Karter16

Update #24 Last night I did a quick test of cleaning auto wax, dirt, etc. off the black trim on the boot handle mechanism. Before: To clean I simply used hot water with some regular liquid hand soap in it and I carefully scrubbed the black plastic parts with a toothbrush. The heat and soap helps soften and lift the wax. I then used a cotton cloth soaked in the hot water and soap to wipe away the remaining wax. Had to go over a few spots a second time, but I'm really pleased with how well this has cleaned up. After: I've got lots more to clean, and I want to go through and remove the extra wiring from when the first owner of the car had a tow bar installed. I'm also still trying to decide whether I attempt to restore the surface of the reversing light enclosures or whether I just buy new ones. Looking at them it looks as though the plastic may be started to fracture and degrade beyond the surface layer, so may just be better to buy new ones. I've also got a couple of bits and pieces on order from Milland for the front of the car, so I'll update when they arrive.

Update #23 Today I finally got a chance to make a start on getting the car cleaned up. As the previous posts show my focus so far has been mostly on the mechanical aspects of the car. Now that it's garaged and properly out of the elements I figured I might as well make a start on getting it cleaned up. Back in August our old property was swamped with that horrible yellow pollen from pine trees. That stuff gets in everywhere. I clean it out of both cars every year, but haven't got round to it with the M3 until now. It's horrible stuff. I started with removing the interior carpet/card/trim stuff from the boot lid so that I could remove the reversing lights, handle, etc. from the boot lid. From there I started removing stuff and doing a quick clean/wipe down as I went. Now that I've got the bits off I can spend my time properly cleaning them and the boot-lid. I'll take the opportunity while all the bits are off to properly clean, polish and wax the boot lid before reassembly. I'm also going to clean up all the bits of the boot handle and licence plate lights, etc. The reversing light assemblies are clouded, as plastic gets. I'm tossing up whether it's worth having a go at refinishing them, or whether I skip that and go straight to buying new ones. I'm also keen to get a new M3 badge at some point as the one on there looks pretty faded. Really needs a new roundel as well as the one on there is starting to delaminate around the edges. Oh and the gas struts will be being replaced as well - they make an embarrassing groaning sound whenever you open the boot, which isn't in line with the well-maintained sports car vibe I'm going for. I'll post an update soon with my progress on cleaning up the bits and pieces.

Yep I stand corrected ? - 2000 M/Y imported to NZ in 2002. Missed it as wasn't expecting to see anything under the year 2000, will go back and have a look at what else is in that year.

Thanks man - appreciate your kind words! Hope that the right car comes along - sounds like you're going to take great care of it when you get it! The Topaz one does look nice - amazing that so many have come up in the space of a day! Would depend on it's maintenance status, rod bearing, vanos, RACP, etc. but it looks like a nice car from the listing (not a fan of the carbon (wrap?) trim, but oh well!). Good luck with finding the right car - look forward to following your progress!

Yup 1x Alpine White coupe and 1x Alpine White convertible. Those are the only two currently registered in the country.

yup that looks like a nice example. Cinnamon is a lovely interior colour.

I've tried out the radio and, subjectively, it does seem a bit better than it was before. Really hard to tell definitively, but it does seem to be less patchy around Auckland than it was before.

Yep I've kept a pretty close eye on the E46 M3 market over the last few years - definitely going to need to wait for the right car to come along. In terms of lower mileage, fully appreciate that might be desirable from a collectability point of view, but probably worth keeping in mind that at this age even a lot of the lower mileage examples likely need significant maintenance at this point (if they haven't already had it). Sounds like you're probably already aware of that, but thought I'd point it out. Good luck with finding the right car!

Only Alpine White E46 M3 Coupe in the country - that would be a very nice example to own...

Haha - just started out with me wondering how many were sold in NZ. Then I found the NZTA data which was cool, and then when Jon came up with the winning info I realised with the two datasets it would be possible to work out the vehicle loss rate. I'm in IT and data gets me excited ?

Hi guys, Thought I'd combine the data from Jon along with the current NZTA data. Which gives the attached picture. Note that this is reliant on the accuracy of the NZTA current data and categorisation of vehicles. It probably isn't exactly right, but it's close. I've sighted the source data and made sure the numbers look as right as possible. The notes section lists my main assumptions/describes the data. Essentially the chart below gives a view of how many of each year/type of vehicle have become deregistered (accident, exported, etc.). Big thanks to Jon for providing the sales/registration data for each year.

Thanks so much for this - really appreciate it - basically exactly what I was after!

Yeah absolutely - appreciate that it's not an exact science. If you are able to dig any info out around registrations of E46 M3's that would be awesome. If it's no trouble to do coupe and cabrio that would be awesome. - thanks very much!

I kind of, not really, answered my own question. So thought I'd post back here. I don't have sales data, but I do have data of E46 M3's currently registered (as at Sept 2018). So it won't give me actual sales numbers as it doesn't account for vehicles taken off the road, exported, etc. But I thought it was still interesting to see how many E46 M3's are around and what they are. Note that I believe that the attached includes CSL's as well, as NZTA don't appear to separate them out separately. Still interested to see actual sales numbers for NZ, but suspect that the below is about as close as I'll get. The raw dataset is available here : https://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/new-zealand-motor-vehicle-register-statistics/new-zealand-vehicle-fleet-open-data-sets/ for anyone else who didn't know about it/is interested. Matt

Hiya, Just wondering if anyone has any info on BMW NZ sales of new E46 M3's by year. Not sure if the info is in the public domain (I haven't found any info in my search so far), but would be keen to know how many E46 M3's were sold new in NZ each year they were for sale here, etc. Cheers, Matt

I haven't actually tested that yet, but next time I drive the car I'll do an assessment and report back.

Update #22 So now that we're in our own house and we have a garage it meant that I was able to remove the tints from the car. I've been keen to get rid of them for some time for a couple reasons: I'm trying to get the car as stock as possible, and the tints give it a different look. I almost knocked someone over reversing down my parents driveway in the dark - couldn't see ANYTHING out the back window so was relying on wing mirrors (with the front windows down). But I've held off doing it while the car has been outside as the tints provide excellent sun protection. Now that the car is safely garaged I was able to remove the tints. I read up a bit on the process first and used a clothes steamer to heat the tint. The idea being that the sticky stays with the sheet of tint rather than remaining on the window. I have to say it worked amazingly well. I removed the tints on the driver and passenger windows, the rear quarter panels and the rear window all in the space of an hour and a half. I think the fact they were quality tints was helpful when it came to removal as well as the sticky stayed where it should - basically no residue left on the windows at all. When I got to the rear window I thought my cunning plan had come unstuck, as a thick layer of sticky was left behind. Turns out the sticky wasn't left on the glass, it was left on the clear sheet of the SECOND layer of tint that was on the rear window... No wonder I couldn't see anything at night. Some muppet had tinted over an already tinted window ?. More steam, and lifting up the remaining sheet and it all came off beautifully. No damage to the heater/aerial strips and no residue left behind ? I'm really happy with the end result. The car looks awesome - I much prefer the look of it without tints. I'll get some photos up as soon as it's a decent day and I can get some good pictures.

Looking good - really enjoying following your progress! keep it up!

I full agree with your advice @M3_Power it’s so important to keep pressing, especially if you feel that you’re not being taken seriously. With my son we were fortunate that he presented with some very clear symptoms that meant the escalation path was clear (weird to be using the word “fortunate” to describe that experience). 12 hours later he was under the Gastro team at Starship, who have been absolutely incredible. The nurses and doctors at Starship are fantastic and have supported us through long months of admissions. Its an absolutely horrible experience when your child is sick with a disease/condition and there’s really very little you can do to make it better, and I can’t imagine what it must be like to be fighting to be taken seriously at the same time... I wish you and your family all the best in the journey ahead. It’s a very hard road that, despite best intentions, people can’t fully appreciate if they haven’t travelled a similar path...

I don’t even want to think about totaling what I’ve spent so far?

Just bought a second hand E46 M3 muffler for $8. ? I don't really need another one, but for $8 I couldn't come up with a reason to not get it!

Update #21 Been meaning to post an update for a while, but have kept putting it off.. In August last year my son was born, at two and a half weeks old he was rushed to Starship and after a week of tests was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition. As a result of the condition he has liver disease and we've spent the last year in and out of Starship (more in than out for most of the year). Its been pretty hard on my wife and I, several times in the last year things have looked pretty grim, the last couple of months have been a bit quieter and we're hoping that that continues for a while. Progress on the car has obviously been non-existent as a result. I haven't had much opportunity to drive it (apart from some trips to and from hospital), it's ticked over about 2000km since I did the rod bearings. I dropped by Auckland City BMW a couple of weekends ago and picked up oil and filter ready for a change. I'll post here when I do. Excitingly though we're in the process of buying a house (cause we haven't had enough excitement for the year), which means that the car will hopefully be garaged in the near future (hooray!). Which means that I can start getting onto the cosmetic side of things, which I've been intentionally ignoring while the car was somewhat exposed to the elements. I haven't planned in detail, but a rough list of things to do are (no particular order other than mechanical being higher priority than cosmetic): Structural Foam in front RACP mounts. Mechanical fan replacement. Water pump replacement. Attempt to get to and clean the ICV without breaking the little clip on the SMG reservoir. Remove the additional trailer connector wiring in the boot. Replace the plastic bits on the bonnet and the plastic weatherstrip at the bottom of the windscreen. Replace the side indicator enclosures with new ones that aren't UV damaged. Replace the weather trim on the B Pillar exteriors. Re-align driver's side door. Re-align and plastic weld front bumper. Re-align and plastic weld rear bumper where it's been attacked to make e-bay diffuser fit. Replace said e-bay diffuser with OE. Remove window tinting now that the car will be garaged (looking forward to being able to see when reversing at night). Inspect the underbody restoration work done a year ago and make sure all is well. Hopefully its not so long to the next update!

Unless it's changed recently I think that BMW's response will be that if the cracks are less than 20mm (from memory) they advise welding repair and foam in the rear mounts if not already done (foam after welding, unless you want everything to be on fire ?), and if the cracks are more than 20mm I believe the official advice is a replacement RACP.... Will definitely provide an update here (http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/57571-karter-16s-e46-m3-journal/) when I do the foam on the front mounts - and sure, provided it's successful I'd be happy to pass on what I've learned! Remember as well that although it's definitely something to be aware of and keep an eye on it shouldn't take away the enjoyment of the car in the mean time! The real danger is not knowing/assuming it's not a problem!!

Ha - I looked at buying this car in 2008 at which point it had about 140k on it from memory. Fortunately I decided to wait and pay off my student loan instead. Glad I did, not sure I was mature enough for a powerful car and the need for lots of proactive maintenance!

Yeah the RACP/subframe is definitely worth reinforcing. Also it's worth noting that unless the shop removed/dropped the subframe to inspect the RACP mounts it's still possible that you've got some cracking that isn't visible yet (like mine had). In terms of reinforcement, there are different views, the prevailing view when I did mine 18 months ago was that the only way to really solve the issue was to move the load away from the RACP mounts and spot welds. The advice at that time was to use a "bar" approach to redirect the load, and I'd almost certainly have gone this route if I was tracking my car. As it is I'm not pushing my car to the limits and I decided to go down the route of a combination of epoxied plates and structural foam. My car had had the structural foam injected into the rear points by BMW as part of the corrective action. My rear points have zero cracking in them as of ~150k. The front points had some reasonably minor cracking (one of which someone had attempted to repair previously). We drilled and welded the cracks and then epoxied reinforcement plates on all 4 mounts. I'll also be foaming the front two points (as soon as my 11 month old stays out of starship long enough). Couple of general observations from my research. There seem to be very few cases of cracks appearing after the structural foam has been applied. There is a lot of debate around welding/epoxying plates, I opted for epoxy to ensure an even spread of load across the surface, rather than only around the weld edges. (it's worth noting that you can't weld after you've epoxied unless you want to risk setting fire to everything). The bar approach (e.g. Mason Bar, Vince Bar, CMP Bar) that redirects load appears to be a very good solution, although it's more intrusive in terms of installation. No one has the definitive answer as to what's best, as a lot of the newer methods haven't been around long enough to fully prove. There are definitely cases where welded reinforcement plates have failed/resulted in more cracks. It's worth being realistic about how bullet proof you need to make it. I can't recommend where to go to get this stuff done as I did mine myself. I would think that the indy shops generally recommended here would be able to help, but happy to give you any other detail/info from my experiences if it's useful at any stage.