Some new mods, M3 Exhaust tips, AFE intake, Licence holes filled,

[Starscream]

Ok so here are some new mods I did to my M,

Figured I'd share,
You all know I love those cosmetic mods! Well this time there is a performance one too,

Lets start with the most obvious,

NO MORE LICENSE PLATE!!!! Yay!



Ok so how did I do it?

Here was the process,
Took off the old plate and bracket, Groaned,
Then took an exacto knife to the "mushroomed" plastic, turning it into a volcano shape, then filled with bondo, almost like Spackle on a drywall, then took a very fine hair brush and layer by layer painted and painted until smooth,
added a few coats of clear to be sure, and viola! NO MORE BLOODY HOLES!!



You can't even tell there ever was a plate!! so happy how this came out





Ok so next mod,

I fitted OEM M3 Exhaust tips,
They are part number 18107832644
You also need 12 stainless steel rivets, part number 07119903695
They are longer than out Z4M tips, so I took the rear cans off, drilled out the old tips and fitted the M3 tips,
I also polished the inside of them to the shine you see here,
Excuse the exhaust condensation, It is in the mid 30* here in NJ









You can see they stick out a lot further than the stock tips, Love the look of them, and if your someone like me who is pleased with the stock system and doesn't want a aftermarket one this is a good fix,

Overhead shot,



Ok next,

I fitted a AFE intake, WOW the sound is amazing,
It is very CSL/GruppeM sounding (from youtube vids I watched)
Its a really nice bark upon quick throttle snapping, and I can feel the engine breathe better, you can feel a small increase in power too,



I see you!





It also seems to have made the exhaust a little louder too, I'm very content with the sound,
I also noticed for the first 15 miles I did the car was a little jumpy, But I have the ESS tune and I was told it adapts to new changes made, by the time I was driving home the car felt so strong, This, along with the 4.10's and the ESS tune is an awesome wake up to the M, all I'm missing now is headers

Ok so lets quickly take a flip over to the interior,

I added these interior lights into the door handle,

They are an OEM BMW part,
the part number is 63316902239

They look quite dim in this photo but it was in the day, they add a very nice glow to the door handles when its dark





Ok and finally lets look at something I did a while back that I now have better photo's of,

I did this to copy the M steering wheel, you can see my color threads are 99% match to the steering wheels, The only difference is the red, mines more errr "Imola" red than the steering wheel, the steering wheel red is almost a faded orange, But its very close,











Ok so thats it for todays edition of "starscream mods"

Got some plans for the winter, Esp powder coating the engine bay,
I am thinking of black wrinkle for the AFE intake cover to match the engine intake and cover, and some other things in black wrinkle,

Hope you enjoy the pictures and any parts you need (where I got all mine mentioned in this thread and everything else I have ever bought for my BMW's) go to Tischers website!
www.getbmwparts.com

Evan and Jason will hook you up with ANYTHING you need! Just tell em I sent you

[anthony @ eas]

The car looks great. Nice job on filling the license plate holes.

[AtoB]

well done!!!! love the shift boot!

[Starscream]

Originally Posted by AtoB

well done!!!! love the shift boot!

Thanks, THOSE I still make lol

[ga41]

Everything looks great mate. I bet that intake bark sounds heavenly.

[Starscream]

Originally Posted by ga41

Everything looks great mate. I bet that intake bark sounds heavenly.

It does,
I was playing with the noise a little too last night, if you are very soft on the throttle and let it wind up to about 3K it makes the same noise as stock, but you have to be gentle,

then stomp the gas and the noise would scare a great dane!



As I said it sounds very similar if not the same as the CSL/GruppeM intake videos that are on youtube

[jmillet]

Nice attention to detail
I followed your lead and now have the front strut tower covers sans the ///M logo.
As a final "up-grade" you need to remove those ugly yellow high voltage warning stickers adjacent to the headlights

[Starscream]

Originally Posted by jmillet

Nice attention to detail
I followed your lead and now have the front strut tower covers sans the ///M logo.
As a final "up-grade" you need to remove those ugly yellow high voltage warning stickers adjacent to the headlights

Thanks Jim,
You know I never really noticed those things before, I think your right and it would look better without,
I also think powdercoating the lid of the AFE intake wrinkle flat black and remove the AFE badge would look good,
Weird thing is, the bottom of the intake "tub" is wrinkle finish, weird how they would design this kit for the Z4M and not finish the top cover in the same as the bottom, and that would then match the rest of the engine bay it was meant for,

Oh well, Ive ordered a 1/2lb of wrinkle powder and I'll do this and a few other bits over the winter

[rps]

Hi Jamie:
The modifications look great. Move to Fl and you won't have to worry about a front tag.
Seeing your exhaust tips means that I'll have to modify the ones I bought and mount them. I look forward to seeing your future mods.

[jmillet]

Originally Posted by Starscream

Thanks Jim,
You know I never really noticed those things before, I think your right and it would look better without,
SNIP

Those yellow labels are a PITA to remove. They are serrated foil labels that must be removed one segment at a time. Be careful removing the adhesive residue because the black paint is not clearcoated. I used Goof Off http://www.goof-off.com/ and rubbed very gently.

[ianbiz]

ive always liked the little things you do to your cars

[Starscream]

Thanks for the positive comments guys!
Ordered some black wrinkle powder for the engine bay, Just have to decide what gets the dip