Kevin's 1990 745ti DD

MrBrown said:

Sweet. Its about time for an update. I like the holes cutout on the bumper. I wonder if it would look good on mine...
Get you a headliner Kev! Good to see a better flowing exhaust. Whens the next meet? I should be good to go.

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Thanks! I agree, it has been too long since my last update. Life, relationships and other nonsense have all just gotten in the way. As far as the bumper holes, I first saw them on Jerd's gold 245 and really liked the way they look.

Headliner is definitely on 'the list,' and I'm hoping to get around to it eventually. Next meet is actually in Orlando in the next couple weeks. Kind of a small meet but here's a link to the facebook event for it.

Two updates in two days? It's almost like I have some more free time or something.

Got some V70 T5 blue injectors in the mail today, so I tossed those on after work. I had a spare resistor pack so I cut its harnessed to bypass it, that way if it didn't work out I could swap the original resistor pack back on along with the browntops.




You can kinda see them in the second picture. Had my phone brightness down and I thought you could see them better than that, but oh well. Upon removal of the fuel rail, the threads in one of the holes in the manifold became stripped out Thankfully I had a larger bolt laying around that worked fine tightening it back down.

First startup was great, didn't struggle or misfire at all, purred like a kitten. I had the battery unplugged to reset the ECU, so I'll give it a little time to learn before hammering on it. I was getting a rich condition with the browntops at WOT (10.1 afr). I'm still using an 016 AMM, so I wanted to try these injectors to see if I could get some better AFRs without going to an 012 AMM. If I don't see much of a change with these, I'll probably end up going that route.

Car's looking good. Sorry about the relationship stuff.

Brilliant idea re: the bumper release. I need to do something for my rear SE bumper...the rail it slides into is broken on my car.

+Kardboard+ said:

Car's looking good. Sorry about the relationship stuff.

Brilliant idea re: the bumper release. I need to do something for my rear SE bumper...the rail it slides into is broken on my car.

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Thanks, it was rough but it happens.

The bumper release is quite convenient, and I'm sure you could figure something else out that might hide better. I just went the quick and easy route.

So having the intercooler in the stock location was a quick and easy install, but the fact that was off center has always kind of clashed with my ocd, so I've always wanted to move it more forward and centered behind the grille. I had some extra intercooler piping laying around and a few spare couplers, and I was motivated after I got home from work so I decided to make it happen.




It went pretty smoothly, it fit just perfect and I didn't have to sawzall any metal out. I added some supports on the bottom and it's also supported up top with two bolts.

I'm happy with where it is now, but it's left me with a gap in between the radiator and the rad support though. Ideally I'll eventually convert to an e-fan and relocate the radiator to the N/A location, but for the meantime I just felt like it was sort of an eyesore in the engine bay:



So a quick trip to Lowe's, $4 later and here's my temporary solution:




Just a thin sheet of aluminum which conveniently had a groove on one side that grabbed the edge of the radiator perfectly. Then I just bent it in a way that it sits tightly against the radiator support and won't move on its own. I'm happy with the result.

Finished product:

Love it

Might want to get a better post intercooler hose. That black one looks suspicious. I have some ill hook you up with this weekend.
Definitely looks even behind the grille now.

I like seeing updates on this car.

i want an elegant and **** sticker! i love your car kevin. love it.

Time for another "It's been a hot minute since I've updated" update.

Well, shortly after my last update a transmission fluid leak showed up, from the front of the bellhousing. So I figured input shaft seal. Ordered that, along with the two large o-rings for the torque converter housing, the two o-rings for the cooler line fittings, and a new pan gasket. Did the job by myself this time around, and it was fairly straightforward with no mix-ups, aside from one of the bolts for the inspection cover rounding off. This was quite odd, considering one week prior I had the inspection plate off to check out where the leak was coming from, and I didn't overtighten any of the bolts for it. But one just WOULD NOT come out, and ended up rounding off completely. It was unfortunately the one right under the starter, so I couldn't get to it easily with an angle grinder. I ended up just taking my sawzall to the cover itself.







Also found some lovely graffiti on my flexplate from the last time the transmission was out for the torque converter replacement and accumulator mod.




Anyway, got everything back together and drove it for a couple days with no issues, but shortly after, it was leaking again from the same location. Appears to be a mix of both engine oil and ATF, however I haven't climbed back underneath the car to determine what exactly it is. I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually. I'm guessing it might be the rear main, which is odd considering it's only maybe two years old, but it could have gotten tweaked or seen some unnecessary stress while removing the transmission. As far as the ATF, I'm not sure. I'll get around to it sooner or later. Bummer.


Aside from that, I finally got a matching, more appropriately sized, NEW set of tires for this thing. First ever set of brand new tires for any vehicle I've owned. I went with Achilles ATR Sport 205/45/16s, and I love them. Tons of tread, grippy, quiet, and cheap. All four mounted and balanced with a front end alignment came to $360.






And finally, took this random picture after washing it one afternoon. Was happy with how well it turned out.

Derp. Totally forgot to even mention...

I messaged Shane (turbotankshane) to get a custom LH2.4 tune for my setup. Mike's fuel chip was good initially, but even after downsizing injectors, I was still running pig rich even at half throttle, maybe 5-6psi. I spoke with Shane about my mods and what I was looking for, and he was super quick to reply and got me the initial tune within a few days of first messaging him. Initially it was great, instead of pegging 10.1 on my wideband at WOT, I was hitting mid 11s and slowly dipping lower. Got a second revision done recently, and AFRs are even better now. Throttle response has also improved, and power has gone up as well, considering AFRs are more optimal. Still monitoring it and seeing if it adjusts or learns at all, and I may end up getting a third and hopefully final revision. I have nothing but good to say about his tune though, and I highly recommend shooting him a PM if you're looking for a custom tune.

Also did this because why not.

I love getting NEW tires. Car rides so much nicer when they are new.

Nice work kevin, thinking about getting ATR sports next. I'm due for tires again but I kinda don't want to spend another $550 on conti DWS

Where are the updates Kfizzle?

Haven't been here for a while, and was seriously considering to trade my fl wagon for something else. Well, new updates on this thread definetly gave me motivation to keep the car for a while still. Looking good!

I come back to this thread from time to time and keep lovin your wagon man, keep it up. One of the best cars on here...only thing to make it better would be a manual tranny.

I just came into a couple 012/025 amms if you're still looking for one. Car looks great, especially on those wheels

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

It's been a hot minute since I've had any major updates. I landed a new job that's a 40 minute commute each way, so I've been racking up a lot of miles on it. My last job was less than five minutes away from home, so the wagon is now much more of a daily driver than it was before.

First of all, I picked this up shortly after my last post:



HY35, with the 9cm^2 housing. It could definitely use a rebuild, but it was cheap so I picked it up for a future project. I'm still deciding whether or not I'll just mount it on a 90+ or try to get a top mount header of some sort.

A friend of mine gave me a new Greddy catch can, so I threw that on one day along with some new 5/8" hose.




In an effort to track down a steering wheel shake I've had for a while, I tossed on my friend's 15x8 BBS wheels off of his e46 for a few days to see if it could be my wheels that are off balance. The shake was still there, so I narrowed it down that it's not my wheels. I put mine back on and the shake was essentially gone. I'm guessing it might just be them mounting ever so slightly off balance even with slowly tightening each lugnut down, but who knows. Regardless, I was a bit intrigued by this color combo while I had his wheels on...




Then I felt like trying something new, so I ordered some $5 yellow film and covered my headlights and corners with it. I really liked the look and it got a surprisingly high amount of compliments too. It seemed to fit the theme of the car well.




However, that only lasted for about a month. Last week I got pulled over at night and was told my lights were "too yellow." Meanwhile Escalades and Civics drove by with their 14000k purple HIDs without so much as a sideways glance from the cop. He gave me a warning, and he checked my tint too. I think he was just bored.

Most recent mod, I went to the roofing section of Home Depot and picked up some plastic rain gutters. Gave them a trim, a quick coat of paint, and screwed them into my rockers and ended up with some side skirts for < $10 invested.








I really oughta seek some sort of Home Depot sponsorship, considering the paint job and now this. I'm not sure what's in store for the wagon next, but for now I'm just keeping it running so I can rely on it to get me to work every day.

Those side skirts look awesome!

I'm so doing those skirts on the 242. Looking good!