M3_Power

My encyclopedic knowledge on E46 M3 through my non interrupted "ownership" of them since 2001; plus my extensive network of owners from across the globe including those that race and drive the nurburgring and many European circuits on regular basis that I share setup knowledge with ... People that I know on first name basis that race in Britcars ... Personal setup feedback from BMW accredited driving instructors on what they think of the E46 chassis ... And race teams that run and set up WTCC E46 touring cars and their feedback both locally and abroad ... And finally my 10+ experience in front wheel drive Hondas so I actually know what understeer is and does and how to spot them.So yes quite happy to agree to disagree with your take on things.

And you are basing the above on which E46 M3 you own????

Where abouts are you located?? What type of Bridgestone tyre is it and roughly how many mm tread remaining???

Just buy a seatbelt buckle with the pyro pretensioner on it for the correct model year from a wrecker or the likes and install it yourself and ask someone on the forum with a scanner to the clear the codes ... those pretensioners are like $50 from a wrecker.

Ever tried taking one off a car and you'll realise they are one time use item (unless you are super dooper patient with a heat gun and can ruin the paint from the car that you are taking it off from (i.e. a wreck).

Tyre limiting doesn't equate to fun - it's just a fancy way for levelling the playing field and making sure those race cars run within a set laptime. Fun = having the maximum grip out of all four corners and pushing to the limits of adhesion that the tyres and setup will give you. Actually I should rephrase again .. .The cup tyres that came on the CSL albeit 265 - if you put it up against a standard road tyre the sizing is actually 275 as it's an oversized tyre. So I'd stick with 235/ 275 if you are on road tyres and not semi slicks or similar. If you want to kill understeer that's inherent in the E46 chassis ... go square setup - it'll completely transform the car and its turn in feedback.

Edit ... let me rephrase that actually ... The speedo reads closest to accurate (albeit still highly inaccurate) with 235 and 265 tyre sizing.

Found !!! THANK YOU Ray ... Hellbm comes through once again - what would the community do without you Ray??!!!!!

Happy birthday Jooles!!!!!!

Just going to bring this back up from the dead as apparently oil talk is all the rage at the moment in the States .... News is BMW is dropping Castrol .... and replacing the whole product line with Shell. So if you are anal and only ever want to run Castrol TWS ... I guess ... go stock up now??

Those that have had dealings with VAC have regretted it immensely (this goes for NZ folks and many of those in the US of A). I would stay away. Wouldn't be the first S65 to run a big end and won't be the last ... the worst V8 engine to ever come out of BMW M. Personally I'd put a s62 back in there instead : P Like I said when I saw you at McMillans Tristan ... importing is probably the cheapest way to go ... however, a crank and bearing job isn't exactly hard. If you source the parts overseas I don't see why a competent engine builder can't replace a crank and bearings.

This part isn't sold separately, so basically I need to raid it off a damaged bumper but with the driver side intact and non damaged. Happy to grab both side if that's what's needed to do a deal. As per red square below but for the other side: MUST be from the M3 front bumper as I believe they are all different??? Actually I am not 100% about this any more, I believe the normal motorsport bumper mount guide might also be the same??? Should have this part number on the plastic 51 11 2 695 248

To be honest I disagree again.Partial data flash on the s54 dme takes about 3.5minutes .... That goes for ews delete which is a single byte correction. For your average diy enthusiast the bmwflash software is actually fairly handy even if it is a rip off of open source stuff. One major advantage in my opinion is that it only takes up one as opposed to two flash slots when compared to open source stuff. The reality is if you use the free function to do either partial or full dump then it's fine. Like you said checksum is easily corrected and just reflash the modified file via other open source software and take up the two flash slots. The bit about flash slot is a bit moot nowdays anyway and if you have access to a BDM writer then you can reset the flash counter back down to zero anyway. Also flashing over obd2 does have its ease of operation vs having to socket over an eprom. Personally if you are only flashing a couple of times I would use bmwflash to do a full dump or Galletto for a partitial on the data area and modify then checksum correct and reflash. Done.

Wrong .. EWS delete on the S54 and S54HP DME is childs play now. The how to and what to change in the hex codes are all over m3forums. The tricky part is which program to use. Most now just use BMWFlash and pay the US$19 for the Vin locked license to flash the DME. Or if you want it done free you can use Galletto 1260 and download the 32bit bin file (if non HP, 64bit if HP) and then do the correction via a generic hex editor and then use freely available checksum correction (or simply delete the checksum part in the file) and reflash with either Galletto, BWMFlash or WinOLS. You also don't need to buy a Galletto cable ... the software just checks for cable number ... so you just need to flash the VAGCOM cable with the correct cable number and the Galletto will work like a real cable. I just dumped my DME tonight ... fun. You'll probably also hit speed limit issues when you do the transplant as speed isn't read over CAN on the E30 I think and the DME will be locked into max rev at 6200rpm.

Good work Amber ... looking good. You are much better at pulling stuff apart than some of my male counterparts!!

Listing on behalf of a friend ... http://www.trademe.co.nz/718170272 Contact 021 321088 ask for Phil.

Surely that belongs at the crushers ... I can't see anything salvageable from that (presuming the engine and the whole front end is toast).

Couldn't have said it better myself. Definitely go barrel springs if you are running soft rates (below 600lb) in the stock position otherwise I can guarantee you that you will get coil bind under dynamic load (ask me how I know LOL). If you switch to full rear coilover setup then you can run much softer spring rates for full control. When the springs are at the stock position the dynamic ride movement is basically mm in control. Also as suggested above, the Ground Control barrel springs are well designed together with their pivoting spring plateform - as the full articulation in that spring position isn't linear when measured.

I'd just swap the shocks so the dial is facing backwards for easy adjustment. It doesn't really matter which side the dial is facing, but having the flush side against the washer and the bolt serves the very purpose of keeping that bush in its place. Make sure that the washer is larger than the lollipop that hold the bushing.

You need an oversized washer (one larger than the bottom shock lollipop) between the bottom shock mounting bolt and the bottom shock mount bush (google if you don't believe me) ... otherwise that bush will pull out of the shock. Amateur mistake on that install!!! I'd be concerned. That shock should also be spun 180 degrees or swapped left to right ... one side of that bushing has that lip on the inner bolt guide, but flush on the other side .. the flush side faces the outside.

Congrats on the new car Amber!!! Very nice indeed!!! However I can't help but wonder ... Those nails and working on a car ... That surely can't end well for those nails!!!!

Still available as no one that have expressed an interest have actually paid me yet.

out of car ready for new owner to install

CIC or CCC??

You'll need a navigation relocation console - part number 51167001411 You can technically get away without one, but the climate air control panel won't fit flush and will stick out about 3mm. If you get the newer version climate air control panel, you can technically cut a bit off the console and make it fit as it is a slimmer unit. But yes, for a factory look finish, you'll need the climate air relocation console unit. Look on ebay, just remember to get RHD ones and not LHD from the USA as they are sided.