CSET

Hi all, sorry for delay & thanks Tristan! I bought these new for $2,400ish last year, so I reckon $1,400 should be fair.

Hi all, The ZCP knob and gearboot turned up yesterday, so I went about removing the M5 gearknob and fitting it in. My what a difference! The throw is a heap shorter, and feels a lot more solid. The standard shifter height (shared by the M5) is a lot taller, and as such the pivot is longer. Anyway, photos. Here’s the OEM M5 shifter height: I remember doing this patching (don't worry I removed all the insulation before this pic…). The M5 shifter wiring doesn’t fit with the OEM e46 M3 light wiring, and requires a little work. Have a look earlier my thread for the how-to. As the ZCP gearknob doesn’t have a light, I don’t need to worry about this. The package as it showed up – Alcantara gearboot & ZCP knob. These are two separate items, allowing interchangeable parts. The OEM M5 and M3 shifters are one piece including the boot. When removing your current gearknob DO NOT PRY UP THE CENTRE CONSOLE. The gearknob surround pops up from a little pressure inside; between the knob and the console with the window switches. If you try to pry up the console, you’re going to have a bad time (it’s screwed in from under the surround). I notice a slight issue… The surround provided with the Alcantara boot is for the ZCP, a US-spec E46 M3 option. As such, it’s made for LHD cars. Replace with your original plastic surround (it’s the same size, different orientation). A little superglue should hold it in place: When the superglue doesn’t work, use this, but be really careful not to spill any on the fabric! I went through 3 sets of gloves to make sure: Huzzah! The surround should mount flush into place. It’s held in by plastic clips, so a gently amount of pressure should ‘pop’ it into place in each of the corners. The gearknob should also pop into place, requires a bit more pressure: The throw (much shorter): A direct comparison: I also had some lights installed in the garage, as I couldn’t do much work on the cars after dark unless covered in LED torches. I opted to go a bit more on the bright side rather than risk it still being dim. 8x daytime halogens later:

Haha ok I stand corrected! I had an Audi years ago that I used turps to clean the boot, and a fair amount of clear came off with it. That car had serious issues however, so there may have been some corrosive material on the paint already.

Ah, noisy. Quite a deep bass note to it in-cabin, sounds quite different from the outside. Can still hear the rasp at full song however.

Have a look at my dyno vids to listen to a Supersprint on full noise. http://s375.photobucket.com/user/monthly5/media/M3Run_zpscb6a21b7.mp4.html http://s375.photobucket.com/user/monthly5/media/M3Run3_zps82840ed3.mp4.html http://s375.photobucket.com/user/monthly5/media/M3Run2_zps8b6fa541.mp4.html Cold start & idle: http://s375.photobucket.com/user/monthly5/media/MTOYColdStart_zpsb2e62706.mp4.html

I lol'd Somebody lock this thread already.

Kerosene works wonders. Be really careful with turps, as it's easy to chew through the clear. Plus it's best to use gloves with turps. Regarding tar remover; I purchased some from Repco, and I'd be very surprised if it wasn't just watered-down and pressurised turps. Certainly smelled the same.

Nice colour, and looks to be in great condition - awesome weekend car! Those rear lights look good

The BBS's, or the faux-BBS's? One set is for sale, the other not so much!

Shameless plug in case you haven't spied the FS section. My old wheels are up for grabs. Early morning price for you. http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/46412-fs-bbs-lm-style-wheels-tyres/#entry503671

Sold thanks guys.

^^^ NOM NOM! Looks awesome mate! I actually may need spacers after all... there's a slight metallic rubbing noise coming from the front left; however I pulled the wheel off and checked everything out, there's nothing touching... The stone guard was quite close so I bent it a little, with no result. Hmm. May be coming from the rear. On the plus side I found a use for the old wheels There's a break in the weather, perfect photo opp! Off to the park. I took most of the decals off last night, have left the banner, German crosses & lettering on the bumper at this stage:

Very nice indeed! GLWS!

Yep, met Jay at the Gumboot Rally - small world! Agree on the colour; my daily is a lighter shade of silver (the standard light Toyota silver) - and stays a bit cleaner, but can't beat the grey for looks!

They look quite thin in that pic above huh - Funnily enough, they are the same width as the CSL's (8.5in front 9.5in rear). The tyres are 235 and 275 respectively. Haha the only ourcome I can foresee is a nice big scratch down the door from a grumpy VW owner!

Haha thanks mate, yeah I agree about the bullet holes - they fitted the rally theme well, now they can go (along with the rest of the sponsor decals).

The CSL wheels and mad tyres are on, and looking great! Nick & the team at Platinum Wheels did a great job, and provided great advice. Keep an eye on their website gallery, as Nick took some better photos this morning http://www.platinumwheels.co.nz/gallery/category/9-bmw The black gills turned up last night too (thanks FedEx!) so I fitted them on with a spare set of OEM badges. No more chrome:

Beautiful! Congratulations!

Ah, right. Oops. Move along please, nothing to see here...

Who knows, there could've been marshalls on him our of camera. If not though, agreed it's pretty rough. Shocker of a crash, equally bad driving. Look at the positive. The rarity of the 1 series just increased.

A new favourite photo from the Rally:

Also really suits the E39 M5 IMO: I delivered the CSL rims this morning to get the new tyres on - fitment hopefully tomorrow morning (all things well & good)! I'm hoping the combination of light silver wheels on dark grey paint is going to look how I imagine - they're a bit lighter than the M5 wheels above. I'm a bit nervous to be honest.

Hi all, Anyone in the market for one of these? I doubt it gets much better than this. Sub-40kms, looks brand new. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=646143589

If you're dead-set keen on an M3, you could also look at an e36 shape? Have a read around the forum, there's heaps of info on them. Awesome cars. I saved for my M3 for a number of years, it was well worth the wait!

They're still coming down in price! I picked mine up from Team MacMillan, so it's not really a good yardstick to use to compare price against a private sale. There's a few on TM for low $20's (on higher k's, granted). Beware though - I've found parts can get quite expensive, so the capital cost is only a small part of the investment...! If you're really stretched to buy one, it may be worth saving until you can afford the maintenance (to save disappointment if something breaks). Otherwise, get a cheap daily runabout - it's worked really well for me this way; I'm not dependant on the M3 for work this way!