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I got a short period of time today to do a couple of things. Firstly I was able to take the car for a bit of a longer drive on mixed suburban roads and motorway. Suffice to say I am very, very happy with the improvement that the solid coupler has brought. In saying that it's important to note that I'm coming from a 20 year old OE rubber coupler to a solid coupler. It's likely that much of the improvement would also be seen with a new OE coupler. Although it should be noted that Bry5on has tested new OE and solid back to back and also saw improvements beyond the OE item. Having read his description of the improvements, my experience is the same, but magnified further because my old unit was so worn out. Gone is almost all of the deadness around centre, previously when the wheel engaged the steering rack and started turning the wheels the first part of the rotation felt spongy (which will have been as the worn out rubber giubo loaded up). That is completely gone and steering now feels much more linear either side of centre. Bry5on mentions improved granularity above, and I'm seeing exactly the same thing, it's as though the minimum amount of steering change you can make is smaller and more precise. Showing my age a bit here but it's the steering equivalent of going from SD to HD (or for the youngies it's the difference between cheap Netflix and expensive Netflix) everything is precise and feedback is better - when going from a worn coupler to solid/new the improvement is NOT subtle. Beyond maintenance/reliability work I try to focus the work I do on the car to get the best improvement to driving experience for the money I spend, and this change would easily be in my top 3 (alongside a brand-new steering wheel and the CSL bucket seats). When reading Br5yon's build thread I see that he also replaced the bushes on the lower steering column. I can't detect any undesired movement of the steering wheel laterally, but will swap them out anyway I think as they will no doubt be worn to some degree after 20 years. The second thing that I got the chance to do is to take some vaguely decent photos of the Xtrons head unit to use in my 6 month review of the headunit. Now that I've owned it for a decent period of time and had the chance to use it I think I'm at a point where I can make some overall observations of my experience with it. It's important to note up front that I've spent years reading all of the threads of people struggling and having issues with their Chinese-sourced headunits, and for a long time I had no intention of owning one, so when I eventually decided to give the Xtrons a go, it was not with the highest of expectations. Keep this in mind as you read my comments as my view of the unit may be affected by my initial low optimism. Secondly note that I'm very familiar with technology/computers/embedded systems/etc. so I'm very comfortable digging round in the guts of OSs and trying things out. That said I haven't had to do anything with this unit beyond some adjustment of some factory settings. Why an Xtrons? I was planning for a long time to install a head unit from a tier-one manufacturer of aftermarket headunits. Unfortunately they all suck (in my opinion) in particular going with such a unit I would obviously be giving up all pretence of OE looks. I was okay with giving up the OE look in exchange for reliability. Unfortunately the more I read the more it became apparent that I wasn't going to get the reliability I was after. I therefore eventually decided that I would have a go with a Chinese unit, and if it wasn't suitable, I'd then try a tier-one headunit. So why Xtrons over Dynavin, Avin, etc? Avin was a no-go, I've seen far too many complaints about them. Dynavin's new units have the Dynavin logo on them, have chunky buttons, and maintain the buttons on both sides layout of the original unit. In my opinion all 3 of these things were negatives. I certainly didn't want to end up with a tablet stuck to the dash, but I also felt that the layout of the Dynavin was unnecessarily dated, especially given the unit would spend most of its time in CarPlay. I was then drawn to Xtrons in particular because Obioban has one and had talked about it positively. What unit? I ended up choosing the IX8246BHL, because it was the highest-spec'd unit in that form factor that was available. Is that overkill for essentially running CarPlay? Yes probably, but while I have regretted having technology spec'd too low, I have never regretted having it spec'd too high, and for the comparatively small cost difference it was a no-brainer for me. As an aside some of Xtron's other units for the E46 are marketed as having "Automotive quality components". I've seem some discussion in the past about what the difference is. I reached out to Xtrons about this and was advised that the marketing was used on older units where that was a new addition, however for newer models like the IX series that marketing was dropped, as all their units now have "Automotive quality components". Purchasing and Shipping I ordered the unit on a Sunday afternoon from Xtron's website, and it was shipped from Singapore, and arrived at my house in Auckland, New Zealand 3 days later. Those of you who do not live in New Zealand probably won't appreciate how impressive this is. In short purchasing and shipping was super easy - I thought I'd messed something up with the order and reached out to Xtrons support, they got back to me and answered my query within hours. Installation The headunit comes with a lot of wiring looms and accessories, and when you open the box I can see it easily seeming a bit overwhelming, however the documentation is good enough to understand what needs to be done, and in my case (6 CD changer, no Nav) was as simple as using the ISO connector to hook into the car wiring, plus plugging in a few accessories like the CAN interface, GPS, Antenna, etc. I opted to not wire any USB connectors, 4G, etc. as I have no use for them. Given I didn't already have nav I had to relocate the HVAC controls, etc. which is all fairly straightforward as well. I had the unit in and everything done in a couple of hours (of which at least 20% was getting the centre vents out). The unit fired right up and everything was good. I needed to do a couple of minor settings changes (set the unit to RHD as it's LHD by default, but all straightforward. Fitment/Build Quality I have to say seeing the unit installed in my car it looks like it fits the interior better than I was expecting it would. I'm very glad I went for the wide-screen format with the buttons underneath, I think it makes the best use of the available space and is a great balance of modernity while still fitting in to the dash (as best as a touch screen is going to in an older car like the E46). The display is excellent and the touchscreen is accurate and reliable, no missed taps or the like. It is a shame that, like all these units, the screen is glossy rather than matte, particularly when displaying darker colours it does suffer from light reflection. I might give a quality matte overlay (like 3M produce) a go at some point to see if it's an improvement). The unit dimensions are good (with one exception) and it appears to match the crease in the dash well. The buttons are okay, at first glance they match the rest of the E46 buttons but there's a couple of things that aren't quite right. Firstly the typeface is not correct 😞 It would have been really great to see Xtrons matching this properly. Secondly the white parts of the buttons which illuminate seem to have a slight translucency to them compared to the genuine buttons, which gives them a slightly different look especially under brighter light. These things aside the buttons feel pretty good, although if you press hard on the outer buttons you can see the adjustment knobs flex slightly, presumably the board the buttons and knobs are attached to isn't supported as well as it could be. The centre button is in fact not a button, but a is a removable cover for the micro SD card. This is a pretty good solution, but of course means that the centre button doesn't illuminate, again a slight annoyance. The control knobs actually fit the interior pretty well. The chrome seems off in isolation, but particularly in my SMG it helps tie everything together, matching the chrome on the lighter cover and the SMG shifter/ring. I'm counting this as a win. The knobs themselves aren't anything to write home about (not compared to the items on the OE stereo), but they're not awful, and they work well enough. Other things to note. The headunit body is black plastic, that in texture matches well. In colour, if you look closely (it's more apparent in the photos than in real life) the black has a different base to the rest of the car. The Xtrons black is warmer/yellower than the OE black (which is cooler/more cyan). In practice this isn't really noticeable, but worth calling out to be aware of. I mentioned above that the unit is well dimensioned and fits well. This is true in all regards with one exception. The clip receptacle for the dash trim that runs above the radio is simply not right. I had to significantly modify this downwards in order to fit the trim correctly without it being pushed up. Photo below shows how much it's off by. Performance The headunit is blindingly fast. Navigating the OS/apps is seamless, every transition is smooth, I have zero complaints about performance. CarPlay CarPlay support was the key reason for me making this upgrade, if it didn't work reliably then the unit would be a no-go for me. First-time I turned the unit on and connected my phone to bluetooth CarPlay (actually the ZLink app) fired up. It's so satisfying to get into the car with your phone in your pocket, and by the time you're reversing out of the garage CarPlay has fired up and you're listening to your music. And how has the reliability been? To begin with, from time to time (every couple of weeks) I'd encounter an issue where I'd get into the car and CarPlay simply wouldn't connect. The headunit would show my phone was connected, and my phone would show that it was connected to the headunit, but no dice. Seems like not a very good start, however at the same time I was having trouble with my phone connecting to the wired CarPlay in our MG ZS EV (exactly the same symptoms). Secondly the way to resolve the issue was to reboot my phone (nothing needed to be done on the headunit side in either car). These two things made me suspect the issue lay with iOS/my phone, and indeed this was subsequently proven true when an iOS update (can't remember what version) was released in March, and the occasional issue simultaneously stopped happening with both vehicles. Since then CarPlay has been perfect - it works exactly as I hoped it would. Audio Quality I will caution my comments here by saying I am in no way an audiophile. Audio quality, to be honest I cannot tell any particular difference between the Xtrons and the OE radio the sound that the Xtrons produces is entirely acceptable to me and I have no complaints. Noise is very low and is not noticeable. There is an issue with some IX units whereby the difference between volume level 4 and volume level 5 is larger than it should be. Xtrons are supposedly working on a fix for this, but it hasn't bothered me as this is outside of my normal range of use anyway, so isn't affecting me. I'll patch the unit when the patch is available and report back on this. In one of my earlier posts I describe how I used HouseCurve and REW to generate DSP settings for the built-in DSP in the Xtrons unit. This resulted in a significant (as in even I could tell the improvement) improvement and I'm very pleased I went to the trouble of doing this (this isn't about the headunit so much as tuning it to the car's speakers and soundstage. Other changes I've made I've made some other various changes that are worth noting. 1: I loaded a custom boot logo to the unit. This boot logo is a high-res reproduction of the original boot logo on the E46 nav. I feel it's a nice additional touch to make the unit feel more OE. It's worth noting that others report seeing a "Powered by Android" logo as well. I only ever see this if I do a hard reboot of the unit, I never ever see this in day to day use. I don't know why, or what setting I might/might not have that impacts this, but worth calling out. 2: I've replaced the Xtrons launcher with iDrive Launcher which is a fantastic, well put together, piece of software which further does wonders to make the unit feel like it fits in the E46 interior. Overall Thoughts What are my overall thoughts on this headunit? I'm very happy I bought it! It has turned out to be significantly better than I was anticipating, and in particular has been reliable, which is absolutely key for me. Knowing what I now know I think that this unit provides the best combination of newer technology in a form factor that matches the E46 dash as well as it can. The package that Xtrons have put together works well, and some fairly simple customisations have this unit at a point where I doubt there is a better (for me) option out there. There is no way prior to owning this unit that I would have ever recommended someone buy one of these units, now that I've owned one I would happily recommend people consider it (with all the caveats I've listed above). I look forward to updating on my ownership next year - hopefully it has continued to be a pleasant ownership experience. I don't think I've missed anything from this review, but if I have I'll add it here.

Good luck with a sale at that price. The global market is saturated with special interest cars for sale, a quick look at Bring a Trailer, and Collecting Cars auction sees a mounting list of brands going RNM. The cars for sale to willing buyers ratio is well adrift, and a good time to buy if something takes your fancy. And most seem to have been acquired when the market was strong, on the back of the Covid surge. "Buy a classic car it's an investment........." the listings read, Yes, right 😮 This writer believes the market is far from reaching the bottom of the bell curve, so hold on for a stormy ride.

Hi all, We're in the realms of looking to build a shed in the future. I've watched a plethora of YT videos on builds, but unfortunately they're usually from abroad. Does anyone know of any "build" threads in this forum or another? Or willing to share their builds/experiences? Any YT channels that could scratch my itch? Our ideal build would be a 3-car garage with generous room around the circumference to not ding doors etc. Bit of space for shelving and a work bench. Over-the-top lighting for paint correction and late nights. Would be great to have a self contained sleepout at the end too for family member to come stay and have their own space. Pictures of the pipedream attached.

It's now in my garage. Happy son. Does mean I will need to sell the e39 though...

It is still doable. But a shed takes a bit more work to get it up to a comfortable room you can use for sleeping. I see you are in Otago. Insulate the roof of your shed. And seal all gaps. Install a decent sized heat pump. Nothing worse than your dream shed that you don't want to be in because it is too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. I have airgaps where my roller doors meet the roof. This is normal. But absolutely useless when it comes to keeping bugs out and heat/cool in. I am in the process of finding a product to seal this up. Have your PA door open outwards. Mine is inwards and takes up precious space when open. When wiring the place up use only 15A plugs. They are not much more expensive. And then you can install single phase hoists. Good opportunity to install some automation. E.g. I walk in and the motion sensor that is part of the alarm turns my lights on. If there is no motion after a few hours it turns everything off. Grarage doors can be connected to these systems too. Meaning if you forgot to close it you can just hit a button on your phone. The motion sensors also alert me to when I have locked the bloody cat in there too. I run Home Assist on my server. But other systems like Smartthings are very easy to setup. Smoke and CO alarms should be installed. You can get smart ones of these too. That way you can be notified of smoke if you are not on site. Edit: Figure out where your hoists legs will be. Have them make the concrete thicker in those areas. Mine was another 75-100mm thicker where the legs of my hoist sits.

Schmiedmann has the KLOKKERHOLM ones. 395nzd landed. If you aren't fussed on quality for a racecar seems like a decent price. https://www.schmiedmann.com/en/bmw-E30/3053-new?product=41341924868U

OK, the e30 M3 is back home, Mileage is 99,668 miles. If I decide to keep I would install an electric fan, but keep the original. Thought is to do another NZ top-to-bottom road trip, which would take it over that ton miles. Yeah, heart-to-head decision.

This is my one. It is smaller than I wanted. But post covid prices were insane. I actually wanted another bay the same size. The far left bay is my workshop. Center is bike and car parking. Right has a four post hoist so I can park two cars. On the outside to one side will go a large carport. It's lined with 21mm ply and the floor is painted with aircraft hanger paint. Lots of things I would do differently. Will probably install a 2 post hoist in the middle at some stage. And maybe a wash bay in front as I hate washing cars on gravel. I thought about a sleepout off the side. But you really need to fit it out really well for them not to be noisy and cold. The fit out is expensive if you are not able to do it yourself. Heating / Cooling, ventilation for the garage side. Sealing the gaps. Electrical, internet (they act like a big Faraday Cage). Oh. And Do Not get skylights that are not UV proof. Mine were meant to be and are not at all. They are terrible in the summer. If you get good lights you don't need stupid skylights. I hate them. Edit: Play all the companies off against each other. They are all starting to claw for business after being lazy for the last 4 years. They all source their kits from the same places.

Funnily enough, to the unscrupulous eye the main giveaway might be the 330 badge on the boot

Playing in the snow

I concur Dave.There is also a rarity element too l suspect.