|
The car being at paint for so long gave me ample time to go shopping for parts and scour for deals. Also gave me an opportunity to clean out my basement. I should’ve taken pictures, but essentially I had 2 cars worth of parts, wiring, dashboards, etc in my finished basement. Needless to say, my wife was less than pleased with the situation. As I threw stuff out, I ended up buying other parts. Over the course of 5 weeks I collected the following:
• Bilstein B6 shocks
o These were on backorder for the longest time so as soon as I saw them in stock on RockAuto I picked up a set. Additionally, they had a stellar deal on them.
• ZCP shocks and springs
o Picked these up to refresh the ones that had come on the donor car but didn’t end up using them
• Eibach 1M Springs
o Being a E93, the donor car springs made the car sit higher especially in the back. Originally I was going to run E92 springs, but Eibach had a stupid sale and the springs were under $80. You can buy used springs for that price
• Macht Schnell Intake
o Impulse buy, but I figured it was a good deal since I needed to buy a new air filter anyways. I marked this as ‘maintenance’ rather than a ‘modification’
• Macht Schnell Underdrive Pulley
o Good for some HPs and faster revs? Can’t really tell if it made a difference, but whatever. It was a good deal used and every little bit helps.
• ACM Test Pipes
o Might as well get every little bit out of this motor. If I end up going supercharger later, I will need them anyways and once again I found them used for a stupid cheap price.
• Stoptech ST60/ST40 BBK
o I had no intention of doing BBK, but with all the free time on my hand I started looking around for kits. I wanted to do the Brembo GT6 kit, but the cost is outrageous and pad selection is limited. Stoptech runs a well used pad shape so pads are plentiful and affordable. Also makes tracking the car more manageable since everyone complains about the stock brakes
• ECS Tuning Stainless Brake Lines
o I put these on as I was rebuilding the car, but I will throw them in here anyways.
• Bavsound Speakers
o To say I was disappointed in the stock speakers is an understatement. Both car were optioned with the base audio and it sounds like garbage. Also, my front passenger speaker was blown so I had to replace it. Originally, I planned on replacing it with one of the speakers from the donor car, but stock amp got damaged during paint (long story). Given that I had to replace the amp, and remove the door cards to install the side mirrors again, I said f it and bought the speakers. I was pleasantly surprised. They make a significant difference. I can’t attribute the difference to the fact that I replaced 11 year old speakers or whether the speakers are actually that much better but whatever.
• Logic 7 subs
o While I was upgrading the audio, I was torn between doing the Ghost Subs or going this route. Reading online, many people suggested these were an economical upgrade so I went for it. I’m not planning on driving the car much in the first place, no one listens to their music while driving, and the S65 is a better sound track than anything coming from the speakers in the first place so I choose the economical option.
• Android HU and Rear-View Camera
o I wanted to modernize the car slightly with a rear-view camera and while they are emulators to get a camera working with the OEM CCC system, going the Android HU route is easier and costs about the same. An added bonus is that the CCC screen is upgraded. I don’t plan on using the Android HU itself nor the Bluetooth since the audio output is awful.
• New Comfort Access module
o Similar to the amp, the original CA module got axed during paint. No need to replace it other than the fact that I didn’t want to keep something broken in the car. Its also nice to keep the key in my pocket and just turn the car on. Eventually I will retrofit CA to the door handles since the remaining wiring is in the car, but its not a priority right now.
Next up is wet sanding, final assembly, and the finishing touches.
|