MParallel's 328i OEM+ convertible.

[irfaana08]

Keeps getting better and better!

[MParallel]

Been a while...

E38 buswheel for winter months. Love it.





Z8 dustcaps added to OEM M strutbrace



And just finished last weekend after a 4 month umdertake:

[imschwaggy]

keep it going !

[cblock406]

Totally forgot about my topic.

Will start a new one, as since May 2013 I added an M3. The 328i is now back to as good as stock, with all the goodies now in the M3.

Get on with the M3 thread already

[MParallel]

Totally forgot about my topic.

Will start a new one, as since May 2013 I added an M3. The 328i is now back to as good as stock, with all the goodies now in the M3.

[X5X]

Any updated since 2011? Love the idea! doing the same to my e31, although it was already flull spec from the factory But there are some later options that were added I already have a 2002 4.4 VANOS engine transplant

[Bystrov]

Please Post more pics of the e39 led conversion, or PM me with more pics, id love to do that its one thing i really really miss from my e39!

[MParallel]

Been ages since a last update.

Done a few things and a few things in the pipeline.

Last year I finished the installation of the 2006+ compass mirror / auto dimm / DWA led.

This mirror uses the big plastic endcaps that give the base a cool thick look and also completely hide the mounting point on the windshield.

For US folks it's plug&play as the never got the factory alarm with the central remote locking receiver inside the rearview mirror, although I'm not sure where it is located if the car didn't come with an alarm.
So I had to take the remote receiver out my factory mirror and stuff.



Fitted M3 front strut tower reinforcement plates, M3 3.0 topmounts and M3 3.0 lower control arm offcentric bushings.







And latest ebay pickup

[MParallel]

My brand new Harman/Kardon midranges came in last week.

After a 2 year search I gave up. You'll never find a decent set second hand. They either have a damaged grill and/or surround and/or badly worn hk logo.

I wonder why I ever bordered.





Apart from the nice little gold hk logo, the difference with the piss-poor stock Nokia speakers, is obvious.

The housing/conus/internals are 3x as large.




Wow, I really have to get used to this new sound as the front is much more alive. I even had to adjust my fader and treble settings as it was simply too much.

Kind of the same when I retrofitted the other parts of the HK system. I never had any bass and was always set to max at the headunit, but with the amp and dedicated subwooder of the HK system, I had to turn down the bass to the middle setting.

Retrofit is no 95% finished.

Behind the doorcards, the doors look pretty much as clean as when it left he factory

[Split]

i like it

[MParallel]

[QUOTE=Dr.AK;117360]Cool.
Like I said, just started teaching myself a bit of dutch, because I've been visiting a few car shows in the Netherlands and the dutch scene is strong! Btw. got any recommendations for a dutch BMW show?

Ha the antenna. On verts with factory fitted phones, you got a 2 meter high antenna on the back. Terrible. I wasn't going to do that. I just layed the antenna wire out behind my bootliner and guess what? Crispy clear signal! No need to even have it externally! I guess the amount of GSM antenna today and back in 1996 was a huge difference. Now the signal can be picked up anywhere, everywhere.[/quotes]

I read that and I was like instant grin
I think I gotta get myself one of these phones now, if I can simply hide the antenna somewehre! Adding it to my to-do list, def. going to install one, once all the other crap is done, lol.



I'm not that often at the 'ring, gotta admit I've actually never driven on the 'ring so far, haha. I've only went there a few times when there was some interesting events, and back when I was a kid, my dad would take me to watch the Touristenfahrten.

Give me a shout when you go, maybe we can meet up!

Actually there is a (BMW backed) meeting this Sunday in Veenendaal.

My last two trips (2008/2009) were in September. I think I'lld othat again as it seems a nice period. Summer is now in August/September, instead of July/August.

I think it'll be the 1st week, as that week is also a Touristenfahrten (Tourist farts? ) on the GP Strecke. Which is awesome as well. Drove there too last year. In 2009 was the 1st year they offered that and only on limited days. This year is almost the whole year round as I saw in the schedule, but this is up to about August. After that it's maybe 1 time per week. So 1st week of september will have to do. I might book 2 weeks as the Eifel is such an awesome place to drive. My car purrs differently there as it feels it's on home soil.
But no more trips to Monchau and Cochem. I have seen that now and WAY too much old folks tourists.

About 15~20 minutes from the Nürburgring/Nordschleife is a Center Parsc (now Sun Parks) holiday resort. I always stay there.

[Dr.AK]

"kan ieder gebeuren". Ooh very close ->"Kan iedereen gebeuren".

Cool.
Like I said, just started teaching myself a bit of dutch, because I've been visiting a few car shows in the Netherlands and the dutch scene is strong! Btw. got any recommendations for a dutch BMW show?

[quote]
Ha the antenna. On verts with factory fitted phones, you got a 2 meter high antenna on the back. Terrible. I wasn't going to do that. I just layed the antenna wire out behind my bootliner and guess what? Crispy clear signal! No need to even have it externally! I guess the amount of GSM antenna today and back in 1996 was a huge difference. Now the signal can be picked up anywhere, everywhere.[/quotes]

I read that and I was like instant grin
I think I gotta get myself one of these phones now, if I can simply hide the antenna somewehre! Adding it to my to-do list, def. going to install one, once all the other crap is done, lol.

Btw, Köln is not too far from the Nordschleife. Do you go there often? I'm planning my annual visit again. Maybe I'll go twice this year as it's only a 3,5 hour drive.

I'm not that often at the 'ring, gotta admit I've actually never driven on the 'ring so far, haha. I've only went there a few times when there was some interesting events, and back when I was a kid, my dad would take me to watch the Touristenfahrten.

Give me a shout when you go, maybe we can meet up!

[MParallel]

...Haha! No matter man... kan ieder gebeuren! <- Was that correct? I'm trying to teach myself a bit of dutch by reading dutch forums and using an online dictionary, haha.

Don't know about the E34 system. I think it's GSM too.

"kan ieder gebeuren". Ooh very close ->"Kan iedereen gebeuren".

Ha the antenna. On verts with factory fitted phones, you got a 2 meter high antenna on the back. Terrible. I wasn't going to do that. I just layed the antenna wire out behind my bootliner and guess what? Crispy clear signal! No need to even have it externally! I guess the amount of GSM antenna today and back in 1996 was a huge difference. Now the signal can be picked up anywhere, everywhere.

Btw, Köln is not too far from the Nordschleife. Do you go there often? I'm planning my annual visit again. Maybe I'll go twice this year as it's only a 3,5 hour drive.

[Dr.AK]

These carbon parts are OEM BMW M3 GT carbon trimpieces (just to make sure) and set off the interior. It's hard to get a good pic of it. Don't be fooled by that extreme macro shot. I especially adore the red weave of fiberglass BMW used (then) to don't look like every other aftermarket CF stuff.

Yeah, I know the parts. I'm just not a fan of CF parts in general and even if it looks a bit different than the aftermarket stuff, I'm not a fan of it.

...so in the end, I got the complete phone system (with mint parts) for €50. These parts would set you back €2000 if you'd be so crazy to buy it new from BMW.
But sets like these can be picked up for around €150~€200.

That's a steal! But the used price sounds okay. I assume that's with everything I would need for mounting one?

Thanks for the details on the phone, glad to hear those still work fine. I thought I remembered reading that some of these used a different frequency, but I guess that might only be true for the older ones from the E34?

Do you know anything about installing it in a Touring? I heard you need to drill a hole into the roof for the antenna for the phone, which is making me pretty reluctant about this. Are there other solutions for the antenna available?

Edit: Dr. AK: Oh lol I just realized you're from Köln and not from the stated.

So Tut mir leid! Ich hatte das nicht gesehn. Bitte entschuldigen Sie mir.

Ok that's about all the German Das ich sprechen kann.

Haha! No matter man... kan ieder gebeuren! <- Was that correct? I'm trying to teach myself a bit of dutch by reading dutch forums and using an online dictionary, haha.

[MParallel]

With exception of the carbon parts, that is my fav E36 interior so far. I love the individual bits and i absolutely love the phone. How much did it cost you? How much work was it to install? Does it still work with today's cell phone nets?

These carbon parts are OEM BMW M3 GT carbon trimpieces (just to make sure) and set off the interior. It's hard to get a good pic of it. Don't be fooled by that extreme macro shot. I especially adore the red weave of fiberglass BMW used (then) to don't look like every other aftermarket CF stuff.

Regarding the phone. I got lucky and was my steal of the century. Picked it up from Germany as part of the center console (not my current one). Thought I only bid on the phone and ejectbox.

Well hole crap Batman, when a large cardboard box was delivered and I started unpacking everything else, I fished out part after part. In the end, turned out I had a complete system, including all hands-free option stuff (as you can see in the pics in my original post). Sold the console+armrest (as I already had a mint one) so in the end, I got the complete phone system (with mint parts) for €50. These parts would set you back €2000 if you'd be so crazy to buy it new from BMW.
But sets like these can be picked up for around €150~€200.

And as always, we Euro's are lucky. This phone works on the GSM system (let's hope they will continue this analog system for a few more years as I'd **** to loose this phone), specifically on the 900MHZ frequency, which isn't used in the states, so you guys can't get it to work.
Over here in Holland, we have 2 providers that use the GSM 900MHZ frequency, and I have a SIM cars from both. One prepaid, other a subscription.

As (I hope) my pics in my original post make clear, you can see a pic with LIBERTEL (old name of Vodafone) in the display AND a 5 bar (full) signal strenght indicator. So yes, this phone works, perfectly. So does the handsfree function.

I have a dual-SIM card so 2 SIMs with the same number. One in my cellphone, one in the carphone. When I get into the car, I put my cell on flightmode (so no need to turn it off) and calls will be automatically redirected to the carphone.

As I fitted the E38 multifunction wheel, I can even control the phone from the wheel. Answer calls, browse the stored numbers and holy f**k Batman, turns out the CD43, which as ibus input (and the phone and steering wheel buttons too) the CD43's display is used a the phone's display, just like E46, E38, E39 and all later models have too, only they have the display in the gauge cluster. As the E36 lacks this, this is fantastic as I don't have to stare at the small display under the armrest, which would be quite dangerous while driving.

Who says the E36 is old?


Edit: Dr. AK: Oh lol I just realized you're from Köln and not from the stated.

So Tut mir leid! Ich hatte das nicht gesehn. Bitte entschuldigen Sie mir.

Ok that's about all the German Das ich sprechen kann.