better late than never, i guess...that's what happens when i drop off the scene for 1.5 years...
first off, it was well worth time spent enjoying all of everyone's wagons and tourings! i think of all the boards i must say there is a much higher concentration of touring lovers over here, followed by bfest...just an observation, that's all.
(good idea jo - i went to the e46fanatics touring thread a few days ago - there's a ton of good fanatical e46 touring brethren. hey jo - you da man - how about you organizing some big touring get together, e39 and e46, even the newer gen ones?)
here's my 'wagotourestate': seeing that as opposed to the 'mother thread' where it goes back to day one when it was bone stock and meanders through its transformation, this is probably the first time i'm 'summarizing' 3 years' worth of history:
cliff notes version: silver 2003 m sport 540it, 19" acs type II, every oem ///m piece that can be retrofitted, and every dinan option for it. and heated seats for 3 in the rear!
the long-winded version for those so inclined will be at the end of the pics.
i will admit i've taken way too many pics over the years, but i will candidly assume this is the one thread where we'll be allowed some degree of pictorial excess.
(hours into this i realize there is no way to keep it short. oh well.)
my theme, simply stated, was to have a practical equivalent of what an e39 m5 touring would have been had it marched off the ///m production line. i wanted it unique, and understated, pushing it without straying from oem feel. the result is obviously nowhere like the other outstanding e39 m5 tourings with full transplant of the internals, but a compromise that i'm very happy and pleased with.
in the beginning!
here are some of my favorites:
the following were from may 2007:
(i've exceeded pic count, but the rest of this series is here...
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...87&postcount=1
2 shots from willow...
interior/engine shots:
these have never been posted anywhere, even on the mother thread:
i have wheel issues.
shoes are to women as wheels are to some of us...
1. of course the stock wheels (see pic above) had to go...
2. first love - i loved the acs type 2s long before i could afford one of them, much less a car to go with it. loved it so much i had a set on my e46 m3, and bought 2 new fronts just to have it on the touring as well! drove my wheel vendors nuts when they could not talk me into anything else...
3. then the itch about lightweight wheels came around. my first choice was the bbs rk, and in my dreams, with the rears at 18x10. nothing here nor anywhere. stumbled upon the last complete set of brand new bbs rc. that'll have to do, 18 x 8.5 all around. these were sold because of #4.
4. when a fellow touring owner sold his car, i almost got his bbs rk. new owner wanted them, so there went that set. a year later, i get the surprise of my life when the new owner contatcs me and asks if i'm still interested. what could i say? since these were bought for performance, they were shod with michelin sport cups, 265/35 all around. a little too fat, actually. in the process of selling the cups, and going to regular tires.
5. martin, owner of aga down in escondido, was kind enough to let me prance around in dinan 18s for a few hours. in the end, 5k for wheels, super light, but somehow not up to what i consider a beautiful wheel made me pass on it.
6. jack miles is to thank for the following photoshop work. for comparison, my acs again...
7. had the dinans come in 19s, i would have **almost** been swayed. (they don't)
8. in my dreams, i would gladly shell out 5k for these alpinas! kicker is not only are they 19" and drop dead gorgeous, they are super light as well, about 22 lbs, compared to my acs. of course, a pain to keep clean, of which i am sadly a slave to. hahahaha. a beautiful picture will do.
now some magnificent shots i did NOT take. these are courtesy of zach mayne of bimmer magazine. THANK YOU! he's got skills, and a mean camera. (i goof around with my pocket canon sd750.) it's one thing to have an awesome moving shot, but personally i also happen to love how the acs type 2s look when spinning at speed! the car was featured in bimmer's nov 2008 issue along with my buddy james (thaichi808 on a few other boards, the black dinan s/c'd evil twin of my sheepish car).
squint hard enough - you'll see geeky ol' me driving my beauty, and my beast!
phew. thanks for looking. maybe, just maybe, i may decide to do a few more shots since the car now has a fresh new coat of paint. time will tell.
and now, the gory details...complete mod list...
2003 BMW 540it Sport Wagon
Factory Options:
Titanium Silver with Gray Montana Leather, PDC, Navigation, CWP, Premium Pkg, M-Sport Pkg, Euro Delivered, First Aid Kit
Modifications:
AC Schnitzer Type II, 19 x 8.5 fr, 19 x 9.5 rr,
Michelin Pilot Sport 2, 245/35/19 fr, 275/30/19 rr
Alternate set:
BBS RK, 18 x 8.5 all-around
Spare: BBS RC, 18 x 8.5
Michelin Pilot Sport 2, 245/40/18
OEM Installs and Retrofit: (All done by the unbelievable Doctor Tyrone)
Debadged
M5 Oval Rear View Mirror
M5 Instrument Cluster
M5 Front Grille Grid
M5 Tire Pressure Monitor
M5 Factory Pre-painted Retracting Side View Mirrors
///M Door Sill Strip
///M Mobility Kit
SMG ///M-Stitched Steering Wheel with Black Trim
(Mr. PaddleShift Adapter Kit)
Euro Aspheric Glass
Euro Clear Front Angel Eye Xenons
Euro Clear Tail Lenses
Euro Heavy-Duty Trunk Liner
Birch Anthracite Wood Trim Kit
(incl. Gear Shift Knob and Hand Brake pieces)
Montana Leather Sliding Armrest
TEC Cup Holder
Mini-Umbrella and Case
Rubber Mats
Nav Ver. 27 s/w (Bird’s Eye View)
Rear Door Sunshades, Ashtray Delete
DSP Sound System
2-Stage Rear Heated Seating for 3
4-Stage Front Seat Massagers (Aftermarket, by BMS)
BSW Rainbow Speakers
BSW 10-inch Subwoofer and Amp (stealth install)
Valentine 1 (hardwire installed)
Performance Modifications:
BBK: StopTech, Silver Calipers, Slotted Rotors
14-inch 4-Piston fr, 13.6-inch 2-Piston rr
DINAN Front Strut Brace
DINAN Single Oval Free-Flow Exhaust
DINAN High-Flow Throttle Body
DINAN Stage 3 Touring Suspension (with matching Rear Konis custom ordered)
DINAN 3.45 Limited-Slip Differential
DINAN Stage 3 Supercharger System
dyno before any mods: (thanks for the reminder, cbouchez!)
dyno after all mods:
Pending mod: (maybe) BMW logo on wheel centercaps. that's it.