BrianSD_42 Photo Journal Build Maintenance Thread

[LittleCaesar]

My uncle, the insurance agent, had a 545i. He loved the car but told me that if I ever bought one new, and planned to keep it over 80xxx miles, add 25% to the final price I paid to cover all the expenses for the future. If it is used when bought, add 40% to the price. That may be overshooting it, but no German autos, except Mini and Volkswagon, are cheap to repair.

At least you did not suffer the "no reverse" problem of the earlier BMWs. A coworker had it. The bill was over $3200 to repair.
BMW Reverse Transmission Problems

I still love the cars though.

 

[4Running Daily]

Any updates?

 

[BrianSD_42]

Updates ....

Well I am supposed to pick up my new front skid on sat.
The old one will be listed for sale.
My drivers side axle seal appears to be seeping barely.
My battery is shot, I really think I should do the alternator swap now.
My rear bumper is great but needs powder coating and that costs about $150
I need to order a new drivers side headlight housing shroud since one of my clips broke.

I just need to find the time.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

in bold...

Lame update. Sorry no pics.


4Runner:
* waiting on Fab shop to finish my skid plate Can't wait to see this!
* waiting a few pay checks to get my rear bumper powder coated, I've had a lot of expenses come up. Any day now! I want to see how it looks w/the ARB.
* bought a solar battery trickle charger off Amazon; hoping it will keep the battery tip top while I use my new DD. This is a good idea, esp. for your new battery.

2006 BMW 330i:

This car would have just cost me $1000+ if not for the previous owner's warranty.
A few weeks ago a valve cover bolt just snapped off. I noticed the bolt was missing and slight oil seepage. Luckily I still have the extended 100k or 6 year warranty until XMAS.
Apparently it is not uncommon for head or valve cover bolts to snap on this year or model due to bolt strain / over tightening at factory.

BMW agreed to fix it but only because of the warranty. Otherwise I would be out $1000+. The car only has 55,000 miles!

Upcoming brake job will be covered as well. That is value at $800 - $1000 for new rotors and pads.

BMW = Fun to drive, sucky to own. Every single person I've ever known who owned one has had some major issues along the line. They do say that a BMW horsepower = 1.5 ordinary horsepower, but is it really worth it?
.

Updates ....

Well I am supposed to pick up my new front skid on sat. Let's see it!
The old one will be listed for sale.
My drivers side axle seal appears to be seeping barely. Bust it out, it's easy.
My battery is shot, I really think I should do the alternator swap now. See the recent CS-144 thread
My rear bumper is great but needs powder coating and that costs about $150 Ah, that sweet bimmer payment, huh?
I need to order a new drivers side headlight housing shroud since one of my clips broke.

I just need to find the time.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Thanks BFAD!


Yeah things are going slow. I had to drive out to Vegas for 2 days of work. Currently I am sitting in a data center Colo doing my thing.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Ah, sunny Vegas in the summer in the middle of a heat wave. They've got the best A/C systems around though, so I'm sure you're doing fine. Have fun out there and I'll watch for the updates on the skid/bumper.

 

[RoyVfx]

Hmmm you weren't by chance at the supernap in Vegas were you? I do alot of my internal corporate videos at data centers all along the midwest and west coast.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Small world I guess. Yes I was at what is known as the superNAP outside Vegas.

It is pretty memorable because they only hire military type for the guards and have strict rules.

.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Small update but I should have pics later today.

First off though I wanted to say that I have a new job. I will now longer be doing field work as an Engineer, I was hired into the position of Associate Systems Engineer at my company. That means that I will be a member of the team of engineers who directly support the sales team and work with customers to build a solution. At my company sales and systems engineers have separate management but work together directly to make the sale. It is a bump in status & pay Also I will be headed to the East coast for training next month.


4Runner Updates (pics to follow)

* Savage Offroad Bumper has been powdercoated and installed
* Front ARB bumper has been trimmed to match Brian2Sun's build
* Sold the factory rear bumper and hitch for $250
* Sanded and painted the undercarriage and frame by the rear wheel-wells
* Bought a 14.4V trickle charger solar panel for when I leave the car for a few days
* Bought a front sway bar and custom links from StickFigure; will install soon
* Bought new rear shocks, will install soon
* Installed new aluminum front skid plate; my BB is still for sale in the CL section.

...

 

[LittleCaesar]

Nice list there Brian, but how about replacement of D-rings? I take it nothing was found or no thieves apprehended and then tarred and feathered.

Congrats on the promotion. How about an M3 in your future then?

 

[4Running Daily]

How about an M3 in your future then?

With an extended warranty? HAHA

 

[BrianSD_42]

Thanks guys.

I am actually thinking about selling the 330i and buying a Blizzard Pearl White Prius III around January. I will tint it, find some black wheels that don't look ghetto and put leather covers on the seats. I can buy one brand new for $23,500 through USAA and I am saving up to cover taxes, registration and wheels for it right now. :hiding:

As far as sports cars goes I would rather have a perfectly working Prius then sport BMW for my daily driver. Especially since here in San Diego all the roads are flat and boring. Then in a few years (like 5-10) I might buy a used sports car for ~ $10,000 such as an S2000 or MR2 if I really feel the need for speed.

D-rings .... I am not sure what really happened to them. I had just taken my truck into the shop the day before to get the front bumper worked on and there is a possibility that they removed them and forgot to put them back on. The shop certainly wouldn't have stolen them LOL, I've been going there for like 5 years. Perhaps someone in Hillcrest grabbed them to put on their pink Beetle, I guess I will never know. I will probably order new ones off Amazon then prime and paint them.

:beer:

 

[JasetheDamager]

A friend of mine used to call them Scream-M-Ws cuz they were so expensive to work on. Still, if anybody is giving away an M3 or M5 for free, I'll take it.

And Brian, I'll be down in SD for my GF's birthday, so I'll be on the lookout for a pink Beetle with eyelashes on the headlights and 2 shackles on the rear bumper.

Congrats on the job promotion. I could use one about now. Are you still gonna have a chance to come up to OC for a meet with COB? We need to figure out a date soon, I want to drool over your Runners.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Thanks JaseTheDamager! I am definitely down for a meetup sometime. It needs to be before 8/18 which is when I leave for the east coast. I will be gone for about 7 weeks.

Sorry for the big pictures guys but now that I have a 1080p laptop I decided to upload them in 1600x900 format.

Solar Panel - I recently purchased a 14.4V solar panel trickle charger off of Amazon for about $35. The goal is to keep the battery charged when I don't drive the car for several days or weeks. Since installing it about a month ago, I haven't had any battery issues. My yellow top optima is about a year old but it had been draining. I have a lot of electronics on the truck so it is difficult to really trace out the problem. This was the simplest solution.


Schumacher 2.4 Watt SP-200 Solar Battery Maintainer

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SP...id=1343597053&sr=1-9&keywords=car+solar+panel



I also decided to sand down some parts of my undercarriage. 1st up was the gas tank skid plate which looked terrible an hadn't been touched in 15 years.


Solar Charger






Gas Tank Skid Plate - Sanded





Gas Tank Skid Plate - Painted SEM Gunmetal Grey




:biggrin2:

 

[BrianSD_42]

****** Repainted rear undercarriage in anticipation of new bumper *****



I also recently decided that after 15 years (10 of which I've had the truck), it was finally time to repaint the rear undercarriage of my truck.

I removed each rear tire and sanded down everything shown with a power sander and 80 grit sandpaper. This actually took much longer than I thought it would but I think it was worth the effort since the rust is now gone.

I really wanted to do this because with the low profile tube bumper on the rear, you can see a lot more of the rear end and it wasn't pretty.




Pictures





























:guitar2:

 

[BrianSD_42]

***** Installed Savage Offroad Rear Bumper *****

I picked up the custom rear bumper from Savage Offroad near Riverside, CA. The total cost was $450, bare metal. I spent another $150 have it PowderCoated by the San Diego PowderCoating Company. Since I sold the factory rear bumper and hitch for $250, I am only out $350 for the upgrade






































:reddance:

 

[BrianSD_42]

If you are looking closely you might have noticed that my factory roof rack is gone. I removed it last weekend so I could sand and repaint it. Unfortunately I ran out of paint and will have to order more before I can continue.

Upcoming updates (probably tomorrow):

Pictures of the new trimmed ARB bumper
Pictures of me installing a front sway with new end links
Pictures of new rear shocks installed (maybe I'll skip pics of those ..)

eace:

 

[mcaz5]

If you are looking closely you might have noticed that my factory roof rack is gone. I removed it last weekend so I could sand and repaint it. Unfortunately I ran out of paint and will have to order more before I can continue.

Upcoming updates (probably tomorrow):

Pictures of the new trimmed ARB bumper
Pictures of me installing a front sway with new end links
Pictures of new rear shocks installed (maybe I'll skip pics of those ..)

eace:

How about that aluminum front skid?

 

[JasetheDamager]

The truck is looking awesome! That Savage bumper fits your rig perfectly. We're lucky to have so many options down here in Socal for quality bumpers. Eventually when I'm able to rebuild my savings, I'm looking at Outdoor Logic or Savage. Tube bumpers are starting to grow on me.

On a side note, I'm still pissed I had to bail on buying the BudBuilt skid from you. I'd be shocked if you have trouble selling it on this forum or CL.

BTW, I'm thrilled with my SS 1.2A Kit. I know a lot of guys on here are all about piecing a kit together, but I'm very happy that I made the right choice initially and didn't waste my time uninstalling a crappy set-up for a better set-up. You nailed it, and so did Steve. I called him to let him know how pleased I am with everything.

As for meeting up before 8/18, that works for me as well. From 8/23 to 9/9 I'm gonna be incredibly busy at work. I know COB is a busy guy with school and work, so I sent him my cell and said to drop me a line when he can hang. I'll let you know when I hear from him.

 

[ChildrenOfBodom]

Damn man, your truck is clean!!! Looking excellent. Undercarriage looks beautiful, lots of time and patience goes into your truck.

Sorry I don't hit you guys up ever... JasetheDamager said that he's free moreso on the weekdays (as am I) so if you 2 wanna meet (I'll ask JadatheRottweiler to join, too) before the 18th on a weekday, that would be awesome.

Typing this from work