My Modding Diary......

[///M Sport]

Hi guys, as it's raining down here I thought I would share some pics of my modding.... Enjoy!

Torn between keeping my car for another year or two or changing altogether I eventually decided to keep her. I couldn’t find a car I 100% wanted to change to, there is nothing wrong with what I have now it suits my needs perfectly. Plus I’m still hooked on the lines of the E46 so she is her to stay, well for now anyway….

Seeing as though she is staying I decided to mod away! My aim is to tastefully modify the car so she doesn’t look too aftermarket/chavvy, more simple not in your face mods – like she has just rolled out the factory.

So the first package arrived last month. My wheels! 19” Linea Corse Lemans. For those that don’t know about this wheel, they are yet another BBS LM replica, however I believe they are the only replica that have the stepped lip in the rear. All in all a very convincing replica made by a reputable wheel manufacturer – Rota wheels. The Specs on the wheels are 19*8.5 ET 40 on the fronts, and 19*9.5 ET 45 on the rear.

http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0143.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0144.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0145.jpg

Having received the wheels I gave them a good clean with bilberry wheel cleaner, and then 3 coats of the this stuff:-

http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0304.jpg

It was a bitch to do 3 coats on this design of wheel but well worth it. Since fitting the wheels a quick wash with normal car shampoo is all they need to bring them back up sparkling again, the majority of brake dust just hoses off! This product IMO definitely makes cleaning your wheels whole a lot easier. I can’t comment on the durability yet but from the reviews on the net application every 3 months is all that’s needed. A few pics of the wheels after sealing:-

http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0157.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0158.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0159.jpg

So with the alloys sorted I needed to get a set of tyres and wheel locking nuts. I decided to go with the Falken FK452’s after reading the rave reviews they get on various forums. I don’t really boot my car about everywhere so I felt I didn’t need the best of the best in tyre technology but having read how delighted M3 drivers are with the tyre it was pretty obvious they would be fine for my tractor :) Having covered about 1500 miles on them to date I have to say I’m very happy with them. The road noise is very good, grip is excellent and the tramlining nowhere near as bad as I thought I would have. A very good tyre especially when considering the budget price tag. I fitted 235/35/19 to my fronts and 265/40/19 to my rears. I did want to fit 275’s to the rears but the fear of rubbing put me off :(

Brought some locking wheel nuts too. McGard SL’s. These are actually for sale as unfortunately they don’t fit the Linea Corse wheels. The SL version are the best locking nut you can buy from McGard, I needed the standard SU version as the collar isn’t as thick and hence would have fitted my wheels. PM me if anyone is interested the code is 27179SL these will be fine for 95% of alloys. So I am currently running with the standard BMW locking wheel nuts while I await my SU nuts.

http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0306.jpg

So that’s the alloys, tyres & locking nuts (well kind of). Before I fitted my new wheels I wanted to lower the car. So after nights of researching I purchased this:-

http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0185.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0187.jpg

This was actually fitted way before the new wheels went on. I have to say if there is only one mod you do to your car this is the one to do. I couldn’t believe how my ride was transformed. The drop of the Eibach pro kit is subtle but you do retain the ride that you expect from a BMW. In saying that I am 100% confident that my ride actually improved after fitting these springs with the stock shocks. The ride on the standard 18’s is clearly improved over the standard sport springs. The ride is less crashy, more direct & responsive, the car just felt a lot more alive. When the 19’s went on the ride did get worse as you would expect but it is still very easy to live with on a daily basis. The move from 18’s to 19’s lowered is really nothing to worry about.

With all that little lot sorted I decided to turn my attention to the exterior of the car. In keeping with my ethos of subtle modifications I started looking around at different lips for the sport bumper to give the front end a more aggressive look. The lip I really wanted was out of my budget, if my memory serves me correctly I think it was by a company called 3D design in Japan, after I made a few enquires I think the cost of the lip was in the region of £600-£700. With very little further options for the mtech bumper I decided to buy the clubsport splitters and along with these I bought a pair of replica M3 mirrors.

http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0173.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0174.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0175.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0177.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0181.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0182.jpg

The car was then booked into the bodyshop for fitting and painting. I also had both sides of the car resprayed to take care of some imperfections. I've attached a few pics of how the clubsport splitters are fitted as it may be helpful to someone.

http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0210.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0211.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0212.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0214.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0216.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0217.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0218.jpg

Some of you may also remember a thread I started about my wheel centre caps. I didn’t like the standard silver Linea Corse caps as I thought it was too much silver and a contrast would be nice. I wanted to keep my original caps if I ever sold the wheels so I bought a set of blank generic caps from bmautosport which luckily fit my Linea Corse wheels. My plan was to paint these caps Avus blue to match the car and replicate the Linea Corse logo in silver lettering. Unfortunately when I took my caps to the body shop they were of the opinion that the paint would not stick to cap, they would paint them if I wanted but could not guarantee the paint would not flake/crack.

So with that in mind I scraped that idea and went to plan B, a graphite centre cap with silver lettering produced in vinyl. I’m really happy with the way these have turned out and think they look way better than the standard silver ones!

http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0301.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0302.jpg

And that folks is about as far as I have got! I could do with a proper photo shoot but you’ll have to make do with a couple of quick snaps I took today before the rain started!

http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0289.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0290.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0291.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0292.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0295.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0296.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0298.jpg
http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/meshk/car%20modding%201/100_0294-1.jpg

Hope you've enjoyed my little write up! Modding is soooo much fun!

///M Sport

[phat///M3]

Nice mods mate, car is looking lovely.

[ShaanK]

top job mate! good write up and pics there :)

I keep going over the lowering thing in my head.... honestly on the standard 18's what was the ride like vs standard springs

[///M Sport]

top job mate! good write up and pics there :)

I keep going over the lowering thing in my head.... honestly on the standard 18's what was the ride like vs standard springs

ShaanK - seriously mate, I have the same car as yours and the ride was transformed, you will not regret it. Depending on how low you wanna go there will come a point where the drop will effect the ride negatively. I bought the Eibach pro kit because I wanted to keep the as much comfort as poss. But I was over the moon with how see rode on the standard 18's, believe me the difference for me was night and day - I really couldn't believe the BMW ride could be improved so much with aftermarket springs. It's the best of both world, lower stance and improved ride! All in all it shouldn't cost you any more than £200 for the springs inc fitting. DO it.... just DO it!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/aquatek/benStillerDoIt.jpg

[330Purplefrenzy]

good write up.....another breakfast soon? or are you coming to Donnington for Easter?

[///M Sport]

good write up.....another breakfast soon? or are you coming to Donnington for Easter?

Hi Will,

Just let me know the plan and i'll be there - nothing like a decent breakie!
Donnington for Easter - didn't know anything was going on, whats the details?

[MistaSmiff]

Nice mods dude :cool:

[westside]

hey nice mods are you going to get a black kidney grill to match the shadow line round the windows it will also be worth painting the brakes to dude :-)

[huzi7]

Nice Mods Bro :cool:

[Alym786]

Looks stunning mate, nice write up! ;)

[///M Sport]

hey nice mods are you going to get a black kidney grill to match the shadow line round the windows it will also be worth painting the brakes to dude :-)

Hi Westside,

Did think long and hard about the kidney grills, blacked out, body coloured outers etc. Was heading towards painting the outer rings in body colour but at the last minute decided against it. I thought messing with the chrome grill would be too much going against the look i'm going for. Think I read somewhere the chrome grills are bmw through and through - and I agree. Although in saying that I do like the way the blacked out grills etc look, it all depends what look your going for.

Now the brakes that's another thing altogether, you got me thinking.....

///M

[bigelz]

Car looks very :cool:

Nice write up too!

[gie0320]

Nice mods mate.

[FullHouse]

Nice wwrite up and great set of MOD's, but i think you could get away with 5mm or even 10mm spacers on the back, just to give it that extra aggression.

[S4J]

Nice wwrite up and great set of MOD's, but i think you could get away with 5mm or even 10mm spacers on the back, just to give it that extra aggression.

Nice one. I think Fullhouse is right, 5mm would probably do it.

[Moe]

Very nice mate

[XKaLiBaR]

Nice write up, and awesome mods :) Its like you have a new ride :cool:

[330Purplefrenzy]

Hi Will,

Just let me know the plan and i'll be there - nothing like a decent breakie!
Donnington for Easter - didn't know anything was going on, whats the details?


http://www.istsuk.com/

not sure which day i will be going, depends on weather really...will give you a give message/text if you fancy it

[///M Sport]

Nice wwrite up and great set of MOD's, but i think you could get away with 5mm or even 10mm spacers on the back, just to give it that extra aggression.

Thats a very good suggestion Raj. I do 100% agree with you too. I don't think I have any chance of running 10mm, I think 5mm would be max. I did an airport run with boot full of cases and two people in the back last week and I thought that was close to my arch, 5mm in that circumstance might = rubbing. If only I had a 255 in the rear. In an ideal world I would love to lend 2 5mm hubcentric spacers and she if she rubs. But then I think will 5mm make that much difference visually? Does it need to be 10mm to make it noticeable. Decisions, decisions! Anyone wanna lend me some spacers? pretty please!

[Handler]

5mm does make a nice difference, i was using 5mm spacers on my old MV wheels.

[///M Sport]

Still got your spacers Handler?

[Jag Sahota]

Ahhh Avus Blue! :) Lovely car..lovely choice of MODs too..what are you doing with your old MV2's? ;)

[Handler]

Still got your spacers Handler?

Yeah they are still on my car, need them or wheels don't clear my rear calipers :-)

[///M Sport]

Ahhh Avus Blue! :) Lovely car..lovely choice of MODs too..what are you doing with your old MV2's? ;)

Hi Jag, they are in my garage! I'll probably keep them for when I sell the car. I've had a few offers on them, but not really interested in selling them.

[Mehmet]

Lovely looking car there mate :)

could you pm me where you got your wheels from?

[Black Sabbath]

Nice set of subtle mods :cool: :cool:

[Raj]

Looking good. Went down this route with the 328Ci. CS splitters make such a difference.