330Ci ZHP

[— kung fu jesus —]

I ordered a few new pinch clip nuts for the side that failed, just in case. Those should be arriving later today.

[— kung fu jesus —]

And they did!



It might have taken longer to put the car on ramps than it did to install the belly tray.


This was the side I didn’t secure correctly.


Two more on the driver side…


Three at the back.


The leading edge of the tray fits into an edge moulded into the bottom of the front bumper. It is a snug fit, helps to keep the bumper rigid.


With the tray installed, you can see how it fits and integrates with the other undercarriage pieces.


Maybe not the best angle, but this shows how it also helps guide air under the car. So, when the one side popped off, the wind did the rest and forced it into the tarmac.


Fin.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Knocked out these after dinner tonight. Just another OEM+ upgrade that eliminates 17 year old parts, resets a critical system, and future-proofs this car for some track use.

Some fresh Ate 200 and insurance for freeing up brake line connections.


Wheels up, then off. Started with the corners furthest from the master cylinder.


Fresh stainless braided lines going in! Right rear first.




Left rear up next. Smooth sailing so far.




With the rears installed, I recruited my wife to help me flush and bleed these before starting on the fronts. She knows the procedure cold, so 15 minutes later, she left and I started the fronts.

Front right underway.


New line installed




Better shot of the inner splash shield I replaced on the front right.





On to the front left.


Same as the other side. Easy stuff, bless garage-kept Southern cars. Everything came apart like new. I coerced my wife to help me bleed the fronts.

A pan full of crusty lines. No cracks, but the rubber was VERY stiff. Not good for track duty, or any other duty really.






Quick 2 hour job, brakes feel great! Less pedal travel, better feel for modulation. Success!

[— kung fu jesus —]

113039 miles, according to the records, the trans and diff fluid were done about 60k miles ago. This should be the last of the major service to reset the car (Woot!).

Diff fluid: Valvoline synthetic 75w90.


Car up on jackstands, leveled out, I started with the differential. Fill on the back (left) drain on the right (under the axle). Both are female 14mm hex.


Super simple. The fluid was extremely clean, so I suspect the shop that welded up the rear subframe reinforcements changed it out.


Speaking of rear subframe, I took this opportunity to re-torque all the subframe bolts that were disassembled back in February when I had the reinforcements done. Just a little kick on each one.




At this point an emergency weather alert came across. My wife opened the door to tell me there was ping pong ball-sized hail in the area.

Great.

That is Texas-type hail. We don’t get that here much at all. I’m thinking of taking the car down to get my wife’s car now sitting in the driveway outside so I can do this work back in the garage, but I’m at the point where I can finish the transmission fluid in the same amount of time as I can to drop the car, so I keep pressing with the quickness.

ZF 6 speed decal to confirm I have the right fluid.


Fill plug a little left of center, drain underneath, both are female 8mm hex, the same part.


Draining was pretty quick as it was still warm from an earlier drive. It was dark but not terrible, no discernible shavings or chunks.


Took about 1.8 quarts. I wanted to use Valvoline Synchromesh, but none could be found locally. Parts store sold me Royal Purple Synchromax at the same price for my inconvenience. That was a pretty nice discount, pretty much the second quart was free.


With the threat of hail looming, and some serious thunder crashing around me, I furiously pumped int the new fluid, wrapped up the drips, double-checked my work, then hustled to drop the car to get both cars in the garage ASAP.

No hail appeared, just typical Southern summer thunderstorms.

I took the car for a test drive after the rain passed. The re-torque on the rear subframe removed a small squeak (nice!), the fresh transmission fluid? Wasn’t expecting the improvement it yielded. It shifted beautifully before, now it’s even better.



Success!

[— kung fu jesus —]

What do you do with a car after working on it? Shake it down!

I woke up the next morning after the driveline fluids were done and really didn’t have anything important to do, so I went for a drive.

2 1/2 hours later, I’m eating lunch in Robbinsville, NC. It is M@TG weekend. Lynn’s Place, really good burger plates. Support local businesses.


While eating lunch, I watched a storm roll into the valley. This is excellent! A lot of cars get of the roads in rain like this. I love driving in the rain, time to find some cars to play with.



I had a clean run down the Dragon, Miatas were holding me up along the way back. Same story on Hwy 28.

Spoiler alert, Miatas are slow.

Drove to the Fontana, all sorts of stuff going on, hung out for a little bit and left around 2.

Heading out of the mountains, south back towards Atlanta, it started to clear.








This car performed flawlessly. I was chasing down Miatas in the corners on 28, 143, and 129. AC on, torque to spare.

Made it home at 4:30, nice drive!

[— kung fu jesus —]

Here are some photos from my drive to the mountains.

These are on Tail of the Dragon, taken all within 30 minutes at different locations. You can see what I was driving through in that time.

It started out overcast, about 78-80 degrees. Windows down.


It became a little brighter here, clouds thinning.


Nope, heavy rain. Dropped to about 72 degrees. Windows up!


Popped out into sunshine on the way back.

[—Martin—]

Not even close to the double yellows. Nice.

[— kung fu jesus —]