Nach nunmehr fast einem Jahr naehert sich der Wagen von Gerry auf der Insel so allmaehlich der Komplettierung.
Wer sich nicht mehr so ganz an die fantastisch dokumentierte Grundsanierung erinnern kann, klicke auf die nachfolgenden Links

Teil 1 Die Story und viele verchromte Einzelteile

Teil 2 Hinterachse, Bremse

Teil 3 Vorderachse, Bremse, Kupplung/Schwungrad

Teil 4 Kupplung, Gertriebe, Auspuff

Im moeglicherweise letzten Teil geht es zunaechst einmal um eine "simple" Achsvermessung - dabei faellt mir zum ersten Male auf, dass der Wagen so allmaehlich nicht mehr ein reines Restaurationsobjekt ist, sondern auch schon recht eigenwillige Tuningfeatures, wie z.B. die Schneeschippe unter dem CSi Spoiler zu Markte traegt.

Achsvermessung 11. Juni 2005

Hi guys, I took the car to the dealers today to get the steering and suspension geometry set-up. As I expected, the settings were way out from where I had just set all the camber and toe settings in the midway position on re-assembly. I had used my own optical alignment equipment to set the front and rear toe to parallel just to get the car to the dealer but of course this did not mean they were pointing forwards or the rear directly tracking behind the front but you can see from the final printout I was really close.

Here we are getting ready to put the car on the KDS11 Alignment System. Moment of truth approaches!



We put the car on the alignment ramp and got it centralised and on the turn plates.



Making allowances for the weight of the AV system, the car was loaded with sand bags in the rear..........



and in the front...................



The wheel sensor modules are mounted on these frames which mount onto the wheels through the 5 holes between the wheel mounting bolts, and locate onto the brake disc flange behind the wheel. This is to eliminate any inaccuracy due to rim missalignments. You can see that we are only using 4 pins as I have BMW Motorsport emblems mounted in 1 hole of each wheel.



Here we are mounting the clamps to the wheels.



and here the fitted clamp is ready for the sensor module to be installed.



Next, the four modules are assembled to the clamps. Thes modules are in wireless contact with both the main KDS computer and with each other. The cables you can see are charging power leads as the last BMW technician to use them didnt refit them on the charging unit!



First job was to take a full set of measurements from the car as it was. These readings can be seen under the heading of Initial Measurement on the KDS printout below. The vehicle ride height can be seen as 572mm front and 602mm rear with ZERO lean to either side. This was just 2mm higher than spec. Bear in mind also that I have Schnitzer race springs on the front with MWrench camber plates, and my own rear springs in Schnitzer rate but stock height on the rear with Spax coil-over damping adjustable shocks. I am VERY pleased with the ride height values as it shows that the car is running perfectly flat and level with all my mods in place.
As I had expected my front camber to now be around -1.42" to -1.54" I was thrilled to find this to be the case "out-of-the-box" as it were! I therefore set the rear camber to the same value,( hence the print-out showing both out of tolerance)
We centralised the steering wheel and then adjusted the individual front steering arms to obtain the correct individual toe and total toe settings. Similarly, we adjusted the rear cam bolt adjusters on the upper arms to obtain the same. Toe-out on turns automatically went within spec and as we knew this would be tragically out of spec beforehand we didn't even check it!!!
So there you have it, the car now feels rock steady on the street, with super-precise steering although I am still driving very sheepishly with it whilst all the new parts get to know each other. I still have to experiment with damper settings and I have still to pre-load the front anti-roll bar but for now, the car is back in the garage for the AV install to be completed, a thorough tightening up everywhere with the torque wrench, and then the refitting of the interior and a major clean-up. I will keep posting as I go along if you all want me to?
Here is the before and after print-out. Must go now, the garage is calling!



If there are any questions, please ask and I will do my best to answer them.
Regards to you all,
Gerry 1996 M850CSi

Den nun folgenden Rest koennte man ganz getrost in die Car-HiFi und Multimedia Ecke driften lassen.
Auch wenn es nicht mehr viel mit der Wiederherstellung des 8ers an sich zu tun hat, so halte ich den betriebenen Aufwand dennoch fuer absolut einmalig und die Qualitaet der Arbeit fuer durchaus bemerkenswert. Es folgen hier mit Dutzenden von Bildern die detaillierten Schritte zum Einbau des DTS Audio/Video Systems, welches die hinten sitzenden Beinamputierten den Schmerz ganz sicher leichter ertragen laesst.

Audio & Video 16. Juni 2005
I have now got all the AV equipment installed in the car and have just been setting it up and I am so pleased with it I just had to post although the finishing trimming is still yet to be done
As you may know, I recently did a post on the power supply for the system, but to try and make it a little more interesting I thought I would do a larger post this time with all the systems shown

To try and do the post in some kind of order, I will do it in sub-sections starting with:-

Source Components

The main system controller is the Pioneer AVX-P7000CD 7" widescreen display with integrated CD Player. Here it is shown in the closed position



Here it is shown with the display open



The unit can be operated either in the open or closed positions with the remote controller shown here



The main source of CD is the boot(trunk) mounted Pioneer CDX-P1280 12 disc multichanger in addition to the single CD player within the head unit



Mounted above the left hand battery, behind the trim panel on an alloy bridging panel, is the Pioneer XDV-P9 DVD multichanger and the AVIC Satellite Navigation Drive



with the fusebox for the amplifiers below



The Television Tuner, Pioneer GEX-P7000TVP is here



The System

All of these source components feed, and are controlled by, the Pioneer AVMP9000R AV Master unit. With its integrated DTS/Dolby Digital 5.1 decoders and 6 channel power amps, this is the "brains" of the system. I utilise the front center channel amplifier of this unit but bypass the other 5 channels to feed the external power amplifiers



This unit is mounted on the bulkhead, behind the rear seats on the left hand side and connected up as shown with gold plated, triple screened AV phono leads



The TV Tuner mounts similarly on the other side





The rear headrest monitors are 5 1/4" 4X3 aspect ratio as the space in these headrests is limited



the video feed for these monitors is selected from this Pioneer CD-VS33 selector unit, so each screen can individually select TV, DVD or Video games, with the individual having control over the volume of their headphones also



The TV aerials are mounted internally on the rear screen and are 4 channel so the strongest reception aerial is automatically selected



but are barely visible from the outside through the tinted glass



Amplification

The external amplifiers utilised are the Phoenix Gold Xenon X400.1 which is a 400 Watt RMS mono amp powering the Subwoofer,



And the Phoenix Gold Xenon X100.4, 4X100 Watt RMS 4 channel amp powering the front and rear speakers



Here I am measuring the area required to mount the amps



Due to the high current requirements of the amplifiers, a substantial 5 Farad stiffening capacitor from Lanzar is used



Speakers

The sub bass of the system I wanted was not the boom boom boom you often hear, but a tight, controlled bass with good slam and depth, so I decided on a sealed enclosure mounted in the boot. Low bass in the front is handled by a pair of Rockford Fosgate 6 1/2" subwoofers mounted in the front footwells on MDF panels



My choice of rear subwoofer driver was the JL Audio 12W6V2-D4



Front view



I decided to design and manufacture my own subwoofer enclosure. Given the speaker parameters, I calculated the required internal volume of the enclosure as 1.25 cuft, taking into account the volume of 0.09 cuft taken up by the speaker itself. The enclosure itself is made of 3/4" MDF, rather than the normal 1/2". Here you can see the enclosure with the speaker apparently offset from central. However the encl sits flush to the right hand side of the boot with a gap on the left to run the cabling. The back of the box is full width and the speaker is in line with this mid point, allowing it to align with the through loading hatch



An internal 1" ply baffle is inserted inside the enclosure to set the internal volume to exactly 1.25 cuft. Here the driver is being test wired prior to carpeting the enclosure



A female Neutrik socket is mounted to the side of the enclosure



The Neutrik connector is a professional audio connector used on PA cabinets because of its positive, vibration proof, locking connection. Here it is shown prior to installation,



The enclosure is now trimmed in carpet matching the colour and texture of the original BMW trim material and the speaker installed





The amplifiers are now mounted to the rear of the enclosure. Note the excess trim material on each end



With the enclosure mounted in the boot, those extra lengths of trim material tuck in the joint between the stock front and rear trim panels



On both sides, here with the amps wired ready for testing



With the enclosure mounted, and the through load hatch trimmed, the sub faces through the hatch



View from the front of the car prior to refitting the rear armrest.



Rear speakers are installed in the stock positions in the rear shelf and are Rockford Fosgate 6 X 9's mounted on an MDF panel



The MDF panels are screwed into the shelf bulkhead and sealed with Sikaflex, a sealant very similar to Silicone sealant but which dries very hard like tyre rubber



Here is a comparison between the heavy gauge speaker cable used for the high current requirements of the sub and the finesse and accuracy produced by using silver plated cable on the other drive units



For the front speakers, a 3-way component system is used. The subs footwell mounted mentioned earlier and here the Caliber tweeters mounted high up in the front doors



with 4" midrange drivers from Alpine mounted in the stock door position



The MB Quart 3-way crossover networks are mounted either side of the car, behind the rear interior sidepanels. These divide the full range signal received from the amp and direct the appropriate frequencies to the relevent front driver. Additional panel sound deadening material can be seen here on the inside of the rear panels



The crossover is mounted with double sided tape to prevent any permanent vehicle damage



A center front channel speaker is required in all DTS(Digital Theatre System) and Dolby Digital 5.1, 6 discreet channel audio systems, so I had to find an equally discreet position to install a center front speaker. I sourced a high quality, digital television full range speaker that was a perfect fit inside the front passenger center air vent



I fitted this to the rear of the vent and the drivers side vent works as normal



With the panel reinstalled, the vent appears stock. The speaker is directly above the screen an is extremely effective in focussing dialogue on the screen on DTS/DD 5.1 programs



So there we have it. The only trouble is I am unable to let you all hear it or see it but even if I say so myself, when I fired it all up with an Elton John Live DVD in DTS I was stunned into silence. I am currently setting it up with a Lucasfilm Optimiser and the few friends who have heard it are just blown away

Basic Glossary
Mono - A single channel audio feed where 1 speaker produces all the sound signal
Stereo - A 2 channel audio signal with left and right speakers producing seperate, discreet sounds giving a wide sound stage. Center image is produced by outputting the same sound from both speakers
Pro-Logic - A 4 channel audio system with discreet left and right outputs, a matrixed pseudo-central front speaker and mono rear compressed echo effect channel
Dolby Digital/DTS 5.1 - A discreet 6 channel audio system with totally seperate, and full range high quality digital front left and right, rear left and right, center front and subwoofer outputs
Dolby Digital/DTS 6.1 - Same as above but with a center rear channel

Gerry. 1996 M850CSi