Carbon Fiber BMW M and Mercedes AMG Wallpapers for iPhone 7 Plus Parallax Effect
Since I'm considering another European Delivery trip to get a Mercedes AMG C63S next summer I figured I might as well revise my carbon fiber iPhone wallpapers while I'm waiting. It also seems like iPhone screen sizes and parallax specs keep changing so I've revised the size based on what I found on iOS Res.
Click the images above, then right-click or drag the image to your desktop to save the files. The last image with just the carbon fiber texture is what I use for my home screen background. The logos don't look good with app icons sitting on top of them.
The images posted above are 2662 x 2662 so not quite the "max texture size" reported for iPads, but I tested it out on my 12" iPad Pro and it seems to work ok. In fact, there seems to be plenty of resolution to size and position the logos off-center if you want since the time is positioned to the top left on iPads — but you need to account for the fact that it will move when you rotate the iPad, so pick carefully.
Here are samples of what they look like on the iPhone 7 Plus and 12" iPad Pro lock screens. I made the BMW M one smaller on purpose since the resolution of the original artwork wasn't as high to keep it crisp.
Carbon Fiber BMW and M Power iPhone wallpapers for iPhone 6 Plus parallax effect
New iPhone sizes means new wallpapers. These are created at 1256 x 2353.
Carbon Fiber BMW and M Power iPhone wallpapers for iOS 7 parallax effect.
I never did update my basic iPhone 4s Retina versions for iPhone 5, so I’m taking this opportunity to create new wallpapers at 1040 x 1536 so they can be optimized for the parallax effect in iOS 7 on iPhone 5/5c/5s.
Baffled as to how this metal on my iDrive knob got warped.
A few days ago, i felt a sharp edge on my iDrive knob while I was selecting music. I didn't think much of it since I was driving and just figured I ran my finger along the edge. I can’t really see that side since its blocked by the knob itself from my position in the drivers’ seat.
Today, I felt it again and took a closer look. At first I thought maybe it was just a clear plastic sticker that was coming loose after time in the sun (you know, like the ones that ship with metal products to keep them pristine which you sometimes don't realize is there so you don't take them off), but upon closer inspection, I found that the metal ring had a bunch or warps in it.
It looks like someone literally tried to pry it off with a skinny screwdriver in a few places. No one ever drives my car except for me. My passengers don’t touch the iDrive (at least not that I’m aware of), and I can think of only 1 place I had to valet park it within the past few months so I have a hard time believing this was human-induced.
I'm struggling to figure out how the heck this could have happened though. Any ideas?
Carbon Fiber BMW and M Power iPhone retina display wallpapers.
Since I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted, I combined a couple images I found online to make some new lock screen wallpapers for my iPhone 4s. Figured I'd put it out there for others to download as well.
Update: New sizes posted for iPhone 7 Plus
2 year anniversary gift from BMW.
This came in the mail today. Copy reads:
In celebration of your second anniversary, a signature gift from BMW.
Dear Mr. Ken Loh,
It’s two years since you took delivery of your BMW, and we think that’s an event worth celebrating. To mark the occasion, please accept this fine writing instrument. Just as a BMW is not just any vehicle, this is not just any pen. It features a carbon fiber barrel - the same advanced, lightweight material that helps our high-performance vehicles perform their best. May it do the same for you.
Nice touch, BMW.
Replaced my aging aftermarket CF Kidneys with BMW Performance M3 Edition ones. Can’t beat OEM quality.
After a long search for somebody, anybody who makes a halfway-decent quality Carbon Fiber kidney, I decided I would go with the OEM ones from BMW Performance. They’re not CF, but these M3 Edition kidneys are the same ones used on the GTS, so needlesstosay, the quality is far and away superior to any aftermarket parts out there. I made the decision after the nice folks at IND Distribution (thanks, Nate!) were kind enough to be upfront about the fact that even the CF versions they sold weren’t any better quality than any of the other ones that come from the same manufacturer in Asia. Honesty and customer service always win me over, so they got my business (and will continue to do so).
To the right are some comparisons between the quality (if you can even call it a comparison). Granted, the aftermarket ones are 2 years old, but you can still see the craftsmanship difference. For comparison sake, here’s a shot of the aftermarket ones when they were new.
One nice little perk from IND, these shipped wrapped in a couple of micro fiber cloths. Been needing to get some more of those, but now I don’t have to. Thank you, IND for the great service.
A few pics from ///MFest Trendsetters @oakley
Didn’t stay as long this year so I don’t have as many pics. I was happy to see a 1M in person. Car looked awesome. Loved Custom Dunny’s painted to match one of the cars. And the white widebody E46 was insane.
Before & After comparisons using the Ansel Adams filter in Camera+ for the first time.
Who would have thought a 3Gs iPhone could take pics like this? I certainly didn’t. For comparison, check out the originals. 3 basic filters on Camera+ did the trick on these black and whites:
- Clarity
- Ansel Adams
- Rounded White Border
- (plus crop and rotate for the square shots)
The Exhaust shot below is cool, but you can see how the filters went too far on the other two shots with the BMW Roundels. I thought the steering wheel was going to turn out better since it's a halfway decent original.
For this color shot, I used:
- Clarity
- Magic Hour
- Rounded White Border
I had been using Camera+ and their Clarity filter with mixed results for a while, but I’m pretty happy with how these turned out. My one complaint is they should provide a “strength” slider for Clarity, just like they do with some of their other effects so you can control how far it goes.
Lest anyone think the GoPro suction mount will work hanging down, it won’t.
It felt pretty secure when I stuck it on the nice flat surface behind my rearview mirror, but after driving for a few minutes, gravity and wiggling took it's toll. This was the result. A nice little chunk taken out of my center console when it decided to fall. Grrrrrr.