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Read the WELCOME ALL BMWFANATICS post.
Mo's E39 530i Individual
- Thread starter msm
- Start date
Holiman
Well-known member
msm said:Cleaned out the grills properly now that it's off the car. When I removed the plastidip, there were lots of little pieces close to the edges that I could not get to properly - once grills were off it was a bit easier. Luckily no broken clips:
Anyone who claims that Plasidip comes off easily is smoking some good stuff. On older surfaces or if it's been on for a while, it is a b!tch to clean out all the little bits around the edges.
I so totally agree with the above. i had my stock grills dipped. I eventually ended up buying replacement grills because i was to lazy to get all that dip off:smashScreen:
And finally the paintwork - some random pics:
Scratches on fenders:
Scratches and buffer trails on bonnet:
Really poor paint job/repair near sunroof:
Apart from the bumpers, which I am going to respray next year, the only really bad part of the paintwork is the poor paint job in the last pic. Considering this is a 14 year old car, I think it's generally in good condition. The buffer trail at least means that someone did attempt to maintain the paintwork in the past, which is a good thing as this can be corrected.
My intention is not to get this car in concourse condition that will be a garage queen (after the mechanicals and suspension are all sorted), but rather for me to gain some experience in detailing and hopefully end up with a good result for a daily driver.
This is one hot looking cab! gets me inspired to start the same with an E39 M5 (if i can find one in good condition) and from this thread, i can see that pretty much parts are still available for this shape (which was my initial fear).
Continue the great work man.
Sabretooth tiger
///Member
Great work guys :clapper:
msm
Well-known member
A fun little project line up: Planning on doing an Android tablet install. Will be putting everything into the car at the end of April, along with a set of splits, amp and sub. Would still prefer an OEM looking unit such as the Dynavin and can do that at a later stage, but the tablet gives me so more flexibility in terms of software in the interim.
For now here is a bit of a teaser:
Breakdown of the hardware:
1) Facia trim ordered from Aliexpress.
2) Vodacom Smart Tab 2 running Android 6.
I took the facia trim into a few shops (Incredible, Dion, Game, etc) and tried out several tablets - was rather a funny experience with some of the sales guys as I tried out a tablet for size :mmm: . Immediately ruled out whatever had front buttons such as the Samsung and a few others. Finally, it was a toss between the Lenovo and the Vodacom tablet - eventually went with the Vodacom one as it fitted much better.
I still need to trim the plastic trim, so that the tablet edge is completely covered and it looks "clean". Also need to cut away a bit of plastic behind for the cables.
Here's a quick test fit without the front plastic covering the edge:
Here's the "raw" skin from the tablet with the icons. The cool thing about Android is that I can fully customize what I want, including look and feel:
Need to do some research on steering integration. A few hardware options available, but none locally. The compromise for now is the blue "soft keys" you see on the bottom left (on the first 2 pics).
Will update with progress as I trudge along with the install later in April.
For now here is a bit of a teaser:
Breakdown of the hardware:
1) Facia trim ordered from Aliexpress.
2) Vodacom Smart Tab 2 running Android 6.
I took the facia trim into a few shops (Incredible, Dion, Game, etc) and tried out several tablets - was rather a funny experience with some of the sales guys as I tried out a tablet for size :mmm: . Immediately ruled out whatever had front buttons such as the Samsung and a few others. Finally, it was a toss between the Lenovo and the Vodacom tablet - eventually went with the Vodacom one as it fitted much better.
I still need to trim the plastic trim, so that the tablet edge is completely covered and it looks "clean". Also need to cut away a bit of plastic behind for the cables.
Here's a quick test fit without the front plastic covering the edge:
Here's the "raw" skin from the tablet with the icons. The cool thing about Android is that I can fully customize what I want, including look and feel:
Need to do some research on steering integration. A few hardware options available, but none locally. The compromise for now is the blue "soft keys" you see on the bottom left (on the first 2 pics).
Will update with progress as I trudge along with the install later in April.
Sabretooth tiger
///Member
Cant wait to see it fitted. Well-done Mo
Now this is something fantastic. Well done Brother. Keen to read everything and see the end result. [PERSON RAISING BOTH HANDS IN CELEBRATION]
Sent from my VIE-L29 using Tapatalk
Sent from my VIE-L29 using Tapatalk
VictorMike
///Member
I need this in my life too!
Will be calling on you for advice!
BTW, are you writing your won interface or is it an app?
Will be calling on you for advice!
BTW, are you writing your won interface or is it an app?
msm
Well-known member
Since I did the Android part already, here's a quick share on some of the elements. You can probably experiment with this on your phone quite easily.
There are 2 parts to this:
1) Building the screen background with all the graphics
2) Software - a bit of trial and error here (in next post)
Here's the first part on the screen background, which you can build in any decent Photoshop or equivalent software. It's just a matter of adding layers for the icons and labels. Here's what I did:
Got the background from mp3 car forum (Link). Just need to search a bit to find one you like from anywhere I guess.
Base background:
Here's my layers - I would suggest using software that allows you to add them in steps, so it's easy to back and change/amend any item later. For example, you can replace "weather" with "mail" quite easily if the text and icons are separate layers. (I use a package called GIMP on my MAC, which is the freeware equivalent of PhotoShop)
Layers added at each step:
For the icons, I simply used Google images to search for them. Make sure you find vector based images, so you can paste with a blank background. For example: search for "white radio icon vector". Took me a few hours to find everything.
For text, I chose Helvicta font, but that's just preference.
Happy to share actual GIMP source files, if anyone has a MAC and wants them, instead of searching for the icons and images.
Software used - all from Google Play Store:
1) Nova Launcher to replace the stock home screen. Gives you a blank new home screen and some customization options.
2) GMD to autohide the Android softkeys (i.e. the 3 stock Android virtual buttons)
3) Desktop VisualizeR - this creates "blank" or invisible shortcuts on your home screen for any application. This is how you overlay all the apps you need on your Photoshopped background created before this.
The rest is basically experimental and up to you. I loaded Autosleeper so the tablet goes on with Ignition power and goes to sleep when I shut down the car. No need to hit the physical power button. Clock, weather widget, virtual sound control, etc are all up to you - lots in the store that you can try out. I'm still playing around with these.
There are 2 parts to this:
1) Building the screen background with all the graphics
2) Software - a bit of trial and error here (in next post)
Here's the first part on the screen background, which you can build in any decent Photoshop or equivalent software. It's just a matter of adding layers for the icons and labels. Here's what I did:
Got the background from mp3 car forum (Link). Just need to search a bit to find one you like from anywhere I guess.
Base background:
Here's my layers - I would suggest using software that allows you to add them in steps, so it's easy to back and change/amend any item later. For example, you can replace "weather" with "mail" quite easily if the text and icons are separate layers. (I use a package called GIMP on my MAC, which is the freeware equivalent of PhotoShop)
Layers added at each step:
For the icons, I simply used Google images to search for them. Make sure you find vector based images, so you can paste with a blank background. For example: search for "white radio icon vector". Took me a few hours to find everything.
For text, I chose Helvicta font, but that's just preference.
Happy to share actual GIMP source files, if anyone has a MAC and wants them, instead of searching for the icons and images.
Software used - all from Google Play Store:
1) Nova Launcher to replace the stock home screen. Gives you a blank new home screen and some customization options.
2) GMD to autohide the Android softkeys (i.e. the 3 stock Android virtual buttons)
3) Desktop VisualizeR - this creates "blank" or invisible shortcuts on your home screen for any application. This is how you overlay all the apps you need on your Photoshopped background created before this.
The rest is basically experimental and up to you. I loaded Autosleeper so the tablet goes on with Ignition power and goes to sleep when I shut down the car. No need to hit the physical power button. Clock, weather widget, virtual sound control, etc are all up to you - lots in the store that you can try out. I'm still playing around with these.
VictorMike
///Member
raise::ty:I am really keen to see this in action!
