OneSeventy

First one also says 2001... the facelifts came in 2002 right? Could have been modded to facelift? EDIT: Brake lights agree with me.

I have a 318i and I get the gutless comments even though I don't fully agree. It's not a fast car, that's for sure, but it certainly isn't gutless - and mine is a pre-facelift with the weaker, smaller engine. I still love it and I try to care for it as much as anyone else on here would care for their more expensive BMWs. I suggest that you just go look at a 318i you like the sound of (even if you wouldn't necessarily be looking to buy that exact one) and test drive it. See what you think of the engine and make your own decision. If you haven't really had powerful cars before, I don't see why you wouldn't like the 318i. I can understand that some might have issues if they were coming from a far more powerful car.

I can tell you that one of the main hobby suppliers for NZ doesn't have any E46 M3s in stock. I've got their stock spreadsheet open in front of me at work right now. There are racing versions but I gather you're not after those.

Final update: AA have decided to supply me with an OEM windscreen! They're calling an original BMW screen OEM so I'm unsure whether it will be just a Pilkington or a BMW Pilkington. Either way I'm happy with this result. Their reasoning behind it was that I picked up on their staff using the 'made in the same factory' description which wasn't what they were supposed to be advising. They made sure I knew this wouldn't happen again in any future case unless I pay the difference.

AA called this morning and they're organising to have both Smith & Smith staff and an AA rep look at my car together. Jeeze they're hard about this stuff. I honestly think that whoever they send are just not going to see things my way because they won't care like I do and like members of this forum would care if it were theirs. If you're picky about glass, seriously don't use AA.

Thanks, yeah I'm regretting letting this guy put the glass on my car now. Looking at the screen you can quite visibly see the reflections distorting quite a lot, especially in the middle of the screen near the top. Pretty substandard if you ask me. Has anyone even heard of this Australian Autoglass brand? Couldn't find a glass manufacturer by that name online.

So not only am I unhappy with the screen, the guy has just finished with it and the fit is a bit crap. He's left some gaps round the seal which are obvious and things like the interior mirror positioning are slightly but clearly off.

So Smith & Smith showed up with some shoddy Australian knock-off screen which I asked him about. He tried to tell me that: A: Pilkington doesn't exist anymore (website says differently) and B: That the Australian glass was made in the same factory as the original BMW ones. I'm calling bullshit. He's still putting the screen in my car now but he told me to call AA about it if I'm not happy, which I'm not. So I have called AA and complained. They're going to listen through the calls I made to them over the last few days and check that what their staff were saying was incorrect. They're going to get back to me.

AC Schnitzel Rims. Sounds tasty.

Appreciate the replies. As AA have stated to me twice over the phone that the aftermarket screens are made in the same factory, if Smith & Smith show up tomorrow with anything but a Pilkington, I will tell them to go back to where they came from while I call AA and complain. I'm pretty sure that once I catch them lying (if they were lying), they'll be forced to bend over and get me an OEM one. My car doesn't have a rain sensor so luckily it is not another thing I need to worry about!

Did a little research and apparently it is fairly common that they will supply a Pilkington windscreen. Same brand and same thing as the original BMW one, only it doesn't have a BMW logo on it. I'll be happy if it is this, but if not I'll be talking to AA about their lies.

I'm having my windscreen replaced on Friday by Smith & Smith through AA insurance. I requested OEM but AA said I would need to pay the difference between the aftermarket screen and OEM (which I can't afford to do). AA also said that the aftermarket screens are made in the same factory as the OEM ones, but they just don't get the BMW 'stamp' put on them. Does anyone know if there is any truth to this? I'm booked in for an aftermarket replacement now but wondering what people think?

Had a laugh at the video they've got on the listing.

Awesome, I have never seen one but designed a modern version for a project in my Transport Design class about 2 years ago. Was a great project and I would love to check one out properly instead of in photos!

Would buy if I had the money. Near perfect example from what I've seen of it! Good luck with this Dylan.

Glenn offered to talk on the phone and we did a week ago. As I said, I unplugged it but have plugged it back in now. For some reason that's caused the light to turn off.

Been sick for a week so I had barely driven the car until yesterday. But before I did, I opened the hood and disconnected the air mass sensor. I started it up and it shuddered and shook for a good minute – I even tried to still drive away a few times but both times the revs faded and the car stalled before I could move. I decided to give up on that test so I plugged the air mass sensor back in and surprise surprise, the light has gone away (for now). Does this confirm the air mass sensor is the fault?

Went down to the garage again and he cleaned out the idle control valve just in case it was that. He said there was some carbon in there but not a lot, so unlikely to be the cause. He also showed me how to disconnect the air mass sensor which we are going to trial to see if it fixes the rough idle problem. It sounded like he was saying that if the car drives better without it, we can assume that it is faulty. Strange thing is that both he and I agree that the air mass sensor looks brand new, as if replaced not long before I got it, so I don't know if this will work.

Glenn has had a look at the airbag fault. He tried to fix it but it didn't work and so we found it would be an expensive process to properly determine what is causing the fault and left it for now. I can't remember the exact fault but I am sure Glenn can say... It's something like "Driver Airbag stage 1". I'm more annoyed about this 'check engine light' that's popping up at the moment than the airbag fault.

Been thinking about this and I think the main thing that pisses me off about both my faults that are showing codes (airbag light is on too) is that they both don't come on straight away. Airbag light once took over a week to come back on and this oxygen sensor code issue seems to either come on when cold or just take a few hours. This makes it painful to fix because the mechanic can't know for sure if they've fixed the issue.

I'll give you a call Monday Glenn but thought I would post up today's findings: Took the car back in but I had to leave it with them and then when I picked it up, they were closed so I didn't get to grab the codes unfortunately. The guy said he replaced a spark plug for me as one cylinder was misfiring slightly, he checked the hoses and stuff and found nothing, and he said something about resetting all the oxygen sensors (?) so that the car now idles better, as he agreed it was idling a bit low. He didn't charge me for any of this. Went for a drive a few minutes ago and the check engine light went out after ignition as normal, but a few hundred metres down the road, it was back on. I'm stumped. The car drives the best it ever has while I've had it, it has just had a full service, and professional "BMW specialist" mechanics can't work what's wrong with it!

Unfortunately not. Damn, I'm not good at this stuff! The lights back on though and I'm going back in. I'll see if I can get the code and exact wording and report back. Thanks for your help so far.

I see. I took it to a place that specialises in German cars, BMWs in particular. So if both oxygen sensors were showing up within a few days of each other, you're saying it is *likely* to be a vacuum leak, or just that there is a chance it is? How would I know? I should mention my car has been idling a bit low recently and it often shudders a bit when taking off in first gear while cold. Does this help with a diagnosis?

Hey everyone, the other day I had my pre-cat oxygen sensor fixed up and it was fine for a day and then my check engine light came on again. Scanned again and this time it's the oxygen sensor after the cat. Is this strange behaviour or just bad luck? I have to admit I don't know much about how all of this works so any advice would be appreciated. My car is a manual 2001 E46 318i sedan if that helps in any way.

I didn't do it myself, but finally had my airbag light problem taken away hopefully for good, courtesy of a squib ring replacement by Glenn and the team. It was expensive but I'm glad the problem has gone (and it was cheaper than quoted!) Thanks Glenn.