2001 740i Sport Part Duex-this time is personal

[Staszek]

Oh righto… yeah i don’t think the 750’s ever came with the special wood that the shorty sporties got, did they. (Or if they did it was a one or two off ‘individual’ in europe… and good luck finding that. Lol)

A little late, but could madera strip down the seat trims and the handles and lighten up the stain to match?

They could, although its a different wood, it may work, I thought about it but they were already done with my wood when I asked. I may try it in the future if I don't like the wrap.

[a777fan]

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[Btkeenan]

When I changed the seat back pockets for ones that still worked, I didn't realize I bought the 750 leather versions, so I thought I would match it with 750 uppers. The only issue is the 750 uppers have wood trim. I also have black 750 grab handles that have darker wood trim on them. I was thinking that maybe I could find a wrap that was close to the English Rot wood I just refinished. The handles and the rear seat backs are not super close to the trim so I think as long as I am close it will work. Found a gloss trim 3m wrap that looks like it may work. Going to have them wrapped and see how it turns out.

While not exact, I think it will be similar enough/ far away enough from the other pieces to blend in rather nicely.

[Staszek]

While not exact, I think it will be similar enough/ far away enough from the other pieces to blend in rather nicely.

Yep going to wrap them put them in the car and see if it distracts me or not.

[Staszek]

Got the car badk, good news is it looks great, bad news is now I can see every imperfection and rock chip more easily lol!

Hard to tell in the pic, but the left side they paint corrected, the right side was what the car looked like when I got it.


Now that I have it back I have to rush and get a ton done before it goes to the upholstery shop. Did a mad dash today got a lot done, not as much as I wanted but at least progress.

Started pulling all the door panels and installing my bav sound speakers, I had already done the rear deck which was sitting on a shelf, and man even without tuning its such a night and day difference.



While the door panels were off I took the opportunity to fix all the broken clips and the ones missing the rubber washer so they wouldn't squeak.


I also switched all the speaker covers to the chromeline ones. Always thought it helped to break up the black door panel.


This one was hanging by one clip, the PO glued the top instead of replacing them. Thankfully I was able to get the glue off without damage.




Changed out the broken rear ashtray as well.


Next, I got around to changing out the refurbished wood. When I put it up against my faded vavona it looks soo good. My vavona wasnt very red like others i have seen so this is a stark difference.






Last but not least I put new chrome on the top of the doors, very minty



Done for the day, the door stuff isnt hard but its tedious and takes some time. I also realized I am missing a quarter sunshade on the right side, need to take care of that.

[a777fan]

Holy crap that wood looks great!

[Btkeenan]

Nice work! There’s a local shop that does paint correction and ceramic coating among other things and have had friends with incredible results. It’s on the list of things to do. I like that refurbished wood color with the black interior but think it would be too much with the grey interior. Contemplated getting a set of the erle grafik wood set but it had decent cracking on a lot of the panels and would need them redone to go with the rest of the car.

How much did the work from Madera run you? I presume they stripped the clear, did any repairs and then recleared it?

[Staszek]

Nice work! There’s a local shop that does paint correction and ceramic coating among other things and have had friends with incredible results. It’s on the list of things to do. I like that refurbished wood color with the black interior but think it would be too much with the grey interior. Contemplated getting a set of the erle grafik wood set but it had decent cracking on a lot of the panels and would need them redone to go with the rest of the car.

How much did the work from Madera run you? I presume they stripped the clear, did any repairs and then recleared it?

Not cheap lol just under 2k, but I did the entire interior including center console, so if you didnt need to do everything it woulb be less. They strip the clear completely off, try to fix any cracks (many times all the cracks we see are in the clear not the wood) and then reclear the whole thing. You can call and talk to them, ask for Manuel.

I agree this wood looks better on black then it would on gray.

If you can get the wood cheap enough its probably worth the fix, but if you spend too much on it the total price really gets up there.

[a777fan]

Thanks for sharing the cost numbers… something else to save up for. Lol.


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[Staszek]

Unexpected work had to replace the battery today. I drove it home from the shop on Friday it drove no problem. Parked overnight and wouldnt start. Though ok it sat at the shop a bit probably didnt get a full charge on the drive home. I charged it up with a trickle while I was working on it, it started in the afternoon and I moved it a bit to work on the other side. Went to start again and it was dead, not dead enough to run the radio, lights windows etc on ACC but too weak to start. Probably a dead cell because it wasnt like the lights were dim.

Anyway, it was a Diehard Gold, just hit the 3 year warranty unfortunately so no warranty replacement.

Ended uo going with a Duralast AGM battery this time. I dont have a long commute anymore and AGMs seem to handle short stops better. This battery has a 3 year warranty as well so should be good for a bit.

Popped it and the car fired right up. The battery tray was nice and clean, I mean I wiped it down but no corrosion.

[Btkeenan]

Dang definitely costly (though incredible results). They wanted ~$609 shipped and the shift knob and center console would definitely have to be refinished. Not sure if the other pieces would also need to in order to match. Maybe something in the future if one of the set of the dark grey wood came up…

Yea I’ve had hit or miss with the battery. When I first got the car I had to jump start the car 3 times because the battery died while I was doing work on it. Not sure if the battery drained while working on it to a point below enough to crank or bad battery but I bought a trickle charger and it hasn’t happened since. Considering the battery is dated from January of this year, I presume it’s the work I was doing vs a bad battery but if it happens again I’ll go with an interstate AGM and be done with it.

[Staszek]

Dang definitely costly (though incredible results). They wanted ~$609 shipped and the shift knob and center console would definitely have to be refinished. Not sure if the other pieces would also need to in order to match. Maybe something in the future if one of the set of the dark grey wood came up…

Yea I’ve had hit or miss with the battery. When I first got the car I had to jump start the car 3 times because the battery died while I was doing work on it. Not sure if the battery drained while working on it to a point below enough to crank or bad battery but I bought a trickle charger and it hasn’t happened since. Considering the battery is dated from January of this year, I presume it’s the work I was doing vs a bad battery but if it happens again I’ll go with an interstate AGM and be done with it.

Yea I had a charge on it the whole time I was working on it, I have chargers for all the cars that I don't drive regularly. I think it probably sat at the shop too long. I could have a small drain too, I will need to test that down the road.

[Staszek]

Got some more work done today.

Started with finishing up installing more of the new wood trim, removed the old console.

New vs Old


Before I put everything back I worked on the armrest and new cupholder. As much as I don't like chrome too much outside the car, I am a fan of it inside (depending on the car). I like all the little touches the chromeline package had. One of the things I always liked was the chrome surround around the armrest buttons. I found a guy selling the entire armrest cheap and I mean almost free cheap, which was great because all I wanted was the buttons since I had a euro non-phone armest I was installing.

I was surprised that the buttons are not connected, they pop right out very easily as one piece. For once something was easy lol.



Installed on the new armrest


Next to install the cupholders, a guy on E38 Empire made these, he is from Ohio so not far. They are really cool, they do block the one console cubby a bit but you can still open it and put things in. Its the best solution I have seen so far and it holds all kinds of drink sizes. The only bad part I could see is that when drinks sweat they will drip on the center console, we will see.

They screw to the bottom of the armrest and move forward and back with it, it fits in nice and snug and is really sturdy.

New armrest, cupholder and wood center console installed!




Testing it with two different types of drinks on a quick ride they both stayed rock solid.


Installed the rear trim piece.


Next onto the license plate delete, I did this on my old car, I like the clean front, oh and I installed new OEM grills.

Sorry for the crappy shot, took it quick on the way back after my drive.


Oh I forgot to post this last time, I also put the chrome trim around the door pins. I also have the chrome caps I couldn't find, I know they are in the garage somewhere, good news is I don't have to take the doors off to replace those, you can just switch the tops they are interchangeable without removing the entire lock cover.


Last just a quick shot in the driveway because why not lol.

[a777fan]

Man that wood looks great. Especially against the black interior.

Madera was able to re do the ashtray that has that little black piece inset into it as well?

Did you have them do your shift knob?

[Btkeenan]

Nice! The wood/black/chrome ties together nicely. I saw that same cup holder and the painted version looked pretty slick. I tend to not eat/drink in my cars otherwise I probably would have ordered one.

Is the center delete bracket PN 51118150492? I remember seeing two separate ones online with ~$100 price delta between them. I also had concerns about the finish matching the other corner trim so was considering buying replacement black trim all the way around to have it consistent.

[unleashd]

Oh I forgot to post this last time, I also put the chrome trim around the door pins. I also have the chrome caps I couldn't find, I know they are in the garage somewhere, good news is I don't have to take the doors off to replace those, you can just switch the tops they are interchangeable without removing the entire lock cover.


Last just a quick shot in the driveway because why not lol.

Do you have a source for those caps for the door pins? I am missing 3/4 :O

[Staszek]

Man that wood looks great. Especially against the black interior.

Madera was able to re do the ashtray that has that little black piece inset into it as well?

Did you have them do your shift knob?

Yes they redid the astray and the cubby with the black part. They also did the shift knob.

- - - Updated - - -

Nice! The wood/black/chrome ties together nicely. I saw that same cup holder and the painted version looked pretty slick. I tend to not eat/drink in my cars otherwise I probably would have ordered one.

Is the center delete bracket PN 51118150492? I remember seeing two separate ones online with ~$100 price delta between them. I also had concerns about the finish matching the other corner trim so was considering buying replacement black trim all the way around to have it consistent.

Yea I will probably take it off and paint it later, I was thinking of maybe seeing if I can do some type of leather wrap to match the center console. I bought a second one to experiment with so I can have something for my drinks in the mean time. I have a waterbottle with me pretty much everywhere I go. I agree with you, I bought new trim for the two sides as well, just didn't put those on yet, they take a bit more care to remove then the center part. I am probably going to do the same for the rear as well. From far away they don't look too far off, up close you can see the new part is definitely darker. The detailer said try using forever black it will help.

This is the one I bought, so yea its that part number you referenced. I didn't know there was another one.
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...m/51118150492/

- - - Updated - - -

Do you have a source for those caps for the door pins? I am missing 3/4 :O

You cant just by the tops you need to buy the entire pin cover, but the tops pop off. I would have replaced the whole thing if the doors were still off, I am still pissed that I couldn't find them the day I was working on the car, and I didn't want to stop all my work for that missing part that was all cosmetic.

They are cheap just buy them whole.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...n/51218216905/

[purplecty]

Looking fantastic! Where can I get those cupholders? I currently have this setup in mine. Also, Do you want to sell your old arm rest if it's in pretty good shape?

[Staszek]

Looking fantastic! Where can I get those cupholders? I currently have this setup in mine. Also, Do you want to sell your old arm rest if it's in pretty good shape?

Yes I would, I will get you some pics when I get home, I am not sure what you consider good condition They are not broken or cut up, I have yet to clean anything in this car due to all the work so they are dirty. I have both the armrest with the tray in it and the armrest with the phone part in it.

Look up the E38 Empire Facebook group and search for Lucas Moench, he made them. The one you have I have seen and I wanted one of those but they are not made anymore. Lucus worked on his own design I think he has sold over 100 of them so far.

[Btkeenan]

Yes they redid the astray and the cubby with the black part. They also did the shift knob.

Yea I will probably take it off and paint it later, I was thinking of maybe seeing if I can do some type of leather wrap to match the center console. I bought a second one to experiment with so I can have something for my drinks in the mean time. I have a waterbottle with me pretty much everywhere I go. I agree with you, I bought new trim for the two sides as well, just didn't put those on yet, they take a bit more care to remove then the center part. I am probably going to do the same for the rear as well. From far away they don't look too far off, up close you can see the new part is definitely darker. The detailer said try using forever black it will help.

This is the one I bought, so yea its that part number you referenced. I didn't know there was another one.
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...m/51118150492/

Gotcha. Checked again and the other PN I had saved was for an E36 but looked very similar. It's too bad the E38 one is so much more.

[Staszek]

Gotcha. Checked again and the other PN I had saved was for an E36 but looked very similar. It's too bad the E38 one is so much more.

Luxury tax lol

[Btkeenan]

Luxury tax lol

[purplecty]

That e38 plate delete trim used to be like $40

[Staszek]

That e38 plate delete trim used to be like $40

Yep I remember when I bought it for the last car it was way cheaper.

[Staszek]

Small update, getting the snow tires on the X7 winter rims today and while the guy was here, I asked him to pull the super old spare off the E38. The spare tire or rim didnt match, the tire was different then all the tires on the car and the rim was chrome. I ended up buying another Mpar that was also a spare tire rim so its pretty much brand new. The tirerack installer (love these new mobile installers hooked me up and removed the tire for me while he was here.

New X7 winter rims, these tires are HUGE!



The old mismatched spare was chrome (not sure if you could by them that way or they were chromed after.


Here is the new to me spare that whenever my Michelins come in will have a tire on it lol!