CSET

Pics in the sunlight, not bad! Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr

Not sure yet, probably neither for the meantime - I also have standard seats which I’ll put back in until I get the front buckles relocated and certed. Will have harness mounts fitted too so I can run them for motorsport stuff in the future.

Some updates on MTOY. I spent a few hours stripping the rear of the car last week Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Then off it went to Ray at Chubb Racing for some scaffolding. Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr 37069382_10212477363432270_2108831085524680704_n by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Taking shape nicely! In the meantime I've picked up a couple of sets of 6pt harnesses and have some mounting hardware on the way. Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Once back it's off to GT Refinishers for paint, then I'll start fabricating seat and trim replacements.

Got out the camera and took some artsy light painting shots on Saturday night. This one turned out pretty rad. 1 by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Edit: I also put the black front grilles and corner lamps back in. Looks a bit cleaner with the darker wheels.

^^ you are right, I could certainly do with better tools!!

Yep - left hand front bracket nut is nigh-on impossible to get to. So much that the installer of the OEM exhaust hadn't even bothered putting a nut on it.. Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Besides, bumper removal on these is bloody easy. 6 bolts, wheel well trims, a couple of clips and reversing sensors. 10m max.

Swapped Supersprint mufflers back on yesterday, along with the e9x 18's and one of the race seats. It's still half practical that way ? Not sure I had this exhaust installed correctly since new - it's nowhere near as rattly. Sounds good. Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr

New grilles have arrived, look good..! Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Also, now certified! Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr

Now with CSL wheels, no stripes. Clean and classy. Nostripes4 by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Nostripes6 by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Nostripes3 by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Nostripes2 by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Nostripes1 by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Let's see how long this lasts..!

Stripes removed for a bit, still waiting on my factory front grilles to turn up. Front lip already pretty muched Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr New factory filters turned up, but I'm liking this factory exhaust + K&N intake combo. The noise is impressive, was completely drowned out when I had the Supersprint exhaust on hence I'd never heard it before. Sounds angry.

That's not really an achievement tbh ? Back on the hoist again. Do you like the '70's dragster stance? Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Replacing bolts on suspension arms & wheel bolts for cert. The rear muffler looks spectacular Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Bling bling wheel bolts (my standard bolts only did 6 turns, not the 6.5 turns required by cert standards). Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Back for re-check next Tues, should get plate in a week or two following

The variations in paint between years may explain why BMW are so closed about the colour.. I’d be keen to see them in comparison, mine are definitely older (2013).

Thanks Tom, you're right $700+ for a couple of stone chips is ridiculous. That site makes mention of code 144 (Felgensilber Metallic) which seems to be a more generic BMW wheel silver, I'll try that in the meantime. 144 includes some purple and blue (albeit very minor quantities), interesting! Will post up what it looks like.

Keep with all my other spares for the meantime mate. It’ll go back on the car in the future no doubt.

Cheers man, super easy if you have the tools. Metal compound (I used Truckers Pride liquid heavy cut) with steel wool then machine cut with heavy compound and pad on a DA machine (I used Rupes Bigfoot, coarse pad and HC400 but others will get same result). It's not perfect, but pretty good for an hours' work. A refine polish will make it much better, but tbh I'm only doing this for my own benefit. If you're stuck for products, we stock most of this stuff at www.unitedcarcare.co.nz (shameless self plug).

Polished up my Supersprint mufflers after a few years of use, pretty good result..! Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr

Anyone know the paint code for the OEM CSL wheels, by chance...? I've been matching by eye, pain in the ass mixing each batch slightly differently. Looks WAY off in the photo, but this is the closest actual match on the wheel I have done. Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr ^^ before sanding flat & polishing of course.

^^ The history is awesome. I love that sort of stuff.

Carbon paradise!!!! Very nice indeed, will be watching with interest!

Cats are in and rasp is gone. It's so damn quiet, can barely hear exhaust. But intake ... oh my. The intake. This is a good sounding motor. I also go these in today's courier, final piece of the OEM puzzle ..! Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr

I think I’ve answered my own question, pretty sure this console is for the phone kit. Awww yeah, early 2000’s car phone come at me. Off to get the cats re-installed today. Exhaust will then be 100% stock, for the first time since new from the sounds of things. I’m actually really enjoying the changes, for the moment at least. Edit: actually it may not be a phone console. The plot thickens..

Fun fact: who knew there are two different sized center sliding trays for the e46..? I bought the cup holders and coin tray a while back, then the longer slider as a replacement option recently Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Here’s the longer slider installed (standard seats and ZCP weighed gearknob back in now too): Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr I am keeping the armrest-less console and carbon interior trim as it looks good and is a pain in the ass to change around the door handles. Same with the alcantara hand brake handle. I also picked up a couple of OEM air filters for when I swap K&N 57-series intake back to the standard airbox.

Thank you mate that was an interesting read! Not sure about spare bootlid, but as it's such an easy bolt on-off I can change my mind and have it all swapped over in an hour or so.

OEM muffler swapped on, the tips are so teeny. It's a fair bit quieter, but still really raspy. Can finally hear the intake tho. Going to work on center section later in the week after Anzac day. Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Compared to Supersprint: Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr

Awesome, look forward to seeing this in person! Love that shape - we had a 125i for a little while, it really grew on me. That car felt pretty responsive, can only imagine what the 135i is like..!