[Craig242]

Hi all, I'm Craig, 24 from Hertfordshire. Thought I'd create a thread to cover the progress I've made since buying my first BMW 6 months ago.

It's a LCI 320D M Sport.
First impressions were how much more refined it is compared to owning 3 fiesta's lol.

When I first got it:










First mod was a RaceChip Pro2 which definitely gave it a bit more poke

2nd mod was M performance kidney grills, £65 all in from Leebmaan24

Before:

After:


Next up was a bit of maintenance, callipers painted in silver and alloys de-tarred, clayed, Gtechniq C5 applied and finally Megs Tyre gel to finish off. Much better.



This brings us up to this weekend were I spent 2 1/2 days machine polishing. To be honest the colour masks a lot of the swirls but my OCD kicks in every now and then so they had to go lol.

Iron-X doing it's thing, followed by clay:









Finally the finished pics.
Full process was:
Wash
De-tar
Iron contaminants removal
Clay
Another wash
2 stage machine detail (correction and refining)
2 layers of supernatural hybrid wax
Windows dressed
Tyres dressed
Exhaust polished

This also shows my latest mod:
High Kick performance spoiler Colour match was spot on.
I also de-badged the rear which I think looks a lot better.













And that's where I'm at!

Next plans are:

- Full LED conversion, interior bulbs plus chrome covered side indicators.
- Front window tints (I know these aren't to everyone's taste and illegal, but I'm only planning on a light smoke (like on my ST above) to blend into the factory tinted rear 3 windows.

Thanks for reading i'll grab some better pics next time I wash it (phone rotation has screwed up these ones).

Craig

[rhysh1990]

Stunning motor absolutely love this colour

[paulf61]

Awesome colour, looks really clean too.


Paul

[old grey steve]

I do love this colour, really does suite the car. Mod wise nice'n'subtle to start with Craig kinda like that.

Where abouts in Hertfordshire are you?

[Craig242]

Originally Posted by rhysh1990

Stunning motor absolutely love this colour

Originally Posted by paulf61

Awesome colour, looks really clean too.


Paul

Cheers! Colour certainly looks a lot better after the detailing session. Flake pops quite a bit in the sun (well my floodlights that I used for seeing swirls lol).

Originally Posted by old grey steve

I do love this colour, really does suite the car. Mod wise nice'n'subtle to start with Craig kinda like that.

Where abouts in Hertfordshire are you?

Yeh I want to keep it OEM+, it's only a 320D so in my eyes not worth going mad on. Seeing the first pic after the detail makes me want to space the rear 313s out a bit. Need to reasearch if it will rub or not.

Not far from you Steve, over in Hitchin

[dm2583]

Lovely looking motor buddy. I'm an amateur detailer myself so appreciate all that work you've put in!

[richk84]

For spacers ive gone with 12mm all round and no rubbing at all. 330d back box is a good mod and not that costly too.

[Craig242]

Originally Posted by dm2583

Lovely looking motor buddy. I'm an amateur detailer myself so appreciate all that work you've put in!

Cheers! DetailingWorld has almost bankrupt me lol. Makes a hell of a difference once its done

Originally Posted by richk84

For spacers ive gone with 12mm all round and no rubbing at all. 330d back box is a good mod and not that costly too.

Cheers, do you have any pics of your 313s spaced out?

Yeh I am keeping an eye out for a dual tip backbox, my oval doesn't look too bad in person now that its been cleaned up so it will do for now.

Interior LEDs have been ordered to freshen up the lighting.

[AndyN]

Looks great Craig, congrats. Same colour as my E93 before I had it wrapped, makes me wonder if I should unwrap it again

On the LEDs I change mine and I actually regret it now, the white LED light is really harsh and uber bright so don't throw your old bulbs away until you're happy!

[richk84]

Originally Posted by Craig242

Cheers, do you have any pics of your 313s spaced out?

Yeh I am keeping an eye out for a dual tip backbox, my oval doesn't look too bad in person now that its been cleaned up so it will do for now.

Interior LEDs have been ordered to freshen up the lighting.

Will get some pics up at the weekend as im getting some Eibach springs fitted too.

[AzRiz]

The car looks great man, really nice colour which you brought out with the detailing. Looking forward to seeing more

[Dace64]

Great looking car. The wheels look stunning

[Craig242]

Originally Posted by AndyN

Looks great Craig, congrats. Same colour as my E93 before I had it wrapped, makes me wonder if I should unwrap it again

On the LEDs I change mine and I actually regret it now, the white LED light is really harsh and uber bright so don't throw your old bulbs away until you're happy!

Thanks for the info re. LEDs. Yeh I will keep hold of the originals just in case

Originally Posted by AzRiz

The car looks great man, really nice colour which you brought out with the detailing. Looking forward to seeing more

Originally Posted by Dace64

Great looking car. The wheels look stunning

Cheers

A better picture of the high kick spoiler and de-badged rear:

[RajB]

Stunning colour and nice work to date.

[Craig242]

Small update.
Interior LED upgrade complete (just waiting on LED for the boot).

Rear foot well before:


After:


Other shots:




Happy with the result, the hint of blue from the LEDs contrasts well with the orange ambient lighting IMO.

Also changed the side repeaters to chrome bulbs to get rid of the orange

Before:

After:


That's it for now

Cheers
Craig

[ben-e92]

Craig

Any chance of a link to the led bulbs and also the side repeater bulbs

Think they look great.

The bulb set for the interior was it a complete all over kit? Some I've looked at have missed out rear foot wells, boot etc

Thanks
Ben

[Dace64]

Looks superb, next job on mine so link would be great. Is it just a straight swap? I would like to change the ambient lighting too. Not struck on the Orange!

[Craig242]

Originally Posted by ben-e92

Craig

Any chance of a link to the led bulbs and also the side repeater bulbs

Think they look great.

The bulb set for the interior was it a complete all over kit? Some I've looked at have missed out rear foot wells, boot etc

Thanks
Ben

Originally Posted by Dace64

Looks superb, next job on mine so link would be great. Is it just a straight swap? I would like to change the ambient lighting too. Not struck on the Orange!

Cheers

No didn't buy the set, Horizon LEDs have one for around 35-40quid I think.
I got all mine off different ebay sellers for under £10 total.

Yep all were a straight swap. item numbers below, just paste into ebay search bar.

Chrome side repeaters: 301087617005
Wedge LEDs: 371166602811 ( got a pack of 10 for £4.99)
Rear footwell lighting: 171613434426 (a tight fit, and don't display light across the entire bulb fitting but doesn't look too bad)

Hope that helps

Craig

[Craig242]

Little update.

Spacers have been fitted, went with 15mm for the back and 12mm on the front.

Before:


After:



And one back at home.

[Tim G]

Lovely car in a lovely colour. I had a TT in a similar colour with gloss black trim and it got loads if compliments. Still planning on Eibachs?

[Craig242]

Originally Posted by Tim G

Lovely car in a lovely colour. I had a TT in a similar colour with gloss black trim and it got loads if compliments. Still planning on Eibachs?

It certainly does look good when its clean.

I'm in two minds about eibachs tbh, the arch gap isn't that big to be honest. That last pic doesn't do it justice as it had been on the jack to fit the spacers.
Maybe. Which will probably end up being a yes.

Thanks,
Craig

[old grey steve]

Spacers seem to of worked out well Craig make a nice subtle difference to the visual appearance don't they re the EiBachs they'll make a small difference to your ride I suspect (for the better) just don't drop it too much, hence Pro's would be my recommendation rather than SportLines that I suspect t will drop it a little too much.

Interior lighting works well and really do like the interior combo too and like mine the rear spoilers a real treat, looks great