Stoney's E34 535i

[Stoney]

well today involved getting a wheel alignment and also getting the wheels balanced

i was hoping that balancing the wheels would remove a slight steering wheel vibration i have around 100kph

but when i got back to the shop that was doing it, they informed me that my drag link is rooted, both ends are stuffed

so, this week will involve swapping over drag links from the other car

already swapped the control arm over and sway bar links as they were all in better condition

so hopefully this will rectify any of the last vibrations i have in the steering

next step in that wil be swapping the brakes over, as my pads are getting low and the rotors and pads in the parts car look a lot better

Goes to show how some blue slippers will miss so much on a car when doing a roadworthy, i dont have the luxury at home of a hoist so i haven't gone over the car with a fine tooth comb, maybe i might have to soon enough

[Stoney]

today i recieved the ebay ECU chip i had ordered, so with out wasting any time, i removed the parts car's ECU and fitted the chip to that one, so i could then just easily swap over the ECU's, as i had a plan of doing back to back dyno runs at mates workshop to see what differences there was

So i decided to have a look at my daily's ECU out of curiosity, and i noticed that it had been opened already, and sure enough it already has a chip in the ECU, its got a gold sticker on it with black writing saying "POWER CHIP"

does anyone know who makes these chips?

the one i received just has a piece of paper stuck to it, with printed writing on it

Anyway i fitted the new chipped ECU to the car to see if there was any differences between the two

maybe its completely a placebo effect on my behalf, but i think the new one is better down low, but worse up top

with my other chip i couldn't do line lockers with the 17"s, i can now with this one - only just though, and the new chip revs to 7,000rpm unlike the others 6,5000rpm or so, and its not like i will rev it that far anyway being an auto

So once i sort out the suspension issue i will dyno the car with both ECU's top see what difference there is between the two

[Ade]

Oh, boy....

Powerchip is a bit of question mark around these parts. Have a bit of a search and you'll see why. Let's just say that opinion is divided.

Here is their main site:

http://www.powerchipgroup.com/choice...rchipgroup.com

Head over to a place like OzAudi and you will find some interesting reading after a search.

[BigKriss]

i had a powerchip gold in my car ( i didn't know it at the time), I put an EAT chip into the car and it stayed there. eat chips are the best ones for the m30b35

[Stoney]

I just emailed D-sylvia in regards to the chips i have and what he'd recommend, etc

and after reading about the "powerchip" i cant see why people would pay so much for so little, but in saying that, my car did have all new KONI suspension, and good speakers, so one of the previous owners didn't mind spending money on it

I'll try the EBAY chip for a while and then report back with opinions

[Ade]

EAT chips have a good rep. A very good rep. Try what you have and see how you go. You can always go for Mark's stuff later on.

I did a lot of reading on chips before I decided to go the route I did and if I were to JUST get a chip then an EAT chip would have been the one I would have gone for.

[84'635csi]

Stoney I'd be interested in a dyno day just to see how my engine is fairing at this stage, not sure how many others we'll get, might be more of a dyno morning!

The road (waterfall way http://www.waterfallway.info/ ) from Bellingen to Armidale is one of the best drives in Australia I reckon, it's very similar to the road from Braidwood to Bateman's bay, just tighter heading up the mountain. Plus their are plenty of other great roads in the area, maybe some members looking for a weekend away would be interested? Bellingen would also be very popular with the other half.

Edit, looks like others agree with me, http://www.australiantraveller.com/c...t/article/3356

[Stoney]

I'll keep you updated then on my plans for the dyno, mate in his WRX is also keen to see how his fares, for a stock WRX it is quite fast compared to others i have driven

As for the new chip, already done 100kms on it this arvo, coffs and back and around town
And I'm already quite suprised at it, i reset one of my consumption readings on the OBC, and before hand it was averaging 13.8L per 100kms, its now down to 11.4L per 100kms

so basically ill have the chip paid for in 2000kms in the fuel i'm saving

still undecided on whether or not its making mor or less power, feels slightly different, but thats what the dyno will tell me i suppose

i already love it for the fuel consumption difference

[Stoney]

the only problem with waterfall way as a drivers view point is all the useless tourists travelling in their caravan equipped prado doing 50kph

[Stoney]

clear front indicators showed up today and i also picked up a can of "nite shades" to paint the rear orange part of the tail lights

[Stoney]

just finished swapping the front clear indicators over, and also sprayed my spare set of tailights in "niteshade" i only sprayed the amber part, and i'm not sure i like it, it grows on me the more i look at it, but i think i will fit the stock ones

might try again respraying them with less tint next time as they are too dark, and i'm by no means any good at using a spray can on tail lights to give an even coat

jacked it up in prep of removing and swapping drag links, but mate in his WRX came over and we fitted a silicon intake to his car..... never ever again am i doing that, wasted the whole day

[Rory]

that night shade stuff is shite in this country. i did the indicator lenses on my rears and about 6 months later they had faded so much in the sun that you wouldn't even know i'd done it. they were pretty dark... now look at them...

[Dvious]

When i did it, and got flamed for it, i used Tamiya Smoke (Model Car Brand)

It sort of came out abit creamier then black, but i tested it on my spare orange indicators and it resulted in a very nice crisp colour.

[Stoney]

people can flame all they want, i might listen to peoples opinion but its my car and i'll do what i want to it, and if i dont like it, i'll change it back

funny you mention the model car stuff, as my mate mentioned exactly the same stuff today, i might try it before i return it to standard

[Rory]

i liked the look of it when it was fresh, as it faded it looked crap. make sure you put some clear coat over it, otherwise it stays matt and looks shit.