MidnightRun85's Ride: Black Betti

Plans for 2017:

  • Carbon strut brace. Finish and fit. Maybe get a few made and available for purchase.
  • Intake. Either an E46 330 intake manifold and injector rail, or a BMC CDA induction kit.
  • Remap. To finish off the intake modifications.
  • The Pirate Ship. Eradicate the groans once and for all!
  • Pair of Sparco bucket seats, with 6-point harnesses. Not a full strip, but remove all the existing seats, parcel shelf, etc. Should shave 10kg or so, maybe more?
  • Track time. Thruxton, Silverstone, and Brands Hatch. Maybe an excursion to the Ring if the budget allows!

BMW #2 will probably make an appearance in 2017 too. I'm thinking an E60 2007 530d Sport, low mileage, with a remap to see around 265-270hp and 560nm! Something big and cosy to commute in, as I'm moving further away from work and work is moving further still in the opposite direction!

Black Betti won't be on the market unless circumstances force it...
 
I've been quiet for a little while, but it's time for an update.

Since I last posted I've been fairly busy. I got given a set of SMD 6000K angel eyes which I've started on. I spent last weekend pulling off the front bumper, side lights, headlights, and (by mistake) right side kidney grille. I managed to knock the kidney grille and snap a couple of clips in the process - new grilles on order from BMW at a cost of £104 as a result! I've got the headlights sitting in pieces on my lounge floor with the angel eye rings in place (after re-siting them after I tried them out and the adjusters went mental) ready to be test-fitted tomorrow night once the rain stops. I've also fitted facelift tail lights, which really just clean up the rear end nicely.

Black Betti, minus front end. I'm getting pretty fast at the bumper/light removal now!
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Tucked in for the night, one grille looking sad on the ground after falling out when I shut the bonnet...
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The headlights sitting in the lounge after fitting the angel eyes. I've fitted them twice now. Will get photos once they're installed and wired up.
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New tail lights, from a wrecked '04 model 316ti. Clean up the rear end really nicely (from the old Lexus-style lights) and fit really easily too. I've hung on to the old lights in case there's any issues with the fitment of these. Time will tell.
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The shiny new grilles straight from Partridge BMW (in Southampton) fit perfectly and look all bling! Also in this pic you can see the headlights back in place for a trial fit with the angel eyes in. They came out again shortly after this photo...
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Headlights back in the lounge to re-fit the angel eyes. I had to shift the outer (dipped beam) rings down, ditch the clips, and rely on silicone to hold them in place. I think they were clashing at the outer corners with the headlight lens, so I've fitted them lower and deeper into the housing. I've also finally worked out where to wire the relay into the circuit, so as soon as I have a dry window (it's currently raining all day today...) I'll get the relay wired in and test the angel eyes before re-sealing the headlights and fitting them!
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Can't wait to drive this beast again. It's been a couple weeks now!!
 
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And a quick update on the carbon strut brace:

I went into the workshop over the Christmas break and got a bit further down the road with the mould. I've got the top surface sorted now, ready for the side fences. I've got to get the block down to our sister company and get it through the band saw to get the vertical shape sorted out so I can stick the side fences on. By then the carbon should be in stock so I can make the first brace!
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I had the aluminium plates arrive, but I made a bit of a balls-up in the design and got the sizing wrong. New plates coming soon...
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Took Black Betti on an 86mi return trip to Andover for a BMW meet with the club. Was great leading the convoy through back country A-roads! We all met at a place called Too Fast Too Filling, for a good breakfast. Good times!
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I recently damaged my foot quite badly in a running injury, so I've been fairly useless in getting things done in the last couple weeks.

Enough making excuses though.

The carbon brace mould hasn't gone far since I got the shape cut out a week ago, but when I'm a little more mobile I'll head into the workshop and get the shape faired out and get the side walls glued on. Then its time for some release tape, and by then hopefully I'll have some carbon fibre uni strips to start laying out.

I've had to order some new front indicators (bought a pair so they don't look odd) and they've arrived - will install shortly. I managed to de-lens the right side indicator when removing the bumper in the dark, which wasn't smart!

I've also ordered an E60 short shift kit with ZHP-style stubby gear knob. This is an OEM-spec short shift kit which should give 30% shorter throw on the shift, and should look almost factory spec. Very much looking forward to fitting this! Should end up something along the lines of this: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=900208
 
The E60 short shift bits and the ZHP gear knob arrived last night. Really looking forward to getting these installed!

Jobs on the list:
  • Install short shifter.
  • Replace front indicators.
  • Finish wiring harness for angel eyes.
  • Get the carbon strut brace done!

Not this weekend though.........
 
Found a few fellow BMW's down at the pub after a few hours of driving across the countryside on Sunday afternoon. Felt like making my presence known and show a little originality, so decided to buck the trend and park tail in.

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Yesterday I saw a clip someone posted filming the dashboard of an E36 323i. They were asking if their acceleration looked normal for a stock 323i. In my eyes it looked rapid. Really rapid. And made me wonder why my car felt, in comparison, so slow, when I have 30hp extra at my disposal.

The figures on paper:

E36 323i - 125kW (168hp) @ 5500rpm - 245Nm (181lbft) @ 3950rpm - 0-60mph 7.5s
E46 325ti - 141kW (189hp) @ 6000rpm - 245Nm (181lbft) @ 3500rpm - 0-60mph 6.9s

So this morning I decided to give her a bit of a stiff kick with the right foot to see if my suspicions are correct. Pulling up to the intersection where I usually have a bit of a break to wait for a decent gap in traffic in a 40mph area, I patiently waited until I had a sufficient spot to really give it a bit of a decent test. The gap came, so I pulled out, straightened up a little and put foot. The revs built solidly for a couple of seconds, and then BAM! DSC came on with a vengeance. It was as if someone had jammed a pillow into the air intake and starved the engine off all oxygen and she was gasping for a decent breath! The rears had started losing a little traction, and as I kicked into 2nd the rears lost even more to the point where the ECU decided to step in and make it's presence known.

Unfortunately on my short drive to work there aren't many other opportunities to test out my acceleration potential, so that's as far as I got. I will, however, have to test this out as I'm sure my car can't be that slow in reality when in theory it's over a half second quicker to 60mph.

Still, she looks lovely parked up waiting for me to drive her home...
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Punknoodle
Can you disable those bloody nanny devices and just control the traction with your foot?
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Yep, I had just forgotten to do so. DSC comes on every time you start the car, so you have to manually disable it. Didn't think about doing it at the time because it's not very often I turn it off!
 
I had an eventful weekend. Saturday morning was spent rolling around in a Beats Audio-spec Volkswagen up! which my mrs had as a courtesy car while her Golf had it's cheat valve coded out under general VW recall. Interesting little car, but no way in hell I'd own one!!

After that, we bought a house! Cannot wait to have a driveway!!! It's a new build and completion is September, but still super excited.

Sunday I did a couple little jobs on Black Betti. First up was replacing the front indicators. I managed to de-lens the front right when taking the bumper off in the dark and forgetting to remove the front indicators before I pulled the bumper off. Bought a pair of OEM units and fitted them. Quick easy job, and looks nice and clean again now. The top left unit in the image below shows the water ingress where the lens has come loose. Also, the rubber seals were in pretty poor condition on the old units, so having two new ones is a good way to ensure they last at least another 15 years!

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Looks pretty good fitted. Just wish I could get the bumper back to factory position!

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I also pulled the side lights connector out to check the connection. I'm going to be installing my custom harnesses for the angel eyes through the connector block, wrapping the bare wire over the terminal, and jamming the plug back in. Theoretically this should give me a connection...

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Unfortunately, I also spotted some lacquer peel on the wing mirrors, which means at some stage this spring I'll have to remove them and re-spray them. Or give them a little carbon wrap instead... ?

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Took a snap this morning parked on the high street, looking pretty nice, even though she needs a good clean!

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Punknoodle
Congrats on the house! I can tell you, it's damn good having your own garage and driveway :D
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Thanks! But no garage. And shared driveway. :( That's better than shared parking almost everywhere else in the UK though! I dream that one day I will have my own driveway and garage...
 
Angel eyes update: mission aborted for the interim.

I attempted to complete the angel eyes install on Monday but ran into a spot of bother. I modified the end connections to plug into the side lights connection. I turned the keys to accessories and the rings flashed intermittently until they settled in a dimmed state - this is while the lights are still turned off, ie. not right! Additionally, only two of the four did this...
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After they settled, I decided to turn on the lights to sidelights mode to see what the deal was, and again only two of the lights turned on. So clearly, the high-beam lights are either faulty or the wiring set-up for them is incorrect. I'm really unsure how to proceed with this as I'm not all that clued up on electrics...
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On the plus side, the rings are incredibly bright (as you can see in the pic above) which is really sweet. So I'm hoping I can find a way to get the other rings running. I attempted to switch the terminals around to see if it was something as silly as swapping the positive/negative, but managed to tear off a connector from one of the most awkward positions, so it looks like I'm going to have to remove the bumper and the lights again when I get a dry day to do it. Maybe tomorrow, but we'll see what happens.

For now though, I'm done with the angel eyes. They've been a complete mission from day one (for something that should be dead simple) and I've really struggled.

I'll just leave this here, after a drive home in drizzly conditions the other day, looking good. I think when I remove the bumper next I'll make more of an effort to get the bracket that holds the bumper better aligned to make the trim gap smaller. The new indicators are looking sweet though...
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Just found this from the link in your signature, quite the read! good work on the car! and congrats on getting your own place.
I really like the addition of the angle eyes to the car and hope you get them sorted out and running correctly. Can't wait to see what they look like.
 
Wolf68
Just found this from the link in your signature, quite the read! good work on the car! and congrats on getting your own place.
I really like the addition of the angle eyes to the car and hope you get them sorted out and running correctly. Can't wait to see what they look like.
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I wish I could make them work! :(
 
Wolf68
keep at it, you can get it done. I hate electrical work as well...
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I've put them on the backburner for now. I think when it warms up a bit I'll attempt to pull it all apart and get the harness providing power properly. I have a feeling the high-beam rings aren't getting any power from the existing harness, so it needs a bit of a rewire. It's a bit above my electrical pay-grade though...

Short shift this weekend.
 
Saturday was an, errr, experience. Having never done a short shift conversion, I knew it would be a bit more of a task than I imagined at first. However, not in the way it panned out. Here's the original M Sport shifter before I started the job.

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I got up nice and early (to watch the F1 qualifying) and drove down to a local autoparts store and bought a pair of axle stands, knowing I'd need to get under the car to remove the circlip which holds the connector rod on to the shifter/linkage. Having never used axle stands before, I was a little apprehensive to get under the car. And I'm incredibly lucky I wasn't under the car at the time the thing fell off the axle stands!!! I had neglected to double-chock the rear wheels and underestimated the angle of the driveway, which appears flat. I ended up crushing an axle stand, and fortunately not myself! Rookie mistake.

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This, however brought me to a standstill. I'd managed to remove the shifter trim, boot, and rubber seals, etc. But my hands are definitely too big to get to the components underneath the shifter. I tried my local mechanics to see if I could get the car up on a lift quickly, but they were all too busy.

I had to make the most of the situation and took the opportunity to clean up all the components I'd removed, unclipped, etc. And, seeing as I was going to install a new gear knob anyway, I installed it. I then treated all the leather with Autoglym Leather Care Balm, treated all the interior plastics with Autoglym Vinyl & Plastic, and wiped away any signs of dirt, etc. with some multi-surface wipes.

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The new M Sport ZHP gear knob is brilliant. It's only a little shorter, but it's weighted, so it makes the shifts that little bit easier. Feels nice, and looks the part too!

I followed up my interior clean-up with a full interior vacuum on Sunday, after a quick exterior wash.

This weekend the aim is to get the car to my mechanic in Southampton to get him to do the CCV replacement I've been meaning to do for about 2 years! While I'm there, I'll get the short shift done, as I only need access to the underside of the car for about 15 minutes. If time allows, I'll also do a full paint treatment, colour polish, and engine bay clean.
 
Bloody hell lucky you didn't do any damage to yourself or the car. Flat ground whenever you need to work under the car.

You'll love the short shift. Mine was a revelation.
 
Punknoodle
Bloody hell lucky you didn't do any damage to yourself or the car. Flat ground whenever you need to work under the car.

You'll love the short shift. Mine was a revelation.
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I know. If you look at the area I was working on the car you'd understand why I thought it was flat. Looks very flat. Turns out there's a slope!

I'm really looking forward to getting it installed. Can't wait to shorten up the shift throw. I know it's not a huge change, but it'll make a difference in the driving experience, which I feel is the most important aspect of driving. I'm not expecting miracles, but I am hopeful the shifts will feel much closer.
 

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