bimmergofast
07-07-2012, 08:33 PM
Hello all, and a big thank you for saving me from myself!
I bought an '05 ZHP MT Sedan off lease back in 2008 with about 38k miles on it. Amazing car, to be honest I had no idea how special (or, not special?) it really is until later. First BMW for me, and my only other real seat time had been in an e46 M3- so I had no idea how spoiled I really was! Local indy mechanic/dealer/racing shop found the car for me and basically just said 'you want this.'
Earlier this year, with the car getting close to 100k miles and starting to show a bit of age, I decided the time was right to trade up to a newer car. Trouble is, where do you go from a ZHP? Every time I drove a newer car I started a shopping list in the back of my head of mods just to make it as good as my stock ZHP.
I'm pretty comfortable under the hood of most cars and have always done a lot of my own maintenance, but until recently I was afraid to touch the BMW. After spending a lot of time on forums, particularly this one, I decided the smart move was to keep my car and start doing my own work. So many helpful people, and great DIY guides!
And some mods, of course.
I managed to sell my wife on the idea that I'd saved us a pile of money by not buying a newer car (see what I did there?), so I should spend some fixing up the 330.
First was the maintenance stuff;
Driver's mirror had the creeping brown rot- replaced the glass.
Cracked fog light lens; replaced both with m3- style clear glass lenses.
Lower grill was faded to grey, repainted flat black.
Central lock/hazard switch wasn't working- replaced the part. Then discovered the broken tab issue, realized I could have saved $20... oh well.
Shift knob had lost it's insert- replaced with new ZHP knob with the backlight mod.
Headlight lenses were pitted and fogged, cleaned and polished.
Alcatera steering wheel wrap was matted and smooth; did the magic eraser trick to clean it up. Amazing.
I still need to replace the window regulator in the front passenger door- have the part. And I've got headliner issues on the c-pillars, still need to tackle those.
Then, with most of the annoyances taken care of, I started the fun stuff!
Clear corners, markers, RCR tail lights.
Black kidney grills.
Strut tower bar. (front)
Angel eyes.
Carbon fiber roundels.
CAI. Not sure I like it; showed up on Craigslist locally and I decided to give it a shot. Does add some to volume, and enhances the growl, which is good. Feels like I'm losing a bit of power though. Might sell it and go back to the stock airbox with some kind of drop-in panel.
Posting a few pics I took when I was thinking of selling the car, so all are pre-mod. Need to take some of how it looks now, but it's filthy right now. She needs a bath before her closeup...
So if you managed to slog through my story, thanks! You guys saved me from settling for some inferior newer car for a lot more money! Glad to be part of the family.
4883
4884
4885
4886
4887
I bought an '05 ZHP MT Sedan off lease back in 2008 with about 38k miles on it. Amazing car, to be honest I had no idea how special (or, not special?) it really is until later. First BMW for me, and my only other real seat time had been in an e46 M3- so I had no idea how spoiled I really was! Local indy mechanic/dealer/racing shop found the car for me and basically just said 'you want this.'
Earlier this year, with the car getting close to 100k miles and starting to show a bit of age, I decided the time was right to trade up to a newer car. Trouble is, where do you go from a ZHP? Every time I drove a newer car I started a shopping list in the back of my head of mods just to make it as good as my stock ZHP.
I'm pretty comfortable under the hood of most cars and have always done a lot of my own maintenance, but until recently I was afraid to touch the BMW. After spending a lot of time on forums, particularly this one, I decided the smart move was to keep my car and start doing my own work. So many helpful people, and great DIY guides!
And some mods, of course.
I managed to sell my wife on the idea that I'd saved us a pile of money by not buying a newer car (see what I did there?), so I should spend some fixing up the 330.
First was the maintenance stuff;
Driver's mirror had the creeping brown rot- replaced the glass.
Cracked fog light lens; replaced both with m3- style clear glass lenses.
Lower grill was faded to grey, repainted flat black.
Central lock/hazard switch wasn't working- replaced the part. Then discovered the broken tab issue, realized I could have saved $20... oh well.
Shift knob had lost it's insert- replaced with new ZHP knob with the backlight mod.
Headlight lenses were pitted and fogged, cleaned and polished.
Alcatera steering wheel wrap was matted and smooth; did the magic eraser trick to clean it up. Amazing.
I still need to replace the window regulator in the front passenger door- have the part. And I've got headliner issues on the c-pillars, still need to tackle those.
Then, with most of the annoyances taken care of, I started the fun stuff!
Clear corners, markers, RCR tail lights.
Black kidney grills.
Strut tower bar. (front)
Angel eyes.
Carbon fiber roundels.
CAI. Not sure I like it; showed up on Craigslist locally and I decided to give it a shot. Does add some to volume, and enhances the growl, which is good. Feels like I'm losing a bit of power though. Might sell it and go back to the stock airbox with some kind of drop-in panel.
Posting a few pics I took when I was thinking of selling the car, so all are pre-mod. Need to take some of how it looks now, but it's filthy right now. She needs a bath before her closeup...
So if you managed to slog through my story, thanks! You guys saved me from settling for some inferior newer car for a lot more money! Glad to be part of the family.
4883
4884
4885
4886
4887