My BMW M3 Evolution Imola Individual GT2 Journal
Discussion
Update:
So I got fedup with my BMW Business RDS Head unit (tape player) screen missing pixels, dodgy volume button and tape player not working
so decided to hunt down a Blaupunkt CD43 headunit as to keep the BMW look but upgrade to bluetooth/USB/AUX eventually.
So managed to find one from a Rover on eabay for £26 delivered. Not bad considering the BMW ones go for over £100.
Fitting was easy enough, two hex bolts holding it in.
Everything worked perfect, just that Rover badge. I seen a few people sticking stuff over the badge but xouldnt find a perfect size BMW badge to do the job so opted to try remove the Rover badge.
This is what I used
One wet cloth to remove liquid
Nail Varnish remover
The important ingredient. Acetone
Cotton wool buds
So I started gently rubbing this in with cotton wool buds expecting it to work with ease. No, not the case. It took about 45 minutes applying moderate pressure using loads of buds to keep the paint coming off.
This is a kind of start to finish through the process.
So thats the paint removed. As you can see it has discoloured the plastic a bit so treated it with some silicon spray
The photos make it look like it sticks out like a sore thumb but it really does not. If you look for it, its still there but only at certain angles
And a couple further back like you was sat driving
So that turned out OK and I am happy with the results. The headunit does sound much better than the old item. One thing to remember when upgrading to the CD43 is the CD changer in the E36 is not iBus compatible so will not work. You have to upgrade the cable and changer from a E46 if you want this option. I am looking to replace my CD changer with a Bluetooth/USB/AUX connector in the near future.
I have never really driven this one hard until I had a call from my brother saying my dad had been taken to hospital with a suspect heart attack. Lets just say it went like a scolded cat when you need it and handled really well for a standard car (My dad is OK now, was not a heart attack) but the heavey drive was too much for something
Brake pads took a pounding but performed well. So I have ordered some ATE pads which are the ones BMW use but with out BMW badges. These were under half the price of BMW so well worth it and also ordered two front anti role bars for the old girl. It has a slight knock on bumpy roads and was diagnosed as the fault. So that will be my next two jobs. Luckyly I still have my pad wear sensor from my old M3 which I never used.
Thats all, car has been faultless as always and completed a good amount of miles now. Returns 36MPG with ease which is nice.
Thanks
Mark
So I got fedup with my BMW Business RDS Head unit (tape player) screen missing pixels, dodgy volume button and tape player not working
so decided to hunt down a Blaupunkt CD43 headunit as to keep the BMW look but upgrade to bluetooth/USB/AUX eventually.
So managed to find one from a Rover on eabay for £26 delivered. Not bad considering the BMW ones go for over £100.
Fitting was easy enough, two hex bolts holding it in.
Everything worked perfect, just that Rover badge. I seen a few people sticking stuff over the badge but xouldnt find a perfect size BMW badge to do the job so opted to try remove the Rover badge.
This is what I used
One wet cloth to remove liquid
Nail Varnish remover
The important ingredient. Acetone
Cotton wool buds
So I started gently rubbing this in with cotton wool buds expecting it to work with ease. No, not the case. It took about 45 minutes applying moderate pressure using loads of buds to keep the paint coming off.
This is a kind of start to finish through the process.
So thats the paint removed. As you can see it has discoloured the plastic a bit so treated it with some silicon spray
The photos make it look like it sticks out like a sore thumb but it really does not. If you look for it, its still there but only at certain angles
And a couple further back like you was sat driving
So that turned out OK and I am happy with the results. The headunit does sound much better than the old item. One thing to remember when upgrading to the CD43 is the CD changer in the E36 is not iBus compatible so will not work. You have to upgrade the cable and changer from a E46 if you want this option. I am looking to replace my CD changer with a Bluetooth/USB/AUX connector in the near future.
I have never really driven this one hard until I had a call from my brother saying my dad had been taken to hospital with a suspect heart attack. Lets just say it went like a scolded cat when you need it and handled really well for a standard car (My dad is OK now, was not a heart attack) but the heavey drive was too much for something
Brake pads took a pounding but performed well. So I have ordered some ATE pads which are the ones BMW use but with out BMW badges. These were under half the price of BMW so well worth it and also ordered two front anti role bars for the old girl. It has a slight knock on bumpy roads and was diagnosed as the fault. So that will be my next two jobs. Luckyly I still have my pad wear sensor from my old M3 which I never used.
Thats all, car has been faultless as always and completed a good amount of miles now. Returns 36MPG with ease which is nice.
Thanks
Mark
BIG UPDATE: This is an update for the last 3 months or so
Right, Since owning the car I have known the front pads needed changing, just been waiting for the light to arrive and it did a while ago now. So I bought some ATE OEM Pads, I had a sensor from my previous M3 and bought some front anti role bars to resolve a knock on the front end.
A few photos of stripping it down etc
Anti role bar removal and replace
Next up was the brake pads...
And then this...
Looks complete doesn't it. Nope. The bloody front calipers have sized and will not retract correctly. I thought about refurbing these but not keen on messing with the hydraulic side of the brakes so opted to buy some used working items and replace. I might rebuild these calipers and sell on or keep for spares. So lucky for me. I managed to get the old pads back in so I could use the car or at least move it. I have just bought some working calipers and put a bit of paint on them. They also came with braided brake lines which was nice. These will be fitted by a mechanic mate after hours and I will be helping him. I will also be changing the brake fluid for ATE Super Blue and getting the HEL braided clutch line fitted at the same time.
A few snaps of the calipers and a bit of paint
Also I decided to tackle the parking light that had failed on the passenger side.
Why do you have to remove the air box to get at this? Rubbish but all sorted now after lots of bleeding knuckles etc
I started to take the head light out as well!! Bloody thing. But it is all working now and looks good
I have also replaced the boot actuator for the central locking as the boot does not lock on the button. Sadly this has not resolved the issue so need to investigate that. If anyone has ideas on this please let me know?
There is more to the update but that is on going at the moment so will put that up when its finished.
The car as always has been faultless to drive, always starts etc. I have not used it for a couple weeks and took her for a blast the other night and its astonishing how quick the car is even in 6th gear.
Thanks for reading
Mark
Right, Since owning the car I have known the front pads needed changing, just been waiting for the light to arrive and it did a while ago now. So I bought some ATE OEM Pads, I had a sensor from my previous M3 and bought some front anti role bars to resolve a knock on the front end.
A few photos of stripping it down etc
Anti role bar removal and replace
Next up was the brake pads...
And then this...
Looks complete doesn't it. Nope. The bloody front calipers have sized and will not retract correctly. I thought about refurbing these but not keen on messing with the hydraulic side of the brakes so opted to buy some used working items and replace. I might rebuild these calipers and sell on or keep for spares. So lucky for me. I managed to get the old pads back in so I could use the car or at least move it. I have just bought some working calipers and put a bit of paint on them. They also came with braided brake lines which was nice. These will be fitted by a mechanic mate after hours and I will be helping him. I will also be changing the brake fluid for ATE Super Blue and getting the HEL braided clutch line fitted at the same time.
A few snaps of the calipers and a bit of paint
Also I decided to tackle the parking light that had failed on the passenger side.
Why do you have to remove the air box to get at this? Rubbish but all sorted now after lots of bleeding knuckles etc
I started to take the head light out as well!! Bloody thing. But it is all working now and looks good
I have also replaced the boot actuator for the central locking as the boot does not lock on the button. Sadly this has not resolved the issue so need to investigate that. If anyone has ideas on this please let me know?
There is more to the update but that is on going at the moment so will put that up when its finished.
The car as always has been faultless to drive, always starts etc. I have not used it for a couple weeks and took her for a blast the other night and its astonishing how quick the car is even in 6th gear.
Thanks for reading
Mark
Regarding the boot locking, on my old e34 It depended on the position you took the key out of the lock.
When i bought the car i was told the central locking didn't work on the boot. By complete accident i opened the boot
and took the key out without thinking any more about it. Locked the car on the drivers door remembered the boot
went to the back and it was locked! Sorry a bit long winded but the boot lock worked on 2 positions.
When i bought the car i was told the central locking didn't work on the boot. By complete accident i opened the boot
and took the key out without thinking any more about it. Locked the car on the drivers door remembered the boot
went to the back and it was locked! Sorry a bit long winded but the boot lock worked on 2 positions.
ian328 said:
I have the same problem with the boot lock on mine, central locking works on the doors, but the only way I can open the boot lid is with the key in the lock, the lock only turns slightly to unlock. Are there any other ways to turn the lock so that it stays unlocked?
Sounds like you've deadlocked it? I'll check the manual when I get home.MarkwG said:
ian328 said:
I have the same problem with the boot lock on mine, central locking works on the doors, but the only way I can open the boot lid is with the key in the lock, the lock only turns slightly to unlock. Are there any other ways to turn the lock so that it stays unlocked?
Sounds like you've deadlocked it? I'll check the manual when I get home.ian328 said:
Mine only does a quater turn if that to unlock, I think it's vertical but it doesn't move to another position. Will have to look, not seen the boot of the car in about 10 months since I last opened the garage door! Is thus the same issue you have mboon?
Sounds mechanical to me, then: seized up through lack of use, may well respond to some magic spray. Lack of power would be the loom, as mentioned above, I guess might be both though...Today I looked into why the boot central locking was not working. I have parted out the actuator and this did not solve the issue. So next up was the boot loom.
Couple photos before, you can see damage to the outer skin
And as expected, once I had cut this back I found broken cables (the joys)
So what I thought would be a nice easy repair turned out to be a pain in my ass (as always with old cars)
The pain in the ass being where the central locking cable had broken too
Lovely!
So rather than spend time putting in a good, long lasting fix I have decided to solder it back together for now the best I could and look to replace the boot loom. Looking around on ebay shows loom repair/replacements but only for the Z3. So will try and find one for our cars and part it out for a long term solution
Taped up all the bare ends etc
And will pick up some black tape to make it not look so bad until the part arrives.
I do however have a working boot central locking actuator now which is nice. Going to pickup a replacement passenger side actuator this afternoon so that will be all the locks back up and running again. Hooray!
Couple photos before, you can see damage to the outer skin
And as expected, once I had cut this back I found broken cables (the joys)
So what I thought would be a nice easy repair turned out to be a pain in my ass (as always with old cars)
The pain in the ass being where the central locking cable had broken too
Lovely!
So rather than spend time putting in a good, long lasting fix I have decided to solder it back together for now the best I could and look to replace the boot loom. Looking around on ebay shows loom repair/replacements but only for the Z3. So will try and find one for our cars and part it out for a long term solution
Taped up all the bare ends etc
And will pick up some black tape to make it not look so bad until the part arrives.
I do however have a working boot central locking actuator now which is nice. Going to pickup a replacement passenger side actuator this afternoon so that will be all the locks back up and running again. Hooray!
Update:
So I wanted to make a start on the bodywork and decided the side with the dent in was more annoying than the side with the key marks.
So off to the bodyshop it went, I was advised to get a new door so this is what I did. Took 14 days to turn up from Germany.
So the door was fitted, painted and blended in etc. Got the call to collect the car. It was dark when I collected so agreed for me to check it out on the Saturday and let them know.
Unhappy was an understatement.
There was a blemish in the paintwork
Buffer marks all over that side from machine polishing
The rear window seal was not fitted correctly and came off when opening the electric rear windows.
Side kit rubber seal was around 2" short. See the photos below
And terrible wind noise from you drivers window.
So an email later and the car is booked back in the following week to sort these problems.
Again, picked the car up after work and it is dark, so look over it saturday and find it is even worse!!
So this time, they have got polish all over the rear screen rubber seal
Wing indicator is not fitted correctly
Clips are sagging on the side trim and the side kit
Door card practically fell off in my hands (bottom clips broken) and the internal door surround fell off.
Wind noise is just as bad but the adjustment in the door means it does not line up correctly with the other panels.
Build up of pait (lip) on the drivers door seal and petrol flap.
And the worst of all, the door card has a small hole in the leather :'( real tears!
So another email and after a few questions the car is booked back in with a list of things they need to sort.
See the pics
So this time it had all new clips, new indicator, door card removed and fixed etc (£580 for one door card) internal door surround replaced with new, the paint work bits sorted, and the window noise nearly sorted (still has a bit and is going back in Thursday again).
So I have nearly got the car how I wanted when it first went in. One side looks lovely now.
Really impressed with the repair. I have the guys number and will be getting all the leather sorted. Cost £60 to do this door card.
Now the car looks like this (it is dirty in the pics)
So you are probably reading this thinking, cheap bodyshop or repair etc, should of paid more etc etc. Well this bodyshop is the BMW approved shop for most of the South West. They also are approved bodyshop for Range Rover, Volvo and Jaguar. I have a life time warrenty with the work carried out and the work cost the same as a ropey E36 M3. Hence why inwas so picky and got the car how I wanted.
So next up, the brakes.
I have been nursing the car for a while now trying not to use the brakes too hard. A reminder why, the calipers had siezed where the car was stored for so long. So I purchased some used working calipers, braided brake lines came with them, ATE pads, pagid brake sensor, HEL braided clutch pipe and 2 litres of ATE Super Blue brake fluid.
I had the guys who MOT the car do the work as I know the guy who did the work. So nice to have a proper service from a decent local company, car was in and out, work is spot on! Had a good chat about the car and any up coming work it will need. Car drives spot on! He found the car already had a braided clutch pipe so left that alone. Used three quaters of one litre brake fluid. Brakes really nice and strong! No pulling to one side etc, no judders etc. Lovely.
So the only thing left to do was brim the tank and take her for a blast! My god dont they pull well. Effortless power and so smooth
I also had to tax the car. It will probably spend most of its time in the garage now.
Cheers for reading
Mark
So I wanted to make a start on the bodywork and decided the side with the dent in was more annoying than the side with the key marks.
So off to the bodyshop it went, I was advised to get a new door so this is what I did. Took 14 days to turn up from Germany.
So the door was fitted, painted and blended in etc. Got the call to collect the car. It was dark when I collected so agreed for me to check it out on the Saturday and let them know.
Unhappy was an understatement.
There was a blemish in the paintwork
Buffer marks all over that side from machine polishing
The rear window seal was not fitted correctly and came off when opening the electric rear windows.
Side kit rubber seal was around 2" short. See the photos below
And terrible wind noise from you drivers window.
So an email later and the car is booked back in the following week to sort these problems.
Again, picked the car up after work and it is dark, so look over it saturday and find it is even worse!!
So this time, they have got polish all over the rear screen rubber seal
Wing indicator is not fitted correctly
Clips are sagging on the side trim and the side kit
Door card practically fell off in my hands (bottom clips broken) and the internal door surround fell off.
Wind noise is just as bad but the adjustment in the door means it does not line up correctly with the other panels.
Build up of pait (lip) on the drivers door seal and petrol flap.
And the worst of all, the door card has a small hole in the leather :'( real tears!
So another email and after a few questions the car is booked back in with a list of things they need to sort.
See the pics
So this time it had all new clips, new indicator, door card removed and fixed etc (£580 for one door card) internal door surround replaced with new, the paint work bits sorted, and the window noise nearly sorted (still has a bit and is going back in Thursday again).
So I have nearly got the car how I wanted when it first went in. One side looks lovely now.
Really impressed with the repair. I have the guys number and will be getting all the leather sorted. Cost £60 to do this door card.
Now the car looks like this (it is dirty in the pics)
So you are probably reading this thinking, cheap bodyshop or repair etc, should of paid more etc etc. Well this bodyshop is the BMW approved shop for most of the South West. They also are approved bodyshop for Range Rover, Volvo and Jaguar. I have a life time warrenty with the work carried out and the work cost the same as a ropey E36 M3. Hence why inwas so picky and got the car how I wanted.
So next up, the brakes.
I have been nursing the car for a while now trying not to use the brakes too hard. A reminder why, the calipers had siezed where the car was stored for so long. So I purchased some used working calipers, braided brake lines came with them, ATE pads, pagid brake sensor, HEL braided clutch pipe and 2 litres of ATE Super Blue brake fluid.
I had the guys who MOT the car do the work as I know the guy who did the work. So nice to have a proper service from a decent local company, car was in and out, work is spot on! Had a good chat about the car and any up coming work it will need. Car drives spot on! He found the car already had a braided clutch pipe so left that alone. Used three quaters of one litre brake fluid. Brakes really nice and strong! No pulling to one side etc, no judders etc. Lovely.
So the only thing left to do was brim the tank and take her for a blast! My god dont they pull well. Effortless power and so smooth
I also had to tax the car. It will probably spend most of its time in the garage now.
Cheers for reading
Mark
When you say about the CD changer, how you mean it wont work? Mine has a small drop down bit in the boot for a CD changer with the wires all there but no changer.
I have the same CD head unit as you, suprisingly good sound quality!
Quick question for you, when you had the stereo out. Could you get to the vent above it? someone has moved the hot/cold too far and its gone off its stop and back into the dash....
so atm I have hot air at my feet and the screen but cold at all the dash vents. annoying!
I have the same CD head unit as you, suprisingly good sound quality!
Quick question for you, when you had the stereo out. Could you get to the vent above it? someone has moved the hot/cold too far and its gone off its stop and back into the dash....
so atm I have hot air at my feet and the screen but cold at all the dash vents. annoying!
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