Chunky Osiris's 2008 135i Build - Blown Clone

[Bimmer TV]

Alright, here goes with my 1st build thread! I've found a ton of inspiration on this forum from too many people to name but if you're a regular here, I'm sure you know who I'm talking about! I'm going to start things off with a little backstory on myself and then we'll get right into the good stuff, my 2008 135i!

So by day (and night) I'm a DJ/Producer/Graphic Designer etc. I've spent the majority of the last 20 years of my life focused on that and haven't had much time for a whole lot of other things. I've always been a huge car nut though and throughout the years I've kept myself fairly informed through magazines and the internet so I do have a decent understanding of the basics. I've never been much of a hands on guy though except for when I used to run a Jiffy Lube back in the late 90's/early 00s. I've never even changed my own brake pads though, so my experience physically working on them is pretty limited other than oil changes and fluids. I hope my success with my car can be an inspiration for others like me and my failures can be a learning tool (there have already been a few ).

I've had a couple decent cars over the years but never a real "drivers" car even though I have always longed for one and I have always had a lot of fun driving whatever I can get my hands on. I was real big into the Volkswagen scene back in the 90s and I had a couple of my own but I never got to really mod them the way I always dreamed of.

More recently I had a 2007 Pontiac G6 GT that I bought near brand new and I really loved it. I owned it for about 6 years and it was fully paid off when it was smashed into by a negligent driver, totaling it. I bought another 2007 G6 GT after that, to get me around town and what not but it wasn't in anywhere near the condition mine was and I really longed for something faster and better suited for autocross and the like. I was really interested in getting a Pontiac G8 as I had loved my G6 but the GXP versions with decent mileage are still in the 30K range and that was well over my budget. I had a GTO in mind as they are rear wheel drive and have a big V8 and were more affordable than a G8 and I was even about to go test drive one locally that was in my price range. I had already driven quite a few other cars including a JCW Mini Cooper and none of them quite did it for me.

The thing with the GTO is, it's not quite what I was looking for. Some of the things that I loved about the G6 were, 4 doors, semi-manual, quiet exhaust (intake really louder than exhaust) and all around it's really just a sleeper. No one expects it to be quick and it doesn't turn any heads, though I always loved the look of mine which was a very dark charcoal grey of sorts (I forget the exact color name). I could floor it right next to a cop on foot and unless you chirped the tires, they wouldn't even notice! I also didn't want something that looks like it should be fast like a Mustang (though I do love the new ones) or a Charger/Challenger, etc. This doesn't leave a whole lot of options!

So, I was on the hunt for something along those lines but with more POWAH and the G8 would have been a perfect fit, especially with rear wheel drive, 4 doors, semi-manual and around 400 hp. I was also interested in finding a car someone had already put work into as you really never get back what you put into it and I could make out on the deal.

So, I'm cruising my local CraigsList as I had been and I came across this BMW that's about an hour from me and I thought, what the hell, I'll go give it a test drive. It already had a bunch of mods done to it and driving it can't hurt right It was pretty much the exact opposite of what I wanted though including the fact that I did not want a "premium brand" sitting in my driveway because even if you spend a lot less on your Bimmer/Audi/Benz, than say, your neighbors Camry, it just has that "image" of expensive or whatever. Lots of people don't know what a G8 is and wouldn't even look twice at it though they are not cheap and plenty capable!

So, I take the journey down to Hartford to check out this 135i that I pretty much know nothing about other than reading the mod list and maintenance list. I drove it for 10 or 15 minutes and then spent about 30 minutes sitting in the drivers seat talking with the owner... and falling in love (though the smell of Black Ice was sickening ) I'm not even a big fan of blue but as soon as I saw her, I knew she was the girl for me and we quickly started getting acquainted. I left the 1st test drive not letting the owner know how much I was really interested and went home to think things over and do a little research. I was still interested in a V8 but this little Bimmer had really got my attention and the fuel savings of a 6 over an 8 couldn't hurt either.

After discussing a bunch of concerns with the owner and getting the price down from 10 to 9K (the seller was asking 12k from the previous buyer but it didn't go through), I headed out the following day in my buddy Matt's badass pickup with an enclosed trailer in tow to bring my new baby home in style. We arrived around noon and after a final inspection and going over a few things, my new Bimmer was loaded up on the trailer and on her way home!!

That was just about 7 weeks ago and I went on vacation just a few days after getting her home, so at this point, she's been on the road right about 1 month.

In that time, I have spent an insane amount of time on this forum (mostly) and others, learning everything that I can about my e82, the N54 engine and anything and everything BMW related. I'm diving head first into this culture now as it's been long over do for me and I've already become a member of my local BMW CCA, attended a couple of events and my girl got her 1st sticker this weekend (from me anyway, I removed all others), a 1Addicts sticker! I have some serious plans for my 135i, especially after seeing builds like those from ilikebmxbikes, Venom, Brearley III and many more and she will be a show car as well as a track car and daily driver.

Let's start with the good. Overall she runs great and I've taken her on multiple long trips already and for the most part, she doesn't miss a beat. Being that she has over 155,000 miles now, issues are to be expected and I am willing to deal with them as they come up but a lengthy list of maintenance and upgrades have already been done.

M-Sport Package
PPK
Aluminum Interior Trim
6 Speed MT
RI M1 Bumper
VRSF 7" Intercooler
aFe Cold Air Intake
Catless Downpipes
H&R Sport Springs
VMR 18" Wheels w/ Michelin Pilot Super Sports
LCI Rear Tails
Black High Gloss Grilles
Carbon Fiber Spoiler
aFe Air Scoops
Straight Pipe Exhaust (Since Changed)
MFactory Single Mass Fly Wheel
335is Clutch Kit
ER Charge Pipe
Tial BOV
MHD Stage 2+ Tune

Walnut Blasting
Multiple Seals Replaced incl. Rear Main Seal
All Fluids Replaced
Serpentine Belt
Water Pump
NGK Spark Plugs
HPFP
M Suspension replaced

So, as you can see, quite a lot has already been done and it's definitely one of the reasons I bought her. I know the car has obviously been driven hard though I don't think the previous owner really did and some may not want to go that route but for me, having so much already done is a big bonus and I'm really happy so far!

Now, on to the issues...

Strange rattle coming from somewhere near the e-brake or under the rear seat. Had it up on a lift and couldn't find anything obvious. It's really apparent under initial acceleration but can be heard under a lot of different circumstances though it's not always there.

Boost Leak - 30FF Code Unfortunately. this is really taking away from the driving experience as I easily get a CEL and limp mode under full acceleration. The seller did inform me of this and said it was likely a leak in a hose somewhere. For the most part, it looks like all boost related hoses have been replaced and the clamps used on the intercooler, charge pipe, etc, are pretty diesel and don't seem to be the issue though I do need to do a tighten on them to make sure. Finding the cause/causes is top of my list and I'll likely be doing my own leak test with the help of a couple of friends who are much more experienced than me.

I have also ordered new Boost Solenoids which are on their way and they will be getting replaced this weekend.

Wastegate Rattles - Very known issue as I am sure you are aware and the seller did inform me that was what I was hearing. Hopefully the turbos are not totally shot and I don't have to replace them now but it is in the plans anyway so, it is what it is. I plan to keep this car for a very long time and I am ok with making major repairs like this.

SMFW Chatter - Known issue when using the single mass fly wheel with these cars, Not really an issue but it is quite annoying when you have some accessories like A/C running. Stops when clutch engaged.

Ticking in the engine. I have read these engines tick from the injectors but I think mine is a bit excessive and I think replacing them will likely solve the problem as well as restore some performance, not that it's a cheap fix!


DME Active Code - 2B3A DMTL - System Fault - Just discovered this one today and I haven't had a chance to research it yet.


SME Shadow - 2AAF - Fuel Pump Plausibility - I assume this has to do with the stage 2+ tune and will need to get sorted. Not sure right now with the HPFP having been recently replaced.


Tires rubbing on hard impacts, especially the rear passenger side. This is also really detracting from the driving experience as I can't corner full out at all on a left hand turn and the sheet metal is eating away at my tire quite a bit on that side. I did roll the fenders some with a friend but we need to go all out to try and remedy the situation as it really sucks as is and is not safe. A friend was supposed to help me with that today but he bailed again for the 2nd week in a row...

That pretty much covers it for current issues. I've also been at this writeup for quite some time now and I'm a few beers deep so my memory is starting to fail me

Things I have already fixed (or tried to)

A/C Recharge - Was blowing hot in cold weather but has been 90+ the past 2 days and is blowing nice and cold

All dents removed - There were probably 10 on the hood alone and some other major ones, not any more!

Full interior/exterior detail and wax - This thing was filthy when I got it and the paint was full of scratches! I did some serious cleaning myself and then dropped it off at the local detailer to get treated by the pros (though they didn't do a very good job and I won't be back!)

Horn not Working - Of course I needed it about 10 times as soon as I started driving the car. Easy fix, replace mini fuse.

Rolled Rear Fenders - Need to do more

Replaced Exhaust - I will be doing a quad exhaust in the future but the car came with a straight pipe and while it was fun for a bit, it was just too loud and droned really bad on the highway. I found a stock 135i exhaust on CraigsList for $250 and talked him down to $150. That's what is on there now and it is much more bearable but I still get some burbles and pops from the catless downpipes.

Peeling Steering Wheel Trim - Wrapped with 3M Carbon Fiber Vinyl Wrap - Low cost and looks great. Took about an hour as it's a tricky piece but for my 1st try, it came out pretty good and looks way better than it did before, success! (Pics below) I'll be tying the Carbon Fiber theme in more and bits are already coming in.

Front License Plate Frame - Gotta have it in Mass as it's totally not worth the moving violation ticket. I got the tow hook type so I can take it off at shows and replace with a tow hook/strap.

Headlights - They still looked like sh*t after getting the car back from the deatiler so I tried to DYI them. Went with a Meguiars Headlight Restoration kit from Wal-Mart but when I got home and read the packaging completely, I realized I had the "Light Duty" version. I knew I definitely needed the "Severe" kit but I gave it a shot anyway. Spent about an hour wet sanding using the 4 different grits and then applying the polish. They look even worse now, fail! I'm going to try another kit 1st but I'll likely just end up getting new headlights, I found some blacked out ones that are pretty dope!

Wiper Arms - So these were looking very dull as can be expected after 150,000 miles and I really can't stand that! Decided to try and tackle them myself, should have watched a few YouTube videos first (I Did after). I used high gloss paint when I should have used satin and lots of little imperfections showed up. Now they need to be wet sanded down and then hit with a self filling primer 1st, then painted. Lesson learned.
Side Note - The car looks SO GOOD with a wiper delete and I've had them off since. They are in the trunk just in case of rain but man I would love to keep it that way and I'll likely pull them off for shows in the future!

Lower Bumper Grilles (L/R) - These were a matte grey and didn't at all match the kidney grilles which are black gloss or the center lower grille which is black but needs gloss added. I hit em with a few coats of High Gloss black spray paint and they look way better now, success!

"Carbon Fiber" Rear License Plate Frame - Looks clean as it clips closed so there are no screws showing but I should have paid more attention to the pics online. Though it does look like carbon fiber in a way, it's a more "squared" pattern and not the normal "angular" pattern that my spoiler and most other carbon fiber items have. I'll be replacing it in the future but for now it was a cheap mod that def looks better than it did before!

I have a ton of stuff on the to-do list including a full body swap, M3 suspension and rear diff and lots more but that will all be in do time. I've already got lots of little bits en route and I'll be posting updates as they come in. It might not be quite as quick or exciting as some of the other builds you have seen here but it will definitely be unique and have my own take on a 135i.

As of yet, she does not have a name but my gears are turning and an official project name will soon be revealed. Till then, I hope you enjoy the updates and the pics. Feel free to ask any questions or let me know if you have some tips for the project! Thanks and see you on the track! Instagram @BimmerTV


Check out that Booty! Notice the new "Carbon Fiber" license plate frame




Headlights looking like crap but at least that lower right grill is looking way better!




Side Booty




Full Frontal




Side Profile - Look Ma, no wipers!




Interior Shot with newly wrapped steering wheel trim




So I don't have a whole truck of Revozport to put on my 1er but I did manage to pick up one of their Carbon Fiber key faubs! Kidding, it's a decal






1Addict!!

[Bimmer TV]

Carbon Fiber eyebrows are in and will be going on as soon as I repair/replace my headlights!

[Matticus91]

Looking good keep at it! Definitely try the "severe" kit on those headlights before you try to replace them

[Bimmer TV]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

Looking good keep at it! Definitely try the "severe" kit on those headlights before you try to replace them

Cheers Matticus. Do you have any experience with the product?

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by Chunky Osiris

Cheers Matticus. Do you have any experience with the product?

No that one specifically but I've used the kits before with great success, so I am fairly certain it's just a matter of needing a more serious grit for sanding.

[Bimmer TV]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

No that one specifically but I've used the kits before with great success, so I am fairly certain it's just a matter of needing a more serious grit for sanding.

Ok thanks, good to know. I'll definitely give it another shot.

[Bimmer TV]

OK, headlight restoration round 2! This time, we have success! I would like them to have come out a bit better but for 10 year old headlights with serious prior pock marks, holes, scratches etc, they look way better as you can see from my previous photos in this thread.

So, after my 1st failed attempt which only made things worse, I searched on Amazon to find the most highly rated headlight restoration kit. Meguiars Heavy Duty was actually one of them so I added it to my cart and read some reviews. As always, the reviews were a major help! (The best one I read had directions to go above and beyond what the kit can do and that's what I did and I'll explain below.) I held off on checking out though, hoping I could find what I needed today at my local parts store. I was able to grab all three items I wanted today though the headlight kit was a the previous "model", not the 3000, it was the 2900 I believe but I grabbed that, some 3M automotive tape and a multi pack of wet/dry sandpaper with 220, 440, 800 and 1000 grits.

Following the advice of the reviewer on Amazon, the general directions on the package and what I saw on about 5 or 6 YouTube videos, I started with the 220 grit in a sideways motion keeping it heavily wet the whole time. I went through about 1 - 32oz spray bottle of water per step, per headlight. After the 220 grit I moved to the 440 going up and down, then the 800 left to right. I spent probably 10 minutes per headlight on step 1, then about 8 on step 2, then about 6 on step 3, etc. I just tried to get it to the point where you would start to see the new "scratches" show and not the previous grit/direction. With the 220 grit I really worked hard to sand down enough to remove 80-90% of the big scratches and pits that were there. I also used a new piece of sandpaper each time I switched headlights which probably wasn't necessary but I wanted to do the best I could. (Especially after my 1st failed attempt!) I cut the sheet in half and then cut the half into thirds and only used 2 thirds of that half of each grit (1 piece per headlight) so plenty left still.

When I got to the 1000 grit, I switched to the pad and handle supplied with the kit. I had just been using my hand and the sandpaper folded over for the first 3 steps. I continued switching directions so up and down with the 1000 grit and then side to side for the final step with the 3000 grit. It did start looking better as I went as you will see below and then the polish really finished it off. I did 4 or 5 applications of the PlastX before doing the final clear coat. With the PlastX I started with my cordless drill and got 2 rounds in each headlight but then went to my corded drill after my battery died.

I would still like them to look a bit better but for 10 year old headlights that were really damaged, this is a major improvement. I'm not afraid to work hard so I did put some serious elbow grease into this project but for a savings off anywhere from $300-$900, it's totally worth it! In the long run I would still like to replace them and I likely will but for now that money could be better used elsewhere and now they no longer look like total ass and I know they will perform much better at night!

Driver Side has been done with 220, passenger side has not been touched this round. They looked much worse in person than you see on the passenger side in this shot.




I did use 2 layers of tape almost everywhere to make sure I didn't "F" up and burn through my paint by hand or with the drills. You can really see how badly "pocked" they were in this shot! Madness!




It's hard to see your girl look so filthy but it was all for a good cause!




2 Steps done, 3 more sanding and 5 total to go!






They looked even worse in person than this picture shows and I was definitely worried at first but I as I worked through each grit, things started to get better.




These 2 shots are after I did the final round of sanding with the 3000 grit, not looking too bad!






This is the final result though the lighting is not really doing it justice. They look pretty damn good now compared to what they did and I know they will perform much better too. You can still see some sanding/scratches when you look close but from a bit of distance, it's night and day (No pun intended ).

[Bimmer TV]

Bits coming in daily

[chadillac2000]

Headlights came out looking great!

[Bimmer TV]

Originally Posted by chadillac2000

Headlights came out looking great!

Cheers! I'm sore today from the sanding!

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by chadillac2000

Headlights came out looking great!

+1 well done man.

I HIGHLY recommend getting a set of 3M headlight covers. It's just pre-cut clear protection film that will keep your headlights from getting f-ed up again after all your hard work. If you install them right, they'll even look more clear since the film+adhesive will fill in the imperfections and smooth it out, like wax.

[Kturbos]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

+1 well done man.

I HIGHLY recommend getting a set of 3M headlight covers. It's just pre-cut clear protection film that will keep your headlights from getting f-ed up again after all your hard work. If you install them right, they'll even look more clear since the film+adhesive will fill in the imperfections and smooth it out, like wax.

Def second what Matticus said about the film. You could also get some Lamin-X and do a slight tint + protection on the headlights. I am considering after I get done with some things this weekend.

[Bimmer TV]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

+1 well done man.

I HIGHLY recommend getting a set of 3M headlight covers. It's just pre-cut clear protection film that will keep your headlights from getting f-ed up again after all your hard work. If you install them right, they'll even look more clear since the film+adhesive will fill in the imperfections and smooth it out, like wax.

Wicked, thanks for the tip! I'm going to look for some now!

[Bimmer TV]

Originally Posted by Kturbos

Def second what Matticus said about the film. You could also get some Lamin-X and do a slight tint + protection on the headlights. I am considering after I get done with some things this weekend.

Right on, I will look into this.

[Bimmer TV]

Lamin-X with slight tint it is! Thanks guys!

[Kturbos]

Originally Posted by Chunky Osiris

Lamin-X with slight tint it is! Thanks guys!

Nice choice! I have some Lamin-X in Gunsmoke that I am going to use as well.

[Bimmer TV]

Holy macaroni was it a busy weekend spent on my 1er! Here's a list of what was accomplished and a few pics as well.

1. Replaced shift shaft seal - It was a bit more of a pain than it should have been but it's a cheap fix for piece of mind. $15 for the part.

2. Found the loud rattle - This had been driving me crazy and thank god we did! I had a feeling we would finally find it when we took the transmission shroud off. Sure enough when removing that, 2 bolts fell out from above. What were they from, the F'n drive shaft center support! It sounded worse than ever when I headed to the shop on Saturday and now I know why! There are some serious marks in the top of the transmission shroud from it moving around too! Really mind blowing something major didn't go wrong and the car is still in one piece! SUCCESS!

3. CDV Delete - I'd been reading up on this quite a bit lately and decided to get it done this weekend while we were already under the car doing maintenance. Having read enough on the subject, it took about 2 minutes to remove it and clip things back together without it there. We did then bleed the clutch and the brakes (all 4). Clutch was totally limp at first, took a hundred pumps or so to get it back and then I had a bit of trouble shifting for the 1st couple of drives there after but it seems to be all worked out now and she is shifting better than ever. Success!

4. Replaced both Boost Solenoids - Wasn't sure this was completely necessary but I'm trying to get the car back to 100% + and after reading how these more wear out than fail, I replaced the both of em for $170.

5. Boost Leak Test - Didn't end up finding any leaks so that was a nice surprise. That also meant the leak(s) were coming from the turbos...

6. Replace all Vacuum Lines - Only cost me about $28 with expedited shipping for 20 feet of high quality hose and the red dresses up my engine bay a bit. Got the tip and link to the hose from this vid here -

7. Adjust Waste Gates - Oh man was this a project but it was soooo worth it in the end! I got to the shop about 10:30am on Sunday and didn't leave until 9pm! The car fought us the entire way on this project and it was pretty maddening at times including one of the downpipe specialty clamps snapping when we were near finished. Our buddy saved the day and welded it up for us in about 5 minutes flat, better than new. We ended up taking off the entire exhaust, downpipes, right side motor mount and a small heat shield to actually be able to access both of the wastegate actuators. It was still near impossible and just getting one nut back on the front turbo took a f&*^ing hour! If it was not for my friend Jeff's incredible patience and determination, the car would not have made it home last night.

In the end we got it all buttoned back up though and the ride home was my best ride in the car yet, by far! There is almost zero rattle from the wastegates now and it was really friggen loud beforehand. Embarrassingly so to tell you the truth! The best part of all though, NO MORE CELL LIGHT/LIMP MODE and I got my BOOST BACK! Now she's finally pulling like a beast and man did it feel good!

After about 10 minutes of driving on the way home, just enough time for proper warm up, I was going around an on ramp to merge onto another highway and a Hemi Charger and another car flew by me at about 130 MPH. I was already planning on a good pull merging so I had the revs up and I was in third gear. Dropped the pedal to the floor and holy shit I was caught up to them in maybe 10 seconds at the most. They barely gained any distance on me from when they went by and I was doing maybe 40-50 when they did. Man did that feel good and I'm sure it surprised the sh*t out of the other 2 drivers The Charger tried to get away a little while later and didn't have a chance!

Bumped her up to Stage 2+ this morning and I'm much looking forward to taking the wife for a proper ride tonight! SUCCESS!

8. Carbon Fiber Eyebrows Added - Didn't get any pics of them on there yet but I'll post some soon.

9. Fixed Broken/Falling Trim - The center aluminum trim piece that runs just below the dashboard was not secured properly at all and would often fall right out. I pulled out all the little orange tabs the pins secure into and superglued them in place. Seated all the pins back where they go and bam, not falling out anymore, even with my Fire HD8 mounted on there and under some serious acceleration! Success

I think that pretty much covers it for this week. Should be getting my hands on quite a few more little bits within the next few days and then it's time for a couple of major mods. Heading back to the shop tomorrow to properly roll the rear fenders.


Looking fancy with the new vacuum lines!






Jeff is the man!

[chadillac2000]

Looks like a productive weekend. I love your passion to get this car back to 100%.

Insanely jealous of access to that lift! I've spent way too much on my back looking up at this car over the past year.

[Bimmer TV]

Originally Posted by chadillac2000

Looks like a productive weekend. I love your passion to get this car back to 100%.

Insanely jealous of access to that lift! I've spent way too much on my back looking up at this car over the past year.

Thanks Chad, I'm Addicted! The lift is definitely awesome but man are my shoulders sore today from having my hands over my head for 10 or so hours. Feel the burn!

[Bimmer TV]

Alrighty then, another busy week with and working on my 1er! Here is this week's update

Tuesday - I headed up to the shop in NH with the major focus for the day being to "roll" the rear fenders. I was getting some pretty serious rubbing on the rear passenger side since I bought the car (only really hard bumps on drivers side, no damage to tire), especially with a passenger in the car or with my DJ gear in the trunk. It had been cutting into the the tire and definitely made for some cringe worthy experiences while driving!

So I'm not sure how other people manage to roll the rear fenders on a 135i but we ended up going another route. So there is the plastic liner behind the metal but then behind that is completely filled in with a sealer. It's actually quite thick in spots, especially right at the crease where the outside of the fender is folded under. I don't see how you could flatten the metal much with all of that there without digging it out. Now I know why my previous attempts to do some rolling were met with so much resistance!

So, seeing that the metal on the drivers side was actually pretty mangled and both sides had lots of paint already missing/flaking, we decided to just cut a portion off, about 1/2 an inch I'd say. We then sanded down the sharp edges and they're actually pretty smooth now.

The problem has been almost 100% remedied! On really really harsh, big bumps I get the tiniest of rubs on the passenger rear but it's really rare now and that was with the trunk loaded up and my wife in the car. I'm going to put a little painters tape on that side and see if I can determine where the last little spot is and just trim that off.

I will need to do some touch up painting and clear coating to prevent rust, especially being in New England but that needed to happen anyway with all the rubbing that was previously going on so no worries there. Success! So much more enjoyable to drive the car now!!

How's that make you feel?






Shot of the trimmed fender (Driver's Side)




Passenger Side Trimmed Fender




The next project for the day was my brakes. I was getting a bit of grinding/scraping but my brake pad wear sensor was not being triggered. We took a look at the brakes while we had the wheels off of the rear to roll the fenders and noticed that the clips/brackets that go around the brake pad had slid out of their proper position somehow and were making contact with the rotor. On one side it actually made a little groove in the rotor but not in a pertinent spot so just putting the brackets back where they belong solved that problem! No more grinding, sweet deal!

Also installed a new shift knob, shift boot and e-brake boot. Not much to go over here as it's pretty straightforward. Peel the old shift boot and e-brake boot off of their plastic frames and then fit your new ones on and pop back into place. Ah, no more leather peeling on my shift knob, success!






Wednesday - I headed out to the Boston Chapter of the BMW CCA's quarterly meeting at the BMW Gallery of Norwood. We had the Hack Mechanic - Rob Siegel as our guest speaker and I picked up a copy of his book, 'Ran When Parked' and got it signed. Also took a selfie with the star of the book "Louie", one of Rob's three, BMW 2002tii, this one a 1972. Probably most enjoyable of all though was my ride in a brand new M4! I'll have one at my disposal for four days in March and now I know what kind of fun we will be having cruising the Swiss Alps and the Autobahn! Much looking forward to that!

Thursday - Time for a cruise! Met up with some local BMW peeps (and non Bimmers) at a nearby tuning shop and then headed up to the big Cruise Night at Gillette Stadium (home of the New England Patriots). My little 2008 1 series had no problem keeping up with almost everybody and she was not far off of the $200,000 Maserati we had in our pack either. There must have been at least 1,000 cars on show there! It was Hemi and Vette overload but I can assure you that I had the only 1er present.

Friday Started out pretty well but the project I was working on got way more involved than I had hoped it would (isn't that almost always the case!) and I ended up leaving the car half apart until the following day when I could come back at it with a fresh mind and not be working in the rain as I don't have a garage at my place. So, here's what I was trying to accomplish.

I wanted to install some red LEDs behind my kidney grills to add a bit of a mean red glow to them at shows and meets in the evenings. I also wanted to be able to turn them on and off from the driver's seat and not have to access the engine bay or whatever to do it and I did not want the switch to look unsightly inside the car. So, I decided to put the switch(es) inside my ashtray. Super clean and easily accessible!

The real tricky part here was getting the wire(s) from the engine bay, through the firewall and into the interior of the car. I read up on some forums on how to get it done and didn't expect it to be too bad. I also needed to remove the center console so that I could drill a hole for the switch and run my wires out of sight. Thanks to a video from YouTube user MatterMoo, getting the interior disassembled only took me about 20-30 minutes, not bad for a first try! I got the lights mounted where I wanted and got all my wires run/connected in no time at all. Drilled a couple holes in the console lickity-split and then it was time to get my On/Off wire from the engine bay into the car. Here is where things started to go downhill...

I had seen a few posts about accessing the hole in the DME and I wasn't overly intimidated about doing it. Of course, mine is quite a bit different than what I saw in the pictures and I couldn't figure out how to get all of it disconnected nor could I manage to pass a wire through the hole into the interior without doing so. I tired the wire I intended to use, then went to a 1/4" speaker cable hoping the end of it would aid me in penetrating through but it was just too big and I couldn't manage to get the right angle to get 'er in. I tired a bunch of different things and wasted time trying to figure out how to disconnect everything, all the while getting more frustrated that I was stuck and evening was fast approaching. So much for taking the Bimmer to a cruise that night. At this point it was getting dark, my wife and I were both getting pretty hangry and the rain was starting to fall so it was time to call it quits and come back for round two.

Saturday - Day two of what you would think would be a fairly quick and easy project but oh no, not the case! Thankfully a new day brings a clear head. The posts I had read about getting a cable through were about routing a USB cable for a JB4 application. I figured what the hell, I've got some long USB's around, let's give one of those a shot! I also looked very carefully at the pictures online of where the cable was coming into the vehicle and wondered if I could actually see that spot in my car. Sure enough, contort into the right position and there it is. Now to get my cable in there. So, no luck with the USB, it was still not quite the right shape to get the angle so I switched to a RCA cable. I was finally able to get it through just a tiny bit and I went inside the car and felt around inside the hole and voila, I had it! Now I just tied my electrical wire to it and used the RCA to pull it through, finally! Now to put it all back together!

I had originally tapped into the power and ground for the cigarette lighter and ashtray lighting but for some reason I wasn't getting any power to the LEDs. Maybe not enough? I touched the power from the lights to the + battery terminal in the engine bay and sure enough, they lit up. So, time to run a second wire to the switch from the engine bay but this time it was pretty easy as I knew what to do!

Finally, LEDs working with the switch, time to put it all back together! Got everything buttoned up just in time to get her all shined and polished and then head out to another cruise with the wife. There was about 100 cars at this one I'd say but it was a good location and a nice selection of cars. I was the only Bimmer though

We stopped to pick up some ice cream on the way home and I finally got a chance to light up the LEDs in the dark and see how the looked... and, not so great. LOL! The LEDs themselves were way more visible than I thought they would be and it didn't look great. Time for round 3 of this project on Sunday!

So gross under the center console! Glad I got to clean all of that out of there!








If you look closely here, you will see the two switches I installed in the ashtray. The one on the right isn't hooked up to anything yet but I figured I'd add another one while I was there. Makes it look a little more uniform anyway.






Couple of shots of my baby from Saturday's cruise.






Sunday - Day three of my LED install! Time to put them in a better location and fix up my wiring. Though you couldn't see any of the wiring with the hood closed, I have it open at most shows and meets and I noticed while we there on Saturday, it didn't look all that great so I wanted to clean things up. I got the LEDs re-located to where they would not be visible from the front of the car nor from inside the engine bay and then spent a lot of time getting the wiring just right so it would either be unseen or at least look like it belonged there. I got that all looking good and then moved on to cleaning up my engine bay. While it wasn't completely filthy, it was in need of some TLC so a couple of hours and a couple 5 gallon buckets of hot soapy water later, she's looking much better under the hood! I didn't have time to hit everything with wax and polish before I needed to shine up the exterior again so we could head out on the day's adventures but that is definitely on the to-do list! I'll post some under the hood shots when I do.

I went out last night to get a couple of pictures of the LEDs in the dark, now that they have been relocated but as I stepped out the door, the skies opened up like a monsoon so you'll have to wait for those.

My make shift garage

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by Chunky Osiris

I just realized how similar your car looks to mine you have good taste lol. I need to get my hood painted asap.

What are the switches for in the center console? Sorry if you explained that already

[Bimmer TV]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

I just realized how similar your car looks to mine you have good taste lol. I need to get my hood painted asap.

What are the switches for in the center console? Sorry if you explained that already

Yeah man for sure, in your sig pic the carbon black even looks like it has a hint of blue in it. They definitely look similar!

Switch closest to the driver is for the red LED's I put behind my grills (no pics yet). The one closest to the passenger doesn't do anything as of now but it will likely end up controlling more lighting