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Read the WELCOME ALL BMWFANATICS post.
My Alpine White E46 330i Sport
- Thread starter KPM3_30
- Start date
Time for another update...
Headlight Surrounds: Something that always irked me was the titanium trim in the headlights, especially since I was aiming for more of a black and white theme... When I bought the retrofit clear kit from the agents, I lacked the foresight to order the black surrounds so this sort of stopped me from doing this sooner.
Something I noticed whilst in London was the number of e46's with clear lenses, there were 5 e46's parked in my area and all of them had clear lenses... To find one with amber lenses was actually a surprise! Which led me to believe it may be easier to get a pair of clear front indicators with the black surround than in ZA.. So I spent some time on the UK version of Gumtree and managed to pick these OEM ones up for the equivalent of R250 with shipping :rollsmile:
Couldn't wait to get back to Durban and have them fitted. In the mean time, whilst there, I tried to source the black surrounds for when I returned. In hindsight I should've just bought them from the UK as well but hindsight is always 20/20.. I decided I would DIY them until I managed to source a set just so I could keep my theme going... :tiptoe:
After waiting some time for them to dry, I started putting everything back together.. When I realized I still had the titanium surround around the reflector, I was tempted to remove this and spray it as well but I decided I liked the look of it against the black. Overall I was pretty chuffed with the result, as it was my first real DIY job of this nature...
Before and after:
The finished look:
LED Upgrade: Another little upgrade that I wanted to do was the conversion of all interior lights and the number plate light to LED's. I felt the warm yellow lighting gave the car a bit of a dated look and preferred the cool, blue lighting. Visited Jabsport and had all of them replaced in an hour. Couldn't be happier with the result :rollsmile:
Paint Detail: I had always wanted to send the car for a detail but never really got around to it. I saw that a Detailer in Durban was having promotion and figured why not. Dropped the car off on a Friday afternoon and fetched it on Sunday evening... Had the exterior, interior and engine bay cleaned and protected. I had also been meaning to replace the two way tape with velcro for some time so decided this would be the best time to tackle this.
Over all, whilst most people may think the finished product looks pretty good I was left feeling a little disappointed... Sure the car looked a lot better after the detail but I suppose my expectations were higher than they should've been. At some stage in the future I would like to send it for a proper detail but for now, this will do.
Horrible luck that it looked like it was going to rain as I arrived to fetch the car, so my plans for a photo shoot at the beach was halted. I managed to take a couple of pics a few days later, a proper set of photos need to be taken though...
So this is almost the end of the updates... For the keen-eyed, you would notice I have replaced the old dis-coloured roundels with the OEM ones. Obviously this doesn't go with the black and white theme so I will have them sorted in due course. Also planned to complete the look with:
- Number plate holder delete,
- Replacing the lower bumper covers with the full pieces
- Kidney grills dipped in gloss black
- Chrome window trim wrapped in gloss black.
This should all be done before the SABeemer event being held this weekend at Westwood... Pics to follow soon. :ty:
Headlight Surrounds: Something that always irked me was the titanium trim in the headlights, especially since I was aiming for more of a black and white theme... When I bought the retrofit clear kit from the agents, I lacked the foresight to order the black surrounds so this sort of stopped me from doing this sooner.
Something I noticed whilst in London was the number of e46's with clear lenses, there were 5 e46's parked in my area and all of them had clear lenses... To find one with amber lenses was actually a surprise! Which led me to believe it may be easier to get a pair of clear front indicators with the black surround than in ZA.. So I spent some time on the UK version of Gumtree and managed to pick these OEM ones up for the equivalent of R250 with shipping :rollsmile:
Couldn't wait to get back to Durban and have them fitted. In the mean time, whilst there, I tried to source the black surrounds for when I returned. In hindsight I should've just bought them from the UK as well but hindsight is always 20/20.. I decided I would DIY them until I managed to source a set just so I could keep my theme going... :tiptoe:
After waiting some time for them to dry, I started putting everything back together.. When I realized I still had the titanium surround around the reflector, I was tempted to remove this and spray it as well but I decided I liked the look of it against the black. Overall I was pretty chuffed with the result, as it was my first real DIY job of this nature...
Before and after:
The finished look:
LED Upgrade: Another little upgrade that I wanted to do was the conversion of all interior lights and the number plate light to LED's. I felt the warm yellow lighting gave the car a bit of a dated look and preferred the cool, blue lighting. Visited Jabsport and had all of them replaced in an hour. Couldn't be happier with the result :rollsmile:
Paint Detail: I had always wanted to send the car for a detail but never really got around to it. I saw that a Detailer in Durban was having promotion and figured why not. Dropped the car off on a Friday afternoon and fetched it on Sunday evening... Had the exterior, interior and engine bay cleaned and protected. I had also been meaning to replace the two way tape with velcro for some time so decided this would be the best time to tackle this.
Over all, whilst most people may think the finished product looks pretty good I was left feeling a little disappointed... Sure the car looked a lot better after the detail but I suppose my expectations were higher than they should've been. At some stage in the future I would like to send it for a proper detail but for now, this will do.
Horrible luck that it looked like it was going to rain as I arrived to fetch the car, so my plans for a photo shoot at the beach was halted. I managed to take a couple of pics a few days later, a proper set of photos need to be taken though...
So this is almost the end of the updates... For the keen-eyed, you would notice I have replaced the old dis-coloured roundels with the OEM ones. Obviously this doesn't go with the black and white theme so I will have them sorted in due course. Also planned to complete the look with:
- Number plate holder delete,
- Replacing the lower bumper covers with the full pieces
- Kidney grills dipped in gloss black
- Chrome window trim wrapped in gloss black.
This should all be done before the SABeemer event being held this weekend at Westwood... Pics to follow soon. :ty:
Dewald Basson
///Member
Car is looking sweet bud 
raise:
raise:
A bit late with the update but I'm getting better at it... :crazylaugh:
The SABeemer event at Westwood had a pretty good turnout. It was great to see the diversity with the different crews and car-styling preferences (some better than others...) among the BMW fraternity.
Thankfully I was able to finish the outstanding visual enhancements before the event. Really happy with the outcome and overall, couldn't be happier with the final, completed result. Definitely feel like the car has benefited from the OEM+ approach.
The car has now reached the point where there isn't anything more I want to do apart from regular maintenance. On to the pictures...
The SABeemer event at Westwood had a pretty good turnout. It was great to see the diversity with the different crews and car-styling preferences (some better than others...) among the BMW fraternity.
Thankfully I was able to finish the outstanding visual enhancements before the event. Really happy with the outcome and overall, couldn't be happier with the final, completed result. Definitely feel like the car has benefited from the OEM+ approach.
The car has now reached the point where there isn't anything more I want to do apart from regular maintenance. On to the pictures...
VictorMike
///Member
Car looks amazing, bud!
Just, AMAZING!
Just, AMAZING!
michael.joseph
Active member
This car is beyond hot. Well done man.
:clapper:
:clapper:
michael.joseph
Active member
They compliment each other perfectly.
Congrats man:clapper:
Congrats man:clapper:
