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Xmas Eve E46 M3 Colour Combo @ HELLBM

Hi Guys Just thought I'd share incase someone had the same problem as me and may be interested, or if anyone has opinion on how I could change it for the better, understand that people may frown on this also. I've got a 540i that had an intermittent problem with smoking when starting the beast. Would have put up with it but got bad enough to create a big smoke cloud in west city car park, and didn't like the idea of gunking up the valves.As the PCV etc was perfect, put it down to the separator, which had been suggested. Instead of having the major job of replacing the oil separator (which I know is the ideal fix), I went with installing a catch can system, more cost effective, to rid the separator completely. Its still in the testing/temporary mounted phase, but have done about 2500kms with no issues, no smoke, and no more oil consumption. Very happy with the results so far. Heres a couple of pics.. Hope everyones had a good Xmas eve, and Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas one and all I received this from Pelican and thought others might enjoy. http://www.pelicanparts.com/swapmeet_pics/swapmeet_pic_index.htm?utm_source=pelican_porschenewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20141223. Would like to take the opportunity also to say thank you to those that have help me out over the past year especially the following. Ray and his son Sam fuel pump died while in Orewa very busy but came got me back on the road thanks again. Ray and Brent for checking the coding and shedding some light onto a few other issues Tom M3 power sorting out the transponder chips in the keys which fixed the locking problem very help full thanks All those that liked comments I made in various threads. Nice to know it is appreciated and was of some help in some way. Merry Christmas and a safe New Year Allan (tim 325)

All good preventative maintenance items mate. Really pleased it turned out to be a reasonably easy fix P.S - I don't have a sister

Manual time

I took your advice and went to BM workshop for a full diagnostic. They were great as always! They concluded it was a dodgy fuel sender and that I had just run out of fuel....I little red faced I am. However the fuel gauge said 15l remaining. It has now been fixed and is reading correct. Apparently the injectors were showing low fuel readings which potentially confirms the diagnosis. Either way, full take of gas and full service/check over its running like a dream with the Bm guys saying it's an exceptionally tidy example.... With no other fault codes and car feeling as tight as your sister.

I've been taking the same approach for years. Buying a car towards the end of its depreciation curve and maintaining it well leaves you with a manageable reliable *car*. not an asset. when people are saying "it's not worth it" when faced with a large repair bill against the notional value of their car, they're confusing it as 'putting money into an asset'. Cars - on the whole - are liabilities, not assets! As with Andy's approach above, the $1000 chunks works for me. I've been spending about $1k/year on my 855-T5 for the past 8 years. I paid around $9k for it, it's worth about... well, whatever anyone would pay for it. It's reliable and fun to drive, and I've learned plenty working on it. Paid for some jobs, done others myself with my mate on his driveway. One year it's not mechanical but turns out to be a set of tyres and an alignment. It's a grand a year ongoing, basically. You're lucky, the car has cost you nothing. As Andy illustrates above, you've got nothing to lose in catching up on that deferred maintenance - if it's a solid car to start with. Perhaps spending a case of beer with Andy looking it over and drawing up your battle plan will help you establish your budget. If you're importing parts yourself, I use FCPEuro.com as the prices and quality is good, along with the service. You might be able to carve up purchases into orders that squeeze in under the GST/Duty thresholds as well, with careful purchasing. Do your basics, get the engine maintenance stuff addressed. Belts, filters, fluids (cooling, engine oil, diff oil, power steering fluid)... mounts, cooling (pump, hoses). all those gaskets you mentioned - with a mate, and taking your time, it's labour intensive though not rocket science. Do it with a mate, break down the jobs into 'work packages' so you're not overwhelmed by the enormity of the task, build your confidence as you go, enjoy a couple of beers with each job. Does the timing chain and guides need replacing - check against the specs. now the trans - the service is easy. Buy your ATF in a 20 litre pack; it's way cheaper that way. At this point you should have a car that's relatively sorted for reliability from the basics. (hopefully your heater core and valves are okay). Next you're into stop and go. How are the brakes? How is she steering and handling? You're probably sold on driving and owning a quality german engineered car over a japanese or korean beater. Do remember - nothing is free - if you play, you pay. you may be $1000 in (and $150 in beer tax) by the time you get to the end of the trans service... what else would you be driving for $1200? As Andy says, it's not necessarily the *right* way to do it; it's one way of doing it that works for some of us. YMMV.

Too easy...