5mall5nail5's Modest 2-car Clean-up and Setup

[driftpin]

I read your thread yesterday, and subscribed. Knowing how-long it had been inactive, I wondered if it would see any updates, and now, here they are.

Your garage is much-neater than mine. Probably bigger, too. But, like viewing other threads, I get ideas. I also enjoy the 'problem-solving' parts I see, like your sconce lights puzzle. You have found enough 'weekend-warrior' stuff done, I'd be wanting to open any walls where you suspected something going-on.

I second the "take lots of pictures" idea, as it can save guessing in the future. We did a whole-house re-model, we were out of the house for > a year, and I took lots of pics all-along the way, but could have taken more. Still, the pics have helped, since.

Congratulations on the l'il guy, he's gonna be a good helper. I'm trying to get my 5 y.o. grandson interested in helping me, but he's of the short attention span age, though he does retain things, like 'righty-tighty, lefty-loosie.' One day when working on stuff, when he was around, I was wearing a 'Peanuts' t-shirt featuring Charlie Brown and Lucy. I asked him about using the screwdriver to tighten something, and how do we know which way to go? He pointed at my shirt and told me, "righty-tighty, lefty-loosie, Charlie Brown!" (Lucy) Man, I had to stop work because I was laughing so-hard. They grow-up quickly. His younger brother is a bit-more-than 1 y.o. and he's running-around like crazy, and can overhand-throw a ball, he likes to throw it at the wall, and see where it bounces. Best of luck with yours and the family.

 

[Purist]

LOL so ironic - I am midway through a GIANT update post. Thanks! More BMW content coming in a minute!

Go figure! I've always had impeccable timing like that.

Once I was able to park the turbo E34 in that bay I pushed to get everything else clean. I started detailing (specifically using Optimum No Rinse for now in the winter) in the opposite bay. So, with a winter storm approaching, I had until yesterday to get everything cleared up so I could move a car in.

It's not perfect. I'd love to move the parts washer to... some place and put the welding table on the deeper wall but I'd have to run my 50A circuit over there. That would allow me to move the turbo E34 closer to the wall to gain some middle-of-the-room space, but with a pole... is it worth it? Not sure. At least for now I managed to get all of the above done but was about 2 - 3 hrs too late to bring my F30 inside, as it now looks like this outside:

Thank god the heater is still working great:

Snow day here working from home, so I am currently out in the fresh sparkly clean garage all warm, posting up. Instead of bringing my F30 inside I mopped and mopped and mopped the floor. Good enough.

But! That's not all that's going on. Lots of car projects coming on. Well, not lots, but some cool ones in my opinion.

My awesome wife picked these up for me for Christmas:

They are HRE FF01's for my F30 328 in 19x8.5 and 19x10 - so pumped to get them on (good weather permitting)

I then ordered some rubber for these puppies for my birthday I went with Michelin Pilot Sport 4S in 235/40/19 and 265/35/19:

I started sizing stuff up and realized how yucky the stock brakes look - I have 30k miles on my car but the stock rotors rust on the hats, calipers, etc. I'd either need to pull everything off the car and powder/ceramic coat, or...

Wera 3/8 ratchet for scale

Going to look awesome!!!

While typing up this newest update, USPS just dropped off the TPMS sensors necessary to mount the Michelins, so I am ready to roll. Just waiting on Motul 660 fluid coming Wednesday, then I'll schedule a PTO day to do the install.

Now that I've got the one bay cleaned up in the garage I am in great shape for doing quick work on this project. I need to find my Motive bleeder now that I think of it...

After this I will be doing a ton of detailing once the weather turns nicer. I picked up Cquartz UK 3.0 ceramic coating and tons of MF pads and compounds to get the car looking awesome.

Thanks for the read guys!

I finally hopped about the ONR train this winter, myself. In addition, I use Bead Maker as a topper/drying agent. I find this combo to work out extremely well for winter washing in cold climates.

Congrats on the new addition to your family. I have a 3 year old and 1 year old, myself, both boys.

Those HRE's and brakes are going to look great on your F30. Can't wait to see everything all mounted.

 

[5mall5nail5]

I read your thread yesterday, and subscribed. Knowing how-long it had been inactive, I wondered if it would see any updates, and now, here they are.

Your garage is much-neater than mine. Probably bigger, too. But, like viewing other threads, I get ideas. I also enjoy the 'problem-solving' parts I see, like your sconce lights puzzle. You have found enough 'weekend-warrior' stuff done, I'd be wanting to open any walls where you suspected something going-on.

I second the "take lots of pictures" idea, as it can save guessing in the future. We did a whole-house re-model, we were out of the house for > a year, and I took lots of pics all-along the way, but could have taken more. Still, the pics have helped, since.

Congratulations on the l'il guy, he's gonna be a good helper. I'm trying to get my 5 y.o. grandson interested in helping me, but he's of the short attention span age, though he does retain things, like 'righty-tighty, lefty-loosie.' One day when working on stuff, when he was around, I was wearing a 'Peanuts' t-shirt featuring Charlie Brown and Lucy. I asked him about using the screwdriver to tighten something, and how do we know which way to go? He pointed at my shirt and told me, "righty-tighty, lefty-loosie, Charlie Brown!" (Lucy) Man, I had to stop work because I was laughing so-hard. They grow-up quickly. His younger brother is a bit-more-than 1 y.o. and he's running-around like crazy, and can overhand-throw a ball, he likes to throw it at the wall, and see where it bounces. Best of luck with yours and the family.

ha the peanuts moment is priceless - I so look forward to moments like that!

Go figure! I've always had impeccable timing like that.



I finally hopped about the ONR train this winter, myself. In addition, I use Bead Maker as a topper/drying agent. I find this combo to work out extremely well for winter washing in cold climates.

Congrats on the new addition to your family. I have a 3 year old and 1 year old, myself, both boys.

Those HRE's and brakes are going to look great on your F30. Can't wait to see everything all mounted.

Nice man! Thanks for the advice on Bead Maker - going to order some.

I put together a video kind of "re-emerging' on YouTube and also highlighting my ONR process.

Be sure to like and subscribe!

 

[RyanC-PNW]

Love seeing the newer BMW's in the older BMW garage. I recently got my wife a 13 CPO X3 M Sport. We considered the X1 but she liked the 3 better. It's amazing how fast some of the new BMW's are. The X3 makes my Dinan 540 feel like a slug.

The wheel and brake setup is going to look awesome.

 

[Purist]

ha the peanuts moment is priceless - I so look forward to moments like that!



Nice man! Thanks for the advice on Bead Maker - going to order some.

I put together a video kind of "re-emerging' on YouTube and also highlighting my ONR process.

Be sure to like and subscribe!

Done and done!!

 

[5mall5nail5]

Love seeing the newer BMW's in the older BMW garage. I recently got my wife a 13 CPO X3 M Sport. We considered the X1 but she liked the 3 better. It's amazing how fast some of the new BMW's are. The X3 makes my Dinan 540 feel like a slug.

The wheel and brake setup is going to look awesome.

Thanks - I finally got the wheel and brake combo on. Check it out!

Man oh man - where to start?

So I alluded to having received the M Performance Big Brake Kit in orange previously. Kevin @ Modbargains was super awesome to deal with, again, and got the kit out to me promptly. I took a couple days off to install the kit, but my 7 mo old son was unfortunately sick and I ended up babysitting the two days I took off Poor guy.

Then, I decided to press hard on a weekend and knock it out... but that ended very abruptly. Got the car up on my new jackstands (I have 4 ESCO stands now, very nice):

Pulled the aero parts off the trailing arms (so I have room to crank a breaker bar/torque wrench down on the caliper mounting bolts):

It was like midnight, but I decided I am doing this. I was tired of seeing it over there sitting on my workbench. I went to throw the rotors on semi sleepy and realized whoa they don't fit:

Sh*t! I picked "328i" when buying the M Performance rear rotors because I have a 328i! You can clearly see the parking brake doesn't fit within the drum area of the rotor. Sigh.

When comparing the original rotor off the car to the M Performance rear I was sent you can see the issue:

Turns out if you have a post 7/2014 build F30, regardless of engine, you have the larger parking brake/bearing/hub size. So, if you order the kit and choose 335i for a 9/2014 or 2/2015 build date 328i you are choosing the correct rear rotor. Oh well, lesson learned, put everything back together and Kevin got me a label to return the incorrect rears without issue!

Now that I have the correct rotors in hand, I decided to get busy.

Put the car back up, pulled the rear wheels and got dirty with one last picture of the stock rear brakes (god these looked horrible under my new HREs):

The other cool thing about having a 2015 year model F30 (and prob all post 7/2014 F30s) is that the rear dust shields are already the larger diameter. It looks kind of goofy with the stock 328i rear rotor, but it means that if you swap on M Sport or M Performance rear rotors you don't have to pull the hub or cut the dust shield and replace it.

At the same time as swapping on the brake kit I replaced the OE rubber lines with Stoptech stainless lines:

I don't know if you can see it, but atop the 14mm hex on the stainless line is a washer. No one mentions this anywhere. It comes in the brake kit but it doesn't seem necessary as the stock lines do not have one. HOWEVER, I realized that the spring tension clip (above the fitting) that keeps pre-load on the flare fitting was more loose than I would prefer without the washer. The stock line has a sort of built in spacer/prong that keeps the distance spread. So, with the Stoptech brake kit you should install the washer below the body bracket to keep the ~2.5mm distance between the female Stoptech line and male chassis fitting so that the spring is pulled down harder. I could turn it by hand without the washer.

The rear calipers have a single bleeder so bleeding is not difficult. I use a Motive bleeder and sent about 250-300 ml of fluid through each caliper before calling it good.

Next up is the fronts!

Ew :laughabov

Here are the fronts stripped down with the stock 328i dust shields:

Stripped off:

BMW includes both new dust shields and new hardware for attaching:

I cleaned the hubs up with brake cleaner and wire wheel before going further.

Here's the difference between the stock 328i front rotor and the M Performance 370mm kit:

Anyone who says "Oh but the M Sport 340mm kit is huge" is kidding themselves :clap:

Rotors, caliper, pads installed:

And a little shot while bleeding:

Of course the kit comes with new brake pad wear sensors as well. My car has a sensor in the front left and rear right brake assembly.

Did a little coding for the SPBR/M Performance Kit:

And finally, the moment you (really me) have been waiting for:

LOVE IT.

I did drive the car prior to coding. I can confirm that coding SPBR DOES change the pedal travel. When looking at the FDL codes it add it does change some aspect of brake pressure. Without SPBR, the pedal did travel about 1/2 - 3/4" further than originally and was a little deeper to the carpet than I would have expected having driven the F30 stock. However, compared to something like an E34 or E38 it felt fine but I know it's not proper. After coding SPBR it felt taught just like stock. However, it did take a few "stops" before the pedal was right. Once I got through the neighborhood the system had adjusted itself/something to where the initial clamping forces feel exactly like stock. The pads may have slightly less initial bite when compared to the stock F30 328i compound but I'd expect that from a "performance" oriented setup and prefer it. When I first got this car the stop sign 75' from my house was rough first thing in the AM lol - the grabby brakes could get my infant son to spit up lol.

There is typical dimple/drilled rotor noise when stopping along side a barrier or high curb. Normal. Nothing you can do about this but go to blank rotors. Doesn't bother me. When combined with the HRE/Michelin PS4 setup...this thing STOPS. I love it. The Stoptech lines were a great choice and I filled the system with Motul RBF660. No regrets. I used JUST about 1 liter (2 500ml bottles) of 660. If you follow suit just pay extra attention - I am a generous bleeder when doing flushing. I must have moved the catch bottle to the inside and outside bleed screws on each caliper maybe 4 - 6 times just to be sure. I've always done this on my Wilwood setups too.

After all is said and done I reset the service indicators as appropriate (disregard the wrong AM/PM):

Again, love the feel and love the looks. The orange is killer. Once I lower the car a bit it'll have "the look" I want Still, even at the current height, it's killer. Black and orange was a good call - I almost went yellow.

Let me know your thoughts or questions!

Done and done!!

Thanks!

 

[5mall5nail5]

Wow has it ever been a while!

First things first, got the F30 pictures above lowered - I installed H&R Super Sport Springs. Considering the HREs are F30 M3 offset and 19x10 rear, it's as low as you could possibly want to go on this car w/o rubbing issues. It'll rub slightly under huge huge dips with some weight over the rear, but that has only happened a couple times in over a year!



I spent lunch today cleaning up my tools in the garage which prompted me to think "Hey I wonder what GJ is up to..."

My garage became an absolute disaster because of all the house projects that were going on. We are expecting our second child in September and wanted to get our kitchen remodeled prior. Our house has a large addition with a newish kitchen, but the center, originally kitchen was in need of... well a lot of things lol. I know it's not garage related but people like construction/remodel stuff. I will add some garage-specific content later this weekend! For now, my wife and I couldn't be happier with the way it all turned out. My wife designed and laid it all out, we had a contractor do 90%+ of the work (I did some wiring, etc.). I am the cook, so I had some preferences, but she picked all colors and materials - so here are some pics

The in-wall oven in our "rear, newer" kitchen stopped working - so we bought a new induction range with double ovens with matching microwave, had it installed in the original kitchen since we knew we wanted to renovate it, but man, was it a contrast of "we're trying to make this better" and "no, this place is terrible, stop." -- here is a before:



We knew they paneled the ceiling to hide something. It was multiple layers of wall paper and drywall. Sigh - just like every room we've done so far lol. The opening on the right to the dining room we had opened by about 24 - 30" from original. While nicer than the man-door sized original opening, it still felt small and restrictive so we took that wall open another 48"+.



We moved that soffit up about 6 - 7" - just enough to accommodate a proper vent to the exterior for the over-the-range microwave and conceal some of the plumbing above.



While the walls were down I took the opportunity to clean up some wiring and run a CAT6 drop to the exterior for a POE security camera in a location that I'd otherwise have to use wireless for.

We had 3/4" oak flooring installed about 4 - 5 years ago throughout the house, so the contractor was able to patch into it once taking down the wall and removing the baseboard heater.



Of course it looked awesome and gave us a taste of completion, but the last 5-10% is the longest as its all details from there on.



Granite made ALL the difference, but then so did backsplash and cabinet hardware





Love. It.

Now I need to get back to the garage - I want to install AC, get quickjacks/maxjacks, etc. But, for now, I am a little short of money.

 

[xtremek]

Welcome back. The kitchen reno looks good.