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

[olds350]

Drove down to the outer banks in NC this past weekend with the local BMWCCA group out of Raleigh. Great trip. As it turned out, we were able to witness the canon firing at Fort Macon, that was very cool. Period correct dress for the group of volunteers that "shoot" the canons. Also spend time down in Beaufort, quaint coastal town with plenty of restaurants to choose from. The pic below is most of the group that drove down. Plenty of new F cars, great looking Z4, a time capsule e46 M3 and then my 1er towards the end of the line. Looking forward to next years trip!

The other pic is the volunteers getting ready to shoot the mortar. They had a basketball named "Wilson" that was shot from the mortar. I was surprised how far that sucker went flying....

[bobdavisnpf]

First TSD rally of the season. Started 2nd in line, finished 13th in line, dead last in the points. We are maximizing our chance at winning the "most improved" award at end of season

Nice to see several bimmers out on the rally; my E88 was probably the "oldest" of the BMWs. Even better, a father-son team in a '70s MG with a very decent restoration going on. I did get as many people asking where my E30 is, as commenting on the E88.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by xQx

seems there's quite a lot of variation in the structure under each of our hoods.

I was thinking about it last night, since these vents extract air, it'd make the most sense to have a lightweight plastic sheet over the grill on the outside that's hinged at the front - that way it lifts to let air escape, but drops when the car is idle. It would only need to cover the first 3/4 of the vent because the vents overlap the cowl.

The downside of course is that it'd be visible from the outside.

edit: so I gave it a try... pictures below. I think this is probably the best option if you want the vents to still be functional.
(though I'd recommend finding some thin UV stabilised plastic rather than cutting up the plastic container of some greeting cards )

In the photos below, the passenger side vent is covered, the drivers side is open. Obviously when you're close it looks like plastic over the grill - but unless you're right next to the car it's basically invisible.

Just a heads up, keep an eye on that plastic, you'd be surprised how much heat comes up from that engine bay! The plastic I used for testing warped pretty quickly.

[HyeWarrior]

Originally Posted by Gray_Panther

Yeah but once you are done you will be rolling in it!

Haha thank you! Hopefully, that way I can finally fund my 1M conversion lol

[low135]

Air ride debacle mostly resolved. My new Airlift rear setup is arriving tomorrow so I'll install that next week. Fenders are coming in as well so I should be finished up with the widebody as far as parts, just need to mold these quarter flares in. Getting there

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by low135

Air ride debacle mostly resolved. My new Airlift rear setup is arriving tomorrow so I'll install that next week. Fenders are coming in as well so I should be finished up with the widebody as far as parts, just need to mold these quarter flares in. Getting there

Making progress...

[iminhell1]

Installed a VTTO valve cover breather.

It's not a perfect design.


Problem - It didn't seal tight to the valve cover.
Solution - Remove seal from old oil cap and put on VTTO one (double seals).

Problem - If you push the filter all the way on, it plugs itself. The neck is too long or filter too short.
Solution - Don't push the filter all the way on. Pull it back up about 1/8".

[mfindigital]

Originally Posted by HyeWarrior

Dropped my car off at the shop to take care of some horrendous cold start squeak (probably the alternator). He also gave me a good price to install my Koni yellows and Dinan springs that have been sitting in the garage forever, so I'm excited to pick it up on Thursday!

(PA school gives me absolutely zero time to wrench on anything myself)

Do you know if the Dinan springs drop the car farther than the M Sport springs?

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by mfindigital

Do you know if the Dinan springs drop the car farther than the M Sport springs?

I've heard they are a little lower than the BMW Performance springs, which are about a 10mm drop from the M Sport springs.

[gjm120]

Originally Posted by mfindigital

Do you know if the Dinan springs drop the car farther than the M Sport springs?

I thought Dinan no longer made E8x springs?

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by gjm120

I thought Dinan no longer made E8x springs?

You are right, at least they no longer list them on their website. I think I remember HyeWarrior saying he bought them secondhand.

[HyeWarrior]

Originally Posted by Esteban

You are right, at least they no longer list them on their website. I think I remember HyeWarrior saying he bought them secondhand.

Correct.

Bought them on here last summer. They've just been sitting in the garage patiently. I know its a very mild drop, that was the goal. I'll be making a build thread after I get my car back. I have/had a really specific "plan" for this car to keep it pretty modest and well-maintained. Once I'm done with school and get a daily, I'll go nuts with the LSD + PureTurbo + 1M conversion lol

[tjswarbrick]

Tired of mismatched plastic valve stem caps, but didn't want to go stainless or brass due to galvanic corrosion. Found some billet aluminum ones for not to much $ from Chromed Hog. Added anti-sieze just for good measure.
Went with the short bullets because they are very similar to the factory plastic ones.
A little shiny.
Thinking of hitting them with a wire wheel or some silver paint, but overall quite pleased.

[doane2u]

Had the wheels repaired from first owners curb rash and then painted a darker version of the body color, Space Gray, and then clear coated.
To find a color I liked I went to Home Depot and got a bunch of color sample cards, spray clear coated them and then held them up to the car till I found a color and darkness I liked. Then went to the paint supply the paint shop uses and found a match to the chip in their color book.

While they were painting the wheels I wire brushed and polished the front and rear hubs and heat proof clear coated them as well.
Really happy with the way the wheels came out, tired of seeing black wheels everywhere. Also added some new air caps.

[dtla1]

Originally Posted by doane2u

Had the wheels repaired from first owners curb rash and then painted a darker version of the body color, Space Gray, and then clear coated.

Nice work there!! I need to get mine refinished too, although I would probably go a touch more to the silver range. I kinda like the OEM color, but more so when they're a tad dirty from brake dust (at least from far away). That's the color I would prob go for.

[Gray_Panther]

Originally Posted by doane2u

Had the wheels repaired from first owners curb rash and then painted a darker version of the body color, Space Gray, and then clear coated.
To find a color I liked I went to Home Depot and got a bunch of color sample cards, spray clear coated them and then held them up to the car till I found a color and darkness I liked. Then went to the paint supply the paint shop uses and found a match to the chip in their color book.

While they were painting the wheels I wire brushed and polished the front and rear hubs and heat proof clear coated them as well.
Really happy with the way the wheels came out, tired of seeing black wheels everywhere. Also added some new air caps.

Wow! Color me impressed!

[doane2u]

Thanks, guys!

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by tjswarbrick

Tired of mismatched plastic valve stem caps, but didn't want to go stainless or brass due to galvanic corrosion. Found some billet aluminum ones for not to much $ from Chromed Hog. Added anti-sieze just for good measure.
Went with the short bullets because they are very similar to the factory plastic ones.
A little shiny.
Thinking of hitting them with a wire wheel or some silver paint, but overall quite pleased.

That was the BIGGEST pic of a valve stem cap i've ever seen man LOL

Originally Posted by doane2u

Had the wheels repaired from first owners curb rash and then painted a darker version of the body color, Space Gray, and then clear coated.
To find a color I liked I went to Home Depot and got a bunch of color sample cards, spray clear coated them and then held them up to the car till I found a color and darkness I liked. Then went to the paint supply the paint shop uses and found a match to the chip in their color book.

While they were painting the wheels I wire brushed and polished the front and rear hubs and heat proof clear coated them as well.
Really happy with the way the wheels came out, tired of seeing black wheels everywhere. Also added some new air caps.

Looks great, I did the same but opted for black high-temp on mine instead. They've held up great for a long time now.

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

That was the BIGGEST pic of a valve stem cap i've ever seen man LOL

LOL.

I don't know why imgur does that to me. They look (fairly) normal on my phone and home PC, but if I check on my laptop they're yuuuge.

[Gray_Panther]

Originally Posted by tjswarbrick

LOL.

I don't know why imgur does that to me. They look (fairly) normal on my phone and home PC, but if I check on my laptop they're yuuuge.

Before I upload in imgur, I input the resize dimensions when it uploads to automatically resize the image on my pc. Can't do it on the app on the phone unfortunately.

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

That was the BIGGEST pic of a valve stem cap i've ever seen man LOL

Did I never post this?

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

Did I never post this?