straight6pwr

you dont need to clean the car for night shots! 
top 4 in the nation, baby. https://www.teletracnavman.com/resources/resource-library/infographics/worst-maintained-roads-infographic
lol head over anyways!

that's great news! 
want to go back the museum for better pictures? Ill bring my camera.

what about the ///Minivan?!

what about the ///Minivan?!

what about the ///Minivan?!

157.7k
Did some playing around with the ECU last night. On a stock e46 (ms43), there are two functions called 'driver wish input correction' and 'throttle request correction'. My understanding of them is that they limit the change rate of the throttle body depending on various inputs including engine load and RPM, vehicle speed (allows the ecu to calculate which gear you are in), clutch and brake switch, etc. It basically functions like a software based CDV by damping driver inputs. On the the ms43 wiki, they break down the parameters that control these functions and which ones to modify to disable them both completely. I made the updates and flashed the new file to the spare ECU, swapped it into the car and took it for a spin. 
 
All I have to say is: Ho. Lee. Sh!t. 
Since day 1 this car has been a little difficult to drive smoothly from a shifting/starting off perspective and I pretty much attributed it to a stiff clutch and not being Ayrton Senna. It has also been somewhat slow to rev considering the lightweight flywheel. Rev-matching took a huge throttle input compared to my old e36 with the stock dual-mass. This has been completely resolved. It is way more responsive, revs very quickly, shifting and general driving is way smoother. It's like a whole different car!! I am thinking that because my ECU is missing the speed sensor input, clutch/brake switch, and anything else that comes in through the CAN bus, that it has been defaulting to the most conservative settings. Disabling both systems completely allows it to function similar to a cable throttle. I did accidentally re-set some of the DTC suppression so I get a check engine light again, so I'll have to go back and re-do that. 
 
And because walls of text are less fun than pictures, here is a 'meh' phone photo from my drive last night. My phone really struggles with low light. Maybe someday I'll get a nice camera. 
 
 

Luckily it’s a video conference, you’ll be okay
 

there are some positives, for sure. the reduction of traffic congestion is top for me. for many people, it can give 1 to 2 hours of your life back to do something else, everyday. 

fricken keto moms are ruining everything

fricken keto moms are ruining everything

there are some positives, for sure. the reduction of traffic congestion is top for me. for many people, it can give 1 to 2 hours of your life back to do something else, everyday. 

WRONG!
That’s 1 to 2 more hours that you can work from home!
Everytime I ask my boss to choose what projects he wants prioritized because not all of them can possibly be done on time, he is supportive and helpful by telling me “well, if you need to work saturday or sunday, thats fine, otherwise there are more than 8 hours in a workday” (im typically working 6:45-4:45 everyday, sometimes til 5:30)
Eat shit, Pete. 
 

stopped at a couple spots while running errands and snapped a few more photos since the car was clean. tried to go to places that are now empty due to the situation where normally cars and people might be in the way. 
my photo variety has been boring lately (lots of 3/4 wide shots), but whatever. 


 



 



 

stopped at a couple spots while running errands and snapped a few more photos since the car was clean. tried to go to places that are now empty due to the situation where normally cars and people might be in the way. 
my photo variety has been boring lately (lots of 3/4 wide shots), but whatever. 


 



 



 

stopped at a couple spots while running errands and snapped a few more photos since the car was clean. tried to go to places that are now empty due to the situation where normally cars and people might be in the way. 
my photo variety has been boring lately (lots of 3/4 wide shots), but whatever. 


 



 



 

Mmmm, beautiful!

stopped at a couple spots while running errands and snapped a few more photos since the car was clean. tried to go to places that are now empty due to the situation where normally cars and people might be in the way. 
my photo variety has been boring lately (lots of 3/4 wide shots), but whatever. 


 



 



 

stopped at a couple spots while running errands and snapped a few more photos since the car was clean. tried to go to places that are now empty due to the situation where normally cars and people might be in the way. 
my photo variety has been boring lately (lots of 3/4 wide shots), but whatever. 


 



 



 

stopped at a couple spots while running errands and snapped a few more photos since the car was clean. tried to go to places that are now empty due to the situation where normally cars and people might be in the way. 
my photo variety has been boring lately (lots of 3/4 wide shots), but whatever. 


 



 



 

stopped at a couple spots while running errands and snapped a few more photos since the car was clean. tried to go to places that are now empty due to the situation where normally cars and people might be in the way. 
my photo variety has been boring lately (lots of 3/4 wide shots), but whatever. 


 



 



 

stopped at a couple spots while running errands and snapped a few more photos since the car was clean. tried to go to places that are now empty due to the situation where normally cars and people might be in the way. 
my photo variety has been boring lately (lots of 3/4 wide shots), but whatever. 


 



 



 

went fishing yesterday. worked on the car today. life is good.
time to tackle my window trim. problems: 1. two pieces of trim are trying to jettison from the car. 2. chrome window trim is so 70s. 
the upper trim where it comes down to the front fenders likes to fly off of e30s at highway speeds. luckily, last year it decided to come loose when I had the roof rack on, so it couldnt fly away. i had it temporarily taped in place:

with the tape removed, you can see how the trim was failing. those little rust spots are where the clips are supposed to be holding the trim to body seam.

here is a set of new clips. you need (4) for one side of the car. I ordered (5) for good measure. 

old clip (rusty and the little sharp tangs are worn down) vs new. 

to fix, simply slide or pull out the old clips and push the new ones in with a screwdriver. if you cant get the old ones out, just leave them and install the new clips next to them. its not worth bending your trim to try and get them out. 

and done. 

the next trim piece that was falling off was the driver's side rear 'wing'.  you can see it here sticking out from the body. 

to remove, just carefully pry it straight away from the car. be sure to slide the little clip out of the way at the top where it meets the upper trim. 

under, you'll find four holes/grommets. if you remove the trim, you'll likely have to replace all four, so have them on hand. there are (3) 51131870459 and (1) 51141902279 which is actually the same grommet used for the hood emblems. new grommets pushed in place:

trim reinstalled


all lined up again.

at the same time, I 'shadowlined' the chrome window trim. most e30s came with some amount of chrome trim. early cars, all the trim was chrome. later cars had a mix. m3s, 318is, and other special cars (Mtech) had full black trim. it may have also been an option? not sure. my car is a late car with a mix (chrome upper/lower trim, black window trim, black front and rear windshield lockstrips) 

the car has the rear pop-up windows, so you have to remove them to properly paint the trim that is under the seals. removal is easy - one phillips screw at the pop-out latch, and two 8mm nuts behind the clothes hanger hook and seat belt on the B-pillar. no interior trim has to be removed. 

i saved all my packing paper from FCPeuro orders (they overdo the paper) to use as masking paper

starting the masking job

masking all complete. note: unplug your battery because you'll need to leave your doors open for extended periods of time.


sand all the trim with light grit (220) to prep the shiny chrome surface to receive the primer. 

i usually use SEM trim paint for this job, but i'm sick of tracking it down so I went with store-bought rustoleum trim paint. in the end, I was happy with the finish. it is slightly more glossy than SEM, but matches the factory trim finish well. my only gripe is the nozzle is a wide spray pattern, which is super wasteful on thin trim. i sprayed most of the trim with the can twisted to get more coverage. 

did two coats of self etching primer

patiently wait at least 12 hours to pull your masking tape (hardest part of the job) 
and boom, done. 

i am just about wrapped up for the 'winter' projects. I took the car out, washed it, and drove it.  much smiles.

 
more to do: 
replace pulley idlers (squeek squeek squeek)
replace coolant level sensor
adjust rear coil heights (after pulling the car out and looking from a distance I can see its not even from side to side) 
alignment

went fishing yesterday. worked on the car today. life is good.
time to tackle my window trim. problems: 1. two pieces of trim are trying to jettison from the car. 2. chrome window trim is so 70s. 
the upper trim where it comes down to the front fenders likes to fly off of e30s at highway speeds. luckily, last year it decided to come loose when I had the roof rack on, so it couldnt fly away. i had it temporarily taped in place:

with the tape removed, you can see how the trim was failing. those little rust spots are where the clips are supposed to be holding the trim to body seam.

here is a set of new clips. you need (4) for one side of the car. I ordered (5) for good measure. 

old clip (rusty and the little sharp tangs are worn down) vs new. 

to fix, simply slide or pull out the old clips and push the new ones in with a screwdriver. if you cant get the old ones out, just leave them and install the new clips next to them. its not worth bending your trim to try and get them out. 

and done. 

the next trim piece that was falling off was the driver's side rear 'wing'.  you can see it here sticking out from the body. 

to remove, just carefully pry it straight away from the car. be sure to slide the little clip out of the way at the top where it meets the upper trim. 

under, you'll find four holes/grommets. if you remove the trim, you'll likely have to replace all four, so have them on hand. there are (3) 51131870459 and (1) 51141902279 which is actually the same grommet used for the hood emblems. new grommets pushed in place:

trim reinstalled


all lined up again.

at the same time, I 'shadowlined' the chrome window trim. most e30s came with some amount of chrome trim. early cars, all the trim was chrome. later cars had a mix. m3s, 318is, and other special cars (Mtech) had full black trim. it may have also been an option? not sure. my car is a late car with a mix (chrome upper/lower trim, black window trim, black front and rear windshield lockstrips) 

the car has the rear pop-up windows, so you have to remove them to properly paint the trim that is under the seals. removal is easy - one phillips screw at the pop-out latch, and two 8mm nuts behind the clothes hanger hook and seat belt on the B-pillar. no interior trim has to be removed. 

i saved all my packing paper from FCPeuro orders (they overdo the paper) to use as masking paper

starting the masking job

masking all complete. note: unplug your battery because you'll need to leave your doors open for extended periods of time.


sand all the trim with light grit (220) to prep the shiny chrome surface to receive the primer. 

i usually use SEM trim paint for this job, but i'm sick of tracking it down so I went with store-bought rustoleum trim paint. in the end, I was happy with the finish. it is slightly more glossy than SEM, but matches the factory trim finish well. my only gripe is the nozzle is a wide spray pattern, which is super wasteful on thin trim. i sprayed most of the trim with the can twisted to get more coverage. 

did two coats of self etching primer

patiently wait at least 12 hours to pull your masking tape (hardest part of the job) 
and boom, done. 

i am just about wrapped up for the 'winter' projects. I took the car out, washed it, and drove it.  much smiles.

 
more to do: 
replace pulley idlers (squeek squeek squeek)
replace coolant level sensor
adjust rear coil heights (after pulling the car out and looking from a distance I can see its not even from side to side) 
alignment

went fishing yesterday. worked on the car today. life is good.
time to tackle my window trim. problems: 1. two pieces of trim are trying to jettison from the car. 2. chrome window trim is so 70s. 
the upper trim where it comes down to the front fenders likes to fly off of e30s at highway speeds. luckily, last year it decided to come loose when I had the roof rack on, so it couldnt fly away. i had it temporarily taped in place:

with the tape removed, you can see how the trim was failing. those little rust spots are where the clips are supposed to be holding the trim to body seam.

here is a set of new clips. you need (4) for one side of the car. I ordered (5) for good measure. 

old clip (rusty and the little sharp tangs are worn down) vs new. 

to fix, simply slide or pull out the old clips and push the new ones in with a screwdriver. if you cant get the old ones out, just leave them and install the new clips next to them. its not worth bending your trim to try and get them out. 

and done. 

the next trim piece that was falling off was the driver's side rear 'wing'.  you can see it here sticking out from the body. 

to remove, just carefully pry it straight away from the car. be sure to slide the little clip out of the way at the top where it meets the upper trim. 

under, you'll find four holes/grommets. if you remove the trim, you'll likely have to replace all four, so have them on hand. there are (3) 51131870459 and (1) 51141902279 which is actually the same grommet used for the hood emblems. new grommets pushed in place:

trim reinstalled


all lined up again.

at the same time, I 'shadowlined' the chrome window trim. most e30s came with some amount of chrome trim. early cars, all the trim was chrome. later cars had a mix. m3s, 318is, and other special cars (Mtech) had full black trim. it may have also been an option? not sure. my car is a late car with a mix (chrome upper/lower trim, black window trim, black front and rear windshield lockstrips) 

the car has the rear pop-up windows, so you have to remove them to properly paint the trim that is under the seals. removal is easy - one phillips screw at the pop-out latch, and two 8mm nuts behind the clothes hanger hook and seat belt on the B-pillar. no interior trim has to be removed. 

i saved all my packing paper from FCPeuro orders (they overdo the paper) to use as masking paper

starting the masking job

masking all complete. note: unplug your battery because you'll need to leave your doors open for extended periods of time.


sand all the trim with light grit (220) to prep the shiny chrome surface to receive the primer. 

i usually use SEM trim paint for this job, but i'm sick of tracking it down so I went with store-bought rustoleum trim paint. in the end, I was happy with the finish. it is slightly more glossy than SEM, but matches the factory trim finish well. my only gripe is the nozzle is a wide spray pattern, which is super wasteful on thin trim. i sprayed most of the trim with the can twisted to get more coverage. 

did two coats of self etching primer

patiently wait at least 12 hours to pull your masking tape (hardest part of the job) 
and boom, done. 

i am just about wrapped up for the 'winter' projects. I took the car out, washed it, and drove it.  much smiles.

 
more to do: 
replace pulley idlers (squeek squeek squeek)
replace coolant level sensor
adjust rear coil heights (after pulling the car out and looking from a distance I can see its not even from side to side) 
alignment