Daily Base -> Daily wannabe Sport
 

I finally got it done. After 11 years, I have transformed my daily driver Base '95 ti into an almost '95 Sport. I got the Sport sway bars put in a few years after getting the car in '95. 2 years ago I put in the OEM sport srings and Koni SA's. A few months back I was lucky enough to find a M-tech rear bumper in Alpine White that I picked up locally for cheap. This past month I bought a replica M3 front bumper and twisties and had them painted.

I did not like the twisties on the ti. The front/rear visual balance is off with the twisties so, again, luckily, I found someone off of Bf.c who wanted to swap OEM lux skirts for my replica twisties (both Alpine white!). I also picked up a 17mm rear sway bar off a Z3 coupe, which is 1 mm thicker than the sport bar. Should help dial out understeer. My old bar was pretty beat up from the east coast winters.

I love it!. It's put new life into an otherwise mundane looking commuter car. I feel like a I got a new car, almost.

These are before pics, twistie pics, and the next post will have Non-twistie Lux skirts.

And the non-twisties.

Looks good! Now all you need are the Sport side moldings.

What is your interior like?

Not sure I can justify $180 for the moldings when my new bumper cost less than that with all the mouldings, lip, and grill. If only taiwan would make reps of them and sell them for $20.

And my interior is the basic, cloth, non-sport fare, which is great for the daily commute and has held up surprisingly well. I have no plans to do much to the interior. I leave that part to my 330ti.

just put an m badge on the side.

amazing how much difference the rear bumper makes ! :D

Agreed with the door mouldings! Gotta get ´em ($150 from bmw)
then the M mirrors
the front spoiler lip

and you´re there son :)

nice car.
how much did you pay for your front bumper?
do you have a website link?
TIA

looks good nice work chris!

that's a nice looking ti, do you have any darker pics of the side skirts, can't really see what they look like with the bright white paint

i do like the lux a lot more than the twisties!

the twisties seem like they go to low

+1 to what Josh said, I like them

yeah, forgot the pics, google images FTW :biggrin:

I paid $149 for the bumper and $100 for the skirts and about $20 for all of it shipped to my door.

I got them from http://www.ddmtuning.com/

You should know that painting it will usually cost upwards of $4-500 dollars, unless you know someone.

A week after I bought the bumper, the price went down to $112.50 and the skirt were $87. I'm not sure how they can charge so little. The skirts are a little long at the ends, but not really noticeable.

The bumper fits perfect except for the grill, which I had to modify slightly to fit. Only a real trained eye will even suspect this is a replica bumper. I highly recommend the bumper.

Also, these guys are doing ablow out on Depo Gen-4 lights with 35W HIDs, angel eyes and laminex for something like $135. Again, don't know how it can be sold for so cheap.

Mallard, if you look closely, the lips on already.

damn thats a steal for those head lights! im gonna go inspect this real quick! thanks for the tips!

just ordered a bunch of stuff.
i love you clex!
in a non-gay way

I saw some stuff that I want order but I'm broke! :mad:
Curse you, clex!! LOL

:_pelvic2: Sorry... SOMEbody was bound to do that. LOL :icon_poke

Seriously though... I.e., you love him "in that special way that only BMW enthusiasts can feel for each other"?? :smile:

I love ddmtuning, they're the only company that sells BMW-specific pedel sets for less than $100, I don't understand why the sets on Bavauto are so over-priced :confused:

Great...........I think.

This is the link to the Bf.c thread on the DDM lighting packages.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...d.php?t=956144

lol...:omfg:
ok...i guess a simple thanks would have been good enough.
right on

The ti is looking good clex2! :cool: +1 on DDMtuning for great deals.

by jove, you´re right :D

Great Job!
 

It looks so different from when I last saw it. I'm attempting to do the same thing with mine. Good Job.

Good to hear from you, Andy. I do miss SD now and again. Best weather in Cali for sure. Norcal is good, though. Glad to hear your car is doing well. I think the M-tech body upgrade is a nice addition. The hardest part is going to be the rear bumper, but you could just do the M3 front bumper since IIRC, your car has color matched rear bumper and skirts already.

If I hadn't found the M-tech rear bumper for cheap and already painted the right color, I never would have gone ahead with the full conversion. From what I read on this forum, M-tech rear bumpers are hard to come by.

Yea looks good clex2, sean what did you end up getting? This is the bumper we were talking about right?

yep

dang. the ti has come a long ways. lookin' real sweet.

Followup:
 

I caved and bought the M-tech side mouldings.

right on!
you've been an inspiration to both me and my car.
thanks again

both your cars look so sweet... really nice.

ot, did you figure out the electrical drain?

Guys, thanks for the kind words. As far as the electric drain and erratic idle, I have a new ICV, intake /throttle body gaskets, and associated rubber hoses ordered. My guess, and it's only a guess, is that the ICV is not performing as it should or I have a vacuum leak in the intake. I'll report back once the new parts are in.

James, turns out the culprit was a bad ICV. I tried my best to clean the ICV per various threads. I thought I did a thorough job, but I think there still are electrical bits to the ICV that can't be cleaned. After the new ICV went in, the idle problem is gone. Recently it's been >100 degress and I know the radiator fan is kicking in while the AC is on full blast and you can sense a slight drop in the idle when all the ancillaries are on, but the tach needle is rock steady. If the rpm does drop, it's not more than 50 rpm. However, the "idle hunt" that happens when coming off the throttle w/ AC on is still there. It only happens when going a certain speed and the rpm drop hits 1500 right after coming off the gas (this is a slushbox so I doubt this will occur in a manual car). If I'm going faster or slower to where the rpm drop off throttle is not near 1500, the idle hunting does not occur. Very weird.

Look at this guy resurrecting an ooooooooold thread, lol. Did you find the rear bumper on ddmtuning as well? That's the only part I cannot seem to source for my Ti for a reasonable price.

I looked on their site but couldn't find it

Indiejack,

You're out of luck with the rear sport bumper. There has never been a reproduction rear ti sport bumper. You will have to find one used, if you are lucky, or ante up and buy it new. Even used, they can be pricey. However, for the ti, it is a very worthwhile addition as it really transforms the look of the rear end.

OT, I just did a KBB search of the ti and was shocked to find the current value of my ti to be $2270. Just a fews years ago it was about $4K. Don't know if there is a cheaper, more fun, more reliable, or more unique form of daily transportation. I positive that any average joe on the street could net see the ti as a $2000 car. I'll keep driving mine as long as I can.

indiejack try ebay.co.uk and PM the seller for shipping quote, thts what i did