TriStateTuners.com :: Home of Tristate Auto Enthusiast  

Go Back TriStateTuners.com :: Home of Tristate Auto Enthusiast > Community > Member Journals
Register Rules & Info Mark Forums Read

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-23-2018, 02:04 PM   #21
DaveSTi
Tri-State Post Whore
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Charlotte
Member #1591

 
iTrader: (0)




Easy. Doubt i'll notice anything but worth a try for the price.
__________________
Member Journals:


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
DaveSTi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-06-2018, 01:06 PM   #22
DaveSTi
Tri-State Post Whore
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Charlotte
Member #1591

 
iTrader: (0)
The strut tower bar did help with ride quality a bit...less impacts are found within the cabin now. Not bad!

Also, I was able to hunt down the BMW Alpine HiFi stereo retrofit kit, some BMW OEM Logic 7 underseat subwoofers (8" vs. 6.5" base audio), and the two door trim pieces for the tweeters for super cheap all in. I'll do that install once parts arrive this week. With the stereo upgraded, there are just some trim pieces left to do inside the car and then we can look at the wheels and tires work that's needed before I touch the brakes and suspension.

I know I had said no progress while I wait for the ZL1, but that's being handled in it's own way.
__________________
Member Journals:


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
DaveSTi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-06-2018, 06:29 PM   #23
DocWalt
Tri-State Post Whore
 
DocWalt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Royersford, PA
Member #10805

My Ride:
'92 GTI, '19 MX-5

iTrader: (0)
Send a message via AIM to DocWalt
I'm shocked that the strut tower bar made a noticeable difference.

I love the detail work on the OEM+ upgrades like the audio & interior work
DocWalt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-07-2018, 12:28 PM   #24
DaveSTi
Tri-State Post Whore
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Charlotte
Member #1591

 
iTrader: (0)
Quote:
Originally Posted by DocWalt View Post
I'm shocked that the strut tower bar made a noticeable difference.

I love the detail work on the OEM+ upgrades like the audio & interior work
Me too but then I remember my E46 and how the roots of the E90 are from 2004. Chassis rigidity wasn't what it is now.

Thank you, it's a nice distraction from the ongoing saga with my other vehicle.
__________________
Member Journals:


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
DaveSTi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-08-2018, 04:53 PM   #25
DaveSTi
Tri-State Post Whore
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Charlotte
Member #1591

 
iTrader: (0)
All stereo parts arrived today and yesterday. Speaking with a scrap yard about obtaining the aluminum finish trim pieces for the interior as well as the 3 stage intake manifold with DISA valves for the engine power boost. Some odds and ends
__________________
Member Journals:


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
DaveSTi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-08-2018, 10:03 PM   #26
DocWalt
Tri-State Post Whore
 
DocWalt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Royersford, PA
Member #10805

My Ride:
'92 GTI, '19 MX-5

iTrader: (0)
Send a message via AIM to DocWalt
Is the intake manifold plug & play?
DocWalt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2018, 10:50 AM   #27
DaveSTi
Tri-State Post Whore
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Charlotte
Member #1591

 
iTrader: (0)
Quote:
Originally Posted by DocWalt View Post
Is the intake manifold plug & play?
Yes and no

The hardware is entirely a bolt-on, including the wiring harnesses! It looks factory under the hood as well since it was designed for this motor but in another application. The 328 came with 230 bhp but there was a high output version of the same motor that had just this intake manifold that was rated at 260 bhp. So this plus the factory tune would get it there. I do have access to that tune for free so it's really just the cost of the manifold and the cable i need to load the tune onto the car.
__________________
Member Journals:


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
DaveSTi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2018, 01:06 PM   #28
DocWalt
Tri-State Post Whore
 
DocWalt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Royersford, PA
Member #10805

My Ride:
'92 GTI, '19 MX-5

iTrader: (0)
Send a message via AIM to DocWalt
Not bad
DocWalt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2018, 02:32 PM   #29
DaveSTi
Tri-State Post Whore
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Charlotte
Member #1591

 
iTrader: (0)
Quote:
Originally Posted by DocWalt View Post
Not bad
Nah, not at all. Won’t be a rocket but the torque gain is roughly 30 ft lbs too which will be felt. I think an aftermarket tune and some minimal intake work and 270 bhp is realistic.

Not a rocket ship but with some lightweight wheels, should be fun.
__________________
Member Journals:


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
DaveSTi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2018, 09:26 PM   #30
DaveSTi
Tri-State Post Whore
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Charlotte
Member #1591

 
iTrader: (0)
Installed the BMW Alpine HiFi retrofit kit and BMW Logic 7 subs this weekend.

Very time consuming, had to basically remove the seats and door trim front and rear.

The magnets on the subs and midrange speakers were much larger/heavier than the base audio setup. The sound is greatly improved!









Base audio midrange:




Alpine midrange:






Logic 7 vs. Base audio sub


Midrange and tweeter mounted


The front door window trim had to be removed and replaced in order to mount the tweeters and have an opening for them. This was a bit of a PITA due to the corner of the window frame and how BMW designed the part. No need for more details, just glad it all went together with a lot of prying.

Amp went in the trunk with three cables...two for PnP into the existing wiring harness at the subwoofers. Had to route the wiring under the backseat and through the existing wire path along the door sills. The third cable was a simple PnG at the battery and a ground post.

No splicing of any wires, so this was just a lot of removing parts, putting the new stuff in and then clipping it all back together.

The upgrade does call for code change on the head unit (to tell it that there is an external amp now and to stop using it's internal EQ). I'll do this later...it sounds fine as is and my BMW programming tools knowledge is rusty.

The interior now only has two steps remaining: complete removal of the wood trim and replacing it with the rare aluminum trim along with pedals, shift knob and ebrake to put it all together. Then i'll be replacing the driver door seal with a new one to cut down on wind noise.
__________________
Member Journals:


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.

Last edited by DaveSTi; 11-18-2018 at 09:28 PM.
DaveSTi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2018, 09:51 PM   #31
DocWalt
Tri-State Post Whore
 
DocWalt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Royersford, PA
Member #10805

My Ride:
'92 GTI, '19 MX-5

iTrader: (0)
Send a message via AIM to DocWalt
That looks like a reasonable, but not crazy amount of work for the result.
DocWalt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2018, 11:10 PM   #32
DaveSTi
Tri-State Post Whore
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Charlotte
Member #1591

 
iTrader: (0)
Quote:
Originally Posted by DocWalt View Post
That looks like a reasonable, but not crazy amount of work for the result.
Yeah, nothing difficult..just time consuming...4 clips per door sill x four door sills, the b pillar cover has to be removed, etc. Glad it's finished
__________________
Member Journals:


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
DaveSTi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2018, 11:19 PM   #33
DocWalt
Tri-State Post Whore
 
DocWalt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Royersford, PA
Member #10805

My Ride:
'92 GTI, '19 MX-5

iTrader: (0)
Send a message via AIM to DocWalt
Now you can rock out
DocWalt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-19-2018, 03:39 PM   #34
DaveSTi
Tri-State Post Whore
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Charlotte
Member #1591

 
iTrader: (0)
Quote:
Originally Posted by DocWalt View Post
Now you can rock out
Oh yeah!

So I definitely need to code the headunit...there is definite distortion happening as well as the rear speakers turn on before the fronts do for a brief moment.

I also got an increased battery usage error code to sort out. I'm hoping it's a one time deal since I did a lot of moving the seats around and testing the radio off of battery power.
__________________
Member Journals:


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
DaveSTi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-26-2018, 11:45 AM   #35
DaveSTi
Tri-State Post Whore
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Charlotte
Member #1591

 
iTrader: (0)
Black Friday/Cyber Monday has some crazy good deals right now.

The first deal is on VMR wheels. I can get a set of the V703's for $500 shipped.

They're 24 lbs which is 1-2 lbs more than the EC-7's for half the price. That's also the weight of BMW factory 18's. Since this is a DD, I'm strongly considering them.

Here is how they would look in Hyper Black on my car:



The other great deal is a tune from Evolve for the 3-stage intake manifold swap. List is $1199 but with Cyber Monday, it's $639. I'm tempted by this with a junkyard manifold for $375. Could get the BMW to 270 bhp with both.

Suspension, brakes and interior stuff aren't really discounted right now. I did snag a set of nicer sport pedals for the car through a dealer online that's killing Turner and ECS pricing.
__________________
Member Journals:


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.

Last edited by DaveSTi; 11-26-2018 at 11:48 AM.
DaveSTi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-26-2018, 04:51 PM   #36
DocWalt
Tri-State Post Whore
 
DocWalt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Royersford, PA
Member #10805

My Ride:
'92 GTI, '19 MX-5

iTrader: (0)
Send a message via AIM to DocWalt
Oh man, those wheels look sick. Who cares about a little extra weight to save that much cash?

270 bhp is nothing to sneeze at...
DocWalt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-26-2018, 05:29 PM   #37
DaveSTi
Tri-State Post Whore
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Charlotte
Member #1591

 
iTrader: (0)
Quote:
Originally Posted by DocWalt View Post
Oh man, those wheels look sick. Who cares about a little extra weight to save that much cash?

270 bhp is nothing to sneeze at...
Yeah...decided to pull the trigger on the wheels They no longer make them in Hyper Black so I went with silver which will look similar to the coloring of the factory wheels. The BMW center caps and TPMS can be swapped over to the new wheels. Now for some all season tires...

Tempted to get the Evolve software but I can run the BMW OEM 330i software on the car for free when the time comes to buy the intake manifold. That'll get me to the 260 bhp rating..
__________________
Member Journals:


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
DaveSTi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-27-2018, 03:22 PM   #38
Big_Jim
Dealing with stupidity.
Super Moderator
 
Big_Jim's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Member #7592

 
iTrader: (6)
I really like the look of those wheels!
__________________
Quote:
I'm not a hater... I'm just smarter then you.
Big_Jim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2018, 04:53 PM   #39
DaveSTi
Tri-State Post Whore
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Charlotte
Member #1591

 
iTrader: (0)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Big_Jim View Post
I really like the look of those wheels!
Thank you!

They arrived last night:



I'm going to order new BMW center caps, TPMS sensors and tires next so that these can go on.

Today I updated the interior a little too:








Not easy to see in garage lighting.
__________________
Member Journals:


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
/
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.
DaveSTi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2018, 10:35 AM   #40
DocWalt
Tri-State Post Whore
 
DocWalt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Royersford, PA
Member #10805

My Ride:
'92 GTI, '19 MX-5

iTrader: (0)
Send a message via AIM to DocWalt
Sir, I think your car is missing a pedal
DocWalt is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Any turbo kits for 328xi? jkelz25 BMW Talk 9 10-12-2009 04:12 PM
Another my daily driver> your daily driver thread! FazdaGt Gallery 14 09-02-2009 12:59 PM
What daily to buy. S4toSTI General Car Related Chat 90 05-26-2007 05:52 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:39 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.