What did you do to/for your 1er today?

[hungry r]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

That doesn't sound so bad. Can you link the kit you used?

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/BMW-1-SERIES-...72.m2749.l2649


Paid extra $10 for the LEDs

[TridenTBoy]

Originally Posted by hungry r

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/BMW-1-SERIES-...72.m2749.l2649


Paid extra $10 for the LEDs

Yikes. That is expensive....

[1and1]

Originally Posted by 1and1

Dropped it off at the body shop for paint yesterday! Should have it back next week sometime... $345 all in, tax and every thing. Hoping to get it back next week, and installed t-giving weekend. Looking forward to it...

Picked it up tonight after work!
My camera sucks so bad! It really just doesn't translate how sweet this thing looks with a fresh layer of BSM & clear. I tried tho

I know, it's just another bumper to ya'll, but it's a minor $750miracle to me (bumper, paint & ducts) I'm a bit jealous at Matt for getting one already painted & ready to go! In that rare color too, I mean, cmon, what are the odds of that!

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by 1and1

Picked it up tonight after work!
My camera sucks so bad! It really just doesn't translate how sweet this thing looks with a fresh layer of BSM & clear. I tried tho

I know, it's just another bumper to ya'll, but it's a minor $750miracle to me (bumper, paint & ducts) I'm a bit jealous at Matt for getting one already painted & ready to go! In that rare color too, I mean, cmon, what are the odds of that!

Looks pretty good to me.

You guys are tempting me. lol

[1and1]

Originally Posted by hungry r

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/BMW-1-SERIES-...72.m2749.l2649


Paid extra $10 for the LEDs

Originally Posted by TridenTBoy

Yikes. That is expensive....

What material are they made of, er....., printed on? Nice plastic? Any pics of the back side? I'm curious about how they did the color changes on the tach for the yellow & red for example...

I've seen some really nice ones, and some really crappy examples...

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by hungry r

Paid extra $10 for the LEDs

Cheers man thanks for the link!

Originally Posted by TridenTBoy

Yikes. That is expensive....

That's actually super reasonable for a gauge cluster mod, these things normally go for much more

Originally Posted by 1and1

Picked it up tonight after work!
My camera sucks so bad! It really just doesn't translate how sweet this thing looks with a fresh layer of BSM & clear. I tried tho

I know, it's just another bumper to ya'll, but it's a minor $750miracle to me (bumper, paint & ducts) I'm a bit jealous at Matt for getting one already painted & ready to go! In that rare color too, I mean, cmon, what are the odds of that!

Looks great man!! I HIGHLY recommend you let it sit for a few days before putting it on. Even after curing, that paint will be softer. Also a very prime opportunity to wrap it in PPF!

And yes, I really did get incredibly lucky with that bumper. A local, pre-painted, barely used bumper all ready to go. I don't think I'll get that lucky again any time soon haha

Originally Posted by Esteban

Looks pretty good to me.

You guys are tempting me. lol

Do itttt

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

Do itttt

Looking forward to seeing it on 1and1's car. Maybe he'll do before and after pics. (hint, hint)

[Mr. Pharaoh]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Looks pretty good to me.

You guys are tempting me. lol

I'm right there with you. I think this will be my next cosmetic mod with the ducts.

[drunkenup]

Originally Posted by hungry r

The Gauge disassembles super easily for the faceplate removal. The needle removal was a little tricky because it required more force than you'd expect, you are scared of something breaking.
LED removal was easy as well.

The annoying part was aligning the LED when you are soldering them on the board and also applying and cutting the red film for the needles.

Just curious, what are you using for film? Vinyl? Did you do any other prep for the needles? I have the faces in already, haven't done the LEDs or needles yet.

[desertman123]

Needs serious driver mod

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by desertman123

Needs serious driver mod

Not too shabby, but yes, the driver is key in everything, no matter how much Silicone Valley-ites try to convince you otherwise.

Adjusted my Koni's to a "winter setting," they need time to warm up in the morning, just like everything else, so I set them softer, so my car doesn't ride like it has welded suspension in the morning.

EDIT: Also, I've found on ECS Tuning that Mishimoto now makes a silicone intake tube for the 128i, for any brand snobs out there. $63 is not too much more than the Rev Motoring one everyone else likes so much.

[vinylengraver]

So I have this "amazon special" M-badge sitting in my drawer. It is actually all metal and does not look bad at all. But my car is not an M-car, so this does not belong on the car. Or does it? I thought that with a bit of creativity I could make it acceptable.
It took 10 minutes, a hacksaw, some 600grit sandpaper and some metal polish to smooth out the edge.
I do have some M-performance parts on my car and I will be swapping the chrome grilles for the black ones found on the 128i (as well as the M-car...) once the front bumper comes back from the paint shop.
So I think this may work without looking pretentious and fake. And it will add a subtle accent to an otherwise understated front end of my 1er.

[desertman123]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

Not too shabby, but yes, the driver is key in everything, no matter how much Silicone Valley-ites try to convince you otherwise.

Adjusted my Koni's to a "winter setting," they need time to warm up in the morning, just like everything else, so I set them softer, so my car doesn't ride like it has welded suspension in the morning.

EDIT: Also, I've found on ECS Tuning that Mishimoto now makes a silicone intake tube for the 128i, for any brand snobs out there. $63 is not too much more than the Rev Motoring one everyone else likes so much.

I didn't launch aggressively at all, I really don't know how (just really never tried) and I didn't have enough passes to really play around with it. But the rest of the run was clean!

Yeah I've seen the Mishimoto! It's at least nice to say you have something name brand especially if it costs the same - saves the breathe when you're telling your friends which mods you got. I'm personally a fan of the resonator delete, adds just enough woosh for the cash, but no drone or higher IATs

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by vinylengraver

So I have this "amazon special" M-badge sitting in my drawer. It is actually all metal and does not look bad at all. But my car is not an M-car, so this does not belong on the car. Or does it? I thought that with a bit of creativity I could make it acceptable.
It took 10 minutes, a hacksaw, some 600grit sandpaper and some metal polish to smooth out the edge.
I do have some M-performance parts on my car and I will be swapping the chrome grilles for the black ones found on the 128i (as well as the M-car...) once the front bumper comes back from the paint shop.
So I think this may work without looking pretentious and fake. And it will add a subtle accent to an otherwise understated front end of my 1er.

I think that will look good on your car.

I have the 128i/135is/1M grills on my car as well. I think they look great!

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by vinylengraver

So I have this "amazon special" M-badge sitting in my drawer. It is actually all metal and does not look bad at all. But my car is not an M-car, so this does not belong on the car. Or does it? I thought that with a bit of creativity I could make it acceptable.
It took 10 minutes, a hacksaw, some 600grit sandpaper and some metal polish to smooth out the edge.
I do have some M-performance parts on my car and I will be swapping the chrome grilles for the black ones found on the 128i (as well as the M-car...) once the front bumper comes back from the paint shop.
So I think this may work without looking pretentious and fake. And it will add a subtle accent to an otherwise understated front end of my 1er.

I like it. It's no different than ///M colored grille louvers and, perhaps, a little more upscale.

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by Esteban

I think that will look good on your car.

I have the 128i/135is/1M grills on my car as well. I think they look great!

Same, I have the grilles, obviously...

It adds some nice contrast, especially since my window surround is chrome-esque, and my wheels are bright silver, a consistent round of accents throughout the car's exterior. I don't like the blackout style on a dark blue car, but on something lighter like Laguna or Montego Blue, oh yeah!

I wonder how it would look with orange trim on the outside... No, that's too childish looking, like the Civic Type-R, too over-the-top.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

Same, I have the grilles, obviously...

It adds some nice contrast, especially since my window surround is chrome-esque, and my wheels are bright silver, a consistent round of accents throughout the car's exterior. I don't like the blackout style on a dark blue car, but on something lighter like Laguna or Montego Blue, oh yeah!

I wonder how it would look with orange trim on the outside... No, that's too childish looking, like the Civic Type-R, too over-the-top.

I love the black and chrome look of my grills. To me the black goes with my shadowline exterior trim and the chrome goes with my wheels and exhaust tips. Also think it looks great with LeMans Blue Metallic. Much better than all black or all chrome grills imo, although a lot of people love the all black grills. Nice that there are options to suit different people's tastes.

This pic is a favorite of mine. This isn't the first time I've posted it if it looks familiar to anybody. Please forgive my repetitiveness. I've done it before and I'll probably do it again.

[bmw1racer]

Originally Posted by Esteban

the black goes with my shadowline exterior trim and the chrome goes with my wheels and exhaust tips.

YES.

[hungry r]

Originally Posted by drunkenup

Just curious, what are you using for film? Vinyl? Did you do any other prep for the needles? I have the faces in already, haven't done the LEDs or needles yet.

It came with the faceplates red translucent vinyl film sticky on one side.
Its ok, but i want to try painting it with new needle paint from ebay

[TridenTBoy]

Installed new LED h8 bulbs in the headlights. Found out that at least 2 screws came loose from my passenger headlight. So now the headlight is kinda wobbling from the bottom. Some screw at the bottom just got loose and fell out. I'll take off the bumper after doing a purchase for a bunch of screws online.

So far, they look alright. I was expecting A LOT more brightness out of them (they're "120W") but they're just fine. I wouldn't want them to be too overpowering at night anyway. $42 shipped. I could've gone with a $30-35 pair but a member here said they used them and had success so I figured why not. Here's what I ordered: https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-H8-120W...53.m2749.l2649

I haven't tried them out at night yet. Will report how they look in a few hours.

The only thing I didn't like about the bulbs so far is that one of them had a bit of a loose container. Basically, the outside of it would kinda spin when I didn't want it to. I don't know if it's going to be an issue or not. Hopefully, not!

Comparing to stock (on the right; driver's side)

View post on imgur.com

PROTIP FOR 135IS CONVERTIBLE PEEPS (extra oil cooler + extra bracing gets in the way of taking off the headlight covers):
You don't have to take off the bumper to put in new bulbs! Just wiggle the cover off as much as you can, loosen the two screws/bolts that hold the top part of the headlight in place, twist the bulbs out (with the cover still attached!), slip them out, slip new bulbs in, and slip in the rest of the wiring stuff you need. You can then pop the cover back on and good to go! No need to remove the bumper and everything!

Totally was removing the bumper and then was like, "Ya know, why not just try the hacky method and see if it works?"

Boom. Saved myself a lot of time and a lot of hassle.


Btw, what is the thing used for that comes off the LED Bulb driver? There's an extra part that is included with the kit that attaches to what I think is the driver. It doesn't go to anything, it just connects to the driver. My best guess would be that it's just a large capacitor that allows for some kind of fade effect when power is cut?

This: https://www.amazon.com/GFJMC-6321776...rds=H8+LED+BMW (5th image)

[bmw1racer]

Originally Posted by TridenTBoy

Btw, what is the thing used for that comes off the LED Bulb driver? There's an extra part that is included with the kit that attaches to what I think is the driver. It doesn't go to anything, it just connects to the driver. My best guess would be that it's just a large capacitor that allows for some kind of fade effect when power is cut?

This: https://www.amazon.com/GFJMC-6321776...rds=H8+LED+BMW (5th image)

Similar models have that same extra dongle... One of them lists it as an anti-alarm resistor(?)... Maybe a load resistor for the car system's CAN Bus to prevent an error code?

[iminhell1]

I put my oil thermostat back in correctly this time ... I think. lol

Pulled the BMS one for winter and I thought it went plunger, spring, cover. Oil just never seemed to warm up, got to about 170 maybe.
So today I pulled it and put spring, plunger and cover. Seems to actually warm up now. Imagine that.

Oil looks nice and milky from not being warm enough to evaporate off the condensation. Change coming soon.