[gavsadler]

Time to do some updates to bring things current smile bounce

Going back to mid-june, here's some pics the day I collected. Late afternoon shadows don't do much justice to the lines and black bits on the car (which is sucky IMO)










Then on day 2 of ownership, whilst leaving the ignition on to check service schedules, any faults and so on, I was greeted with a low battery warning. Subsequent drives also showed that if leaving the ignition on for approx. 1min, then the warning pops up, and the car automatically shuts down after approx. 2mins. Even connecting the trickle charger for 1.5 days solid didn't change this, so I suspect the battery (almost 3 years old) is not so lekker due to the electronics in the car, and the fact that it stood for fairly long periods of time between drives.

Here's a video of the warning (1min mark), and when the car automatically shuts down after 2mins:

https://youtu.be/g3SCJbiLxKk

So, whilst the car was connected to the trickle charger:




I decided to scratch around a little bit under the bonnet:

BMC drop-in filter installed, no complaints from my side:




Here's the inlet from the filter to the tube which leads to the intake plenum, rectangular in shape, with some odd curves in places (on my long-term list to do a few changes here):

http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/uploads...3015493711.jpg

I also sourced some spare wheel nuts which I chemically cleaned, with the plans to paint them black:




And to end off: a night shot of the instrument cluster, I am quite fond of the lighting (and other lighting on the car in general):



Here's a quick iPhone video of the cold start and idle:

https://youtu.be/E-pPU1dSbCw

And here's a small 2nd gear squirt on a slippery downhill:

https://youtu.be/TxRXaVj4drU


The first tank I drove very carefully on purpose, to see what somewhat hopeful fuel consumption figure I can get in future. This was probably my typical driving style, and included about 60% highway and 40% town driving. What's somewhat alarming at first is when the fuel reserve warning comes on with 1/4 tank still to go!

First tank fuel consumption:




In the car's previous life, it has had some cosmetic work done. Overall the end-result is positive, although there are clear signs where shortcuts were taken / where whoever worked on the car was less talented in strip and assembly than what is desired (more about this later on).

The 2 front plastic jack blocks were missing, so I organised some through Deago@ABM (thanks mate).




The location where the jack blocks clip into the chassis:




Some leftovers of one of the missing jack blocks:




New jack blocks installed, and testing out with the proper rubber inserts for use with a trolley jack etc:







Whilst at ABM, I also acquired a new set of locking wheel bolts (for preservation of my future plans):



Moving to the back of the car, there were also some minor niggles which were troubling my mild OCD.

Missing cover for one of the screws holding on the bumper skin:




And the bolts to hold the bootlid onto the boot hinges were faaar from OEM:






So in one of my trips to a local scrappy, I sourced a replacement cover and some white OEM bolts:











In doing this, I also did some minor adjustments to the bootlid to get it to align a little better to the rear quarter panels, lights and bumper. I still need to touch up on the bolts where some paint chipped off, but will get to that soon.
Oh, I also forgot to add, about a week after getting the car, I went to visit Gert from OBDWorx to cut and code a new spare key for the car (only had 1 key at time of purchase).

Thanks to Gert for the hospitality and great service Thumbs
Moving back to the front of the car, as mentioned earlier, I have not been such a fan of all the black bits on the car. This includes the front splitters. For sure it looks aggressive and intimidating and racey, but quite frankly, it doesn't really fit with my personality in that I like to keep a relatively low profile.

So I decided to get busy removing them. This was before removal:







And after removing one side:







And after removing both sides:








What's also good to know is that these are the genuine OEM Performance bits:




Mixed emotions as to why the beautiful carbon fibre was painted over, but anyway. (I stand to be corrected in case these were wrapped, I honestly didn't spend too much time looking at them further)

I actually prefer the clean front-end. To me, the front bumper looks wider now that the lower white sections are exposed again. That being said, these will go into a box for safe-keeping, and maybe at some point in the future I will try them out again. I've seen some other ideas too which may work well, but all in good time...

Whilst scratching under the front of the bumper, I garnered a look at the splash tray, which has also had a few beatings in it's life, and some attempted fixes:




This is also on my to-do list at some point to sort out properly, which most likely means a replacement part.

My curiosity also extended to the gloss black mirror caps, so I pulled these off, and also pleased to report that they are OEM carbon fibre bits. I think they have been painted gloss black though (unless also wrapped? - TBC).