A decent compromise?

[jamieleehodgson]

Well after years of owning mainly hot hatches such as 2 147 gta's, 2 mazda 3 mps's, clio v6, megane sport, clio sports etc i had to make a compromise between me the fiancee and the dog.

Dog gets boot
Fiancee gets diesel auto
I get well over 300 HP


Picked it up on friday at a decent price. 82k and full bmw service history.
Wasnt my first choice in colour but they are like hens teeth so had to just go for it.

Car has pretty much all the toys that i wanted bar the front parking sensors for extra protection when she is driving.
leather, 3stage heated seats, xenons, pro stereo, pro satnav Idrive, rear parking sensors, bluetooth voice recognition, ipod/usb connectivity...

Car has been mapped but owner didnt know who by and said it was an eco map so tempted to get it done by someone known on bimmer forums.

car after a quick wash when i got home with it



I wasnt happy with wheels so 3 days in i ordered some new wheels and tyres






Next up black kidney grills and maybe carbon splitter

[GWMD]

Very nice.

Out of interest what size and offsets are the CSL reps? What is the clearance like, I've read that the E91's are generous.

[5charlie46]

Pics of the Clio V6 please

[CypherP]

I do like these alot, but personally, I would have stuck with the original alloys, as those CSL replicas just look a little too big for my liking, although they do still suit the body style. Have you noticed any difference in ride comfort since changing them over?

Lovely cars and a good size for everything you want, so I'd be very pleased too!

[astirling]

The wheels really suit it, nice work.

[jamieleehodgson]

Thanks all

Ride qaulity has if anything improved as i have got rid of the run flats.

[jamieleehodgson]

GWMD said:

Very nice.

Out of interest what size and offsets are the CSL reps? What is the clearance like, I've read that the E91's are generous.

Am not sure mate as i just got garage to order them... they fit straight on without spacers etc.. i think i heard him say et of 35 front and et 42 back if that makes sense? I know there 8.5 front and 9.5 rear

[mig25_foxbat2003]

That looks amazing on the CSL Reps!

[CraigMST]

CSL wheels really set it off. I think the CSLs would look great on anything

[Crusoe]

jamieleehodgson said:

I get well over 300 HP

Only 282 bhp as standard?

[jamieleehodgson]

Yes but mapped they are 340-360 + over 500lbs/ft

[Crusoe]

jamieleehodgson said:

Yes but mapped they are 340-360 + over 500lbs/ft

Which maybe isn't such a good idea as I believe at least some of the 2008 models had the ZF 6HP26 gearbox which according to the ZF website has an input rating of 443ft/lbs of torque. The later cars have a 6Hp28, which is rated at 520 ft/lbs. Depends on when your car was made as the change over was around 2008 I believe, think you can tell if your car will do block downchanges with the newer (higher rated) gearbox rather than having to change down one gear at a time.

[jamieleehodgson]

Crusoe said:

Which maybe isn't such a good idea as I believe at least some of the 2008 models had the ZF 6HP26 gearbox which according to the ZF website has an input rating of 443ft/lbs of torque. The later cars have a 6Hp28, which is rated at 520 ft/lbs. Depends on when your car was made as the change over was around 2008 I believe, think you can tell if your car will do block downchanges with the newer (higher rated) gearbox rather than having to change down one gear at a time.

thanks I havent found any failures yet on forums and many are mapped much higher than 440.. but i did read later ones are stronger.. I will check to see if it does block downchanges today... how will i do that? brake hard in manual and watch rev counter?

[P K Wright]

That is a very, very nice car plus I think you did the right thing with the wheels!

[jamieleehodgson]

Thank me too

just changed grills what do people think?

before


after

[stewies_minion]

Hi - I've got almost the same car. Pleased to see you're enjoying yours.

I'd been thinking of changing the kidney grills too - have you got a linky to where you bought yours please?

I've been a bit wary of some of the eBay ones in case they're £50 of st.

Cheers

[jamieleehodgson]

I just got them off ebay, they are a little cheap looking but pretty good considering i am directly comparing them with BMW standard.
got them off ebay for £50 and the were nicely packaged.

Easy to remove, so you could just dechrome them and spray them yourself.

I am going to either laquer my new ones or get OEMs done in Gloss black

[dbdb]

These BMWs are an excellent car, good to drive and very practical too. It amuses me that so many want to paint black the chrome grille that BMW fitted to show it has one of their six cylinder engines, rather than a four. Maybe they got it the wrong way round!

[GWMD]

jamieleehodgson said:

Am not sure mate as i just got garage to order them... they fit straight on without spacers etc.. i think i heard him say et of 35 front and et 42 back if that makes sense? I know there 8.5 front and 9.5 rear

Ah ok thanks for that. Are they 18's or 19's? Where they from BMAutosport by any chance?

You need a set of Darkline lights for the rear... Just fitted a set to my 330d.
http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1168452

[jamieleehodgson]

GWMD said:

Ah ok thanks for that. Are they 18's or 19's? Where they from BMAutosport by any chance?

You need a set of Darkline lights for the rear... Just fitted a set to my 330d.
http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1168452

They are 19's.

Got them through gates tyres local firm.

Am interested in all the subtle mods that can be done. I dont even know any decent on line traders that specialise in bmw add ons?!

Like the darkline lights!
Would also like the twin front carbon splitters and carbon wingmirror covers