My ESS TS2 install, it all starts NOW! :)

I have never been a fan of plain carbon fiber for engine covers. The engine bay is boring enough already so some color looks good, but it has to match the rest of your car. Looks like your interior is grey so no worries there. Plan on a BBK in a matching color, custom trunk for your ICE in the same color, etc...

Although, my car is grey and black.....the ESS covers look really nice too. They are $100 more.........what to do??

Originally Posted by fmzip

Which to get? This still looks nice too:

Wow... that's different than the other ESS CF engine covers I've seen... i was only aware of 2 kinds... one that just says ESS with the lines like the OEM BMW cover, and the other one which has a decal that says, "Supercharged by ESS Tuning".

Yeah, you have a tough choice... the red one you posted looks nice, especially if your goal is to add more color to your engine bay.

So which one are you getting Navin? Maybe the guys from ESS can chime in as to what is available.

This picture came off the installation CD I got from ESS

Originally Posted by fmzip

So which one are you getting Navin? Maybe the guys from ESS can chime in as to what is available.

This picture came off the installation CD I got from ESS

I actually posted the pic of the CF engine cover in the opening post of my S/C thread in the FI forum (you probably overlooked it earlier)

See Post #1 here...

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=557165

I knew I saw that picture somewhere! I'm having a tought time deciding, there is a big difference in price between the two....I may have to be practical on this!

What gauges did you decide on? I have a spare ashtray which I plan to use since I have NAV.

Originally Posted by fmzip

I knew I saw that picture somewhere! I'm having a tought time deciding, there is a big difference in price between the two....I may have to be practical on this!

What gauges did you decide on? I have a spare ashtray which I plan to use since I have NAV.

Good luck on the CF engine cover purchase! Either way you won't go wrong!

I decided on the VDO Vision Series gauges. I saw Stuart's (330i ZHP) gauge setup earlier this past weekend (he has the boost, oil temp, and oil pressure gauges mounted in the LeatherZ gauge panel that gets placed in the sunglass holder area) and I really liked that setup... I could see the gauges PERFECTLY and they didn't seem too low or anything.

In fact, I was at a car shop open house and they wound up having a brand new VDO oil temp gauge still in it's original packaging so they gave me a good discount on it and I purchased it. So I only need the boost and oil pressure gauges now.

My mechanic is going to help me out by installing whatever sensors/wires/tubing needed so that I can take my time to purchase the other 2 gauges and all that would be needed at that time would be to connect the gauges to the wiring he puts in place this week.

I was reading your posts and I was going to suggest you run the wires etc while you were doing the install.

I just ordered a uuc gauge plate that I will make fit where the ashtray was. I was curious if Stuart was able to get the leather z "block" to fit with his setup or not......

Originally Posted by fmzip

I was reading your posts and I was going to suggest you run the wires etc while you were doing the install.

I just ordered a uuc gauge plate that I will make fit where the ashtray was. I was curious if Stuart was able to get the leather z "block" to fit with his setup or not......

Yeah, if you mean the leather gauge panel that LeatherZ sells then yes, Stuart has that setup in his car... basically that panel replaces the sunglass holder area as you already know.

I've never seen the UUC gauge plate... pics?

The UUC panel is just silver.....it can be painted any color. It goes in the same spot as the Leather Z kit. This is a pic of Tim's car. I am planning to do the same.

Maybe you could get a carbon fiber overlay if you go with the UUC one!



http://forum.e46fanatics.com/attachm...1&d=1125184772

Ended up ordering the Radenergie CF engine covers from Nick!

Red it is!

Originally Posted by fmzip

The UUC panel is just silver.....it can be painted any color. It goes in the same spot as the Leather Z kit. This is a pic of Tim's car. I am planning to do the same.

Maybe you could get a carbon fiber overlay if you go with the UUC one!



http://forum.e46fanatics.com/attachm...1&d=1125184772

Is that where the UUC silver one normally gets installed? If so then it's not the same spot as the LeatherZ one... the LeatherZ one installs where the sunglass holder is whereas in that pic of Tim's car the silver panel is where the ashtray resides.

Congrats on the engine cover! Can't wait to see pics when it's all done! :-)

Oh, and I actually am seriously thinking about getting the gauge panel wrapped in CF.

This is the spot for the UUC panel, same as leatherZ. To put it in the ashtray, it needs modification. Here is another picture:


http://forum.e46fanatics.com/attachm...1&d=1125184772

Here's my ashtray area before:

Taking it apart:

I dremeled the entire ashtray apart, UUC gauge panel is on its way:

Looks great, congrats on the TS2!

That looks great, Fran! One question though... what would you do if you needed to plug something in your cigarette lighter... is that no longer an option for you?

Everthing is hardwired in my car, cellphone cradle, radar detector etc. I have one of these if necessary, it plugs into your glovebox where your flashlight goes:

http://www.amazon.com/BMW-Genuine-Au...410323&sr=1-11

Originally Posted by Navin323i

That looks great, Fran! One question though... what would you do if you needed to plug something in your cigarette lighter... is that no longer an option for you?

Looking really good