What are your favorite little tweaks?

J

johanaxelson

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I thought of this when reading about swapping the bulbs for the instrument cluster to 4W, it is a small tweak that improves something to add something to make the car a little better for the owner/driver.

Also the handbrake tweak.

Am thinking of the small things not swapping 4sp to 5speed and so.

Are there any more? Could be fun to collect them in a thread.
 
Relay's and new wiring to the electric windows

Relay and big power feed to head lights

Bigger lamps to head lights

and for me, because I'm scared i'll end up going backwards into someone at the lights one day, a buzzer wired into the reverse lamp on my dogleg box. I don't know how many times I've put it into reverse at the traffic lights through force of habit with my other "normal" manual gearboxes
 
Handbrake, bulbs, sway bars, Bilsteins, non-intrusive iPhone interface to radio, hood insulation foam, window motors/gearbox/switches, new guibo, manual sunroof seals, toolbox, grills, fix the clock, wax, time for dinner.
 
kasbatts said:
and for me, because I'm scared i'll end up going backwards into someone at the lights one day, a buzzer wired into the reverse lamp on my dogleg box.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I might adopt this actually. Not for me so much as the other people who might drive my car on a very rare basis.
 
A modern, powerful electrical system and manual roll-up windows.
(Sounds like a paradox... ;-)
 
Maybe an amount should be set for what is defined as a little tweak...jobs under $1K maybe? To what has been mentioned, I would add Lowering Springs. I could list dozens more tweaks that are under $1K, but for the money, none of them will make the coupe look better.
 
Look for the recent HackMechanic rehash of the "101 things to do to a 2002". Most are transferable/applicable to the e9 as well, Hans and Fritz did them both, muchly similar.
 
Yeah Walter, as I mentioned in the first post I was thinking about the small things so maybe like max 100 bucks.

I was also thinking more along the lines of adding or improving functionality not trim.

Tricky to nail it down but is a fun topic and many things may not have been covered as much as things like sway bars and tranny conversions.

I am doing what Arde said, no stereo just a discrete line in for the phone.
 
Every tweak I have on my car combined is under $1K net - engine, carbs, seats, wheels, brakes, gauges, fan, etc.
 
Among others:

Pertronics / Lumenition ignition
Hand brake fix (deQ-Style)
Better bulbs (all 4 corners + cluster)
new rubber bushings (front and rear axle)

not under 1K$ but under 1K€... (at least each)
40% LSD
5-speed
new Bilsteins + bushings and alignment job
23/18 mm or 24/19 mm factory sway bars

Cheers
A
 
adding that extra LED-brake strip (learned from this forum) is a great idea, feel safer.

adding seat belt holders to keep them from wearing on the front seat's leather.

s/s screws and washers for the toolbox

the most rewarding little job so far is still the simple Aux/jack line to the back of the Blaupunkt unit. Took me hours to do this little job, but being able to listen to my iPod while cruising, although in mono, is still priceless....
 
Not really a tweak per se, but definitely under $100 would be using a clay bar ($25 for a "kit") to to get rid of surface contanimants in the paint, then a polish and wax. Makes your coupe look like it just rolled out of the paint booth. I was also really pleased at how my trunk lining looked after I took a scrub brush to it. I had tried spray-on/wipe off cleaners before and what really worked was a good old-fashioned $2 scuzz brush. The trunk lining was like new afterwards.
 
Cheap:

For hot climates, the heater bypass drops the cabin temp significantly.

Removing the front strut spacers for budget stance lowering

iphone input for my old Becker - the stereo amplifier section with the 4 original speakers sounds pretty darn good and now I can stream my period-correct music instead of fiddling with the tuning knob to keep the station from fading in and out

Andrew's invisible 3rd brake light strip

solenoid for idle bump when the a/c kicks on

relays for all windows and low beams + higher wattage bulbs for hi's and low's

plugging existing gas tank vent lines and rerouting out the trunk floor - no more smell

LED's for rear parking and brake lights

HBChris' tall person seat angle mod by adding washers under the rail

polished brass overflow tank - nice visual enhancement under hood


Not cheap but worth every penny:

a/c upgrade with rotary compressor and parallel condenser

9 blade fan and modern clutch

85 amp alternator

bilsteins and lowering springs

triple webers - yowser!

AFR gauge install


On my list:

5 speed
 
Last edited:
Under the hood.

The correct stickers located in all the correct places.

New windshield washer hose and clips

knurled screws for the plates over the headlights
new seals for the plates over the headlights

Can relays for that period correct look

new gaskets for the windshield wiper mechanism (from Isetta Guy)

GummiPfluge for all seals and bumper rubber.

If you have Alpina wheels $80 for new Alpina center caps
 
Stan said:
Under the hood.

The correct stickers located in all the correct places.

New windshield washer hose and clips

knurled screws for the plates over the headlights
new seals for the plates over the headlights

Can relays for that period correct look

new gaskets for the windshield wiper mechanism (from Isetta Guy)

GummiPfluge for all seals and bumper rubber.

If you have Alpina wheels $80 for new Alpina center caps
Click to expand...


+1 Same list as me. I'd add wiring near the fuse box that is tied-up and out of the way.
 
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