Nimraynn's 323Ci Progress Thread

[Jay.]

Look alreet them! Also rocking style 44 winters

[Maxone]

The car looks great. Enjoy the winter mode!

[Ashley1995]

Perfect for winters, Cars looking great, really like it mate

Did you find out what the big power loss was about? was it the vans seals?

[Nimraynn]

Not sure yet, I haven't had a chance to properly look into it and as the car seems to be running alright in general at the moment, I think it can wait a little while yet unless it worsens. I did e-mail a local place for a quote but never got a response. When I'm ready to, I'll start calling some places for prices

I did resolve one slight lag in power that only occurred on Sunday though... crap fuel in Calais. Filled up with my usual Tesco 95 unleaded, drove to Bruges, Ypres and Lille, all happy... filled up with half a tank at Carrefour Cité Europe in Calais advertised as "S/PLOMB EURO95", but I'm sure there was a note on the pump saying it was 92RON? I think that's what it said. It was obviously in French and didn't understand most of it But it ran crap and boggy on that fuel... Got it to almost empty today so brimmed the tank with Tesco Momentum99 and already feeling an immediately improvement.

Not going to that petrol station again while I'm on the continent...

[Nimraynn]

Been a while since I updated this

Sorted out the crap running issue by replacing the intake camshaft sensor. Turns out it wasn't the fuel at all as I started getting the issue more and more regardless of what fuel I used. I'm unsure whether that sensor caused the drop is power seen on the rolling road or not, but I think it did as it was noticeably more responsive after replacing the sensor. I'd found it would only run badly when the engine was warm. So if I drove it for an hour, parked up for a few hours and came back, fine. Drive it for 30 minutes, pop into a shop, come back 5 minutes later, won't start properly and runs crap when it does. Just need to get it on the rolling road again to see if I have my missing ponies back.

Been collecting some new parts. Picked up a genuine AC Schnitzer rear roof spoiler from a member on here:

I've laid it down to get a rough idea of how it'll look when fitted:

As an upgrade, picked up an Andrive 3 from Phil:

Impressed with how much quicker than the previous gen Andrive it boots up, but had a bit of trouble with the music player. Still can't get the bluetooth to work. The wifi has died on me so I have to use a USB dongle anyway. At the moment though, I've got it setup wit GoneMAD Player and it seems to be running sweet for the most important job, playing music.

A while ago, I picked up a multifunction steering wheel off eBay for £40, but it was the round airbag type which after doing quite a bit of research, I can't find any solid proven evidence that fitting a dual stage airbag to a single stage car will work or is safe in the event of an accident. So rather be safe than sorry, picked up a triangle airbag type wheel with steering controls:

As you can see in the pics though, it looks like someone has ripped the leather off it. It's like a loose rubbery material. It was cheap enough for me not to really care though, so I've e-mailed Royal Steering Wheels of a quote on thickening it and sticking some leather on it

When I had my wheels repainted in shadow chrome, one of the centre caps came loose and done a runner on the first drive. It turns out that the centre caps these wheels use are like rocking horse s**t to find. They're 68mm outer like the rest of the BMW caps, but they're something obscure on the inside like 62? 58? Something like that. I found ten ton of 68mm caps, none of which would fit these wheels. I found a part number on the back of them and when googling it, the ONLY place I could find that sold blanks were ECS Tuning in the US. So I bought them, but they came with "ALZOR" badges on. They were only gel domed badges though so wasn't an issue. As long as they fit, which they do, I don't care.

Knowing from experience that the badges would fit, I also bought a set of black/silver carbon effect BMW badges. The last set I bought came pre-assembled so I had to peel the badges off and glue them to the new caps. These ones though very nicely came in separates which made life SO much easier.

Peeled the ALZOR badges off:

And stuck the BMW badges on:

And fitted to the (dirty) wheel:

When I bought the centre cap badges, I bought a full set, so also fitted one on the steering wheel:

Next morning, decided it was time to bin the winter wheels into the back of the garage and put the CSLs back on, so gave them a good clean up:

And swapped them over. Good thing too, as when I went to swap the rear right, I found this!

I still haven't got round to looking at it properly, but it took shape again pretty quickly once it was off the car and I couldn't see any visible signs of puncture. Not sure if it's punctured, dodgy valve or if it was just generally low on air and needed pumping up... Either way, not good and it's off the car now.

Gave the car the first clean of the year, fitted matching black/silver carbon bonnet and boot badges, then went to take some fresh photos

[Nimraynn]

As the TATechnix coilovers were getting a bit old, was getting some bangs, creaks and more annoyingly rattles, I decided it was about time I replaced them with something better. Picked up a set of HSD Dualtech coilovers from Driftworks:





Spent a weekend out on the driveway fitting them:



Old vs. new



I fitted the fronts to their highest setting so I could gauge how much I needed to drop it. Lets just say I failed the "shoe test"



I set it up how I wanted it and left it for a week or so to settle in. Decided that the rear was a little bit too high so dropped it down a bit further. Now it sits like this:



I'm still thinking its a bit high both front and rear for my liking so I may drop it even further on both ends, but I think it's got the right sort of level to it so will drop it equally now.

Another job that needed doing was replacing the scuttle panel as mine was horridly cracked and chipped:



Picked up a second hand one on eBay for £15:



Gave it a coat of Chemical Guys Vintage Natural Shine Trim Gel and fitted it:



To go with the MSport bumper, I've also picked up this number plate relocator:



Not 100% sure where I'm going to put it yet, but I wanted to have this so I could remove my number plate as and when I wanted to without having any visible holes on the front of the bumper.

I've ordered the carbon fibre CSL bootlid from SSDD Motorsport. It'll be while before it gets delivered but I'm not in a major rush for it so when the guy gave me an option of 45 days from his normal supplier, or a week from a supplier he's not used so can't guaruntee fitment/quality, I told him I'll take the longer option.

Once I've got the bootlid, I've got all the parts I need to take it into the bodyshop. I've asked my mate for a quote which he says he's got and will "run through it with me" when he sees me on Wednesday at Brands Hatch Summer Wednesdays... they way he says it sounds like its gonna be mega expensive I've asked him to quote on:

Fitting the MSport bumpers, side skirts, AC spoiler, CSL bootlid and a new drivers wing.

Pull some small dents out the doors.

Roll the arches front and rear.

Respray the whole car. Same colour, although I might ask for some extra metallic fleck to make it pop.

I'm hoping to have all that work done by summer, so I need to get saving the pennies. I'd also like to fit carbon fibre CSL front splitters, carbon fibre kidney grilles and a carbon fibre diffuser in the MSport rear bumper, but all that can wait until the main bodywork is done as none of that needs paint or prep so I can fit it myself on the driveway.

Other than that, it's running sweet. The only thing I'm aware that the car NEEDS right now is a new oil level sensor as I've had the yellow oil light coming on for a while. A mate looked at it and said it looked like the oil level was slightly too high which might be confusing the sensor, but it wasn't causing a problem so see if it goes off again when we change the oil next. Changed the oil, still comes on. Looked it up and asked on here only to find its a common fault and you need to drop the oil to change the sensor. Sod doing that right after you've changed the oil I've done a good few thousand miles since I serviced it in November though, including two trips to Belgium, so the oils had some good use already. I'll plan on changing the oil prematurely so I can get the sensor done soon.

I've also sorted out (I think) the stereo interference issue I had. I think I've probably just masked it more than anything but the input levels on the amp were always set very high, too high for my liking as low volumes weren't low enough, so I've been meaning to change it for ages. People talking to me about grounds and running cables in certain places, etc. I tried a few things. I tried removing the Vibe FastPlug to eliminate a bad connection for ground there. No difference. Reseated the earth, no difference. Someone suggested removing a screw from the headunit, attach a cable to that and run it to the earth on the amp. No difference. Spotted a "GND" cable on the headunit wiring, tried connecting it there instead, no difference. Remove the RCAs from the amp, gone! Attach the RCAs, back again! Remove the RCAs from the headunit, louder! Plug them back in, quieter but still there. Turn the input levels up or down, interference goes up or down with it. Went somewhere quiet to set the input levels again having a) just messed with them to test; and needed doing anyway. It's now set to a decent level for listening, setup more properly this time, and the interference is pretty much non-existant. The only thing left to do is drill the ski-hatch plate out and wind a tidier way of running the speaker cables and RCAs to the amp. Power cables are fine, it's just the rest are a bit untidy.

And finally for now, here are some photos taken when I went to Heaven On Wheels Tuningday 12 in Anderlect, Belgium a few weeks ago with a group of mates from another club. I did get scared at the third photo as we bought so much beer at an awesome cheap shop in Adinkerke, there was about a 1-2cm gap between rear arch and tyre

[allan k]

Nice upgrades and pics

[The Laird]

Lovin your mods Nimrayann.Topaz rocks

[Ashley1995]

Looking great mate, did I hear your taking it to InCarNation on the 25th? Looking forward to seeing it this year [emoji106]

[Nimraynn]

Cheers guys. And yeah, I'll be at Incarnation on the AON stand

Come say hello. I'll also be at Brands Hatch Summer Wednesdays (pretty much every month) and the BHP Performance Show at Lydden Hill. I'm unsure which yet, but I'll also be at either Trax at Silverstone or Scottish Car Show at The Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh.

Edit Made my mind up about shows

Edited April 6, 2015 by Nimraynn

[Nimraynn]

So as those of you who came to Brighton know, I had a guy in a Vivaro van t-bone me on a roundabout on Friday morning on my way to work. He just pulled out slowly and hit the side of me as I went to take my exit. His fault, claimed he didn't see me coming.

This is the damage done:

Had a phone call from the company on Monday morning and they've straight up admitted liability with no questions asked. Not sure if it was my mention of dashcam footage being available upon request, or whether it was just down the guy genuinely admitting it was his fault. He seemed pretty genuine when we exchanged details, although we didn't really talk about whos fault it was. I just let him know I had a dashcam, we exchange details and that was that.

Had an independant assessor contracted by the company come out to look at the damage today and they've said they don't write cars off, but if it's "uneconomical to repair", they'll just pay me out a cash sum around the value of the car. He's had a look and reckons it'd be around £800 to knock the dents out and paint it, but on insurance he'd have to quote new parts which would run it into the thousands when you add the labour to cut and weld the rear quarters... so he's said he'll be giving a recommendation of a £1300-1500 cash sum payout to cover it. Been to see a mate who is a panel beater in the bodyshop I'll be getting all my bodywork done at and he reckons if it was just that, £500-600 to repair it, but if I'm tieing it in with my respray, it might not even change the price...

So thanks to this guy, it sounds like I might have most of my respray paid for me

[BmEagle]

A good ending is always nice to hear. ?

[allan k]

At least it's not all bad mate

[MRyan]

Not a bad outcome to an annoying bump then! Also, nice to see another MCM fan

[The_Judge_]

Just read through your thread mate, some good progress in the time you've had it, so good news on the payout

[Nimraynn]

Still waiting to hear back on what is actually happening, but I'm not in a major rush for it as it's perfectly driveable, just doesn't look pretty. At least I can clean it now

Spent the day doing rear discs and pads. First time I've ever done brakes and it went relatively smoothly I'd have said. Rounded off the T40 retaining screw on both sides a little bit, but tried a 6mm hex key instead and that worked fine. The handbrake cables were a bit too tight as well as the shoes were stopping me removing the disc properly, but slackened the handbrake cables and it sorted that out. Had to heat up one side a bit as well as it wasn't budging even with persuasion from a big hammer. But otherwise, went well. First job I've done that wasn't a massive pain in the backside EuroCarParts have given me an E36 rear brake pad sensor though, so the cable is WAY too short... but I'm not all that bothered right now. The brakes work, that's the main thing

[Nimraynn]

So, been a little bit busy.

I'll start with this bit as it's not fitted yet... but I finally got my genuine carbon fibre CSL boot lid from SSDD Motorsport. Quite impressed with it, although I've not lined it up to the car yet so can't comment on fitment yet. Looks like it'll be a good fit though.

I had a busy Saturday afternoon

As it's getting near the time to get the car in the bodyshop, I've started fitting new parts. The wing was rusting through and it was annoying me. New wing, £35 off eBay.

Done a bit of weight reduction. This fell out of the arch liner

Sport front bumper and side skirts fitted:

Bought a heatgun from a mate and set about using LaminX to tint my sport foglights.

And this is how she's sitting:

So it's a bit multicoloured, but it's only temporary. Already been spotted by Dee330Ci and get a lot of funny looks on the road, but I guess I should expect that

As I plan to be able to remove the plate for shows and meets, while still being able to be legal, I bought a relocation bracket for the number plate. Unfortunately though, it's a bit deep for what I wanted to do, which was mount it in the OEM position, just a few CM forwards so it didn't touch the paint... but it sits about 2-3 inches out if I do it that way... so I had a play and made up a bit of cardboard to roughly the same size as a road legal square plate and trialled it. These were the only two positions I could find where it'd fit close:

Not sure I like either, but the second would win if I had to... reconsidering my options with this one. Running the plate in the windscreen and hoping for no police attention is not an option.

Finally, I got my cheque today regarding the accident a few weeks ago. £1300 paid out. So it'll be very soon that I get my car booked into the bodyshop for its massive make over

For anyone interested, here is the dashcam video. I kept this private until the claim was settled in case I needed to use it in evidence. Thankfully, I didn't need to.

So I'm going straight over onto the M20 London Bound. Vectra driver pulls out a bit late, but puts his foot down and makes it. I'm paying attention to him, not the van driver that comes out really slowly from the same entry. By the time I see he's pulled out, bit late for me to do anything. Bear in mind the dashcam makes things look further away than they appear from the drivers seat.

[Jay.]

Nice progress indeed fella! Out of interest, how come you got no courtesy car seeing as it was non fault?

[Ed-B]

Looking good, whereabouts on eBay are the wings from? Did they fit ok/seem good quality? Thanks.

Edited May 13, 2015 by Ed-B

[Nimraynn]

Nice progress indeed fella! Out of interest, how come you got no courtesy car seeing as it was non fault?

I was offered a like-for-like courtesy car while in for repairs. As its perfectly drivable, they didn't offer it from day one, only while it was in for repairs, but I wasn't all that bothered so I didn't bother arguing it.

Looking good, whereabouts on eBay are the wings from? Did they fit ok/seem good quality? Thanks.

Looks like they put the price up a tad, but yeah, good fitment. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Drivers-Wing-E46-3-Series-Coupe-Convertible-1999-2003-Thatcham-Approved-/281675089829?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item419524c7a5

It's pretty much spot on. There is enough space on the bolt holes to pull and push it a bit to line it up. I did have to do a bit of tweaking before tightening it up fully but it went on fine

[DEVIL 666]

Looking good. it will be the same topaz blue or something different?

[Nimraynn]

Looking good. it will be the same topaz blue or something different?

I was very tempted by a bright yellow, but I'm not sure I've got the balls to do it But also the interior wouldn't match and it'd be a pain in the backside to go through painting all the engine bay and everything so I decided against it.

I'll be sticking with topaz but asking if he can put a bit of extra fleck into the paintwork to make it pop a bit

[Nimraynn]

Stuck the rear bumper on as well today. I'm kinda liking the two tone at the moment, might leave it like it or maybe not

What a ball ache that was to do though. When I went to check it over, turns out the rear bumper's guide didn't have the big black prong things on it. One was completely missing, one had been snapped off somehow and leaving just a short bit of it rusting away. Checked and the guides were the same on both the SE and MSport so just swapped them over and binned the crap one.. but those plastic expanding rivets. I hate whoever invented those.

Just trying to source a few final parts and I'll be booking it into the bodyshop

[touringking]

I look forward to seeing this done, also wise choice keeping it topaz.

[gaz-777]

Great progress dude, should look awesome once it's painted.