23 March 2005. Blog entry by Bimmerman.

I finally managed to get the front brakes upgraded. I bought a set of used brake calipers (that I was told came off an e32 750i) and also repair kits to service the calipers. For the discs, I chose BMW OEM replacement disc from Brembo because they're a big name in brakes hence I felt quality should be good. Moreover, Brembo BMW OEM discs are relatively and surprisingly cheap given the general prices of their brake kits. Some had suggested that I go for slotted discs as they offer better performance but I think just upgrading the brake setup from the e34 520i to the e32 7 Series brakes should provide more than enough brakes for my needs at this point in time. As for the brake pads, I went with Jurid BMW OEM replacements brake pads. I might consider changing the brake pads to something like EBC greenstuff when I eventually get more power under the hood. Besides the calipers, discs and pads, I had all the brake hoses replaced using original rubber brake hoses from BMW. The best part about this upgrade is I only spent a little more than an hour at the workshop and the e32 brakes (wider and thicker compared stock brakes on the 520i) fit under the original 15" e34 wheels. I will write more on the performance of the upgraded brakes after running them for about a week.

 

12 March 2005. Blog entry by Bimmerman.

The shop that sold me the IDMax asked about my system set up priorities to determine how best to install the subwoofer. This is the same shop that did my current setup and the guy clearly remembered me wanting the front components speakers and rear-fills to go into stock positions - no cutting any parts of the car and no fancy branded cables! For me, maximum boot space was top priority followed by sound quality. A nice-looking install was not necessary. They suggested mounting the IDMax free-air which seemed like a good idea. Coincidentally, there was a W124 Mercedes at the shop with a couple of IDMax mounted free-air on the rear deck. It was a very neat set up and it sounded rather good too (same CDT HD front components but driven with Tru amps). I was all for the idea except that a hole had to be cut on the metal plate immediately below the rear deck. He told me it had been done for many customers with continental cars (BMW and Mercedes) and none of them had any problems. Anyway, that killed any plans I might have had for to mount the subwoofer free-air. Since I'll have to box the sub, I need to do some homework on the required volume and shape of the enclosure. It'll definitely be a sealed enclosure because it takes less space than a ported design and I want the boot to comfortably swallow two golf bags and then some.