M3AN

Added a rear bar. I'm sure it's entirely unnecessary but now the car will be as square as possible front and rear. It's an Ultra Racing bar that I picked up for a good deal on Trademe. I might get it powder coated in grey or some colour other than white at some stage. At this point I've just added a bit of ///M.

You'd be surprised! I worked on this very thing when I was living in Europe (emergency call location for cell phones) and that was before GPS was in every phone. It's really technically challenging because you have to be very certain in which direction you send that ambulance or fire truck. Apartment blocks are really nasty because you can't get accurate elevation data, even if you can triangulate via cell tower. In NZ for some time now, any non-iPhone with GPS allows for pretty accurate location determination if you use the Emergency Call function, it's not a given if you just dial 111 manually. Until very recently iPhones couldn't do this (because for some reason Apple thinks they're special). However this capability is now available and I believe Vodafone, Spark and Vocus have all rolled it out. Again, requires the use of the Emergency Call function (the one that can be used without a SIM).

https://invisioncommunity.com/features/customization/

Threw one out a few weeks back, was pretty average condition though. I've still got an airbag and clock spring if that's all you need.

Wow. At least you saved your clubs.

Wow, they are some brutal suggestions. Use a pick or thin leaver tool to lift up the tail, that will unclip it and removal becomes trivial. And, unlike some of the suggestions above, won't damage what it's clamped to. Edit: they're called oetiker clamps and are used in assembly because they close/clamp with a predetermined force. And it's for this reason you can't replace with the same kind of clamp unless it's exactly the same as the one you removed. You're better of using a worm drive clamp to replace it.

I still use Edge in the M3. The 328 does love its Penrite though. So does my wallet.

Yep, bolts straight up. You need M3 top hats for the front but I have those also. Well at least that's what I've been led to believe!

Probably is 25.5 (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=BG22-EUR-04-1996-E36-BMW-328i&diagId=31_0267) Cost will be approaching $0 but I can provide no assurances as to when it will be available. I first need to get the M3 suspension into the front so I can hook my M3 bar up to the shock bodies. It will be more than 2 weeks though...

Oh yeah, I shouldn't forget this...

Got the rear suspension bits sorted for the 328: And replaced the tank vent valve on the M3:

A fine gentleman here (thanks Mark!) donated his old stock M3 suspension to my 328 adventure so I'm in the process of building up the bit I need. I'll be doing the rear first, then front then sway bars. Sure, ideal to do it all at once but time and budgets don't allow that. I'll only get the alignment done once I've done the front end. The new and/or refurbed bits... I couldn't be bothered getting the shocks, springs and dust covers out for the photo...

I had a secondary code that was annoying me - a sporadic Tank Vent Valve error. I found a Youtube tip to measure the impedance across the pins to determine if it's faulty... as it turns out both the 328 and the M3 read outside of the suggested range so I wasn't sure the info was accurate. It turns out it was. 29 or lower Ohms for a good one, anything above 29 and it's bad. So I replaced that and code gone. Bad Good

What was 25.5 standard on? I'll have one spare out of a '97 328is but that won't be for a number of weeks.

Having just been through this process, unless you need one tomorrow, it's best to import an OEM Behr one from FCP Euro.

I've got pretty good at guessing where the "Unread content" link is. I'm glad the "Technical Admin types" are on the case but when can we expect the results of their work to materialise? Obviously changing a theme is more difficult than actually updating the forum software. Or are the non-Technical Admin types so butthurt that we're not appreciative of their incomplete and disruptive work that they've decided we can suffer a bit longer? I've offered in the past to donate to support this forum but I wasn't even dignified with a reply so I'm quite happy to ask... wtf is up?

I actually agree with Olaf - if you're attacking any part of a BMW cooling system it probably pays to do the whole lot whilst you're in there. I don't know if the N52B25 water pump is reliable or not but the older mechanical ones BMW used are guaranteed to fail at some point. An intermittently failing water pump could cause the same symptoms. But that pump is expensive and if it's failing it should be throwing codes. From BMW:

I agree with the above, it's a difficult proposition if you really need to store the car outside and can't keep it cleaned regularly. I had a "good" cover from SCA, it's not on the page you link to as I got it a few years ago but it was the best they had at the time. In the end I used the car too regularly to make the cover practical but I did notice a few things: You need a "breathable" cover, they still retain moisture but not as much as others They do scratch the paint You still need to remove it for a few hours every week to let the whole car air out Ideally you want to keep the cover off the paintwork to a] allow it to breathe properly and b] to keep scratching to a minimum. I had some success cutting up some polystyrene blocks, wrapping them in microfibre cloth (gluing the cloth to the blocks) and then gluing the covered blocks to various places under the cover. About 10 blocks was enough to keep most of the cover off the car most of the time. But it also made the cover a bit more difficult to get on and off. I don't think there's a perfect solution, it's probably a matter of the least of two evils. If you can keep the car out of the sun and wash it once a week I'd do away with the cover idea.

That's engine temp sensor (as opposed to radiator) so yeah, I think it's a stuck thermostat. What appears to be happening: Thermostat closed (resting position) Engine coolant temps rise Thermostat doesn't open at ~90*c (or ~98*c) Engine coolant temps continue to rise (no coolant going to rad) Thermostat unsticks or "pops" at >110*c Coolant flows through rad, rapidly decreases in temp New, cooler coolant flows past engine temp sensor Engine temp sensor drops rapidly reflecting lower coolant temps And yes, a sticky thermostat will most likely exhibit the same symptoms time and time again from a cold start. Once it's open it may also stay open whilst hot which is why the problem may not reoccur on a drive. I'd start there unless there are codes that tell you to do otherwise.

What type of temp gauge and more importantly, where are you measuring the 118 - 89 degree drop? Sounds like a sticky thermostat to me but depends where you're taking the measurements

Must have been one of the first e46's off the line that. I thought they'd dumped that steering wheel years beforehand. Doesn't make it worth any more of course.

Drove the 328 to the liquor store which is of course closed today, on the way home the go pedal stopped working. Had a side-of-the-road look at the throttle cable had detached entirely from the pedal, the little rubber grommet as deteriorated, not sure yet if I can get a replacement grommet alone. I swear this car has spent some time at the bottom of a lake. But hey, it's a $2k beater and I love it.

Well, I'll ask the obvious question, don't they just press out?

That's quite a good question, there must be an exception of some description, perhaps if they're connected directly to the chassis? Not that that would help peds at all...

Protrusions wider than the car and/or forward of the front bumper I think. I'm not complaining but it may pay to check if you're going to keep them on in case some 'too cool for school' cop tries to rip them off on the side of the road.