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Yeah I meant $20 to fit, not $20 a tyre!! Ended up just replacing all 4 tyres as I saw a steal on trademe, and the two legal ones were under 3mm tread so no biggie.. Current tyres came with the car 3 years ago so they did well to be honest. Person I bought the tyres off had the original purchase receipt and never got them fitted to his car. Managed to get the garage he bought them off to fit and balance the tyres for free. Went back to VTNZ on Saturday day and passed with flying colours this time! And my first 1 year WOF

Just an update if you wanted to know, thanks for all your comments btw: Took my car into Jeff Gray BMW on Wednesday morning as they'd agreed to investigate the problem as it was potentially to do with the headlamp I purchased from them.. Turns out it was fitted upside down, so they fixed that and gave the lights a little alignment too, free of charge.. good on em!! Decided to buy some new tyres for the ones that needed replacing. Does anyone know of a cheap place in Wellington that fits tyres?? Cheapest I've found is $20 in Petone which might be my best bet.

Yeah, I'd heard that before I went there but was in a rush on the weekend and they were just down the road with drive through... Plan is to get two new tyres, stick em on the front and rotate my decent ones to the back - no issue with this. I just checked through my car stuff and I got a new headlamp for that side of the car in May this year, purchased and fitted at Jeff Gray BMW.. Guess I'll be giving them a call on Monday, hopefully they can as an act of good faith review and fix/replace for free. And Jason, I only dim my headlights when I'm driving down my street so I don't disturb the neighbours.. had no reason to raise them when i went to get my wof as it was midday. Realise it's unsafe to have them that low, but yeah thanks. Appreciate the feedback.

Hey guys, Took my car in for a WOF yesterday at VTNZ (why'd I choose them...) and my E46 failed on a few things... They said that the Front Left tyre is worn, and Rear Right has 2mm tread and wearing edges (caution). Took it into a tyre shop afterwards and they said that my front tyres are fine but my rear ones are down to 3mm. Definitely not a wofable issue (with the new laws, so not sure why they pulled me up on this) but worth getting the Rears replaced. Both headlamps need to be aligned. I normally get my wofs done at BMW and they were fine 6 months ago... Do you think they just didn't know to use the dial in my car to move them up? because they were facing down when I took my car in. My right headlamp is out of focus ~ what does this even mean?? Google hasn't helped me at all. All in all not too happy with the WOF - they indicated the wrong tyre needed replacing, and I do think my headlamps are to do with my alignment dial.. I will be getting two new tyres this weekend ~ putting existing front wheels on the rear, and new ones on the front. What do you think I should do? Thanks

Update: Took apart the right side of my boot any all the cables looked fine and the connectors. Found online, a good way to test is the BST has blown is you should be able to push the cable into the BST end, so I tried this and it didn't budge (well maybe just a bit) Gave it a re-check with inpa and tried clearing the code, success!! My BST must be a little loose or something so I'm good for now Thanks for your input EuroSurgeon

Hey, The lock cover broke off when I took my car in to a mates of a mates for a service (don't get me started), and I'm wanting to glue the two pieces back together ~ the catch and the cover. I know how to take the cover and lock mechanism out, but I need to know what sort of glue to buy. Is it abs, pvs, upvs, pp? Any ideas what it's made out of? I've got some upvc solvent at home.. Thanks in advance!

Thanks again. My OBD diagnostic cable arrived yesterday and I've managed to install INPA on a spare work laptop running Windows7, and it looks like it's installed and working all good. Tested it with my car and the cable today and managed to pull the same code (had a help from another forum member to pull the old code) so looks like I've got the green light to fix the problem this weekend. Let's hope this weather holds out!!

Kicker is, it wasn't me who put the chains on but the staff of RAL. I've been working the last few weeks to get them to cover the damages. Which they have finally just took a while and a lot of back and forth. Punctured my tyre too, having to drive down the mountain on a flat spare was a bit of a laugh haha. Thanks Andy I've given them a call and mentioned your name. Going to drive out to see them early next week. Getting Craig at Final Touch to check it out tomorrow too. Thanks guys.

Hi, Recently I had a bit of damage done to the rear right side of my E46 by some faulty snowchains that came off as I was driving up the mountain the other weekend. It's all superficial but I want it fixed up. I've had one quote so far of about $1300 to fix up the lot (4 hours labour and the rest "paint"), pricing is for: RR door Right sill Petrol flap RR guard Rear bumper Just wondering if anyone knew anyone based in Wellington who was good and reasonably priced/could do me a good deal? Thanks in advance!

Yeah, that's what I originally thought when I first had the aribag light come on and read the code - I did a brief check at the time and then tightened it all back up, and it seemed to do the trick. Through searching the net it looks as if the BST has activated then the car wouldn't start at all, am I right? I've got a fair idea with what I'm working with, so will investigate further this weekend. Plus found a decent youtube video explaining the ins and outs. Is there any way to damage the BST? When I was removing my sub over the weekend (it's power connects through the positive battery terminal) I accidentally dropped my spanner on the positive terminal and the centre metal bit (it screws down to hold my battery in place) and the spanner started sparking, and then went red hot within seconds until I flicked it off ~ not my finest moment lol. Thanks again.

Hey guys, really appreciate the replies. So you think it's a problem with the occupancy sensor in the passenger seat? I thought I would of been given a clearer code fault to come to that conclusion? Is there a way to figure out if this is the case? Reading up I get this statement though "When they break the sensor will either give a short circuit (no resistance) or an open circuit (infinite resistance)." whereas my reading says "too large" although maybe as you said it could do with a proper scan. I still have the original fabric seats that came with the car (I replaced them with leather ones) - could I replace the sensor and see if this fixes it?

Hey guys, I've checked the forums for any existing post concerning my problem but couldn't see anything at all, so sorry if this is covered anywhere and feel free to link me to it! My airbag light came on again a few weeks ago and I'm due for a wof by the end of the month. I was driving to castlepoint with some mates and I swear I just went down the curb/drive of the liquor land in Masterton and the airbag light came on. With an INPA scan I got the following code today and I can't clear it: This is not the first time I've had my airbag light come on. The first time I had it when I changed over my steering wheel, but putting the old steering wheel back on and a reset cleared the code. I got the light again 1 year later and this time I got the same code as in the picture above (along with some other codes - faulty rear left sensor) but I had the part replaced and a reset at BMW fixed it. Now I have it again 6 months later except this time it won't clear. I've googled the code but it seems to be the most vague code of the lot!! Apart from that the car works fine, no problems with starting etc. just need this light removed for WOF Have my own INPA cable on it's way and already have the adaptor for OBDII 16 to 20. Any help would be most appreciated. Regards, Based in Wellys.

Hi, Was just wondering if anyone had an OBDII usb version (not BT) that I could borrow to grab the error codes out of my E46 323i '00. I was just placing an order on ebay for one, but delivery is 2-4 weeks away, so was hoping someone could help in the meantime.. I've got both the Torque app and BMWhat app on my android phone - but supposedly my ECU is too old to grab the codes properly via bluetooth. Alternatively if you know any places that would read my error codes for free/cheap please let me know JKSouthern is charging $50 and Jeff Gray @ $80 with mates rates. Have spent too much on my car recently and trying to do this cheap... Thanks!

Thanks for that Brent, When I suss out what's wrong with my car, will definitely be in touch. Do you sell individual sway bar links or do you recommend replacing them both at the same time?

Thanks for the replies guys. I've been told that the sway bar link should just go back on no probs (the reason it's out of sync on the picture is just the height of the ride at the time). I was told nut couldn't be removed (he had the tools to do so) in case it snapped due to the force on the potentially weak nut/bolt - then ride would be screwed. Also, the handbrake and abs light came on before he actually started work on the handbrake itself ~ either through driving it or it just came on.. So any reason this might be? What I plan to do: Get the guy in to attach/fix the anti sway bar link. For the parking and abs light found this: "With the car and light on and handbrake lever down pull the wire from the switch. If the light goes off you have a bad switch". If it's the switch, get a new one. If not, book it into BMW and see if I can't get the codes cleared and the abs sensors looked at if that doesn't help ~ got a mate who works for Jeff Gray BMW.

A little bit of story to bring people up to speed... Recently took my E46 to a mate of a mates to get a service done and got him to install my msport springs on my standard beamer ~ he was unable to do this as one of the bolts was rusted too much... During the servicing I had to also get my handbrake replaced (just the springs) and a hole in my exhaust welded. My handbrake light is now always on and my ABS light is orange on always too. We put in an OBDII and using the torque app but it couldn't see the warning lights and so was unable to clear them ~ I was told just a reset should clear the warning lights. When I checked under the front right wheel I saw this; What is it, will this be causing my warning lights and how can I reattach it (tried and failed)? Thanks in advance.

Hey mate, Sent you another PM at the start of last week. Let me know if you're keen to progress the sale.

Hey guys, I have a WOF coming up for my E46 and unfortunately over the last couple of months my airbag light has come on.. I was wondering if there was anyone in the Wellington district with a scanner/code reader who could help me out - and either figure out what is causing the airbag light to show, or wipe the code for me? I'm based in Thorndon, but obviously can travel to whoever. Things I've changed in my car that might have caused the issue (latest first): New steering wheel - this was done 1/2 months before the light showed New seats - this threw a light when they were first installed, but I transferred over my old seat belt pretensioners and I was able to just wipe the airbag light. Many thanks in advance! Sam

So, Decided to be a bit of a showoff over the weekend and use my key fob to put all my windows down all the way, went to put them all back up and the rear right one didn't go all the way up... oh the irony Tried a few more times and it move like a little bit up n down but it makes this really weird sound like something metal is catching n scraping n pulling... managed to get it all the way up by activating the window and just forcing it up. Have done a bit of searching on the net and because I'm hearing the noises it's the regulator gone and not the motor, am I right? Does anyone know where I can get a good cheap replacement? My mate at BMW quoted my $190incl. which I know is a very good deal but I've heard the OEM ones are average in comparison to aftermarket ones.. Saw one on trademe for $90? What should I be looking for and how much do I want to pay? Thanks in advance. Sam

Only thing I can think to ask is: Are your old cloth seats and new leather seats spec'd the same? I'm guessing because mine were both the same (non-electric, non-memory) my fix worked - I did have to get Jeff Gray BMW in Welly to remove the airbag light but I've got a mate who works there so it was free. If you're upgrading or downgrading - maybe it'd pay to read through a retrofit diy and see what needed to be done? i.e. http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=348165 Or yeah, contact the guy *Glenn* mentioned above.

Hey man. I replaced my cloth seats with leather seats earlier in the year, and may have run into a similar issue too... I have an E46 '00 (late '99 model actually) and I got the leather seats from an '01 I think it was. Non electric, non fold down, non memory, none of all that snazzy stuff. What I noticed was that the seat belt pre-tensioners from the leather seats did not wire up correctly to my car and I had the airbag light code come on. I used RealOEM.com and found out that at some stage the P/N changed (for the drivers side ((8 257 788 R) to (8 253 734 R)), but was fine for the passenger side (8 257 787 L)) and so yeah... I just put my seat belt pretensioner from my old seats on to my new seats and worked like a charm. You should have one wire for each seat belt pretensioner, and then an extra one that plugs into the weight mat (can't think of the word) on the passenger seat (this is so it can tell whether to deploy the airbag on the passenger side, obviously if no one is sitting there there's no need for it go off..) Not sure if this helps, or if it's all entirely correct but hopefully might help you out.

Mine would have to by style 135 (http://www.bmwstylewheels.com/bmw/135) - E46 had em when I purchased the car and don't think I've seen one with them on since purchase and I see a lot of E46s in Welly, and I mean a lot Someone told me they're the wheels off the E46 cabriolet?

Did this retrofit two weekends before and it was pretty easy. if you ask for part number 611200160120 that's all you'll need to hook it up to your new MFSW - bought mine through Jeff Grey BMW for $50; comes with all the connectors and cables for the MF buttons and the cruise control cable. Bought Hybrid's old steering wheel, and he hooked me up with an official retrofit BMW pdf on how to install it - all you'll need is some pretty standard tools and a German to English dictionary to translate the wire colours haha. Cruise control is boss and worked on my '99-'00 too, not that I get to use it that often, although I try to on the long streets in Welly If you go ahead with the upgrade hit me up if you have any issues, it's all still very fresh in my memory.

My E46 came with the euro tray - might pay to hit up a couple of wreckers and see if they don't have any handy.. they just come right out of the console so quick as swap. Have held anything from a couple of coffees to one of those mammoth drinks from Wendy's. Sure there could be other options too, but pretty happy with my tray.

Hey guys, I've been umming and ahing for a while now about the suspension in my standard E46 323i 2000 Sendan. Lots to choose from not even naming brands; coilovers, springs, compressed springs, shocks, the lot. Come to the conclusion that in the mean time I'd just like to get some Msport springs in there and see how it handles - never driven a lowered car and would like to get a feel for it. If anyone has any for sale or knows where I can get some (I presume some wreckers may have them?) please get in touch. Was following a couple on trademe but the one I was leading got withdrawn and now there are none left Might be keen for any of the suspension items out of an Msport too - shocks, sway bars etc. Cheers, Sam