A great weekend with my M

[jdamore]

This weekend, it was all about me and time with the car. My lady is traveling and wont be back til Monday. My parents have been bugging me to get to their lake house in the Poconos and "live in it" for a weekend (run the water, flush toilets, water the plants, ect..) since they are in Florida for the winter. It is the PERFECT opportunity for some much needed ME time. I locked myself in the garage, played, and knocked out my to-do list.

Meet M-illy, my mistress


I packed M-illy up with all my tools, jack stands, and every thing else needed to do all the work. Lets just say I jammed her trunk full. I don't think I have ever had some much weight in there before but, my parents garage has very little tools for working on cars so I had to be prepared.
This is just a fraction of what was brought:



The drive up there was fantastic. The trees have blossomed, the roads are no longer dirty/salty, the temperature was about 80F, and the sunset was stunning. I couldn't help but go fast! The peddle never touched the firewall but not much braking on the turns so I could feel some G's. Windows down. Music up. Just enjoying my ride.

The first thing I did when I got there Friday night was take out the pressure washer and give M-illy a good bath. I had a long list of stuff to do and only this weekend so I have to plan accordingly. The first thing on my to-do list was replace the CF performance spoiler. The original (OEM) spoiler had clear coat pealing off and it looked like shit. While I had the pressure washer out, I used it to cut off the old spoiler. The wing was intalled using BetaLink and the pressure washer took it off perfectly!! There was a line where the old betalink was but, since I am installing the same spoiler, the line would be covered.
In this picture, you can see the line.

After using the pressure washer I had to do very little to do because the line was smooth and not raised. Since I purchased a betalink kit, I used the cleaner and a microfiber cloth and prepped it for the new wing.

I followed the instructions in the Betalink kit. Sandpaper the spoiler, clean the trunk, and spread the adhesive on the spoiler. Placing it down is tricky but if you marked the location, it makes it easy. Don't worry about the betalink squeezing out when you push it down. Use a MF cloth and the supplied cleaner and it cleans right off!! super easy. I was worried about the betalink being permanent but, I have a piece of mind knowing the pressure washer cuts it right off.


I finished the spoiler and did some misc things around the garage. It was a long week and it was time to close my Friday. It was great to be away and M-illy got to hang with her old pal, Shelby


Saturday morning I decided my next to-do item was the spark plugs. I never changed the plugs in this car but the DIYs on this forum were very clear and make it look straight forward. Here is the "but"... BUT I have a supercharger and it is in the way!! The intercooler reservoir is in the way too!

After disconnecting all the piping, I could not get the cover off from above the coils. I almost gave up! I tried for a hour just to get the cover off. Finally, after some careful moving and bending, I got the cover out. Here is a pic showing the cover coming out (I literally stopped to snap a pic half way out)


Once the cover was off, I was able to continue as per the DIY instructions.


The other side was easier to get the cover off since the intercooler reservoir was easy to take off. It was that son-ofa-bitch back spark plug that gave me a work out.


All the plugs are out and new ones in!! FYI- Its possible to do the plugs without removing the supercharger. How do they look?

Next, it was time to flush the oil. Another first with this car. I purchased the new shell oil and was thrilled about the price... $10/liter!! I had to buy a 36mm and a hex bit set but, I had a 20% off coupon to Harbor Freight, so it was cheap!

The process was not harder than any other car... just, two drain plugs. She was thirsty tho...
Shots Shots Shots Shots.. ervrybody

I still had a few more things to do. For some reason, my brake wear sensor tripped. I only have 25k miles on the clock so I didn't think it was actually worn down. I took off the passenger wheel and there was PLENTY of pad!! I replace the sensor anyway. When I took off the drivers side, I think I found the issue. The cable was getting caught on a bolt!

Since I had the drivers side wheel off, I decided to replace the air filter. Blue is my favorite color!


The filter for the ESS supercharger pushes on the wheel-well liner very slightly. Because of that and squeezing large wheels in there, I had a slight rub at full lock. I was starting to get a hole so I used some of the left over betalink to seal it up from the back!
I put the car back together, started it up and checked the oil level, and put a close to my Saturday night.

I spent most of the day today cleaning it up and buffing it out. Throughout the weekend, I maybe slept about 12-13 hours and every other moment in the garage. The drive home was fun and the car ran great!.. I must have left before the all mothers day traffic. Gotta love crushing bugs for a 1.5 hour drive home after spending nearly 7 hours cleaning it up. Luckily, there is so much wax, they wipe right off lol.



Who else just lives in their garage for a weekend?

[Yvette]

nice! I could use those once in a while sigh....

[gobby]

Nice job man. Did you replace the spoiler with an OEM one, or a replica?

[xpunisherx]

sounds like a fun filled weekend! I need one of those sson too!! Nice post!!!

[ArthurL]

Looked like a nice weekend away!

[ellekz]

Next time your parents need someone to temporarily live in their lake house, just give me a call. I'll even do it for free
Or just next time you drive up there I love those alone-times with just the car

[jdamore]

Originally Posted by e90sexion

nice! I could use those once in a while sigh....

Thanks!

Originally Posted by gobby

Nice job man. Did you replace the spoiler with an OEM one, or a replica?

Well, I went OEM but here's why. When I bought the car (used) it came with the spoiler. Two years later, it was shedding it's skin like it had a bad sunburn. With how it looked, I thought for sure it was a replica. The fitment was perfect and I didn't want to gamble on a new replica not fitting. So I decided to get the OEM. When I removed the old spoiler I saw the BMW sticker and realized even the OEM can peal.

Originally Posted by ArthurL

Looked like a nice weekend away!

It was! Now I'm sore as hell!

Originally Posted by ellekz

Next time your parents need someone to temporarily live in their lake house, just give me a call. I'll even do it for free
Or just next time you drive up there I love those alone-times with just the car

Hahaha we have no problems getting up the the house. It's on Lake Wallenpaupack, if you know where that is?



All said and done, it really feels great to have completed all the work myself. Spending time looking over everything getting to know it. I found misc screws loose, replaced some of the felt electrical tape with zip ties, and inspected anything I could see. I even took the rubber strip off the top of the head lights to clean under them! I had a punch list growing large.. Hopefully I don't have so many things next time so I can focus on more fun things.

Still on my punch list:
Change the oil in the supercharger
Complete converting all the LEDs from amber to blue (only thing left is the doors).
Replace speaker or tweeter in driver door.. Seems to distort at certain frequencies.
Install forward facing camera to connect to my AndroidPC
I'm sure there will be more

[Alpha///M]

What software is this on your nav display? I like the blue filter also however it doesn't last long with its location. I was thinking of re-routing mine to the inside center of the front kidney. Just a thought. Grew up on that lake many summers ago, great memories. Great roads in PA for cruises. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to a little TLC this weekend with my baby too!

[RoshDawg]

I love these kind of threads. Car looks great! Garage looks just as good.

[Helmsman]

Nice story JD!

Wow that garage impress, like a dream having all that clean space when working the M!

And the oil, just filled with the 8.8l and marker ended right on top or needed mess about with afterfill?

[jaehshim]

nice!
driving the M3 for a weekend in Poconos vacation house is an awesome experience...for sure...! haha

[jdamore]

Originally Posted by Alpha///M

What software is this on your nav display? I like the blue filter also however it doesn't last long with its location. I was thinking of re-routing mine to the inside center of the front kidney. Just a thought. Grew up on that lake many summers ago, great memories. Great roads in PA for cruises. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to a little TLC this weekend with my baby too!

Its an AndroidPC connected to a video interface. I made a thread in the DIY section. I have never been very keen on the location of the intake filter from an endurance/reliability perspective but I don't think the location can get any better for performance though. Now I have two filters so I can keep one on hand (clean) and just swap it out if I ever pull that wheel off. I heard about a "sleeve" that can go over the filter but I haven't looked into it.

Originally Posted by RoshDawg

I love these kind of threads. Car looks great! Garage looks just as good.

haha Thanks! I wanted to share something but didn't want to start a bunch of threads.

Originally Posted by Helmsman

Nice story JD!

Wow that garage impress, like a dream having all that clean space when working the M!

And the oil, just filled with the 8.8l and marker ended right on top or needed mess about with afterfill?

Thanks! I hope I didn't give the impression the garage is the garage in the first pic. Sorry if I did. That would be a dream. i just love the contrast of colors.That was actually taken at Redline Speed Worx. I love my parents garage with the apoxy floor.. It's amazing!

I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be 8.8l or 9.3 (got confused with all the research i was doing). Long story short.. I measured what i took out and it was about 8.7. I put in 8.8 and another little spash for good luck. Been reading full

Originally Posted by jaehshim

nice!
driving the M3 for a weekend in Poconos vacation house is an awesome experience...for sure...! haha

They're finally fixing up the roads up there.. Ice destroyed them! It would hurt your liver hitting some of the potholes!



Surprised no one commented on changing the spark plugs with the ESS SC. I searched and couldn't find anything on it! I didn't think it would be possible without removing the SC at one point.

[AMG_LAWL]

Thats awesome dude! But would you really rather listen to that crap in the car than the S65??? Come on now

[buffstocover]

That album has really withstood the test of time, eh?

[jdamore]

Originally Posted by AMG_LAWL

Thats awesome dude! But would you really rather listen to that crap in the car than the S65??? Come on now

Originally Posted by buffstocover

That album has really withstood the test of time, eh?

Hahahahaha funny. Trust me, i listened to it roar all the way home.
I think that album is almost 25 years old! Certainly timeless IMO.. Good go fast music.

[Alpha///M]

Originally Posted by jdamore

Its an AndroidPC connected to a video interface. I made a thread in the DIY section. I have never been very keen on the location of the intake filter from an endurance/reliability perspective but I don't think the location can get any better for performance though. Now I have two filters so I can keep one on hand (clean) and just swap it out if I ever pull that wheel off. I heard about a "sleeve" that can go over the filter but I haven't looked into it.

Saw ur thread after I sent this, lol. Filter location actually sux vs what I'm thinking (see pic). My only concern, and I don't even think it's a concern, would be the volume of air with filter up higher, or it affecting the ess tune? Any thoughts. It's obvious it would stay a hellava lot cleaner!

Originally Posted by jdamore

Now I have two filters so I can keep one on hand (clean) and just swap it out if I ever pull that wheel off.

Same. Do you oil the filter?
Also, sc oil drain should be right next to filter (mine is).

[jdamore]

Originally Posted by Alpha///M

Saw ur thread after I sent this, lol. Filter location actually sux vs what I'm thinking (see pic). My only concern, and I don't even think it's a concern, would be the volume of air with filter up higher, or it affecting the ess tune? Any thoughts. It's obvious it would stay a hellava lot cleaner!


Same. Do you oil the filter?

That looks awesome! Is that a custom job or a kit (haven't been following the new stuff) With the amount of time it would take to fab up an intake(s) like that, you might be better off just replacing the current one.

Yup! Did the oil filter too! No one mentions this but you have to open it up slowly (at least slower then i did) lol. I used my mom's turkey baster to empty the remaining oil from the filter enclosure.. I wonder when she'll notice

[Alpha///M]

Originally Posted by jdamore

That looks awesome! Is that a custom job or a kit (haven't been following the new stuff) With the amount of time it would take to fab up an intake(s) like that, you might be better off just replacing the current one.

Yup! Did the oil filter too! No one mentions this but you have to open it up slowly (at least slower then i did) lol. I used my mom's turkey baster to empty the remaining oil from the filter enclosure.. I wonder when she'll notice

Looks like a kit. In a perfect world our kits would have enough intake hose to re-route up to the kidney area. There's enough space for the filter, but upon closer look, the challenge would be feeding the intake hose from the engine compartment through the radiator support with unrestricted air flow. Gonna ponder this in the coming weeks, and enlist my cousin as I have 10 thumbs when I comes to sh*t like this. The look alone is bad ass, and filter longevity is money in the bank.
I meant did you oil the air filter, not change your oil lol. Turkey baster is a good call. Remind me not to eat your turkey on Thanksgiving!!!!