car spent 3 weeks in the body shop after my hit and run incident (entire driver's side repainted) and just got a new set of rear tires ($800! :eek:). i paid to have my front spoiler re-sprayed while the car was in the shop and what a difference! the spoiler was so pitted and rock-chipped from regular high-speed abuse that it was nearly white in certain spots! my front rotors might need to be replaced after another set of front Hawk pads and i might be getting Brembo GTs through a friend that has a great hookup with Brembo. we shall see :D

until then, here are a few pics that i shot on thanksgiving (my birthday!) just prior to going out to dinner. let me know what you think!

EDIT: for the photo guys, these were shot w/Canon 10D and 70-200 2.8 IS, 24-70 2.8, and 17-40

aaron

http://7er.aaronliao.com/pictures/2005.11.24/IMG_3909.jpg


http://7er.aaronliao.com/pictures/2005.11.24/IMG_3918.jpg


http://7er.aaronliao.com/pictures/2005.11.24/IMG_3923.jpg


http://7er.aaronliao.com/pictures/2005.11.24/IMG_3939.jpg

nothing wrong, awesome! 10points from me!

Car and picture quality are awesome.:buttrock How much for photo lessons btw???:D

Very nice car, what size tires are on those 19" wheels...

Great pics! Love the way that you set the depth of field to make the car stand out against the background.

thank you all very much!

32 VALVES, tires are 255/40/19 in the front, 295/35/19 in the rear

Dave, thank you very much! the background isn't exactly stunning or picturesque so i decided it would be best to let the shallow DOF take care of it :D

aaron

Nice I love it, I remember someone saying they saw your car at UCSD, gotta love that car! Nice job.

that is just gorgeous :drool: :love1

very hot, was wondering what happend to the updates on your site.

thanks for the compliments guys!

yea, i stopped updates on my page a while ago to focus on negotiating job offers and finishing school. been meaning to update the "old" pics on there with new ones, but just haven't gotten around to it :(

and yea, my car can sometimes be seen on campus at UCSD :D

aaron

You wrote:
"my front rotors might need to be replaced after another set of front Hawk pads "...

Did the pads CAUSE the rotors to be replaced, or were you happy with these pads and the rotors just happen to need replacing? I can't stand the black dust on my wheels and was thinking of switching next time I replace the pads.

Love the pics.

Thanks,
Steve R

You wrote:
"my front rotors might need to be replaced after another set of front Hawk pads "...

Did the pads CAUSE the rotors to be replaced, or were you happy with these pads and the rotors just happen to need replacing? I can't stand the black dust on my wheels and was thinking of switching next time I replace the pads.

Love the pics.

Thanks,
Steve R

hey Steve,

rotors are just worn i think =] been through 3 sets of pads on these rotors (Brembo slotted) now. i think the slots eat through pads much faster. i LOVE the Hawk HPS pads. they have a lot less dust (not dustless, though) and have a much better initial bite and less fade after a few hot corners.

btw, i replied to your question about the Z8 starter on bimmerboard, incase you didn't see it =] the button is ~$100-$150 from the dealership, and the labor should be no more than $150 at a competent stereo/auto shop.

aaron

Aaron - yes. I did get that reply but the thread was closed. I'm not sure why they close threads, but whatever. I really appreciate the info on that starter button. I'm going to do a little more research on it before I pull that proverbial trigger. It's WAY cool, but totally unnecessary for me right now. I'm sure you understand that! I'm going to have to explain to the wife why I'd "need it". "Oh honey, my starter is screwy so I have to upgrade to this new one". :buttrock Stupid question I guess, but how does that starter work, compared to the way I start my car now??? What precisely is the difference? Do I still use my key?

And thanks for responding about the Hawp HPS pads. I'll put them on my list when I need new ones! What's the best supplier to get them from? My independent is totally against anything other than OEM! He'll be the one putting them on, though.

Steve R

Aaron - yes. I did get that reply but the thread was closed. I'm not sure why they close threads, but whatever. I really appreciate the info on that starter button. I'm going to do a little more research on it before I pull that proverbial trigger. It's WAY cool, but totally unnecessary for me right now. I'm sure you understand that! I'm going to have to explain to the wife why I'd "need it". "Oh honey, my starter is screwy so I have to upgrade to this new one". :buttrock Stupid question I guess, but how does that starter work, compared to the way I start my car now??? What precisely is the difference? Do I still use my key?

And thanks for responding about the Hawp HPS pads. I'll put them on my list when I need new ones! What's the best supplier to get them from? My independent is totally against anything other than OEM! He'll be the one putting them on, though.

Steve R

hey Steve,

the starter question isn't stupid! the valets ask me all the time and my guess is that 99% of people who see it have no idea how it works exactly or why it's there. i had mine wired up in a very specific way. i tapped the starter into the parking brake so that for one thing, it can only be used when the e-brake is engaged. this keeps curious passengers from sending parts of my car out the rear when they decide to find out what the button does by pushing it while i'm doing 65 on the highway.

to start the car, i put in the key, turn it to the "ON" position, and then press the button. yes, this is slightly redundant and a lot of people ask, "why don't you just turn the key?" my answer is: because this looks so much cooler. the Z8 button has a very high quality feel to it and since both you and i LOVE the Z8 (if i remember correctly from some of your older posts), i'm sure you'll appreciate the little detail :D

turning off the car doesn't change (i.e. this is not a push start/stop like in the E65). you turn the key to shut off the car.

so, here's a brief writeup of what youre indie needs to do:

remove foglight switch and re-wire it either with another switch of some kind or tap it into the parking lights so they always come on with the parking lights (i opted for the latter option since i always use my HID fogs).

tap Z8 starter into e-brake as a "safety" mechanism.

wire up Z8 starter to the 7's logic starter (hidden in the shroud under the steering wheel)


as for the Hawk pads, i used to buy them from TireRack but found a much better deal with Craig at Performance Parts Store (bimmerforums supporting vendor). his SN on here is craig@pps. he was awesome to deal with.

aaron

Aaron,

Great photo skills my friend!!! Your 7 looks like a BMW brochure. Your repaint came out really nice. It is hard to match paint correctly.

Thanks for posting those wonderful shots!

Cheers,

Very nice! Should submit for next BavAuto contest, but didn't you win that one already before?

JL

Simply beautiful!!:)

Thanks immaculate. I really appreciate the info. I'll think about this for a while and decide whether I want to do this upgrade or not.

And I appreciate the link to the Hawk pads guy! Always good to save money...

Steve R

...My God :eyecrazy

That is one of the cleanest 7ers I've ever seen

thanks guys =] i DO plan on submitting for the BavAuto photo contest again, but this time for my friend's M3 hopefully so that he can win in the 3series category :D

good to see that some of the old-timers i've known for a while are still around! (AMP 01, JL, Dave, Steve, et al!)

cheers!

aaron

:eek:

Man, that car is damn near SEXUAL!!!!!

:eek:

Man, that car is damn near SEXUAL!!!!!

thx man, appreciate the compliment!

aaron

I envy you envy you envy you envy you envy you envy you envy you envy you envy you envy you envy you envy you envy you envy you envy you

:D :D

nice car by the way, damm sexyyyyy

Fitting name for a fitting car. Very nice man.

awesome car, just wondering if you ever went to the 3.64 rear end, and what you thought of the 3.15 you put in. i am debating on what gears to go with in my 7 series. any suggestions. thanx

Looking really good