Alpine BMW speaker unit fitted

Ah this is my Xmas present to the 1er. It is an upgrade of the front speakers with amplifier

 

Brochure reads

A class-leading two-year BMW warranty adds further appeal
to this premium accessory.
– Designed by Alpine Electronics specifically for the BMW 1 Series
and BMW 3 Series.
– No need to visit a specialist car audio store to enhance your
audio system.
– Seamless integration with the vehicle’s electrical system.
– Original speaker position in the doors remains, preserving
the look of the interior.
– High-range/mid-range speakers with aluminum membrane.
– Powerful Alpine Class D technology amplifier 4 x 80 Watt RMS
with a harmonic distortion of just 0.5%.
– Loudspeaker grille with Alpine logo.
– Amplifier located neatly and safely under boot floor.

Alpine Hi-Fi System kit contains:
– Amplifier.
– Two high-range speakers.
– Two mid-range speakers.
– Two frequency gates.
– Cable harness including small parts.
– Two Alpine logo badges.

Oops I did it again

It wasn't done parking at all It was done when I was driving hard and turn in too quick.

I got it repaired today at Wheel Solution today. The owner is an important teacher in my life. Most of the racing skill I know is from this man, Matt Coleman... the ex Porsche Carrera cup champ. He is now good at driving a sander and spray gun.

He does it much proper way. He takes the wheel off, strip the tyres, sand and respray the whole wheel. Cost is the same as the mobile service.
Highly recommended.

Bye Bye 325… hello back TAKA-1

After about 2 weeks,  the parts arrived by air from Germany. However, after changing over the headlight parts. They found the headlight module also faulty and has to be replaced. That is a sealed box that has to be changed as a whole. The parts is located in the head office in Sydney. After another half a week, they have sorted by car. They also washed by car to test out the new headlight. :). They said every thing is fine. So fine…

Now make me think a little – the car has a headlight warning signal before but it also dies before the car went to BMW.

On the same token, I had to return the 325i I borrowed. My thought of the car is that it is very comfortable. Handle well. But 2.5L engine drinks a lot (13L/100km), and it goes only moderately well.

The update iDrive is a must for all the BMW ... although it took me a few days to fully know all the functions, but once it is all sorted and explored, it work better than most units out there. The navigation of the route is easy to understand and speak well. It also has lane directions. The only draw back is the navigation menu is difficult to access fast, even if you know where to go.

I manage to do 8.1 sec from 0-100kmh. I thought the car was quicker.

Guess what… I have a “new” car to bring home

Well I got a call from the BMW Melbourne that my car is not going to be ready in one day. Well they do not have the part (the adaptive headlights) from Australia. Show one has to be ordered from Germany or hopefully get one from Asia. So for safety, BMW Melbourne gave me a loaner. I treaded a key of a small diesel car will come to be. But instead, they gave me a brand new 17km on the clock 325i sedan, which is fully optioned up. It has sat nav, comfort entry, premium sound system, sunroof and stuff. Very cool.

Only the colour is quite mid life crisis-ish :(. And BIEGE :O leather.

It does not do 8L/100km. Try 24L/100km if you stuck in traffic from Southbank to Heidelberg.

 

Wood grain makes me look old… But I quite like the sat nav and the new iDrive, particularly it has a TV. But the language setting is only English, French and Portuguese. Hmmm. Not Chinese for these few weeks.

 

More pics and performance data later. :)

Headlamp failure!

Frustration cannot sum up my feelings. It is a well known problem in the other makes that headlights can have water vapour getting inside the case. This is happening to a top of the range BMW. It is not even common in the RX-8. When I heard about it in the 8, it is normally due to the seal not being tight around the edges and when you spray water to say… clean the car. Water will get it and block the lens.

To top that… the xenon light die on me the next day. I have called BMW Melbourne which offer me a spot on the same day for repair. Unfortunately the work is tight on Mondays and I will have to go tomorrow. Here are some shots of the mist before it goes away tomorrow. They have asked for my rego, hence the VIN number and I guess they will just change over the parts.

Oh I replaced the RDash LED before tomorrow. It only took me 1/2 for 2 lights. I somehow wonder the workmanships of some of the so called professionals.

Wheel repair… OU>>CH!

I have hit a kerb!
The damage is heart breaking. I was made aware of people doing mobile alloy repair in Sydney by lovely people here in 1addicts.... so after crawling the web I have found the following website called www.thesmartguys.com.au. Their number is 1300 WHOOPS haha... I was going to repair it at Morrabin but I also have a dent from I dunno when. So it is more convenient for me. Wheel cost $150 to repair and dent is $100.
I was not intending to replace the wheel but I called BMW to get a quote.... $1025 each back wheel!
Before

After

Before

After

This is how they fixed my wheels. Firstly they smooth it out with an orbital tool. Then put some fillers in. Then cover all the parts (brake disc, caliper, body, logo on the wheel etc). Then 2 coats of paint (undercoat and cover).

Sun tan treatment :)

Racing Dash LED light installed

I went to a local BMW “cosmetic” shop today call Carware @ Keysborough for this kit. As I told many others, from my reading the RDash does not give the brightest light but it is white. Really white that it is whiter than the D1S Xenon. Since I hate the yellow ring so much, I am prepare to sacrifice the brightness for some whiteness. If you want brightness, go for GT Thunder or MTEC bulbs.

This is the ballast and the bulb, the bulb will spray open when it lights up. I guess if it does not return back, it will get damage when I remove it. So when you install it, make sure you are surely secure and fitted properly before lighting it up. Otherwise you may not be able to fit it in!
 

Taken from Carware, this is the before and after photos. See how white it is but it is not as eye catching in day light. Even with Xenon on at the left. It is still brighter.

This is the photo of one light being installed (on the right)
 
You can still see the reflection from the door of the ring.
 
Colour matching the Xenon very nice though.
 

Team 135i (WAY and TAKA) @ Australian Tarmac Challenge (VIC)

This is a playlist of all the videos of Day 1 to 3 of our debut ATC. Well we took it very seriously indeed.

Day 1

We started from the famous Phillip Island GP circuit. We do a few laps there as well a few motorkana exercises around the car park.

After that weekend I finally have respect for my mate WAY's driving.

He is a good besides having loads of money afterall .

Click HERE if the video does not load.

Day 2

We arrived at Lang Lang’s Holden proving ground full of confident and we were about to show them the power of the car. Well until shit happened…

Today combined skill and error, friendship and hard work.

Enjoy and pray for the BMW parts and pieces that were left at the Holden ground.

Day 3

The car is fixed and my TAKA alternator belt is on. It is going to be faster! (in case you don’t know what happen, you have to watch Day 2 footage). We went to Haunted Hill climb in Moe/Newsborough to have a go of the circuit for the first time.

It is not something we should do when everyone else is so fast!

 

Bonus footage – Wayne Final run @ Haunted hills, Taka’s final run @ Haunted hills.

Go cool lights

The first thing I don't like about the 135i is the yellow angel light. I have thought of changing it but really fear of throwing a light code.

There are option like:
EFX
Race Dash from Taiwan...
Ebay sells RD for around $160 from a Sydney seller.
Hmm... tempted to go hunger for a few days just to get one.

A day with one-three-FIVE!

I went to spend a day with my car… well I just went to do a few things. I went to Andrew @ SouthernBM to have an oil change. 1 hour and $189 dollars later it is time to move on with my day. He did the job professionally and so fast that it is just out of the world. He does not care about the 110 degree oil! Thanks Andrew! Worth the hour of traffic to get to Moorabbin.

What I found after the oil change are 2 things:
Firstly the car feels looser. The new oil free up the engine nicely and it even makes the turbo kick @ 3000rpm stronger.
Secondly the fuel economy is way better. When I drove on the way to SouthernBM… the fuel gauge said 15.0L/100km for about 150km. I drove about another 1/4 tank today and finish with 13.9L/100km. What an improvement!

After that I went to did some 0-100kmh on freeway.

The first run I did with traction control on…
The 2nd run I had left foot on the brake and mess up the run
The 3rd run I had left foot brake and with traction control. I had to correct the steering a bit on the run
The 4th run is the easiest. DTC off. Just launch from idling and floor it. I don’t even change – the car changes itself hehe..

  

(graph: Green – speed; Yellow – Altitude)

After some run I went to clean the car and polish it. I brought some new microfiber cloth to fit the 10” orbiter. I am tight ass so I just use the Autoglym ultra deep shine after I clay bar the car for the dirt build up only after a month (A hand test on the clean surface can usually tell – no dirt build up is silky smooth).

Here are some finishing shots!

My TAKA-1 is Chinese

I configure the audio to Japanese and it is showing all the song title on USB in Chinese! Awesome

***Song selecting***

Now the song showed up in Chinese! … It says “No worries” (so does it make it Aussie-Chinese??)

*** The English is now more spaced out and the English song title is now limited ***

TAKA-1 on dyno… not sure they have done it right

I have put the car on dyno, expecting around 180kW. It did not disappoint and get 176.2kW. Not sure they have done in the D/S mode but sure even D mode dyno the same right?

I filled the car up with BP ultimate with a bottle of octane booster. I am sure it works but it pulls well on the street. Wayne dyno his manual 135 and get 184kW in a different dyno on a different day. I guess I am in the ball park.

Here is the video of it.

I have decided to change oil next week or so. Book it in with SouthernBM on Tuesday for the following Tuesday.

BMW M style valve cap

From eBay. $7.95