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Build Moonestone's Sapphire Black F83 M4

Doing a build thread? Highlight it!

moonstone

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Seeing as I've been busy with the new car, and have fair bit planned I thought I'd do a built thread on it and keep track of my progress for anyone that's interested.

It's a 2015 Sapphire Black Convertible with Sakhir Orange interior. When it arrived a couple of weeks ago I was excited but after closer inspection was a bit disappointed. Probably the worst prepped-for-sale car I've ever bought and if I'm honest, if it had been a local car that I'd gone to see, I probably wouldn't have bought it, but nothing that couldn't be sorted out so decided to press on.

What was wrong with it?
  • Terrible paintwork overall. Lots of light scratches on every panel and in sore need of a paint correction detail. Front and back bumpers had been smart repaired - badly.
  • Bit of a stale smell in the interior and pretty sure it's been a smokers car or dog owners (or both) in the past.
  • Drive mode buttons scratched (have since replaced).
The good bits
  • Great spec with everything I wanted including HUD, Comfort Access, Harmon Kardon, Cold Weather pack etc.
  • Leather and interior overall in excellent condition for it's age.
  • Mechanically sound and full BMW Service history, of which it had just been serviced by the local BMW dealer a couple of weeks before I got it.
This is what it looked like on arrival:

Arrival.jpg


DAY ONE
First thing to do was to give it a proper wash and going-over. So day one I washed, machine polished and waxed the whole car. Day two, I gutted the interior. Removed the rear bench, fixed a broken ISOFIX clip and a clip that had come off of the windbreak holder behind the rear seats.

I steam-cleaned the entire interior of the car including the head-liner, before spraying a new cabin filter in Chemical Guys New Car smell. After it had dried out, I replaced the cabin filter and the interior has smelt great since. Steam-cleaned the seats and wiped down with DR Leather Wipes.

Sill plates were a bit scuffed so I removed these and ran over them with a heat-gun to soften out the worst of the scuffs.

I personally think that cars that have front and side splitters/blades look at bit unfinished after the rear wheels without it continuing to the rear, so next job was to fit the Vorsteiner-style rear diffuser and M Performance tail-pipes.

BEFORE:

before-difusser.jpg


AFTER:

Difusser-exhausts.jpg
 

moonstone

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Thanks to @Jacko 11 selling a few bits, I bought his gear-shifter surround, Steering wheel trim and a set of spacers, so these were next to go on. Then my LCI Blackline rear lights arrived. The original lights had been tinted which I wasn't a fan of and the LCI lights really do update the rear.

blackline-lights1.jpg


blackline-lights2.jpg


The flag on the rear M4 badge was a bit tatty as were the wing vents, so swapped these out for the black versions at the same time:

black-m4-badge.jpg


m4-wingbadge.jpg


Next on the list was the LCI aircon trim with the ambient lighting so fitted this and decided to buff out some light scratches on the AC display and the black chrome finisher on the Carbon interior trim at the same time.

Interior-polish.jpg


Nice wee delivery from Cotswolds and some new carpets...

Cotswold-carpets.jpg


Cotsworls2.jpg


Still debating to myself if I really want the carbon shifter as the silver ties in with other silver elements in the car. Might do it eventually but decided against for the time being.
 

moonstone

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FIRST PROBLEM

Took the car out to head up to my brothers and the dash lit up like a christmas tree. Quick bit of googling followed by a diagnostic read using BIMMERLINK showed that the rear passenger ABS sensor was knackered. Also with it having been raining heavily all day, I noticed that I could hear water sloshing around behind me.

The water issue is a common problem on these cars, due to a design flaw where water gets in between the rear window and outer seal. The drain underneath gets blocked and the panel just fills up with water before eventually spilling into the boot and knackering electronics.

On M cars the underneath of the M skirts block the drainage hole and BMWs fix is to simply drill a hole but this isn't enough, because the plug that goes up inside has a design inside that looks like flights of stairs and it gets blocked with gunk easily. The fix is to simply remove it, leaving the collar in-place that it plugs into.

After sorting this out I ordered a full set of ABS sensors - I've read lots of stories on here where folk have had one replaced and another just goes shortly after so given the cost and ease to DIY fit them I thought I just do the lot. However after sorting the water issue and clearing the fault codes, they've never returned since!

You can see how bad this problem can be (not my car)





REALLY glad I caught this earlier as the recent run of wet weather would have made this much worse than it was.
 

moonstone

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CARPLAY

Android-Photo.jpg


You have to decide when doing retrofits where to draw the line on cost. What's the point of buying an older car at a certain price-point only to then spend thousands kitting it out with the newer stuff? At some point you would have been better off just buying a younger car in the first place. So for the time being I've ruled out an ID6 retrofit but I have been looking at Carplay boxes and Android screens for a while and up popped a used bargain on ebay so I bought it.

Still waiting on my Carplay dongle, but so far, I'm really impressed with this piece of kit and as its android-based you can play around with it so it shows your own car on the tiles. Your own personalised splash and boot screen etc.

I fitted this before realising just how much you can customise it to your liking and after nearly running the car battery down whilst buggering about with it, I uninstalled it and hooked it up to a spare 12v PSU I had lying around so I could skin it and set up everything how I want before putting it back in the car.

It fully works with the existing iDrive controls or you can use touchscreen. Also as it's an android unit you can install another launcher altogether if you like.

More info on these here for anyone interested:

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1699764
 

moonstone

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PAINT
Having been to see my preferred bodyshop and detailer it was pretty obvious that the paintwork wasn't going to satisfy me. Much of it could be corrected to a standard that I would be happy with but the front and rear bumpers needed properly done. Besides I'd need the holes from the front plate carrier filled in as I use a shorter-style private plate. This kind of grew legs a bit as I decided to get the bonnet done to sort out a fair few stone chips and was advised I should do the wings as well. So the car was booked in and is with the bodyshop today until the end of the week, before being booked into the detailer at the end of next month. Got myself some new arch PPF from @Hitlo and that'll be going on once it's all sorted out.

ROYAL STEERING WHEELS
I've no car to fit it to but this arrived today. Decided to go for alcantara (a first for me so hopefully I don't regret it) to go with the other alcantara M Performance bits. Also fancied a 12'o clock marker but wanted it to be subtle so had this done in black leather. Can't wait to fit it!

wheel.jpg


This is the second time I've used Royal Steering wheels and seriously, if you buy a used car with a bit of wear or some marks on the wheel, a re-trim totally lifts the interior. It's sat in front of your face and you're touching it all of the time so, for me, there's no one single thing that provides a bigger impact in the cabin.

Other bits planned and things to do so I'll keep this thread up-dated as long as folk are interested.

Cheers!
 

moonstone

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Finally got the car back from the paintshop and very pleased with the results. Soon as I got it back I fitted the new wheel. Such a big difference compared to the old one


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moonstone

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ANDROID HEAD UNIT INSTALLED

Whilst the car's been at the paintshop I've had a few bits arrive and also had time to set up the Android head-unit how I want it with personalised splash screen, my own car image (lifted from the Connected Drive site and then photo-shopped to include the black grill and red seats), weather tiles etc. Only issue with the unit is that there is a quite a bit of glare on the very reflective screen so I've ordered an anti-glare screen protector for it.

Also, as I've now got wireless carplay, I don't need to connect the phone to car via USB any more so retrofitted the wireless charging point as well.

Android-fin2.jpg


Android-fin.jpg


Wireless-Charge.jpg


LCI AC UNIT ADDED

Next up, I fitted the LCI AC unit. This needs only one line of coding in ESYS to get it to change from White to Amber when it's dark:

Code:
IHKA3 > 3006 > Display-Farbumschlag > AKTIV

(the display looks scratched in the photo but it just needed a wipe).

LCI-AC.jpg


M PERFORMANCE PEDAL SET

Find it a bit cheap of BMW that they don't give you nice pedals as standard in their M Cars to be honest. This is a mod that I did on my M6 as well. Lifts the footwell a wee bit

Pedals-before.jpg


Pedals-During.jpg


Also gave the seats a really good clean with Liquid Leather as they were looking a bit shiny, before using some ColourLock to take care of a couple of wee nicks and scuffs.

Pedals-after.jpg


After that I decided to give under the engine bay a tidy up and a decent clean.

Engine1.jpg
 

moonstone

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Added a set of LED indicator bulbs today to get rid of that fried-egg look.

Ive got bigger long term plans for the lights but these will help in the meantime.

BEFORE

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AFTER

53-C178-E9-931-B-4-DB8-8-BDF-0143-D7-CAF285.jpg
 

moonstone

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EIBACH PRO KIT FITTED

springs.jpg


Car was in getting the above fitted yesterday with the alignment done this morning. Having gone for coil-overs on the RS5 (it didn't have EDC) and not having adjusted them since they were fitted I didn't really see the point of shelling out for a HAS kit or coilovers again, especially with the cost, considering the other things I'm spending money on as well. I also didn't want it to be slammed and hard to live with so opted for the Eibachs. Really pleased with the look.

Lowered-Front1.jpg


Lowered-Front2.jpg


Lowered-Rear1.jpg


Rear-lowered.jpg
 

moonstone

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Seat badges fitted

completed.jpg


Full write-up on how to do this on a vert is here:

 
Last edited:

moonstone

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DRIVERS SIDE STORAGE CUBBY FITTED

My car doesn't have the storage pack or any of the drivers aids that required the switch bank and I miss having a cubby for my sunglasses and a micro-fibre.

Part numbers required:

51459240633 - Glovebox
51459267520 - Glovebox fixing bracket
07149185673 - Screws to hold bracket in place (TORX 20)

You need to chop up the dash to create a hole for it to fit but after that it's just a bracket and two screws. I used an ocilating multi-tool to cut the hole after making up a template from measuring the cubby unit. I just cut on the smaller side and then shaved off more as needed.

storage6.png


storage5.png


storage-4.png


storage3.png


storage.png


storage2.png
 

moonstone

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NEW WHEELS ON TODAY

Veemann VC520 20"
Front - 20x9.5 ET25 MPS4S 265/30/20
Rear - 20x10.5 ET30 MPS4S 285/30/20

Could not be happier with these. Photos really don't do them justice. Thanks to @cricmcn for sorting them out for me.

wheels-1.png


wheels-3.png


wheels-back.png


wheels-side.png


IMG-7216.jpg


Couple of other wee bits and pieces on the list and then I think we're done!

DIY BMW WHEEL CAPS

May not be apparent from the wheel photos but the OEM centre-caps don't work well with the new wheels. They poke out a bit. Decided to make my own with some generic caps, sandpaper, spray paint and BMW Gel badges from ebay:

wheelcaps.jpg
 

moonstone

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44 hours of polishing....

Defined Details Scotland if you’re in the West of Scotland and looking for a good detailer. 2/3 month waiting list though.

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moonstone

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M PERFORMANCE SILL PLATES

I'm in the end-game now. All the the major stuff has been done so it's really a few bits and pieces now apart from the front lights. Got a nice custom bit of interior work being done by @Hitlo and his PPF to go on. Had the M Performance sills arrive whilst the car was being detailed and stuck them on tonight.

Definitely not enough ///Ms in this photo! :D

M-Sills.jpg


And here's a couple in the in the sunshine after getting it back from the detailers earlier

Day-detail1.jpg


daydetail2.jpg
 

moonstone

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Finished the paintwork on my lights. I opted to keep the chome strip along the bottom half of the eyebrow and do the indicator diffuser and matching element next to grill in Audi Daytona Grey (had some lying around from my RS5).

The idea is that even with no lights on the Angel rings and lightbrow are still light against an otherwise dark background so that the classic twin ring and eyebrow style is retained even with the lights switched off.

Decided to order new lenses so I'm waiting on these before I reseal and fit. Pretty happy with how they turned out.

ligh1.jpg


NEW HEADLIGHTS FITTED

My new lenses finally arrived from China today and being itching to get my painted lights fitted I was determined to get it done today. So blitzed through work and got started at lunchtime. Before today I hadn't been happy with the paint finish on the parts (just weren't durable and prone to flaking off in parts) so further to my last update on these further above, I actually stripped all the parts (whacked them in a bag of Oven Pride) and started again. I'd read some bad advice saying I should use heatproof paint and I ended up using VHT engine enamel which was a bad shout. So after stripping the bits back I used a combo of gloss black and matt black Plastikote and everything came out much better this time around.

At this point I've no idea if the new headlights even work! So first thing to do was to get the old ones off and then swap the modules and bulbs and plug everything in. I wanted to do this before sealing them up with the new lenses just in case something was knackered.

So firstly, jacked up the car, took the front wheels off, front arch liners off and then took the front bumper off before removing the existing headlights.

Stripped.jpg


Next up. It was time to swap over my modules and bulbs before plugging them back in to make sure everything works before re-sealing them back up. Here's a comparison between the original headlights and the custom set I made.

I painted the indicator housing gloss black along with the chrome decorative part closest to the kidneys and the chrome section that runs along the bottom. I split the eyebrow so that the bottom section where the eyebrow light is, is still chrome but the top part is matt black (to contrast against the glossy black paintwork of the bonnet). I also did the light-housings themselves matt. So all black but some nice subtle contrasting elements.

Healdights-floor.jpg


Now it was time to plug them in and make sure everything was OK. One thing I was a bit concerned about was painting the chrome reflector for the indicators but a happy coincidence of stripping everything with oven cleaner is that the small difusser piece that goes in front of the indicator bulb is entirely clear plastic. That coupled with my LED bulbs meant that it works perfectly and is still nice and bright.

Old-Left-New-Right-Test.jpg


After testing I used Tigerseal to seal the lenses to the housings before re-installing back to the car. This had taken much longer than I thought due to having to line up the panel gaps and headlights so it was a bit fiddly and took me ages to get everything lined up exactly right. Especially seeing as it was dark when I was getting finished. This is the finished result:

Complete1.jpg


Complete2.jpg


I'm delighted with it. I'd love a set of ICONS but based on what I paid for the car versus what a set of those, with modules is coming in at, it just doesn't make sense. This job makes the car much more modern looking. I think it has an even bigger impact on on a black car as all the chrome is especially noticeable against the black paintwork. I’ll get a daytime photo tomorrow.

My plan is to customise my old set of lights and then put them up for sale which should make the whole thing cost neutral.

Car is filthy but here's some better comparison and day-time shots of the headlights. Straight-on the difference is pretty negligible to be honest but from any other angle you really see the difference. This was the final peice of the puzzle for me I think in terms of the exterior. Few other wee bits but this has really brought the front end bang up to date.

Cutters-comp1.jpg



Cutters-comp2.jpg


Cutters-comp3.jpg


Cutters-halos-off.jpg
 

moonstone

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Alcantara Knee Rest (M Performance stitching)

A wee delivery from @Hitlo's workshop today. Sent him my knee rest to have it covered in alcantara to match the rest of the M-Performance parts & my steering wheel. After changing out the door handles the knee rest was the only part left in the car that was black leather with Sakhir stitching. Really please with the result here. Finishes it off beatifully.

IMG-7547.jpg


IMG-7549.jpg


IMG-7552.jpg


IMG-7554.jpg
 

moonstone

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Had a very productive day today. A job that I've had on the list since I got it:

Seats out. Pretty bogging underneath. Ground in chocolate (i hope) and various other bits of detritous that have built up over the last six years, including a fruit gum stuck to the underside of the drivers seat.

b4-1.jpg


Hoovered, shampooed and still a few foamy bits drying out. Everything sprayed down with Chemical Guys New Car Smell. I love that stuff but it doesn't last long unfortunately.

after-1.jpg


Check out the colour of the water that came out of the carpet!!!

waste-water.jpg


Next up, time to sort out the worn drivers bolster and the shiny leather. Passenger seat not too bad but the drivers seat base was very shiny.

Shiny-Seat.jpg


Polish Angel Snowcake is amazing on interior plastics and of course the old Pears soap for the leather is excellent. Also had some Colourlock to take care of the worn bolster.

products.jpg


Leather looking like new. Nice matt finish and first coat of Colourlock on the bolster.

matt-seat.jpg


Seat plastics all treated with Snowcake. Also steam cleaned the seatbelt for good measure.

seat-plastics.jpg


And the finished result. Interesting how the camera makes the leather look really bright against the anthracite interior but gives a truer picture of what the Sakhir Orange leather looks like against my wooden floor.

finished.jpg


Think I'll have a go at the door cards tomorrow if I have time. Really pleased with the result and so nice to get the car up to enthusiast standards!
 
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