2001 M3 Journey: Laguna Seca Blue Edition

[bavarian3]

Lighting and trim reinstall


I started with reinstalling the refreshed wipers, hood vent, and new windshield cowl. SEM trim paint is ever so slightly satin, but if you want you can apply a matte clear for additional flatness. I think it looks perfect.

Don't mind my dog's toys they're everywhere.





The csl parts were still at the body shop, but they were able to turn around the grills promptly. These are genuine grills professionally sprayed gloss black. This is the same as what IND does.

I know the chrome grill purists will rage, but this is the way to go on lsb imo. Easily changeable anyways. Also had some new grill badges laying around but it looks like they're knockoffs.





In they go along with new side markers. What a difference.





Next up the headlights and new corner lights, and fogs. The fog lights were tough, as the price for new is ridiculously expensive. I first tried to sand and polish the existing ones without luck. I ended up taking the plunge on "TYC" brand.

The TYC(right) lenses look great, no discernible difference on look, but they do weigh less.





Because it is a hassle finding these, and they get beat up down there, I decided to have them PPF'd. Perfect timing as I took my girls Alfa Romeo in for tint and they owed me a favor.

PPF is so good now days you can't tell it's there. Fitment was perfect, and the refreshed trim went in place without issue. Nothing loose.





Headlights as shown in the previous post, looking mint with new corner lights.





Tackled the tail lights next. Early models require some mild effort to install LED tails properly. There's nothing worse than seeing those aftermarket LED tail lights with the black outline. The process is really quite simple.

First acquire a newer version LCM. Unfortunately this does add a useless auto headlight switch state without the proper windshield.




Then a couple easily sourced adapters to mount the early model harnesses to the led lights.




Then just follow the coding process(also easily sourced) to rewrite the new LCM using PA soft 1.4. Actual process took like 2mins.




Now enjoy your new genuine taillights with no dash lights or flickers, and go get a smog.

Inner lights will come with that whole csl trunk thing.




Will grab some proper pics soon. Gas cap and reflectors were still at the shop.





Soon...

[Bry5on]

You can swap the LCM face to get rid of the auto lights setting. Also, even without the windshield sensor, the auto setting is useful as it will turn your headlights and parking lights off automatically when you shut the car off, preventing an accidental battery drain.

[bavarian3]

You can swap the LCM face to get rid of the auto lights setting. Also, even without the windshield sensor, the auto setting is useful as it will turn your headlights and parking lights off automatically when you shut the car off, preventing an accidental battery drain.

Thanks for the tip I had no idea. Since I don't want my headlights on when driving in the day I think I'll go the faceplate swap route.

[bavarian3]

Megane RS, 996 Brake Retrofit

It's been 2 months since I last posted, but as usual things are always in motion. Next up was to overhaul the brakes.

I went back and forth on all kinds of setups, even purchasing retrofit brackets for Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio calipers. In the end, due to the weight reduction, brake bias, look and feel, I decided to go with Megane RS fronts and 996 rear calipers.


The Megane RS come new in box with brackets and lines from freakyparts.co.uk. 996 came from ebay for a steal of a price in decent shape. Rallyroad was used for brackets and lines.





I thought about running them red, even to the point of refinishing the rears. As soon as I tried them on though, I knew it wasn't the look I was going for.






Knowing what a pain refinishing is, and not having the means to spray 2k clear, I found a powdercoater to take them on for a good deal.

So I got to disassembling. I knicked a couple 996 pistons and seals in the process, and decided to just purchase full rebuild kits from OPS while everything was out.




They came back looking so good. I went with simple gloss black, as you can see. Here they are all refinished with powdercoat, seals, and pistons.






Don't forget stickers. Conveniently get a gf that has a cricut with existing vinyl cutting skills. We mocked up the brembo motorcycle logo and she somewhat-gracefully made various test pieces to eventually get it where I wanted. The fun part is these can always be changed.




Everything ready to go. I went with Zimmerman zcp rotors. Don't mind the other stuff in the background...





The install was one of the most rage inducing processes I've done. To be frank, feakyparts included hardware was poorly selected. Insufficiently lengthed bolts, poor fitting or completely missing washers, etc.





Good opportunity to remove all the old crap including studs. These came out easily with a little heat. The hex bit removed them fine even though they're "not for removal"





Front looking good, after much pain and waiting on hardware orders.




Trimming the rear shields wasn't too bad with snips. I think I removed more after this pic. Also painted exposed edges and gave the hubs a good scrubbing after.




I used all new piston shims on the rear, hoping to avoid squeal.




Finally everything was in and ready for bleeding. The Shwaben power bleeder was amazing at this.




Looks like the fluid was due for a change. Cola?





Went out and bedded the pads in, and gave the car a much needed wash.







Thoughts - So, I have a squealing issue with the pads on the front and rear. I will continue troubleshooting this, but outside of that wow! The brake feel is amazing, and the car really flies with more unsprung weight knocked off. The look with the black calipers and new rotors is just what I was going for too. Subtle but so much better than stock.

It's too bad the pads will likely need to be changed as the dust is low, and I'm perfectly happy with their performance.

Stay tuned for those other parts to get installed. I swear once those are in I'll get some proper pics of the car, I might even drive it a few miles.

[OPS]

bavarian3 Your calipers were done extremely nice! I love to see them nice and fresh and I agree once you get to feel a fixed caliper compared to a sliding caliper there is no going back! And I always like to remind folks dust boots should always go on dry like you did. Bravo!