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Update #13 So this weekend marked a corner in that we were putting things back onto the car, instead of taking them off :thumbsup2: We started by reinstalling the fuel tank - no issues this time, 20 minutes and it was in :lolhit: With the fuel tank hooked up and strapped in place, we turned our attention to the subframe. Originally our intention had been to assemble the rear axle out of the car, and then lift it into place. We evaluated that option, and decided it wasn't for us. The amount of weight involved, and our lack of a transmission jack, resulted in us deciding to assemble on the car. One of the challenges with rebuilding the rear axle is getting everything positioned and torqued appropriately. With the bushes, etc. it's important that they are torqued in their normal (e.g. their position when the car's on the ground), as the control arm and trailing arm bushes are pinched in position when torqued, and you don't want to torque them in an incorrect position and have them pre-loaded when the car's sitting on the ground. To this end, we did a lot of measuring to ensure that everything was set in the right locations when the bushes were torqued up. Subframe back in the car: Next up was the diff. We filled the diff with the SAF-XJ diff oil, and lifted it into place with the assistance of a dolly and a jack. Diff on the dolly (prior to being set on the jack): Here's a couple of pictures of it magically back in place: Next up after the diff was reinstalling the hand brake cables, then it was on to the trailing arms... We were initially going to mount the output shafts to the diff, and then put the trailing arms on. Then we realised mating the output shaft spline to the hub means some wrestling. To that end we pressed the output shaft into the hub, and installed the trailing arm and output shaft in one go. Again there was much measuring and positioning to ensure that everything was installed and torqued up in the "normal" position. Before long things were looking like this: Note that in the above photo, the hub is NOT in the "normal position", it is somewhat lower (or higher, depending on how you look at it) than the normal position - resting where it is cause that's how long the block of wood is :laughhard: With the trailing arms in, it was time to get the sway bar in, before the springs, etc. start making things really difficult. Getting the end links on is the hardest part - we ended up using the press to provide a little extra leverage. Even so - getting the sway bar in was slightly more challenging than intended - but a bit of tactical positioning of the end-links and we were away. Then it was in with the spring and spring pads. Note the sway bar in, but hanging loose - to allow us to drop the control arms enough to get the spring in: Then it was in with the shocks. We adjusted the Koni's (half a turn from full soft to start with) and put together the strut assembly. New bump stop and protective cover: At the top end it's new shock mounts & associated hardware, plus the reinforcement plates for extra security. Here's a pic of the shock installed: And the sway bar reinstalled: We also did some extra bits and pieces: Carbon filter cover back on. Rear heat shield back on. Level sensor reinstalled. During the week Dad is going to reinstall the brakes, and I'll get some new lock nuts for the hubs (the eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed they're not torqued up yet!). Then next weekend it will be on to disassembly on the front (we'll do driveshaft, exhaust, etc. at the end). The plan at this point for the front is to do disassembly, cleaning, rod bearing shells, cleaning and painting of parts in parallel, and then reassembly. Hopefully the front will be a bit of a quicker process than the rear has been :laughhard: For now - I'll end with a few more photos:

And time for a quick update. Replaced the fuse box. Old: New: Jumble of wires: Wasn't too bad, just labeled and de-pinned them, the popped the tabs back out and re-inserted them all. Did it over a weekend (but would be an all day type job) Just a quick pro-tip, make sure the labels are firmly attached to the wires when you label them. I had a few fall off, so had to get the old wiring diagrams out. Haven't blown a fuse so far, and now my windows work with the door open as designed. Did a compression test on the M52, and it's down a bit on the rear 2 cylinders. As it's burning through probably 500ml of oil every 1000km, it's time to swap in another engine that I picked up reasonably cheap. It's pretty much a year ago I started swapping in the current one, though this one looks to be in much better shape (no sludge built up in the head), and should be complete over the weekend.

Hi, Well after 10 years of lusting after an e46 M3 I finally have one sitting in the shed :-) its a 2002 with manual box and around 150k on the clock. You may know this car as previous owner was on a couple of forums I believe. It pretty much had all the work done to it that I would have done which has saved me a ton of time and monies, 19" work rims, BC golds, LED lights and a few other bits a pieces. Its Phoenix Yellow, not a colour I ever liked but its growing on me and it nice to have something that stands out. The rear subframe has had the HellBM treatment and I'm hoping its mechanically sounds for a good thrashing ;-) Plans include full service (inspection 2), hopefully a tune from HellBM, some new interior trim to replace worn items, a new steering wheel and racing buckets. and maybe down the road lower diff ratios. This is my third BMW, my plunge into euro cars was an E61 MSport 525 wagon, and that lead to another E61 MSport wagon, this time a 550. Loved both those cars but wanted a weekend warrior that I could swap cogs in. Hoping to hit a track or driver training day.

Hi All, So the weekend was depressing as the timing case broke on my UTE just before the rebuild (more wasted money and hard to find part)...So in my searches on the interweb i came across a local who had a gem sitting in his driveway ready to be refresh or re-purposed. Its an 95 750il w 162k on the clock, its missing a few items but nothing that i am sure i would be able to find here or from our sponsors. Its currently de-registered, so that's where i am un-decided, so thoughts would be awesome as when my engineer finds out about me spending more money on other things i may need somewhere to hide Plan:???

Folding rear seats are a factory option. S465 Through-loading system They're available in any country, as long as the original owner asked for them...

S50B30 with a complete B32 head

My wife's e60 530i Motorsport feels a lot more modern than the e39......which feels pretty old school now. However the torque from the s62 is addictive....

My old E36 328i coupe had folding rear seats. I have noticed with E39s however, this option seems to be standard on NZ new models- can't remember anything about this for Japanese new 3ers.

Pending price I'm keen! ?

Yes, I have folding rear seats in both my e36 coupe and e46 sedan. One of the best options IMO I can fit a lot of s*#t in the back of my coupe .

this is the way to go on a silver car

Bilstein B12 kit (Bilstein B8 shocks/struts and Eibach springs), or a Koni/H&R set-up.

Swapped out the gearbox, front sway bar links, intake filter, rubber shift boot, rocker cover breather hose and intake elbow. Next weekend is a proper clean, oil change and maybe installing the LSD.

Had a great day out. My best time was 12.4 They sprayed the track so traction was pretty good.

So finally the parts arrived to finish the timing chains, I installed new oil squirters then proceeded to install the timing chains, when I removed all the guides from the old engine stripping it down I could have swore the guides were alloy with plastic coatings, turns out they are all rubber and just gone very hard and turned to plastic along with the two bushes holding the plastic guide on the right of pic two... Moving along, the head gasket rings sat pretty close to the bore in places i had to file some of the gasket off at the locators on top of the block to get it to sit just right as the pistons come just above deck and didnt want any interference. I still can't get over how big the ports are on these heads, it's making me think about the exhaust mani that I've got, I'm going to have to do some serious die grinding to match ports Cylinder head torqued 35nm 70nm then 105nm Rolled the engine over then went to look at the oil pump then remembered that the pump I is probably in a bad way, I pulled it apart and found very bad scoring and pitting all through it, so went though our stock and found a m52 pump that had a pump wheel, I then found to mount it I had to slot the rear bolt hole about 4mm inwards, also swapped the spring and sleeve from the m3 pump into the m52 so the insides remain the same sort of, I swapped the sprockets over and tig welded the nut to the sprocket and to the shaft, job done On the top part of the cylinder head applyed some lock tight red sealant replacing the o-rings in between then proceeded to install the cams then I remembered someone saying I have to run a cam trigger wheel on one cam and didn't get any trigger wheels from vac motorsports, they are really expensive so figured I try make one, as there is a 2mm spacer with spline that goes on the end of the cam shafts between the sprocket plates I figure that seens as there is 2mm I can reduce the spacer to 1mm and then cut one of the trigger wheels 1mm from the mating face then I get my 2mm and everything will line up apart from my cam sensor, the trigger will sit 1mm closer inwards to the head as it used to sit after the spacer, I may be able to space out the sensor with a washer time will tell. Last photo I just sat the covers on, sh*t these engines are cool ?

Mine works. Used a 2degrees pre pay sim, setup call forwarding on my cellphone to the car phone and use the built in handsfree... Or the brick

Modern epoxy is stronger than welding. a lot of new cars are now bonded with adhesive ... actually almost all new modern composite supercars have non composite crash structures bonded to composite. Since I think 2005, BMW have been using adhesives as an approved repair method for repairing front ends of a lot of their new cars. The reality with the way the RACP is layered (4 layers including the stud mount) in the rear boot floor of the E46 chassis also means it is impossible to rust proof every single surface that welding comes into contact with. Not to mention the fact that welding is impossible for this car as the rear mounting has already been injected with bmw approved epoxy filler. Which I might add has proven to be an effective repair method for a road car. In my humble opinion, the only sure way this can be prevented or repaired without future failures elsewhere is a GTR style rear bar that spreads the load correctly into the rear main chassis, a full coilover style rear suspension and solid mounting the rear subframe craddle. It is a shame that all of this could have been prevented by BMW had they created a different rear subframe stud mount that actually tied into the rear chassis legs in the first place.

I can definitely agree about the M43. After doing over 30,000kms since I bought it, with only oil changes, the waterpump is leaking. At 250,000kms. I'd say thats well overdue, but apart from that it runs smoothly and almost like new. I'd happily say it's one of the most reliable engines BMW ever made, and easily the most reliable car I have owned. Beats the E30 M40s and M20s hands down just by not having a potentially troublesome cambelt, and I haven't really heard of anyone having issues with the M43s chain.

if your budget is $6-7k, I would stay away from the E90 series (2005 onwards shape) and go for something like an E46 325i/330i or an E39 530i. No matter what you do, dont buy a 4 cylinder BMW such as a 2006 320i. You will regret it.

Umm without being mean I wish someone would do the same to your rear one. Do you know how hard it is to find a m sport bumper for a touring. I will take it if it's still for sale when the money comes through that I'm waiting for, any chance of dropping it off to your local Bnt?