M3_Power

I am fairly sure that a lot of the modern cars are purposely engineered to last only a certain number of years to ensure a good turn around time for the manufacturers in terms of selling new cars. Like the old saying goes - they don't build them like they used to. It's part of the world wide business model for car manufacturers to ensure that their dealerships retain as much servicing from cars made by that manufacturer - this has been made much easier to do now with the advent of highly complex control modules and systems that interact with each other. Similarly with function activations. It is the reason why the EU and the States have passed specific legislations to try and prevent these sort of anti-competitive practices by ensuring that codes and programs are not exclusively out of reach by third party suppliers. The very latest stuff however can be prohibitively expensive to acquire though. My take on this is it's a doubled edged sword and the manufacturers if being over zealous will eventually kill off their own loyal supporters by making it ever harder and more expensive to repair and maintain their brand of vehicles - it'll be a number crunching game in the end to see who wins out.

Anybody?? These will be back shortly!! Will now include a second spring set that will allow these shocks to be used on semi slicks (and VERY occassional road use) not just full race slicks.

You do realise that BMW doesn't actually make alternators - there are loads of components within a car that are made by third party suppliers - almost all sensors are, alternators, batteries, ancilliary components, suspension arms, shocks, springs, seat motors, just to name a few (just because it came in a pretty BMW box doesn't mean that BMW actually made the part, more often then not it's just a rebranded item that are shared throughout the car manufacturers - I remember looking up a part that was on a BMW only to find that it was shared with a VW and you could pick one up from the VW parts department for less than 1/4 of what BMW was charging). If anybody is to blame I'd blame the third party suppliers. (much like the hyped S54B32 big end bearings - that wasn't a BMW issue, but a third party supplier issue). I can sympathise with the service department actually - I know for a fact that they have been burned once in the past over a vehicle that somebody brought in where one single module had been messed with elsewhere in the past and when updated it pretty much 'f**ked' the car over resulting in them buying a new module or two just to fix it. It's a no win situation for them and the customer - the customer is none the wiser about what has previously been done to the car by previous owners or mechanic and the dealership is no wiser until they plug their factory authorised system in to update. What compounds the problem further is the third party extended warranty and the way some of these dealerhips are structured. Often, dealerships are not one, but multiple entities - i.e. the service department is a separate individual to the parts and to the new cars and to the used cars - so they don't actually co-operate with each other despite the fact they all operate under one banner - they are individual companies or subsidiaries there to make a profit, so one department won't help out another just for absolutely no reason. They also rely on the third party warranty company to honour what they've signed up to and often these companies don't (much like the Insurance industry - the less the payout the better the bottom line). The Service department guys are the ones stuck in a rock and a hard place trying to be diplomatic between the customer and the warranty company. My word of advice, approach the person you are dealing with with proper logical reasoning and respect - it'll go a long way than trying to throw a tantrum at them too. Try and get them on your side to help you. p.s. I've made numerous claims under the Premium selection warranty on the CSL and not once have I encountered an issue. It comes down to your understanding of the way the so called 'warranty' works and your attitude towards the service personnel trying to help you. (Not saying that you are being difficult in this situation, but just what I've found to work in the past, so thought I'd put in my 2 cents)

Joy to the BMW ISIS/ISTA system ... what a horror these 1/4 of a million dollars+ systems have caused compared to the older stuff. Is your "Premium Selection" a BMW one or a PROTECTA Product??? I am guessing it's the PROTECTA stuff which is shiet house if you ask anyone and yet BMW dealerships continue to sell these as if they are as good as the BMW ones. I know exactly what the dealerships are worried about and I know why they are 'attempting' to utilise this disclaimer, let me see if I can explain it in layman's terms: When you replace a component within a modern BMW, in this case an alternator (or a battery) the component needs to be activated so to speak within the control modules. On the older Progman SSS system you could program individual modules individually to accept such a thing (I believe you can do it also on WinKFP and NCS Expert) (so be it the alternator or the battery or some other sensor) - I am fairly certain that the GT1 does the battery and alternator under service functions. On the ISIS/ISTA system the car has to have fully up to date software for each car before it will proceed into the next stage of initialisation (whatever version they are on now I think it's v58 or v59) So if your car is running an older version of control module codes for your particular model, basically the whole car has to be updated before the latest initialisation code can be accepted through the ISIS system (well not really but it is the approved procedure) - hence the need to reprogram basically the whole car (the newest X5s are the worst of them all apparently and it can take up to two days to just do one car). This is to ensure full compatibility when the software updates (i.e. I've seen cars where the modules are updated individually on the old system only to have the car go back to the dealership and have a full software update because the car no longer operates that module on the older software). What this disclaimer is trying to do is to cover the dealership's ass should anything go wrong. Personally I wouldn't be too worried about the alternator initialisation - but being a 2005 car I'd say you should be able to do this on one of the old systems without the need to reprogram the whole car - anything made after 2007 is really the cut off year that you have to worry about programming individual modules vs the whole car. Also as the exclusion provides that it doesn't cover programming "unless it is required as a result of the failure which is covered by the warranty" I would argue that this would cover a full programming if this is what is needed to have the component 'reactivated" - plus they are bound by the CGA to fix anything they break or wreck that is incidental to the original repair regardless of the warranty wording (for eg. if a mechanic was employed to fix a clutch and whilst taking the clutch out he damages an engine mount, he is liable to fix that engine mount as part and parcel of his contract - similar thing here with the programming - it is all incidental and part and parcel of the job of replacing the alternator) ...

Okay These were part of the UK CSL Cup prescribed Dampers in the first season of racing before the rules changed allowing for open setups. This is my personal set (so not the same set that I posted up before). I purchased these with the intention of running them in my car, but I've changed my mind about running such a harsh race only setup in a non-caged car. When I got these they were in pretty good condition bar one or two minor issue (I am a perfectionist), so I sent the whole lot back on DHL Express to Germany just before Christmas for a full refurbishment (rebuild and replacement) This particular set has been sent back to KW Germany for a full overhaul - so they are as good as new (actually they are still in Germany, and I am about to ship them back soon): This is what has been done: - Both front shocks are new (all new bump and rebound seals, oil, and shock body and new rods and teflon bearing guides) - Both front top solid bearings are brand new - Both front sway bar links are brand new - Both rear shocks have been dyno tested and confirmed to be in as new condition (i.e. refurbished by KW at their Motorsport facility to ensure equal characteristics - anything that needed replacing or refresh were completed under their standard end of season refurbishment program for race parts) What is used: - Front camber plates - but because the bearings are new, so technically these are as good as new (they do look used and have had extra holes drilled into them by KW for running higher Camber angle (i.e. -3.5 or more) - I have however taken the studs out and put them back into standard setup. - Rear top bearing mounts (these are still very tight and solid and did not need refurbishment or replacement). - All springs and keepers are original items - but these have only had 1/3 of season of racing use, so really still newish. Current spring rates front and rear are 22kg/mm - only suitable if you are running full cage and full slicks. The shocks are set at 3000N full soft and 4000N full hard (i.e. full race spec). You can run softer springs for track use on these shocks. So realistically the whole set is as good as a brand new set. The cost of these brand new without springs would be just over NZ$6200 with shipping and GST. Full refurbish cost was quite high (I will provide all the KW invoice to the purchaser) I am looking at offers for these - otherwise I might just keep them and perhaps build a race car one day Call or text 021 281 0155

As much as I love the Porsche GT3 I just think they look and handle a bit strange on a Rally track - now on a nice track circuit that's a totally different story.

Go on Ray .. be the first to do that twin turbo S65 Thought you all might like it !! They are two of my favouritest motors from BMW at the moment Go on James !! Maybe work something out with Ray on the first S65 Twin Turbo E30 M3 I know what you mean exactly. The S65 is a very versatile motor. Docile when you need it to be and a monster on demand should you feel like it. The noise is sensational (very CSL like albeit deeper ton). The S54 is often mistaken as raspy or tinny, in actual fact far from it ... free the exhaust and it'll sing like the V8. Much of that rasp is actually from the placement of the X over pipe in the stock system - remove it and it's gone.

Saw this write up on another forum. Nothing too technical, but a nice read I thought. Nice and simple and to the point. http://www.bimmerboost.com/showthread.php?...power-potential

Personally I wouldn't trust Carbon Fibre helmets unless it was made by Bell, Arai or Schuberth (the only three carbon fibre helmet manufacturers out there that have FIA-8860-2004 certification) FIA-8860 certified helmets would have gone through the following: Bit extreme for use in a closed car of course.

However much you think your head is worth to you should you happen to have a crash. My mind boggles everytime I am at the track and I see guys with $10K spent on a car and they won't spend more than a $100 for a helmet. Buy the highest spec helmet you can justifiably afford. Any serious National standard motorsports class you'll need a Snell SA2010, but if you are on a budget a closed out series Snell standard helmet is as good as you'll get on a budget. SA95 and SA2005 are all still very high quality helmets if you are looking at close outs. Try and stick with reputable brands like Bell, Arai, Shoei and Simpson Helmets. There's a reason why F1 drivers only ever used one or two helmet brands.

Seeing fatjoe hasn't updated this I thought I might. We've successfully coded his module to not to cold start bulb check via NCS Expert (pretty cool tool actually once you get the hang of it). So everything all hunky dory for his 135i.

Also preferably somebody with a BMW scanner tool as you'd be surprised that not all faults show up (actually quite common for it to not show) on the dash and some BMW specific codes aren't read by generic OBD scanners.

Get them to give you the dimension and weight of the box and jump on www.usps.com and do an online calculation (then copy and paste the pricings to the email and get them to purchase and print for the freight online as it is cheaper than actually going to the post office to do it). I've had no less than 3 CSL steering wheels shipped from all over the world and nothing of that sort for shipping. One was from New York and it was US$55 via USPS.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-BMW-M3-...sQ5fAccessories this guy will ship from the USA - about $42.50 via USPS This is cheap if you don't mind second hand (honestly not that hard to get them re-trimmed): http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2005-BMW-E4...sQ5fAccessories

Have had dealings with them plenty of times. Doug is great to deal with and very helpful. Email them first to get a quote for shipping via USPS if the items are small enough - they will ship USPS even if the website doesn't provide the option. And no they won't mark down items just to get under the GST charges - so best to pick your items carefully. If you can find an advertised item elsewhere for cheaper then email Doug, they will (sometimes) meet the market (sometimes the suppliers are different and they simply can't price match). But otherwise have never had an issue with them ever. Edit: Ah I see you are after an E46 M3 steering wheel ... look on ebay - there's a guy out in Slovenia that sell these for way cheaper and he ships to NZ and will mark the packages whatever $ you want him to

What a great day!! Thanks James and the flag marshalls for bearing the sun all day. I am very sunburnt despite my very best effort at staying under the shade.

Yes CSL but on old setup so wont be very fast at all

I have attended 3 of these, including the M driver training day which was slightly different but also very similar. If you've never been to the track and don't actually know where to turn in, where to hit the apex and where to exit a corner then these days are great for learning lines to a particular track. It is designed for road cars and road drivers to explore the functionalities of their vehicles (or the driver training cars used on the day, sometimes 3 series, sometimes others - it changes over time). Level 1 courses teaches braking and throttle control and ABS - little bit of lapping and learning the corners on the track. The lapping is done behind a pace car driven by the instructor. Level 2 teaches slightly more advanced throttle control and cornering and fast lapping. The M days are done in M cars (in NZ, owners of M cars) and teaches slightly more advanced stuff about going fast and learning a corner. Little bit more about over and understeer control and emergency braking. You also get a current professional driver sitting in one on one telling you what you are doing wrong for a couple of laps going at speed. It is not designed to be a 'race car' type training, but rather one learning about car control and emergency and little bit about how to go fast within your limits. (I believe the mini days teaches J turns) You'd be surprised how much the instructors can pick up from listening to your throttle input and seeing how you steer through a corner. Always great fun too to be passengered by Mike Eady in the M3 and be shown how a professional drives.

Should be a fun day ... I am going to see if I can get CSL no.3 to turn up also Question - so what do we do after we've paid using the website? Just turn up?

2 x CSLs coming

The link to purchase ticket is down.

jochen do you know how to use NCS Expert? I have a vague idea but have never actually used it. Also I am suspecting that this will require both NCS and EDIABAS to work (one to recode and one to reset) Or perhaps EDIABAS can simply turn the bulb test off on its own?? Do you know if EDIABAS version 6.4.7 is used or 5.0.2? fatjoe ... I've told you many times I have D-CAN and OBDII KKL - cable don't worry I have what's needed and most likely the software also but I just don't actually know which one is used and what function. If it's a recode I don't want to risk bricking your module (very easily done and you'll be a couple of thousand dollars down the drain if this happens).

Bucklands Beach? I am sure I've seen your car around. Love the car, hate the wheels (sorry but Beyern wheels are a pet hate of mine : P )

The car is a 135i Coupe so it'll need D-CAN. I have a standard OBDII KKL USB cable if needed.

Let me guess ... married? haha ... me too, so same from me