Leaderboard

Botany Motor Worx Ltd will cease trading as an Automotive Specialist repairer as of 12.05 pm tomorrow. It's been fun and there have been special moments which I've enjoyed sharing. But the time has come to enter a different time as the journey continues. I'll be around at the workshop over the next few weeks and may have a few bargains for the special people. Just give me a call first.

Hey Team Just a small update. Did a little road trip up to Auckland over the weekend and picked up a 2nd hand set of XYZ 6pot 330mm brakes. Thanks to Raymond for giving me a great deal. But the high light of my trip was when i went to buy some fruit for the trip home around Greenlane. Saw this beast that caught my eye. I'd have to say the mintest 750i possibly in NZ. I was lucky enough to catch the owner while putting his grocery's in the boot. Donny is his name, brought this back in 96 brand NEW! at $270,000 haggled down from $300,000 WTF. has all the bells and whistles as he got to pick what add ons he wanted. Having AC Schnitzer body kit and 18inch mags made it look stunning. Custom two tone leather, T.V , Phone Sunroof etc. And heres the kicker for a 21 year old car Donny's only done 90,000kms in it. Had a good old yarn with him and took some pictures. I said this will probably be the only time i would see this. Bloody awesome

^ did that and the answer was 42. Where to from here?

I've got a right foot for that

I can think of worse factory rims to be stuck with.

Car actually looks mint! Just would look better knowing there's an M54B30 with a 6 speed in it ?

Just to keep all my friends and customers here informed. Botany Motor Worx Ltd will cease trading as of 12.05 pm tomorrow. A lifestyle choice I'm going to enjoy. My phone number won't change, and for those that would want sensible help with issues feel free to give me a call

Wow... I'm starting to learn how to be a copy & paste nerd

https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1524745457.htm Anyone here? Seems quite cheap for what one gets... I'm sorely tempted to swap my sedan for it...

Have run one on an m52 and I rate them.

I agree Jared they don't build them like they use to. Michael nope he just takes very good care of it and get's it serviced regularly.

BMW Long Term Depression

BMW on Loan Tab or Debt? BMW Likes To Drip heh many a poor driveway has suffered my various ones, I know that much

Off to see 325i LCI touring tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Since there seems to be a good collection of owners of this generation, what have you done about the tyre situation? Stuck with the run flats? Or gone to the normal type, where'd you put the spare?

Well... its not too difficult to work out. For your E46, assuming you have the torqiest (is there such a word?!) - you have the following: 400 NM of engine torque, Gearbox reduction ratio of 4, Final drive ratio of 3.5, 80% drive train efficiency You'll be putting out 4480 Nm at the wheels. Assuming you have standard sized wheels (0.63m diameter), this equates to 14.2kN. Your bolt will fail in shear rather than in tension. Typically, the bolts will fail at 60% of its UTS. So assuming you only use 1 bolt to attached your tow bar, your bolt needs to withstand 14.2kN of shear force or 23.7kN of tensile force. I don't know what diameter your bolt holes are... so if we go backwards and assume you want to use the cheaper grade 8.8 bolts we can do the following calculation : 23.7 k / (800 * 0.8) = 37 mm^2 This equates to a bolt diameter of 6.9 mm This calculation is very similar for braking... assuming you have standard brakes and your 100 kph stopping distance is 40 m. Applying the kinematic equation of Vf = Vi + 2ad, you'll find that a = 10 ms-2. Approx weight of an e46 is 1500kg. F = ma, your braking force is 15kN (which is less than our approx best case acceleration force). Apply your own safety factor... and you can decide what you need.

@E30kid I can too.. my old E46 I had 6-7 years ago had shockers, replaced them within a week

The M43 engine is the better option in the 4 cylinder versions- much more reliable and less problematic

I won’t bother with the head unit, I definitely want wheels though!

Yeah that would be nice. My mate just bought 2000 318i full M-sport but it's m43 powered. Lovely car and makes my e30 look a wee bit retro now. Also if you can get a factory radio in it you can buy Bluetooth kits outta the US that replace the CD changer.

Thanks @E30kid full leather interior which looks and feels brand new.. only negative (aside from the 2L vs the 3L) - after market head unit

Make sure the aftermarket LED tail lights are not leaking into the boot and wiring loom if you are keeping it outside in Palmy

Back when BMW engines bays were pleasing to look at

Hope you all have a great holiday break and enjoy the festive season without too much drama. Botany Motor Worx Ltd will be closed from 12.01pm on Friday the 22nd of December till Monday the 15th of January. And before all the fake news and rumours start, Botany Motor Works Ltd will stop trading as a motor vehicle repair facility as of the 28th of February 2018. Botany Motor Worx Ltd is not in a financial situation and all commitments and financial commitments will be met on or before the 30th February 2018 I've had enough and I'm going fishing, but I do have a phone and am still available for advice and help to the many friends I have made here over the years.

We probably won't cross paths Michael. I have over the years enjoyed the imput you have given us over the years though. I'm now more into Motor Homing and my Grand children. The Ti has only done about 200km in the last five years now. It's still mint and is for sale

It won’t be my last bmw.. the E46 M3 is the goal..

I don't think that link really helps with the answer and you might consider using this instead for the lols: http://lmgtfy.com/ To the OP, this is better Google-foo, look at the first link: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=towbar+bolt+strength

Yeah I don't think 10-15K will be enough. Turbo setup only will be at least a 3rd of that before install. Exhange rates freight and installs will send it well north. I am currently FBO with ethanol

If you only have 10-15k, better off to do a few mods an make a nice, reliable ~223rwkw car, that's 300rwhp, heaps for a daily driving road car. Enough to be faster than just about every original M car. What more do you need? Higher levels than this are just ways to show off to your mates with dyno sheets and decrease reliability.

Some info on what diff to use. A Wavetrack, or M Factory LSD will be good value for money but you could also use a plate style LSD if you want really positive lockup. Large bolted Diffs are the ones you want.

Commodore brake upgrade? Is that where you use an A frame to tow the latest Commodore around and the weight slows you down for every corner??

Good chat. Happy motoring!

??? 5w30 full synthetic is the correct oil regardless of make so long as it meets the manufactures specs and Castrol was the BMW supplier at the time of manufacture

No offence intended James, but you are not lucky owning a BMW with an N46 motor and I would also suggest you forget doing mods for more HP and concentrate on trying to keep it on the road from a mechanical/maintenance perspective. And I really do know what I'm talking about and I'm not a copy and paste school kid that gets his information from the facepalm forums

and please, don't cut off your cat. think of your family, your neighbours, your friends. Belching out carcinogens that are treated by a catalytic converter just isn't reasonable. Find your power gains elsewhere. It's not a track only car, right?

save your money for servicing and repairs , these engines need lots of it. or swap it all out for a m54b30 and manual or s54 etc .

NO ,maybe a supercharger kit

Just what long weekends are for . . . 2013 F20 M135i 315bhp of fun

This project is finally back on track. Found some time over the Xmas break to move things along. Need to introduce the JBE and all E92 M3 wiring to give seamless integration. Using existing plugs and wiring wherever possible this is well under way thanks to the effort/time put in by James. The pics can do the talking.

Had a reality check re. fitment. Would need quite a bit of modification to fit the E39 restricted space.Put this plan to one side while I focus on my S65 powered E87. These headers will be saved for something else.

Having had two E61's (525i and a 550i) previously and currently drive an E91 (330i) my choice between them would be a coin toss, I preferred the E61 525 to drive as it was roomy and had enough acceleration, the smaller E91 looks nicer and more modern IMHO (esp from the rear where E61's look a bit dated) but its a bit cramped inside compared to the bigger 5 series (im 6'1"). The 550 was beautiful on long trips but didn't handle anywhere near as good as the 525 (both motorsport models) and of course drank more. If you want your friends to enjoy the ride in the back on your weekend roadies then get a 5 series - unless your friends are dwarfs ;-)