Nav. in the LX, LCD's in the wagon, and a new exhaust for the M3.

Haven't been updating this as frequently as I should since I've started blogging each vehicle separately. Here are a few things that I've been up to. You can check the front page at http://www.methodair.com for links to pictures.

Installed an Alpine NVE-N851A DVD navigation system in the LX450.

Installed two 6.5" Sony LCD's in the headrests in the 540 wagon.

Installed a Stromung exhaust on the M3.

Minus one, plus one. Added a new car to the stable.

I had absolutely decided on purchasing the E39 M5 as my next vehicle. I mean ABSOLUTELY, until I actually started reading and shopping for them. If I did an autotrader search for M5's within 50 miles it would return over 40 results, so much for originality.

Ended up getting an '03 540iT. Yes that's the wagon ! I am very excited.

Would you like to see some pics ?

Eibach sway (anti-roll) bars.

Found a great deal on the Eibach Sway Bar Kit (26mm Front / 24mm Rear). It is also recommended that I install these reinforcements for the rear bar:





Now I'm just looking for someone who can weld these things into place so that it looks
like this:



The bars are installed and have completely transformed the car. It feels like my car took a viagra because the suspension is exponentially more stiff and hard. Rock hard !

Anyone with suggestions or welder referrals can email me at: neil@bartolome.net. Thanks !

Reiger Infinity I style spoiler lip.

Lets see how long it lasts before it gets caught on something.



I suppose you can say that I have a slight case of the "mod bug" since this was completely cosmetic. I picked up the lip off ebay for much less than an authentic lip. I cannot justify the cost on something that is going to get chewed up on the street. Painting and installation was DIY. The rest of the pictures can be viewed by clicking here.

VDO Gauge Install

Here are a few tidbits about my aftermarket gauge install. I went the DIY route since the cheapest kit runs $399. I was able to source the parts for 1/3rd of that price. Sure the Plug-N-Play kits are nice and way cleaner than my setup, but mine is cool because I made it :-)

At first I was planning to run two gauges in an A-Pillar pod, but it was highly recommended that I not do that because it is kind of ricey and gay, plus there is an issue with theft. I would have never guessed but I suppose you could just break the window and be off with $100 worth of gauges. Anyway, I decided to go with three gauges in the sunglass holder - oil pressure, oil temp., and voltmeter.

All gauges are VDO Vision series 2 1/16" and were purchased from summitracing.com

• VDO-350106D - Oil Pressure gauge $25
• VDO-310106D - Oil Temp. gauge $25
• VDO-332103D - Voltmeter $25
• VDO-323057D - Oil Temp. sender $7.99
• VDO-360086D - Oil Pressure sender $23

Oil Distribution block was purchased off ebay from seller: jechambebmw. I purchased it for around $40 shipped.

The gauge panel was made out of some clear plexiglass that I had laying around. I plan to either paint it black or apply a carbon fiber "look" overlay. I'm leaning towards the CF appearance.

The rest of the parts are miscellaneous spade connectors, and spools of 14ga. and 16ga. wire.

Pictures are available here.

Modena Sparcos and My Claim with Caltrans

My seats are complete and installed in the vehicle. I couldn't be happier. There are a few quirks with having race seats in a sedan but I think I'll get over it. Below is a link to pics of the seats:

Sparco Torino II's in Modena.

My SRS light is illuminated because the seat mat sensor for the passenger wasn't there. According to the following writeup, I need to wire up a resistor pack and get my SRS light reset:

http://www.apexcone.com/JimPowellHomepage/Recaros/Recaros.html

I also received a response from Caltrans regarding the pothole and my dented HRE wheel. They have agreed to reimburse the entire amount for the wheel repairs. I didn't include the cost of tire mounting/dismounting since I didn't even think I'd receive half of my claim. Needless to say I was surprised to get a settlement from them. Here is the letter that they sent.

Caltrans letter.

A small victory for me. Hooray !

Seats for the M3

I really didn't plan to write about this until it was all done and finished but I'm getting anxious.



I picked up a set of Sparco Torino II's off of the socaleuro classifieds. The seats were brand new and the guy even came to my house after work to drop them off. That's what I call service !! I purchased these on the assumption that I could get them recovered in matching Modena. The most recommended upholstery shop in San Diego seemed to be Jim's Auto Upholstery in Kearny Mesa. Unfortunately the Modena interior was a limited production run and the fabric wasn't as easy to source. Since they didn't have a good match to Modena, they referred me to a leather distributor.

On to SouthBay Leather in National City....

At this point I'm feeling like Xzibit from Pimp My Ride because i'm at this leather wholesaler digging through the various leather hydes to see if there is a match. Unsurprisingly, there isn't a match and we have to order at least 75 sq/ft. The problem is that leather hydes don't come in exact sizes like that and each hyde is about 40-50 sq/ft. This means we need two hydes. Well I found two matches for my interior. One was $3.75 per sq/ft. (Barrolo) and the other was $8 per sq/ft. (Bastante). As much as I wanted the higher priced and perfect matching italian leather, rationale got the best of me and I settled for the second better match. After all, they're only Sparcos. :-)

So we let two weeks pass and I get a call from SouthBay Leather. RING! My hydes are here. Come Monday I plan to drop off the goods at Jim's Upholstery and let the start the makeover.

And that is where we are.

I've decided against the "Sparco" stitching and I'm retaining the vinyl bolster pads. I am a bit nervous about the outcome of the seats, not about the quality, but about my vision and schema. My biggest fear is that I spent all that money on a cheezy idea.

Seats should be ready by next week, so we shall see. In the meantime i've received the mounting brackets, seatbelt receivers from an E30, and sliders. All parts were purchased through online classifieds.

Merry Christmas and Ho Ho HO !