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Finally got the new rims for the E46 from the land of the rising sun Also got the car up in the air and gave things a bit of an inspection and clean 👌

Expanding on an earlier post, i need to replace a 45 year old dust seal for the steering rack on the E21, the part is badly perished and not available as a single part, so i thought i would have a crack at making a new one from scratch. Step one, machined up an aluminium mould, 3 pieces that bolt together with an opening at the top to pour the goop in to, took about 9 hours all up but i'm not a machinist so i am just happy that i didn't throw it out of the lathe half way through!! Bought some casting plastic, mixed it and poured first attempt... Had a few issues, first up i bought the wrong product! the part came out ok but ended up being ridgid plastic rather than flexible so no good for a seal, other issue was a few bubbles on the edge that seals against the steering rack housing, so ordered new product and had a second go... This piece is better, although it could have had more pigment added, nice and flexible, size and shape are ok, but still has a few bubbles, Not worried about the small cosmetic ones in the center but the outside edge needs to be smooth and continuous as it forms the seal,, so next step will be to play around with purging the mould so there is less moisture to react with the urethane and cause bubbles, if that doesn't work i will look at vacuum de-gassing.... Under side of original part... Assembled mould ready to pour...

I sometimes feel left out that I don't like them visually. Even as a kid I didn't like them. I think it is trauma from those Herbie movies in the 80s.

Sold the 25 mm spacers that I had on my Maserati. The guy got them and asked if the smaller ones should go on the front or the back. Whaaat? I exclaimed. I've just found out that the spacers I was running for quite some time were 22mm and 25mm not 25mm all round as I had assumed. I can't believe I f**ked that up and it explains why it's handling was all over the place, it probably had a different offset on the same axle or the same offset one side. I lost a lot of sleep trying to figure out what was causing it to handle like a greased weasel.

Nothing more exciting than getting home to some big boxes of car parts on your door step. OE Clutch kit, I have a new OE dual mass flywheel too since going single mass doesn't appeal to me 3 Rear strut mounts, bump stops, spacers and extended wheel bolts, E90 X-drive strut mounts I really hadn't planned on getting these but the more I thought about it the more I realised that reusing the old tired struts and springs would really take away from the experience. I also found out that there are 6 cylinder compact specific Bilstein B8's and eibach springs which sealed the deal. The front struts are the same for any 6 cylinder E46 but the rear dampers are valved differently for the compact with less weight over the rear, and the eibach springs are specific to the 325ti with the 6 cylinder up front and the different rear. Should make for a nice setup. Other than that I finally sourced some facelift tails and installed them. Small detail but looks so much better. Engine all strapped up ready to pull, hoping to get to it tomorrow after work so I can spend the weekend tearing the motor down.

okay, had another go, rigged up a contraption to hold the mould on an angle and rotate it slowly while i poured the product, hoping to get a nice smooth sealing edge. Also purged the mould with argon before pouring to try and displace air / moisture. Unfortunately none of that helped.... i did get the colour right this time though! Bugger. Will have another go with this setup and a slightly different pouring technique to try and get it right, if that doesn't work i will investigate de-gassing...

For sure Jon. Slow is subjective. 0-100 in under 10 seconds used to be impressive, hell, people still buy utes and they cant break the 10 second barrior yet the dickheads who drive them think they are Joachim Winkelhock every time they see a merge lane. I prefer a 325i to an M3 myself because at least it has some torque. But call me queer, id take this instead. I'm sure the conversation over bumper air vents at the Porsche meeting would be equally punishing though. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/porsche/911/listing/4337273776

Feeling ranty today. Real estate agents not listing asking prices. It would seem many of the established agents have moved on to other work and have been replaced with uber drivers looking for day jobs who don't seem to understand that the prospect of mortgaging a $1.4m house in a South Auckland slum area is a daunting prospect to many people.

330e is circa 1,900kg car AFAIK. So enough with the fat shamming! haha I don't think there is that many naysayers about EV's anymore, but I have noticed targeted negativity with click bait headlines etc against EV's and have heard some bogans talking as if someone is actually trying to take their V8's away, so there is some confusion. As an appliance they make total sense, work will be leasing one in 2025 when our currant lease is up, even though work pays for fuel, its getting rather painful to look at and is at the point when spending extra on a EV lease covers running costs. I would not buy one with my own money knowing they are essentially obsolete and worthless after a few years because of the rate of evolution. Would like to see where Japan end up with solid state technologies. Disclaimer, I could care less about virtue signaling, decision is purely economic.

I think you could expand this scenario to all E30's.

Stayed up past midnight last night throwing on the new wheels and putting the interior together. Involved a lot of backwards & forwards, detaching and reinstalling trim bits and sound deadening as they go back in a particular order, under-overlapping in a certain way or using a single fastener to fix several pieces in place, like an intricate puzzle. Even remembered to torque down the wheels properly this time... Then filled the tank and dropped it off at BMW for the alignment. I had asked what they charge for an alignment when I called to book in the appointment the day before - $125 including GST. So I was slightly taken aback when a few hours later I got a text telling me the car is ready for pickup and that the total comes to $322.90... 2.5 hours of labour. Would have assumed the adjustable camber arms and the fact that all the parts were literally brand new and not seized on would have made the task easier but... what do I know. At least I got some unsolicited tyre shine and a couple of tins of mints out of it though Took the car for a quick shakedown up Dyers Pass, through Lyttleton and along Sumner Road, then a detour onto the motorway on the way home to try her out at 100kph. Honestly... I must've been driving absolute shitbuckets my whole life as I never knew a car is supposed to behave this way. I've grown so accustomed to tramlining, vague steering, rattles, clunks and an otherwise shaky ride that it's super weird not having any of it anymore. One or a few of the wheel bearings must have been cooked as I used to have a slight vibration doing close to 100kps that I had attributed to an unbalanced driveshaft but no signs of the issue anymore. Steering is sharp and tracking perfectly straight, sections of road that had previously been shaky are now perfectly smooth, ride height looks and feels a tad sportier but still gets in and out of driveways & parking lots without issues. An absolute dream. Mission accomplished. Only small issue I've encountered is some slight rubbing going over bumps at speed seemingly only coming from the rear left so I might have to give the camber arms a few more turns. The wheels were the one component I'd been most excited about. Great to finally throw them on after gathering dust in the corner of the garage for well over a year. Style 193's are up there with my absolute favourite BMW wheel styles and they just suit the chassis so well in my opinion. Absolutely in love with them. Even going up to 18" from the old 17" 194's, with the new shocks and fresh rubber the ride comfort is miles better than it was before. The engine feels great, power delivery is nice and smooth and more is always there when you need it. One downer in all of this is that my excursion behind the timing cover did not fix the startup rattle issue. My last remaining hypothesis is that the needle bearings in the VANOS units got tightened up excessively when I was putting in the anti-rattle rings and aren't able to rotate quite freely as the rattle seems to be coming from the top end of the engine. A while ago I lifted a whole VANOS unit off a 2006 X3 that I'll reseal and throw on at some point. Went through 3 cars at Pick-A-Part until I found a unit with no visible scoring marks in the cylinder bores... I suspect if the cylinders I have in the car now have seized up then they would have done damage to the bores so best throw in a fresher looking unit. If that still doesn't fix it then I guess I'll just live with it. Feels so good finally dragging this mission (mostly) over the line and being able to enjoy the fruits of the labour (and get some sleep at last). Will tally up the rough cost of all that's been done at some point, will make for some grim reading for sure. Time to properly enjoy some road trips now.

The issue with paint “codes” is that there can often be variations over the lifetime of the colours and there is then effectively a number of colours you have to choose from. Are all your parts made from the same material? Some paints come up different when they are sprayed on steel, or plastic or even different plastics. Even trying to match to another part of the car can be problematic, a lot of matching skills have been lost with the advent of mixing machines, and the human eye is a lot more accurate than even the best machines. If you’re not happy then you are quite within your rights to take your car to the painter and have a discussion about it and see what they suggest.

Another idea might be to get a can of C21L made up from Spraystore or similar, test spray some random panel or part, and then see how that looks relative to both your original paint and your newly resprayed parts. If it's close to the old paint and different to the new paint, then you can go back to your painter with more confidence.

VIN: WBSBL92050JR00039 Type code: BL92 Model: Мotorsport (EUR) E-F-R series: E46 2 Series: 3 Type: COUPE Steering: RL Doors: 2 Engine: S54 Displacement: 3.20 Power: 252 (342 hp) Drive: HECK (RHD) Transmission: MECH (SMG) Paint code: 416 - CARBONSCHWARZ METALLIC Upholstery code: N5TT - TEILLEDER W.N./G Napa Grey Leather Prod.date: 2001-02-01 S210 Dynamic stability control III S249 Multifunction f steering wheel S313 Fold-in outside mirror S358 Climate comfort windscreen S403 Glass roof, electrical S415 Sun-blind, rear S423 Floor mats, velours S428 Warning triangle and first aid kit S431 Interior rear-view mirror with auto dip S441 Smoker package S459 El. front seat adjustment w. memory S473 Armrest front S490 Adjustment, seat-backrest width S493 Storage compartment package S494 Seat heating driver/passenger S502 Headlight cleaning system S520 Fog lights S521 Rain sensor S534 Automatic air conditioning S548 Kilometre speedo S550 On-board computer S661 Radio BMW Business (C43) S674 Hi-Fi system Harman Kardon S692 Preparation, BMW 6-CD changer I-bus - now with changer installed S710 M sports steering wheel, multifunction S771 Interior trim strips, Titan Shadow S775 Headlining anthracite S785 White direction indicator lights S793 Sequential M Gearbox Drivelogic L807 NATIONAL VERSION JAPAN S832 Battery in luggage compartment S845 Acoustic fasten seat belt reminder S853 Language version, English S875 Infrared remote control S916 Development veh. w/out preservation S925 Dispatch protection pack S991 STEUERUNG VORSERIE - Pre-production car S992 Control of number-plate attachment HK Speakers with new OEM Mid and High Range drivers fitted - 09/22 Meyle HD RCAB's fitted and car serviced June '23 at 69,762 kms - as of 27 Oct - 70,762 kms New VARTA battery 11/22 Vehicle was imported by BMW Group NZ as Approved Import in 2003 at ~ 9000 kms. Owned within the family since 2005 at 25K kms - currently owned by little old German lady with no further requirement. Completely stock - zero mods. $58,000.00 Only listing is here - Pls contact by PM

All colours change over time, and blacks perhaps more than most. If you have a good paint depth on the rest of the car then you might find a deep cut with the right pads and compounds will bring your old paintwork back to what it looked like new, and therefore closer to the newly resprayed parts.

Thanks Rag-Top, I’m just waiting for new thermostat and will do another attack on bleeding. Hopefully comes out alright.

I was just taking the piss, I'm a total rivet counter myself and point out sh*t to people on cars they have owned for 10 years and never noticed, like you though, I don't really care, I just like pointing it out because it gives me a sense of superiority. I was never a 911 fan until I got into road racing and had a fist hand chance to understand what fast actually is. From there is has grown as I have seen the passion that goes into creating RS cars.. Frothing.

Do. Not. Get. Me Started. (Sur)real Estate Agents have surpassed the [can't write the word I want to here ] that lawyers are supposedly known for. There seems to be a preponderance of ill-educated, slimy, self-entitled tossers around masquerading as people pretending to sell houses and property. PBN, POA, tender... All are pathetic excuses for not doing the job they are paid far to well for. Try offering any amount for a house and you're always told "the vendor has indicated that they'll not accept less than $ludicrous..." SO WHY DIDN'T YOU PUT THAT ON THE LISTING AND SAVE ME THE BOTHER OF HAVING TO TALK TO YOU?!?!?!?!? There are some good ones around but the days where an agen represented a vendor and worked to find a buyer, or would take a buyer's requirements and find a house, are loooong gone. It's a self-regulated industry. And when you do finally get a house that a sensible offer is accepted on, the agent wants you - the buyer - to pay a hefty sum into a 'holding account' while contracts are sorted, titles are issued - whatever. I have never seen this done anywhere else. Who gets the interest off that money? Certainly not the seller, or the buyer.

Quite a good shot of the engine bay to see just how on the piss the motor really is !!

I'm absolutely convinced that the GT3 is the greatest "single car garage" car of all time.

The valve is open when you have it set to hot. That is when the valve is open and coolant is able to flow into the core and back to the engine so you are getting heat. Setting it to cold will close the valve and you won't be flowing coolant through the core so any air won't be bleeding out of that part of the system.

Feeling ya mate, I have something for sale also that I know would have sold in a week a couple of years ago, but after a month I have had only one call, not even a low ball offer. At least its not our lively hood, imagine being a car dealer at the moment, especially if you stocked up a while back. Not that we are going to feel sorry for car dealers. I have enquired about a couple of cars and have had no real response so I can assume people still think its a sellers market.

Was a hypothetical. Although some of the "specialist" quotes I have seen lately it wouldn't' be hard to spend 100k in 2023. Cost of E30 living is out of control. Market has stalled, nothing is selling ATM.. I mean, borrowing money to buy a BMW at current interest rates would be a bad idea, especially when you consider prices on used and collectable cars are down 20-40% vs 2021 peak and demand has dried up. If you put this car on the mortgage right now and financed it over 10 years it would owe you close to 300k.. Maybe it will be worth 300k in ten years, who knows? But that is not an investment and it is not a 300k experience. In this market, I would be buying clean e46's now and enjoying them.

Its just 2x simple camber arms ffs, everything else is the same. Nearly 3x the price is something id expect for adjusting coilovers. Sounds like whoever was doing it didnt know what they are doing or they wanted to extract more money out of you, probably both given my experience with dealers. Ive never done the rings because it seems like a game of guess the tolerances.

Agree with a lot of that. Looks like he's averaged 4L/100km on a 2.8 tonne Rangerover which is pretty good. I could get close to 0 in the 330e if I didn't run to Auckland and back once week, that trip chews 5L/100km. There's still plenty of naysayers around insisting that EVs are worse than petrol and other such nonsense, but as a form of transport for the general masses the writing is on the wall as far as I can see. The only exception being hobby/sport/enthusiast cars for occasional use.

Spotted in Putaruru on Monday. A Ford Ranger with full "Coombes Johnson BMW and Mini" livery 😂

Saved the planet, one km at a time for approx 900kms, and sneered at all the farmers in their dirty diesel utes spewing smoke.

I need to make a proper update at some point but just got my car back from my mechanic who serviced the transmission and installed the genuine M5 springs I managed to get. Pretty happy, car looks great. Just need to figure out how to lower the rear, and then I also need my side skirts on and an exhaust job - I need muffler suggestions if anyone has any. E34 exhausts seem to be a pain because of the odd shape and limited space.

SOLD Low K for age 90000km excellent runner. $7500.