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Looks really close. Hope it works out . btw love the thread I've read it twice

We think the paint match is close enough. It is not perfect, but it is very close to perfect. Brent will be able to tell. I will be able to tell. But few others will. It is so close that I have decided it is not worth risking mixing expensive paint to make it every so slightly darker only to find out that we went too dark.

I never actually opened up the chin spoiler I purchased and test fitted it to the new euro valance. I just assumed they fit (I knew I'd need to cut out the oil cooler sections since that's well documented).

However, today I received the correct tow hook covers and decided it was time to unpack the lip and line everything up.

(My valance is PN 41331922063 and the chin spoiler is the M5 one PN 51711935114).





I'm not going to poke the holes out of the lip for the oil cooler since I don't have one and I think I like the cleaner look.

But doing this made me realize that bolt holes need to be drilled in the valance to mount the lip. I wish I would have known this before paint, but it's totally my bad for assuming (ass, you, me). Not a huge mistake, but annoying.

A nice box of other goodies showed up from Blunt earlier in the week. New kidney, new hood rubbers, and a everything needed to rebuild the washer system.



This also came.



I pulled it out of the box and held it up under the car and it looks like the tips will be just about the perfect length for the new euro valance & bumpers. If not, adjustment should be easy...the tab that mounts to the hanger at the rear of the car can easily be elongated as needed. I'm excited to get the poor fitting IE exhaust off and very curious to see how different this exhaust sounds.

Meanwhile, the 'new' blue car is supposed to be picked up for delivery tomorrow and should be here mid-next week...

Oh, question:

The chin spoiler needs to be painted (because the tow hook covers are primer gray; and because it has a few mars on it from shipping).

Should it be textured?

You're going to paint the lower portion of the valance black, right? Perhaps after you drill the holes? I guess you're not doing the schutz on that.

Did you get the rest of the hardware to mount the spoiler?

You shouldn't have to paint the spoiler. Many have had success with trim paint on the covers. I painted the whole thing on my old car and the one on my 528i is currently el painto.

wkohler wrote:You're going to paint the lower portion of the valance black, right? Perhaps after you drill the holes? I guess you're not doing the schutz on that.

Did you get the rest of the hardware to mount the spoiler?

No, I was not planning on painting the lower part of the valance black. I could, but i'm not sure what difference it would make (other than being correct). None of it will be visible, right?

I think I have all the hardware to mount the spoiler. I have the nuts & washers. Is there something else?

wkohler wrote: You shouldn't have to paint the spoiler. Many have had success with trim paint on the covers. I painted the whole thing on my old car and the one on my 528i is currently el painto.

Holy dueling post edits batman!

It's marred; the gray plastic is showing through in a few spots (you can see it in on the pics). At first I thought (hoped) it was gray paint on the outside. But clearly the plastic is gray and has been painted/coated and that has rubbed off in shipping :-|.

There are tabs that slip into those slots on the inside of the spoiler. If you don't use all of the hardware, it will sag, unlike this car which had all of the hardware installed properly:



I'm all about doing things correctly, so even though it won't be seen, I did it on the old car. You have holes to drill now and they should be sealed, up, right? Also did it on the B7 since that's how it's supposed to be.



I'm not trying to load up your thread with pictures of, well, crap, but I understand you are a visual learner and these are the most expedient photos I have.

Since I have your attention and we're talking "correct":

On the rear valance, is the lower strip that is supposed to be black also supposed to be shutz'd? I'm already planning on doing the rear 'correctly', but I can't tell in this pic if there's texture down there or not. I think it's NOT supposed to be in the centers, but it IS where the shutz goes up above?

(I'm assyoume-ing this is correct since it's your car)




Which raises ANOTHER question: should my spare tire well and tow hook be red?

The 40mm extension is not schutzed though the very edges probably have some as its really just masked straight down. The bottom of the cars are body color mostly except way up in the trans tunnel and overspray and I've seen cars where there was black overspray on the tire well from the extension and tow book and others where it's body color like it really should be.

wkohler wrote:There are tabs that slip into those slots on the inside of the spoiler.

You be meaning #6:



I believe these go in the slots you see in this picture. Right?



Four are required and they somehow hold bolts in place.

They are NLA. I don't have them. I don't know what they look like. Ideas?

I think Ivo should have some of these tabs. I sold him a NOS M5 spoiler with mounting kit last year.

About the rear valance, mine is body color all the way (yes that means the beatifull Arktisblau! ) and it is never painted.

Good choice on calling it close enough. Looks really nice. Ken does nice work.

That MagnaFlow cat back will need to be modified to fit/look proper with the euro rear end.

Always enjoy coming back to this thread. Full of content and a great example of how valuable this forum can be. Brilliant job on this car.

cek wrote:

I pulled it out of the box and held it up under the car and it looks like the tips will be just about the perfect length for the new euro valance & bumpers.

Everything very nice! However if I may, those Magnaflow exhaust tips somehow "feel" like they belong to a less graceful vehicle than what your car will end up looking in the end (No pun intended). Of course it's a personal choice but perhaps you'd like to consider the "correct" tips, similar to Chris' Alpina, or 5280JB that may complement your car look's way much better. I mean if you were my brother I would say, those exhaust tips suck, get the "right" ones. Cheers!

Oh well, bkbimmer beat me to it (above) and I agree with him!

Not very teutonic but I bed you could find something similar to those "#6 clamping nuts" at the local O'Reiley's...

harrypalmer wrote:

cek wrote:

I pulled it out of the box and held it up under the car and it looks like the tips will be just about the perfect length for the new euro valance & bumpers.

Everything very nice! However if I may, those Magnaflow exhaust tips somehow "feel" like they belong to a less graceful vehicle than what your car will end up looking in the end (No pun intended). Of course it's a personal choice but perhaps you'd like to consider the "correct" tips, similar to Chris' Alpina, or 5280JB that may complement your car look's way much better. I mean if you were my brother I would say, those exhaust tips suck, get the "right" ones. Cheers!

Oh well, bkbimmer beat me to it (above) and I agree with him!

Appreciate the sentiment. Not sure I agree. Not sure it is my goal to make the car actually LOOK correct. I mean i have (and love) my tinted windows and Alpina wheels.

I have a picture in my head of what a slightly aggressive looking exhaust setup would look like. I suck at describing such pictures in words. I'm excited with the prospect of the Magniflow tips. But I'm worried about x, y, and z alignment and yaw. If Brent meant "completely change to different designed tips" when he said the exhaust will need to be modified, then I think I disagree with him.

However, if he meant the x, y, z, and yaw will need to be adjusted by modifying things, then what I would love to know if he has specifics. If not, then I'll just do it by trial and error.

M5 exhaust. done.

I meant the tips will need to be moved back and maybe over since that exhaust was designed for a us spec car. I like the tips themselves but think the position will be wrong. This is just my opinion/advice that you didn't ask for.

I installed this same cat back on a customer car a while back and the tips stick out quite a ways, but I like my exhaust like I like my trannies, fully tucked!

bkbimmer wrote:I meant the tips will need to be moved back and maybe over since that exhaust was designed for a us spec car. I like the tips themselves but think the position will be wrong. This is just my opinion/advice that you didn't ask for.

I installed this same cat back on a customer car a while back and the tips stick out quite a ways, but I like my exhaust like I like my trannies, fully tucked!

I didn't know you were into trannies. Learn something new everyday.

I value any and all opinions and advice you have Brent. I may ignore some of it, but I have mad respect for the work you do and you have far more experience than I.

My sense, in the rough placing of the exhaust I did (with the old exhaust still there) was that the tips needed to move FORWARD (+x) and up (+z), but side-to-side it looked about right (y).

The IE exhaust is both off in terms of z (too low) and yaw. With the US valance, y doesn't much matter.

cek wrote:

bkbimmer wrote:I meant the tips will need to be moved back and maybe over since that exhaust was designed for a us spec car. I like the tips themselves but think the position will be wrong. This is just my opinion/advice that you didn't ask for.

I installed this same cat back on a customer car a while back and the tips stick out quite a ways, but I like my exhaust like I like my trannies, fully tucked!

I didn't know you were into trannies. Learn something new everyday.

I value any and all opinions and advice you have Brent. I may ignore some of it, but I have mad respect for the work you do and you have far more experience than I.

My sense, in the rough placing of the exhaust I did (with the old exhaust still there) was that the tips needed to move FORWARD (+x) and up (+z), but side-to-side it looked about right (y).

The IE exhaust is both off in terms of z (too low) and yaw. With the US valance, y doesn't much matter.

Most of what I post is nonsense but I do try to be helpful some times even if it doesn't seem that way.

cek wrote:

bkbimmer wrote:I meant the tips will need to be moved back and maybe over since that exhaust was designed for a us spec car. I like the tips themselves but think the position will be wrong. This is just my opinion/advice that you didn't ask for.

I installed this same cat back on a customer car a while back and the tips stick out quite a ways, but I like my exhaust like I like my trannies, fully tucked!

I didn't know you were into trannies. Learn something new everyday.

I value any and all opinions and advice you have Brent. I may ignore some of it, but I have mad respect for the work you do and you have far more experience than I.

My sense, in the rough placing of the exhaust I did (with the old exhaust still there) was that the tips needed to move FORWARD (+x) and up (+z), but side-to-side it looked about right (y).

The IE exhaust is both off in terms of z (too low) and yaw. With the US valance, y doesn't much matter.

Most of what I post is nonsense but I do try to be helpful some times even if it doesn't seem that way.

I had great ambitions this weekend, but my soccer game Saturday morning killed me and I was too sore to wrench. So I watched soccer on TV most of the day.

Today I had to go into work and then re-wire the electrical system for our irrigation pump.

The only thing I really needed to accomplish today was getting the power-steering cooling loop back in the car. I didn't look closely at it when I pulled it off, but upon cleaning it up today I discovered it had a lot of surface rust on it. The rule book says I can't put anything back on the car that's rusty so...



While the primer was drying I got the hood latches re-installed and figured out how (and how not) to adjust the hood release and panel fit. The first time I closed it, I discovered it wouldn't open. It was a combination of the hood latch plungers being mis-aligned and the hood release being poorly adjusted (it worked before, but never really felt right). I learned that the right way to get the latches aligned is to

1) Ensure the hood release cable is adjusted correctly. This means making sure both sides pull all the way clear when you pull the handle. In my case the passenger side needed to have more pre-tension on the cable.
2) Attach the hood latches to the hood and semi-tighten the bolts.
3) Close the hood. While the hood is closed, reach in and loosen the bolts (you can reach them if the grill/headlights have been removed). Jiggle the hood some.
4) TIghten the bolts.
5) Open the hood and close it again
6) If the panel fit is off (in my case the gap on the driver's side was too big), mark where the latches are on the hood. Then slide the latches left or right to account for the uneven gap. TIghten.
7) Close hood and check gap again.

There may be a better way of doing this, but as I figured it out, it worked for me.

I'll let the paint dry on the PS cooling loop and get it installed tomorrow.

Crossing my fingers that the car is in the paint booth by the end of the week or this weekend!

Rear primer is done. He'll supposed to do the front today and also block it off.



I've been so busy at work that I haven't had time to install the PS cooling loop.

In other news, Julie flew to San Jose yesterday morning where my son CJ met her at the airport after packing his stuff up at Cal Poly and driving there. At about midnight last night they got home. They drove straight through (2 stops). I thought they were going to take two days. I guess he really wanted to be home. Glad to have him; I've missed the little (big) twerp.

cek wrote:Rear primer is done. He'll supposed to do the front today and also block it off.



I've been so busy at work that I haven't had time to install the PS cooling loop.

In other news, Julie flew to San Jose yesterday morning where my son CJ met her at the airport after packing his stuff up at Cal Poly and driving there. At about midnight last night they got home. They drove straight through (2 stops). I thought they were going to take two days. I guess he really wanted to be home. Glad to have him; I've missed the little (big) twerp.

You know things are getting serious when the guide coat goes on. Great progress Cap'n.

cek wrote:The only thing I really needed to accomplish today was getting the power-steering cooling loop back in the car. I didn't look closely at it when I pulled it off, but upon cleaning it up today I discovered it had a lot of surface rust on it. The rule book says I can't put anything back on the car that's rusty so...

Charlie, are those Oetiker clamps on the hose couplings on the cooler line? Mine have been leaking for some time before I got the car, as the whole front end is caked with a heavy layer of grime which will get pressure washed before I put my euro bumpers on.

mescko wrote:

cek wrote:The only thing I really needed to accomplish today was getting the power-steering cooling loop back in the car. I didn't look closely at it when I pulled it off, but upon cleaning it up today I discovered it had a lot of surface rust on it. The rule book says I can't put anything back on the car that's rusty so...

Charlie, are those Oetiker clamps on the hose couplings on the cooler line? Mine have been leaking for some time before I got the car, as the whole front end is caked with a heavy layer of grime which will get pressure washed before I put my euro bumpers on.

Yes, they were Oetiker clamps. And I will be installing new Oetiker clamps when I put it back on.

One of my jobs today is to get the euro headlights, fogs, and turn signals sorted.

I think I have it all figured out, but this rubber boot from the donor euro headlight kit has me stumped.



I'm trying to figure out what the extra connector is for. Only one of the two 'outside' boots has this extra connector.

Going to boot:
BR - Ground
Y/BL - Low beams
GY/WH - City light
(not installed yet) - High beams

To ?? connector:
BR/GY - Ground (I assume)
GY/WH - City light

I suppose if one wanted the euro turn signals to have a dual-filament bulb and also be lit when the city lights are on, you could use this connector. But why is it only on one side?

Anyone know where the ETM for the euro E28s can be found?

I explained all of that to you...

wkohler wrote:I explained all of that to you...

You did, sort-of. If you explained what that connector in the picture above was for I didn't see it (and I just re-read your mails).

Stuff I didn't know before I started this project:

• The turn signal on euro cars is just a turn signal. It is not built to hold a double-filament builb like the US turn signals.
• The "city light" bulb inside of the euro headlight (outside) serves the purpose of a front marker light for euro cars.
• LHS euro turn signals are NLA from BMW. RHS are available.
• Euro turn signals use the same connector as fogs on US cars (and euro cars).
• The euro outside headlight bulb can do high and low beam. But the socket and wiring is only setup for low beam. So unlike US cars, when you hit the brights only the inside fixture lights up. It is possible to modify the euro light assembly so that the high-beam works. See: http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?t=45250

Last year when I bought my euro headlight kit from Boby, I also bought as set of new euro turn signals. It turns out he was selling non-OE turn signals, and didn't advertise that. I paid too much. I've since given him shit.

However, I'm glad I did because those LHS OE turn signals are NLA.

Here's some pics comparing the OE and non-OE fixtures. The only real difference is the OE has foam around the whole thing, but the aftermarket only has it on the side. From a quality perspective the OE unit seems slightly, but not significantly, better made.







I had been emailing with Kohler on how I was going to wire my turn signals. He had done some fancy LED thing from Shawn D. As usual, Chris was super helpful, but without me actually digging into what I had I wasn't sure I fully understood. Nor did I know how I wanted to modify things.

After looking at it for a bit today, and pulling apart the US turn signals I pulled off of Vlad I saw how to modify these aftermarket euro signals to hold the US bulb holder. By doing this I can just use the US turn signal connectors.

The bulb holder pulled out of the US fixture. Both US fixtures were ruined in removing these. It may be possible to pull the holder out without damaging the fixture, but I couldn't see how. They would have gone in the trash anyway.


Back of the euro fixture with the wires unplugged:


And the front.


The trick, then is to get that US bulb hold in the euro fixture. Turns out the ID of the round part of the euro holder is the same as the OD of the top part of the US bulb holder, so the trick is to drill out some plastic.

This NEVER happens, but I actually had a perfect tool for this here: 1 1/4" hole bit fits PERFECTLY.


Ta-da:




The a little epoxy and some F4 tape to keep the moisture out.

And they work:

Real men don't wear gloves while drilling.