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He's secretly an e46 m3 disguised as a person

It really is the golden age of second hand option at the moment. 1990s were one thing, but whats on offer in the mid to late 00s is pretty exceptional. Cost and complexity of issues does go up with each year though, but if you're savvy enough and are prepared for the odd repair or two it's worth it!

Great car, congrats. It's amazing - once upon a time you'd buy a ten year old car and it felt old. Now it seems that a lot of these gently used second hand cars from the late 2000's are all still up there in terms of drive, ride and options. And for a fraction of their original price to boot. I guess they still have to be maintained like a 2-300K car but you can save some dollars on that if you're handy. Looking forward to following how this goes.

So now that I have owned my 335i for 2 weeks I am already in search of more power but before I do that I felt it was pertinent to address some of the N54's short comings. First and foremost in my mind anyway is the PCV system. The internet says that the PCV valve on the N54 is average at best and in some cases downright useless especially when boost levels are raised. This is also apparently a big contributor to the carbon build on the inlet valves which rob power reduce throttle response and effect fuel economy. With all that said I decide that for the price of an upgraded PCV valve and an Oil Catch Can it was cheapish insurance. The PCV Valve is made by RB turbo in the USA http://www.rbturbo.com/products/accessories/rbpcv Shipping was $10 USD and it arrived 6 days after ordering it. The Oil Catch Can is made by Mishimoto and I bought this along with some M3 control arms from FCP Euro https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-black-baffled-oil-catch-can-mishimoto-mmbcc-n54-06cbe not sure on shipping as it was part of a bigger order. The yanks say that with an upgraded PCV the need for a catch can is less. That said I chose to do both because I am OCD and think that DI engines need super clean inlet systems. Your make think otherwise and opinions are like arseholes; everyone has one. Fitting was pretty straight forward and it took my just over 2 hours with a few breaks for beer, sore back and a chat with the Hot chick who rides a horse on my property. The images below will show the main points you have to be aware of. I would say that if can do basic mechanical work this is well within your capabilities. There are a few videos on YouTube showing how to remove the cabin filter assembly but you start off with the cable wire harness. Pull up on the front tabs then remove, then use a small screwdriver and remove the tray from the main panel. I left my cable in the tray but the internet says to remove the tray. There is one cable left and it slots out the same way tray does, I found it easier to just remove the cable and leave the clip unit attached to the panel. The main panel is held on by 8mm bolts, 2 fine thread on the sides and 6 course thread on the centre section. You also need to remove the covers for the Brake unit and whatever it covers n the left side, these are held on with clips and toggles there are also a couple of toggles for the main panel in this area as well. There are also a couple of sensors on each side of the main tray remove them by unclipping and twisting out and lay then in the side gutters of the engine. Once bolts and sensors are removed just wiggle the panel out toward you and slightly upwmards. When its out it will look like this. Note the cabin panel filter comes out first then the main panel. Next is the engine cover there are 4 5mm allen bolts, once these are out the engine cover slide forward under the cables. Next I replaced the PCV Valve, that's it circled in red. Use a 13mm spanner to get it off. The internet says that removing the rear fuel pipe makes this much easier, I would have to agree. It also makes it easier to get the flapper valve (next to it on the left off as well. The fuel is under pressure so you will get around 15-20 ml leak out so wait until the engine has cooled down before doing this. I then removed the flapper valve This has somewhat fiddly clip but be gentle as you need to reuse this part. The clip is best attacked with a couple of small flat head screw drivers. note the rear fuel rail is removed do not use excessive torque when reinstalling; it nips up tight with very little torque. Here is a top down of the PCV valve. This can be pulled out with a pair of long nosed pliers. Here are the two PCV valves the RB on the left and the stock unit on the right. Note the sock unit has threads but but it is just a push fit. To fit the new PCV valve insert it into the housing and then screw it back in. Note there is a big O ring that in this case had stayed in the engine cover housing. Pull it out fit it to the screw in housing. if you leave it in the engine cover it will be a pain in the butt to screw it back in. Once this back in and tight the PCV valve upgrade is done. The flapper valve assembly needs to separated from the attached tube. Be careful; I recommend using a hairdryer or heat gun to make the plastic pliable so it pulls off easily. Once you have done this replace the flapper valve back on the fitting on the engine cover. The catch can hoses can now be fitted. The 180 degree hose is the outlet and it gets attached to the other side of the flapper valve hose port that was removed. Route the hoses to the front of the engine bay as per the photos further down. This is how the two hoses will look when when fitted to the ports that were bridged by the flapper valve hose. Next screw the Oil Catch Can to the bracket with the supplied 2mm allen bolts and attach the bracket to the power steering reservoir. Now you can push the hoses on; the 90 degree hose goes to port marked out and the straight hose that is attached to the flapper valve goes to port marked in. There is no need to retaining clips as this whole unit is under vacuum not pressure. Put the engine cover back and dont drop a 5mm bolt into the engine compartment never to be found again. Fit the cabin filter panels back in place. fit the wiring harness tray and the side covers for the brake unit etc and your done. It should look a bit like this. Next up is the intake port/valve media blast and by then the downpipes, intercooler and charge pipe should have arrived. It will also have the M3 front control arms installed along with some Koni Yellows.

Almost as long as you have dragged out the whole Automatics suck thing. Anyway. I am looking forward to the new show. I already have Amazon Prime which is awesome. Just a free service as part of my free shipping service from them. I am glad it will be on a paid service. Mainly because I can no longer be stuffed downloading all the shows and I can't stand TV commercials.

LOL Post March 2005 production cars all got them. The cats whilst may have different part numbers between csl and post 3/2005 production ones are in fact actually identical in every way right down to the weight. The way to tell is to see if it has a welded bracket for the pipes or a figure 8 clamp. If it has a figure 8 clamp it is CSL with the thinner wall pipe (hence the reason for the figure 8 clamp) And yes I have had both side by side and on a scale to confirm they are exactly the same.

I saw this and couldn't help but think of N42/N46 owners...

Awesome, love these. Much nicer sound than the S85 M5 V10 engine Bring it to next months meet!

We have progress!!!!! After a lot of cursing and swearing and trying all sorts of different things the push to get the motor in quickly, i gave up and pulled the motor out to sit on the garage floor for a couple of weeks to rethink my plan of attack. I also needed to replace the c101 plug on the loom as the leveller had damaged it. In the end i ended up stripping the motor back to a bare long block to fit and removed and plugged the heater hoses and BOOM it fits Have got the driveshaft hoops all in after re-mounting one of them, and need to re-look at my shifter as when it was shortened and welded it seems to have warped slightly causing 5th & 6th gear to bind a little bit. Considering going to a solid mounted shifter like an AKG or similar to sort it all out. Seeing as the motor was all in i decided i would like to see how the final picture may look so put it all together with kit (excluding side skirts) to geth an idea of the look. I have some spacers coming for the front to even out the offset, i did have some but was sent e39 ones and not e36 ones so will get an idea of the final offset soon. Also got the rear wheels together so just need to get tyres mounted and will get them on for a test fit also

Epic Brent - I've drooled over and pondered S8s as the price looks super reasonable considering what they are. Always had a soft spot for S8s since 'Ronin' Before I bought my E60 I took an A8 for a spin (3.7 V8) and liked it. Then I measured it and found it would never fit in the garage :| They are huge! The other thing that put me off was the much higher cost of the Autosure/Vero MBI cover as soon as you step to the A8 and S8 - same band as M and AMG. And after the $ I've spent on my 2 BMWs even with MBIs I'm cautious/chicken about moving 'to the next level' Interested to see how your ownership journey goes! Keep us posted! Honestly I'm not envious

Spent a hour this morning replacing the water hose and the rest of the day driving it for the first time in 3 months. OMG I've missed this car.Here it is sitting on the BBS's.

You working on a 4 cylinder E90 Troy ?

it is a well-recognised fact that Audis are driven by ICT Infrastructure and Database Admins in team-lead roles, Pre-sales engineers, and junior sales hacks, all of whom run Samsung mobiles on Android, and are on Microsoft's Beta-testing list, and denounce the existence of OSX and iOS.

Got a WoF.

Nice of you to trim before you flash, that's just polite. But shaving is much less painful and a lot faster than plucking!

Wheels are starting to come together ? Big things should happen this week…look out it may actually start