Originally Posted by
FastFreddie
@stacks - I have a 95 M3, and there are few changes that I would think make the interior that much better in the 96+ models: side impact airbags don't come into play very much. A push-button heating/AC interface that looked like it integrated better with the OBC but was more difficult to adjust than the knobs in my opinion. A three spoke-steering wheel that felt a little fat and bloated for a sports car, although I think the four-spoke steering wheel felt dated by the late 90's. And that's it. Still the same plastic, not any more expensive. Maybe you should have gotten a different car with cleaner seats and a luxe package.
@M3C, just re-read the thread admiring your work, more details jumped out at me, and I have a bunch of questions. Can you take the time to answer for my own edification?
Noticed two white dots on the glove box open button. How did you incorporate the LED's on this button so they look integrated?
COMPLETE REMOVAL AND DISASSEMBLING OF THE GLOVEBOX UNIT, MATCHING AMBER LEDs ARE ROUTED FROM THE REAR OF THE BUTTON.
I saw white dots on some other buttons too, like these up by the map/dome lights, where these buttons didn't (I thought) usually have white dots usually. Did you modify these buttons, and if so I'd love to know your technique.
IDEA OF THE WHITE DOTS CAME FROM MY BMW TRAFFIC PRO THAT HAS 10 BUTTONS WITH WHITE DOTS (ILLUMINATED) SO I MADE ALL OTHER REGULAR NON ILLUMINATED BUTTONS THE SAME WITH WHITE DOTS TO MATCH THE REST. DOME LIGHTS (FRONT & REAR) ARE FROM E39 M5 BUT MODIFIED TO HAVE THOSE 3 BUTTONS ILLUMINATED AND MODIFIED INTERNALS TO WORK WITH E36 M3. THE TECHNIQUE IS SIMILAR FOR ALL BUTTONS: COMPLETE DISASSEMBLING AND WORKING ON VERY TIGHT SPOTS TO ROUTE THE LEDs IN THERE, SOMETIMES EVEN USING THE MAGNIFYING GLASS, MICRO SOLDERING, BONDING AND CAREFULL SANDING TO MAKE THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE BUTTON FLAT AND ORIGINAL.
Did you custom make the PDC switch by silkscreening a DSC switch, or was this a factory part? I've never seen one before, was it part of the e36 lineup? I'd be very interested in sourcing one, or making one.
PDC SWITCH IS ORIGINAL BMW FACTORY PART THAT FITS INTO E36, IT IS ORIGINALLY FROM THE GREAT 8 SERIES CARS, IT IS BMW PART NUMBER 61311383080 AND I GOT IT NEW FROM DEALER
Also, our ASC switch looks more black than mine, which looks more green, like your PDC switch.
ASC SWITCHES ARE ALL THE SAME I THINK, IT IS ONLY A VISUAL OBSERVATION THAT DEPENDS FROM THE LIGHT INTENSITY, IF IT IS UNDER DIRECT LIGHT SOURCE (FLASH OR SUNLIGHT) IT WILL LOOK MORE GREEN(ISH) VS. LESS LIGHT AND IT LOOKS MORE BLACK.
How does the comfort blinker interval work? I've never seen anyone with one of these, was it also an option on the e36?
YOU KNOW THE TURN SIGNAL STALK CAN BE SWITCHED FOR LEFT OR RIGHT SIGNALING BUT IF YOU JUST GENTLY PRESS ON IT WITHOUT SWITCHING THE SIGNAL STILL OPERATES, SO WHAT COMFORTBLINKER DOES IS WHEN YOU GENTLY JUST PRESS THE STALK ONCE THE SIGNAL WILL BLINK MULTIPLE TIMES FOR THE SET REPETITIONS DEPENDING HOW YOU DESIRE. FOR EXAMPLE CURRENTLY I HAVE PROGRAMMED MINE TO DO 8 BLINKS EVERY TIME I GENTLY PRESS THAT STALK, FOR EITHER LEFT OR RIGHT DIRECTION. BECAUSE IT IS PROGRAMMABLE IT CAN BE SET FOR LESS OR MORE BLINKS.
THIS IS VERY CONVENIENT IN HIGHWAY DRIVING (STRAIGHT LANES) WHEN YOU ARE PASSING OTHER CARS SO INSTEAD OF SWITCHING THE STALK AND HAVING TO MANUALLY TURN IT OFF AGAIN YOU JUST GENTLY PRESS IT WITHOUT SWITCHING (SO THE STALK IS STILL IN CENTER POSITION) AND THE BLINKS REPAT AT THE SET TIME, APPROX BY THE TIME YOU ALREADY PASSED THE OTHER CAR THE BLINKS WILL STOP BY ITSELF. THE WHOLE IDEA BEHIND THIS IS LESS DISTRACTION (THEREFORE THE NAME COMFORTBLINKER) AT HIGH SPEEDS, ORIGINALLY INTENDED FOR GERMAN AUTOBAHNS BUT I LIKE IT EVEN HERE IN US HIGHWAYS. I THINK NOW MANY NEW MODELS DO HAVE THIS FEATURE, THE FUNNY PART IS THAT MANY OWNERS MOST LIKELY ARE NOT AWARE OF IT NOR KNOW THE PURPOSE.
I love your puddle lights, what did you use? Was this a BMW part, and if so what model is it on? e38, e39, e46? I also like the red light pointing in, what model BMW did this come off?
THEY ARE ORIGINAL BMW PART FROM E9* AND SOME OTHER NEWER SERIES, I CHOOSE THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE ALMOST FLAT WITH THE SURFACE AFTER MOUNTING SO NO CONTACT WITH DOOR SILLS. RED DOOR OPEN WARNING LIGHTS ARE OF THE GREAT Z8 MODEL BMW.
This interior door handle lighting is slick, and I've been wondering about doing something similar, but I didn't come up with a good design besides drilling a hole and mounting an LED hidden behind the handle. This plastic strip at the top to disperse light looks so good, how did you make it? Was the strip off another door handle, and if so, what handle did you gut to make this?
DRILLING A HOLE AND MOUNTING A LED IS MUCH EASIER.
AGAIN, THE GOAL WAS EVERYTHING BMW, THE LIGHT DISPERSING STRIPS COME FROM 7 SERIES ILLUMINATED DOOR HANDLES, THIS WAS A RARE AND GOOD OPTION TO HAVE IN A 7 SERIES EXPENSIVE MODELS.
Never saw these exterior motorsport handles before, but I like. Was this available for the e36 too? How did you mount the LEDs inside the handle? Did you just drill a hole and mount 2 LEDs, or was it more involved, like the interior door handles.
YES THIS IS ORIGINAL E36 RARE PART, ALSO SOME E34 M5 AND MZ3 SERIES COULD BE FITTED WITH THESE MOTORSPORT HANDLES.
I DECIDED TO DO A VERY SCARY THING BY MAKING THEM ILLUMINATED, THEY DO LIGHT UP WHEN THE CAR IS UNLOCKED AND/OR LOCKED SO IN VERY DARK PLACES I CAN CLEARLY SEE WHERE TO GRAB THE HANDLE.
I WAS VERY AFRAID DURING THE ENTIRE PROCESS HERE, ALWAYS TAKING MY TIME NOT TO DAMAGE ANYTHING IN MY EXPENSIVE MOTORSPORT HANDLES. IT WAS NOT A SIMPLE PROCESS, IT WAS MORE INVOLVED PROCEDURE HERE SO THE FINAL RESULT IS FLAT SURFACE AND ALSO WATERPROOF SO NO WATER OR MOISTURE GETS INSIDE THERE WHEN IT RAINS OR IN CAR WASH SITUATIONS.
I've seen ZHP weighted shift knobs, and ZHP illuminated shift knobs, but never ZHP weighted and illuminated shift knobs. Did I miss something, or was this something you put together as well? The stitching should go further up the boot in my opinion though.
BECAUSE BMW NEVER MADE THE WEIGHTED + ILLUMINATED 5 SPEED KNOB I GOT THE WEIGHTED ZHP VERSION FROM BMW AND DID ADD MYSELF THE ORIGINAL ILLUMINATION AS IT IS IN THE ILLUMINATED SHIFT KNOB. IT WAS ABOUT 5 DAYS OF WORK UNTILL I GOT IT COMPLETED.
STITCHING IS HANDMADE BY ME, I STOPPED THERE FOR MY PERSONAL AESTHETIC PREFERENCE.
I like the little BMW logo hidden here on the front kidney grill, did you have these custom wrapped? Are the fronts of the fins chromed? I thought they were usually black, but this looks cool. How did you make this, silver spray paint?
NOT SURE WHAT YOU'RE ASKING HERE, WHERE DID YOU SEE CHROMED FINS OR SILVER SPRAY PAINT?
Is this rear sunshade out of an e46 or e38?
OUT OF E46
These rear seat footwell lights look like the vanity lights that usually go behind the front sunshades for the makeup mirror, is that correct? Are they from the e38 or e39? It must have been tough installing here since the carpet is right up against the sheet metal, did you reinforce around the lights at all, or are you worried that they could be damaged by a stray kick?
THEY MIGHT LOOK THE SAME BUT NO, THEY ARE ORIGINAL BMW FOOTWELL LIGHTS, AVAILABLE ONLY IN SOME EXPENSIVE BMW 7 SERIES.
DEFINITELY REINFORCED SO THEY STAY FLAT WITH THE CARPET AND ALSO RESISTANT TO STRAY KICKS, SO LOTS OF TESTING AND ENGINEERING BEHIND THIS NOT ONLY GOOD LOOKS.
Love this aux jack and lighted USB plug. Where did you find this trick bit of kit? That looks a lot more modern than e36, but also very functional. Leave it to BMW to orange-light their USB plugs. Nice location for this install. Was this off an e60? I'm going to try to source this part myself.
SIMILAR STORY HERE, USE MODERN BMW PARTS BUT SINCE I WAS NOT COMPLETELY HAPPY WITH IT, WANTED TO HAVE ILLUMINATION SO LOTS OF DIY HERE AND BECAUSE OF TIGHT SPACE A MAGNIFIER WAS HELPFUL. THIS CAN COME FROM SOME NEWER BMW MODELS, NOT SURE OF E60 BUT COULD BE.
Is that a custom bracket for the warning triangle in the trunk?
THAT IS MADE OUT OF A CD BRACKET TO HOLD THE WT. CUTTING, FILING, PAINTING ETC. UNTIL I GOT THE SATISFACTORY RESULTS. SO AT A QUICK GLANCE IT ACTUALLY DOES LOOK LIKE ANY STOCK BMW PART AND THAT WAS THE GOAL, TO MAKE IT LOOK STOCK.
Edit - drat, none of the pictures loaded. Hopefully you'll know what I'm talking about.
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