Hi all
A long overdue update here. The previous Coupe was sold, but I wasn’t without one for long!
2016
Here is the coupe when I picked it up. Bare bones stock with the exception of the KWV3 suspension. It has also had a recent respray and Mr Vanos had worked his magic. Full service history which is mainly BMW. The car was on 101k miles.
20160429_153255_zpsx9ee83u2 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
20160429_153309 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
The first thing to do was to install a stormwerks gear knob (along with a brand new gear gaitor), retrimmed steering wheel (courtesy of Royal Steering Wheels) and the Simota carbon fibre induction kit. I also put in the rear mat (sorry, no pictures of these).
The smoked sidelights and indicators were replaced with OEM
The seats needed a bit of a tidy up including the usual bolster wear on the driver’s side. A little scuffmaster brought them up fine.
20160430_143951 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
20160501_063623 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
The next thing I wanted to install is the seatlift mod courtesy of Southernboy. This lifts the front of the seats by only 5mm and is made out a solid piece of metal. You’d think that 5mm wouldn’t make much difference, but it instantly makes the seat much more comfortable.
20160611_143322_zpsxxtxsfmx by mnbrennan, on Flickr
My clutch was difficult to use when the engine was hot. This is the typical coupe issue of a weak existing clutch hose when expands when under pressure and hot. A change to an Earl’s clutch hose now means that the gear change it as it should be.
20160618_083723 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
The window sliders weren’t operating as they should be, so the door cards came off and the sliders were re-greased. No doubt I will replace them at some point. There was also a leak from the top of the a-piller. Using another washer I simply raised the front quarter window to re-seal the window and have fortunately been dry since (and through some torrential downpours)
Next I saw some chaps on eBay were modifying Becker head units. I believe that these headunits were an optional extra from BMW, and suit the interior perfectly. The guys take all of the LED lights out of the fascia and match them to a BMW colour, and then de-solder the EEPROM in order to add a custom start up logo. Here are the end results:
DSCF0746_zpspiroku3o by mnbrennan, on Flickr
A little sad but I think it is a nice touch.
The interior of the engine bay required a tidy up from years of built up grime. I must have spent about 15 – 20 hours under there tidying everything up.
20160506_180935 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
20160611_140457 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
I also installed a refurbished rocker cover and plenum from Aceman. A replacement which was well worth it.
20160612_142911_zpsirq96dzt by mnbrennan, on Flickr
20160612_142919 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
I sourced some gutted rear exhaust boxes from Duncan on this forum, as I wanted a little more noise from the exhaust. I find the standard exhaust is very quiet, expecially compared with newer cars such as the (non)M235i and M2. There is perhaps a little too much rasp nearer the top end, but it’s much better than a standard exhaust. I’ll upload a video in the new year at some point.
I refurbished the wheels as I wasn’t content with the original finish. Whilst the refurbished wheels look great from afar, but on closer inspection there are ripples in the finish. I like the colour so I am planning a fresh refurbishment early this year.
Finally, I replaced the bumper with a new one from BMW. There were a couple of cracks in the paint which I assumed were from previous repairs. The new bumper was painted by the guys who re-sprayed the rest the car, which meant a perfect match.
20161029_124309 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
A long overdue update here. The previous Coupe was sold, but I wasn’t without one for long!
2016
Here is the coupe when I picked it up. Bare bones stock with the exception of the KWV3 suspension. It has also had a recent respray and Mr Vanos had worked his magic. Full service history which is mainly BMW. The car was on 101k miles.
20160429_153255_zpsx9ee83u2 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
20160429_153309 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
The first thing to do was to install a stormwerks gear knob (along with a brand new gear gaitor), retrimmed steering wheel (courtesy of Royal Steering Wheels) and the Simota carbon fibre induction kit. I also put in the rear mat (sorry, no pictures of these).
The smoked sidelights and indicators were replaced with OEM
The seats needed a bit of a tidy up including the usual bolster wear on the driver’s side. A little scuffmaster brought them up fine.
20160430_143951 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
20160501_063623 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
The next thing I wanted to install is the seatlift mod courtesy of Southernboy. This lifts the front of the seats by only 5mm and is made out a solid piece of metal. You’d think that 5mm wouldn’t make much difference, but it instantly makes the seat much more comfortable.
20160611_143322_zpsxxtxsfmx by mnbrennan, on Flickr
My clutch was difficult to use when the engine was hot. This is the typical coupe issue of a weak existing clutch hose when expands when under pressure and hot. A change to an Earl’s clutch hose now means that the gear change it as it should be.
20160618_083723 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
The window sliders weren’t operating as they should be, so the door cards came off and the sliders were re-greased. No doubt I will replace them at some point. There was also a leak from the top of the a-piller. Using another washer I simply raised the front quarter window to re-seal the window and have fortunately been dry since (and through some torrential downpours)
Next I saw some chaps on eBay were modifying Becker head units. I believe that these headunits were an optional extra from BMW, and suit the interior perfectly. The guys take all of the LED lights out of the fascia and match them to a BMW colour, and then de-solder the EEPROM in order to add a custom start up logo. Here are the end results:
DSCF0746_zpspiroku3o by mnbrennan, on Flickr
A little sad but I think it is a nice touch.
The interior of the engine bay required a tidy up from years of built up grime. I must have spent about 15 – 20 hours under there tidying everything up.
20160506_180935 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
20160611_140457 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
I also installed a refurbished rocker cover and plenum from Aceman. A replacement which was well worth it.
20160612_142911_zpsirq96dzt by mnbrennan, on Flickr
20160612_142919 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
I sourced some gutted rear exhaust boxes from Duncan on this forum, as I wanted a little more noise from the exhaust. I find the standard exhaust is very quiet, expecially compared with newer cars such as the (non)M235i and M2. There is perhaps a little too much rasp nearer the top end, but it’s much better than a standard exhaust. I’ll upload a video in the new year at some point.
I refurbished the wheels as I wasn’t content with the original finish. Whilst the refurbished wheels look great from afar, but on closer inspection there are ripples in the finish. I like the colour so I am planning a fresh refurbishment early this year.
Finally, I replaced the bumper with a new one from BMW. There were a couple of cracks in the paint which I assumed were from previous repairs. The new bumper was painted by the guys who re-sprayed the rest the car, which meant a perfect match.
20161029_124309 by mnbrennan, on Flickr
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