[ATLBlue]

Exhaust (video &) soundclip!

I installed the GoPro yesterday and went out for a short ride. You will only see one of the tips on the video, and there is a little too much wind noise, but it should give a pretty good idea

[ATLBlue]

Pic of the GoPro setup used for the previous videoclip post...

[tboooe]

Hey Serge...how much stretch do you have? In one of your pics its look like there is a bit. Or is that just the profile of the tire?

[PCR0303]

I was wondering why it sounded so good and then I remembered yours was the 6cyl

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by tboooe

Hey Serge...how much stretch do you have? In one of your pics its look like there is a bit. Or is that just the profile of the tire?

There is a bit of unintentional stretch. Tires are 225/40 front and 255/35 rear (OEM size for 19" staggered setup), but the wheels are 19 x 8.5 front and 19 x 9.5 as opposed to 19 x 8 and 19 x 8.5 for OEM for instance. In addition the Michelin PSS look a little stretched by nature IMHO.
I am happy with the looks and am far from the 'stancenation' definition of stretched tires (pic from a GTI at a recent Caffeine & Octane):

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by PCR0303

I was wondering why it sounded so good and then I remembered yours was the 6cyl

Your cold start video of the 35i MPE mounted your car sounds very good I think. A bit higher pitched than the AWE Tuning exhaust maybe, but certainly no non-BMW pedestrian 4-pot engine sound

[ATLBlue]

While installing my PSS10 coilovers (detailed review soon), a tool fell on two of my wheels causing two (very) little nicks. The shop will have both wheels completely and professionally refinished, but while we were discussing it, we thought that powdercoating the wheels in Gunmetal may not look too bad.

I have not made up my mind yet. Here's a very bad Photoshopped pic with Hypersilver and Gunmetal wheels. Do not hesitate to chime in and tell me your preferred option!

[Moisted]

Originally Posted by ATLBlue

While installing my PSS10 coilovers (detailed review soon), a tool fell on two of my wheels causing two (very) little nicks. The shop will have both wheels completely and professionally refinished, but while we were discussing it, we thought that powdercoating the wheels in Gunmetal may not look too bad.

I have not made up my mind yet. Here's a very bad Photoshopped pic with Hypersilver and Gunmetal wheels. Do not hesitate to chime in and tell me your preferred

I normally don't like gun metal as I think it looks like the wheels are covered with brake dust or other wise dirty. But I must say in your picture, they look good

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by Moisted

I normally don't like gym metal as I think it looks like the wheels are covered with brake dust or other wise dirty. But I must say in your picture, they look good

You have a point. It is precisely when we were looking at the wheels covered with brake dust that we started to speculate about powdercoating in gunmetal!

[jinnrice]

Originally Posted by ATLBlue

You have a point. It is precisely when we were looking at the wheels covered with brake dust that we started to speculate about powdercoating in gunmetal!

Serge. Thanks for the spacers. CSL wheels n tires going on the car this weekend with the spacers.
I personally like gun metal on our Estoril blue. I originally wanted bronze but a lot of guys here say I should of gotten a scoobie if I went bronze. But I had gun metal rims on all my previous rides.

[f30luxline]

I like the silver better. The more contrast between wheels and body I feel makes the details stand out more.

[tboooe]

Forget about the wheels, lets see some pics of the Pss10 and the a review!

You got the kit pretty fast. I got a leadtime of 12 weeks for the comfort versions I want!

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by tboooe

Forget about the wheels, lets see some pics of the Pss10 and the a review!

You got the kit pretty fast. I got a leadtime of 12 weeks for the comfort versions I want!

I still have to play a little with the PSS10s settings to report... but the initial impressions are very positive.

The sport version of PSS10 were in stock in the warehouse of a NY distributor my shop ordered from and we got them in 3 days. Maybe there is less demand for the comfort version ?

[IdTamer]

Great thread, one of the few I have read cover to cover

Exhaust sounds great, just wondering if there is any drone at all?

Thanks!

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by IdTamer

Great thread, one of the few I have read cover to cover

Exhaust sounds great, just wondering if there is any drone at all?

Thanks!

You will definitely hear the exhaust with the performance mid pipe but there is no drone. If anything, cold starts are rather loud (sounds very cool... but wakes my wife up ).

[Jimminez]

Originally Posted by ATLBlue

Temp settings in Celcius? Transplant from up north or across the pond?

Originally Posted by ATLBlue

While installing my PSS10 coilovers (detailed review soon), a tool fell on two of my wheels causing two (very) little nicks. The shop will have both wheels completely and professionally refinished, but while we were discussing it, we thought that powdercoating the wheels in Gunmetal may not look too bad.

I have not made up my mind yet. Here's a very bad Photoshopped pic with Hypersilver and Gunmetal wheels. Do not hesitate to chime in and tell me your preferred option!

I say go for the gunmetal. I was contemplating converting my LMs this spring to a black diamond finish after seeing what my wagon looks like with darker wheels this winter and the added bonus of not having brake dust be as obvious. In fact I'm still considering a color change but it may be with a new wheel too.

Originally Posted by ATLBlue

You will definitely hear the exhaust with the performance mid pipe but there is no drone. If anything, cold starts are rather loud (sounds very cool... but wakes my wife up ).

Totally agree with the cold start up. Love the way it sounds but hasn't impacted the family yet though early rounds of golf haven't started yet. Will likely have to park outside the night before since I like to play at daybreak.

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by Jimminez

Temp settings in Celcius? Transplant from up north or across the pond?

...from across the pond, dear friend from the Belle Province. Born in Belgium, spent my first 35 years in Europe and now living in the US for the last 8 years. Diversity is the most entertaining and fulfilling experience in life... as long as the cars are german

I just could never get used to the F&*#!NG Imperial system though. Pick the best things from each culture, the metric system from one side, the american ingenuity from the other side and you could build a spaceship to go to the moon (well, I think it has been tried before )

[Livfast335]

Go for gunmetal or matte black... Looks nice.

[phattbam]

i swore this time i would leave my "ultimate driving machine" stock. but after following your thread and seeing videos and images, I'm getting the mod bug itch. Love what you've done so far.

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by phattbam

i swore this time i would leave my "ultimate driving machine" stock. but after following your thread and seeing videos and images, I'm getting the mod bug itch. Love what you've done so far.

Thanks and I totally understand.
Earlier on (post #12 of this thread), I wrote: "I went with a Dinan Stage 1 tune and do not intend to go as far with mods (as I did with other cars)". It turns out that there is no known cure to the mod bug itch...

I keep hearing the word 'brakes' in my sleep over the last days. Maybe my subconscious is trying to tell me something ???

[Felosenco]

Originally Posted by ATLBlue

While installing my PSS10 coilovers (detailed review soon), a tool fell on two of my wheels causing two (very) little nicks. The shop will have both wheels completely and professionally refinished, but while we were discussing it, we thought that powdercoating the wheels in Gunmetal may not look too bad.

I have not made up my mind yet. Here's a very bad Photoshopped pic with Hypersilver and Gunmetal wheels. Do not hesitate to chime in and tell me your preferred option!

I love the gunmetal, but after seeing them side by side I would keep them Silver as the Gunmetal makes the wheels look smaller.

[Felosenco]

Originally Posted by ATLBlue

"Free" blind spot detection mod

I am not a fan of blind spot detection systems (or lane departure alert, automatic cruise control, etc.), and I would be a lot happier with the European left and right 'blind spot' convex rear view mirrors. I imagine it is one more obsolete DOT rule but that this one also makes carmakers happy: they either use a cheaper piece of mirror or they charge you $3,000 (incl. a 200% margin) for a gizmo package that includes blind spot detection.

Convex auto-dimming mirrors can be ordered online (i.e. from ECS tuning), but I found $416 -a piece- way too expensive

The Society of Automotive Engineers published a paper in 1995 explaining how outside mirrors could be adjusted to eliminate blind spots:



I follow this recommendation and have my mirrors adjusted according to Fig.1 and Fig.4. There are nevertheless instances were I like to have them in the classical Fig.2 and Fig.5 position: backing out of my garage, parking in a narrow spot etc.
Being (almost) the only driver of my F30, I am using my memory seats as a work around. I have programmed the memory settings #1 and #2 with the exact same seat position and only the position of the mirrors differ.

when I back out of my garage in the morning, I select the settings #1:



then I get on the street, press the memory button #2 and my mirror switch to the 'SAE' settings:



Nothing earthshattering or incredibly smart here, but I thought I would share just in case...

I think it's very clever. The blind spots in my F36 are huge, I'll be doing this for sure. Thanks for sharing