Bi11's S54 M Roadster

[shantybeater]

Lol, brings back memories of my first home, believe me though its the people you share it with that make the memories and not the things that are in it (make sure you get a badass AV system though or your mates will not forgive you you will soon learn the crucial skill of playing off a nest of tables against that amp you have to have lol)

Re the SLR, being able to control depth of field is the biggest advantage of an SLR over a compact so if your knew to them thats the bit thats worth researching / playing around with first.

Haha well I'm hoping to at least upgrade the TV along with some sort of sound system.....afterall the lounge is bigger, that's my excuse anyway!

Will give it a go, so mess with aperture size will change depth of field? I only have the standard 18-55 lens at the mo

[Jonttt]

Yep, first lesson to learn is that depth of field (how much is in / out of focus) is affected by aperature size and also focal length to some extent (ie length of lens / zoom length).

The pro pictures you see are taken with what are refered to as "fast lenses" that allow a broad range of depth of field in the broadest of conditions. These can cost many thousands of pounds just for the lenses.

You can achieve almost the same results with standard lenses just not in as a broad a range of conditions (ie you more likely to need bright daylight / a tripod to use aperatures giving good shallow depth of field for the most dramatic pictures).

Ps when you taking landscapes you want a very wide depth of field (ie more thigs in focus) so its not such a big issue. Its getting those very detailed, very shallow depth of focus shots (with background / forground out of focus) that are more difficult.

Going back to your original pictures they reason I commented is I feel they would have benefited from the background or forground being out of focus. If you just use a digital SLR on default settings it will not give you the effect needed as too much will be in focus. You need to control the aperature setting. With a standard lens you are more likely to be limited by not enough light getting into the lens and so the exposure time has to be extended = more camera shake = more likely to blur/lose detail in the image. With a tripod / bright day you can still get the desired effect. A pro just makes it easier for him to get the effect by spending a few grand on a fast lens

[shantybeater]

Thanks for the tips Jon

Well the thursday before last i left the car in my work's private car park as I always do and came back to this:




Thankfully I managed to find the culprit and they have agreed to pay for the repair. So the car is going back in to the bodyshop for either a replacement wing or a repair and a new taillight.

[hornel Z3M]

Why cant people do the simple things like drive properly, gutted for you mate, i would have been suicidal

[TitanTim]

Gutted for you,

This is why I park the furthest corner space away on car parks and hope for the best, accidents happen but its just carelessness.

Hope its all fixed up soon.

Tim.

[Jonttt]

Accidents happen, fact of life but at least you identified who did it. I take it they did not own up, I hope you make sure everyone where you works knows that they tried to get away with it if that was the case

[shantybeater]

Cheers guys, it wasn't a happy sight to come back to. Tim I too always park right away from anything else but in this case it didn't do me any good!!

Jon - Very true, once its fixed ill feel better, the silver lining is both wings are fairly stone chipped so at least I only have one to deal with at a later date. Believe it or not the damage was done with a flatbed truck!! On the CCTV he clearly does a 3 point turn and since my car was on its own and out of view he pulled back a bit too far, as he came to a stop the metal step on the back brushed the wing, he certainly wouldn't have felt it or the damage would be significantly worse!! I'd hate to think what it would look like had the truck not have pretty much come to a complete stop already

The driver's company have been very good about it so fingers crossed it gets sorted

[Gazza]

Sickening, glad it's getting sorted

[simonbud100]

Sorry to see that

I Know the feeling only too well. At least you wont be paying for the repair (not that it makes things any better).

[Badman gee]

sorry mate

[shantybeater]

Well time for an update now the site is back online

I picked the car up from the bodyshop a few weeks back with the wing repair/respray and new rear tailight (courtesy of the culprit thank god!). The repair is perfect, no imperfections at all! Whilst there I asked for the nearside sideskirt to be resprayed as one of the previous owners managed to scuff it.



The paintwork is now very close to where I want it. There are a few passenger side small car parking dents which need seeing to and If I was being really anal the boot has one or two hairline scratches on it. I can only assume someone closed the boot holding keys in their hand!

Next up was a few overdue touches:



- Bosch Aero Wipers

- BMW Sport Aerial (Thanks to Tim for uploading this on his thread)

Before



After



- New Underbonnet Foils

[Badman gee]

very nice shanty, bodywork looks good,

looks like the before and after picks are the wrong way round. unless you have gone short to long

[shantybeater]

Well spotted!! Its been updated!!

[Badman gee]

looks good mate, I've had one for a while and i think it looks better than the whip one.

car looks great mate.

mark

[shantybeater]

looks good mate, I've had one for a while and i think it looks better than the whip one.

car looks great mate.

mark

Cheers mate,

Yeah its definately a big improvement!

[shantybeater]

****** Photobucket and its download limit!!

Changed over my front pads today to EBC Reds. My old ones looked low but after removal there was still a good amount of meat left! ahh well!! it was a good way to spend boxing day! and a good excuse to regrease the coilovers




I almost wish i'd gone for red paint on the calipers, they stick out like a sore thumb! (Sorry about the filthy rim!)

[swamper]

the wheels are stunning shanty

[shantybeater]

Thanks swamper congrats on the M purchase!!!

Update: On Tuesday my car is going up to a studio for a shoot. It will be appearing in a well known magazine! Not sure how big a role it will play but i'll get the pics up when I can

Cheers,
James

[shantybeater]

Quick peek from the shoot:



It will be in BMWCar Magazines March issue

More photos here:

http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33652

[shantybeater]

Just got the car back from its inspection I + extras £678 lighter. Breakdown of jobs covered (for the purpose of keeping the thread up to date - and bore the living daylights out of everyone!):

- Inspection I inc. Valve Clearance check/rocker & spark plug gaskets/Oil filter/Castrol Edge 10w60
- Exhaust refitted and realigned (it moved out of alignment slightly after fitment)
- Replaced viton seal for constant pressure valve e.g. http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33191
- Aircon and Powersteering/Alternator belt replacement. Apparently good for 100K according to BMW but the old ones had started to crack (@54k)
- Brake fluid change
- Coolant change

Plus tax was due so my car costs this month is almost four figures!

[Badman gee]

expensive these cars sometimes, but we love em to bits

[shantybeater]

Today I received the shots from the BMWCar shoot along with a few mags



Here is a selection of the best:

[Z3cade]

Looks great Shanty very jelous....
I must get a copy of the mag

Where have your ACS splitters gone?...

[pingu]

Nice piccies.

"Without a roof you really do get to hear the S50 straight-six in all its glory"

Is that because your car is so quiet you can hear mine

[boanke]

Very nice looking photos of a stunning car. lean back and relax, you have earned it.

[Badman gee]

stunning shanty, stunning

[g8jka]

"Without a roof you really do get to hear the S50 straight-six in all its glory"

Shouldn't it say S54?

Looking great anyway shanty, you should be very proud

[shantybeater]

Looks great Shanty very jelous....
I must get a copy of the mag

Where have your ACS splitters gone?...

Thanks I decided to remove them during the front end refresh, i'm still undecided whether to fit them again or not..

Nice piccies.

"Without a roof you really do get to hear the S50 straight-six in all its glory"

Is that because your car is so quiet you can hear mine

Haha very funny! get the mag and read the article, it will all make sense!

Very nice looking photos of a stunning car. lean back and relax, you have earned it.

Cheers I cant say the underside gleams quite like yours does afte the refresh though! maybe something to add to the to do list!

stunning shanty, stunning

Cheers mate

"Without a roof you really do get to hear the S50 straight-six in all its glory"

Shouldn't it say S54?

Looking great anyway shanty, you should be very proud

Thanks for the comment its weird to see it in a magazine!

The article covers both the s50/s54 but it concentrates mainly on the s50 due to their bargain prices (fitting better into the sub 10k M cars)

[Jamezee]

Great stuff, looking good

[bournii]

car looks amazing, wish i had the skills and know how to do the same. interior and engine look spotless and digging the roll bars

[Jonttt]

Great article and pics and yours looked the best car there

Can only add to the Z3m values so well done

Interesting to see that they did not hide your reg in the magazine pics but they did with the other cars.

Would not bother me too much but I know you usually hide your plate ?

[shantybeater]

Thanks guys

Jon - the cars with covered plates were 4star classics own cars so probably for advertising. They asked whether they could show my plate, it doesn't bother me so much. On the forum it takes next to no effort to remove so I do it just to be on the safe side

[Jonttt]

Cool, at least they asked first

[shantybeater]

Ok well for ages now i've been looking for a way to upgrade the old halogen lights. Most importantly to keep an OEM look. None of the aftermarket units look any good in my opinion and clearly not BMW in design! To add to this I love the style of the standard lights!

I tried contacting several people over in the US who retrofit xenons into headlights but the price is £600+ not including units/shipping costs/import tax which could bring the total into 4 figures. A bit too much for my liking and I fancied the challenge myself

So finally i've plucked up the courage to give it a go, This could end in a spectacular fail with bits of expensive headlight all around me! I'll post the results either way. I sourced a spare set of headlights off ebay, if all is successful I will probably buy a brand new set and swap over the internals

I managed to get hold of some custom brackets from a guy over on bimmerforums. These will greatly reduce the amount of effort carrying out the retrofit and also provide a robust solution. The OEM beam adjustments will remain fully functional.



Today I made the first step and split the outer housing by cooking in the oven and begun dismantling the headlights:




This is as far as i've got, will keep the updates coming...

[shantybeater]

Disassembled the headlights completely:

[SledgeHammer]

Do you guys have electric height adjustment the UK? If so, how do you mount it to the bracket? Great piece of kit btw, bought the same ones from Skylar, will you be installing the FX-R's?

Use caution when handling the chrome rings btw, the coating is paperthin, already trashed one of my rings....

[shantybeater]

Do you guys have electric height adjustment the UK? If so, how do you mount it to the bracket? Great piece of kit btw, bought the same ones from Skylar, will you be installing the FX-R's?

Use caution when handling the chrome rings btw, the coating is paperthin, already trashed one of my rings....

The only electric adjustment is manual from inside the car, i'm not sure how this differs from the US?

I will be using the FX-Rs, I plan on getting the complete stage III kit from theretrofitsource as soon as the discount group buy is finished. Its funny you mention the chrome rings, I managed to strip a small bit off mine as well, i'll either clean all the paint off and re-spray or i'll run Angel eyes behind. The issue with the AE's is i'm after OE so not bright white/blue, this is the look i'm going for throughout with the headlights.

[zibomb]

Congrats on the mag feature. you must be so chuffed flicking through the mag

Will be watching your progress on your retro fit xenons. I was just about to buy a kit but had no luck finding headlights for a reasonable price at the time.

[SledgeHammer]

The only electric adjustment is manual from inside the car, i'm not sure how this differs from the US?

Well, I have seen models with this little plug instead of the height adjuster, and the kit simply replaces this plug with a screw. Can't say for sure yet, but it seems you have to install the pivot mount back in place.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg687/sc ... res=medium

[shantybeater]

Congrats on the mag feature. you must be so chuffed flicking through the mag

Will be watching your progress on your retro fit xenons. I was just about to buy a kit but had no luck finding headlights for a reasonable price at the time.

Thanks mate I managed to win a set on eBay for a good price. Still left little change from £200 but considering the price for a single unit new it seems a lot less scary to rip apart!

[shantybeater]

The only electric adjustment is manual from inside the car, i'm not sure how this differs from the US?

Well, I have seen models with this little plug instead of the height adjuster, and the kit simply replaces this plug with a screw. Can't say for sure yet, but it seems you have to install the pivot mount back in place.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg687/sc ... res=medium

I'm pretty sure thats the lower middle ball and socket joint the reflector sits on? . Any photos of it in situe ? So far I've followed a US guide and everything has looked the same apart from what looks like a built in spirit level on the outer casing of the US model.

Are you midway through as well? Please keep me updated with your findings!

[SledgeHammer]

See picture below taken from my own headlight.


This picture is posted on bimmerforums.


Hope this makes it clear. The lower mount needs to be reinstalled for the height adjuster.

Mod Edit: Link to first picture fixed for you.

[shantybeater]

Ahh perfect, yes that's the one I expected. You've made it fairly clear how to match up the brackets as well now. How do you plan on lining up the lens so you know where to cut it?

Ps what thread am I missing out on ? The only one I've seen on bimmerforums is main one by skylar? I cant say I've seen your photo before!

[SledgeHammer]

He posted some pictures on page 5:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh ... 267&page=5

I did some retrofitting before using TSX projectors, X5 lenses (my pre facelift lenses were glass) and my own fabricated brackets. There is a tiny dot in the middle of the lens that you can use as reference, you're best option then would be using a hole saw. I used a dremel, which gave satisfactory results, but will be taking my glass lenses to a glassworker this time.

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/6403/24221221lj4.jpg

[shantybeater]

Ah I must have glanced over it.

I recognise the photo of your Z, it was one of the first I saw with retrofit xenons and pretty much sold the idea to me! Can I ask why you carrying out the mod? Are your old set still working? Also what's the wiring side of things like?

[SledgeHammer]

Old set is still fully functioning, but the brackets Skylar made are superior to my own, and I like the Bi-xenon function. Will be upgrading to chrome rings and Osram Xenarc bulbs at the same time. Besides that, i'm planning to make six more sets for the Dutch community.

The stage III kit comes complete with a plug-and-play wiring harness, simply connect it to a postive and negative lead around your fusebox or jumpstart terminals. The solenoid needs 12 volts from the high beam connector.

[shantybeater]

Old set is still fully functioning, but the brackets Skylar made are superior to my own, and I like the Bi-xenon function. Will be upgrading to chrome rings and Osram Xenarc bulbs at the same time. Besides that, i'm planning to make six more sets for the Dutch community.

The stage III kit comes complete with a plug-and-play wiring harness, simply connect it to a postive and negative lead around your fusebox or jumpstart terminals. The solenoid needs 12 volts from the high beam connector.

wow those are some fancy bulbs!! thanks for clearing that up, fingers crossed the cutting/wiring will go as well as the headlight split!

[shantybeater]

A little package arrived from the US from the renowned TRS (The Retrofit source) in the shape of my FX-R Stage III kit:

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/produc ... cts_id=141



- Morimoto 3way ballasts
- Morimoto 3way D2S 4300K 35w Bulbs
- RHD FXR 1.1 Projectors
- Resealing glue
- 9006 Wiring harness

I also bought a set of angel eyes for the sake of it although I wont be fitting them, the shipping was $160 by itself so i didnt want to miss anything off. First impressions are good, the quality of all the products are first class and the ballasts are very small and OEM in appearance. Couldn't have asked for better. Tomorrow I will be cutting the reflectors - the point of no return!!!

[shantybeater]

Spent the majority of friday afternoon on the retrofit. Here is where I am now:

[Robert T]

Looks like they have been assimilated by the Borg!

Looking like they might be quite good though.

Cheers R.