The Long Awaited: The Myth, The Legend, The Douchebaggery

[SlimKlim]

When I got the car back to school in January, full of hopes and dreams of happiness, I decided to buy baby a chip. After some heated debates on the internet, I decided to go out on a limb and opt for one of the $40 ebay copies, not the $250 name brand tune. Half the guys on my BMW forum thought my car was going to die in fire, but it worked just fine. Nothing but buttdyno results, but it definitely pulls stronger mid-range and It advances the timing for the top end. Here is a write up with lots of pictures of the process.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthr...highlight=

Then a whole bunch of crap happened at once. Water got down into the coils of cylinder 5 and 6, and the rest had been stewing in oil for long enough to warrant replacing the whole set. $370 later, I had a car that actually ran, but was leaking a shit ton of oil. Turns out I had messed up the Valve cover by getting paint on the sealing surface, and not torquing it properly. The high pressure line that fed the variable timing system was leaking, and my expansion tank was cracked. I had Mid-Atlantic fix the first two for the cool sum of $400ish dollars.

I ordered the expansion tank and replaced it over spring break, and bought baby some splitters and pedal covers to get my rice on.







And that's more or less how she sits now. I left some things out, and I'm forgetting some others entirely, but that's most of the things I've done in the time I've had her. She's in need of another intensive detail and another set of summer tires, the right side skirt and bumper clip are busted, and she faintly smells of Jimmy Johns.

But I love her, she is my realistic dream car and even though I bitch when it rains at autocrosses, I wouldn't trade her for anything. Now I have a thread to build on here when I make changes.

Eventually I'll pass this car along to someone else that can appreciate her,






.....if they can pry the keys from my cold dead hands that is. 8)