So on Monday I decided to take the bumper off, check how to remove the foglights, clean the intercooler, and just check things out in general. Yes I know, this isn't normal. lol
On to the pics
After watching a 3-minute-long youtube video, I set about removing the bumper. Pretty simple, but tedious.
Bumper off
I found a tracking device on the crash bar. Can I sell it or do something cool with it?
I then removed the wire splice and wrapped the wires with new insulation tape. The OEM tape was wearing out on two spots.
Here's the tracking unit.
Intercooler out. It uses the same spring clips as the newer VAG boost pipes, pretty easy to remove.
The location of the intercooler, pretty nifty design if you think about it. I need to log air intake temps to see if I need a bigger 335 intercooler.
Here we're looking at the hot-side boost pipe.
And the cold side boost pipe. The seals on both pipes are still in very good condition, same type as the VAG cars.
Intercooler through-shot. It wasn't really clogged, but the cleaning did make a good visible difference to the permeability of the light.
Here's a peek inside the one end-tank
and the other... Looks great! I wouldn't mind being an air particle and passing through this thing.
Then lots of prepsol went into the intercooler, and I left it there for around 30mins while I went inside and had supper and some coffee. Came back and hosed the crap out of the IC.
This is some of the stuff that was stuck between the intercooler and radiator cowl. A lot less that I was hoping for.
Then on Tuesday night I did the CDV delete.
And then all of 5 minutes later this is what I was looking at. I spilled about 4 drops of brake fluid. I know this because all four were caught by my hair... Joy.
As it should be!
The view from the one side
And the other side. It's such a small hole, I can only imagine how much this restricts the flow if you look at the size of the slave cylinder...
Another view without flash.
I then cleaned these plastic covers, there was this hard baked-on layer of oiliness and sand. Sis.
And all done.
PS, I cleaned the crash bar, the ram tube thiny and pretty much everything I couls get my hands on. I also removed the foglights and realised I need to get some wet sand paper and give them a once-over along with the headlights. There are no cracks, just some pitting. The yellow lamin-X will also look way better on a clear lens.
Regarding the CDV delete, BMW's should never, ever, ever have a CDV!!! The clutch engages so much better, the drivetrain backlash is gone, and I can shift faster, and (this may just be my imagination) I swear the clutch has a lot more bite. Hands down one of the most necessary things to do on a BMW.
tman said:
Awesome thread.
Keep the pictures coming!
Thanks man! I try!