Thank youMr Tidy said:
Meds 3.0si Coupe - Rear brake upgrade in progress.
- Thread starter Meds
- Start date
I needed to change a bulb, why stop there?
I had a misty drivers side headlight on the inside of the 'glass' and it was clear that the projector lens had gone foggy, too. The passenger side wasnt much better.
Bumper off:
Operating table:
After removing the ignitor and bulb, the projector needs to come out.
Getting the projector lens out was a faff. 4x nyloc nuts that need to be unscrewed, along with an absolute PITA connector for the main/dipped flap. A few of the bolts unscrewed fromthe housing due to the nyloc nuts having a little too much bite, this stumped me for a bit but working methodically, the issue was overcome.
A look inside once the projector glass was removed:
A load of different cloths with Isoclene electrical cleaner removed the foggy grime easily. Getting into the corners of the 'glass' was a pain but a chopstick to push the cloth around sorted most of it.. It's not perfect, but a huge difference. They're gleaming again.
You can clearly see how much grime was inside the headlight. The darker bit is where I wiped my finger accross the inside of the projector lens. I suspect from 15 years of dust and condensation, being heated then cooled repeatedly:
The result is a HUGE difference, along with 2 new bulbs its a large improvement not only in looks but increased light output.
The front of the car, along with both fog lights cleaned and ventilated with drill holes. It looks new.
I had a misty drivers side headlight on the inside of the 'glass' and it was clear that the projector lens had gone foggy, too. The passenger side wasnt much better.
Bumper off:
Operating table:
After removing the ignitor and bulb, the projector needs to come out.
Getting the projector lens out was a faff. 4x nyloc nuts that need to be unscrewed, along with an absolute PITA connector for the main/dipped flap. A few of the bolts unscrewed fromthe housing due to the nyloc nuts having a little too much bite, this stumped me for a bit but working methodically, the issue was overcome.
A look inside once the projector glass was removed:
A load of different cloths with Isoclene electrical cleaner removed the foggy grime easily. Getting into the corners of the 'glass' was a pain but a chopstick to push the cloth around sorted most of it.. It's not perfect, but a huge difference. They're gleaming again.
You can clearly see how much grime was inside the headlight. The darker bit is where I wiped my finger accross the inside of the projector lens. I suspect from 15 years of dust and condensation, being heated then cooled repeatedly:
The result is a HUGE difference, along with 2 new bulbs its a large improvement not only in looks but increased light output.
The front of the car, along with both fog lights cleaned and ventilated with drill holes. It looks new.
Some little fiddly jobs completed recently.
MOT - Pass.
Fixed rattling door lock pin thingys.
Fixed rattling centre vent, how much of a PITA was it to remove that vent!!??!!!!
Replaced the cold blue LED in the roof light. With this guy: https://shop.bmw.co.uk/4328/genuine-12v-6w-xenon-roof-interior-light-bulb-fits-most-63-21-7-160-908/ What a great change this has made.
New wheels ordered.
OEM (Suplex) front springs are to be fitted next week. Gone will be the butt clenching and grimacing, yay!
MOT - Pass.
Fixed rattling door lock pin thingys.
Fixed rattling centre vent, how much of a PITA was it to remove that vent!!??!!!!
Replaced the cold blue LED in the roof light. With this guy: https://shop.bmw.co.uk/4328/genuine-12v-6w-xenon-roof-interior-light-bulb-fits-most-63-21-7-160-908/ What a great change this has made.
New wheels ordered.
OEM (Suplex) front springs are to be fitted next week. Gone will be the butt clenching and grimacing, yay!
The front springs were swapped back to OEM (Suplex 06248) height, last week.
I can now drive it without worry, and it's a huge relief.
I've gained 1.25" going back to OEM 'Sport' springs.
The stance is now level, but will change when I get around to doing the rear springs to match.
To bo honest though, the drives I've done so far, it's really hard to notice the difference in spring rates, so I might just leave it for a bit longer and see how it goes. At this point, I cannot notice any difference between front (Suplex) and rear (Eibach Pro).
Before and after:
I can now drive it without worry, and it's a huge relief.
I've gained 1.25" going back to OEM 'Sport' springs.
The stance is now level, but will change when I get around to doing the rear springs to match.
To bo honest though, the drives I've done so far, it's really hard to notice the difference in spring rates, so I might just leave it for a bit longer and see how it goes. At this point, I cannot notice any difference between front (Suplex) and rear (Eibach Pro).
Before and after:
1536Z4 said:Meds said:
.........and has Mrs Meds driven it yet
Wheels...... Don't get me started.
I'm waiting on my 2nd set, awiting a refurb then dispatch. They should be with me soon.
DHL 'lost' the 1st set, apparently. How can DHL lose a pallet of wheels in boxes, I really do not know.
No, Mrs Meds has not driven it after the spring swap, the weather or conditions have not been favourable, to be fair.
The only chance she gets, is when it's dark, cold and rainy or icy. That's no fun considering she's already nervous about driving it.
1536Z4 said:
Yes, I spoke with the wheel refurber place yesterday about the replacement set. Apparently they're being dispatched tmrw or friday.
I've not questioned them further about the lost set.. It wont change anything.
Tyres:
I expect I'll play safe and go for Michelin PS4 or 5's.
But, I've always had good experiences with Falken 452's on previous BMW's
And these Hankook Evo currently on the car, seem perfectly good, too.
Meds said:
I think as long as you go with a decent brand it comes down to price at the time . I have just had some Continental Sport 7 delivered as the reviews look good and B21 on the forum seems very impressed with them . I got them at a decent price from Camskill .
Key fob battery replacement.
My 2nd key was very dead.
A knife, soldering iron, new battery and some epoxy sorted it:
Then a key pairing which had me running around for a while.
The pairing process was simple and worked for both keys. But oddly, only the last key I paired worked to open/close using the buttons.
Whichever order I tried, only the last key would work.
After posting on here. Our guy @Street said I DO NOT insert the 2nd key into the ignition during the pair process. Only the 1st key completes that stage. Boom, it worked and I now have 2 working keys. Fantastic!
My 2nd key was very dead.
A knife, soldering iron, new battery and some epoxy sorted it:
Then a key pairing which had me running around for a while.
The pairing process was simple and worked for both keys. But oddly, only the last key I paired worked to open/close using the buttons.
Whichever order I tried, only the last key would work.
After posting on here. Our guy @Street said I DO NOT insert the 2nd key into the ignition during the pair process. Only the 1st key completes that stage. Boom, it worked and I now have 2 working keys. Fantastic!
R17SKO said:I wasn’t going to say anything
They've arrived. But 2 were damaged by DHL.!
The damaged ones have been collected by ParcelForce, on their way back to be refurbished.
These wheels are cursed.
Once I have the full set, off for some rubber, oh and I need some spacers to make them sit perfect.
Then I'll get photos.
R17SKO said:
BMW style 261 from the 2008 135i coupe.
7.5" front ET49 with 225/40. With a 12mm spacer.
8.5" rear ET52 with 245/40. With a 15mm spacer.
Refurbished in metallic anthracite.
I had a set of these on a previous 130i. They're a great design, easy to clean and if you squint they look very similar to the M style 224s but without sticky out rears.
The 261 are over 1kg lighter per corner, too.
Perfect rubber to rim ratio with a nice bit of rim protection, perfect fitment with the spacers.
A little quieter and potentially comfier.
I deliberated many rim styles. I'm not a fan of the 108s, they're too 'American' for my tastes, with the split rim style.
MV2s were a contender but hard to clean and not overly keen on a wheel used on older gen E46s, they look a little dated to me.
The 17" options are nicer than the 18"s but, decided on 18".
CSLs are a little too cliché but do look great.
I really need to get the car clean, then get the proper camera out for some good pics.
North West Surrey
Meds said:
I couldn't agree more!
I sold my 108s while they still looked decent and fitted a set of Style 295 E89 wheels to my previous E86 which looked similar but didn't need spacers as the fronts were ET29 and rears were ET40.
Removed 19" CSL Reps from my current E86 for OE 224s.
Mr Tidy said:
Thanks.
Yeah the E86 is a very hard car to pair wheels to. Anything too fussy doesnt work as it takes away from the lovely body creases and lines.
19's are too big, especially thick spoked wheels, it looks like a Hot Wheels toy.
Then the offset issue with risk of rubbing (less so now that I've gone back to OEM height on the front)
Style 108 really dont do it for me.
Style 107, the same.
MV2, meh.
Style 203, love them, but i've never seen a set come up over here they all seem to be over in the USA.
Style 216 from the 130i Limited Ed and 320is are lovely, but many are wrecked now, and very rare in the 1 series offsets, if not welded up.
Style 224 are really, really nice but I see too many photos of them looking too big at the rear on the non-M.
Riva DTM CSL reps were a contender (and a great price) but I didnt want to move too far from OEM, and CSLs have been done to death, for good reason, though.
I thought long and hard about wheels for months, countless WhatsApp discussions with mates exchanging wheel pictures and ideas.....
I think style 261 from the 135i Coupe has hit the spot. 1Kg lighter, too...
