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Silverstar wrote: ↑Sun Feb 19, 2023 7:51 pm Speaker install is looking good as is the carbon fibre console the MMI box placement is neat but will be a pain to get to in the future if you ever need to.

Yes I decided to be confident …I guess after several s/w releases and the latest hardware it hopefully is now stable and debugged..

Been putting off mounting the new carbon fibre wrapped trim to the original panels…( have to swap them across to retain the impulse alacantra trim.

So drilled out the black plastic rivets with an 8mm drill..the old trim presses out then fitted the new C/F parts and used the glue gun to hold in place..

Nice result..

Very nice

That mix is very sexy!

When I tried to get the steering geometry set up we found that the toe in couldn’t be set to perfection due to limitations in adjustment of the stock rear trailing arm to chassis brackets.

In addition they observed that the trailing arm bushes fitted only a year earlier were showing signs of wear…

The E89 rear suspension is a complete copy of the E85/86 except that certain dimensions are altered as a result of track width changes.

The E85 boys have been changing their RTABs for a long time with all sorts of versions being used such stock, polyurethane and even roller bearings.

The issue for the E89 as well is that the whole rear wheel geometry and stability rests on the integrity of the bush and its relationship to the arm and bracket.

The problem is that with 400 BHP tugging at the bushes they deform under load and wear..in both cases the toe in fa tor changes..going to toe out..analogous to dynamic and unmanageable rear wheel steering.

To get round these issues I’ve bought some chunkier RTAB mounting plates that bolt to the chassis and have much greater adjustability.

To get round the distortion that happens to the RTAB there are various solutions..needle / roller bearings, polyurethane bushes and in this case a much uprated rubber based bush but with a focus on stability whilst still avoiding NVH induced issues.

Hardrace make these bushes for a wide variety of cars and other suspension related bushes..as well as needle roller solutions if you can cope with NVH.

I’ve got the bushes for the other linkages , 2 per side.

Since all these bushes during their installation process will affect the geometry I plan to get these done by the shop that then does the geometry adjustment..

Pictures show the stock bushes alongside their uprated cousins..

This set cost around £300 so not a cheap solution plus another £100 ish for the chunky brackets..

B21, this is a very high level of devotion you’re showing to your car, obsessive some might say. Or impressive, I go with the latter, do you track this car or intend to?

Jey wrote: ↑Fri Feb 24, 2023 11:24 pm B21, this is a very high level of devotion you’re showing to your car, obsessive some might say. Or impressive, I go with the latter, do you track this car or intend to?

Yes it’s OCD….

No I don’t track my car..if that was the focus you would do somethings differently..more camber, lower ride height, more damping, bigger brakes, stiffer ARB settings etc

The focus is on ‘hooning’..that is wandering at high speed across Scotland’s bumpy, often bendy, usually narrow roads..the focus is on high speed control, stability, large margins of grip and ability to cope with sudden, unforeseen circumstances…

Hooning around the twisties in Scotland sounds good, I’d need a car the where the handling far exceeds my ability to keep me in one piece

Jey wrote: ↑Sat Feb 25, 2023 12:33 am Hooning around the twisties in Scotland sounds good, I’d need a car the where the handling far exceeds my ability to keep me in one piece

Yes exactly, unfortunately the N54 Zeds have an engine whose power and mass overwhelm what is otherwise quite a reasonable chassis…

Hence my mods ..

There was a burst of activity a couple of years ago headed by Silverstar and Nitrix in using genuine carbon fibre to over lay on the E89 interior trim areas.

I bought from Silverstar a set of interior trims and some panels that had been carbon fibre’ d and then epoxy resin coated..

For various reasons they languished in my goodies cupboard…

This winter I decided to fit them, then as I pondered I realised that leaving the door handle trim in its original yukkie dark brown trim would be an affront to tactile and visual tastes..

Therefore I contacted Silverstar with a fire to getting these done..pleased to say he’s still in the market for doing them.

These arrived yesterday., just unwrapped and very beautiful.

So the good bits are..

Despite quite thick layers of epoxy the trim and controls reassemble without any issues

The photos don’t do justice to the lustre and depth

A lovely tactile feel to the finish

I had the gear gaiter re-finished by Royal Steering Wheels to suit them plus the Royal Steering wheel re-furb


Things to consider are

Unless you have a spare trim set there is a 2 to 3 week turnaround / down time

Costs..Silverstar quotes £500 for a complete set of your trim being processed..plus p+p..which given the time and quality I honk is very reasonable for the result…especially if you are a crack handed muppet

I think the cleaning of the surfaces will need to be done very carefully to avoid scratches in the epoxy

Well pleased and a big thanks to Silverstar

Unfortunately I’m limited to the house following a major eye op but hopefully in 4 to 6 weeks time I’ll be able to fit them.

Thanks to Mark. 3 versions of my Garmin Mini 2 pedestal arrived…when I can get back in the garage I’ll give these babies a go

3D printing is a wonderful thing …going to look very professional..compared to a bent metal bracket.

Test fit of rear facing camera looks good ..

Looks great!

Another B21 shaped hole I dug myself into.

I fitted a Wagner Evo 1 FMIC to replace the stock FMIC on my 20i when I remapped it past 300bhp.

It turns out that the 18i/20i/28i FMIC is the same as the 35i/35is FMIC.

Prior to selling the car I re-installed the OE FMIC and transfered the Wagner Evo 1 FMIC to the 35is..all well and with that went onto record 400 bhp on my trusty dyno.

Fast forward on to the uprated TTE500 turbo upgrade plan..whih called for uprated inlet /outlet plumbing from 1.75" to 2"

Sudden dawning that both the relative sizing and the type of connectors was going to be a problem.

The OE connectors to the OE FMIC are push in and circlip..the aftermarket turbos, the outlet pipes and charge pipes are all push over with hose clamps.

I therefore was left with an imponderable when we came to fit said plumbing..how and if I could connect the Evo1 with OE style connectors to the new larger 2" slip over plumbing and uprated VTT turbo outlet pipes and new VSRF charge pipe.

Given that I'm using a local garage's 4 post lift and helper I didn't want to get stuck with an issue that either couldn't be resolved or would take time.

The issue is the dissimilar sizes of the external diameter of the Evo 1 FMIC and the plumbing around it..about 12-15 mm difference and the need also for flexible couplings and high temperature (greater than 150c) and high pressures (more than 2 bar) required.

In the end I just opened up the wallet and bought an Evo 2 which is designed for the job..so all plumbing lines up, they supply the correct hoses and voila..problem solved..

There is a small performance advantage of the Evo 2 as a tube and fin construction vs the Evo 1 which bar and plate.

First world problems..

Pictures show relevant story and stock 35i FMIC for comparison.

After several weeks off from my eye op starting to get going in the garage..

Decided to play around with the MMI MOST box start up screen that can no longer be changed in the latest release and has the Mr 12 Volt splash screen.

So uploaded a 1280*480 splash screen of my own and also replaced the Mr 12 Volt Icon in the apps screen with a tasteful BMW logo..

Will start buttoning up the interior steadily now..