What did you do to / for your E53 today??

[OrangeFurious]

Originally Posted by jljljl

looks nice i was thinking about doing this mod for a while.. never committed though!
were you able to remove the center panel? i think that one is tough to remove?

also the panels on the left and right of your nav screen, how easy was it to remove? i know the door panels are easy as i have done it before to replace my door carrier and window regulator.

I bought a toolset for pulling interior panels from Amazon, and getting the dash and door pieces off was super easy. I'd say the dash is about the same difficulty as the door. All said for the dash and doors I spent less than an hour total, and that includes the panel removal, cleaning, cutting, wrap and reinstall.

The center trim requires the entire console be removed, which I have never done before. From what I read it's not that difficult, just a major pain in the boot. Debating whether I want to do CF on that or some other material.

[Miltr118]

Originally Posted by OrangeFurious

This weekend's work was replacing the OEM halogen halo bulbs with 20w LEDs and having the car recoded to disable the full-time DRLs and make a few other small changes.

I love that! Looks so much better Would you mind tell me what bulbs you used and are you just using the halos when you tun on the parking lights? Thanks

[OrangeFurious]

Originally Posted by Miltr118

I love that! Looks so much better Would you mind tell me what bulbs you used and are you just using the halos when you tun on the parking lights? Thanks

Sure thing. The bulbs are 40w Cree LEDs (2x20w) I picked up on eBay. Lots of options around, but I'm very happy with these. Only drawback, which has been every one of these LED bulb kits I've owned, is a loose plug. I used zip-ties to hold them snug.

The shots were taken with just the parking lights on - my "halo only" mode.

[Miltr118]

Originally Posted by OrangeFurious

Sure thing. The bulbs are 40w Cree LEDs (2x20w) I picked up on eBay. Lots of options around, but I'm very happy with these. Only drawback, which has been every one of these LED bulb kits I've owned, is a loose plug. I used zip-ties to hold them snug.

The shots were taken with just the parking lights on - my "halo only" mode.

Thanks for the info, this is on my list after the front suspension refresh...

[bcredliner]

Trim looks great!

[StephenVA]

[OrangeFurious]

Thanks all.

I've been debating doing a poor-man's build thread on my various tweaks, upgrades etc - try to be very specific with part numbers, links to stuff found/purchased, in-progress pics. I have a few mid-size things in mind for the car, but given I'm not doing a major rebuild is it worth it, or would a thread just be spam?

[jljljl]

Originally Posted by OrangeFurious

Thanks all.

I've been debating doing a poor-man's build thread on my various tweaks, upgrades etc - try to be very specific with part numbers, links to stuff found/purchased, in-progress pics. I have a few mid-size things in mind for the car, but given I'm not doing a major rebuild is it worth it, or would a thread just be spam?

I feel like i'm always wanting to do something to the car aha,
as for the thread being spam, I wouldn't consider it; since I always like and enjoy looking at other people's e53s and what they've done to it.

[tmv]

Originally Posted by OrangeFurious

I took some advice from folks in the forum and wrapped my wood trim in 3M's DI-NOC wrap. I'd never done this before and didn't have a heat gun<-should have stolen the hair dryer from wife/girlfriend , but overall am pleased with the results. I'd been worried about a plastic/high-gloss look but the 3M product has a comparable texture and matte/gloss effect of real carbon fiber. Not quite the real-deal stitched material in my M3, but definitely a good look.

Not bad for first timer.

[OrangeFurious]

Originally Posted by tmv

Not bad for first timer.

Thanks. My wife loves cars, but there's no way she'd let me at her hair dryer. Some things are apparently sacred.