yet another noob

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by 1and1

No worries- I suspect this thread will ramble across a variety of paths before it's through...


Back from the tint shop!
Not actually as dark as it looks in this pic, just parked in a shady spot

That's actually a pretty sexy pic of the car. Everything on it looks good in that shade haha. What did the tint run you? Places near me seem to quote between $250-$300 for the whole car plus the windshield brow depending on the quality of the tint.

[1and1]

Same here-
$302 out the door, including strip on the front, tax and all. Formula One Pinnacle 30% all around- the fancy ceramic stuff with a lifetime warranty.

Stoopid expensive, but the shop does fantastic work and has been here in Tallahassee forever- the same guy installed this tint and the tint on my Speed more than eight years ago. The same person, not just the same shop! Gotta respect that level of stability! So many tint places are gone in a year, or change their name every 18 months....

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by 1and1

Same here-
$302 out the door, including strip on the front, tax and all. Formula One Pinnacle 30% all around- the fancy ceramic stuff with a lifetime warranty.

Stoopid expensive, but the shop does fantastic work and has been here in Tallahassee forever- the same guy installed this tint and the tint on my Speed more than eight years ago. The same person, not just the same shop! Gotta respect that level of stability! So many tint places are gone in a year, or change their name every 18 months....

There's a lot to be said for a good tint job. If in 10 years the film still has the right color and clarity and isn't peeling/bubbling, then it's money well spent. I also am a stickler for good lines around the dots on the back windows. So many cheapy shops will mess up that area.

[1and1]

I was amazed that the warranty replaced window on the speed was a perfect match after 8ish years- front passenger door and it was freaking perfect. From inside or out, bright light or from any angle.

Heck, I figured just simple production run variables would be enough to cause a mis-match, much less 8 years of wear & tear from florida sun, but nope, was spot on perfect.

Honestly couldn't have asked for a better experience for any warranty coverage, much less long term window tint.

Good thing I keep all my records on things car related...

[PA135i]

Real nice man. Enjoy it.

Man !! You two guys... Esteban & Matticus91 are making me think about getting a blacked out grille. Hmmmm..

[Matticus91]

I'm a big supporter of warranties for that reason!

Originally Posted by PA135i

Real nice man. Enjoy it.

Man !! You two guys... Esteban & Matticus91 are making me think about getting a blacked out grille. Hmmmm..

Just helping things along... http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210582

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by PA135i

Man !! You two guys... Esteban & Matticus91 are making me think about getting a blacked out grille. Hmmmm..

Actually, I went with the black and chrome grilles. Like them better than all black.

[1and1]

Is there such a thing as Black Chrome grills? Like the exhaust tips

Something to get the effect like you would with a coat of that nightshade tail light paint would give going over the chrome

I dunno, probably just going to get a gloss black set and mix & match parts- this moment I'm leaning towards the opposite of yours Esteban- chrome bars & black frame... But gimme a minute and I'll be back to wanting all black again...

Then back to the original all chrome.

((sigh))

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by 1and1

Is there such a thing as Black Chrome grills? Like the exhaust tips

Something to get the effect like you would with a coat of that nightshade tail light paint would give going over the chrome

I dunno, probably just going to get a gloss black set and mix & match parts- this moment I'm leaning towards the opposite of yours Esteban- chrome bars & black frame... But gimme a minute and I'll be back to wanting all black again...

Then back to the original all chrome.

((sigh))

Ah yes... choices!

[PA135i]

Now I have more to look at.
Estaban, my car is SGM. Might look best as your pic shows for my ride.

[1and1]

Pulled the trigger on a set of gloss black grills today from ECS for $69 shipped. Not a bad price at all- heck, I value my time more than that per hour, and it would take more than a few to paint the chrome grills properly. And getting a second set I get to mix and match finishes too if I want Yeah, totally worth it!

Finally got around to getting a look at the air filter- nothing fancy, plain stock yellow paper. Bummer. So, time to decide between BMS DCI, or AFE Pro Dry drop in, or custom assembled DCI with a pair of AEM Dryflow conical filters... Cost is about the same for any of these three options, roughly $100, give or take a few bucks...

[1and1]

Picked up one of the inexpensive service manual cd/dvd's from ebay today. Emailed the seller and asked for a download copy, and they provided instructions to grab a copy of a virtual machine that has TIS, WDS and ETK. They aren't the newest versions, but, you know, I have a 2009....



Should you be interested in playing along and relatively self sufficient, this is what they sent me. The rar file is a virtual pc image and is ~5.5 gig. So, yeah, you've been warned... Also, the links may stop working at any moment, so if you're the least bit interested you may want to grab em now...

The first is instructions and second is actual file, you'll need both.

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/eo1uqy7otx8nn/BMW2
http://www.mediafire.com/download/59...Virtual_PC.rar

[Esteban]

Good price on the grilles. They'll look great. My 1st 1er was just like yours except it had Coral Red interior. Loved that interior. Also love those 264s - classic wheel in my opinion. Traded my 2008 in for my current 2011, when the DCT was introduced for the 135i.

[1and1]

Great combo-the coral red was the other color I would have been happy with.

After almost a decade of black leather with the Speed I needed some color in my life for sure! And damn, these sport seats are soooo much better. The Speed seats are levels above the regular 6 (along with pretty much everything else), and as you'd expect, the BMW seats are easily several orders of magnitude beyond the Speed6 seats. Heck, The Wife has threatened to remove them from the 135 and move them into the house she likes them so much!

Started playing with the MHD logging today- gotta say that the auto-log feature is great. I've got years of experience with the Cobb AP, and already the MHD set-up is better and I'm only just beginning to poke that bear.

I look forward to learning the TuningPro software.

[Esteban]

I agree with you (and your wife) about the sport seats. They are a must-have for most people, plus the M Sport steering wheel. I think these are the best parts of the Sport and M Sport packages.

[TGNY 335]

Originally Posted by 1and1

Thanks ya'll
Yeah, the 6 was fast & fun, hated to sell it, but happy it's gone... If that makes any sense

Justin! Glad to see ya around mah new york brother! I'll be hunting you up when I get past this "not gonna tune it" delusion of mine! I've got a lot of new ecosystem to absorb first.

Originally Posted by 1and1

Great combo-the coral red was the other color I would have been happy with.

After almost a decade of black leather with the Speed I needed some color in my life for sure! And damn, these sport seats are soooo much better. The Speed seats are levels above the regular 6 (along with pretty much everything else), and as you'd expect, the BMW seats are easily several orders of magnitude beyond the Speed6 seats. Heck, The Wife has threatened to remove them from the 135 and move them into the house she likes them so much!

Started playing with the MHD logging today- gotta say that the auto-log feature is great. I've got years of experience with the Cobb AP, and already the MHD set-up is better and I'm only just beginning to poke that bear.

I look forward to learning the TuningPro software.

yea brother. I'm here. good to see another familiar face pop up. You'll see a lot of debate of which is better Cobb AP or MHD with a Android phone. you're just like me. tons of Cobb experience. and feel that the MHD/Phone interface is simply better.

I'm around man, don't hesitate to hit me up with any questions at all.

[1and1]

Gloss black grills showed up today! Took all of almost two minutes to pull out the chrome and install the shiny new.

Gloss black was, I think, today, the right choice

[TGNY 335]

looks good man. i think you made the right choice as well.

[swagon]

The leather needs some love, man.

[1and1]

It really does- the whole thing needs a weekend of care, inside n out.

The leather isn't as bad as the crappy phone pics make it look, but still, yeah, it needs some TLC to get back up to full fighting trim.