zhp-6mt/6998998462.html

I'll also post pics of Audi, cause you know, I'm stoked to have a sports car I can drive year round.

Hopefully she goes to a good home!

[Vas]

Has it sold? Link is dead