Thanks! Very simple to do, but very hard to get an even coat although much easier with the wheels off, use a decent wheel cleaner and tar remover to get the properly wheels clean. I’ve found the actual coating has enough for 2 coats on each wheel (19’s) but I’m not sure in longevity of the coating as after 5 or so washes (ph Neutral cleaner) it’s hardly effective. On another set of wheels it was £100 to have the coating done properly and has lasted over a year.ScooBeeFive wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 7:16 pmThat looks really nice - the Xenons make such a difference aesthetically, as well as being great at night. It’s super clean too!
How did you find applying the ceramic coat to the wheels? Is it a simple process?
D3BT #454
Re: D3BT #454
Toby
2011 D3BT #454
2019 440i Gran Coupe
2011 D3BT #454
2019 440i Gran Coupe
-
- ALPINA
- Posts: 1217
- Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2020 3:40 pm
- Location: Shropshire
Re: D3BT #454
I’ve always been slightly nervous about attempting a ceramic coating. I’ve heard it can be quite tricky. Wheels may be a good place to practice though as not quite so disastrous if you get it a bit wrong, compared to on the paintwork.ttrill wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 7:39 pmThanks! Very simple to do, but very hard to get an even coat although much easier with the wheels off, use a decent wheel cleaner and tar remover to get the properly wheels clean. I’ve found the actual coating has enough for 2 coats on each wheel (19’s) but I’m not sure in longevity of the coating as after 5 or so washes (ph Neutral cleaner) it’s hardly effective. On another set of wheels it was £100 to have the coating done properly and has lasted over a year.ScooBeeFive wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 7:16 pmThat looks really nice - the Xenons make such a difference aesthetically, as well as being great at night. It’s super clean too!
How did you find applying the ceramic coat to the wheels? Is it a simple process?
I’d be tempted to get it done by a pro but ask if I can stay and watch!
Paul
2013 F11 B5 BiTurbo Touring #135 - Alpina Blue
2017 F33 B4S BiTurbo Cabrio #235 - Tanzanite Blue
2013 F11 B5 BiTurbo Touring #135 - Alpina Blue
2017 F33 B4S BiTurbo Cabrio #235 - Tanzanite Blue
Re: D3BT #454
I agree, wheels are fairly fail safe but using a spray bottle for application is tricky to have it even.ScooBeeFive wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 9:23 pmI’ve always been slightly nervous about attempting a ceramic coating. I’ve heard it can be quite tricky. Wheels may be a good place to practice though as not quite so disastrous if you get it a bit wrong, compared to on the paintwork.ttrill wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 7:39 pmThanks! Very simple to do, but very hard to get an even coat although much easier with the wheels off, use a decent wheel cleaner and tar remover to get the properly wheels clean. I’ve found the actual coating has enough for 2 coats on each wheel (19’s) but I’m not sure in longevity of the coating as after 5 or so washes (ph Neutral cleaner) it’s hardly effective. On another set of wheels it was £100 to have the coating done properly and has lasted over a year.ScooBeeFive wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 7:16 pmThat looks really nice - the Xenons make such a difference aesthetically, as well as being great at night. It’s super clean too!
How did you find applying the ceramic coat to the wheels? Is it a simple process?
I’d be tempted to get it done by a pro but ask if I can stay and watch!
Toby
2011 D3BT #454
2019 440i Gran Coupe
2011 D3BT #454
2019 440i Gran Coupe
Re: D3BT #454
Some time off work today meant I could spend abit of time doing a deeper clean of the car as well as winter tyres going on.
Not posted a picture of the inside yet so here you go. Carpets will go through the machine soon as they’re grubby.
Not posted a picture of the inside yet so here you go. Carpets will go through the machine soon as they’re grubby.
Toby
2011 D3BT #454
2019 440i Gran Coupe
2011 D3BT #454
2019 440i Gran Coupe
Re: D3BT #454
I’d missed the fact you have electric pews Toby, very executive. Do you have heated seats too? Can’t see it in the spec sheet, but I thought it was standard with full leather, or was that only in Coupes?
B3 3.2 TOURING #062
Re: D3BT #454
Yep heated as well also have the lumber support and backrest adjustment. Not sure if it’s the lux package that includes them?
Toby
2011 D3BT #454
2019 440i Gran Coupe
2011 D3BT #454
2019 440i Gran Coupe
Re: D3BT #454
This is an extract from the Jan-11 price list, seating was part of the full leather.
- Attachments
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- E9x_Options.JPG (71.3 KiB) Viewed 2089 times
B3 3.2 TOURING #062
Re: D3BT #454
A sensible choice by BMW for once then, nothing worse than leather that’s not heated
Toby
2011 D3BT #454
2019 440i Gran Coupe
2011 D3BT #454
2019 440i Gran Coupe
Re: D3BT #454
That was mine, Hap! Great chatting with you as well. Mine was Montego blue and yeah similar spec but in a MT touring. As you rightly pointed out, just missing xenons and perhaps alcantara roof lining. Always room for improvements. I've had loads done to it recently so will post soon.
For what it's worth, my MT mirrors only fold with the door switch. Windows go with the lock button but not the mirrors. They also come out if you drive off with them folded!
Lovely BT saloon. Hope to meet one day! I remember lusting for one of these in 2011 - took me another 7 years to get my hands on one (well, similar). Recently I was looking to upgrade the idrive from CCC to CIC but the missing link was the wood piece round the idrive so I'd make sure yours is stuck down well at the next show haha!! Take care, happy driving and feel free to ask any questions of me.
2007 E91 D3 #190
Best of previous cars:
EG Civic Hatch (great car, a real companion)
E36 318is (long-term test drive from my brother )
Alfa 155 1.8 T.Spark (at 19yo I didn't know what a head gasket was until..)
Best of previous cars:
EG Civic Hatch (great car, a real companion)
E36 318is (long-term test drive from my brother )
Alfa 155 1.8 T.Spark (at 19yo I didn't know what a head gasket was until..)
Re: D3BT #454
Thanks, yours looks great too. I don’t think I’ve seen an MT in a spec like yours. Hopefully come spring there will be an opportunity for some meets, I’ll make sure my car is locked if I see yoursJamie23 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 26, 2020 11:27 amThat was mine, Hap! Great chatting with you as well. Mine was Montego blue and yeah similar spec but in a MT touring. As you rightly pointed out, just missing xenons and perhaps alcantara roof lining. Always room for improvements. I've had loads done to it recently so will post soon.
For what it's worth, my MT mirrors only fold with the door switch. Windows go with the lock button but not the mirrors. They also come out if you drive off with them folded!
Lovely BT saloon. Hope to meet one day! I remember lusting for one of these in 2011 - took me another 7 years to get my hands on one (well, similar). Recently I was looking to upgrade the idrive from CCC to CIC but the missing link was the wood piece round the idrive so I'd make sure yours is stuck down well at the next show haha!! Take care, happy driving and feel free to ask any questions of me.
Toby
2011 D3BT #454
2019 440i Gran Coupe
2011 D3BT #454
2019 440i Gran Coupe
Re: D3BT #454
After a fairly rapid degradation of both my front shocks and having them on my list of things to do as the car is getting on abit now (just ticked over 85k) I decided to do it myself. Planned on having the car done in a day but Sod’s law stopped that and ended up having the car off the road for 10 days looking pretty sorry for itself. Using the brilliant info that’s already available on the forum and quite abit of time on the Sachs parts catalogue I was able to determine the correct OEM parts for my car. I used Sachs 311403&311404 shocks and Sachs 993256 springs (D5 spring code) plus new bumps and covers.
First hurdle was getting the old shocks out, it quickly came about that both the front shock pinch bolts were seized into the knuckle which lead to around 5 hours of swearing to get the offside out. Eventually I twisted the head off the bolt which allowed for the bolt the be extracted the other way using the nut to pull the bolt. I really couldn’t be arsed to do the other bolt so I got my local mechanic to come round to sort it. Cutting the bolt then using a hydraulic ram to push the bolt out in less than 10 minutes added a rather large amount of fuel to the fire but at this point I was still wanting to finish the job myself. The springs arrival delayed the process significantly but that gave me time to paint the callipers, carriers and disc hubs as they were letting the car down abit. Whilst all that was off I changed the front pads out. The car had yellowstuff pads fitted a while back that were good but I personally couldn’t differentiate the pads from a pagid compound which I had in my last 1 series so the extra cost wasn’t justifiable.
The springs delayed arrival meant I could put the car back together again but unfortunately I couldn’t compress the spring enough to get it over the shock - even with the shock extended. So I decided to take it down to my local specialist to fit for me especially as I wasn’t too keen on a spring flying through me
Old shocks vs new shocks was scary. Offside was shocking and was clearly blown but judging by the corrosion around the shock it had been like this for a while. The springs had resultantly had a hard time because of this and had around an inch difference compared to the new ones. This was reflected in the ride height pre-change.
Now it’s all back together it’s safe to say the car is pretty much transformed. No more bottoming out on the smallest of speed bumps and the car feels as it should be. It does highlight the fact that the rears are tired but they are not as bad as the fronts were. The ride now is almost comparable to the B3 which is very complimentary considering that’s running full Alpina OEM which is around 6x the price for parts.
First hurdle was getting the old shocks out, it quickly came about that both the front shock pinch bolts were seized into the knuckle which lead to around 5 hours of swearing to get the offside out. Eventually I twisted the head off the bolt which allowed for the bolt the be extracted the other way using the nut to pull the bolt. I really couldn’t be arsed to do the other bolt so I got my local mechanic to come round to sort it. Cutting the bolt then using a hydraulic ram to push the bolt out in less than 10 minutes added a rather large amount of fuel to the fire but at this point I was still wanting to finish the job myself. The springs arrival delayed the process significantly but that gave me time to paint the callipers, carriers and disc hubs as they were letting the car down abit. Whilst all that was off I changed the front pads out. The car had yellowstuff pads fitted a while back that were good but I personally couldn’t differentiate the pads from a pagid compound which I had in my last 1 series so the extra cost wasn’t justifiable.
The springs delayed arrival meant I could put the car back together again but unfortunately I couldn’t compress the spring enough to get it over the shock - even with the shock extended. So I decided to take it down to my local specialist to fit for me especially as I wasn’t too keen on a spring flying through me
Old shocks vs new shocks was scary. Offside was shocking and was clearly blown but judging by the corrosion around the shock it had been like this for a while. The springs had resultantly had a hard time because of this and had around an inch difference compared to the new ones. This was reflected in the ride height pre-change.
Now it’s all back together it’s safe to say the car is pretty much transformed. No more bottoming out on the smallest of speed bumps and the car feels as it should be. It does highlight the fact that the rears are tired but they are not as bad as the fronts were. The ride now is almost comparable to the B3 which is very complimentary considering that’s running full Alpina OEM which is around 6x the price for parts.
Toby
2011 D3BT #454
2019 440i Gran Coupe
2011 D3BT #454
2019 440i Gran Coupe
Re: D3BT #454
Sounds like that turned into a bit of mission, but definitely worthwhile in the end. You need to get some more pics up though
B3 3.2 TOURING #062
Re: D3BT #454
Nothing like a bit of Anglo Saxon terminology to keep the spirits up
Charles
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!
Re: D3BT #454
Abit more than a mission Bob it definitely needed doing. Hopefully when the weather & work clears up I’ll get some more photos of it and hopefully a group photo of all 3.
Toby
2011 D3BT #454
2019 440i Gran Coupe
2011 D3BT #454
2019 440i Gran Coupe
Re: D3BT #454
Hi ttrill.
My first time to own a D3 BT too, and agree it does handle very nice and it has enough get up and go for my taste now. The car was originally purchased by a forum member its #246 Santorini Blue. I would like to get hold of the factory spec sheet like you show in your post and wondered would Sytner's provide me with a copy if I asked them, or did your car come with it supplied.?
Cheers.