What's going on in my shop currently...

[GeorgeH]

I've had a few people ask to keep them updated on various projects I have going in my shop. If it's ok with the admins I thought it might be easier to chronicle everything in one thread, I'd keep my current project threads going but just update this thread on new cars and projects that some might find interesting.

If so, here goes.

I've converted some friends from the idea that to have fun with a car it needs to be a muscle car and big horsepower. These guys are now BMW fanatics as well, between the three of us we have (8) Wagons, (3) ZHPs, (2) E46 M3s and a 330ci. One of them has a S54 powered wagon we built last year and with my S54 wagon the third guy was feeling left out.

He had been looking for a slicktop wagon, but ended up finding a slicktop ZHP. So Monday he and I flew out to Long Beach and picked it up. The car is a '05 Alpine on Alcantara with a slicktop and is stick shift. We landed in LB made the deal in the air port packing lot and hit the road. First gas stop.




We ended up driving straight through the night to get back home. The little car did great. 25+mpg running a bit on the high side of the speed limit. Needless to say I am jealous of his find. Future plans are to marry it with the best of this:



He is a deal hunter like I am and the plan was to buy anything and everything we could fit into the car on the way home (and/or possibly another car if we found one decent enough). The ZHP was supposed to have fold down rear seats so we were going to drive to Denver and pick-up a NB wagon interior since it was "on the way" lol. The ZHP ended up not having fold down seats and we just didn't think it would fit as is. BUT we did locate this lot of S54 items. The seller had it listed for weeks on craigslist in LA and no one snagged it. These are all S54 parts, highlights are new rod bearings and ring set, oil pan, valve cover, 6spd trans minus bell housing (might be junk then) a SS braided Vanos oil hose and a BRAND NEW Rogue Engineering M3 shifter setup ($425 on RE website!) all of this for.... $40. YES!

[fredo]

Well done. The AW ZHP looks really sharp. That's my favorite color next to IR.

[Chaplian]

Definitely subbing to this!

Is this going to compliment the dad wagon as the Sunday car?

[GeorgeH]

Well done. The AW ZHP looks really sharp. That's my favorite color next to IR.

I'm opposite from you AW > IR > Everything else (except some individual colors) you can tell that I'm jealous of this find and now I can't get one unless he sells it, lol

Definitely subbing to this!

Is this going to compliment the dad wagon as the Sunday car?

Dad wag will be the hotrod/track car this will be the everyday car and he has the black wagon that may get the ZHP drivetrain.

Dad wag (Sahara Beige and The other S54 wagon)

[fredo]

Only 41 ZHP sedans were built in that specific combo (AW, MT, Alcantara). If you add slicktop the number is even smaller.

[BADCLOWN]

Looks like a very clean base, can’t wait to watch the swap progress. I think an s54 swap is my next move as well.

Tell him congrats on the pick up

[GeorgeH]

Only 41 ZHP sedans were built in that specific combo (AW, MT, Alcantara). If you add slicktop the number is even smaller.

Wow, I did not know that.

Looks like a very clean base, can’t wait to watch the swap progress. I think an s54 swap is my next move as well.

Tell him congrats on the pick up

I certainly will. I have been trying to get him to join the forum, maybe he will introduce himself.

[Eugene]

Great idea for a thread!

My cousin has wanted a fun, stick car for a while and his thinking was something along the lines of a g8. Once he drove my car though, he started looking for a BMW, something he had never considered before. Ended up getting an 06 330xi 6 speed and loves it so far. I looove converting people into believers

I've had white cars since 2010 and when I was looking for a ZHP was ok with every color BUT AW and black (really wanted a blue exterior with a brown interior). So what did I end up getting? an AW - the deal was too good to pass, flew to TX, picked it up and drove it back home to NY

[squashman702]

Nice find on the AW car! Would love to be back in something like that for a daily.

[GeorgeH]

Had a very nice Competition package Carbon Black on Cinammon E46 M3 in with SMG problems. The owner really did not want to convert the car and was hoping we could find a reasonable solution to keep the SMG. Found out the Hydraulic unit had an internal leak causing it to lose the stored pressure and subsequently ran the pump all the time setting the faults. We sourced a good condition used unit and got him fixed up.






Also working on installing an oil cooler on a supercharged E39 540/6MT. We used a kit from a reputable performance specialist but were very unsatisfied with how it turned out. Ended up removing that kit and designed a replacement that looks and function more like an OE part. BMW makes an oil cooler kit that is installed on hot climate cars in the Persian Gulf and it integrates the oil cooler thermostat into the oil filter housing. We used that component and then added to it with the custom lines and cooler. Packaging is quite tight and the only way to make this work was to run a banjo fitting off the oil filter housing, but there isn't anything that will bolt up off the shelf. I had to take a M26x1.5 to -12AN fitting cut it in half then drill and tap the internal hole to allow the banjo bolt to thread into it, making a "reducer bushing." That got us the space needed, but it is still very tight. A few random pics from the install.