Leaderboard

Finally the fronts are done... I'm going to get the fluid flushed and a re-bleed soon, the pedal's not as high and hard as I'd like and, whilst the existing fluid looks okay, I have no idea how old it is. Regardless of the tools or technique I use I've never been able to successfully bleed brakes so the pedal feel is probably operator incompetence. I did do a good job of getting brake fluid everywhere though! 👍

Maybe the pricing of them will come down in a year or two.....yeah right haha.

The e46 is a better car in almost all regards, so good call keeping it.

Spotted in AKL CBD last night.

Soooooooooo..... been quite busy pumping money and time into the car lately - went on a bit of a blitz as I've decided to keep it after humming and ha-ing over selling to get into an overpriced E30 - that day will have to wait. Had my driveshaft hoops for certification installed - cert plate will be here soon although rear hoop is hitting exhaust over bumps and will be sorted shortly (spent a Saturday chasing the noise thinking it was to do with my swaybar install) Upgraded my Msport sway bars (23.5mm & 18mm) to an M3 front bar and Msport vert rear (26mm and 20mm now) with new bushings. These have tightened the handling up really nicely (especially the rear) and complement my moderate coilover spring rates perfectly. Adjustable end links are on the way. Had a small dent fixed, my boot resprayed and rear gaurds blended and my M3 mirrors colour matched (boot and mirror colour was off before) Installed a no-name (Ruff?) Short shifter from Speedfactor - great unit, it uses the factory style shifter cup, but has a steel pivot ball, adjustable throw length and adjustable height - can be notchy at low speed when cold but feels awesome 98% of the time - If I had known how easy and satisfying this job was I would have done it as soon as I got the car. Gave my front seats a respray with leather matte clear coat - after a year since my refinishing project they still looked great, but drivers seat was getting a bit shiny - this was a 2 hour cakewalk compared to the colour change nightmare and they look absolutely sensational again. I used a more durable clear this time around so expecting the matte to last a bit better. Things I hope to do next week - Alcantara (well, Ebay suede) shift and handbrake boots and a full groom including polish and sealant - need to get rid of a few tiny swirls and the little buffer trails panel beaters love to leave everywhere. Seat before and after below.

Bit of an update, bought a bunch of detailing supplies after Xmas to give the car a good going over and clean. I've wanted to give the car a good detail since buying it but fixing up the mechanical side was the first priority. Now that has all been done, or I have the parts in the garage, it was time to work on getting it shiny. I've kept it relatively clean since buying but really wanted to clay bar and cut/polish to sort out the multitude of fine scratches and get the headlamps clear. I had previously attacked the headlamps with a turtlewax headlight kit, to remove glue from the previous owners "eyebrow" install. This somewhat helped but they definitely could be better. Last week I started with mag monster on the wheels and then G3 detailers cleaning spray, rinsed off and then washed the car again. Once it was really clean I started with the claying and did most of the car before leaving it for the next day. I came back to it and found I'd managed to scratch up a few areas worse than before 😥 but mostly it felt much smoother and used a tar and bug remover to get everything else off the car. I pulled out the polish to attack the scratched up sections but hand polish wasn't enough to remove the new scratches nor some older scratches. It did take out a lot of fine scratches but not the finish I was optimistically hoping for. I'd also exposed a fair few stone chips and at this point decided to seek professional help 🤣 Booked it in with Final Touch to get a two stage machine polish, headlight polished and their stone chip paint touch up. Went in today and it came out brilliant, exactly what I was after. Car looks absolutely phenomenal even though it was very clean already before going there lol. The dent on the back corner is still there! If anyone knows a dent guy let me know. The front end is a massive improvement with the headlights being crystal clear, de-aging the car. No stone chips on the bonnet looks much better too! It had been bugging me that the car didn't look as well cared for as it was, but now it really reflects how much work/parts have been put into it over the last year. Super happy with how it all turned out, it was what I was initially after(taking it to a detailer) before deciding to have a go myself. With this I did a lot of the groundwork and was able to get the stone chips taken care of too. So a better finish than just getting a standard detail. At least I have all the gear to keep it nice and shiny now Engine mounts and sump gasket hopefully going in within the next month, dependent on time and space on the lift. Will be 100% mechanically buttoned up then 🤪

I'm not sure that you will find a BMW/Mini garage/specialist in Whakatane. But... I travel regularly to Whakatane and last year I took my e31 fuel pump housing with me to try a local auto electrician. Long story but it had a dead pump and damaged housing wiring. After calling several businesses I decided to take it to Super Auto Electrical. They sourced and fitted an OE Bosch fuel pump, then repaired the wiring all for what I consider a reasonable cost (hundreds v thousands for a genuine complete unit). No-one in Wellington was even remotely interested in helping me out. Run by a husband and wife with a team of mechanics they gave great service. Len, the owner, says they do a lot of work on the local euro's, BMW, Porsche, VW etc. When I was there they had an X5 and a VW Toureg showed up. They are my first port of call if I need a garage when I'm there. Hope this helps.