-
Read the WELCOME ALL BMWFANATICS post.
E81 130i story
- Thread starter CA_130
- Start date
CA_130
///Member
Thanks guys, really appreciate the response :ty:
but before we get to the assembly, there is actually a spoiler alert
...2 to be precise ! :cartel:
But we'll circle back to that in a minute.
I had a more practical issue I needed to deal with, which I suspect has led many a BMW owner to spend unnecessary money and throw away good working parts
... The electric mirror control
:hammerhead:
Since owning the car, i couldn't help nut notice that the controls in the drivers' door weren't what you would call "up to scratch"
The mirror control 'joystick' felt a little numb and inconsistent, and the window controls left me unsatisfied as they weren't as crisp as the passenger door control.
But with the car having a life before me, I chalked it up to excessive and improper usage by the previous owner, thinking they had just 'worn out' the 'crispness' like an old playstation analog.
Anyway,
It got to the point when one day it eventually gave up the ghost, when I adjusted the passenger mirror down to parallel park, and just couldn't get it up again (stop laughing).
initially I thought it might have been the mirror as in a stuck motor or broken gear, but quickly ruled this out when I tired this in the drivers mirror.
My initial hope was that it was a fuse that might have blown, but I also knew that the likelihood of fusing something within that resolution on a circuit was slim to none.
I checked the mirrors by hand, after a buddy pointed out they used servo motors, they could still move freely, so I adjusted them to driving position and just carried on with whatever I was doing, or wherever I needed to go.
I started eliminating possible causes and eventually the most likely suspect was the drivers' door switch itself, because now that I thought about it, there had been a progressive, albeit slight, increase in the force needed to push the button to get the mirror moving up.
I started phoning around for prices new and secondhand, needless to say I wasn't impressed :roflol:
So I figured I'd take it out and see if it is fixable, what's the worst that can happen.
but before we get to the assembly, there is actually a spoiler alert
...2 to be precise ! :cartel:
But we'll circle back to that in a minute.
I had a more practical issue I needed to deal with, which I suspect has led many a BMW owner to spend unnecessary money and throw away good working parts
... The electric mirror control
:hammerhead:
Since owning the car, i couldn't help nut notice that the controls in the drivers' door weren't what you would call "up to scratch"
The mirror control 'joystick' felt a little numb and inconsistent, and the window controls left me unsatisfied as they weren't as crisp as the passenger door control.
But with the car having a life before me, I chalked it up to excessive and improper usage by the previous owner, thinking they had just 'worn out' the 'crispness' like an old playstation analog.
Anyway,
It got to the point when one day it eventually gave up the ghost, when I adjusted the passenger mirror down to parallel park, and just couldn't get it up again (stop laughing).
initially I thought it might have been the mirror as in a stuck motor or broken gear, but quickly ruled this out when I tired this in the drivers mirror.
My initial hope was that it was a fuse that might have blown, but I also knew that the likelihood of fusing something within that resolution on a circuit was slim to none.
I checked the mirrors by hand, after a buddy pointed out they used servo motors, they could still move freely, so I adjusted them to driving position and just carried on with whatever I was doing, or wherever I needed to go.
I started eliminating possible causes and eventually the most likely suspect was the drivers' door switch itself, because now that I thought about it, there had been a progressive, albeit slight, increase in the force needed to push the button to get the mirror moving up.
I started phoning around for prices new and secondhand, needless to say I wasn't impressed :roflol:
So I figured I'd take it out and see if it is fixable, what's the worst that can happen.
CA_130
///Member
I started by removing the switch from the door which was straightforward enough as it lifted straight up and out. I searched youtube for help on this, and it seems some models have a tang keeping them in place, so figure out which one is yours
The switch backing is held to the housing/facia by 4 small start screws
Loosen these and then there's just a few clips that are easily dealt with for disassembly
after that you can disassemble the unit completely into its individual parts.
and remove the circuit board and 'silicone spring pad' I guess ??
this thin layer sits atop the circuit board, and is what provides the buttons their crispness and return spring, they also contain small electrical contact points which complete different parts of the circuit, and send power to the appropriate motor/adjuster
with time and usage the silicone loses its 'pop' and that's what causes the buttons to feel numb.
In the background here you can see the gold contact points mounted in the silicone
I inspected all the components and circuits for obvious signs of damage or wear, cleaned them, and inspected again.
No joy.
But there were 2 things I did find, its hard to see with the eye, but the area of the board associated with moving the mirror 'down' was very tacky. Initially I though must be coke, but its a hard place to get to, even for a liquid.
the second thing was that the silicone pad contacts looked a little dirty. Not having any contact cleaner, I cracked open a bottle of my favorite solvent
... benzine :smilebounce:
took a few cotton buds and went to town. Visually the silicone contacts were cleaner when I finished, and the tackiness was gone from the circuit board.
Like I said, visually no different
My thoughts were that the lacquer used to seal the solder degrades over time and eventually builds up enough that it doesn't permit good electrical contact
with that done, and the switch still disassembled, I figures I'd give it a good clean.
Its a 'while you're in there' job, and its something you make contact with everyday, so take 5 min to get all the years of finger yuck out better than you r detailer can :roflol:
With everything cleaned and assembled, it was time to test and see the result
...
...
...
Success !!! :cartel:
As if I ever doubted myself :roflol:
all jokes aside, the switched worked perfectly once reinstalled in the car, and some of the 'crispness' even returned. My guess is that the accumulation of dust and dirt slowly fills the voids and reduces "pop", so when cleaned out, you get a newer/lower mileage car feel.
I know it sounds stupid, but that's just my take.
So I managed to save myself some money, see how the window/mirror controls works, and hopefully help a fellow BMW driver in the future by putting this out there.
The switch backing is held to the housing/facia by 4 small start screws
Loosen these and then there's just a few clips that are easily dealt with for disassembly
after that you can disassemble the unit completely into its individual parts.
and remove the circuit board and 'silicone spring pad' I guess ??
this thin layer sits atop the circuit board, and is what provides the buttons their crispness and return spring, they also contain small electrical contact points which complete different parts of the circuit, and send power to the appropriate motor/adjuster
with time and usage the silicone loses its 'pop' and that's what causes the buttons to feel numb.
In the background here you can see the gold contact points mounted in the silicone
I inspected all the components and circuits for obvious signs of damage or wear, cleaned them, and inspected again.
No joy.
But there were 2 things I did find, its hard to see with the eye, but the area of the board associated with moving the mirror 'down' was very tacky. Initially I though must be coke, but its a hard place to get to, even for a liquid.
the second thing was that the silicone pad contacts looked a little dirty. Not having any contact cleaner, I cracked open a bottle of my favorite solvent
... benzine :smilebounce:
took a few cotton buds and went to town. Visually the silicone contacts were cleaner when I finished, and the tackiness was gone from the circuit board.
Like I said, visually no different
My thoughts were that the lacquer used to seal the solder degrades over time and eventually builds up enough that it doesn't permit good electrical contact
with that done, and the switch still disassembled, I figures I'd give it a good clean.
Its a 'while you're in there' job, and its something you make contact with everyday, so take 5 min to get all the years of finger yuck out better than you r detailer can :roflol:
With everything cleaned and assembled, it was time to test and see the result
...
...
...
Success !!! :cartel:
As if I ever doubted myself :roflol:
all jokes aside, the switched worked perfectly once reinstalled in the car, and some of the 'crispness' even returned. My guess is that the accumulation of dust and dirt slowly fills the voids and reduces "pop", so when cleaned out, you get a newer/lower mileage car feel.
I know it sounds stupid, but that's just my take.
So I managed to save myself some money, see how the window/mirror controls works, and hopefully help a fellow BMW driver in the future by putting this out there.
CA_130
///Member
Anywhooo
Back to the story !!
I was searching for this things for over two years, and just couldn't find one anywhere !!
I went so far as to offer people to buy it off their cars that were for sale in other parts of the country, but as you can imagine, no luck, and even less responses.
Time and frustration got the better of me, and eventually I gave up, but not before trying the dealers first. The biggest pain in the arse was finding the part number(s) which just didn't seem to exist anywhere, after navigating that obstacle, I had to more...
Firstly, they only sold it in primer for R5500 :hammerhead::hammerhead::hammerhead:
And secondly, it was no longer in production ! so there went that idea.
The worst part is that I was actually psyching myself up to do this, spend a wad of money, on something basically cosmetic, that didn't sit right with me.
I shelved the idea for a long time, and started investigating other options, either one-off pieces, or adapting spoilers from other models or brands.
The e91 rear spoiler looked promising, but the mating edge was completely wrong. I visited a few local startups that were manufacturing the parts themselves (NO! not the people that did the 240i), but their focus was primarily on the Golf/Polo market, and there was no way I was sticking a BATwing to my roof, sorry, no disrespect to the guys and the skilled work they do, it just wasn't for me
then one day, out of the blue I was online, and just to satisfy my curiosity, I searched for the OEM spoiler again
...
...
...
Low and behold ! I was expecting trash, and I found gold !
there it was, for sale, in primer, with part numbers exposed and everything ! :smilebounce:
raise::chef:
I don't know what I did, but I just figured it was good karma finally changing lanes.
I hopped on the phone, spoke the a few different people, who all seemed to own this thing, and decided the risk was worth it if the sale was real, after all, it would be a very random thing to scam someone with.
TLDR
Did the eft, sent the courier, and A few days later I was the proud owner of some hen's teeth !!!
:smilebounce::smilebounce::tiptoe::tiptoe:
As it showed up, on my desk, and not helping the appearance of being the car part shopaholic
Part number... you're welcome :cartel:
Back to the story !!
I was searching for this things for over two years, and just couldn't find one anywhere !!
I went so far as to offer people to buy it off their cars that were for sale in other parts of the country, but as you can imagine, no luck, and even less responses.
Time and frustration got the better of me, and eventually I gave up, but not before trying the dealers first. The biggest pain in the arse was finding the part number(s) which just didn't seem to exist anywhere, after navigating that obstacle, I had to more...
Firstly, they only sold it in primer for R5500 :hammerhead::hammerhead::hammerhead:
And secondly, it was no longer in production ! so there went that idea.
The worst part is that I was actually psyching myself up to do this, spend a wad of money, on something basically cosmetic, that didn't sit right with me.
I shelved the idea for a long time, and started investigating other options, either one-off pieces, or adapting spoilers from other models or brands.
The e91 rear spoiler looked promising, but the mating edge was completely wrong. I visited a few local startups that were manufacturing the parts themselves (NO! not the people that did the 240i), but their focus was primarily on the Golf/Polo market, and there was no way I was sticking a BATwing to my roof, sorry, no disrespect to the guys and the skilled work they do, it just wasn't for me
then one day, out of the blue I was online, and just to satisfy my curiosity, I searched for the OEM spoiler again
...
...
...
Low and behold ! I was expecting trash, and I found gold !
there it was, for sale, in primer, with part numbers exposed and everything ! :smilebounce:
raise::chef:I don't know what I did, but I just figured it was good karma finally changing lanes.
I hopped on the phone, spoke the a few different people, who all seemed to own this thing, and decided the risk was worth it if the sale was real, after all, it would be a very random thing to scam someone with.
TLDR
Did the eft, sent the courier, and A few days later I was the proud owner of some hen's teeth !!!
:smilebounce::smilebounce::tiptoe::tiptoe:
As it showed up, on my desk, and not helping the appearance of being the car part shopaholic
Part number... you're welcome :cartel:
CA_130
///Member
No points for guessing what happens next... :roflol:
Sand, sand, spray repeat :hammerhead:
But not before touching up a ding that I can only imagine came from making contact with a hard edge
Gave it a quick scuff down and it was ready for a flash coat
Gave it a quick flash coat to see if there would be any color difference or allergic reaction.
After letting it dry for a bit we were happy that nothing was happening, as expected, but you can never make too sure, because with paintwork, its all in the prep !
spraying the spoiler was a little tricky, as it seen both the top and bottom, so how do I do this ?
There were no mounting points on the spoiler, to suspend it for spray, as it uses adhesive tape and a Sika-type product to fix it to the roof?
So we gave the underside a the initial coat, before flipping it over and hitting the sun-facing edge with a few passes over a suspect area, thinking we'll treat it as 2 spray jobs, one side at a time.
and this was the area in question
As soon as we started to lay down some decent paint we spotted something strange happening close to the one edge
The Bro in law spotted this but carried on undeterred, saying he knew how to deal with these kinda issues, I can't remember if it was a chemical reaction, or just me forgetting not to touch it with dirty hands before laying color :fencelook:
A little magic later and all was right in the world again
Sand, sand, spray repeat :hammerhead:
But not before touching up a ding that I can only imagine came from making contact with a hard edge
Gave it a quick scuff down and it was ready for a flash coat
Gave it a quick flash coat to see if there would be any color difference or allergic reaction.
After letting it dry for a bit we were happy that nothing was happening, as expected, but you can never make too sure, because with paintwork, its all in the prep !
spraying the spoiler was a little tricky, as it seen both the top and bottom, so how do I do this ?
There were no mounting points on the spoiler, to suspend it for spray, as it uses adhesive tape and a Sika-type product to fix it to the roof?
So we gave the underside a the initial coat, before flipping it over and hitting the sun-facing edge with a few passes over a suspect area, thinking we'll treat it as 2 spray jobs, one side at a time.
and this was the area in question
As soon as we started to lay down some decent paint we spotted something strange happening close to the one edge
The Bro in law spotted this but carried on undeterred, saying he knew how to deal with these kinda issues, I can't remember if it was a chemical reaction, or just me forgetting not to touch it with dirty hands before laying color :fencelook:
A little magic later and all was right in the world again
CA_130
///Member
anyway, we let that set, left everything alone for about a week to properly dry off, before the fumes of freshly painted car parts started to affect the Mrs.
Saturday came around, she set off for the morning and I got straight into tackling the rear bumper removal and installation.
I broke out the old faithful 1/4" socket set and terminal flat screwdriver to get the job going
I started by taking the rear lights out, which was straight forward enough
The boot liners come out without any special tools, and just takes some wangling/flexing to get to the tail light electrical connector. Unplug that, remove the 3 nuts that hold it in place, and the lights come straight out the back (revealing years of dirt).
:fencelook:
Once I could see that there were no fasteners under the rear lights, I started to work my way methodically around the bumper, being careful not to twist or scratch any of the or sheet metal, or damage any of the clips or slots in the years old plastic.
There are surprisingly few fasteners that actually hold the bumper (bumper skin) in place.
There's about 6 in each fender liner, none under the latch rubber, and about 4-6 that bolt the bottom lip to the battery tray under the boot...
Removed those, popped the licence plate lights out, undid the clips and there were technically no fasteners left :thumbs:
the last bit is removing the bumper from the clips in the body work. If you can't exercise restraint or have a patient touch, ask someone else to do this for you maybe
I took the opportunity to clean out the taillight recesses with a wet rag before laying down some cardboard for the freshly painted parts and started with the installation/re-installation
This is far easier as the tabs on the skin takes 98% of the guesswork out of panel alignment
:ty:BMW design team
After initial alignment, I installed all the fasteners loosely, to allow some wiggle room for final it and finish. Once I was happy with where everything was sitting, I snugged up all the hardware, put back all the trim, and reinstalled the lights and smiled at what I had done, and the first proper spray work I had ever done, props to the B-I-L for that though let's be honest.
While I was in "bodywork" mode, I decided to play around with the spoiler(s) I had bough a little while back
:fencelook:
Yes spoilers
:roflol::roflol::roflol:
I have a carcaine problem, I know.
I managed to get hold an aftermarket F20 style rear spoiler... splitter ? a debate for another time.
I pulled out the carbon splitter and freshly sprayed OEM aero spoiler and gave them a test fit
Carbon:
OEM:
None:
I couldn't decide which one I liked more, or which one suited the car best at the time, so I went full A45 and stuck them both on together :roflol:
I won't lie, from the back, it looks pretty cool with both fitted, at least to my eyes, and that's all that matters, but double decking the spoilers won't work as they're just such a bad fit.
I think for now I'll rock the OEM spoiler proudly, and maybe, MAYBE after add the other carbon bits, I'll swap the spoiler for the splitter.
But until then, they'll both have to wait, because before we can get there
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
We got a roof to paint :cartel::cartel::cartel::cartel:
I rolled around with the old danky diffuser and no rear plate for about 2 days, before my BIL got irritated with the way it looked and we yanked it off when I came to visit.
:roflol:
I rolled around diffuser-less for a week, and to be honest, I really really liked the look of it. It was much more aggresive, and gave the car a hunkered down time-attack under body-aero look/feel.
I studied the underbelly and rear end to see how I could permanently achieve this, but the car just doesn't have the shape for it, the culprit... boot mounted battery tray :blueCry::blueCry:
I haven't given up hope yet of maybe molding my own diffuser in time to come, but there's a whole list of items sitting higher in the priority list.
I'll save that for another day...
Saturday came around, she set off for the morning and I got straight into tackling the rear bumper removal and installation.
I broke out the old faithful 1/4" socket set and terminal flat screwdriver to get the job going
I started by taking the rear lights out, which was straight forward enough
The boot liners come out without any special tools, and just takes some wangling/flexing to get to the tail light electrical connector. Unplug that, remove the 3 nuts that hold it in place, and the lights come straight out the back (revealing years of dirt).
:fencelook:
Once I could see that there were no fasteners under the rear lights, I started to work my way methodically around the bumper, being careful not to twist or scratch any of the or sheet metal, or damage any of the clips or slots in the years old plastic.
There are surprisingly few fasteners that actually hold the bumper (bumper skin) in place.
There's about 6 in each fender liner, none under the latch rubber, and about 4-6 that bolt the bottom lip to the battery tray under the boot...
Removed those, popped the licence plate lights out, undid the clips and there were technically no fasteners left :thumbs:
the last bit is removing the bumper from the clips in the body work. If you can't exercise restraint or have a patient touch, ask someone else to do this for you maybe
I took the opportunity to clean out the taillight recesses with a wet rag before laying down some cardboard for the freshly painted parts and started with the installation/re-installation
This is far easier as the tabs on the skin takes 98% of the guesswork out of panel alignment
:ty:BMW design team
After initial alignment, I installed all the fasteners loosely, to allow some wiggle room for final it and finish. Once I was happy with where everything was sitting, I snugged up all the hardware, put back all the trim, and reinstalled the lights and smiled at what I had done, and the first proper spray work I had ever done, props to the B-I-L for that though let's be honest.
While I was in "bodywork" mode, I decided to play around with the spoiler(s) I had bough a little while back
:fencelook:
Yes spoilers
:roflol::roflol::roflol:
I have a carcaine problem, I know.
I managed to get hold an aftermarket F20 style rear spoiler... splitter ? a debate for another time.
I pulled out the carbon splitter and freshly sprayed OEM aero spoiler and gave them a test fit
Carbon:
OEM:
None:
I couldn't decide which one I liked more, or which one suited the car best at the time, so I went full A45 and stuck them both on together :roflol:
I won't lie, from the back, it looks pretty cool with both fitted, at least to my eyes, and that's all that matters, but double decking the spoilers won't work as they're just such a bad fit.
I think for now I'll rock the OEM spoiler proudly, and maybe, MAYBE after add the other carbon bits, I'll swap the spoiler for the splitter.
But until then, they'll both have to wait, because before we can get there
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
We got a roof to paint :cartel::cartel::cartel::cartel:
I rolled around with the old danky diffuser and no rear plate for about 2 days, before my BIL got irritated with the way it looked and we yanked it off when I came to visit.
:roflol:
I rolled around diffuser-less for a week, and to be honest, I really really liked the look of it. It was much more aggresive, and gave the car a hunkered down time-attack under body-aero look/feel.
I studied the underbelly and rear end to see how I could permanently achieve this, but the car just doesn't have the shape for it, the culprit... boot mounted battery tray :blueCry::blueCry:
I haven't given up hope yet of maybe molding my own diffuser in time to come, but there's a whole list of items sitting higher in the priority list.
I'll save that for another day...
michael.joseph
Active member
So much better.
Love the chunky look of that msport rear with the boot spoiler
:bravo:
Love the chunky look of that msport rear with the boot spoiler
:bravo:
CA_130
///Member
Thanks Gents,
I agree, it looks much better :ty:
@Kyle, initially I considered it, but the chrome trim was actually one of the things that drew me to the car
I have seen them blacked out on E87's and E82's, but on a dark colored car the detail and shape just gets lost somewhere in the paint #blackcarproblems.
The chrome trim is a bit of throwback to old days which is nice, and compliments the car overall nicely.
Plus, I think it matches up nicely to the Mrs' car well
oh,
and the OEM spoiler it will be !!
:smilebounce:
I agree, it looks much better :ty:
@Kyle, initially I considered it, but the chrome trim was actually one of the things that drew me to the car
I have seen them blacked out on E87's and E82's, but on a dark colored car the detail and shape just gets lost somewhere in the paint #blackcarproblems.
The chrome trim is a bit of throwback to old days which is nice, and compliments the car overall nicely.
Plus, I think it matches up nicely to the Mrs' car well
oh,
and the OEM spoiler it will be !!
:smilebounce:
CA_130
///Member
Thanks Bru :thumbs:
all about that 2 door life :tiptoe:
Its taken time to get things done, mainly due to a lack of time, availability and the countrywide scavenger hunt for parts
but stay tuned, hopefully within the next few weeks the thread will be up to date with where the car is now.
In retrospect, life would have been a helleva lot easier if I created this thread, and updated things as I went along, but oh well, that's how we learn.
speaking of up to date, the next major task was arguably the most daunting, for me at least
We would be tackling the faded roof :blueCry:
a few months after owning the car, the roof started to noticeably fade, I tried a Smörgåsbord of paint and car products to avoid having to respray the roof, as I wanted to keep the OEM factory paint on the body.
I took the car to a few detailers as well to see if they could work some magic, but alas, no result...
Respray it would be then. The paint so coarse that you could maybe do your nails if you dragged them on the roof long enough :roflol::roflol:
And I stopped washing the car hoping that the dirt would hide the fade :fencelook:
In the shot below you can actually see the fade, and the circle area where the detailer tried something
FYI, this shot was taken from 4 floors up and across a small road :thumbdo::thumbdo:
all about that 2 door life :tiptoe:
Its taken time to get things done, mainly due to a lack of time, availability and the countrywide scavenger hunt for parts
but stay tuned, hopefully within the next few weeks the thread will be up to date with where the car is now.
In retrospect, life would have been a helleva lot easier if I created this thread, and updated things as I went along, but oh well, that's how we learn.
speaking of up to date, the next major task was arguably the most daunting, for me at least
We would be tackling the faded roof :blueCry:
a few months after owning the car, the roof started to noticeably fade, I tried a Smörgåsbord of paint and car products to avoid having to respray the roof, as I wanted to keep the OEM factory paint on the body.
I took the car to a few detailers as well to see if they could work some magic, but alas, no result...
Respray it would be then. The paint so coarse that you could maybe do your nails if you dragged them on the roof long enough :roflol::roflol:
And I stopped washing the car hoping that the dirt would hide the fade :fencelook:
In the shot below you can actually see the fade, and the circle area where the detailer tried something
FYI, this shot was taken from 4 floors up and across a small road :thumbdo::thumbdo:
Dewald Basson
///Member
Bro don't make up stories, you have become addicted to sanding your car. :tease:
CA_130
///Member
Lol, I wish that were the case.
Lets play a game,
Guess which is dirt and which is paint
This is before sanding by the way :hammerhead:
let the prep begin !!
At this point, I don't think it necessary to say much :roflol:
the recipe hasn't changed : Sand sand, sand some more !
...But first, some minor teardown !
We unclipped the roof rails with a broad flat screwdriver, as we couldn't find the trim tools :hammerhead:
taking care not to damage the paint, we managed to remove both rails with minimal clip breakage
on to the sanding...
next was to mask up the spray surface, and the remainder of the car and sunroof to prevent overspray including the antenna base (this becomes relevant later)
we tackled the rear spoiler first as it was the smallest area and the easiest to get to while having both feet on the ground
Before moving on to the main attraction, and the fly in my paint ointment for the past few months
and the finished result after a few nice thick coats of color and clear before rolling her out into the sunshine
and here is where you can clearly see we had some extra paint left in the gun
and then thankfully ran out
:roflol:
Pulling the tape off, and letting her bath in all her Sapphire Black glory !
Night and day difference from before :chef:
I know the bonnet is just dirty in the last image, but it gives a good reference as to just what a difference was made :thumbs:
The observant of you will notice that the rails are still off, while I let the paint dry
... Those eagle eyed of you will notice where I cocked up :withStu:
Remember when I taped the antenna earlier...
Well I kinda forgot to remove the tape before the clear set too much :rage::rage:hammerhead::withStu::blueCry:
Lets play a game,
Guess which is dirt and which is paint
This is before sanding by the way :hammerhead:
let the prep begin !!
At this point, I don't think it necessary to say much :roflol:
the recipe hasn't changed : Sand sand, sand some more !
...But first, some minor teardown !
We unclipped the roof rails with a broad flat screwdriver, as we couldn't find the trim tools :hammerhead:
taking care not to damage the paint, we managed to remove both rails with minimal clip breakage
on to the sanding...
next was to mask up the spray surface, and the remainder of the car and sunroof to prevent overspray including the antenna base (this becomes relevant later)
we tackled the rear spoiler first as it was the smallest area and the easiest to get to while having both feet on the ground
Before moving on to the main attraction, and the fly in my paint ointment for the past few months
and the finished result after a few nice thick coats of color and clear before rolling her out into the sunshine
and here is where you can clearly see we had some extra paint left in the gun
and then thankfully ran out
:roflol:
Pulling the tape off, and letting her bath in all her Sapphire Black glory !
Night and day difference from before :chef:
I know the bonnet is just dirty in the last image, but it gives a good reference as to just what a difference was made :thumbs:
The observant of you will notice that the rails are still off, while I let the paint dry
... Those eagle eyed of you will notice where I cocked up :withStu:
Remember when I taped the antenna earlier...
Well I kinda forgot to remove the tape before the clear set too much :rage::rage:hammerhead::withStu::blueCry:
Captain_Stealth
Well-known member
looks great, nicely done !
CA_130
///Member
in between all the sanding and spraying, I kept the scavenger hunt going, and the hard work started bearing more and more fruit
I was lucky enough to come across a gent who was parting with some rather tasty and hard to find goodies
he had a full OEM carbon interior trim that I wasn't really interested in, and a rear carbon diffuser that he refused to part with, I even offered to buy the whole rear bumer :hammerhead::roflol::roflol:
The diffuser in question
Anyway, I had to calm myself down before I offered to buy the whole car, and that would definitely have pissed the Mrs off
After the pleasantries, he ended up with a lot of my money, and I ended up with the full BMWP intake, and ever so rare BMWP Carbon strut brace.
good deal :roflol::smilebounce:
While I was at it I picked up some carbon mirror covers and threw the rear spoiler you saw earlier in just for good measure.
I was super excited when the parts finally arrived ! like a child opening their birthday presents.
But that feeling quickly went away when I checked out the mirror covers. Between the shipper and the courier, one of them had either dropped the package badly or placed something heavy on it causing the resin on the mirrors to crack and fall off in big pieces.
But they were after market parts so I wasn't too heart sore, I saw it as yet another opportunity to learn something, that same night started googling Carbon fiber repairs on Youtube :biglol:
At this point I've learned more new skills owning this car than I did in my last two years of high school. :hammerhead:
Also, I wasn't a fan of the raw plastic lid on the filter box, when the cowl has such a nice finish, makes no sense to me why BMW cheaped out and didn't just skin it from the factory??
Anyway, in present day and time I have yet to tackle this, seeing as how I've never even dealt with fiberglass before.
I won't lie, carbon isn't exactly a cheap material to play around with, and the lid will have to be done right on the first try, so let's see what happens.
I cleaned and inspected the rest of the parts (OEM) and was satisfied just owning them :bravo:
I waited about a week before I could pay the dealer a visit and get the new nuts I needed to fit the strut brace.
Once I had the hardware in hand, I popped the bonnet one Saturday and fitted the carbon engine bay bits
Before:
BMWP strutbrace:
BMPW intake:
I was lucky enough to come across a gent who was parting with some rather tasty and hard to find goodies
he had a full OEM carbon interior trim that I wasn't really interested in, and a rear carbon diffuser that he refused to part with, I even offered to buy the whole rear bumer :hammerhead::roflol::roflol:
The diffuser in question
Anyway, I had to calm myself down before I offered to buy the whole car, and that would definitely have pissed the Mrs off
After the pleasantries, he ended up with a lot of my money, and I ended up with the full BMWP intake, and ever so rare BMWP Carbon strut brace.
good deal :roflol::smilebounce:
While I was at it I picked up some carbon mirror covers and threw the rear spoiler you saw earlier in just for good measure.
I was super excited when the parts finally arrived ! like a child opening their birthday presents.
But that feeling quickly went away when I checked out the mirror covers. Between the shipper and the courier, one of them had either dropped the package badly or placed something heavy on it causing the resin on the mirrors to crack and fall off in big pieces.
But they were after market parts so I wasn't too heart sore, I saw it as yet another opportunity to learn something, that same night started googling Carbon fiber repairs on Youtube :biglol:
At this point I've learned more new skills owning this car than I did in my last two years of high school. :hammerhead:
Also, I wasn't a fan of the raw plastic lid on the filter box, when the cowl has such a nice finish, makes no sense to me why BMW cheaped out and didn't just skin it from the factory??
Anyway, in present day and time I have yet to tackle this, seeing as how I've never even dealt with fiberglass before.
I won't lie, carbon isn't exactly a cheap material to play around with, and the lid will have to be done right on the first try, so let's see what happens.
I cleaned and inspected the rest of the parts (OEM) and was satisfied just owning them :bravo:
I waited about a week before I could pay the dealer a visit and get the new nuts I needed to fit the strut brace.
Once I had the hardware in hand, I popped the bonnet one Saturday and fitted the carbon engine bay bits
Before:
BMWP strutbrace:
BMPW intake:
