[E92William]

I did that mod but with a bunch of melted pieces of plastic behind the switch lol.

Main reason was to turn them on when my driver side trunk light bar decides to not turn on, it can be a bit temperamental lol

[Buug959]

Today I finished the adoption process for my new-to-me car which means it just passed its provincial safety inspection. I now have a completely legal car to drive on the public roads and everything! I bought it in Ontario on July 20, had it shipped, had to try to get it registered at the DMV which is operating on a phone-in appointment system right now (48 minutes on the phone and I got an appointment for Aug 11!) said I'll take my chances on a cancellation or no-show and waited almost two hours at the DMV in 31c heat but lucked out and got it registered. Then I had to get an appointment to get the inspection done ( two days) and finally its legal!
Now... what do I mod first??? LOL I'm thinkin' brakes, then suspension. Oh and there seems to be a pesky little oil leak right over the downpipes... imagine my surprise. LOL Parts are ordered!

[colorado.e9x]

I did that mod with a bolt wrapped up in electrical tape and a mcdonalds gift card (cut to resemble the 'foot') superglued to it. Has worked flawlessly for a year now

I used to use them as supplements to reverse lights until I went LED. Now I use them to brake check people

[freakystyly]

Originally Posted by LemansE90335xi

Now... what do I mod first??? LOL I'm thinkin' brakes, then suspension. Oh and there seems to be a pesky little oil leak right over the downpipes... imagine my surprise. LOL Parts are ordered!

Congrats! It's enough of a hassle to do the DMV song and dance on a good day, let alone with what's going on lately.

Sounds like you have the right idea, maintenance before mods.. This forum has a great pool of knowledge and if you are willing to wrench and learn, you will enjoy ownership a lot more.

Things like suspension and brakes are good to upgrade as they becomes worn. There's not a lot of point to throw out good parts. It can become a modding rabbit hole quick.

[ky0u]

Originally Posted by Wingnutts

Very interesting that you have that much clearance where I did not. In the picture where you have the cruise pulled forward, that is just a little less space than I have when it it is at it's normal space. You still have more room than I do and that's after I modified mine.

That is so odd. Not sure if revised, or maybe, did you get 2 sets of adapters in your order? If so, did you use the version A ones?

If not, only thing I can think of is BMW playing their favorite, "lets make 100 minor variations on the same chassis" game


Edit:
I just noticed you have an IS. Maybe their DCT modules sits differently than the steptronics then?

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by Wingnutts

[IMG][/IMG]

Curious, are your fingers getting stuck between this cruise stalk and the back of the paddle? Mine were and it was annoying as hell. I tried to contact Nelson about it and they never bothered to respond. I ended up heating the paddles and contoured them to the steering wheel. In my opinion they way they should have been made.

I've not had that problem, but if I grab the CC stalk and pull it the full 5 MPH down notch it will contact the back of the paddle.

it doesn't shift or anything, just a tap.

A slight bend might be the ideal answer, but i've never bothered.

[Buug959]

Originally Posted by freakystyly

Congrats! It's enough of a hassle to do the DMV song and dance on a good day, let alone with what's going on lately.

Sounds like you have the right idea, maintenance before mods.. This forum has a great pool of knowledge and if you are willing to wrench and learn, you will enjoy ownership a lot more.

Things like suspension and brakes are good to upgrade as they becomes worn. There's not a lot of point to throw out good parts. It can become a modding rabbit hole quick.

Thanks Man! It's all good now the gov't bs is finished with. My brakes are actually in really good shape. I was think more about some braided steel lines all around and a fluid flush. My suspension however, not so good. Both rear shocks are done and need to be replaced. The struts seem ok but if I'm upgrading the rears then the front has to be done too.

As far as wrenching and learning my experience is fairly broad from drag racing big-block Chryslers to building... and breaking... a lot of off-road rigs. The difference is that I am not very familiar with European vehicles and the specific knowledge set that goes with working on them. I think this forum has a lot of people with that knowledge. The big thing will be researching before asking too many dumb questions.

Thanks for taking the time to reach out to a newbie, it's much appreciated.

[Buug959]

Originally Posted by freakystyly

Eastern European auto wrecker special with a light coat of dye. Terra is impossible to find.

And.. a little late to the start button party, it got lost in China...

Edit: Added finished color match test

They turned out good. Looks great from what I can see in the photo.
I've got the terra interior as well except mine has the burl walnut trim. I was thinking about wrapping the trims with an aluminum or maybe a little darker gray. After seeing yours I think the aluminum works. Ah well, that's something for down the road. I've got lots of other things that are higher on the to-do list.

[Wingnutts]

Originally Posted by ky0u

That is so odd. Not sure if revised, or maybe, did you get 2 sets of adapters in your order? If so, did you use the version A ones?

If not, only thing I can think of is BMW playing their favorite, "lets make 100 minor variations on the same chassis" game


Edit:
I just noticed you have an IS. Maybe their DCT modules sits differently than the steptronics then?

I have the second version and it's maybe a 4-5 weeks old. Actually, I just found the email I sent them. See below. And again, I received no response from them....

Good evening Steve,

I wanted review a few thing now that I have received the product and have installed this evening. First the positives. The paddles have a good overall feel and it is nice to be able to shift now from different hand positions. That makes it so much easier to shift while coming out of turns. That is huge. Second is that your product fills a huge void for those of who would like to upgrade. Outside of your company, the option are pretty much zero outside of buying used M3 parts that are overpriced and who knows what condition. Then there is the assembly to put it all together. Now for the negatives. First would have to be the delay in receiving the product and myself having to send two different emails to be informed of what the delay is/was. This was a huge communication failure on your part on that one. A simple email to let me know there was a delay would have alleviated that. Second would be the install. The base for the left side of the wheel shifter has the holes for the plastic pin backwards. The small side does not match up with the small side in the stock unit that gets replaced. The other side has the “R” listed on it and it works perfectly, except the paddles do no line up then. This was corrected by drilling out the hole to the required size, but for the cost and engineering that has gone into this, this should not be something the customer should have to do. Third and last, the final fit. I’ve attached 3 photos for this for your review. There is a definite clearance issue when you fingers are on the paddles and you’re in the corners. The paddles would be improved if they were closer to the steering wheel. The turn indicator and the high beam switch are a little too close for comfort, but the cruise control switch keeps getting hit. In one of the pictures I’ve shown you where my finger is when it starts to hit the cruise control. I would say you on the right path, but just a little short of hitting the mark. As I have several people on the boards and in several facebook groups waiting for me to let them know my thoughts on the shifters, I thought it would be only fair if I expressed my likes and dislikes with you first for your input or advice.

Here are the pictures I sent them.
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

[F13.KENN]

Originally Posted by LemansE90335xi

Thanks Man! It's all good now the gov't bs is finished with. My brakes are actually in really good shape. I was think more about some braided steel lines all around and a fluid flush. My suspension however, not so good. Both rear shocks are done and need to be replaced. The struts seem ok but if I'm upgrading the rears then the front has to be done too.

As far as wrenching and learning my experience is fairly broad from drag racing big-block Chryslers to building... and breaking... a lot of off-road rigs. The difference is that I am not very familiar with European vehicles and the specific knowledge set that goes with working on them. I think this forum has a lot of people with that knowledge. The big thing will be researching before asking too many dumb questions.

Thanks for taking the time to reach out to a newbie, it's much appreciated.

Like what was said before, maintenance before mods! Suspension upgrades before power upgrades would be ideal. When you start adding power and get to full bolt on, you feel the worn out suspension components even more

Congrats with the new car! Hope you enjoy it!

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by LemansE90335xi

Thanks Man! It's all good now the gov't bs is finished with. My brakes are actually in really good shape. I was think more about some braided steel lines all around and a fluid flush. My suspension however, not so good. Both rear shocks are done and need to be replaced. The struts seem ok but if I'm upgrading the rears then the front has to be done too.

As far as wrenching and learning my experience is fairly broad from drag racing big-block Chryslers to building... and breaking... a lot of off-road rigs. The difference is that I am not very familiar with European vehicles and the specific knowledge set that goes with working on them. I think this forum has a lot of people with that knowledge. The big thing will be researching before asking too many dumb questions.

Thanks for taking the time to reach out to a newbie, it's much appreciated.

get a kdcan cable and standard tools.
essential diagnostic needs.
best to figure them out before you need them.

I too came from the offroad world, and the nuts and bolts are far easier, but you need to up your nerd game to effectively diagnose and repair an e9x chassis.

[Buug959]

Originally Posted by nsjames

get a kdcan cable and standard tools.
essential diagnostic needs.
best to figure them out before you need them.

I too came from the offroad world, and the nuts and bolts are far easier, but you need to up your nerd game to effectively diagnose and repair an e9x chassis.

My toolbox is well stocked. I even have torx and e-torx bits as well as 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2' drive torque wrenches. Diagnostic stuff I don't have much of, just a $200 OBDII scan tool. I'll have to get a kdcan cable and start uping my nerd game. LOL

Thanks for the info.

[Welcome to NBA Jam]

Added a brass expansion tank bleeder.

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by LemansE90335xi

My toolbox is well stocked. I even have torx and e-torx bits as well as 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2' drive torque wrenches. Diagnostic stuff I don't have much of, just a $200 OBDII scan tool. I'll have to get a kdcan cable and start uping my nerd game. LOL

Thanks for the info.

bimmergeeks

double the cost of the amazon cables.

worth it.

there's a thread in the coding forum about setting up the standard tools.

this legend here has all the software.
https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1681573

this is newer than what you'll find on the bimmergeeks site.

pay the 5 bucks for a mega account and download what you need.
which is standard tools(inpa,ncsexpert,tool32,etc.), daten files and ista basically.

I run mine in a win7 virtual machine on a linux laptop.
keeps it nice and safe.

yes, it's a pain to setup, but once it's setup you just don't ever mess with it again and you pull it out when you need to do something.

bonus that ISTA often includes diagnostic steps and repair information.


edit:
the easy button is one of their adapters and then protool on a mobile device/tablet.
but that costs you a few hundo.
and you don't get the ista information.

[Buug959]

Originally Posted by nsjames

bimmergeeks

double the cost of the amazon cables.

worth it.

there's a thread in the coding forum about setting up the standard tools.

this legend here has all the software.
https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1681573

this is newer than what you'll find on the bimmergeeks site.

pay the 5 bucks for a mega account and download what you need.
which is standard tools(inpa,ncsexpert,tool32,etc.), daten files and ista basically.

I run mine in a win7 virtual machine on a linux laptop.
keeps it nice and safe.

yes, it's a pain to setup, but once it's setup you just don't ever mess with it again and you pull it out when you need to do something.

bonus that ISTA often includes diagnostic steps and repair information.


edit:
the easy button is one of their adapters and then protool on a mobile device/tablet.
but that costs you a few hundo.
and you don't get the ista information.

LOL I obviously misunderstood you. I run a MacBook Pro. Any idea what I need to do to get up and running? I'll definitely read through the mentioned thread and check into bimmergeeks.

Thanx again and please try to ignore my ignorance... I'm new to this shit. LOL

[E92William]

Flashed the bimmerlabs 330i transmission tune on my 328i. Definitely a must have for any auto car with the 330i tune as the transmission behaves like the car has more power and torque converter action is a lot more direct and smoother, faster shifts in most modes specially manual!
And this is a stock flash tune from an x3 3.0si. Wild to see how much they crippled the 328s in the US

[ky0u]

Originally Posted by Wingnutts

Here are the pictures I sent them.

Oh wow that's a pretty significant clearance issue. That has to be annoying as hell. I'm surprised they haven't responded, I know they're backed up as hell with pandemic and stuff but I seemed to always get a response within a day.

The only time I didn't was asking for help with a stuck locking pins (paddle to assembly). I ended up just drilling out a hole at the top so I could punch the pin out from there

But yea I'm wondering if the (B) adapters just sit different? Mine used the A version

Originally Posted by E92William

Flashed the bimmerlabs 330i transmission tune on my 328i. Definitely a must have for any auto car with the 330i tune as the transmission behaves like the car has more power and torque converter action is a lot more direct and smoother, faster shifts in most modes specially manual!
And this is a stock flash tune from an x3 3.0si. Wild to see how much they crippled the 328s in the US

I totally blanked out at your image at first cuz it looked like you had removed your door and brought it over to plug into your computer

BMW crippling cars for the US, as is tradition

[ky0u]

I tore up half my backseat and center console to do this

[E92William]

Lmao I forgot how it crops pictures with those dimensions lol. Tore up to do what?

[ky0u]

Originally Posted by E92William

Lmao I forgot how it crops pictures with those dimensions lol. Tore up to do what?

Oops, malformed IMG tag lol

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by LemansE90335xi

LOL I obviously misunderstood you. I run a MacBook Pro. Any idea what I need to do to get up and running? I'll definitely read through the mentioned thread and check into bimmergeeks.

Thanx again and please try to ignore my ignorance... I'm new to this shit. LOL

so if you want to run the software on your macbook I would just do parellels.

if you want to be cheap.
virtualbox.
I'm cheap, I use virtualbox, but I'm a career nerd.

your first step is getting a windows machine on your laptop, software only works in windows.

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by E92William

Flashed the bimmerlabs 330i transmission tune on my 328i. Definitely a must have for any auto car with the 330i tune as the transmission behaves like the car has more power and torque converter action is a lot more direct and smoother, faster shifts in most modes specially manual!
And this is a stock flash tune from an x3 3.0si. Wild to see how much they crippled the 328s in the US

i've had the file for a minute.
how long did it take?

I R Scared.