Badger's Pug. And now a 320d.

[Jet Badger]

Decided it was time to replace the pug with something more efficient and refined. A few weeks back bought an '03 BMW 320d Touring.

Pretty happy with it so far, definitely a big step up from the 306. So far the things I did are adjusting the handbrake shoes as there was no handbrake at all pretty much. Though that did backfire when later on one of the retaining pins fell out and things got mangled inside a bit. Mostly just springs.

Also a swirl flap delete. This job I made myself way more difficult as it should have been when I decided to clean the inlet manifold. Took me two evenings and a morning to do it all. Never been this dirty ever before. The flaps even seem to be still in rather good shape.

 

[Jet Badger]

Went to pick up a turbo elbow pipe from the parts store yesterday where it arrived and decided that it needed to be put on there and then in the parking lot. It's a fairly simple task, just take off the plastic engine cover and it's there, held by two hoseclamps. Had to buy a set of allen keys and a screwdriver since I had no tools with me, but I needed the allen keys anyway and an extra screwdriver is always handy . That was enough to take us up to the one factory hoseclamp that needs to be cut off in order to be removed, so I went back in to get a pair of snips, hoping they would work. Ended up breaking the tip off them on the first attempt, so me and a friend went to the hardware store across the street for a small hacksaw, and found a perfect candidate for an euro and a bit, it was basically a replaceable metal saw blade with a plastic handle. It did the job well enough and after the clamp was off it was fairly simple. Had the drive all the way home for a test drive. A new pipe is definitely better than an old one plus some electrical tape. Feels more responsive and overall more power. But that's expected, right?

Also picked up a shiny bit today from the post. Ordered a cheap badge off ebay few weeks ago, should be better than the old one. Less tired and all.

 

[Niku Driver HC]

That badge is in mint condition for something bought off eBay, good lord. It's as if it was inside of an unused parts bin in some BMW factory... Care to teach me some of those amazing buying tips?

 

[Jet Badger]

That badge is in mint condition for something bought off eBay, good lord. It's as if it was inside of an unused parts bin in some BMW factory... Care to teach me some of those amazing buying tips?

That's because it's a knockoff part. Still has a protective film on it though.

 

[Niku Driver HC]

That's because it's a knockoff part. Still has a protective film on it though.

A knockoff made in the same home country as the actual badge? Wow, talk about local impersonations... It's a pretty good knockoff, all things considered. And the condition is pretty spiffy...

 

[Jet Badger]

Small update of sorts. Few weekends back I thought I'd replace the stereo and the door speakers with the lot I had in the 306. I really dislike how an aftermarket headunit looks in the dash of these cars, but the fact that I already had the unit and the functionality won over. At the same time I decided to put in the speakers I had aswell, thinking that the ones already there must've been factory ones.

Turned out the speakers were some JBL components. Still, they were installed pretty bad, the surrounds were resting on the plastic trim, also someone already ground off an edge on them to make them fit and the washers on the bolts they used were constantly rattling.

The Alpines I had are a bit lower tier units, but they are smaller and fit in the place much better, so I went with them. The sound, though much better than it was, is still quite crap though. Must be the fact that the speakers are not mounted into the metal door frame, but only the plastic trim.

Also had the turbo fail on me last monday. It was making weird noises since I got the car, but there was no shaft play, so I thought I might be imagining things. Looks like the VNT crapped out and destroyed the wheel and broke the shaft. Anyway, had it back on the road after a hefty fine few days later. I have to say it drives much better now with a properly working turbo.

 

[Jet Badger]

Attempted to wire in the sub that I had left over the past few evenings. Well it was not too easy getting all the plastic bits off. I also want to put the amp in the factory spot under the little door where the CD changer and amp would go if this car had those. Getting access to take the brackets for that off was a bit of a hassle as I had to remove a plastic bit in order to remove a plastic bit in order to remove a plastic bit. :/ Did enough today to wire it all in and hear it working. I still left many bits off and not all the wires are routed the way I'd want yet, but I'll leave that for the weekend maybe as I'm quite tired now.

The presence of the low end now is even more highlighting the lack up front though. I'm thinking maybe the front speakers are wired in the wrong way round? The lack of midbass is so bad. These cars do have the crappy way of mounting the front speakers, but still it's weird that it can sound this bad just because of that. I'll have to look into it further I suppose.

 

[Jet Badger]

Had an aliexpress steering wheel cover bookmarked thinking it would be nice to replace it someday. Then I saw it was a fair bit cheaper than before so I thought why not. Steering wheel has a fair bit of wear on it, the shine is no more and some stitches are starting to tear. Took me maybe 5-6 hours all in to do this. Though I took my time with it since I've never sewn (sew.. saw..something..) anything other than a sock maybe.

At the same time I've replaced the front discs and pads. That should solve the shakey-brakey issue. After replacing the two engine mounts couple weeks ago that both were torn, it should be a nicer driver now. The difference with new mounts is amazing. No more tiring vibration and noise.

 

[Jet Badger]

Took on another project recently - AndroidAuto running on a Raspberry Pi

3D printed clips to hold the screen and hide the gaps, because the frame ant the screen were never meant to go together apparently.

Looks good enough. I hope the clips hold.

The overall plan so far is:

• The thing in factory location. I want to make it all as OEM looking as possible.
• Controls in the center console cubby hole. I made up a sort-of contraption. I want to have an encoder wheel with pushbutton for navigating/enter and separate buttons for volume+-, back, home and phone. Everything else can be accessed with the touchscreen.
• Steering wheel controls interface. This could get moderately tricky since the information about the buttons goes to the BMW I-Bus. We'll see how easy it will be to read data from there. I hope not too hard.
• A 2 or 4-channel amp for the front speakers. Since there is no more room for a headunit and I don't want to do any abominations, this will probably be the way.
• Automatic screen brightness adjustment. The chinese LCD I got only has an on/off switch for the backlight, but I think I can just keep the switch off and apply a PWM signal to it's pins to control the brightness level. The auto part could either be of light sensor data from the I-Bus or a separate light sensor if the former fails. Though a manual brightness adjustment at worst, because at full blast driving early mornings will be an annoyance with that screen shining like the sun.

I think that's it...

Now it's just a steep learning curve trying to make the Pi do things I'd like it to do, since I have no previous experience with it.

 

[Jet Badger]

Been a while since I've updated this thread. in the meantime had to do some of these things:

-Retrofitted projectors to low beams and headlight washers, just haven't yet finished hooking that up properly, that's why the jet covers are off, because if I need to take them off again it will be a pain in the ass.
-Had a moderate accident when somebody cut me off and slammed their brakes. Cost me a headlight, fascia frame, both fenders (one was rusted but not damaged, so it was due anyway), hood and some plastics. Not too pleasant of an experience, I have to say.
-New summer wheels. Well, they might look similar, because they are the same wheel, just 17" instead of 16" I really like how they look. The smaller ones I left as a winter set.
-New Bilstein rear shocks, because one blew up at some point.
-New battery in the winter, since it would have a hard time starting in cold mornings.
-Changed the flywheel and clutch. Flywheel was shot and I got a reman one, seems to hold fine. The clutch wasn't too bad, but since the box was off it was a good idea.
-Aux belts and idlers. That did cost more than I would've liked, but it was making noise already, so it needed to be done.
-Finally after almost 2 years I fixed the handbrake! Mostly because inspection is due. But the discs and pads in the rear were sad aswell, so I just changed everything over.
-Put a small lip under the front bumper. I think it looks neat.

Not too much outside of normal maintenance really. :/

However it now stands on parents' driveway with no valid inspection as I've been too busy with work to go to it few weeks earlier so I had time for another run before the end date. For it to pass I need to replace the windshield, which has a crack on the passenger side. They didn't like the projectors aswell, since it's not OEM. Then also one brake hose and a couple of sway bar links. I think that's it.

Other than that an oil change is terribly due. I have almost 20k km on this oil now. Not ideal, I know. :/
-One of the wheels is slightly bent after driving over some plank or something. Need to get that straightened out.
-Need to repair some rust on the front doors before the winter to stop it from spreading even more.
-Need to give the interior a good good clean. The seats don't look too good anymore.
-Fix the hatch opening switch. At least the glass opens.
-also finally do something with that Rpi project. It's still in the drawer. :/

After I pass the inspection and replace all the due fluids, I'm thinking about a remap. I was thinking about maybe it was time for a new car, but seeing how much I put into this one, it would appear a better idea would be to keep it for as long as possible. So why not treat it a bit more? Should bump it up to 135kW and 390Nm or so, which should make it more nimble and hopefully more fun.

 

[Kitten]

That is quite a very nice touring you have, what's the KM on it? I'm about to rewrap my sport steering wheel as-well the leather is quite worn down, considering going with alcantara, or Leather, i'm indecisive! If you don't use you roof rails, you should remove them, actually you gain a bit in fuel efficiency.

How's your window-shield cowl looking as-well? I just replaced mine, it was beyond cracked.

 

[Jet Badger]

That is quite a very nice touring you have, what's the KM on it? I'm about to rewrap my sport steering wheel as-well the leather is quite worn down, considering going with alcantara, or Leather, i'm indecisive! If you don't use you roof rails, you should remove them, actually you gain a bit in fuel efficiency.

How's your window-shield cowl looking as-well? I just replaced mine, it was beyond cracked.

Thanks! On the odometer it's a little over 250k km. Was 203k when I bought it. Though when I had a BMW scanner connected up, some error codes showed up at 420k or something around that. It is common around here... The interior does look more 200k than 400k though, I have to say.

Yes, you must do a steering wheel wrap, makes it soooo much nicer! These wheels are quite thin I find. Though I'd go with just regular faux leather rather than alcantara. Alcantara is not too nice for hands and hands are not nice for alcantara. The PU leather on mine still looks as new now after a year. You could get various colors stitching though, even with a stripe on top of the wheel and such from what I've seen.

There's only minor cracks on the rubber on the edge of the windshield cowl on mine. Doesn't bother me too much really. I'd rather replace the front door stripes on the lower side of the door glass. Those are all bulgy-wulgy, can't find where to get new ones though. Maybe someday And I think the roof rail-less look fits only in certain occasions. I don't think it'd look good on mine. Maybe if it was lower and on bigger wheels or such.

Yesterday I did the last few things for the inspection; changed the few suspension components. Replaced the windshield earlier this week. Should be good to go (to the inspection). The rear sway bar link was a total pain. Took me longer to do that one than the link in front, brake line and bleed all together.

 

[Jet Badger]

Thought I'd share some other things that I've done over the past while.

The front rotors that I've replaced 1.5y or so ago proved to be garbage, by this spring they were wobbly and even missing chunks of the braking surface. Then at a shop I found out that the rear rotors were no good aswell, as they were manufactured off-center and provided vibration. So all rotors had to be replaced, at the same time the front calipers were questionable, so they had to be rebuilt.

I got a good deal on Rottinger rotors and TRW pads. Extra street cred and all . Note the broken spring.

Afterwards, while doing the brake job I noticed broken rear spring and one blown front strut. So here we go again... Eibach Pro-kit spring set. I thought since I will have to remove all springs anyway, might aswell do an upgrade of sorts. Also M-pack II spec front struts.

Made a pair of special tools for strut disassembly; M16 or so nuts on 21 and 22mm sockets.

Assembled new struts with new everything. One thing I noticed when removing old struts was that one of the strut towers was bent out together with the thrust bearing part of the strut. Apparently this is a common problem on the e46. Below is a pic of the old thrust bearings, you can see one is well not straight. To fix this I used a hammer and a piece of wood to form the strut tower top back to shape. It is quite thin metal and it went back surprisingly easy. There are OEM reinforcement plates to prevent the deformation, but they are like 25eur a piece. So I drew up a CAD model and had the plates laser cut from 3mm steel.

Sprayed black:

Also apparently the strut clamping bolts are prone to seizing like a bitch. I broke one off and had to take the whole kingpin off, then take it to work to weld a bunch of stuff to the broken bolt to eventually have it come out.

OEM bolts would have had a week wait time, so analogue ones were in need. DIN 961 M12x1.5x55 10.9 for anyone's interest. There were not 55mm long ones, but 50mm is enough.

And the front is done! Together with new control arm bushings and anti-roll bar bushings.

The rear axle is much less involved. Just undo one shock bolt and pry the suspension down to remove the spring. However it turned out both rear springs were broken. They were not OEM ones. Not sure how long they've been there like that.

End result. In resume it drives similar to before, slightly more responsive and much less roll in turns. But main thing is that now there is not a slightest suspension noise, everything is tight and nice. Now I just need to fix the driveline vibration.

 

[Kitten]

Looks great! I am running same springs paired with KONI Yellows; and I went too the XI Spring Pads in the Rear. Its quite a surprisingly great setup.

 

[Jet Badger]

Looks great! I am running same springs paired with KONI Yellows; and I went too the XI Spring Pads in the Rear. Its quite a surprisingly great setup.

I saw your thread, did you not have the strut tower tops deformed prior? I assume you mean the front spring pads.

I also notice that with these springs my car seems lower in the rear than most. With these 225/45/R17 wheels the rear arch is horizontally flush with the tire. Maybe diesel rear end is heavier due to rear mounted battery, but it should not make such a difference. On most there is still a small gap between the tire and the arch.

 

[Kitten]

I saw your thread, did you not have the strut tower tops deformed prior? I assume you mean the front spring pads.

I also notice that with these springs my car seems lower in the rear than most. With these 225/45/R17 wheels the rear arch is horizontally flush with the tire. Maybe diesel rear end is heavier due to rear mounted battery, but it should not make such a difference. On most there is still a small gap between the tire and the arch.

Touring's are about 150-200Ibs heavier then the Sedan; and tbh there really isn't springs for touring's. AFAIK the Touring Stock Springs are a bit stiffer then the Sedan to compensate for the weight difference. Anywho; I went with the 15mm rear spring pads from an XI compared to the Non-XI which is 5mm in the rear so it could compensate for the weight a bit, and bring that height up .5" or so. Also AFAIK majority of all BMW's have a rear mounted battery. I did get reinforcement plates for my front towers though since I was going to a bit stiffer strut and didn't want that tower to mushroom.

 

[Jet Badger]

Touring's are about 150-200Ibs heavier then the Sedan; and tbh there really isn't springs for touring's. AFAIK the Touring Stock Springs are a bit stiffer then the Sedan to compensate for the weight difference. Anywho; I went with the 15mm rear spring pads from an XI compared to the Non-XI which is 5mm in the rear so it could compensate for the weight a bit, and bring that height up .5" or so. Also AFAIK majority of all BMW's have a rear mounted battery. I did get reinforcement plates for my front towers though since I was going to a bit stiffer strut and didn't want that tower to mushroom.

I reckon on the e46, atleast the smaller petrol models definitely had the battery in the front from what I've seen. But maybe the likes of 318i or so.

I will have to look into those rear spring pads, thanks for the info. With a couple of rear passengers and some luggage I'm afraid it'd be too much to clear most of everything as is now

 

[eiriksmil]

I reckon on the e46, atleast the smaller petrol models definitely had the battery in the front from what I've seen. But maybe the likes of 318i or so.

Four cylinder petrol BMWs usually have engine bay mounted batteries, 6 cyl cars have rear mounted batteries to offset the extra weight and still achieve best possible weight distribution.

 

[Kitten]

I reckon on the e46, atleast the smaller petrol models definitely had the battery in the front from what I've seen. But maybe the likes of 318i or so.

I will have to look into those rear spring pads, thanks for the info. With a couple of rear passengers and some luggage I'm afraid it'd be too much to clear most of everything as is now

Glad i could help!


I do believe a MAJORITY of BMW's have the battery in the rear right; exception of the E30 and earlier BMW's. It would be a pain for BMW to redesign the wiring loom to incorporate the battery in the front. All E46's, E36's have batteries in the rear right; and all newer BMW's do as-well. I lied 1 Series BMW has the battery located in the middle of the trunk. Actually Mini Coopers have the battery located in the front (they are BMW's )

 

[Jet Badger]

Glad i could help!


I do believe a MAJORITY of BMW's have the battery in the rear right; exception of the E30 and earlier BMW's. It would be a pain for BMW to redesign the wiring loom to incorporate the battery in the front. All E46's, E36's have batteries in the rear right; and all newer BMW's do as-well. I lied 1 Series BMW has the battery located in the middle of the trunk. Actually Mini Coopers have the battery located in the front (they are BMW's )

I could've sworn I've seen the battery mounted in the off-side spot by the firewall. Well, might be my mistake. The main power cables come to that spot anyway for the jump-start posts and alternator/starter connections though.

 

[Kitten]

I could've sworn I've seen the battery mounted in the off-side spot by the firewall. Well, might be my mistake. The main power cables come to that spot anyway for the jump-start posts and alternator/starter connections though.

Correct! Actually, MINI's have the battery mounted in the off side by the firewall as-well. But all good .

 

[eiriksmil]

I do believe a MAJORITY of BMW's have the battery in the rear right; exception of the E30 and earlier BMW's. It would be a pain for BMW to redesign the wiring loom to incorporate the battery in the front. All E46's, E36's have batteries in the rear right; and all newer BMW's do as-well.

Four cylinder petrol BMWs usually have engine bay mounted batteries, 6 cyl cars have rear mounted batteries to offset the extra weight and still achieve best possible weight distribution.

 

[Kitten]

Thats not true; unless you find me pictures that 4 Cylinder BMW's have battery's in the front to prove your point.

 

[eiriksmil]

Thats not true; unless you find me pictures that 4 Cylinder BMW's have battery's in the front to prove your point.

You could (should) have googled that yourself before posting.. But whatever

Hey look it's an E46 four cylinder with the battery up front

And another one

I could go on. Sorry @Jet Badger not meaning to clutter up your thread, but you were right.

 

[Kitten]

You could (should) have googled that yourself before posting.. But whatever

Hey look it's an E46 four cylinder with the battery up front

And another one

I could go on. Sorry @Jet Badger not meaning to clutter up your thread, but you were right.

Well my apologies then! I swear i googled it; that is quite interesting. Thanks.

 

[Jet Badger]

I could go on. Sorry @Jet Badger not meaning to clutter up your thread, but you were right.

No worries.

I know I've seen them there before, but a quick google search found me just some race-car battery relocation results.

 

[Jet Badger]

Finally took it back from the shop with a replaced prop shaft. That solved the vibration, finally!

Today I took up the one thing I wanted to code in for a while now. Just a little thing of dimmed high beams as DRLs to preserve low beam bulbs. It took more playing around than I thought it would, but I got there.

Upcoming things that I want/need to do:
-Put the handbrake pads back together again
-Get a pair of thicker spring pads for the rear to jack it up a tiny bit
-Replace the thermostats and the electric coolant heater
-Replace rear brake lines
-Oil change
-Replace outside mirrors (glass)
-Fix a few rust spots to prevent them from expanding
-Fix the backlash in the gear shifter mechanism
-Fix the on-board computer button
-Fix the rear hatch button (I only can really open the glass at this point)
-Fix the PDC
-Replace the driver's door strap
-CDV delete
-Remap

I'm hoping to do the first half of the list atleast the upcoming month. Hopefully

 

[Kitten]

Finally took it back from the shop with a replaced prop shaft. That solved the vibration, finally!

Today I took up the one thing I wanted to code in for a while now. Just a little thing of dimmed high beams as DRLs to preserve low beam bulbs. It took more playing around than I thought it would, but I got there.

View attachment 945917

View attachment 945918

Upcoming things that I want/need to do:
-Put the handbrake pads back together again
-Get a pair of thicker spring pads for the rear to jack it up a tiny bit
-Replace the thermostats and the electric coolant heater
-Replace rear brake lines
-Oil change
-Replace outside mirrors (glass)
-Fix a few rust spots to prevent them from expanding
-Fix the backlash in the gear shifter mechanism
-Fix the on-board computer button
-Fix the rear hatch button (I only can really open the glass at this point)
-Fix the PDC
-Replace the driver's door strap
-CDV delete
-Remap

I'm hoping to do the first half of the list atleast the upcoming month. Hopefully

Looking good

 

[Jet Badger]

Been a while since I've posted anything. Here are some things that went on since the last update.

September - Subaru did not yield when they were supposed to and this happened. They didn't even slow down before the crossing or even look anywhere. Stopped only after pushing my car for half a meter or so. Did not agree they were at fault and insisted on calling the police. Anyhow the police told them they were.

Had to fight with insurance for quite a bit as first they offered a laughable sum, then decided it would have to be written off after their recommended shop did an evaluation. In the end ended up with maximum payout of 75% of their estimated car value. That was OK as it was enough for new headlight, turn signals, hood, fender, bumper with all bits and other misc parts with enough to prep and respray the whole front end including replacing passenger side door which was rusted and sprayed transition. Also fixed a minor rust spot on the rear arch. All in all it ended up with better panel fitment than before and all matching paint.

Also fitted new wheels. They are the also 17" style-32's, just these are off the E90 - they have 13mm or so lower ET and also are in much better shape. Made for a nicer fitment.

Having the old passenger door as a template I decided it was about time to fix the one inherent issue that has been bothering about this car ever since getting it. The audio. The issue is the mounting of the front speakers, which are mounted to the flimsy door card and vented into the gap between the card and the door metal. I set to making adapters to mount to the metal and cut a hole in it to vent the speaker into the door.

The whole process also included sound deadening in the doors, bought a headunit that can do 2-way active system, a 4ch amp, but that was before the plans grew a bit and a 4ch amp will not cut it anymore. For now I will run it together with the old 2ch amp and after that will see what need upgrading.

Ran separate speaker wires for the midbass in the doors and made a cable to go from the amp in the trunk to behind the dash, where it plugs in to the factory wiring, which will be used for the tweeters in the oem locations.

About the amp location... Well, at first I thought I'd just hide the amps behind the factory panels either to the sides of the trunk or the space in front of the spare wheel. Also plan was to for the time to keep the old subwoofer, however afterwards I decided to not half-ass atleast this time, I decided that the best way would be to build a stealth sub box and amp rack in the spare wheel location.

And that's as much progress as I've done so far. The horrible weather and such makes it hard to find time to work on it, however eventually maybe I'll finish it.

 

[wfooshee]

Is that speaker mount on the door cards BMW factory, or some moron with the car before you? If it's BMW, then both apply, as the moron works for BMW...