[Ess]

Having been on this forum for over a year now, and having made a few improvements to the stock car, I think it’s about time to start a project thread

I came from my much-loved Peugeot 207 GTI. I loved this car to bits, and I would probably still be driving it today if it weren’t for the serious reliability issues which I experienced. I had just lost confidence in the car, which is a shame as it was so much fun – I remember it very fondly



After spending a while spectating on this forum, I decided a 335d E92 was right for me. I wanted something with enough power to keep me entertained for a good while, but with reasonable economy – the 335d was the perfect combination. I knew the 330d would be better for economy, but thought I’d always regret not having the 335 if I didn’t go for it; I wanted this to be a no regrets decision.

My ideal colour was one of those stunning blues, but I couldn’t find one with a black interior, and I don’t like cream I put a few offers in and eventually managed to negotiate a very good price on a 2009 (58 plate) M-Sport in Sapphire Black Metallic with 60,000 miles. It also had the BMW spoiler at the back which I know is a bit divisive, but I have always really liked it. It doesn’t have leather but when I saw the cloth/suede interior in person, I actually preferred it to some of the more “saggy” leather interiors I’d seen in other cars. I’ve grown to really like this interior and would only consider swapping it out for an M3 interior.

Here are some photos of the car shortly after I got it:





Coming from my 180 bhp 207 GTI, this was a big step up for me; needless to say I was absolutely delighted I enjoyed the car in its standard form for a good six months, during which I browsed this forum a lot. I went to a few meets and put some faces to names from this forum, and saw your amazing machines in the flesh. Here are a couple of photos (courtesy of Achu) from the Ikea meet last year, one of my favourites:







It’s during this period, having been inspired by how forum members had transformed and personalised their cars, improving them so much over stock, that I did my first improvement...

I upgraded the hand brake and gearshift lever and gaitor to the BMW Performance items. I’d never much liked the stock items and was delighted with the little freshening they provided. Note that I hadn’t fitted the gaitor in the pic below. The gaitor really does add a nice finishing touch and BMW should really include it with the lever...



This photo shows the gaitor fitted, finishing it off nicely:



Next was a remap by Simon (E-Maps). I was hesitant at first, having never remapped one of my cars before. Simon offered to give me my money back and to put it back to stock if I wasn’t convinced. Needless to say, Simon kept my money and I’d never go back to stock, the difference is unmistakable!

I had a few problems with the crank case breather and red boost pipe, which my BMW main dealer fixed for me at great expense. In hindsight, I will not be using them again. I had a far better experience at A1BN with Steve who came strongly recommended on this forum, for my gearbox oil and sump change and adaptations reset:





Next I sorted out my brake callipers and hubs, which were looking very worse for wear – hubs painted black, and callipers in blue.

From this:



To this:





Around this time I lost all use of my Sport mode and manual gear change from the lever... :'(
After a bit of digging and help from this forum, I found this:



I just can’t believe that the wires were just cut off like this, what a shocking design that lets this happen after a few years of use! BMW wanted hundreds of pounds to replace the whole shifter assembly, but we just soldered the wires back together and it now works good as new.

Next were my wheels. After a long, long search, I opted for some 19” OEMS IFG3 from Chris at CM Wheels (excellent service by the way) - front 19x8.5 ET35, rear - 19x9.5 ET33. They have a lovely diamond turned face which I think looks great against the Sapphire Black paint, and don’t seem to have that structural inner “ridge” which most cast wheels have – the inner side of the wheel is just flat from the spokes to the back. I think that looks awesome but it does make them very difficult to keep clean as the inside is very visible and as soon as it rains, it gets full of grime. Here they are in my lounge when they arrived:



This one shows the light reflecting nicely off the machined finish:



I applied some GTechniq C5 before fitting and then on they went, along with four new Pirellis (front 235/35, rear 265/30):



The wheel bolts let them down, but that’s about to get sorted very shortly.





Right after fitting them, I wasn’t entirely sure. However now that I’ve had them a while, I love them! They’re also quite unique, I’ve yet to see another E9x with them (or for that matter any other car, though I’m sure there must be some). To my disappointment though, after only a few thousand miles, their beautiful machined finish is already full of little stone chips when you look closely; I try to lacquer over them when I spot them but I suspect before too long they will start milking... If and when that happens, I think I might refurb either in shadow chrome or ... maybe white?

As mentioned earlier, new silver bolts are on their way, and I might get some custom centre caps made too, I just can’t decide on the design to go for!

The next change I made is probably also the best one. Ever since I’d seen the lights on Josh’s car (one of the cars that has been my inspiration), I always wanted a set but never got round to getting mine sorted before it was too late... I was lucky enough to pick up Shaun’s old set of LiteAngels, and Shaun very kindly helped me fit them as I’d never removed the bumper before. These are without a doubt the best cosmetic improvement to my car, they completely transform the front end and attract so many comments from fellow enthusiasts

Here is a scary pic of the bumper off:



I then fitted my personalised number plate (a lovely gelled resin job by Raj at Full House Customs) and that brings us to how the car is today.

Here are some of my favourite shots from a little shoot I did a few weeks ago – I’m not very good with a camera so go easy on me!

































The to-do list now stands as follows, in no particular order:

> Suspension (almost certainly Bilstein B14 coilovers)
> New clean wheel bolts (on their way)
> LCI rear lights (hopefully closing a deal very soon!)
> Tints
> Full machine polish and professional detail to fix the neglected paint work
> BMW Performance rear diffuser
> Exhaust tips – either single Cyba tips or perhaps quads...
> New wheel centre caps, possibly custom made
> M3 interior
> Bonnet and boot emblems, colour TBC
> LED side indicators
> Auto-folding mirrors


And the ones nice to think about, maybe if funds allow...

> CIC upgrade
> Sound system upgrade
> Resprayed front bumper with smoothed in corner splitters OR 1M bumper
> M3-style side skirts
> engine bay detail and beautification

I’ll update this tread with future progress, thanks for reading so far!
Comments and suggestions very welcome

[Calluhan]

Love it! That's a cracking looking car. Love the wheels they suit it a treat

[old grey steve]

Ah you've got yer lights on the front looks damn good works well of course as your cars black.... Keep it up

[makkan00]

Great transformation....
Wheels are different from the others and v decent. With headlight upgrade, your car looks aggressive from the front but wheels are subtle. I know that you have spent plenty of money on the car but we learn from trial and error.
Get some aggressive wheels if you can to finish it nicely.

[tomwh85]

I'm thinking of doing something with my Calipers too, did you do it yourself?

How did you do it? What paint did you use?

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by makkan00

Great transformation....
Wheels are different from the others and v decent. With headlight upgrade, your car looks aggressive from the front but wheels are subtle. I know that you have spent plenty of money on the car but we learn from trial and error.
Get some aggressive wheels if you can to finish it nicely.

I buy that Sam the other option re these wheels Seb's got is to look maybe if the finish isn't holding up at a colour change. Lighter than the bodycolour you could "throw"the eye say with a colour change especially if you were to explore using more than 1 shade as colour can draw the eye, the outer spoke and say outer lips in a slightly lighter shade than the inner lips and main wheel structure might just work, though getting the colour right is key.

[mob17]

Love what you've done, haven't gone too extreme.

Subscribed.

[RajB]

Liking it buddy. The changes are well suited and personally like the rims. For me the only thing I'm not keen on is the red from the lights (but that's just a purely personal opinion of course).

[Ess]

Originally Posted by Calluhan

Love it! That's a cracking looking car. Love the wheels they suit it a treat

Thanks!

Originally Posted by old grey steve

Ah you've got yer lights on the front looks damn good works well of course as your cars black.... Keep it up

Cheers Steve!

Originally Posted by makkan00

Great transformation....
Wheels are different from the others and v decent. With headlight upgrade, your car looks aggressive from the front but wheels are subtle. I know that you have spent plenty of money on the car but we learn from trial and error.
Get some aggressive wheels if you can to finish it nicely.

Thanks Sam, appreciate your feedback!

Originally Posted by tomwh85

I'm thinking of doing something with my Calipers too, did you do it yourself?

How did you do it? What paint did you use?

I didn't do it myself, but I know exactly how it was done - they took the wheel off and cleaned the hubs and calipers, taped everything up and then painted it using a rattle can. If I am not mistaken, it was Volvo caliper paint.

I did consider doing it myself though, you can buy the stuff from Halfords or online:
http://www.halfords.com/motoring-tra...aint-red-250ml

Originally Posted by old grey steve

I buy that Sam the other option re these wheels Seb's got is to look maybe if the finish isn't holding up at a colour change. Lighter than the bodycolour you could "throw"the eye say with a colour change especially if you were to explore using more than 1 shade as colour can draw the eye, the outer spoke and say outer lips in a slightly lighter shade than the inner lips and main wheel structure might just work, though getting the colour right is key.

I definitely agree with you Steve, and have been thinking about alternatives that could work. I don't want black wheels on a black car. I like the idea of a two-tone finish, I don't know how feasible that is in practice and neither do I know what two colours would work!

Originally Posted by mob17

Love what you've done, haven't gone too extreme.

Subscribed.

Thanks Mo. I'm trying to keep it relatively low key

Originally Posted by RajB

Liking it buddy. The changes are well suited and personally like the rims. For me the only thing I'm not keen on is the red from the lights (but that's just a purely personal opinion of course).

Thanks Raj! Had I had the lights custom made, I would probably not have gone for the red. The colour also clashes with my calipers As they were Shaun's lights previously, I took them how they came. I believe the demon eye can be disconnected, I just haven't had time to play around with it yet.

[RajB]

Originally Posted by Ess

The colour also clashes with my calipers

LOL as that was the first thing I thought too. You need to change your caliper colour to red to match lol.

[tomwh85]

Thanks pal I might nip in a seen the colour range. I'll try and do it myself.

[Brian mc21]

I like it. That is nice. Makes me want to do mine blue.

[Kali]

What a nice car mate!!! I love that combination of blue callipers and those light spoked alloys. Can wait to see how this project develops!

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Ess

I definitely agree with you Steve, and have been thinking about alternatives that could work. I don't want black wheels on a black car. I like the idea of a two-tone finish, I don't know how feasible that is in practice and neither do I know what two colours would work!

I honestly think Seb the 2 tone effect may well work I really do, however its all in the colour get the colours wrong I think you'll lose the detail of the wheel especally those spokes that "drop" on to the rim outer edge as they do. Tried to find something to help really struggled but here's a few wheel type set up's I've discovered re the 2 tone effect.

This one borrows a bit of grey yet keeps the metal type finish you've currently got if you follow me



Re the effect Audi do it rather well I think



this isn't the best picture but looks dramatic looks like grey spokes on black rim's



you get the idea I think lighter spokes slightly darker rims inner wheel colour on a 5 spoke design could work

[Ess]

Originally Posted by tomwh85

Thanks pal I might nip in a seen the colour range. I'll try and do it myself.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Brian mc21

I like it. That is nice. Makes me want to do mine blue.

Originally Posted by Kali

What a nice car mate!!! I love that combination of blue callipers and those light spoked alloys. Can wait to see how this project develops!

Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by old grey steve

I honestly think Seb the 2 tone effect may well work I really do, however its all in the colour get the colours wrong I think you'll lose the detail of the wheel especally those spokes that "drop" on to the rim outer edge as they do. Tried to find something to help really struggled but here's a few wheel type set up's I've discovered re the 2 tone effect.

This one borrows a bit of grey yet keeps the metal type finish you've currently got if you follow me

Re the effect Audi do it rather well I think

this isn't the best picture but looks dramatic looks like grey spokes on black rim's

you get the idea I think lighter spokes slightly darker rims inner wheel colour on a 5 spoke design could work

Thanks Steve, appreciated, I completely understand what you mean now. I thought you meant two different paints on a single wheel, which I've never seen before, but on the photos you posted it looks to me like the second colour is just where the wheel has been diamond cut? I believe the whole wheel is painted in the base colour, then the surface is machined along the spokes/rim to remove the paint and expose the metal, then the whole lot is lacquered over.

I think that could work well on my wheels, if I can find a place that can reapply the diamond turned finish. Here is another OEMS wheel that's had this treatment:



I like it a lot, I think it looks fantastic, but the diamond turned face is so difficult to maintain as I'm finding out on my current wheels

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Ess

Good luck!

Thanks Steve, appreciated, I completely understand what you mean now. I thought you meant two different paints on a single wheel, which I've never seen before, but on the photos you posted it looks to me like the second colour is just where the wheel has been diamond cut? I believe the whole wheel is painted in the base colour, then the surface is machined along the spokes/rim to remove the paint and expose the metal, then the whole lot is lacquered over.

I think that could work well on my wheels, if I can find a place that can reapply the diamond turned finish. Here is another OEMS wheel that's had this treatment:



I like it a lot, I think it looks fantastic, but the diamond turned face is so difficult to maintain as I'm finding out on my current wheels

That wheel above is the kiond of idea Seb. Getting the finish right is an individual thing the pics were just examples, you could leave the spokes you've got diamond cut and paint the outer rim lips and inner wheel faces thus leaving a spoke as it is now the rest of the wheel coloured, me personally I wouldn't do that (the finish isn't me) I'd draw a line under the finish and get the whole wheel done in a 2 tone grey affair, think it will bring the car out and if done correctly will throw the eye on the wheels and create the look of a greater diameter wheel, colour though for me is key too dark you lose the detail, black on black for me like yourself isn't my thing but seen it well executed before.

I'd say a nice light grey and a slightly darker grey(though lighter than the now well used Ferric Grey)would work well.

I'm crap at photoshop but I think someone with a bit of skill could perhaps get your pulses racing with a few renderings.

[essex_lad]

Car looks amazing, some lci rears and it will be spot on.

[Ess]

Originally Posted by old grey steve

That wheel above is the kiond of idea Seb. Getting the finish right is an individual thing the pics were just examples, you could leave the spokes you've got diamond cut and paint the outer rim lips and inner wheel faces thus leaving a spoke as it is now the rest of the wheel coloured, me personally I wouldn't do that (the finish isn't me) I'd draw a line under the finish and get the whole wheel done in a 2 tone grey affair, think it will bring the car out and if done correctly will throw the eye on the wheels and create the look of a greater diameter wheel, colour though for me is key too dark you lose the detail, black on black for me like yourself isn't my thing but seen it well executed before.

I'd say a nice light grey and a slightly darker grey(though lighter than the now well used Ferric Grey)would work well.

I'm crap at photoshop but I think someone with a bit of skill could perhaps get your pulses racing with a few renderings.

That does sound great, Steve. I'm really looking forward to seeing how yours will turn out, it'll give me some inspiration

Originally Posted by essex_lad

Car looks amazing, some lci rears and it will be spot on.

Thanks buddy! I'm still trying to close a deal down on a pair, it's taking a little longer than I'd like but I haven't given up!!

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Ess

That does sound great, Steve. I'm really looking forward to seeing how yours will turn out, it'll give me some inspiration




Thanks buddy! I'm still trying to close a deal down on a pair, it's taking a little longer than I'd like but I haven't given up!!

Mine will hopefully happen I now know the wheel style the base colour is a fairly darkish grey I can get away with it as mine's a lighter body colour the trick will be the second colour and that's where I'm going around in circles at tthe moment I think until I see the wheel in the flesh I'll struggle to know what to do but it'll be subtle not in yer face.

As for the lights I've had a set in the box for over a bloody year waiting to go on one day perhaps

[essex_lad]

Keep at it mate or try get some from somewhere else. Will top your car off.

[AirAndre335i]

Love your car Seb!

[Ess]

Originally Posted by AirAndre335i

Love your car Seb!

Thanks man!