[GOLOMB]

Hi, what type of phone holder do you have? I can see the phone only

[silvrbreez]

I've got the Rennline mount.

[BradNC]

Your car is really clean. Great job.

[silvrbreez]

Originally Posted by BradNC

Your car is really clean. Great job.

Thanks man. I appreciate that. The pre-pics wash definitely helped.

Turner Motorsport high flow downpipe on the way. Then I can crank MHD up to Stage 2, then Stage 2+.

[gerryi]

Originally Posted by silvrbreez

Same spot. New shoes.

Looks like a picture from a magazine. Amazing, really like that one!

[silvrbreez]

Originally Posted by gerryi

Looks like a picture from a magazine. Amazing, really like that one!

Thanks man. I try to get artsy every once in a while. There are some cool spots to shoot around downtown Beaumont, TX.

[CajunBMW]

How do you like your valentine G2? I have one for my cars. I have found it works well. I use the window mount so that I can move it around to different vehicles. I always use the secret port under the glove box as the power source so that I can keep my other sources free for phones.

Nice mods.

[silvrbreez]

Originally Posted by CajunBMW

How do you like your valentine G2? I have one for my cars. I have found it works well. I use the window mount so that I can move it around to different vehicles. I always use the secret port under the glove box as the power source so that I can keep my other sources free for phones.

Nice mods.

So far so good on the V1 Gen 2. It's the first radar detector I've ever owned, and I've paired it with V1 Driver. It seems to be a good combo.

I think I'm going to pick up a second window mount since I had to scavenge the first one to use with the Blendmount. Then, I'll be able to put it in the wife's car for road trips and whatnot.

[silvrbreez]

Originally Posted by silvrbreez

Thanks man. I appreciate that. The pre-pics wash definitely helped.

Turner Motorsport high flow downpipe on the way. Then I can crank MHD up to Stage 2, then Stage 2+.

Ordered downpipe on April 18 with expected ship date of April 20
Ship date got pushed back to May 13
Now ship date is pushed back to Oct 6!

I'm being told this is an industry-wide issue with catted downpipes. I wonder if I should just go catless to get the damn thing installed!

[silvrbreez]

It’s been a while. The car is dirty as heck. Months since a proper wash. Here’s a snap early one morning in the way to work. She’s in “adventure mode” at the moment with the rack and box loaded with gear for the youth soccer team I coach.

The downpipe finally arrived after a long delay, but Turner made it right in the end. Threw that on back in December and cranked up MHD to Stage 2+.

Just installed the Motorsports Hardware stud conversion with gunmetal open nuts that I’ve been sitting in for nearly a year.

I also swapped my old blank worn stock rotors for some Zimmerman slotted/dimpled rotors, Akebono pads, and M Sport brake logo decal refurbishments from Justin Buice. The dimpled rotors do make the clicking sound that many speak of that is audible when passing walls or fences, but it doesn't bother me.

All good upgrades over the last few months…just crusty and dirty at the moment.

[silvrbreez]

UPDATE...

These Akebono pads are AMAZING! The brake dust is negligible on my wheels after washing the car two weeks ago. I cannot recommend these highly enough. It's a splurge over most brake pads, but it's proven worth it so far.

[silvrbreez]

Phone snaps. I haven't been able to wash the car in about 3 weeks, and the wheels are still looking good. Love these pads.

[Silence*]

Glad I have some Akebono's waiting to go on mine this week, especially with my new summer wheels being polished silver... they were damn near black after a week and a half!

[caniswolf]

What the color in your car..plzzzz😂

[silvrbreez]

Well, a lot has happened since my last update in April 2023.

Personally, I was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in November 2023 after several months of feeling like crap. That's been a life-changing ride since then, and for obvious reasons, the car has taken a back seat. The good news is that my treatments are going well and I've met the first stage of remission, but it's still a very long road to potentially be treatment free.

Before that diagnosis, I did a few minor mods like the BMW oddments tray and the BMW M Performance Air Box upgrade. And after that diagnosis, I felt good enough in early January to do some major maintenance on the car since it hit 100k miles, so I tackled the spark plugs and coils, AT fluid flush & pan/filter replacement, and diff fluid flush. I was sore for days after that weekend on my back, but it was worth it to wrench on the car again. While under there, I also decided to upgrade the sagging plastic underbody panel to a Turner Motorsporst aluminum skid plate.

In February, I added a Carbon Fiber Antenna Cover and replaced the Kies replica M-Performance front splitter with some carbon fiber splitters like I used to have. I've realized I like that simple mod to the front bumper more than a full width lip. It also better suits my roads and driving style to not have that reduction in front clearance.

In June I had to trace an error I was getting and ended up replacing both the upstream and downstream O2 sensors at the cat. It ended up being much easier to do that I thought, and it was the first real job on the car that my 12 year old son got out there and helped me with...so bonus on that.

July 2024 Accident

Fast forward one month to July, I got side swiped on my way to work by a box delivery truck who veered into my lane. His rear tire contacted my passenger front fender, ripped off my side mirror, scuffed both wheels, and caused some scratches on the entire side of the car. I was frustrated but knew I had good insurance and a local shop who would take care of me.





The body shop did a great job on the respray, but three things left me unsatisfied. I would need to replace the PPF on the front fender, which being 7-8 years old the entire front clip really needed to be redone as it was showing signs of wear. Insurance would not replace the two passenger side wheels, so the shop sent them off to a speciality wheel refinished who did a good job matching the color but left the wheels with a texture and some other things that let me wanting since it wasn't a perfect match to the other side of the car. Finally, the front bumper didn't get blended into respray. The color matched the bumper fine, but the bumper really needed a respray so I was hoping it could get done as part of the repair.

Those things being considered, I decided to splurge on my +100k mile car a little and refresh it to my liking. My thinking is that this would extend my life with the car and keep me desiring it, looking back and it, and all those things that just keep you excited about a car you've always enjoyed.

2024 Refresh

So, I went ahead with plans to purchase a new replica M-Sport front bumper from Kies. This allowed me to do away with the side reflectors completely and the holes that the previous owner drilled in to mount the license plate. Also, I learned the quote was cheaper to spray a new bumper than it would be to prep and respray and old one considering the cracked paint I had under the PPF. To go along with the fresh bumper, I picked up a Rennline Tow-Hook License Plate Mount and two of their black aluminum frames (high quality and lightweight stuff).

I also picked up a fresh set of carbon fiber front splitters to continue with the mock E46 CSL look, and this time I went with Monoco Motorsports. These are the best yet, with super high quality finishes and fitment. Highly recommended.

Once the bumper was done and installed, I took the car to the only guy I trust locally to touch my car in a detailing capacity. He redid the full front clip with STEK PPF, including bumper, headlights, fenders, hood, mirrors, A-pillars, and roof in front of the sunroof. He also redid the PPF on my gloss black B-pillars (a must for Shadowline trim) and threw in a rear bumper PPF bit below the trunk. This guy removed the old XPEL PPF, fully decontaminated, polished, wrapped new PPF, and wheels off ceramic coated the entire car (even down to the calipers and windshield).

The BBS CI-R wheels got sent to a local powdercoater to change up the look a bit, and I ended up going a few shades darker from the BBS Platinum Silver to a Prismatic Powder Stealth Charcoal. I landed on this color since it's a nod back to a refinished set of SSR-made 3-piece Koenig Specials I had on my old 2008 Acura TL Type-S. Now I'm just waiting for fresh stainless lip protectors that are on back order through BBS, and I may throw on a set of their blue floating center caps for a little pop of color and to compliment the calipers.

The end product is a super slick, totally refreshed, and slightly more sporty-looking version of the car I've loved for the last 8 years.

[ActusReus]

Amazing build and mod list!

[silvrbreez]

Did an oil change this weekend and swapped to an oil drain valve to replace my ECS magnetic oil drain bolt.









I purchased four different configurations of drain valves to test for clearances with the oil pan's indentation and my Turner aluminum underbody panel.

The Fumoto and EZ Oil Drain valves with levers were just too wide at the flange and too long alone, and even more with the extension they offer.

The ValvoMax valve was solid and high-quality, but it was too wide to clear the indentation in the oil drain pan.

The solution that fit was from Votex, an American company. The quality was top-notch, and it provided the slimmest solution to clear the oil pan indentation and an underbody panel. I'll monitor for leaks next weekend, but so far, so good.