Karter16

Very nice - saw this when it was advertised - hope you have a long and happy ownership!

So this arrived today from BMW AG. Goes nicely with my collection!

Is that M logo in the bubble wrap for an E46 M3? I can't quite see through the bubble wrap. If so is it genuine?

Nice man! welcome! - will keep an eye out for you when I'm out and about :-)

I'm pretty sure that the front rotor size is different between the USA (non-ZCP) and Euro spec M3's. Might be worth checking at least :-)

yeah they've got that behind the rear headrests, but not for the front.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNHViIgmQo0

How you see them in the photo is how they are normally. The vert has no B pillar to mount the front seatbelts on, so the driver and passenger seat are reinforced and the seatbelt is mounted there next to the headrest.

That's the Roll Over Protection System/seatbelt mounts that verts come with.

Mine were almost toast at 140k (only put a couple of thousand k on it after buying and before doing the bearings). Mine is an '05 so wasn't part of the recall/preventative action/whatever BMW call it. That's only my experience and I don't know for sure how the owners before me treated the car - lots of other people seem to get more mileage out of them, but going forward I'll be playing it safe and replacing maybe every 80k-100k (If I ever put that many k's on the car!!) Hope my entirely subjective and non-statistically significant opinion is helpful!

I think Neal was suggesting that Brent does an oil sample. I don't think there'd be much point in you doing one now - you know the rod is spun and that you've got work to do. Oil sample would more be an indicator of likely bearing wear for someone who was trying to tell how worn their bearings were without looking at them. (also FWIW a single oil analysis isn't so helpful, it's more a series of them that can show a trend (e.g. more lead/more copper over time)). Good luck with getting your car sorted, sounds like you probably have a bit of work ahead to ascertain the condition of the rod, crankshaft, etc.

Today I looked at it and thought to myself that it desperately needs a wash. Our 6 month old has been in and out of hospital a lot since birth so understandably attention for the BMW has been minimal. When I find time it'll be getting a good clean and an oil and filter change as coming up about 1800km since the rod-bearings replacement (the car not the baby).

So as I understand it, if the rego has lapsed for more than 12 months NZTA cancel the registration and chase the owner for payment of the registration fees. So you'd be looking at the cost of reregistering (http://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/licensing-rego/vehicle-fees/registration-fees/). I would think you'd also want to establish whether the previous owner had paid up to NZTA for the registration for the first 12 months it was lapsed. If not then you're probably up for that as well.

Nice one - I live in Greenhithe, so that view is very familiar to me!

Very nice! The background in that second picture looks familiar ;-) - Did you get the car in Auckland?

Hi all, If anyone is interested I can provide paper templates for those who want to manufacture their own E46 M3 RACP reinforcement plates. The plates and process are as per this thread: http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/57571-karter-16s-e46-m3-journal/ The templates come with the expectation that final adjustments will be needed for fitting. The individual pieces of the plates need to be welded together. Some pieces can be folded. The plates were designed with the intent of epoxy affixing to the RACP using 3M 7333 Epoxy. The plates come with zero warranty/guarantee, however I have reasonably high standards and I fitted these to my car. I am aware that RACP plates only solve part of the problem (and indeed might cause new ones), something which everyone should be aware of before they do anything to their RACP. I fitted these plates as a part solution. I am using the BMW structural epoxy to reinforce the front mount points as well (rear points already done under BMW corrective action in my case). I am not tracking my car, and I'm not rough on it. If you are looking for a super solution you should look at a Mason bar and/or other such more comprehensive solutions. These plates require DIY skills, welding skills, etc. but are offered as they will help others save time if they are wanting to go down the DIY route. No charge - happy to copy the paper templates and post within NZ for free. Cheers, Matt

How's everything going? Any updates?

Or New Vegas?

Haha I was waiting for someone to say this :-) Yeah I said what I said knowing that it doesn't hold true for all his points. It was more directed at the comments around the likes of the S54's rod bearings, etc. I was just making the point that a performance engine means more maintenance. As you say there's also examples of poor engineering and cost cutting. (and also marketing al la "lifetime fluids" etc.). So while I agree that BMW have had their share of issues, I'm not sure that I'd go as far as saying "BMW Engines Are Gigantic Pieces Of Sh*t". I guess it does come back to the spectrum. In my case I have the performance of the S54, and the high maintenance costs to go with it, which I'm happy to pay for the performance I get. If I'd bought an N42 equipped car expecting something at the Toyota end of the spectrum, and I ended up paying maintenance costs in line with an S54 then I'd be pretty hacked off. TL;DR - totally get where you're coming from.

So on 1 end of the spectrum you have a Toyota Hilux, which as Top Gear "proved" a while back you can pretty much blow up and it'll still run. And on the other end of the spectrum you have a Formula 1 car which needs an engine rebuild every race (or more frequently sometimes). There's also a performance difference between the Hilux and the F1 car..... Basically you choose where you sit on that spectrum. Once you've chosen where you sit, you need to make sure that you perform the maintenance necessary for your chosen location on said spectrum. If you don't you're going to have a bad time.

E46 318i (my first car) Pros Economical. Great handling. Cons 0 - 100: yes. Sadly not worth spending money on to maintain. E46 M3 Pros Everything the 318i is and everything the 318i is lacking. Many fast. Much performance. Best car ever. Cons Subframe needs much love. Vanos needs much love. Rod bearings need much love. It would be more economical to buy petrol and set fire to it in a pit. Much performance = much maintenance costs. Will suck all of your money because you love it so much. (this is also a "pro"). Basically the E46 on the face of it has a whole bunch of cons, but that's what makes you love it so much. It's the most E46 an E46 can be. Handling is amazing. Driving experience is amazing. If it was just a standard performance car it would be boring. It's right on the edge of engineering and design and that's what makes it fun.

What would make me happy is if kiwiplates let you design your own side panels for their Euro plates. I'd happily pay $369 to get euro plates with my own graphics in the side panels. I just don't like their standard options...

Welcome!! Love the E34 - looks great in white. What other BMW’s have you owned?

Welcome Brian - nice car! Do you have any plans for it at this point. Anything you're wanting to do to it?

Picked these up recently to add to the collection :-)

Pretty sure it's the engine number. (same number that's stamped on the block (usually near one of the mounts I think)). I'm guessing it's so that you can easily locate the engine number, and also ensure that your engine is matched to your chassis?