Atacama Yellow 35is build thread

Pondrew said:
What's the deal with the anti-clockwise rev counter? :headbang:
A few rev counters have gone 'the wrong way' over the years. It would make my head spin and make me (even more) angry, as 'clocks' are supposed to go clockwise. Otherwise they wouldn't be called 'clocks'.
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The id4motion guys plagiarised various bmw cluster designs…I’m not sure which bmw has the one that you describe…

Since this default screen is my comfort / eco mode screen I’m not overly bothered by the readability…actually because it’s a ‘fill’ effect it’s actually very easy to determine ‘how far’ you are up the revs..plus with 550 bhp 730nm it’s the g force that tells you what revs you’re at..

Plus the DCT handles every aspect of gearbox / engine management in that mode..

There are a choice of around 8 main designs , each with 6-8 colours and usually another couple of design changes ..

At the end of the day it’s yellow and I like it…

Appreciate its not original but it’s way way better than those nasty G29 look alike Chinese screens…

Each to their own..imho
 
Pondrew said:
That I agree with. The latest G series BM dashes look like something from Star Wars.
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Strange no one comments on it but it’s one of the naffest designs I’ve seen..IMHO..almost any BMW instrumentation IMHO is prettier / more readable…

Must stop agreeing with you..

I’ll get on the line to Craig3.2😳🙈👍
 
The Lord giveth and taketh..

Bad news is the GPS connector on the back of the iDrive head unit had broken up...looks like a board level repair to fix...

No nav fix..!-;)

Fortunately I have a back up CIC unit..putting a SSD into that..will be interesting to see if you can directly swap disks from two CICs coded to the same VINs..

Also a error fault on the heating / AC unit control unit/thought is was an incorrect cable re-fit..will check later..

Refitted the front camera with an angled spacer to try and get a better view of the ground, less sky..1st world problem.

With the help of a Z4 buddy we did the official BMW full brake system purge..first a full all round brake bleed..then the clever stuff..get ISTA to run the DSC unit..then re-bleed each circuit with at least 5 foot presses as well..shocked how much air came out on rear left..a bit on the rear right, a bit on the front left , zippo front right..pedal feels much much better!

So will tidy up the rear BBK upgrade cables, ziptie everything together and pop the wheels on and go for a geo check..

Then see how the 80nm/96nm springs compare to the 70nm/80nm on the Ohlins..nice ride height now..stock standard ride height..good news with variable damping controls that part is under my control..

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So first test drive since car was taken apart…

Due to the much greater ride height..pretty close to stock E89 levels not MSport..the existing camber / toe are all wonky..

The front right camber is badly out..I knew it but was hoping that the garage would correct it..but…despite being an alignment garage they ‘don’t do camber’…

So I’ll have to an initial crack at it at home before going to my ‘goto’ guys in East Kilbride..

Quite why the right hand front strut is out so much I’m not sure..

After taking the front bumper of the right wing gap is off…needs adjustment..

However good points are…

Despite wonky geo the car drives straight and on exceptionally greasy / cold roads the car felt very comfortable.

The uprated springs 80nm/96nm vs 60nm/70nm do ride more firmly but less thsn I would have imagined.

Ohlins strategy has always been long travel soft springs with sophisticated multi speed adjustable compression / rebound damping.

I’m on 8 on the damping initially against 10 on normal springs for road work.

I look forward to seeing how they work out in anger on some Highland roads at speed!

Elsewhere most things seem pretty ok..awaiting psint shop in February to correct mismatched bumper paint.IMG_1146.jpegIMG_4007.jpeg
 
I managed to break of the GPS connector on the back of the media/nav unit on my car..

It’s a multi hundred pound unit second hand and repairs start at £300+….😳😥

So..on the advice of a said repairer I’ve gone for an epoxy repair of said connector…

Here’s hoping…🙏IMG_1150.jpegIMG_1149.jpegIMG_1151.jpeg
 
Today had the car geometry re-aligned.

My goto place is Automek in East Kilbride..they race/rally cars as part of their DNA..so a good place to go for sanguine advice.

I had disassembled most of the steering and suspension so I'd put it back together using an iPhone spirit level app and a 1m steel ruler.

Also the ride height had been upped about 30-40mm to approx standard Z4 ride height whereas earlier settings were based on the much lower ride height.

Bearing in mine there's been over 50 significant changes to the powertrain / chassis what follows is not standard!

For those not used to reading these charts a quick primer..

The top picture shows the settings BEFORE adjustment as is..the bottom picture shows the setting AFTER adjustment.

The colour coding is based on BMW's standard recommended settings. Green is good, red less so.

However working our way through this..

So I'd done a pretty good job on the front camber with my ruler and digital spirit level -0.9 both sides

Front toe in was off as I suspected but I'd not tried to adjust that.

Rear camber was so so, again I'd not tried to adjust it.

Rear toe was again so so..not miles out.

With these guys its like some sort of intellectual duel.. there's a multitude of questions and challenges.

Given my spec was:

High speed hooning, stability on bumps and at speed we ended up as follows:

Front castor (fixed by design, did have variable castor / camber plates but the noise, vibration, harshness NVH was too bad)

Without either machining the top of the strut tower or refitting camber plates I'd got as far as I could on the front camber..ideally for the tyres/wheels/power/weight/use 2 ish degrees would be nice..but we couldn't get that..

Toe we debated..they wanted zero toe..I negotiated a small amount of toe in for stability with more understeer than they would like.

Rear camber is to a large extent defined by front camber..rule of thumb is about 1 more degree on the rear than front..given modest front camber the rears were set at 2.0 ..BMW for ensuring massive under steer use 2.5.

Again rear toe was set on the dainty side..they really want the Yellow Peril turn and not just go in a straight line.

So how does it all feel..

Bearing in mind we have uprated tie rods, suspension arms, uprated arbs on max stiff, 80nm/96nm vs 60nm/70nm springs, stronger RTAB plates, bushes plus fully adjustable drop links and camber arms as well as the Ohlins...

Ride is definitely firmer, badly worn tarmac is definitely more jiggly at low speed...but...stability, tracking, turn in are all so so much more positive and assured. Hard to tell on wet and greasy roads, the NC500 in March will be a very good test. Ride on smooth roads is very good and as you can imagine bump control is mcuh more assured,,dampers are on 8 clicks, stock 10.PB55BMW 300102026.jpgIMG_1186.JPGIMG_1185.JPG
 
So two unconnected issues although same area of car..

On its first proper drive to get the geo done (first was just a few local miles)..I noticed something wrong with the HVAC..really hot air on the screen..but no ability to change direction and/or temp.

Fault code reader showed various HVAC errors.

I'd (and others) had similar issues when taking the dash trim off for things like hiding a MMI box out of site.

The smaller of the two multi pin connectors looks like its properly seated..but it isn't!

So this time made really really sure it was seated..quick test now showed air being directed to various locations!

Separately tried to debug the CIV sat nav..although my back up unit was working when I checked the GPS pages it gave no reassurance that anything was working even though patently it was!

I tried a separate discrete GPS aeraol..no change..

So I put the original unit (now repaired) back in..tried GPS ..no info..

I think either the MMI Mr 12 Volt CarPlay box and/or the ID4Motion digital cluster is causing an issue with an inability to interrogate said GPS pages?

Anyway I've buttoned it up and I'll wait for a dry day to test out the nav.. I know the CIC nav unit was working in Poland as it showed a location there..whether my epoxy GPS aerial fix works I'll find out when I take it out..with a garage with a metal roof and loads of electrical stuff I don't think its going to get an initial fix in there come what may!

First world issues!


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Took the unique event of sunshine in 2026 to take the Yellow Peril for a follow up shakedown..

I did have a fault with the HVAC with permanent hot air on the windscreen and a no fix on the idrive unit..plus a minor yellow warning sign on the id4 motion digital cluster…

I repaired the plastic gps connector with epoxy and re sat the smaller of the hvac multi pole connectors…🙏

So out today…

Really enjoyable…the hvac behaved nicely with warm air now blown over my hands as well as my feet..

Idrive map came alive..moved from Warsaw to Jedburgh!🤓

Really pleased with the suspension rework..the much stiffer springs (80nm/96nm vs 60nm/70nm) suits the E89..sure a little jiggly at low speed over some stipple bumps but oh so much better at speed.

Steering felt very stable with great feel, not sure if a bit more camber is required for really serious bend swinging…will look at the at next winter.

Being cold +2c, salty and damp wasn’t the best conditions to unleash 550bhp through summer tyres so didn’t push it really hard.

Got a line 5 error fault on the electronic parking brake hence the yellow warning on the idrive / digital cluster..won’t clear do will check the connector ..most likely fault..system still works..

The brakes are really good, great feel, very progressive, easy to modulate…the two stage pressure bleed using ISTA made a big improvement…thought the master cylinder may not be up to the task with so much extra piston area on the front and rear BBKs , but not so.

Really looking forward to some serious hooning on the NC500 in March!🏎

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Reamesy said:
Sits well on the wheel and tyre set up. 👍😎
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Yes never been a fan of the lowered / filled wheel arches look..let’s see how she does on our first NC500 in March…the hinterland roads especially are a demanding evaluator of suspension..
 
Car back from the paint shop…just about every body panel seems to have been painted in the past..

This time front and rear bumpers, rear diffuser, wing mirrors and rear spoiler..IMG_1338.jpegIMG_1337.jpegIMG_1327.jpegIMG_1332.jpegIMG_1328.jpeg
 
Having chuckled with a degree of Schadenfreude at others with roof corrosion I was surprised to find I'm afflicted!

I hardly ever see the roof..out and about the roof is almost always down.

In the garage the car is usually parked roof down.

However, sure enough the tell tale signs of aluminium corrosion are bubbling through the paint on both sides of the rear roof panel.

My paint man says its very common and expensive to fix...needs stripping back to bare metal and epoxy primer on first.

Deferring this to the summer as my paint man prefers warmer weather for these projects..

Heh ho..
 
Well…people often rave about ‘racing’ brake pads…

Found a ‘nice’ issue with some Ferodo DS2500 I fitted on the front to the Shelby Mustang calipers…

After 3 days in relatively warm garage after being put in there wet the front pads had welded themselves to the front discs…

Two folks applying 150nm each to the wheels had no affect…

Only solution was to remove the wheels and use a screwdriver to pry off the pads..

You can see the rust mark where the pad sat..

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B21 said:
Well…people often rave about ‘racing’ brake pads…

Found a ‘nice’ issue with some Ferodo DS2500 I fitted on the front to the Shelby Mustang calipers…

After 3 days in relatively warm garage after being put in there wet the front pads had welded themselves to the front discs…

Two folks applying 150nm each to the wheels had no affect…

Only solution was to remove the wheels and use a screwdriver to pry off the pads..

You can see the rust mark where the pad sat..

View attachment 291239
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Ouch! What's your next step going to be, as I imagine that'll create quite the vibration under braking. Burn it off with some hard stops, re-finish the disc surface or replace the discs?
 
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