Leaderboard

Selling your beer fridge?

new gt4 looks good never thought I'd say that about the 'poor mans 911'

Yippee, some new bits! So yesterday I picked my car up from EUROHO's (SJ's) shop Apex Autos in Porana Road here on the Shore because I now have all of the suspension bits discussed here installed! As well as some reinforcements welded in. I only knew SJ though the forum until we met in person at the recent Coffee & Cars mini-meet and I subsequently found out that he and his dad have a workshop close to where I live and are also competent welders. After discussing what I needed doing and getting competent and confident replies as well as a more than reasonable estimate for the work I had no hesitation signing Apex up for the job. Boy did I make the correct decision! I can't recommend SJ, his dad and Apex enough. These guys aren't just mechanics they're enthusiasts and it shows in every aspect of their work. I received text and mms updates throughout the day, I visited during the job and they were happy to step me through everything and show me progress whilst it was up on the lift. Finally I went to pick her up and SJ had a massive cache of progress photos that I hadn't even asked for! (I was going to ask for photos but the estimate was so reasonable that I didn't think I deserved optional extras). Plus I got a loan car to boot! Without a doubt I'll be using them for more work now and this is not to detract from other other forum sponsors and contributors but when you find a winner you've got to run with that right? I can't recommend them enough, go down, have a chat and draw your own conclusions, I think you'll be happy. I'm glad I got the reinforcements welded in, especially the sway bar ones because boy the stock ones look very, very weak. I got mine from RallyRoad.net but any reputable aftermarket ones will do. If you're not tracking your car or have standard suspension they may not be necessary but it's piece of mind for me, especially with the up-rated suspension. Stock sway bar tab! Reinforced: RTAB reinforcements after a quick spray seal: New springs: So... how does it feel? In a word amazing. It is far, far more compliant than I imagined and is actually more comfortable that it used to be! How? Well I put it down to two things: 1. The spring rates are matched to these specific dampers with the E36 M3 in mind, it's all optimised to go together. 2. The springs are progressive rather than linear like stock therefore they actually 'start' softer than stock. Over typical undulations the car feels softer (vertically) but you can tell the springs get harder faster over more aggressive bumps. Pitch under hard braking is also less. The sway bars seem to have made quite a bit of difference to roll. I've not had the opportunity to get to any significant twisties yet but on some curvy roads that I know I can already feel a difference. It's certainly more confidence inspiring. I'm not used to it all yet but I am very happy. There's absolutely none of the bone jarring rattle and bump that I've experienced with some aftermarket suspension. I'd actually say this is how the car should have some, no M3 driver would reject this as a stock setup in my opinion. Interestingly the car doesn't seem much lower. I did use 15 mm spring pads in the rear because I'm running 255's and needed them to fit. I'm glad I did because the front hasn't come down by the claimed 25 mm and now the rake seems perfect. There's still quite the gap above the front wheel but it's not as cavernous as stock. Note that I was not going for a dumped look. Front gap: Rear gap: And finally I got it all aligned. Now often threads pop up here on the best place to get an alignment and I've previously used Peter Alder at Andrew Simms in Newmarket but he's since moved on. I'd prefer someone local and my brother suggested Wairau Alignment so I went and spoke to them. A brief chat and the fact that they could do it while I waited convinced me to proceed. What another fabulous experience. Caesar the tech that did my car is a BMW enthusiast from way back having owned many cars included an E30 M3 Evo Sport and a E30 335i that had a 635 CSi engine... and he has a couple of BMW bikes that he's prepped for racing including one he chucked a supercharger on... He was happy to show me the alignment equipment (laser of course) and how the machine worked and he stepped me through all of the settings and variations. And he took me for a shake-down drive just to verify. So now I can also recommend Wairau Alignment for those wanting great service on the Shore! Overall I'm delighted with the experience and the rest, happy as a pig in mud! But now the steering can't keep up and feels (relatively) terrible... see the next post... Some proper photos when I get her cleaned (edit: I didn't know it was a 'she' - no problem with that but I'm fascinated that I called 'her' that).

dont mean to thread jack or anything but like you dave, i met SJ at my cafe's meet last month and im so glad he was there. i asked for some help with my car to get scanned etc and sj offered and drove all the way to my place in mt wellington and spent a good hour scanning the s#!+ out of my car. for free! (i owe u one for sure) he was awesome, knew what he was talking about and walked me through the whole process. although his shop is in the north shore, i will gladly make the drive over to get anything done by him/apex automotive and will be recommending him to all my friends. and back on topic, looks like your car has made great progress dave! must take me for a ride one day

You're just biased Jooles! Plus you would have to wait until 2019 to drive the thing on the road in NZ - just think of the price of fuel by then!

A well known car from the UK from my boy-hood, saw it in the flesh a few times, almost got to see it on the track. 205 GTi + Dimma Widebody + Cossie Turbo + 4 x 4 = Awesome!

Burn the place to the ground. I f**king hate towies.

Hi Everyone, Keen to shift this on and possibly acquire another E46 M3. I've priced this very competitively given the mileage and condition. Let me know if you're interested. Would love it to stay in the community. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=841754749 The vehicle has full BMW service history, with all service items up to date (last service done only 5,000 km ago) and nothing due to be done for the next 20,000km. The vehicle has Michelin Pilot Sport tyres with good tread all round. Optional Equipment from Factory - BMW Performance splitters - Privacy Glass - Extended Lighting Package - NZ Satellite Navigation - Brake Energy Regeneration - M Drive - Alarm system - Rain Sensor - PDC - High Beam Assist - Backrest Adjuster Width - Voice control - High gloss shadow line trim - Rear Folding seats Standard Equipment - Interior mirror with automatic-dip - Seat adjuster, electric, with memory - Headlight cleaning system - Xenon Light - Air Conditioning - Cruise control

Just remembered I spotted EUROHO just past Paul matthews drive heading onto constellation a couple of days ago - I was in my Black golf D:

I've also met SJ in my quest to find a decent welder close to the CBD that's not rubbish or a twit and will be letting him loose on the 8er exhaust in the near future.

Yeah I can't run in the series anymore. S series Turbo with a firewall cut Though I am happy to say my turbo is bigger than that one

Same here - With a mildly worked 4g63t

Buy a RHD one for $10-12k and spend $8-10k and you'd have a much better car for the same money!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

i want this car. if lotto graced my life there would be no questions haha !!

Yes it looks like it, but it was intermittent and it may have been fuse 7 being blown that caused the issue as well. As an aside when I repaired the problem, my tail light failure warning disappeared as well.

Problem solved, all down to frayed wires in the boot lid. What a mess! In the photo I have already taped up 3 frayed wires but as you can see the blue wire was completely severed.

I bet the price halved when it left the factory floor with that paint job

Great, your car is nearly finished Dan! You kept that quiet.

No got busted bringing in illegal immigrants.

Na, Maxda RX4. But that reminds me

Hell yes!!!!

Have a nosey through this, should tell ya all ya need to know. http://www.meeknet.co.uk/e38/alternator/index.htm

Looking cool in that colour dude!

I'd go for the building company ,claim for $280 plus court costs , excess for insurance plus $70 per hour for your time.( small claims court) Give them the option of setting out of court.

Oh... and did I mention I've got a quick ratio steering rack on the way?

I agree. Definately not a parts bin car... There is a lot of unique parts to his car that came from Alpina... Updated look... ? atleast he has all the parts to take it back... Colour change... ? And biggest part for a collector would be the missing badge in the engine bay... Still a beautiful beast... Pitty I don't have tht sort if coin... I envy the guy who buys it

Including my car. Lol I'll just leave this here

Full machine polish, for the first time....! MTOY Detail by cse.taylor, on Flickr

M3AN Monday or Tuesday this week. I LOVE YOUR CAR

broke the rules though ... you never go full retard (tech2 onto pre-fl body)

If it is an acrylic paint. Soak a rag in meths n lightly rub you will see in seconds if it will soften I dissolve the paint. Good luck. Also do this asap!

where are you in NZ? come see me if you are in Auckland or the North Shore. I will be able to get it off for ya

Fixed bmwarchive_org_bm75140.pdf