CSET

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..!

What do you think I’m doing?

Don’t hold back, tell us what you really think

Part of the way there. Picked up a standard muffler from Ray at @HELLBM thank you again mate. Spent a bit of time on it y'day: 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 Also have swapped bootlid, indicators & wheels, yet to put in standard seats and front bumper. Also have replacement OEM chrome grilles & side vents on the way, this car is going to be more standard than it ever has in my ownership haha. Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr

Yep good point, I don't actually have an OEM muffler!! Should pick one of those up too from somewhere, anyone have one they don't want/need? Edit: this lack-of-standard-muffler situation may now be resolved, thanks to @HELLBM !

As always, there are a few changes upcoming for MTOY, especially now that Gumboot is out of the way. I've scored a replacement standard bumper thanks to @JohnM575 cheers bro. I'll be converting the bodywork, seats and trim back to my OEM parts over the next couple of weeks for LVVT cert. Also got a new set of road tyres for the Style 260M 18's, so could be a good chance to try these out. Pretty happy with how this is turning out; my goal to build an M3 'RS' of sorts in the vein of my dream Porsche road racer is getting closer. Still need to get the roll bar welded in and a few interior trims replaced (door pull straps, embroidery on seats etc) but we're getting closer. I made the added challenge of having everything easily replaceable with stock parts in my garage. For a weld-in cage this is rather difficult but for the most part we're doing well. Pic from a late night drive we did recently: 29983735_1751187028321476_8753053471622856322_o by Christian Taylor, on Flickr

Couple more detailed shots ready for the weekend. Plan is to replace all the big aero with standard bodywork after the rally, along with swapping the seats, wheels etc for winter. MTOY by Christian Taylor, on Flickr MTOY1 by Christian Taylor, on Flickr MTOY2 by Christian Taylor, on Flickr MTOY3 by Christian Taylor, on Flickr MTOY6 by Christian Taylor, on Flickr

Cheers man, didn't think about that. My road code is coming flooding back to me from the 1990's Something about pedestrian safety iirc. I wonder how people with bull bars get away with it? Compared to a stuck on bit of carbon fiber, I know which I'd rather be hit with....!