I believe you can get it at a later date. Any idea what the snag is?The build I was going for did not include the performance pack. My build seems to have hit snag. I don't know if it's an allocation issue but I'm unable to finalize/complete my order with the dealer - can't send it off to BMW to have them place the order at the factory. The build/delivery was expected to take two months (not including BMW's annual factory shut down for a week), and with this delay, I don't know how much longer the timing will be delayed. Now we're trying to see if there is a similar build in stock at one of the surrounding dealerships and perhaps pick one of those instead of building one.
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The Car Thread ... !
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Nothing like drilling holes in a perfectly good trunk lid ...
[doublepost=1498999249][/doublepost]BTW, that's a terrific technique for marking hole placement for something like a wing: lightly tape strips of paper on the bottom side, of the accessory, punch holes to mark the alignment of the holes, position the item on the car, and when it's good, tape the strips down and carefully remove them. It leaves behind a perfect drill location (I actually did it twice, the first time I had a little movement, I cross checked the positions relative to seams, corners, each other, found the outer marks were about a 1/4" different).
[doublepost=1498999249][/doublepost]BTW, that's a terrific technique for marking hole placement for something like a wing: lightly tape strips of paper on the bottom side, of the accessory, punch holes to mark the alignment of the holes, position the item on the car, and when it's good, tape the strips down and carefully remove them. It leaves behind a perfect drill location (I actually did it twice, the first time I had a little movement, I cross checked the positions relative to seams, corners, each other, found the outer marks were about a 1/4" different).
Braver man than me. Hope the hing and support struts are up to it. I had a Renault 11 with a huge rear cosworth type spoiler. The struts on the boot weren't strong enough so I had to prop the boot open with an umbrella.
You know, what's the worst thing that happens? Scratch it? Have to fill in holes and get it repainted? I lose an eye?
The springs/hinges/counterbalancers are designed for use with or without an OEM wing (part number validated), and this composite wing is about the same weight. The only issue is it whacks the antenna, easily moved when opening the trunk, but this is an excuse to swap out for a shorty
FWIW, my holes were _perfect_ and the position is right on, the side "winglets" perfectly align with the contours of the rear quarter panels. I wound up starting with a 3/32" on a Dremel, since it's easy to handle, then I stepped up to a 5/32" on my full sized drill, it has a brace bar I was able to stabilize against my body, then I finished it with a 1/4", deburred with a small file, used a little black touch up paint to seal the exposed aluminum
Funny enough, when I got the OEM spec wing for my S2K, it came with a different bar spring to compensate for the heavier trunk!
Thank goodness I was able to get back home the next day to wash it off because I was extended into yesterday and didn't get home until 7 PM and was dead tired...
But looking at the car again in the sun, shade, and garage when I got back yesterday, I may have lucked out ( but not counting my chickens yet until I wash it again), but the damage may have been in the wax. We had a pretty severe thunderstorm roll through yesterday( thankfully no hail) and probably washed the wax and bead maker off( the wax I use is a cheap wax, not very long lasting, but easy on easy off) the car and I do not see the etching anymore. Now I did notice some light scratches from my attempts at removing the egg. But hopefully that can be paint corrected. My only worry is the deep scratching of the clear coat around the area of impact. And this incident probably accelerated my plans to get the ceramic coating done to it. Was hoping to hold it off until next year when I upgrade and have a bigger salary, but will probably look into getting it done this summer.
I've never heard of egg shell cracking paint from a simple drop. The birds feet or whatever it's called is due to acid present in the yolk. Judging by the egg splatter and where you were driving, I want to say that fell from a nest. The car is fairly new. You can have the area corrected or the entire car done. Your choice. But having a pro clay the car and do the ceramic coat will help.
Have to admit, despite not being into domestics much, the new age muscle cars look mean and nasty. I'd love one just to go driving during the weekends. I've toyed with getting a GT. Presuming I can wake up earlier than my wife before she goes out for driving. She hasn't had a standard car in a very long time. Neither have I. Even with the terrible traffic we have here, I very much enjoy driving standard.
Now if you'll excuse me, there's a Pilsner with my name on it and 40 lb of meat and veggies to prepare for Tuesday. Cheers.
The car is fairly new. You can have the area corrected or the entire car done. Your choice. But having a pro clay the car and do the ceramic coat will help. Have to admit, despite not being into domestics much, the new age muscle cars look mean and nasty. I'd love one just to go driving during the weekends. I've toyed with getting a GT. Presuming I can wake up earlier than my wife before she goes out for driving. She hasn't had a standard car in a very long time. Neither have I. Even with the terrible traffic we have here, I very much enjoy driving standard.
Now if you'll excuse me, there's a Pilsner with my name on it and 40 lb of meat and veggies to prepare for Tuesday. Cheers.
OK, stepped up the front to a 285/35, since it's a 10" wheel, wanted a more "square" fitment (the 275 would be a touch undersized). Considered MPSS, but for a street car, I looked into some other options, decided on the Firehawk Indy 500 (not the Oval, the new UHP "summer" tire), 285/35-20, 305/35-20, this should look _amazing_, ET35/ET50 offsets, so I get to remove my spacers.
Additionally, it looks like there's a GP starting up on a solid brand of SS LT headers With a revised tune that should put me at 500-510 HP, and set up the car for a 550HP NA build with a GT350 or BOSS IM, or provide an additional 40-50HP on a supercharger build
Additionally, it looks like there's a GP starting up on a solid brand of SS LT headers
With a revised tune that should put me at 500-510 HP, and set up the car for a 550HP NA build with a GT350 or BOSS IM, or provide an additional 40-50HP on a supercharger build Woke up this morning (on holiday) to a non starting car. Thought it was battery but replacement didn't fix the issue. Pulled the starter and it failed on the auto parts store tester. So I replaced it. Sadly now I have a P0335 code. Guess something broke while I was in there. Ugh.
Looked that code up, it's a crankshaft position sensor [fault] - seems like that would be reasonably easy to location on your engine and see if it's unplugged, wired cut/nicked, sensor cracked.
Good luck!
Got it. It was under the starter and must have accidentally come unplugged when I changed out the starter. Had to remove the intake manifold again. Damned E90!
She starts normally again. Just have to put all the beauty covers back on.
Attachments
It's very easy for things to become loose and unplugged these days. Best to do a once over often, moreso if the roads where you live are trashed, such as the upper east coast. Things did not go too nicely for some this weekend. Heard a report of someone's 911 catching fire on the side of the road and the car being 40% destroyed before it was put out. Another was a M5 or M6 that was totally destroyed because of an aftermarket part, according to what I was told by the gasstation clerk this morning.
There was also a nice pileup near work this weekend. At our first office location. Cleanup crew didn't do a good job. I found some reflector bits and pieces while I was looking over our parking lot and entrance. No fatalities, though, no major injuries either. I suppose that's good news. 2nd location that's a bit ways down or up, however you look at it, is in a lower traffic area so no chance of accidents.
Anyway, it looks like my brakepads need changing. Joy.
Edit: Oh, yes, I knew I forgot something. A Prius clipped an Accord in the store parking lot on Monday as I was doing some last minute grocery shopping for Tuesday's festivities. What made it more amusing was that the Prius was a taxi. Cracked bumper covers galore. Can't say I was frightened by the sound. The only moments where I truly am worried is being on a street corner or sidewalk when a big bus makes a turn or rides too close to the curb, because bus drivers are awful drivers. You watch a few Russian dash cam videos of people who get their head blown clear off, you sweat bullets from there on out. Thankfully, our city limits buses to very few streets/routes and keeps them far away from houses.
Edit 2: How are car fires still common these days?
There was also a nice pileup near work this weekend. At our first office location. Cleanup crew didn't do a good job. I found some reflector bits and pieces while I was looking over our parking lot and entrance. No fatalities, though, no major injuries either. I suppose that's good news. 2nd location that's a bit ways down or up, however you look at it, is in a lower traffic area so no chance of accidents.
Anyway, it looks like my brakepads need changing. Joy.
Edit: Oh, yes, I knew I forgot something. A Prius clipped an Accord in the store parking lot on Monday as I was doing some last minute grocery shopping for Tuesday's festivities. What made it more amusing was that the Prius was a taxi. Cracked bumper covers galore. Can't say I was frightened by the sound. The only moments where I truly am worried is being on a street corner or sidewalk when a big bus makes a turn or rides too close to the curb, because bus drivers are awful drivers. You watch a few Russian dash cam videos of people who get their head blown clear off, you sweat bullets from there on out. Thankfully, our city limits buses to very few streets/routes and keeps them far away from houses.
Edit 2: How are car fires still common these days?
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The change to my car was astounding, especially when combined with being lowered. While I might not run [bolt on] spacers on track, I'd say a high quality set from a good known source with quality materials is fine for the street. Of course, if you're squeamish about bolt on, even a set of 5mm slip on makes a decent difference and simply uses your existing hardware.
This is a terrific source:
http://www.motorsport-tech.com/
The new wheels are effectively the same offset as if I was running like 20-22mm spacers so they should give is the wider stance, but keeps the tires neatly tucked under the car. My rears are a _touch_ too much, but I didn't want to trim the lugs (at least the time), in case I went with new wheels later ... and that moment has arrived
Interesting. Yeah, spacers were and are a common trend on the GL on MBWorld. I considered doing them until I read that road debris would easily hit the sides compared to OEM spacing. This will not be a problem on the next vehicle. I'm already dreading the brake change coming up. 2-3 months of brake dust and going through Iron X like it's the last supper.The change to my car was astounding, especially when combined with being lowered. While I might not run [bolt on] spacers on track, I'd say a high quality set from a good known source with quality materials is fine for the street. Of course, if you're squeamish about bolt on, even a set of 5mm slip on makes a decent difference and simply uses your existing hardware.
This is a terrific source:
http://www.motorsport-tech.com/
The new wheels are effectively the same offset as if I was running like 20-22mm spacers so they should give is the wider stance, but keeps the tires neatly tucked under the car. My rears are a _touch_ too much, but I didn't want to trim the lugs (at least the time), in case I went with new wheels later ... and that moment has arrived
It really depends on the factory offset and the design of the car. I'd say 5-7mm probably isn't going to push the wheel/tire out enough to make a difference with regards to how much stuff is kicked up the sides. Splash guards help a ton, either factory or if there's a nice aftermarket option.
There are some really optimal widths that don't accommodate a simple bolt-on, so you tend to see very thin with minimal visual impact, or too thick where the fitment doesn't look right (unless you're into that look, which I'm not ...). If you're OK with changing the studs, you can get a perfect fitment using a slip on.
Well took the car in to a local detailer. The scratches from impact are too deep for paint correction and would need a whole repaint. So that's out due to the blending issue.
What they were curious about was whether Xpel would hide it so they took it back and put a small piece where the scratch is and it does hide it better. Since the scratches are deep, the Xpel goes into markings of the scratch, but it looks like dirt is under the film and can't be spotted unless up close to it. If I end up doing Xpel, I would also have them put it on the rocker panels as well. So the front bumper+rocket panels would be $1150. Obviously the further benefit of that would be added protection from rock chips, etc. I am still interested in doing the ceramic coating which would be another $1199( and more due to probably needing paint correction as their are some hairline scratches they couldn't see due to the rain).
But now comes the balancing act. I obviously could do the Xpel and ceramic coating in stages( Xpel first then coating later), could do both, just one or the other, or nothing at all. I need to balance between keeping the car in as good of shape as possible and accepting **** will happen to it since it is my daily driver. I am leaning towards just doing the ceramic coating since for the money, it is protecting more of the car than the Xpel is. Though obviously the Xpel will do a better job at protecting the actual car( since it is taking the damage of rocks, etc where the coating is just more resistant to damage due to being harder vs the clear coat).
Another thing keeping me leaning towards just doing the ceramic coating is over time the Xpel will be marked up due to taking hits from rocks, etc and would need to be redone eventually. Where the ceramic coating is more of a permanent thing and is warrantied for 5 years by the manufacture of it.
Anyone else have thoughts on it?
What they were curious about was whether Xpel would hide it so they took it back and put a small piece where the scratch is and it does hide it better. Since the scratches are deep, the Xpel goes into markings of the scratch, but it looks like dirt is under the film and can't be spotted unless up close to it. If I end up doing Xpel, I would also have them put it on the rocker panels as well. So the front bumper+rocket panels would be $1150. Obviously the further benefit of that would be added protection from rock chips, etc. I am still interested in doing the ceramic coating which would be another $1199( and more due to probably needing paint correction as their are some hairline scratches they couldn't see due to the rain).
But now comes the balancing act. I obviously could do the Xpel and ceramic coating in stages( Xpel first then coating later), could do both, just one or the other, or nothing at all. I need to balance between keeping the car in as good of shape as possible and accepting **** will happen to it since it is my daily driver. I am leaning towards just doing the ceramic coating since for the money, it is protecting more of the car than the Xpel is. Though obviously the Xpel will do a better job at protecting the actual car( since it is taking the damage of rocks, etc where the coating is just more resistant to damage due to being harder vs the clear coat).
Another thing keeping me leaning towards just doing the ceramic coating is over time the Xpel will be marked up due to taking hits from rocks, etc and would need to be redone eventually. Where the ceramic coating is more of a permanent thing and is warrantied for 5 years by the manufacture of it.
Anyone else have thoughts on it?
Xpel or 3M first. These can be polished and waxed to a point. I can't answer as to how much for the former. I do know they take well to claying and waxing. Wrapping would be my goal if I were you. I'm starting to wish I recommended you doing so when you first bought the car.
My issue with the Xpel is the fact it's a lot of money for protecting a relatively small portion of the car( bumper and rocker panels). I know those are hot spots for rocks to hit the car, but I see more value in the $1200 going towards the ceramic coating and accepting the scratch is there....
If it was just $500-$600 to do it in those areas, probably no problem would do both eventually.
I guess my issue is more of the cost of doing the Xpel. I understand why the ceramic coating is priced the way it is and I see value of it since that $1200 does the whole car. I don't see the value in the $1200 of doing the Xpel in a small portion of the car. I just think it's just too much money for the job..... If it was the whole front end and the rockers maybe yeah. But it's just the bumper and rockers....
Ceramic coatings protect the paint from chemical abrasions, including UV oxidation. Not physical ones. In other words, the wraps distribute the force of a rock chip to prevent it from damaging the paint underneath. Same goes with scratches. Yes, with enough force you can scratch the paint, but you have to push hard. It's why I'm having our next cars wrapped in problematic portions of the car to avoid unnecessary correcting work in the future.
The cost for the ceramic comes mainly from prep and time of baking in between coats. The actual product isn't that expensive. I used both C Quartz and Opticoat. You pay a bunch upfront for a small bottle, but it lasts. There's a few cooler ones that are water activated, too. Wet sponge plus a few drops of the coating and you can go multiple layers in between bakes. Most of the cost is down time by a professional. How long the coating will last is up in the air. Apart from the product's chemical composition to the environment for the car... It'll last longer than a very high end synthetic wax. That I can promise.
Oh I know that by doing just one I am protecting the car from just one type of damage and keeping it exposed to another. I know a ceramic coating can and will still scratch, but it should be a bit more resilient to it from what I read. I know with Xpel it will take the damage instead of your paint. I know doing both is the best option ignoring costs. As I said in my original post, it's a balancing act for me right now between keeping it in good condition and accepting the fact since it is a DD, **** will happen.
I know the cost of the actual ceramic stuff is more like $200 or so and it's the prep work needed that takes it to $1200. I just don't know why Xpel is so expensive for how much of the actual car it will end up covering.
For me, protecting it against the chemical abrasions with the whole car covered in a ceramic coating seems to be a better use of that $1200 vs Xpel protecting a small( but high probability of impacts) area and I can live with scratches more I guess than seeing stains in the clear coat. That is the way I am leaning right now anyway.
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Quality. It's akin to window tint. There's bad, average, good, and extremely good tint solutions. Xpel rivals 3M's products. Hence the price. It also takes a very skilled professional do to a wrap or a tint right the first time to avoid issues down the line. A good way to compare them is the VW Golf, Golf GTI, Golf R, Audi S3 and RS3. All of them are on the same platform at the moment, I believe. Preempting Autounion to correct me, you have the same platform and very different cars.
Golf to GTI is a big jump. GTI to R is a small jump, but the R is such a quality car at its price. The Audi S3 is similar, but not similar. The RS3 is the crème de la crème of the platform.
Basically, it's the difference of saying you're going to John's shop for tinting and he'll use whatever is cheapest for him versus a really good shop that only uses the highest grade of tints by the top makers. And their employees are highly skilled at applying the tint. Make sense?
As for the ceramic cost. There's cheap solutions which are good and there's very good concentrated solutions out there. In the end they're very similar but different. CQ or Opti at around $45-72 a bottle isn't bad. The coating will prevent swirls and marring from dirt or grime already on the car. Won't help if someone brushes alongside it and rubs the dirt or grime hard into the car. It's worth using on your car or any nice ride. Not useful on something like an Accord or Dodge Caravan. I would definitely use it on a classic car, too. I wouldn't use it on our Lexus, but I'll use it on our Mercs after a full detail. And even then, doing it in your garage takes time. I still have to bake the coats on areas at a time.
It's definitely a fun hobby and lowers my stress from the work week when I have to do it. That said, I've already decided to get a wrap on our next vehicles. Bottom half, mainly. They're so good now I can't tell the difference between a unwrapped and wrapped car, and I usually pick up on minute differences in stuff.
Have you considered ceramic pads? I put Akebono ceramics on my 330i and while I've the lost initial bite of semi-metallics, they hardly even dust.
JFC, tires became a chore to track down, an order got cancelled - fortunately my buddies at AM hooked me up, went with Nitto NT555 G2, 305/35-20 in the rear, 285/35-20 in the front, maintains the front-to-rear %, fills in the fender well even a little more, should actually drop the rear ratio a touch, should looks spectacular