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Hey man, I use this site called www.backload4u.co.nz for all my shipping stuff. Got two hole hubs sent down from auckland (rotors, calipers, hub) for $50 and a complete set of seats for $100. Might be worth a shot. Either request a quote or check out the empty trucks section (my last shipment I just checked the empty trucks and got in touch with a person who was doing a trip from Aucks to Welly in the weekend). Not sure on what price you'd get though, or insurance for that matter...

Just wanted to display my gratitude to one of the mechanics who works at Powerhaus for fixing up my broken beamer. Recently I'd decided to take it upon myself to fix one (both) of the calipers that had a seized piston on my E46 - purchased some second hand calipers and re-furbed them (cleaned, spray painted, and installed new seals). Decided with the money I was saving to rehaul the whole front brake system (bought new rotors and brake pads too) as one of the rotors was bound to have warped from the heat. When it came to take off the caliper carriers the bolts were rusted on like a mother f**ker and I couldn't get them off even with a breaker bar (cracked a socket and ripped a socket adapter in half trying to loosen).. so I popped in to Powerhaus and the guy there Reuban lent me a better quality wrench with a bar to extend the handle but still no luck.. so returned the tools and he said he'd pop round after work. Reuban came round after work and not only proceeded to unloosen my rusted bolts (had a hydraulic jack which lifted the car way higher than my factory jack) but installed both refurbed calipers as well as the rotors, brake pads and bled the brakes too. Rotor was cooked and caliper was rusted enough to prevent it being removed easily. So after 4 weeks my car is back on the road - thanks to a very helpful mechanic. Not enough people like him in the world. Car had gotten to a stage where I could no longer drive it to a mechanics so he really saved my hide. Said I'd drop round a box of beers to show my thanks. But yeah, if any of you live in the Wellington region and need some advice or some work done on your car - pop in to Powerhaus and I'm sure they'll be able to sort you out. Sam

Yeah thought the seals might of been an issue, except the piston won't go in even without the seals... Have rung up abcbrakes and they reckon maybe I have a little build up of something on the lip of the inner caliper that's stopping it going in - going to emery cloth it when I get home and see if it doesn't fix it right up. Either way they said they'd fix it up for a 20, so maybe one less one round tonight after work and I can let a professional take care of it Thanks for your help glenn

Thanks for your reply Glenn. I actually didn't end up using any kits or anything (not that I didn't buy one in case) as the pistons and seals were in very good nick. So I just cleaned up the whole system and got rid of the minor bit of surface rust on the pistons with a scotchbrite pad, no pitting So the pistons and seals are actually from the calipers I am trying to get them back into.. My thought (and a friends) was that maybe I just mixed them up, but if they're supposed to be identical then I don't know. Could there be some sort of marrying effect between the parts because they've been used together for so long, off an '02? I'm stumped. Maybe I'm just not putting the piston in straight, but definitely feeling metal on metal stopping it going in. No rust on the inside of the calipers too. Cars VIN is AW82943

Hey guys, I recently bought some second hand calipers that I've been refurbing and I've got a problem/question? One of the pistons went in quite easily into one of the calipers but I can't for the life of me get the other piston into the other caliper.. I've taken out all seals and rings - no luck tried the hot and cold method (cold piston, hot caliper (cold shrinks, hot expands)) - no luck greased the piston up with caliper grease - no luck I'm thinking that maybe I've mixed up the pistons and the one that went in (easier than expected) is for the other caliper... but that shouldn't matter should it? The part numbers are out by 1 on realoem but have been speaking to BMW and that's supposed to indicate what side they go on (odd: left, even: right) Are the pistons different sizes? Going to have to shoot out the fitted piston (can't get it out by hand) tonight and try change em. But if anyone could weigh in in the meantime that'd be great. Thanks.

Hey y'all. I bought two front caliper repair kits off pelicanparts (the seal kit) in case my second hand calipers that I recently purchased were dodgy... The seals are all in perfect condition, including the pistons (you have no idea how stoked I am, car's been stuck on the side of the road for weeks), so yup the repair kits are good to go. Part number is; 34-11-1-153-202-M4 Just want to recoup some of the money I spent on them, like $30 a piece - cost $65each from a BMW dealer.. Fits most E46 calipers. Hit me up if you're keen.

Looking for a cheap place to get my brake rotors inspected n machined in Wellington.. have been quoted about $40 a pop at one place, is that a decent price - was expecting like half that? If you know any places or ppl please let me know!

Anyway to find out what part of the calliper ain't working properly? If it's just the seals then a repair kit will do. If it's the piston then I'll have to get a new calliper or rebuilt calliper.. Thanks

Hey guys, got a bit of a problem with my Beamer.. For the last couple of months I've had a bit of trouble with breaking at high speeds (80+) my steering wheel has been wobbling like crazy. Ive taken it into mag n turbo who suggested I need new disc brakes n rotors, and put it through a WOF at a BMW place two weeks ago n it passed with flying colors - although was told I'd prob need to get my brakes looked at by the next WOF.. Was driving up to Foxton this weekend to meet and grab a steering wheel airbag n interior stuff off a fellow bimmersport member Allan, for my new steering wheel from M-Sport o.O on the way up I started getting the wobbles real badly even when I was just driving at high speeds and everyone in the car could feel it - a few pushes of the brakes fixed it up n it reduced to a small constant shudder but we made it to Foxton in one piece (still with the wobbles at braking at high speeds). Allan while I was up there took off my wheel n checked it out - He was able to push the piston back with the screwdriver n rotor moved freely. When we reapplied the brake momentarily the piston once again wouldn't release n had to pry it back with the screwdriver.. Getting a lot of brake dust on my front right wheel and the shudder seems more constant and aggressive tan it was before. Any suggestions as to what's going wrong, do I need a new calliper? Is there anything I can do to fix it up? Just passed my WOF last week so a bit weird I've "broken down" so soon Thanks, Sam Flatmate stole my laptop charger so writing this on an iPad so sorry if it reads bad as.

Mean as, what sort of paint did you use, just a standard matt black? Hoping mine will look just as good!

Sounds like the consensus is, matt black looks pretty decent. (Sorry I need to put notifications on for my threads/posts) I found this cheap pair on Ebay for $25 AUD so might give that a go. This way if they don't look that good I can always return them to standard - and if I ever decide to sell, I can revert back.. Off topic, but what do people think about those aftermarket screw on pedals?

Friend at Jeff Grey BMW said they don't do black grills for the year of my car so I will have to go aftermarket. She did say however I could get chrome surrounds with black flutes (the vertical bits)... That could potentially look quite cool? Might go with the silver/black look I'm going for too. Agree re the spray painting/wrapping - I think my best bet is to source some plastic ones locally. Although the two toned grills are intriguing - I didn't even know they were too separate bits. If I get a pair of black ones I can two tone both of them and see which one looks better, or just use the full black.

Should I fork out the big money and get some factory produced ones i.e.; http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-...n-505761611.htm Or I found these which seem to be painted plastic ones for $40USD; They also do other colours; http://sv-concepts.com/3-series/e46-1999-2...he-bmw-e46.html Or could I just spray paint them myself? If anyone has had any experience in replacing their OEM grills with black ones please let me know. Car is silver with black exterior trim, and got a two tone black and grey interior trim in progress, so reckon she would look mint with some black grills. Thanks, Sam

Hey guys, Have a few pieces from my E46 up for sale. Have been getting rid of some of the grey stuff out of my beamer and replacing it with black stuff two tone is looking pretty good so far. Check out my trademe user account page; http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Listings.aspx?member=591692 Items I've got up for grabs are; Complete set of seats - grey fabric coloured, non-electric, non-foldown, no tears, no rips, full set of seats. Front seats have the item holding rope things on the back, and back seats have the pulldown arm rest. Door card inserts x4 - grey fabric, perfect condition, no rips, no stains Three sets of speaker covers, front (black and grey) and back (grey) Handbreak cover Will have all the trim up for sale too - but currently all still in my car hah Trying to recoup some of the costs for buying all the replacement stuff As I've said in the title, more than happy to discuss a lower price than what is shown on TradeMe. Let me know if you're interested in any of the items. Sam

Awesome, that would be great. Yeah, like; Got a manual myself so reckon we might have a winner Can you post pics of pieces? How much were you after? Got myself one sorted through trademe (although purchasing outside) for $80/$90, but just wondered if I could get it cheaper (bit of a cheapskate, espescially when I'll be doing a lot of work to restore them). Let me know.

As the topic heading says, I am after a full set of interior trim for an E46 323i 2000 sedan (AW82943) in a used condition. Used as in I don't mind if there are any cosmetic scratches on them, but I don't want any dented, chipped or broken pieces... Currently have grey/silver interior trim in my car and have been reading up on how to re-paint the interior trim (using primer, spray-paint, laquer etc.) to black and was hoping to score a cheap set to give this a go on! Let me know. Thanks, Sam

Thanks for your help Hotwire, they were in fact load rated, so I just spliced into the wires of the parking lights, and success. I've left the parking lights in, but I've just removed the power supply to them ~ safest way to store them I reckon. But yeah install was easy enough, thanks again. I tried to take a photo, but she's just too bright now

This is the pic of my inverter of the ccfl angel eyes - looks load rated to me?

Yeah good call hotwire, I was going to take them out anyways I think, just wanted to get them working quickly hah. I'll just dedicate a bit of time over the weekend and do them right. How do I check if my ballasts (inverters?) are load rated? I'm guessing I can just read it off the inverter? Sounds like I want them to be load rated if I'm wanting to be rid of the parking lights anyways. I wouldn't know where to start with loading the circuit to replicate the original bulb lol... Thanks

Will it work if I leave the parking light bulbs in? My knowledge on electrics is not the best..

Awesome. Thanks for the replies guys, might try your suggestions this afternoon. Doesn't sound too complicated

Hi, I have been installing my E46 angel eyes (CE1100018W CCFL rdash.com.tw) that arrived last week this afternoon and I've run into a small issue... I've got them all hooked up into the lights all good, and the wires are coming out the back etc. but I'm a bit lost as to how to hook them up to get them to work... All the DIYs I've seen have trigger wires and relays, but my setup has two inverters with two wires coming off each... (bottom right pic is 1 inverter) My plan was to solder the two positives from each halo set together with 1 wire and the two negatives from each halo set together with 1 wire - giving me 1 negative and 1 positive. Which is fine, but I'd like to wire them up to my parking lights so I don't have them on all the time. All the DIYs have their trigger/accessory wire hooked into the LCM - can I just hook my positive wire to the LCM? I need power; 12V obviously, so will I get anything from this? Do I need to introduce a relay/trigger into my angel eyes circuit to get them hooked up to the parking light? Thanks in advance for any help people can give!!

So... I went to fill my car up yesterday and I didn't have a fuel cap. No idea where it is but it's a bit worrying as I last filled up over 5 weeks ago lol. Probably just left it on top of my car and drove off lol. If anyone has a cheap one I can purchase let me know thanks!

Hmm it's already been done; that's what I took off the pretensioner on my old seats, and put onto my new seats, easy enough. Changing the whole pretensioner sounds like a lot more work - although if it is the only way to solve the problem, guess I'll just have to man up and do it.

Yeah, so I've been told - sorry first car, and haven't even hit my first wof yet so quite ignorant atm hah. I've had a re-look at the seats I bought and the seats that were originally in my car. The seats I bought were out of a '99 sedan whilst my car is an '00; the cables that run from the pretensioner do in fact appear to be different. Will taking the cables off the pretensioners on my old seats and replacing the cables on my new seats with them work, in essence retroffiting them..?