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

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

I bought a set from Amazon that work well so far but been 2 months. The face out causes blinking in the main lights from the mirror.

You made me look. I was worried ab this and the life time of the new light assemblies. Turns out the rear luggage lights do not activate/dim on arm/disarm. (I didn't know this)

Anyway, I've spent the last couple days preparing for the roadtrip in the *other* direction: South to Tampa, FL. Anyone here wanna say hello?

After some rather clear-headed moments and a series of tests to prove I had a good radio, I finally accomplished a long time dreamL: I put together a bench tester! Here I am, giddy with elation that this old school octa core with Android 8 will fire RIGHT up!

This provided the perfect little bit of confidence I needed to screw around with it. TRY to brick it! After all.. It's not doin' anything ATM, rt? So, let's see if the MCU firmware can get upgraded? Well, Whataya know?

TODAY'S fun was rebuilding the silly apps and such from the road. I ended up completely shitballing the OS and MCU updates.

After some serious research, I cleared errors and had me an octa core Android radio as fresh as the day I bought it. Things could be worse. I started with Car Launcher as it was the only way I knew to get things done for the last 3 years. A few minutes later, I was on to figuring out the CarPlay app, and of course, I-Bus.

That left today's 10 or so hours at the wheel with a LOT of reflection. It's nice to start with a fresh OS when you KNOW what you use the radio for the MOST. I only installed like 4 apps, cause 95% of the time, I'm in CarPlay. Most of the other stuff was just to see what is different.

I was WAY pleased to find that after changing the BT type in the Factory Settings menu, the radio linked to the OBDII adapter that had been lost for a couple years. Torque immediately recognized it. That's a really, really old itch that was finally scratched right there.

Also, Tho the slowness in I-Bus App had returned, all is now very responsive. I had a great time working through the options and starting from point zero. I did indeed feel, if I may, gentlemen... Zen. Today, I spent $5 on the Car Launcher Pro app after using the freeloader one for.. well a long time.

One of the AWESOME things I discovered today was a widget that allows you to turn Wi-Fi off and on simply by pressing the touch screen antennae (appears as any WiFi antenna). SO, ya know when you have to jumble between the hotspot app on the phone and then find settings and wifi and turn the sh!t on and.... ? Well, the 'Pro' version has a lil widget that just turns wi-fi ON/OFF. So, I get in, make my hot spot discoverable, hit that lil widget I put on the home screen, and BOOM. She connects!

Finally, the latest versions of I-Bus allow you to *actually* assign the steering wheel keys to meaningful functions! I made a long press 'Next' send me to the main Car Launcher Menu. The 'Talk' button launches I-Bus. And Finally, the R/T button brings up the CarPlay app.

I think the X5 knows that I'm treating it to some Turner parts coming soon. She's bein awfully nice.

[EODguy]

All leaks and future leaks fixed!!
New main seals, pan gasket, oil pump gasket....!!

So I ran inside with an accidentally greasy toddler and told her we got the BMW is done and it's awesome again.

She called me a Sex Machine!

Actually she said I was a phucking tool, but hey take what you can...

Sent from my SM-A730F using Tapatalk

[nick325xit 5spd]

evo-xr projector and new headlight lens installed. that was a pain in the ass. will take a break and work on some other things before I do the other one.

[zener]

While waiting for interest on putting more money into E53 and ordering new fuel pump (which I should if I ever going to able to sell it)... If it fixes the issue.


I installed lowering springs on F10.





-30mm and it look's like a stock should've been. Coilovers needed.

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by nick325xit 5spd

evo-xr projector and new headlight lens installed. that was a pain in the ass. will take a break and work on some other things before I do the other one.

MMmmmm White E30 M3.

Also, I have been DYING to do this upgrade, but I break plastics! Seriously. Interior pull aparts? Break 'em. Plastic nuts? Thread em. ANYTHING brittle will break if I am within 100'. What's the board's advice on outsourcing this retrofit?

[nick325xit 5spd]

Originally Posted by PropellerHead

MMmmmm White E30 M3.

Also, I have been DYING to do this upgrade, but I break plastics! Seriously. Interior pull aparts? Break 'em. Plastic nuts? Thread em. ANYTHING brittle will break if I am within 100'. What's the board's advice on outsourcing this retrofit?

FWIW, it was actually pretty easy the second time around. I remembered that I had a multi tool which let me cut around most of the lens right up against the housing. That made cutting around WAY easier. Like, pretty low stress 15-20 minute job this time around. It took me a couple hours on the first one.

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by nick325xit 5spd

FWIW, it was actually pretty easy the second time around. I remembered that I had a multi tool which let me cut around most of the lens right up against the housing. That made cutting around WAY easier. Like, pretty low stress 15-20 minute job this time around. It took me a couple hours on the first one.

Bro! Name the price! I have TWO sets of Hella clears to get through! Hell, I'll even send you some lights I picked and polished if you want 'em. I'm not doin anything with em and they're YOOG!

Edit:

Or name the day AND price. I think absolutely NOTHIN of a road trip!

[nick325xit 5spd]

Originally Posted by PropellerHead

Bro! Name the price! I have TWO sets of Hella clears to get through! Hell, I'll even send you some lights I picked and polished if you want 'em. I'm not doin anything with em and they're YOOG!

Edit:

Or name the day AND price. I think absolutely NOTHIN of a road trip!

Yeah, I don’t think I feel like I’m good enough to do this for other people. If I have more time, I might look at cutting lenses off more housings. But, you know… With an infant, I’m lucky to get the garage time I’m getting. She’s about to start crawling, so that’s going to be interesting.

[nick325xit 5spd]

OK, got the second one done. WAY easier this time around. I've included a picture of the old lens that shows how I cut it.

Of course, I just realized that you have to pull the bumper to replace the turn signal bulbs, so I need to replace them before I button things back up.

[roaringpanda]

Update on the wrapping. Finished the doors, center console, flip outs, and anything that had the cracked wood trim. Wood shift knob replaced with zhp knob.

Also installed the Avin Avant 4. Excuse the plastic surround sticking out. Not sure if I'm going to install the backup camera and the plastic looks like it'll snap if I add/remove it too much.