Olaf

Well-used assortment of quality 3/8” drive extensions filling a gap in my 3/8 set. 1970’s Stahlwille, Koken, Snap-On. Estate sale.

No, I’m saying keep your eyes open and your ear to the ground. If you move out to the suburbs you can get to know your neighbours. When we were gathered at my folks house after my Mum passed, one of the neighbours from down the street enquired, said he’d heard about my Mum, offered his condolences, and then asked what we were doing with the commodore. I was about to advertise it having discussed it with my fellow executors, it was on the very large list of things we had to attend to. His timing was perfect. Test drive, offer, accepted. Showed up that night with his 18 year old Son, freshly licensed, eyes shining, and a wedge he’d been working hard to save in his holiday jobs. The son had his eyes on the car since he was five years old, a family of Holden enthusiasts. Everyone happy, reasonable price and going to locals who knew the car and would cherish it. Something ticked off the list; we had a whole house to clear, probate to reach and an estate to settle. It’s a job, and if you think that sounds cold, I hope you don’t need to learn it too soon! 😳 If you see a forensic cleaning or house clearance van in the driveway, nothing wrong with a quiet word. It’s all part of the cycle of life.

quit whining, buy sheepskin seat covers, sorted.

I certainly haven't argued they drive like a car - and yes getting into my e60 V8 reaveals the unique compriomises of the X3. You've carefully not revealed the SUV you hate so much. Try a BMW SAV - I'd not be caught dead in a Hyundai SUV etc, would rather drive a Camry. FWIW we started family with a small 5dr hatch, first triip away the car was chock full with baby stuff - we look back and laugh at our inability to judge what was needed. We added a Maxima when kiddo #2 arrived 21 months later - did family trips away including side-by-side buggy in the boot. With the benefit of hindsight the key advantage of an X3 or X5 would be not having to bend down into a car when strapping in a capsule or car seat from another vehicle, or strapping the bundle of joy in (still happening when they're five years old), or loading a pram into the back. In summary, you're suffering from n00b parent syndrome, and unless you're starting a rugby team soon you don't need a 5er wagon - that's an over-reaction.

Don't feed the troll lads. Everyone knows N46 is good money after bad, best put out with the recycling.

H&R also do OE Sport - in the USA - providing that increased rate - progressive, at OE ride height. I'm running H&R Sport with KoniSport on my e30.It's firm but supple, the pairing works well. I'd have been happy with H&R OE Sport, 318iS height, but exch rate and freight favoured sourcing from Germany at the time, so not an option. The rate is excellent, the lower c of g helps, though I don't need the low.Handles well, is firm, though not jarring.

The USA site. It lists models separately though all lead to the same part number that I quoted above.

@cleanish_e46 you mean this one?

@aramoana long time between updates - how's it going? How's it looking? Are you keeping the 316i faith?

Re those Akebonos, @Vass settle in for the long run, I only ditched mine in Jan this year, such was their longevity 😂 They flat-out refused to yield! The Hawks are a *little* dustier, nowhere near OE/OEM pads. Enjoy 👍

Yes, was about to say the same as @Eagle- there are a multitude of rear springs for e46 - I think there's different springs for sunroof and slicktop! If those are orange stripes on yours I think they're the same as mine... can't find my photo from when I bought replacements. Re one-size-fits-all Eibachs, I think this is the real downside of their springs. As with BMW having distinctly different springs between options and body styles/drive trains, with H&R in most applications do springs specific to different versions. In e30 land you put Eibachs on a Vert, you get a rear end that's a bit low and a bit soft. You use H&R Sport part numver for e30 Vert, and you get the right rate, the right height/stance, and no rub. Springs for some people seem to be a religion Eibach/Bilstein Koni/H&R. I just checked the Eibach catalogue - 2067.140 is listed for e46 325i Sedan and Touring. And Coupe. And Vert. Oh well, they meet TUV, eh? A brief wander thru the USA H&R catalogue reveals H&R have a sport spring for e46 coupe & sedan with ///MSport (29484) without ///Msport (29485); Cabrio ///MSport (the 29484 again); for Sport Wagon (Touring) they list 29419 (323 and 325i), and there's another spring for 325Xi and 330Xi touring. Some H&R are US-specific, so looking around in the German site may yeild more info, and the magical match for your car - they may not have done e46 330i Touring in USA. When you take the difference in engineering between Eibach and H&R into account, why do folks love Eibach so much with their one-size approach? This isn't about "Red vs Blue" - and you're beyond that with the amount of engineering you've put into your Touring. Perhaps H&Rs - with appropriate catalogue number - may be your solution. On the wheels question, for my analysis some years back, I used willitfit.com I did things like standard 7J with 205/55/16 compared with Style 68 and 245/40R17 to baseline and contrast, won't bore you with that here. Here's the Style 68 vs Style 194 rear comparo.

More on the Old Tools thing. Deceased Estate house clearance... the auctions come through and decide what they want. The clearance agent might get the Salvo's through.... it's heart-breaking what goes in the bin, no time to sell, and it costs time/money to sell stuff that just doesn't pay back. It's not unusual to see a fellow-traveller car enthusiast or engineer's life collection of toolage disposed of - at least sometimes it's the MenzShed. Dunno how you crack on to this stuff without being ghoulish - gotta be simpatico.

X3 30D Msport - if there's just three of you, or if you add one and all of the baby/kid stuff, you've enough space, easy loading, easy driving. You need to get some long running in for the diesel... the powertrain is great, silky-smooth... easy to park, a great all-rounder. Comes with those SAV downsides of greater tyre wear and fuel consumption than a 5er equivalent, but also such a great all-rounder. Comfortable, quiet, grippy, peppy, frugal. If you want to pinch more pennies, get the 20D.

Hand tools. The Teng stuff can be had at reasonable prices. I'm not keen on their ratchets. Also consider Jonnesway from BNT, nicely finished, work well. 1/4" drive set, with a small comfortable ratchet, extensions and wobble-bars and unis is essential (IMHO) on BMW and Volvo. You'll need the torx sockets, and the deep sockets as well. I got by with 1/2" and 1/4" for a good while, though ultimately having 3/8" drive as well makes things more comfortable. 1/2" power bar. You want a strong one, as when you need one you've got to rely on it. You're going to STRESS it. You're going to put a 1.5 metre steam pipe - or anything you can find to add leverage - and you need to avoid breakage-inflicted injuries. Don't cheap-out on a breaker bar. Look for one with a big-diameter pin (the one that pivots the connector socket head). Quality Screwdrivers. Good quality screwdrivers fit the fasterner better, grip in your hand better (and thus transfer more power), and are more durable. Cheap screwdrivers are as much use as a chocolate teapot. While you're at it, you've no excuse to buy cheap screwdrivers to abuse, as you've just bought a set of Pry-Bars. Use the proper tool for the job - they're safer. And buy a set of drifts/pin-punches, they're the bomb. Circlip Pliers - internal and external. Nuff said. Right tool for job. A 12v test lamp!. When you just need to find power, or confirm power is present, the good old test-lamp with needle tip (or the modern equivalent - the power-probe) is the bomb, and faster than a meter. Old tools. If you can find a full set of old tools - like 1960's/70's/80's from the likes of Koken/Stahlwille/Britool/Sidchrome/Aigo/Facom, they're better than new stuff. Let's face it bargain Snap-On rarely happens. Older quality was better in the mid-range than most of the modern mid-range, and used top-end will cost you less than new mid-range. You can find these value-buys on TradeMe, at Garage Sales, deceased estate, second hand shops etc. Save big. You can build your own set from bits and pieces, put your sockets on a keeper bar. The modern stuff (eg new Craftsman, new Stanley etc are not like the old stuff. Example: Craftsman used to be made in USA and unconditionally gauranteed forever - now it's made in China by a company that's bought-up a lot of the old-school tool brands. I have a 17mm or 19mm 1/2" Craftsman socket that I've beaten-on for more than 25 years, it's lost some of the plating at the tips from (quite) a bit of abuse on a rattle-gun and it just keeps going - Deathproof! I've jinxed it now. Real Estate Signs. Excellent insulation for lying on or kneeling on beneath your car. Corflute rocks as an insulator, and you'll frequently find them blowing down the road when the winds are strong. Recycling! LED lighting. Portable LED lights are excellent for working beneath your car. Squinting sucks. Garage Stereo. Again, from trademe or a garage sale. Fill it up with 00's CDs from the tip shop. You want to have some tunes while you work. no need to faff around with a bluetooth speaker, get a hifi for under $100. MOST IMPORTANT: PPE. You need to take care of yourself. Eyes: Safety glasses, safety googles, face sheilds. So much cheaper than ACC and a glass eye. Ears: get some good ear defenders and use them compulsively. Your future, older self will thank you for it. Hard to chat up your future wife/husband/insert your preferred title here at a bar if you're deaf. Hands. Gloves - mechanics gloves for general use. It's easy to learn to handle the fine stuff with the thin neoprene gloves that absorb shock. For everything else, use latex or the blue/black/orange disposable gloves. Helps with quick cleanup of your hands when you've finished a job if you've not filled your nails and cuticles with stale grease. Also keeps all the fluids you handle out of your skin, a good thing. Lungs. Get a decent respirator. Use the appropriate filters for the job. Visitors: get a bucket of ear foam plugs, and extra pair or two of ear muffs, some extra safety glasses, disposable respirators - if you're lucky enough to have a mate lend a hand, help them stay safe. Fire Extinguisher. as someone mentioned earlier, fire extinguisher, and perhaps a fire blanket. Steel can with lid for discarded rags - they can combust. A steel cabinet to store your solvents/oils/paints in. Keep it closed!

@Vass I've been following your thread mostly via email updates. It's been a big journey! I see you're having clearance problems at rear, and trying multiple solutions. Forgive me if I've not been through the full detail of your thread - one thing occurred to me this morning. Tyre width and offset on e46 FWIW the Msport tyre package for e46 is F: 225/45R17, with R: 245/40R17 You probably already know this. This works fine with e46 Style68 7.5J17 ET:41, 8.5J17 ET:50, or the e90 Style 194 8J17 ET:34, 8.5J ET:37. I did a *heap* of research (a metric sh!t-ton) when figuring out how to get a bit more rubber to the road. General theme was 255's a bit tight on e46, approach with caution. I did all the math, using online calculators allowing me to compare offset, rim width and tyre size. I went 245/40R17 with confidence. At rear the style 194s produce 13mm additonal rim poke on the outer edge (and 13mm more clearance from the strut on the inner edge), before we add the 245 section tyre on the rear, Noting that your 255mm setup is same between R17 and R18 rims - most particularly with respect to rim width and offset - perhaps the additional 5mm of tread on the outside (assuming your 10mm wider tread section distributes to 5mm extra on each side) is enough to catch on the outer guards/liners? I can't talk to the Eibachs, as mine's on standard springs, with big (bigger than stock, at least) ARBs. I did learn that the touring is sensitive to rear springs after an Auckland wrecker sending me the wrong springs (green paint dabs (4 cyl coupe maybe?) instead of orange for 6 cyl touring) which produced a saggy low rear, sh*t ride, and general dissatisfaction. That was later resolved with a pair of the correct orange-dabbed springs from an e46 ninja on this site. Your thicker spring pads are a valid response to mitigate the low.... I digress. One question on springs: Are your Eibachs Touring-specific springs? Or are they Eibach one-rate-fits-coupe/sedan/tourings e46 springs? Back to tyres and a Summary - possible clearance issues with e46 touring by running e90 255 section tyres in place of e46 245 section tyres at rear on e90 offset. You've ruled-out offset differences between your Style 194 R17's and the R18 package. I suspect if you threw your 255R17s onto Style 68's, you might get just away with it (13mm less poke), though it might rub. I'd be fairly confident that 245/40R17 on your Style 194 would be a doddle - and prove that 245 on the 18inch package would work. The easy solution IMHO is to run e46 tyre section (245mm) with the e90 offset for greater track width. If you were here in Wellington I'd be happy pop my rears wheels onto your car for a quick test. This setup has been serving me very well on e46 Touring for years. HTH.

the OEM (as in not BMW Original Equiment) Sachs in my e60 have about 45k kms on them and are like new. The OEM Sachs in my e46 have been there for nearly 90k kms and are nowhere near done, though are not just like new. I can't recall how many kms of punishment the OEM Sachs in my 855-T5 took before it was written off by a hit-and-run driver during lockdown, though they always felt new.

I'm not seeing the advantage of B4 over Sachs OEM. Example - e60 5er alloy body for Sachs (as per Original), Steel body for B4... and about the same price (at least they were a couple of years ago). Very close pricing for the e46 Sachs vs B4. Naturally, YMMV. And agree - almost all new shocks are better than worn out old shocks. Let's throw Monroes into the mix - yecchhh. Has anyone been game enough to try Meyle shocks/struts? They're real cheap - half the price of Sachs OEM.

I've not run Bilsteins. Given Bilstein B4 are about the same price as Sachs OEM on whatever platform, I've always run Sachs OEM as replacements on e46 and e60 to great effect with standard springs. On my e30, it's H&R+Koni Yellow. E46 now has about 90k kms on the setup, they're still running comfortably. I was lucky to drive @adro's e46, found the B4+Eibach setup is comfortable, pretty supple in the bumps and mild increase in rate helped cornering, the low naturally helped poise with lower CofG that my setup lacks If I do my e46 again it'll be Msport springs and most probably Koni Yellow, or Sachs msport spec; I'll leave the current ARBs as they are well-balanced. Both e60 and e46 were spec'd very much for Family Wagon duty. Back in the 90's I had an A2 Golf GTI 16V. I replaced the shocks with KYB Gas... they lasted about a year at high altitude. I replaced with Boge Turbo (a Sachs OE product) to great effect, and were running well another two years later. Also ran KYB (in NZ) on Sentra and Maxima, they were okay and offered performance advantages over the oil-filled OE setup. Different running to the aforementioned GTi. Conclusion: lower-budget monotube gas shocks may have some compromises more easily encountered in more spirited running? If you're a Bilstein fanboy maybe committing heavily and going B6 and appropriate springs is the thing to do? PS: I ran Sachs OE and H&R sportsprings on my Volvo 855-T5, eliminating Nivomat. It was near-perfect (IMHO) handling with an ideal mix of comfort and rate on long trips, stiff enough for fun in the twisties. I guess the only car I've owned in the past 30 years that I haven't replaced shocks on (not an exhaustive list) is my current X3.

Ya got me there - wow!! ++spendy. Spareto or Rockauto perhaps?

60USD? Jesus wept, where's that from? We did 325i caliper rebuild recently, I'm certain the seals and hardware were nowhere near that price. EDIT: yeah, ATE Caliper rebuild kit for the 325i (yes they're smaller than the 330 & M3, I know) 34211158578 was USD7.19each. They're now USD9.29 from FCP Euro. I wouldn't expect your 330 seals to cost much more - hope that helps.

Interesting. how often do you need to change the cartridge, and how much does that cost? Also, isn't working pressure of 40psi far lower than the N57B30O1?

$35k? "He's dreamin'". @gjm It does rather look like you're selling it. Is he lazy and duped you in to doing this work for free, or just inept and you've swooped in to help out? As the champion of "all e30's are over-priced and not good value", I'd have expected a very different estimate from you!

holy thread revival batman, I'd forgotten about this!

So where are you in all this Graham? Are you the seller's agent? My view: it looks like it came out the showroom as an M325i. Plenty of changes throughout it's life. It's down at heel, and rough around the edges. Assume it needs a full fluids and rubbers changeout, as there's no mention of folders full of history, or regular maintenance. It needs re-rego and WoF. It's looking neglected. You haven't mentioned Mileage? Also the current owner is the son of the first owner - who was the second owner? It will never be a $50k car - it'd need two things to get close: 1) a full restoration including back to Tech 1 spec, and collectors are understandably picky about milege and provenance - it's only original once! 2) a market cycle or two, and a strong economy to make this attractive to someone cashed-up in ten years or so. In order to make that worthwhile, you'd want $10k headroom (margin) on a current sell price ($35k if *really* tidy and back to tech 1?), and $15-20k to sort everything out (paint and body, correct trim, suspension, and really addressing an old (and possibly neglected car. You do the math on what the buy price is to make it work. Or, you view it as a driver. Accept it as a bitser, it's got bits of tech 1, bits of tech 2, and needs a tidy. You're not going to try and make it what it's not, you just want it clean tidy and ready to dance. $15-20k would be a generous bid, and you'll be putting in $5-10k to get it sorted so you can drive it anywhere in the country and it won't let you down - you might not get the aircon fixed in there though.

replace DISA valve, if it hasn't failed it probably will... dropping the Pin into your combustion chamber. Inexpensive insurance. Have a good look at the high pressure fuel hose supplying the injector rail. They're getting old now - if yours is crusty, replace. Nobody wants a fuel fire under the hood, You're on the right track, taking care of the intake vacuum leaks. cooling every five years. plugs and a full set of coils after your cuurnet work (if you havent already) and it'll be a sweet runner. Jared @Eagle is spot-on about those nipple caps (ooh err), Jon spotted those on mine recenty and we replaced them at same time as HP Fuel Hose. e46 325i motorsport is a sweet drive. They reward if treated to thorough maintenance. We've had our 325i Touring for 11.5 years, no plans to replace it.