2001 740i Sport Part Duex-this time is personal

[Staszek]

Good stuff.

At 9 bucks, the handle might be a good experiment.

Thats what I figured, if it doesn't work it didn't cost me much and I will just paint the old one.

[Staszek]

Didnt get too much work done this weekend, but cleaned up a few things.

I didn't take a picture, but was able to get all the Nav and radio equipment back in the correct mounts. Unfortunately they don't make the Sirius mount anymore, so I am working on how to mount that one.

I put the new antenna in.


I threw the Sirius antenna under the sunshade shelf for now. I covered it with the sunshade to test it and still got a really good signal. I am going to keep it like that for a while with the sunshade on top to see how it goes before I button everything back up. I like it hidden there.


Something I didn't know was I am now getting my station ID on the dashboard display. That didn't happen in my old E38, but I think I had an older version of the BM53 that didn't have tagging, and I had an older Sirius module. Its a nice little touch.


Last but not least I changed the buttons on the widescreen nav from stock to the E53 buttons. They are a direct fit. They are slightly smaller than the E38 rubber ones, but you cant tell by just looking at them. They have a more premium feel than the rubber ones and personally, I think they look nicer.

[Staszek]

Next steps are replacing the rear shocks before I put the DSP deck and all the covers back on. Get that done this week. I went with Bilstein. I had them before in my last E38 and they rode great, possibly because the old ones were so worn. I thought about new OE ones but at $1200 for 2 I didn't see that much of a difference between those and when I had the Billy's before.

[a777fan]

That’s a neat little radio upgrade. I’ll have to scroll back through to see how that all worked. Literally just plug and play?

[Staszek]

That’s a neat little radio upgrade. I’ll have to scroll back through to see how that all worked. Literally just plug and play?

Kinda lol. If you have all the parts. You need the BM53 radio which there are multiple versions, some only support Aux, some Aux and Sirius, some Aux Sirus and MP3 Tags. You need the sirius unit as well as a bunch of cables.

https://e39source.com/archives/1757

This is a good source, its for an E39 but the part numbers are the same. He has a list and links to everything. The Fakra adapter was wrong in my case I used a different one but the rest are good.

He also has a video on there that helps.

[Btkeenan]

Nice! I was thinking about swapping the knobs on my head unit also. They’re not sticky yet but I can tell they’re starting to degrade a bit. Was looking for an alternative and like the style of the E53 ones but do you know if they make it without the chrome ring?

[Staszek]

Nice! I was thinking about swapping the knobs on my head unit also. They’re not sticky yet but I can tell they’re starting to degrade a bit. Was looking for an alternative and like the style of the E53 ones but do you know if they make it without the chrome ring?

Im not sure, maybe, E53, E39, E46 all had the same navigation. I think there are only two choices, the rubbery ones that the E38 came with and the ones I posted.

[Staszek]

Some updates from last night. Took care of this nightmare.


While I had the mirrors out swapped the mirror frame surround for new ones. Mine were all faded they looked awful. I wish I could swap the sail part that attaches to the car too but you cant unless you buy a new mirror. I will have to paint that part.


Found a dead's bee's nest in there while I was at it lol.


I bought mirrors off an E39, they work the same but had the Euro blindspot, as well as they, are blue tint instead of yellowish.

You can see in this pic how much darker the new frame is compared to the worn-out sail. I am going to have my painter match that when I get a few other things taken care of.

Next thing to tackle was the sagging map pockets. I took the easy way out for now, I found two perfectly working seatbacks and just swapped them. What I didn't realize was the ones I bought must be leather because the stitching is different.

Old


New

[Btkeenan]

Thought about doing the euro mirror swap on my car but think I’m going to hold off for if/when my mirrors start deteriorating. I have a convex mirrors on my truck and it adds greater spatial awareness while on the road. Wish it was standard here in the states.

[Staszek]

Thought about doing the euro mirror swap on my car but think I’m going to hold off for if/when my mirrors start deteriorating. I have a convex mirrors on my truck and it adds greater spatial awareness while on the road. Wish it was standard here in the states.

Yea they aren’t cheap. If mine weren’t a mess I would have kept the old ones.

[a777fan]

Yea they aren’t cheap. If mine weren’t a mess I would have kept the old ones.

Truth.

Couldn’t believe what they cost. Amazing the difference new ones make though.

[TheAngryBear]

How are you guys setting your mirrors?
I have next to no blind spots so am debating the value.


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[Frankie]

...What I didn't realize was the [map pockets] I bought must be leather because the stitching is different.

Your new pockets are from a 750 not a 740. The pockets on the 750 are leather stitched instead of vinyl. Had you purchased the upper shell too, it would have wood trim across the top. Those were the nice touches BMW added to the 750 to distinguish it from the 740.

[CPHES]

I put a euro mirror on the right side - not sure it makes a big difference in blind spots, but it does give wider range on the road. I do not like it for backing up and parking - but some of that is getting used to it.

[Staszek]

Your new pockets are from a 750 not a 740. The pockets on the 750 are leather stitched instead of vinyl. Had you purchased the upper shell too, it would have wood trim across the top. Those were the nice touches BMW added to the 750 to distinguish it from the 740.

Yea that’s what I thought. Looking to source the uppers now. Although I will have to wrap the wood, it won’t match.

[Staszek]

Dropped the car off at the body shop last night. Getting all the little dings taken out and a few other little cosmetic things taken care of.

Made a change to the suspension, I was going with Bilsteins for the shocks and struts, but found a deal on brand new OE Msport shocks. Still way more expensive them the Billys but I figured I would do it right.

[Btkeenan]

Dropped the car off at the body shop last night. Getting all the little dings taken out and a few other little cosmetic things taken care of.

Made a change to the suspension, I was going with Bilsteins for the shocks and struts, but found a deal on brand new OE Msport shocks. Still way more expensive them the Billys but I figured I would do it right.

Sweet. Thought about going a similar route for the struts but am opting to keep it pure with the OE setup. How much of a discount for the m sport setup did you get?

[Staszek]

Sweet. Thought about going a similar route for the struts but am opting to keep it pure with the OE setup. How much of a discount for the m sport setup did you get?

I paid $489 each for the rears. I haven't ordered the fronts yet. I will get to that next, just wanted to get the rears done while I had the deck apart.

Everywhere else I saw they were like $580 to over $600 each.

FYI these are the OE setup for this car.

[Btkeenan]

I paid $489 each for the rears. I haven't ordered the fronts yet. I will get to that next, just wanted to get the rears done while I had the deck apart.

Everywhere else I saw they were like $580 to over $600 each.

FYI these are the OE setup for this car.

Gotcha. I have noticed that between thebmwminipartstore and ecstuning, the shipping rate negates the decreased list cost depending on the item especially on the bulkier items. I am looking forward to seeing what a tightened/refreshed OE sport suspension feels like car once completed.

[Staszek]

No update on the E38, its at the body shop getting the rear bumper resprayed and any little door dings removed, also paint the sail part of mirrors to bring them back to new.

I did work on the E30 though. I like OEM to OEM+ as possible. In my E30 I took the stock tape deck and updated it with a cantaloupe Bluetooth card. You lose the tape (there is a way around that but its a real pain) but you keep the OEM look and you can stream to it. I had the Premium system, for people who don't follow E30's its a whole 4 speakers Tweeter sails by the window and 5 1/4" in the kick panel as well as the rear deck has a separate tweeter and 5 1/4" in the same housing. Its all run by a Blaupunkt amplifier in the trunk. That amplifier being 30 years old was tired. All four channels worked but would pop and turn on and off. The previous owner had rewired the car with all aftermarket stuff and made a mess of the door panels had to replace them during the restoration.

Once I got it all back to OEM it sucked that the speakers were popping so much. Anyway, a friend on the E30 board refurbishes these amps, he took mine apart fixed the boards, and resoldered everything. Good as new, sound is pretty amazing now, I do have a 10-inch sub in the trunk to balance it out, but even without that, it works well.

Unlike the E38 these amps are really easy to get to and quite small. Took me 2 screws and about 5 min to swap it.

[Btkeenan]

Nice E30! It’s funny I was just talking to a friend of mine the other day and it seems like the E38/E39/E46 generations are the last ones that you could still “work on” without needing a PC linked back to the mothership in Germany to diagnose everything.

[Staszek]

Nice E30! It’s funny I was just talking to a friend of mine the other day and it seems like the E38/E39/E46 generations are the last ones that you could still “work on” without needing a PC linked back to the mothership in Germany to diagnose everything.

Agreed, the E9X platform wasn't horrible but anything after that is a nightmare (and some before it, looking at you E60), there were certain things that you need to code but I work on my M3 all the time and it's not too bad. I think one of my favorites to work on was the E46, it was that sweet spot of new tech but not TOO new.

[Staszek]

A few goodies came in today., its annoying that my car is at the shop, I have so many things just waiting to be installed.

New center console came in, while I dont mind having the tray in the center of the current one, it kind of makes the side compartments useless.




Also, the new rear Msport shocks came in! Super excited about these.

[Btkeenan]

A few goodies came in today., its annoying that my car is at the shop, I have so many things just waiting to be installed.

New center console came in, while I dont mind having the tray in the center of the current one, it kind of makes the side compartments useless.




Also, the new rear Msport shocks came in! Super excited about these.

Nice! I got my new grey center console also in today but one of the two hooks that hold the top cover down broke in transit so going to either try gluing it together with some plastic adhesive or buy a replacement handle setup.

[a777fan]

A few goodies came in today., its annoying that my car is at the shop, I have so many things just waiting to be installed.

New center console came in, while I dont mind having the tray in the center of the current one, it kind of makes the side compartments useless.




Also, the new rear Msport shocks came in! Super excited about these.

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