M3AN

Well, as you know I have an auto but that was a conscious choice, not a matter of budget or availability. In Auckland, especially on my various regular commutes, a manual just wouldn't suit me. And I have the M3 if I need to shift manually. I used to be a "it must be a manual" guy but I softened on that when I got the auto 328 and the 130 has convinced me that auto's have their place. This box is so good that it's fine for a daily. My opinion would probably be different if I didn't have the M3. The NRW paddles have totally transformed my experience, I can drive it as hard as I want in manual sport mode and I reckon the box is at least as fast as an early 2000's SMGII "manual" box (e46 M3). I'm not here to convince you either way, just to say that the 6 speed auto really does seem quite a good gearbox, it's not detracting from my experience, it's actually making my daily commute more enjoyable. Having said that, manual 130's do pop up from time-to-time at really reasonable prices (sub 9k), there were a few about 4-6 weeks ago so if that's really what you want and you can afford to be patient then I'd say wait. It's worth noting that I do not know if my transmission software has been changed (the engine software has) and once we're out of lockdown I'm keen to try a known stock auto back-to-back with mine. Edit: regardless of what you get, 130's are a bucket of fun and I think everybody here who owns one would concur.

No worries, and yep it holds up fine.

Hey, I did that! ? Going on 5+ years and it still looks like new. ?

Better you than I ? a week later and it would have been me doing it! ?

That's an amazing looking result, nice one.

You have a Alcantara wrapped mirror? ? Anyway, the answer is "easy" it's held in by 4-6 "V" clips (for lack of a better description) and just pops out with a bit of leverage. I used a plastic trim tool but I suspect a credit card and fingernails could do. It is in there tight but comes out fine, the connecting cable is really long so no drama with that.

So, thanks again to @aja540i lending me a 14mm hex I got in there and had a look today... nothing. Basically I could see SFA and what I could see didn't tell me much. What I did see was that the blue (don't know if that means anything) diff fluid was bright and really clean (it looked brand new). Looks like it'll be diff cover off to tell the full story. No rush on my part.

A little bit more faux Alcantara... quite good I think and now matches the rest.

It get's pretty gross under there eh!?

I replaced the "fuel filler pot" today to fix the busted hinge (common problem). It wasn't too hard following a DIY but there are some stages that require a lot of force. All good now although it does close with a ferocious snap!

Seriously, Amazon are amazing. My package arrived one day late which I consider pretty good under the circumstances so I thought nothing of it... then I received this email from Amazon.

I've corrected my post above, you'll only need one resonator, it will go between the Y-pipe and the muffler, where the heat shield is. But get the Y-pipe sorted at the same time regardless.

Put a sticker that says "Ambulance" on your door and you'll be sweet. ?

NP. I paid $142 and I picked them up.

My fake Alcantara trim doesn't look too bad, and matches the BMWP shift gator and steering wheel insert... Flash... No flash...

Yeah, I picked apart pretty-much every online store for the best shipped deal, Amazon was about 5 bucks per arm cheaper than everywhere else but the second hand OE units from Schmiedmann tipped it significantly in their favour. You got a killer deal, even with second hand units it was about 300 NZ bucks for me (plus shipping), was going to be closer to 420 NZ if I went all new (TRW). I went full anal and even had a spreadsheet to work out the best deal before I hit go. ?

Possibly, not my call but I'll not object if that's the case (unless it breaks the links to the thread).

Received my aluminium M3 arms from Schmiedmann today. The big ones are used, off an M3 with 40k km's and were 50 US bucks each, the other ones are new OEM ones with the ///M and BMW symbols ground off ?. They were about 100 NZ bucks each. Also a new fuel filler pot to replace my floppy one with Blu-Tack ? Edit: yes I also got the little adaptor rod for the auto-levelling Xenon headlights. Also got some adhesive faux Alcantara that I'm going to try on the spare trim I got a while back.

My (faux) Alcantara arrived from Amazon yesterday and the aluminium M3 suspension arms arrived from Schmiedmann today. Can't install the arms until I can get an alignment. ?

Any exhaust shop will be able to size a suitable resonator, it should be off the shelf. You probably want to add one to each pipe... shop should advise you on that, I have no clue. <- that's irrelevant, the resonator would go between the Y-pipe and the muffler, on the single pipe section. What you want your Y pipe to look like:

If it were me I'd keep the Performance back-box and add a single resonator forward of the Y pipe and fix up those welds at the same time.

Is that for the 1er? Keen to hear how you get on with that.

DHL have just sent me an SMS telling me my bits are due on Thursday...

I like your work, and watching your work. I reckon you're doing a bravo job given it's all new to you. ? It's well beyond me.

Yep, that's correct, my bad.