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

[TridenTBoy]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

Looks very nice! I think you should wrap the wood. That's just me, though.

I like the wood. Works with the interior. I find tan/beige interiors to be of the wood feel.

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by desertman123

Drove it! Detailed the interior a few days ago so I thought i'd finally get some pics since I have about 100 of the exterior.

Originally Posted by TridenTBoy

I like the wood. Works with the interior. I find tan/beige interiors to be of the wood feel.

Me too. The wood works for me on that one.

Now that I'm happy with the short shifter, I used a smaller zip-tie to secure the top of my new shift boot, and RTV'd the knob in place:





So much fun, I ride around a gear high just to blipshift down at every opportunity.

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by tjswarbrick

Me too. The wood works for me on that one.

Now that I'm happy with the short shifter, I used a smaller zip-tie to secure the top of my new shift boot, and RTV'd the knob in place:

So much fun, I ride around a gear high just to blipshift down at every opportunity.

I do the same thing, but no Short Shifter here, yet! I'm going to Lowe's today to get some stuff to make a clutch stop...

[desertman123]

Originally Posted by tjswarbrick

Me too. The wood works for me on that one.

Now that I'm happy with the short shifter, I used a smaller zip-tie to secure the top of my new shift boot, and RTV'd the knob in place:

So much fun, I ride around a gear high just to blipshift down at every opportunity.

YES! I do this constantly too (especially with the shorter diff ratio). Some of my friends roast me with how much I downshift revmatch when I come to a stop

Originally Posted by chris_flies

Looks very nice! I think you should wrap the wood. That's just me, though.

I'm always open to ideas if it looks cool! Do you have any suggestions on color/texture?

Also the clutch stop is 100% gonna be worth it. The 128i I drove without a CDV delete and clutch stop was a bit.. difficult since I was so used it having them.

Originally Posted by TridenTBoy

I like the wood. Works with the interior. I find tan/beige interiors to be of the wood feel.

I honestly like my cherry as well. Fits very well with the beige. It might be an 'old person' color scheme but I find it the smoothest, visually.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by desertman123

I'm always open to ideas if it looks cool! Do you have any suggestions on color/texture?

......

I honestly like my cherry as well. Fits very well with the beige. It might be an 'old person' color scheme but I find it the smoothest, visually.

Personally, I have a soft-spot for cars that have what I call the "safari theme". Light colored interiors with wood fit the bill and there's something fun and natural about them. My car has the all black/silver interior and while it fits my build, it gets boring sometimes. I had a 1982 Mercedes 300D Turbodiesel that had this color scheme and I loved driving the thing because the interior made me feel like I was on some grand adventure lol.

[WDE82]

Researched a heated steering wheel retrofit. It seems totally doable except I haven't checked to see what wiring is up the steering column or how hard it would be to patch in.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by WDE82

Researched a heated steering wheel retrofit. It seems totally doable except I haven't checked to see what wiring is up the steering column or how hard it would be to patch in.

I think others have done it but just an FYI there's no m-sport heated wheels.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

Personally, I have a soft-spot for cars that have what I call the "safari theme". Light colored interiors with wood fit the bill and there's something fun and natural about them. My car has the all black/silver interior and while it fits my build, it gets boring sometimes. I had a 1982 Mercedes 300D Turbodiesel that had this color scheme and I loved driving the thing because the interior made me feel like I was on some grand adventure lol.

I have the "all black/silver interior" as well. I really like it. Goes great with the Anthracite headliner; dark and ominous lol. My other 1er had the Coral Red with Grey Poplar trim. Loved and still miss the Coral Red but didn't like the wood. My .02 cents.

[WDE82]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

I think others have done it but just an FYI there's no m-sport heated wheels.

Yeah I know. It'd be identical to my current wheel which is a decent wheel anyway. But I just bought some nice gloves. The retrofit is likely going to cost too much.

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by Esteban

I have the "all black/silver interior" as well. I really like it. Goes great with the Anthracite headliner; dark and ominous lol. My other 1er had the Coral Red with Grey Poplar trim. Loved and still miss the Coral Red but didn't like the wood. My .02 cents.

I wrapped my Burl Walnut (I think) with 3M 1080 Series Vinyl in Orange! It adds a very lovely dash of color to the interior. Not to mention that it matches with the car's guages and displays.



Today, I tried to install a make-it-yourself clutch stop. At the last moment, I realized I was reading from an E36 forum. So, I gave up on that, and ordered the BMS one off of eBay for $10 shipped, arriving November 3rd-ish.
Also, I fixed my OBD2 port. One of the tabs that holds it in place was broken by the previous owner. I found out that you can mount the port facing in towards the footwell, so I mounted it like that. I had to hack that trim panel a little to allow my Carly adapter to plug-in. Now I can have Carly's parameters feature running while I'm driving (as in COOLANT and OIL TEMPS!). This will be particularly awesome on the track in TWO WEEKS!

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

I wrapped my Burl Walnut (I think) with 3M 1080 Series Vinyl in Orange! It adds a very lovely dash of color to the interior. Not to mention that it matches with the car's guages and displays.

Yeah, I think I remember you posting before about your orange trim. I like it!

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Yeah, I think I remember you posting before about your orange trim. I like it!

I did. Both of my HPDE instructors immediately said, "WOW! That's interesting..." when they got in my car. I just found black, on black, with strokes of brown in-between, boring. Especially in such a fun car!

[desertman123]

Took the time while my front bumper was off to polish my foglights! They were ROUGH. Took almost an hour to sand back to smooth plastic that didn't have rocks and shit embedded in it. Almost 9 years of road grime erased!

As to why the bumper was off.. had a little bit of condensation in my passenger side headlight so I took that out and tried resealing it, made sure everything was seated right. Replaced the breathers with the OEM ones off my halogens. Doubt it'll make much of a difference but anything helps.

Reminds me of why I wanted OEM 135i lights and not aftermarket.. but the deal was amazing and they work great.

ALSO. I'm working on this car at a record pace. I swear I could lift the car onto jacks and remove the front bumper in like 15 minutes.

[HyeWarrior]

Originally Posted by desertman123

Took the time while my front bumper was off to polish my foglights! They were ROUGH. Took almost an hour to sand back to smooth plastic that didn't have rocks and shit embedded in it. Almost 9 years of road grime erased!

As to why the bumper was off.. had a little bit of condensation in my passenger side headlight so I took that out and tried resealing it, made sure everything was seated right. Replaced the breathers with the OEM ones off my halogens. Doubt it'll make much of a difference but anything helps.

Reminds me of why I wanted OEM 135i lights and not aftermarket.. but the deal was amazing and they work great.

ALSO. I'm working on this car at a record pace. I swear I could lift the car onto jacks and remove the front bumper in like 15 minutes.

Wow looks so much better! What was your process for polishing em?

[Matticus91]

desertman123 You're on a roll lately! Good work on the fogs!

[WDE82]

Originally Posted by desertman123

Took the time while my front bumper was off to polish my foglights! They were ROUGH. Took almost an hour to sand back to smooth plastic that didn't have rocks and shit embedded in it. Almost 9 years of road grime erased!

As to why the bumper was off.. had a little bit of condensation in my passenger side headlight so I took that out and tried resealing it, made sure everything was seated right. Replaced the breathers with the OEM ones off my halogens. Doubt it'll make much of a difference but anything helps.

Reminds me of why I wanted OEM 135i lights and not aftermarket.. but the deal was amazing and they work great.

ALSO. I'm working on this car at a record pace. I swear I could lift the car onto jacks and remove the front bumper in like 15 minutes.

I recommend giving them 2 coats of 2K clear coat so it lasts.

[desertman123]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

desertman123 You're on a roll lately! Good work on the fogs!

Originally Posted by WDE82

I recommend giving them 2 coats of 2K clear coat so it lasts.

Originally Posted by HyeWarrior

Wow looks so much better! What was your process for polishing em?

Oh yeah I took a picture before I clear coated. Gave it a thick layer since it'll be seeing lots of rocks and stuff.

For the method, I started with washing them and taking off the bumper and removing the whole housing. Started with a wet 1000 grit sanding, then once the whole front was hazed, smoothed and 'level', I wet sanded with 3000 grit. After that I moved to the DA with a medium cut pad and rubbing compound. Then a polishing compound and a light coating of some meguiar's plastic polishing juice. Then some UV protecting clear coat from 3M.

Yeah man thanks I've just been keeping myself busy! The bumper was coming off anyway due to the condensation, so it was convenient to touch these up. Honestly since updating the headlights and sides, I've been really focused on making the outside of the car look good. I've been done with any drivetrain maintenance or work for a while so it's just time to make moves the appearance. I wanna be noticed at car meets lol.

Borrowed bossman's camera

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by desertman123

Yeah man thanks I've just been keeping myself busy! The bumper was coming off anyway due to the condensation, so it was convenient to touch these up. Honestly since updating the headlights and sides, I've been really focused on making the outside of the car look good. I've been done with any drivetrain maintenance or work for a while so it's just time to make moves the appearance. I wanna be noticed at car meets lol.

Borrowed bossman's camera

Looking good!!

I noticed you have the dreaded peeling steering wheel, it's a super common issue and a pretty easy fix if you're looking for (yet) another project

Found this for you:

[a4nut]

Finally fixed my suspension setup, and got rid of the garbage factory sport suspension. Installed Ohlins coilovers, m3 control arms, new strut mounts, whiteline rear subframe inserts, and hawk hps brake pads all around. Can't wait to really try it out!

[desertman123]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

Looking good!!

I noticed you have the dreaded peeling steering wheel, it's a super common issue and a pretty easy fix if you're looking for (yet) another project

Found this for you: *snoop*

Thanks! Dead honest I'll probably find myself doing that this weekend

Also I need to do this with my cupholder, or just commit and peel alllllllll of it off.

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by desertman123

Took the time while my front bumper was off to polish my foglights! They were ROUGH. Took almost an hour to sand back to smooth plastic that didn't have rocks and shit embedded in it. Almost 9 years of road grime erased!

As to why the bumper was off.. had a little bit of condensation in my passenger side headlight so I took that out and tried resealing it, made sure everything was seated right. Replaced the breathers with the OEM ones off my halogens. Doubt it'll make much of a difference but anything helps.

Reminds me of why I wanted OEM 135i lights and not aftermarket.. but the deal was amazing and they work great.

ALSO. I'm working on this car at a record pace. I swear I could lift the car onto jacks and remove the front bumper in like 15 minutes.

You should've done what I did, and just deleted them. They make great brake cooling duct inlet, because race car dreams! I'm going to be deleting my clutch helper spring this afternoon, I wanna get the whole shifting experience as good as it'll get without a $200 short shift kit, so I can be a smoother and faster driver. So far, $14.10 spent. $4.11 of that was for the wrong stuff (read an E36 forum, oops), the other $9.99 was for the BMS Clutch Stop, which will hopefully be here next week. CDV was free, and the Clutch Spring will be free.
Forever enjoying...

[desertman123]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

You should've done what I did, and just deleted them. They make great brake cooling duct inlet, because race car dreams! I'm going to be deleting my clutch helper spring this afternoon, I wanna get the whole shifting experience as good as it'll get without a $200 short shift kit, so I can be a smoother and faster driver. So far, $14.10 spent. $4.11 of that was for the wrong stuff (read an E36 forum, oops), the other $9.99 was for the BMS Clutch Stop, which will hopefully be here next week. CDV was free, and the Clutch Spring will be free.
Forever enjoying...

OOOOo looks like you have the same front bumper as I - do you have documentation for how you made the ducts? Because I've been interested in doing this, I just need to get an idea for how it's made.

Just replace the lever and that's it. $90. Trust me when I say this, you won't regret a short shifter.

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1335381

That bone stock M-Sport manual I drove felt great but the long throw made it feel like I'm churning butter.

ALSO make sure your clutch fluid is fresh and bled!! It made a much bigger difference than I expected.

Edit: Photoshopped the wheels i want onto my car.. I'm a huge fan.