Finally got around to replacing my driver side axle which has been vibrating the whole damn car, especially on the highway.

Tried out an axle for a 09' 3.5 TL & it was a success. Still chasing a slight vibration though..

 

Sweet! Stupid question, but I've always wondered what that plastic rubber disk looking thing is in the middle of the OE axle? Is that supposed to some kind of a balancing weight like on driveshafts or something?

 

I always thought it was to balance out the shaft...

 

Got tired of that winter tire life...

 

beautiful...so damm clean

 

Very nice, I just picked up a 2006 RL. I've been thinking about a black grille and debadging the rear. Did you just put a replacement K&N filter or did you install a whole intake? I emailed K&N, they said they only make the replacement air filter and not the whole intake system.

Love the BMW wheels, great idea!

 

Agreed on all of this - looking at rebadging mine as well and painting my grille black (I have a white car). The BMW wheels do look great - makes me think of test-fitting the MPars from my 540iM on the RL

 

quick stupid question tho, the RL use 5x120 pattern?

 

From everything I've read and seen, yes. That is correct.

 

^^^ thank you, i didn't pay attention much until I saw the 7 series wheel mount on OP car. So this is the Lexus LS460 wanna be, all of the car in my house has 5x114.3 except for the RL and the LS460 both is BMW wanna be.

 

Thanks man

Yea just the K&N drop in filter plus I removed the intake resonator.

 

Awesome, now I know what I'm going to do my first weekend of ownership.

 

On HeelToes website they say the gain for the RL is generally around 7hp which isnt bad but does your car feel better then that?
Im on debate of taking off the resonator since this is something ive wanted to take off for a while but where is the box sucking air from now? Open hole under the oem intake box? was it worth doing? better matched for the J37?

 

The opening is right in the fender well, not in the engine bay. As for being worth it, the K&N drop in filter, power wise did more than anything. The resonator removal is just for straight sound.



Finally got around to checking some things off the maintenance list. First up.... new flex pipe




What's left of the old flex..



New flex..





Another thing checked off the list was to finally do a brake fluid change & as you can see from the colour of the fluid in the bottle, it was MUCH needed..






Still on the list:

- rear diff fluid change
- AC stator
- PS pump refresh
- install remaining XLR8 mounts

 

Well damn lol. What old flex pipe haha. Will you rebuild the pump yourself or is it someone local?

 

LOL...no flex zone...

 

I'll end up doing it myself. Pretty straight forward from the DIYs I've seen.



It's been long overdue..

 

Looking as good as ever! So much inspiration for me here.

 

Car is soo much smoother with the new flex & I've only used half a tank of gas since the repair but the improved mileage is definitely noticeable. Went from down right embarrassing to decent in just a few days.. .. should be even better as the ECU adjusts

 

That's awesome!

 

Finally got around to getting the XLR8 pass mount in. Busted out the welder I bought 2 years ago that was still in the box and went to town. Welds aren't award winning by any stretch of the imagination but it ain't going anywhere..

Before..




After..




What was left of the OEM mount..

 

That front mount has definitely seen better days lol

 

Still chasing that vibration/shudder, replaced the driver aftermarket axle with a good used OEM RL axle which helped but it's still there. Replacing the passenger side next week with another used OEM axle. I gotta say OEM FTW (obviously), just comparing the OEM part to the aftermarket one & it's so much more solid/thicker plus it has the dampener. Lesson learned...


Got my front wheels checked out & they "fixed" them as best as they could but I'm still getting highway shakes on one side so I'm on the hunt for 1 straight wheel...

On another note, picked up some new front tires since the stance game chews tires. Found a shop clearing old stock for dirt cheap & ended up with some Pirelli P Zero Trofeo's. Pretty much a legit track tire & absolutely overkill for the RL but the grip is REAL

 

That's a straightup track tire Then again, who am I to talk, I put Pilot Super Sports on mine

 

Yea should be a grippy summer lol. Hopefully they last the season..

 

RL legitimately handles really good.. ive done some driving i dont think many others would attempt lol but the AWD, super sports and upgraded sway bar do add confidence

 

Adding confidence is an understatement, I thrive on attacking on/off ramps & any sort of twist on any road

I need to get my hands on a 09' rear sway..

 

So my headlights have been going the yellow route recently so instead of polishing them again I decided to give them some love with a fresh clear coat. Got a little trigger happy and laid down like 4 coats but I'm not complain..

Here's some b4 pics..





So yea, they needed some love. Up next was getting them washed up & wet sanded w/ 800, 1500, 2000 & finally 3000 for that smooooothhhh finish..







Don't have any direct sun pics but man is it a game changer. If only the front end was as fresh as the lights..

 

What tire size are you running? I wish I picked those wheels instead of the Elipsoids. They look good!

As for your lights I have a guy that will restore and spray with clear. I did it when I bought my car 5 years ago and they haven't changed.

 

If all goes well I'm planning on having the front end painted over the winter & I'll have everything redone but for the $20 it costs me I can't complain at all.

Tires are 225/35/19 & 245/35/19. Was plannin to go with a taller tire but the fitment is just too good to fuck around with.

 

Nice. My wheels should be done next week. Got a set being restored. Should look nice. Did you end up finding extended bolts that work? I know of 1 brand but they don't make them as long as I need.

 

Any teasers?

As for the extended studs, I got them through JDMCRX. They're off of a Tundra, think they were 10mm longer than stock.

 

Nope lol.

So those studs you posted worked? Did they knurl work out alright? I need longer studs. I want to run 20mm or 25mm spacers

 

looking good! I did mine with a kit earlier this year and they turned out ok. not super happy, but they'll do. Father's day I'm going to finally do some things to the CL. I need to do an oil change, fix a headlight bulb, and I might finally try and get the NSX calipers on. I'm a little nervous doing it solo, but we'll see how it goes.

 

Yea everything worked perfect. I used some loctite as well when I installed them for some added piece of mind but they were quite snug to begin with.

You'll def need a long ass stud for spacers that wide..


Thanks man..

If you ever need a second set of hands just say the word.. :wink:

 

what are you doing Sunday I know it's father's day so you might be busy, but I'll be working on my car most of the day. If you're free, stop by.....I pay in craft beer I need to grab some copper washers, breaker bar and some tubing for the bottle brake bleeder. I think I have everything else.

 

Yea Sunday is gonna be an interesting day for sure but I'll give you a heads up if anything.

 

Finally got around to inspecting my no AC issue. Ran the self diagnostics & there were no errors in the system. Thought for sure it was the stator but I guess not, gonna have to bite the bullet and have it checked out now..