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30K views 98 replies 29 participants last post by  briangl92 
#1 · (Edited)
Briangle's Build Thread (Warning: Pic Heavy)

I finally decided to make my own build thread. In here you won't find much in the way of extreme mods, excessive negative camber, nor new wheels. If you're uninterested, too bad. Let the fun begin...

I originally got the car in February 2010. 2004 325i SULEV ZPP ZSP with 41k miles on it (pardon the dirty wheels).


The car ran perfectly. Only problem I had was a leak coming from the top of the windshield. PO had a satellite radio antenna cable running through. When they ripped it out, they left the hole. The dealership took care of it, no problem.
A few months later, all the pulleys were replaced by my mechanic to get rid of the cold-start squeal.

Then came my first mod

LED Weisslicht halos from Bimmian. Looked great!
After that, I ordered a pre-painted M3 style spoiler for it to hide a ding that came free on the car. The ding was on the edge of the trunk, so the spoiler hid it perfectly.

All was running well until I went to pick up my brother from school. I drove the car fairly hard on the way down. Shut the car off, then when I went to start it, nothing.

A tow truck and lost bumper tow hook cover later, I had the diagnosis: a loose cable between the battery and starter. At some point, I also got the OEM Aux input adapter and had that installed into the glove box.

After that, I decided to do a very light tint on the rear tail lights. Nothing ghetto or cheesy, just subtle. I also tinted the windows, a) to help the leather last longer, and b) it went well with the color of the car


After this, the car stayed the same, for the most part. I took apart the shifter and plasti-dipped it, along with the (of course) golf-tee mod. I won't bore you with the pictures of those. Soon after, I got an OEM roof rack and 2 bike carriers.


Next, I got a new trunk handle to replace my cracked one and decided to have it paint matched. It looked so much better. Looked like a premium car.


After that, I turned to my wheels. One of them was pretty rashed, so I decided to save myself the $120 it would've cost to refurbish it, and do it myself (don't complain about the OEM jack, I wasn't under the car and the wheel never came off - it was just so I could rotate the wheel).


I then found some resistorless LED bulbs and put them in the turn signals and rear brake lights. I also decided to wire up the key-on feature for the halos and wired in a second power outlet in my glove box, as well as hard wired my radar detector.


I started getting a bit sick of the tail lights and decided to step it up to some RCR tail lights. Looked a lot cleaner than what I had.



I also got some new headlight lenses and yellow fog light bulbs to help out in the crappy weather. I also got some Depo clear side markers.

After that, I decided to experiment, would e9x side markers fit an e46? I bought some Weisslicht e9x LED side markers to find out.


You tell me...
 
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15
#2 · (Edited)
Next, it was time to paint the wheel I started. I had sanded and filled it, but never had time to paint it.


Not bad for a rookie.

Shortly thereafter, I got it tuned with by Active Autowerkes, and had my FCABS upgraded to polyurethane.

After that, I decided to get some Depo clear front turn signals. I was semi-reluctant as I wasn't a huge fan of the look. My OEM corners were fogging up though, so I went with it.



They ended up melting, and I swapped back to my OEM corners (I still need to find the source of the leak!)

I then decided to take on a DIY project, making my own air scoops. Some argue they work, some argue they don't...whatever. I made them, I like them, next...

Mtech II time! :excited:
That brings us to my latest mod...I bought it essentially brand new off of a member who didn't want it for his coupe. Had it painted, and threw it on. I didn't want an Mtech II at first, knowing it was the typical choice for everyone. But it does look sweet :luv:


Oh and a few things I forgot to mention along the way...
LED license plate lights, LED interior, K&N panel filter, Di-Noc wrapped shift surround (plasti-dip peeled), Di-Noc wrapped steering wheel trim, and I made a custom halo harness that dims the halos when the headlights come on :thumbup:

Hope you enjoyed the reading and pictures!
 
#7 · (Edited)
A few more pics
Custom halo wiring harness


Tear down right before OFHG and VANOS line with drewdown


Bumper tear down


Quad high beams and fog lights thanks to cyberkaa's wizardry (note: driver's side turn signal doesn't look like it's on because of the LED frequency in combination with the shutter speed of the camera)
 
#10 ·
Thanks :thumbsup:

Great job, looking good.
It does look like the side indicators arent flush with the line on the fender, or is it just the pic?

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Bimmer App
I think it's just the pic. I had that one out about a week ago to rebend the metal retaining tab. Fits perfectly
 
#9 · (Edited)
Great job, looking good.
It does look like the side indicators arent flush with the line on the fender, or is it just the pic?
Also is the front bumper sagging where it meets the headlight trim?
I would personally ditch the Dinan plate frame.

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Bimmer App
 
#11 ·
I would personally ditch the Dinan plate frame.

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Bimmer App
Already gone. I have an Active Autowerkes one for it now :woot: Just a little showing off :eeps:
 
#15 ·
replied!

You painted your wheels while they were on the car?!

Balls. You have them.
Just stuff a ton of newspaper in behind the spokes to cover the brakes. Mask off the fenders. I also used some cardboard as a shield. No overspray.
 
#20 ·
#22 ·
Just an update...put in a metal water pump, brakes, tstat, and a bunch of other parts. Next upgrades will include a 330 front caliper swap and new front struts with lowering spring perches :4ngie: Should be fun
 
#24 · (Edited)
Just an update for this lackluster build thread :eeps:

I had my ET blow up on me about a month ago :rofl: Got it towed and swapped in a new one that I already had waiting (thanks to Drewdown!)

Within the last week, I got ZHP shocks and struts, new strut mounts, Rogue Engineering rear shock and spring reinforcement plates, OEM front strut reinforcement plates, M3 RTABs and limiters, and a couple other miscellaneous bits. :excited: Thanks to Drewdown for all the hours of help :thumbsup: :bow:




:rofl:
 
#27 ·
Here's the thread about them
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=838105

They would throw errors when it was cold out, so I had my cold bulb check programmed out. Good quality, otherwise, and bright. I contacted LEDautomotive about the problem and they sent out resistors for all the bulbs, no questions asked. I run one set in my front corners, and another set in my reverse lights.
 
#28 · (Edited)
M3 RTABs and limiters. Review of the setup will come soon!


It's sitting a little higher than it used to. Might have to fix that :4ngie:


We reinstalled everything taking note of the old locations...went to get it aligned and everything was still in spec :woot:
 
#30 ·
Looks really nice. Much improved despite no major changes - that's how you do it.

I would suggest clear front corners again, but this time to it correctly and get OEM so they don't melt. Silver-gray looks good w/ clears, and you've already got them installed on the sides and rear.
 
#31 ·
Looks really nice. Much improved despite no major changes - that's how you do it.

I would suggest clear front corners again, but this time to it correctly and get OEM so they don't melt. Silver-gray looks good w/ clears, and you've already got them installed on the sides and rear.
Agreed! Thanks:thumbup:

I've considered getting OEM clears but if I did, I know I would want LED bulbs again. I don't know, I'm on the fence. I like the look of it both ways.
 
#43 · (Edited)
:hi: Just an update, we installed my new front wheel bearings and..... 330 front calipers and rotors. I got the rotors as part of the deal. They're slotted. I went with OEM pads. Much improved over the 325 setup I had before. They look right at home behind my Style 119s :woot: I painted the caliper carriers and rotor hats before throwing them on. I'm going to spray the calipers silver when I get my new guide pins with brass bushings :excited:

Before:


After:


There's about 1/4" clearance between the wheel weights and the calipers :)

 
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