Here she is today after all the upgrades in my signature.. You'll note the two-tone I've got going on in the rear deck. I just repainted it with some Dupli-Color Fabric & Vinyl Paint. Came out great. Also just added a JL Audio 10w6 subwoofer in a sealed box being pushed by a 300W Orion Amp. Sound is much rounder now...just the way I like it..
Just crossed over 76,000 miles so a full tune-up is in process. Many more upgrades to come as well... M5 Bumpers and Exhaust are next....after I replace the Torque Converter. Also....does anyone know anyone that can straighten and refinish my LM Replicas? They've taken a beating unfortunately...
This is my 7th BMW, but I plan on keeping this one for a looooong time!
Yup...245/40/18 all around. The obx's tips seemed to be too far off ....but to be honest I didn't explore getting them straightened. I was exploring exhaust options for another car and came across this great deal on the 14816.
On the plus side....and I expected this... The manga flow has a more aggressive exhaust note. Me likey! Not the cheapest thing to do, but I'm happy.
I've had some good luck on EBay recently....managed to pick up this storage center console for $100. Luckily i had a new handle just waiting around for this purpose. I'll be installing it tomorrow...
Also started rewrapping my interior trim with 3M 1080 Brushed Titanium Wrap....looks good so far.
Got lucky on Bimmerforums. A Southern California (SpeedSource) company request for local E39 owners to volunteer for test fitment of some new DEPO Smoked Headlights. Lucky me...I happen to see the thread shortly after they posted it and was the first to reply. As compensation for my time and travel I got to keep the new headlights. Took my car over to them this morning and here are the results:
Old:
New:
I wasn't sure about smoked corners at first, but it's grown on me in the couple of hours that I've had them now. Seems to flow well with the black grills.
I wasn't sure about smoked corners at first, but it's grown on me in the couple of hours that I've had them now. Seems to flow well with the black grills.
Spent the last few days with my cousin looking at E39's for his daughter. Came across this nice clean 1998 528i after a few 525's and 530's let us down (as did their owners).
He bought this car with 73,000 miles on it for $6,700. Clean body and interior. Dealer replace a belt tensioner, front and rear cupholders, front rotors and recharged the AC free of charge. Picked it up today and drove the 40 miles home. This car, totally unmolested, reminded me about the inherent goodness that is instilled deep within each one of these cars. In a sense, I was jealous on the ride home. My car will EAT this thing on any twisty road and run and hide from it in a straight line, but I had forgotten the serenity of a bone-stock E39. Smooth, responsive, peaceful bliss on the road.
I love these cars..... Here it is:
I HAD to drive my car along one of the twistiest roads in the area on my way home to remind myself why I made the compromises I did to the inherent goodness of my car. I am a performance junky, but at heart...I just love BMW's!
Now, we'll see if my cousin will actually let HIS DAUGHTER drive the car
Sorry bud, but all I have is the trunk emblem. The hood one was toast (clearcoat peeling and oth posts broke during removal). The steering wheel emblem is an aplique that goes over the OEM emblem.
If you want the trunk emblem, PM me your addy and I'll drop in the mail tomorrow. That way you only have to buy the hood.
Nice car. Conversion is flawless. I have the same Pioneer head unit, PO installed it a few months before a bought the car. 540i sport looks with v-6 gas mileage sounds like a winner to me, good job.
Thanks for the compliments, but I assure you the car looks better in pictures than in real life. There are a few fit and finish items that need addressing.
I'm not really happy with the Appradio as-is. I would like to see if I can hack it to gain better functionality.
I like this one because it privde more lateral support then some of the other cheap options out there. I used to have the one with the open sides and my drink would tip over fairly easily. This one holds things in place pretty well.
Started installing the AMG Paddle Shifters in my car yesterday. Ntt quite done yet, but here's a step by step of how I did it:
Mercedes AMG Paddles:
Start by removing the sheathing on the two wires attached to the paddles:
Mark an outline of the shape of the paddles base on the back of the steering wheel:
I decided to use a rotary tool instead of a bladed instrument to cut out the holes. Not a great idea, but then again..I'm not as praticed with using a Dremel-type tool. Those with more experience may do better.
Start cutting to expose the metal backing plate that runs behind the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions:
Drill two holes in each metal plate. One for the mounting hole on the paddles and one to run the wires from the paddles into the steering wheel.
Looks like a hackjob, but at least it won't be visible with the wheel mounted back on the car.
I started out by removing the steering wheel to gain access to the clock spring. Here you can see the old CS with the blank connector in the upper left had side of the connector cluster. We will be replacing this with the CS from a heated steering wheel so we have two pins in that location so we can pass the actuation signal for the paddles.
Start out by removing the four (4) Torx bolts on each corner and unplugging the four (4) connectors on the back of the CS.
Remove the control stalks from the original CS and transplant them onto the new one. I didn't document this, but it should be fairly intuitive.
I then spent some time mounting up the paddles to the steering wheel. this require a little trial and error until you get them to sit and function just right. I had to trim the out border of the cutouts I mad a couple time with an exacto knife to get fitment 100%.
Here is a computer motherboard header cable that I trimmed down with my rotary tool to fit on the two pin connector in the CS. I connected the "positive wires" from the paddles to the wires on here to pass the signal to the back end of the CS, where another two pin connector is attached:
I then tapped into the appropriate ground wire on the back of the airbag to provide ground to the ground (black) wires on the paddles.
On the back end of the CS, I attached a length of wire to each of the two leads from the 2-pin connector and ran it through the steering column and down through the console:
I ran it through this mounting whole for the carpeted console sidecover to easily gain access to the shifter assembly area:
Then tapped in to the two middle wires on the forward facing connector to the right of the shifter assembly. This is the group of wires that passes the steptronic signals.
I partially reassembled for testing.. here are a couple videoes of what I found:
I then manipulated the taps to hide underneath the console fascia... it looks well hidden now:
Finished reassembly... and took a fun test drive around my neighborhood!! I love the paddle shifters!
I had done a similar retrofit in my E46, but that included an OEM E46 M3 SMG wheel, so no "hacking" necessary like this time.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
BimmerFest BMW Forum
11.4M posts
753.1K members
Since 2001
A forum community dedicated to BMW owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about Bimmerfest events, production numbers, programming, performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more! Bringing the BMW community together.