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My new "offroad-ish" vehicle, "Civil War"

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Haha, thanks Panzer... all ready for winter to hit now soo I can see what the hype is all about with this all-wheel drive system... Probably cheating with the tires but unlike my old H3, If I get caught in a ditch/2 feet of snow, I'm dead in the water... Soo I want every advantage I can get... lol
 
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RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Well the snow has hit and I'm proud to say that this thing is soo much fun to drive! Bites down and holds the road well... while others were slipping and sliding, I'm tracking straight and comfortably.

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RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Yeah, and the steering is heavy enough where you really feel like you're "driving" it... took me a while to get used too but I love it now.
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Haven't updated this in a while... did a few things to Civil War in the past few months... Hopefully a few more things to come in the future. Also cleaned it after 2 months of dirt...

Removed the Cabin air filter and the 10lbs worth of "beauty" plastic from on top of the engine and replaced it with 2 smaller rewashable carbon filters. (Makes working on the engine soo much easier, more room)

Also started working on the brakes... Replaced the pads with Wagner Thermo-Quiet Semi-Metallic Pads and now have rotors on the list... (Hopefully that'll eliminate the brake noises and groaning/ginding I currently get... Already tired the brake quiet fixes and they didn't work...)

And finally, blew $1300 on a set of Spring, Summer, Fall wheels and tires... (Gotta love tax-returns) 17x8 Rial Salerno's in Anthracite, with 29mm offset... they replaced the 16x7 winter beater stocks that had a 34mm offset. Tires were 205/55/16's Goodyear Ultragrip Winters and have been changed to 235/45/17 General G-Max As-03's... about .4" taller (can't really tell) and are 1.5" or soo wider... Don't seem to rub at all which makes me happy... Just enough room for em'. (wanted something that filled in the wheel wells a little better but also weren't soo big and flashy that they would get destroyed after one pothole hit...)

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RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Thanks J, yeah I have always been a sucker for the 5 spoke look on cars... plus it's a darker gray which is a plus. I wanted something more down played, that wouldn't draw the attention of the hotshot kids around here... because they are/were a big problem here... especially when I had my mustang and Razorback.
 

Woodtick

Well-Known Member
Messages
801
Location
Ilanoid, UP MI
Nice rim choice and a smart move buying winter tires. My daughter runs winter tires on her car and it makes a world of difference . Winter:
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Summer:
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Fish

Well-Known Member
Messages
871
Location
San Diego, CA
Looks good :thumbs:. Now you have to drop it a bit to lessen that wheel/fender gap. I'm gonna do it soon to my is250, the factory gap is just horrendous. I'm not gonna slam it, just lessen the gap. I found a company RSR that makes a series of springs they call half downs, downs, and super downs. Obviously the height progresses from modest to scrap on speed bumps. I'm eyeing the half downs which is a very modest lowering that eliminates the gap a lil without looking like a ricer
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Nice rim choice and a smart move buying winter tires. My daughter runs winter tires on her car and it makes a world of difference . Winter:
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Summer:
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Yeah... even though the winter around here was pretty much non-existant... maybe 3/4 semi-bad days... I wanted that added advantage, since ground clearance isn't great for me anymore... soo no going through snow banks in ice anymore for me. :emb:
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Looks good :thumbs:. Now you have to drop it a bit to lessen that wheel/fender gap. I'm gonna do it soon to my is250, the factory gap is just horrendous. I'm not gonna slam it, just lessen the gap. I found a company RSR that makes a series of springs they call half downs, downs, and super downs. Obviously the height progresses from modest to scrap on speed bumps. I'm eyeing the half downs which is a very modest lowering that eliminates the gap a lil without looking like a ricer

Haha, yeah I've debated on it... but I'm hesitant because I scrap my bumper going in and out of the bank all the time at All Wheel Drive stock height... but I'd love to find a .25" or soo drop... that'd probably be the most I'd be willing to do since I'm still partial to the "Gotta have ground Clearance" mentality from owning my H3. :wink:
 

JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
Oh just the usual... they see a modified vehicle and they have to go at you... had lifted trucks going after me in the H3 and now I've got everything going after me in the Bimmer... :giggle:

Nice. I once had a Corvette "beat me" off the line at a stop light once. Sad thing is I was driving a 2000 Dodge Neon, and my tires spun a little when I accelerated when the light turned green because there was sand on the road. I wasn't even thinking of trying to race him in that thing. But apparently he heard my wheel spin and thought I was trying to race him, so he floored it after the first few feet and sped off. The pathetic part is he waved "bye bye" to me as he pulled away. Yeah, like I'm stupid enough to think a Neon could beat a Corvette... :roll:

I don't get anyone trying to race me in the H3. When I had my 98 Neon before the H3 though, I'd get some people that would try to. Anyone that could easily beat me didn't bother, it was always kids with Civics and other ricer cars that thought they were faster than me. Unfortunately for them I had swapped in a 2.4 from the 2.0, which makes a fair bit of difference in those Neons, as well as having a better geared transmission/diff, and being lighter than most of the other cars.

I'd have been faster if my suspension wasn't so worn out on that thing, and high treadlife (less sticky) tires as well. It was a fun little car, but it got really uncomfortable to drive towards the end, the cable clutch would kill my knee anytime I was tired or if I had to stop at more than five or six lights. My left knee has never been the same since 2001 when I drove from New Hampshire to Colorado Springs in my 2000 Neon (also cable clutch). Way too much stop and go traffic during that trip, and it apparently had a lasting effect on my knee. So now it's either good hydraulic clutch manuals, or automatics for me. Screw cable clutches...
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Haha, exactly J... I understand a little competition between vehicle IN THE SAME CLASS, at a drag strip/race track/empty highway... but not something with a V8 going against a smaller displacement... (Unless that smaller displacement has been tweaked to the same level of a V8 or they're friends) It just doesn't seem very rewarding to me but I guess people have to make themselves happy somehow. Idk, nowadays I treat the bimmer the same way as my old H3... People tailgate me while I'm going over the speed limit, I slow down to exactly the speed limit and hit cruise control... You want to pass me after trying to get familiar with my bumper? Good luck because I'll just speed up... You don't treat people like that... especially if they are at or over the speed limit... Plus I can't afford to get a ticket because I'm trying to get into the Police Academy this fall and getting pulled over won't improve my chances of getting in. :giggle:
 

JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
I hear ya. I used to drive 5-10 mph over regularly, but I stopped doing that towards the end of having the Neon. Too many people being jerks, and it was too stressful for me (ie, road rage), as well as not wanting to get a ticket. So I slowed down to driving a few mph over (so that no one can complain about me going too slow), which worked out since I ended up with the H3, which isn't anything close to a race car. My commute has become much less stressful, though it's amazing how many people seem to think I am still going too fast when going the speed limit and will be a**holes and slow down in front of me, or even slam on their brakes (yay Utah drivers!).

Another reason for slowing down was I got a dash cam (people are LIARS, you'll learn that all too well when you become a cop) and it'd look bad if I not only had proof of the other guy being an idiot and caused the accident or whatever, but of me speeding as well and possibly contributing to the incident. Now I can be all "I was going the speed limit like a good little boy, they were the ones being the jacka**."

I would still like to get a 5 series some day. It's a lot easier pill to swallow with their gas mileage now that I've been driving something that during the winter only gets 11 mpg (during the summer I'll get 14-15 mpg in the city). 18mpg+ in the city is like driving a Smart car now! :)

Your BMW really is looking very nice, I can't say enough about how good those new wheels make it look.
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
haha, thanks... yeah the wheels totally changed the look for me as well as made the drive feel soo different... feels incredibly hunkered down and more stable now... Now I've just got to get the brakes fixed... (Chasing brake groaning noises) and paint the emblems and grill dark gray to complete the look... also looking into modifying the shifting of the transmission to liven it up a little... a little to conservative right now in regards to the shifting... But yeah I went from averaging 14.5 combined mpg in Razorback to about 24 mpg combined city and highway.
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Figured that I'd add an update since it's been about a month...

I cut out the Carbon filter in the air box to "help" with airflow and it appears to be breathing better.

I also replaced the amber angel eye bulbs with 20w Oracle LED bulbs... had to do some modifying to the stock wiring and add some female connectors to the wires but they work well and I'm happy with them.

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Got bored one morning and decided to drive out to a dirt road and get some decent pictures
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Just installed this today into the ECU harness. Shockingly it was pretty easy. It is called a BMS Powerbox and it serves as a throttle remapper as well as a "tuner". Because the Bimmer has a drive by wire throttle it had a nasty dead spot till about 20% throttle and this little harness seems to have really woken the throttle pedal up. I had it set to Performance Tune map 3 which is 100% throttle remapping and the sucker right off the get go would snap my neck back and was pretty much a hair trigger. So half way through the test drive I changed the setting to Performance Tune map 2 with 60% throttle remapping and am enjoying a much more responsive, and "faster" driving vehicle.
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Next up I have a Bluetooth to OBD2 plug coming tomorrow soo that I can finally do some coding, diagnosing and play with the parameters of the vehicle... then I don't know... probably find something that I don't need. :giggle:
 

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RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Did some coding today and yesterday... Have it where when I hold the lock button the side mirrors will fold in...
Also Coded...
- Hold the start/stop button to pop key out and totally shut vehicle off
- Hazard lights now do a double flash when turned on
- No more parking lights on, now just have angel eyes (Turn signals still work)
- When I pull the "key" out of the ignition with the wipers on, the wipers no longer freeze mid-wipe and return to the bottom of windshield
- Now have a digital speedo in the instument cluster that now shows true speed instead of corrected speed
- Still trying to figure out how to make my angel eyes be daytime running lights with no other lights on when in the auto position and when I pull the key out the doors unlock... But have to have it running to do the codes which isn't saving me any gas.

Also found 8+ fault codes stored in ECU... YIPPEE!
- My mass airflow sensor is shot and causing the bimmer to idle horribly, triggered 6+ faults alone... (Unplugged it to check and the thing purrs like a kitten... plug it back in and the kitten gets all funky) Soo just drop $214 for an oe replacement... Hopefully then I'll have the odd idling issues fixed...

- Also got a code for something called air temperature supply? Not sure on that one and can't find any info on it online... Who knows... just another bump in the road with this BMW :giggle:
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Well replaced the mass air flow sensor and removed both fault codes and they haven't come back but still have the sporadic warm-start up idling problem and lower power issue while driving... :gaah: (No Codes being thrown) Went out to the local Advance Auto today to pick up some oil and stuff and got to talking with the manager who owns a Bimmer as well and when we went out to check mine he found out that it's more than likely a vacuum leak from one of the hoses... that or it's the CVV (Crankcase Vent Valve) that's failing... Hopefully it's just the 1st option because $450 is something I really don't want to have to spend right now...
 
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RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Tinted my reflectors and side turn signals with VHT NiteShade as well as took the emblems off for a more clean look on the trunk... Also ordered a Matte Black Hamann Style Front Lip Spoiler to help make the front more sporty... Also have an appointment scheduled for May 2nd to get a vacuum leak looked at... Also retweaked the throttle for 100% throttle remapping without the tuning and this thing hauls now in a controlled way without the hair trigger feel. :horns:

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This is the lip I've ordered.

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You guys know me by now... Thread isn't complete without a glamour shot. :emb:
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RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Well got the front lip on and also found out what the issue was with the idling/vacuum leak/negative pressure on oil filler cap... The upper intake manifold (Which is all one piece, GREAT DESIGN BMW!!!) is taking a dump on me... $1500 is what it will take to fix this issue! (About $1000 for the parts and 5.5 hrs of labor which equals the extra $500)... Also found out that the warranty that I purchased with it will not cover this repair or practically anything else... Paid $400 for a 2 year warranty and it will only cover oiled parts in the engine... Soo I said screw it and am going to limp it around (Still drivable, but idles pretty rough and gets pretty crap mileage for what it is... 20.5 mpg) till I can get something better and cheaper/easier to fix... Soo Public Service Announcement, avoid Preferred Warranties when buying a used vehicle because they are rude when you call and don't cover jack spit... Probably will end up either getting a 2009+ Dodge/Ram 1500 with the 5.7l and putting 33" GY Duratraks on it or a 2011-2014 Dodge Charger R/T, or 2011+ Charger SXT with the 8 speed auto.

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