Leaderboard

There is a test you can do with your finger on the disa to see if its working;

Check out No 15,and 17 they are rubber caps on the back of the inlet manifold due to the heat they just disintegrate http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/E46-Sedan/Europe/325i-M54/R-N/oct2000/browse/engine/intake_manifold_system/.

Hey guys just joined up Just got my restricted licenses and been rearing to finish my project thats been going for a month and a bit now. I'm down on the Kapiti Coast and keen as to get out and meet some more guys driving cars of culture once she's all done. Anyone give me a shout and will be keen to organise something for the weekends comin up in a month (if the car is done). Here's a few picks of the seasoned veteran and some snipets of the process from start to now. Looking forward to some meet n greets or cars n coffee on the weekends. Any advice on the build is much appreciated and where to get the best value for money parts and spares from Cheers guys

So true

if you're playing at the $9k stakes table, you're into e90 330i money. IMHO $6k is the sweet-spot for e46's, at least until the e30 crowd realise what a phenomenal bargain they are and push the prices up.

Hey - signed up a few months ago and have been stalking since - thought it was time to introduce myself! Picked up my first BMW, a 2000 E46 325i touring a couple of months ago. Got off to a rough start (literally, though still haven't 100% solved it) but have completely fallen in love with it. Cheers, Dan

@allan - will check those out tomorrow and report back, cheers! @Olaf - have INPA up and running + have used my mates auto sparky tools. Appear to get misfires across random cylinders, only one at a time, moves about depending on day. Have moved coils around to no avail. INPA is also reporting pre cat O2 sensor heating element failures which sometimes throws an engine light. Will plug into car tomorrow and see if what's stored thanks heapsfor your help so far everyone, really appreciate it!

This! C'mon Nathan, don't tease us. We need the pics! We need the write-up.

if you are up for a bit of DIY it costs about $100 for some nice black fabric, $20 on glue and a day in the garage to do the re-upholstering yourself. the hardest part is actually removing the headlining panel and getting it out of the car. once its out u just rip the fabric off, clean the panel, the apply glue to fabric and just press it on. cut around the edges and youre done. Pretty simple and a DIY job doesnt look any worse than a professional job. costs about 1/3 + your time.

Nice work Jake - impressive!

Great example Martin. Could have picked up an air cooled Porsche in 1995 for ~$30k. Same one is now >$130k. NSX? $40k - now ??? 22B? As low as $30k - can't even fine them now but $100k+ Add E30 M3 - 2001 ~$35k... 16 years on...

Good and bad depending what side of the fence you're on, lots of iconic cars now commanding money-no-object collector prices. Other Examples.. - Air-cooled Porsches - Honda NS-X - Subaru Imprezza 22b

Who did the upholstery work? Keen to get mine done

Me too! They have been great so far and have meet all costs to fix. I really can't fault them, but I do suspect that they are doing the cheapest fixes possible (and that their patience may be running out) . Replacement cat should arrive tomorrow and then fitted. I'm expecting to pick it up on Wednesday and hopefully get at least three days of no lights .

Valves adjusted on the ol' M20 and new spark plugs. Old plugs looked very normal which is reassuring after 350,000km. (Edit: Plugs had only been in 30,000km of those) Also had Jon at Auto38 replace my gearbox fluid. All in preparation for this weekend's trip to Napier :~)

I would say the release bearing carrier is the wrong one. There are 2 types, one is 10mm longer than the other

I missed your call , tried to call back a few times , no anaswer

Hi Jake, welcome aboard. As the others have said, great project. we'll look forward to seeing you along on future meets, or indeed, pulling one together. great to see another e21 being resurrected.

great project have a few parts left over from this and some new old stock etc

Yuussssss! e46 tourings are the best. What problems were you having?

Yes, I'm lucky enough to have had a fair bit of e46 M3 seat time, SMG and manual as well as various SMG 'flashes'. Absolutely fabulous car and that's why the CSL is so good. It's simply better in every regard, it's quicker, more precise, more nimble, more encouraging and has much more power on tap when and where you need it. It's instantaneously noticeably better than the benchmark. And when that benchmark is an e46 M3 then you have something really quite special. I'm pretty confident it's a car we'll still be talking about for a long time to come. Might be the very last of the NA goodness.

Lemons are not my favourite . I have a suspicion that it is a mixture of both I have seen the mechanic hook up their (Snap On?) diagnostic reader so I'm sure they are seeing the codes. Trouble shooting and then remedying them seem to be their issue. Which is why I think they have reverted to go through the obvious and then cross it off lol. So quick update: It went back to them on Thursday. They said they will change the plugs this time and it should be ready by that afternoon. Take your time I say. Well - they contact me on Friday afternoon and inform me the catalytic converter that they replaced was faulty. They are now waiting on a replacement. I said keep it as long as you need to get it sorted properly. So we will see how they go. To be fair they have been great to deal with and are doing their best to get it sorted and provide a loan car each time. Although it is frustrating having to go back to them every week so far, It is not as frustrating as having a Swift or 1.5 Impreza to run around in. I'm finding that they are not that comfy to drive Porirua-Wellington daily nor are they that fuel efficient! Shoot me if I ever say I'm going to buy one of these haha

Even rarer @ 1/2 the price: http://www.eurocarclub.co.nz/the-beast-of-elegance-meet-8m3/

Not to be disrespectful or anything, but your lack of formatting makes it very hard to follow. Also Brent @ BM World knows his stuff. I recommend either giving him a call and/or writing a clear list of what you actually have and a separate list of what you want. Lots of e36s have been manual converted, so you can't rely on everything you find being factory (unless of course you have proof). Parts are also plentiful, so you shouldn't have to make a spacer or use any custom parts.