Yes, that almost makes up for the EIS problem.

Chapter 1: Bi-xeon Clear Headlights

So its now time for the first chapter of the coupes build thread! I always hated the frostys so much, I just thought they made the car look so old, Plus I wanted a brighter light out put. When I first got the car and started searching around for new headlights it seemed like anything that was clear was above a thousand dollars. So I put it off, then I saw on ebay the other day that they sell DEPO bi-xeons and I pulled the trigger right away. They got here today and right when I got home from work I started working on them. I just finished and had a huge disappointment but also a happiness. The good thing was that they looks sick and really gave the car a nice facelift look. At first the blinkers wouldn't work, then I got those to work, then I turned on the light but the car was off and they turned on with no issue and stayed on. I decided to go for a quick drive to see how bright they really were on the rode. As soon as a started the car they started to flicker on and off and
wouldn't stay on continuously, they would just keep flickering. I waited a while and tried many different times but it would keep flickering. Then I tried turning off the car and turning on the lights and they turned on with no problem. Tried turning on the car and the flickering came back. So after all that work I cant even drive with them, which sucks. I guess I need to get a new HID kit to make it work but I think DEPO should cover it because I bought it brand new from them, I will send them an email now and see were that goes. In the mean time heres some quick pics I took after I finished up.

like this eh, that was my car TROLOLOLOLOLOL

you just need to bring the car to the dealer and have them set to Xenon = Present

or you need to get a bypass kit

iono why... either the car need to be polish or missing front lip kit it just look weird... maybe because its not OEM?

Yeah, my headlights frost up like crazy every 2 to 3 months. I got tired of having to do a cleaning on them so often so now I just leave them. How much did you spend for those?

Also, I have to agree with KIRA. M111 is solid as a rock. Yes, it is loud and rough, but it will run until the end of time. I have never known anyone with an M271 that didn't break down at some point. The engine may feel more refined, but it isn't reliable. For now the M111 may be fast enough, but once you start to feel like you need more power the ASP pulley really helps. I love the way the car feels and sounds since I did the pulley and then the spark plugs. And yeah, the coupes are a lot of fun to throw around on a twisty road, good tires will make all the difference. I liked my Bridgestone Potenza Pole Positions, those were great grip tires.

Anyway, sorry that it had to happen because your SS messed up, but we CL203 guys are always glad to have another coupe owner on here.

PS Does your coupe have the Bose sound option?

lol no man.. it doesn't even have leather seat or power seat

i regret i didn't get ASP pulley -__-

Thats your car in the video? and its basically an HID kit so I don't get why the dealer would need to do that because I have a HID kit in my sedan with no problems. I think its just because the lighting in the pictures aren't to great and I still haven't washed the car once since I bought it from you. I think the dealer washed it when I had the EIS replaced but other then that it hasn't been washed so its super dirty

They cost 460 then 50 for shipping then 40 tax, all together it came out to around $550. I like how you can just take quick turns like its nothing in the coupe but in the sedan when you take a fast turn it feels like you just ruined the car. At how many miles did you do your spark plugs? I just hate how it sounds, I feel like the sedan just acts like a faster car when you drive it but in reality the coupe could take the sedan any day, especially with a lot of turns. One thing that I thought was weird is when your in drive and you push the thing to the side to drive it in tiptronic it starts out on 4th gear instead of one. In the coupe and any other benz I have ever seen it starts in 1 when you do that at a complete stop but this starts at 4th. Sometimes when Im driving it it feels like the cars starting at a higher gear too. Is yours like that too? And nawh I don't have Bose I had some sh*tty sound. When I change the sedans speakers to alpine type S' I put the sedans stock speakers which sounded really good actually in the coupe. It sounds a million times better, especially with an aftermarket head unit. switch the head uint back to stock last week though because I wanted to return it because it was a crappy single din. I put the stock one back in and I am going to put a double din app radio 2 in soon. I am waiting to see if the price will go down at all because it just came out last month. Probably get it within the next month though.

Peydidys, congrats on the Coupe purchase; it looks in great shape and color looks awesome. I just purchased back in April an 02 C230K Coupe - 6spd MT. I already did a few things to mine, just the easy stuff (oil, filter, air filter, fuel filter, NGK Iridium plugs and suspension to lower it ~1.2"). Front sway bar just arrived yesterday, waiting on rear (backordered). SO needs brakes and wheels (and of course exhaust and pulley), but in time. Next on my to-do list is to replace the upper plastic intake pipe; I have a HUGE hole in mine. I'm surprised how well my car feels now barely making any boost; I can't wait for that part to come it so I can feel what my M111 motor feels like under boost.

I tried searching the now nearly 300 page long wheel sticky thread, but either I am not searching on the right keywords or something, but do you know, if I wanted to order custom 3-piece CCW wheels for my 02 C230K Coupe what is the "perfect" staggered wheel setup for our cars -- offset and wheels width-wise for 18" wheels that would not require spacers and not over "stretch" the tires to expose the rims to damage (if I understand correctly from this forum; 225/40/18 (F) and 255/35/18 (R) tires are the recommended tire sizes, but all the staggered wheels I have seen thus far on this forum are 8.5" width front and 9.5" rear and tire manufacturers recommend 8" wide wheels for 225 tires and 9" wide wheels for 255 tires).

Anyway, just a couple questions I had since we have the same model/year Coupe. Your paint looks in excellent condition; mine is decent, but it definitely could use a lot of touching up here and there. Just subscribing to your thread to see what you do next. Congrats..

Pey, this is not Depo's fault here. Kirax said that his car does not have Xenon=Present, so that is why your HID won't work. Your only shot at getting a HID kit to work without that setting is if you go 55w, and even then it's not guaranteed. My 05 had no problem running 55w HID without setting the xenon to present, but 35w was a no go. The lights wouldn't fire and the display just showed headlight failure.

Now I have Xenon=Present (thanks to samaritrey) and my Depo bi-x work just fine.

Something is wrong with your 05. Granted, I have only driven a C-coupe once years ago before deciding it was just too hideous to bear, no offense

I'm more inclined to believe the mods are what ruined the 05, not a fast turn. My 05, even at nearly 137,000 on stock components, is a blast to drive on curvy roads. I live in the back country and drive it daily on curvy roads.. faster than I should. It is hell on my tires, but it is well balanced and never nervous or unsettled. It's not nearly as good as the 135i, but it's better than the IS350.

As for spark plugs, if you do a lot of short trips you'll want to change them sooner. I waited until 100,000 which was past Benz recommendations but mine were fine.

I had no idea the touch shift in pre-facelifts immediately moved it to first gear? If I'm stopped, and bump mine over it goes to 4. I bump again to 3-2-1. Then again this feature is pathetic in general, so I only use it for engine braking. But your car is behaving normal.

If you're in "C" mode, as you know, it will start in 2. Sometimes, depending on situation, mine also will end up in a higher than necessary gear... but it's an automatic, what else do you expect? They get confused.

Thanks for your kind words! Congrats on your new coupe too, looks like you have a good amount of mods already and a cool amount coming also. Let me know how the sway bars go btw. When you change your brakes makes sure to go with a BBK it makes a huge difference in appearance and a even bigger one in braking performance. Theres not necessarily a "perfect" staggered set up but there are more popular ones. The most I see are 8.5 front and 9.5 rear. Stocks are 7.5 front and 8.5 rear. On my sedan I have 8.5 front and 9.5 rear and its perfect so far. On the coupe its not staggered but later on I plan on changing the wheels and getting a staggered set up when I do. as for offsets I know the sedans run are flush at 25ET but I am not positive if the coupes are the same I assume they are. I like a little stretch so I am running 225/35/19 and 245/35/19 (should have gone 245/30/19 but O well). On the coupe I am running 225/35/18 all around. The coupes actually in the shop and has been for the past 2 weeks getting the bumper repainted and a few other things. Good luck on everything and keep me updated on how your build goes, if you have any questions just let me know.

Depo sent me some error cancellers and if those work then great, if not then I will have them set to Xenon=present, thanks for the help

This was all so helpful thank you! its the pre-facelift one that starts on 4, my facelifted sedan starts on 1. I guess I should do my spark plugs soon, I am at 71k right now but I do a lot of short distance driving with it, plus spark plugs are cheep so why not. The weird thing is the car was the same way back when it was 100% stock with the stock wheels. I think I have some sort of suspension problem, when I go over speed bumps I can hear it make a weird sound like it is a little too stiff, not sure how to describe it. Again thanks for your help!

Peydidy, I would check your bushings or perhaps a slightly bent control arm? TireRack had on sale Koni FSD shocks & Eibach springs combo to lower my Coupe ~1.2". I am amazed at how well my Coupe handles; turn-in is crisp and direct, I just can't wait for the H&R sways to get on it after the rear bar arrives (backordered until mid-July ). I really like this little Coupe, it is going to be hard to hand the keys over to my 16 year old son when he gets his license this summer. :p But that is why I got it and it is a nice fun little project "Father-son" quality time as I "dial" the car in for him.

My Coupe has nearly 91K on the clock. I'm currently getting 32MPG according to the VDO Message Center; probably because I have a huge hole in the upper plastic intake pipe and effective running no boost. :p Once that part comes in and I get that installed I hope my MPG doesn't go down too much. However, having said that, the simplest and most noticeable bang-for-the-buck improvements so far were new NGK Iridium plugs and a K&N air filter. There was literally so much dirt and crap in the stock air filter and air box that it looked like a bird's nest in there. I had to get the heavy duty shopvac out to clean it all up in there. Now the motor can actually breathe and quite the noticeable difference IMO.

And as BBK's go, I am well aware of their benefits. In the 90's I raced go-karts competitively until one Friday night I was driving to a friend's house and a drunk driver hit me head-on at highway speeds and took me out for several months. Since then I had to give up racing go-karts (kills my back) and I've been participating in PCA & BMW Driver Education (DE) events ever since and now a nationally accredited PCA DE Instructor. I have StopTech Trophy Sport 6-piston front; 4-piston rear BBK on my BMW 135i. Those brakes are AWESOME!

Thanks for your insight on wheels sizes and offsets; I appreciate it. Keep us posted on your journey with your Coupe. I am all about performance, my son is only concerned about looks and audio; the combination of interests should result in a pretty nice Coupe for him down the road.

Yep, sorry I had my memory faulty on the touchshift thing. I tried it today and sure enough it goes immediately to 1 when stopped.

hm I wonder if its just different on the pre facelifts, ill have to ask someone else with a pre facelift and see what theres do

Well I have coil overs and have had a shop look at it and they said its just the tie rod, the cars in the shop for many things right now and thats one of the things they will be fixing. 32 is crazy good gas mileage, I got 18-23 in my coupe, I drive pretty harshly on it though. The previous owner said that he changed the spark plugs and air filter a little bit before I bought the car from him so I think its fine for now. The hole racing go carts thing sounds sick, sorry it had to end and the accident that happened, theres a pro go carting place in my area called umigo that I go to sometimes with my friends its a blast. I will keep you posted on all the mods of the coupe right here, so you know were to check to find whats new or just stop by if you have any questions or to share your own progress would be great to. Good luck with your project I am sure it will turn out great

i changed the spark plugs 2-3 years ago dude, not recently, the air filter was changed recently...

even if u need to change the spark plugs, its a 10mins job



9/17/2011 to be exact

That's awesome, you have the benefit of knowing the car's previous owner and mechanical history. I picked mine up at an Audi dealership in NJ who took it in as trade and just wanted to unload it (I picked it up for below what KBB said I should expect to pay). I'll admit I have been light on the peddle and just taking it easy; mostly due to its age and not knowing its mechanical history. Last night it threw a CEL (Check Engine Light). It needs an alignment, so I'll have the local MB dealership check that as well. I'm hoping that it is just something as simple as an O2 sensor; motor didn't feel any different when the light came on.

kirax2, what color is the Coupe in your signature? It looks like mine (Paprika). What size wheels are those? 20's?

spark plugs were changed on 9/17/11 or the filter?

the car in his signature is my coupe, it used to be his and I bought it off him a few months ago, the wheels in his signature are 19s, I doubt you can run 20s on a coupe. Thats really good that you got it under BBK at a dealer though. Good luck with the problem at the dealer, these cars can be expansive to repair sometimes

if people can put 20 on sedan i don't see why they can't put 20 on coupe, they share the same part anyway... but i have no clue why the coupe weight more than the sedan...

Just realized I forgot to post a day time pic of the car with the new headlights:


To be honest I stort of completely forgot I even owned the coupe considering I haven't seen the car in a month, I really miss it. The other day my friend asked how the coupe is going and I remembered hey why have I not gotten my car back yet! I dropped it off at the place I normally have body work done a month ago and completely forgot about the car after that because I was so busy and caught up with school and work. I went down to the shop and checked it out to see how it was doing expecting it to be almost done considering I was told it would all take under 2 weeks. But I was quite wrong, the car hadn't even been touched since I dropped it off. It was still parked in the same spot that it was in when I dropped it off facing outward. I asked then whats up with my car and they said that they had been swamped and hadn't gotten a chance to even start, he said he would start it right away and have it done by thrusday, I asked him if he ordered the parts yet and he said he will go order them within the next 10 mins. So we will see how that goes, car was completely covered in dust and all though.

iono why... my coupe looks really awkward with bix... hahaha.. so whats going on with the coupe? and also tell the body shop rebuff the hoood i cna't seems to get those ugly swirl off it after i got the front bumper repaint

Ummmmm I can't believe you have "BMWS LOL"

Consider it gone on the 23rd.

PS what are you having done to the coupe? Not wanting to read looking for the cliff-notes here. =)

Time to update to clear fog and side marker lenses

The panorama roof adds a ton of weight. The JLo-style rear end is not good for the scales, either.

Even if you can put 20s on the coupe, the question is why would you?

It's OK, no BMWs are ever offended by that tag. They are too far ahead to ever see the back of the car.

Not even, usually they just don't get a chance to show there reaction because there to far behind

I never would put 20s on any w203, I think they look extremely awkward with them.

I asked the guy at the shop if he could, he said he would try to get the part but isn't sure if he can. If he doesn't get it then I will just do it myself later on
Your coming out on the 23rd right? I usually take off the plate for meets though haha. Basically I am getting the bumper repaired and maybe replaced, repainted, new inner fender, new thing that holds the windshield wiper fluid, getting the tie rod replaced, a alignment, and to top it all off a detail.

I like how it looks, there detailing it at the end, ill be sure to ask them to re buff it though.

Peydidy, did you get your Coupe back from the shop yet?

I just installed a set of Ultimate Pedals custom pedals in my Coupe; now I can finally heel-n-toe this car so I can teach my son!