So again, thanks to work commitments, it's been a while since my last update - apologies!
But, to fill in the gaps, since my last post...
Paint and Bodywork:
Unfortunately, whilst parked, my M235i has had its bumper driven into not once, but twice. I've left it parked, and returned to it on two separate occasions to find nasty paintwork damage. Neither times was a note left by whoever caused the damage - what a lovely society we live in.
The first time, the front of the bumper (nearby the plate) was all scuffed, taking some of the paint off down to the plastic. The second time, the whole front passenger corner had been hit, scraping nearly the whole of it down to plastic. Since then, the front bumper has been entirely repaired and repainted by a professional private bodyshop near my home, who've been fantastically helpful.
Since the results from their bumper repair were so fantastic, I decided to bite the bullet in the end and get them to repair my damaged roof, and take out the nasty gouges out of both wings, caused by stones being thrown up by lorries through the winter. Honestly, the costs have been incredibly reasonable, and the results are fantastic.
M Performance Parts and New Equipment:
Unfortunately, no changes here. I've been limited both by time, and money, but my plans still remain firm, so watch this space!
A job I've completed today though that I thought I'd post a little DIY for, was replacing my passenger side interior door pull/handle (brushed aluminium). My girlfriend kindly completely destroyed the original one by clambering in and out of my car rather carelessly whilst wearing rather excessive amounts of entirely unnecessary "finger bling" as I like to call it. Needless to say, she is now banned from the car, and can damn well stick to using her own and ruining that instead.
I purchased the part from my usual supplier (Cotswold BMW - Cheltenham), and as always, they delivered it immediately the next day. The part number for the brushed aluminium trim is B51.41.7.240.417 (I'm assuming there will be a different part number for the other side, as they're not symmetrical - for all American readers out there, this part number applies to the left hand door).
Supposedly, the trim was a simple 'ping off' job, but I couldn't find any guides for its removal anywhere online, so I had no choice but to operate a 'slowly and carefully' approach, learning as I went.
So you can see some of the damage my girlfriend kindly caused below here:
I used the flat end of an old bicycle tyre lever I had in my tool box, wrapped in tape to protect plastics, to start prying the original off (nothing like a good 'bodge it' tool). I started towards the bottom, as you can see below:
With a bit of careful leverage, the first clips started to release fairly easily. I then worked my way up the outside edge of the trim, prying carefully, releasing each clip. I then worked my way up the underside of the trim as well, doing the same. Once all clips were loosened, a gentle tug released the trim - no clips damaged or broken in the process:
Fitting the new replacement was of course a very simple task indeed - simply pushed it into the existing fittings, until it all 'clicked into place'. I did start by inserting the bottom 'hooked clip' first, to ensure it fitted correctly. So here below, is the fitted replacement. Good as new:
And here is the old damaged part, ready to be wrapped up neatly and given to my girlfriend as her Christmas present - you break it, you buy it and all that:
So hopefully that's at least a little bit helpful to anyone who's attempting to do the same on their 2 series. My supplier did kindly send me over the workshop fitting guide for the part also, so I thought I'd scan that in and upload it for anyone who wanted it (I didn't really follow the instructions within it, and sort of took my own route, but it's still useful). Please see .PDF attached in this post.
Hopefully I'll have some more cheerful and interesting updates soon!