Karter16's Silbergrau E46 M3 Journal

[karter16]

Jumping back to this but taking it to 10/10.

There’s a boot animation that happens after the splash screen that says “powered by android” and it also appears to be customizable. It seems like the boot animation is fundamentally just PNG files zipped up. Did you consider also replacing the boot animation so it stays consistent with the stock boot up?

background on compiling a custom boot animation: https://emteria.com/blog/custom-boot...id?hs_amp=true

I’ll note that you made the right call with the Xtrons. It’s leaps and bounds ahead of the Avin unit that crapped out on me after two years. I should have switched earlier.

Yeah interesting - several people have mentioned the boot animation. I'm not sure why but I don't see it on my unit under normal operation. The only time I ever see it is if I've disconnected the battery and the unit is doing a cold boot, or if I intentionally restart the unit (which I haven't had to do since first setting it up). Under these scenarios the boot animation shows BEFORE the splash screen, I don't see anything appear after the splash screen, it goes straight to the Home Screen/interface. Because of this I haven't made it a priority to look into further, but given a few people have mentioned this I'll give it a go when I get a chance!

Re the Xtrons - I have to say I'm pretty happy with it so far - I've been meaning to write up a bit of a more detailed review of my experience but need to get some time to get some decent photos to go along with the writeup - will try to get that done soon.

[Bry5on]

Nice one - I've very happy with it so far - better than I was expecting for sure.

FWIW he's a copy of the splash screen sized to fit that unit.

Jumping back to this but taking it to 10/10.

There’s a boot animation that happens after the splash screen that says “powered by android” and it also appears to be customizable. It seems like the boot animation is fundamentally just PNG files zipped up. Did you consider also replacing the boot animation so it stays consistent with the stock boot up?

background on compiling a custom boot animation: https://emteria.com/blog/custom-boot...id?hs_amp=true

I’ll note that you made the right call with the Xtrons. It’s leaps and bounds ahead of the Avin unit that crapped out on me after two years. I should have switched earlier.

[karter16]

Read through all of it, amazing work! and I hope everyone is in good health.

Thanks I really appreciate that - we've had a few months of relative calm on the health front which is fantastic and I'm enjoying every moment of it!


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[karter16]

Awesome build. Just picked up a silver grey! Cant wait to start a build thread soon

Thank you! Silver grey is a great colour (if I say so myself!) looking forward to following your build!


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[bavarian3]

Read through all of it, amazing work! and I hope everyone is in good health.

[M3_mann]

Awesome build. Just picked up a silver grey! Cant wait to start a build thread soon

[karter16]

At last I got the final version of the top amp bracket sorted and Dad printed it and dropped it off yesterday. I fitted it today - all looking good!



Next up is to clean up the bay properly and then bundle up the un-needed wiring on the loom and secure it.

I also took the opportunity to re-familiarise myself with exactly how the structural foam has been done on the rear RACP mounts on my car as I start preparing for the installation of the 6 point brace when it arrives later in the year. I also checked the welds in the trunk to ensure that they're all still good - keep an eye on this just in case.

[0-60motorsports]

One of the things that's been on my list for quite some time now is sorting out the topside reinforcement of the RACP. My car had the rear mounts reinforced with the BMW epoxy foam process in 2011 before I owned it, and the underside reinforced with epoxied plates in 2017. Since then I've put very few km on the car but deciding on the right approach for topside reinforcement has been on my mind since then. Part of the reason it's taken me so long to sort is because of all my family/kids dramas, but the other reason is that I've really been struggling to decide on the best solution in my circumstances.

I'll probably get some flak for this but I'm not really keen on weld-in solutions in general. In most welding situations I don't see how it's possible to control corrosion prevention well enough given the application, and then add in welding to thin sheet metal that has been through 20 years of stress cycles and it just doesn't appeal to me. Another reason is that welding around the rear mounts, in my case, is complicated by the presence of the foam epoxy reinforcement. Lastly is the permanence of the change - I've seen several comments from people who bought the early version of the CMP bar, etc. who say they wished that they could use the newer, less visible, option. Likewise there's no certainty there won't be better options available in another 5 years.

In the work that I do on the car I want to keep it as close as possible to original, so that if I realise at some point in the future that I have bad taste in modifications I can restore to stock. That goes, as far as possible, for things like RACP reinforcement as well.

To this end I've ordered a variant version of the Yurkan Cages YC46W6. This is a welded single piece brace that ties both the front and rear RACP mounts to the rear shock mounts.




This design allows for the rear seats and fold-down functionality to be maintained without interference. I don't need the fold-down feature anyway, but I certainly want to keep the rear seat unaffected (although again it's only to look nice, I only ever have a single passenger in the car, so I essentially use it as a two seater anyway.

The variant I've ordered includes an additional bar directly between the two rear shock mounts. Probably overkill, but for the small amount of extra weight I'd prefer to have a direct link between the two to help stiffen things up as much as possible.


With this solution all I need to do is cut the top cosmetic layer of sheet metal above each of the 4 RACP mounts and bolt all the way through from the subframe to the brace. While this does require some cutting of the body, it is about as minimal as I'm going to be able to achieve while still providing for topside reinforcement. Yurkan do make a version of this brace with separate brackets for the rear shock mounts that the brace then bolts to, but given I need to cut the interior carpet, etc. either way, I decided to opt for the welded one piece option for additional stiffness. My plan with the carpets, etc. is to pick up a spare set from a wrecker to cut up and I'll put my current set unmolested on the shelf.


Once this is installed I'll be able to finally stop thinking about the RACP, and should also have the added bonus of a bit of extra stiffness in the rear.

I placed the order today and expected manufacturing time is about 20 days, so with shipping, getting lost at the East Tamaki depot, etc. I expect I'll receive this around the middle of the year.

I also ordered a replacement steering giubo recently - looking forward to getting that installed and hopefully getting rid of the slight play in the steering.

Looking forward to install pics.

[karter16]

One of the things that's been on my list for quite some time now is sorting out the topside reinforcement of the RACP. My car had the rear mounts reinforced with the BMW epoxy foam process in 2011 before I owned it, and the underside reinforced with epoxied plates in 2017. Since then I've put very few km on the car but deciding on the right approach for topside reinforcement has been on my mind since then. Part of the reason it's taken me so long to sort is because of all my family/kids dramas, but the other reason is that I've really been struggling to decide on the best solution in my circumstances.

I'll probably get some flak for this but I'm not really keen on weld-in solutions in general. In most welding situations I don't see how it's possible to control corrosion prevention well enough given the application, and then add in welding to thin sheet metal that has been through 20 years of stress cycles and it just doesn't appeal to me. Another reason is that welding around the rear mounts, in my case, is complicated by the presence of the foam epoxy reinforcement. Lastly is the permanence of the change - I've seen several comments from people who bought the early version of the CMP bar, etc. who say they wished that they could use the newer, less visible, option. Likewise there's no certainty there won't be better options available in another 5 years.

In the work that I do on the car I want to keep it as close as possible to original, so that if I realise at some point in the future that I have bad taste in modifications I can restore to stock. That goes, as far as possible, for things like RACP reinforcement as well.

To this end I've ordered a variant version of the Yurkan Cages YC46W6. This is a welded single piece brace that ties both the front and rear RACP mounts to the rear shock mounts.




This design allows for the rear seats and fold-down functionality to be maintained without interference. I don't need the fold-down feature anyway, but I certainly want to keep the rear seat unaffected (although again it's only to look nice, I only ever have a single passenger in the car, so I essentially use it as a two seater anyway.

The variant I've ordered includes an additional bar directly between the two rear shock mounts. Probably overkill, but for the small amount of extra weight I'd prefer to have a direct link between the two to help stiffen things up as much as possible.


With this solution all I need to do is cut the top cosmetic layer of sheet metal above each of the 4 RACP mounts and bolt all the way through from the subframe to the brace. While this does require some cutting of the body, it is about as minimal as I'm going to be able to achieve while still providing for topside reinforcement. Yurkan do make a version of this brace with separate brackets for the rear shock mounts that the brace then bolts to, but given I need to cut the interior carpet, etc. either way, I decided to opt for the welded one piece option for additional stiffness. My plan with the carpets, etc. is to pick up a spare set from a wrecker to cut up and I'll put my current set unmolested on the shelf.


Once this is installed I'll be able to finally stop thinking about the RACP, and should also have the added bonus of a bit of extra stiffness in the rear.

I placed the order today and expected manufacturing time is about 20 days, so with shipping, getting lost at the East Tamaki depot, etc. I expect I'll receive this around the middle of the year.

I also ordered a replacement steering giubo recently - looking forward to getting that installed and hopefully getting rid of the slight play in the steering.

[karter16]

Looking forward to your review on the headunit. Did you consider the "automotive grade" version? - https://xtrons.com/bmw-rover-mg-andr...b-rom-pe8246bl

As an aside, I was talking to Xtrons support about something else and asked them about this at the same time.

Their answer was basically that the PE8246BL was unique at the time that it came out in that it had “automotive grade” hardware in it. The IX series which followed has the same “automotive grade” hardware but the advertising point had dropped off by then apparently.


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[karter16]

Would you happen to have the part number for those new clips? Had a hard time trying to find them on realoem. Great build! Thank you

Hey sure - 52207157536 is the one :-)

Thanks!


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[ugaexploder]

The bolsters needed new clips at the tops, as they seem to ALL break. I ordered new ones in one of my orders last year, so had these on the shelf ready to go. Originals were black, these new ones are white, maybe they're also stronger 🤣

Would you happen to have the part number for those new clips? Had a hard time trying to find them on realoem. Great build! Thank you

[karter16]

Have been slowed down a bit the last week or so with medical stuff, but got to try out the latest version of the amplifier brackets that I'm designing.

This latest version the pieces have been reinforced and weigh in at 21 grams each. For reference the CD stacker rack weighs in at 1.2kg and the BMW Amp only bracket weighs more than 550 grams according to realoem.








The top bracket needs a little bit more adjustment, but I think that the bottom two are finalised - they're extremely sturdy and hold the amp in the exact position the OE bracket does.







I'll make the *hopefully* final tweaks to the top bracket and get it printed. The mistake I made was not making quite enough space for the black bolt and washer that attaches the bracket to the body - I'll get that sorted and hopefully this little project will be done!

[karter16]

One of the other things I did recently was to take advantage of the EQ built in to the headunit. I'm not an audiophile by any means, but figured I might as well make it as decent as possible.

To do this on a budget I took advantage of a very nifty iOS app called HouseCurve, which comes with a profile that flattens out the microphone response and makes it suitable to measure a response curve.

I used HouseCurve to take several measurements and average them out:






Which gave me the default response of the system.

HouseCurve has a built in mechanism to EQ the system and generate PEQ values, however the EQ on the Xtrons is a 16 band fixed frequencies EQ, rather than full parametric, so I wasn't able to take advantage of that directly.

I could have adjusted each of the EQ bands manually to try and optimise, but I'd rather get the calculated optimum. So what I did was to export the measurements from HouseCurve and import them into REW which has a generic EQ which allows for specifying the fixed frequencies for each band. You can then optimise on just the Gain and Q values to the target curve you're seeking (I chose to use the AudioFrog curve).

This gave the following (blue = target curve, dark green = original curve, light green = optimised curve):






The graph of the filters looks like this:






I was then able to take the calculated Gain and Q values for each filter and set them in the EQ in the Xtrons:






And the difference is night and day. Sounds so, so much better, and such an easy thing to do to improve the end result!

[karter16]

Ah ok got it. Not going to be easy to find lol

Still easier than finding CSL parts though haha


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