tonylauno1

I'm more than 2 years late, should check in there more often.

Is the E46 6.5" Speaker Brackets still available? I had no idea these products exist.

8 hours ago, zero said:

It would be interesting to see a pic of a bmw where someone has done this so we can visualize it.

Actually a friend pointed out the answer, here's a pic

F82 M4 GTS has 19"front & 20"rear

8 minutes ago, qube said:

Michelin Pasture Sport 4S on those new John Deere’s I heard. 

I have new 225 Michelin Pilot 4 (not S) on front and half worn 245 GY Eagle D5 on rear. In dry I can accelerate around roundabout and car with rotate, front grip is amazing. I'm sure it will oversteer if I step on it but I haven't tried.

In wet, I can't accelerate too much around corners, get decent speed, front will not lose grip, I have spun when I was testing how much traction I have in wet with no car nor pedestrian in sight in large open space

Would still be interesting to see it on a bmw e36, e39, e46 as the rear has visibly more "body" above wheel arch compared to front.

That Mustang certainly gets the point across, rear wheel looks like 2-3 inches bigger than front and the amount of body directly above wheel arch is very similar so in this case, rear wheel looks much bigger than it needs.

I'll be searching double staggered e30 on Google ?

10 hours ago, qube said:

my mind can only picture this..

LOL now I can't get that out of my mind. That never crossed my mind, haven't seen a tractor since I went to the field days 10 years ago.

11 hours ago, Herbmiester said:

Ok so this is all about how something looks rather than how something performs?

 

Absolutely

Sometimes I put 255 at rear, sometimes 245 depending on which is cheaper, it's been a while since I last had 225. It's oversteer too much, I'm more confident and can push more when it understeers. If I have really crappy tyre at front, I'm happy to put really good 225 tyre at rear.

I do care about how it drives too but whether it's 255 or 225 at rear, I still want the aesthetics side of it 

11 hours ago, Herbmiester said:

Why not just run a wider rear wheel? With a smaller aspect ratio on the rear the setup looks balanced. 

Can run wider rear tyres but it's the look from the side. Wider rear wheels are still the same 17" alloy, sidewall height are still the same. 

To eliminate the wider tyres from being the focus of this thread, let's say

225/45/17 & 255/35/18

Note that 225/45/17 & 255/40/17 OR 225/40/18 & 255/35/18 actually looks the same from the side, they only look different when you view it from the front or back.

The point is the same alloy diameter on rear looks smaller since there's more metal above it, more "body". It's like asking an adult and a child to stand side by side and hold a can of Coke. The can of Coke will look smaller in front of the adult.

Has anyone gone for the bigger alloy at rear look?

ie front 225/45/17 & Rear 225/40/18

Since the rear has much more "body" compared to front, same size alloy makes rear alloy look smaller.

These days, some models have bigger rear wheels which make the car look more proportional from the side view, however their tyre sidewall seems to be about the same which means rear alloy with tyre will have bigger overall diameter. I'm sure everything is calibrated correctly by engineers.

One thing I wonder is, if I go for Front 225/45/17 & Rear 225/40/18, the alloy will look more proportional but I don't know how the smaller rear tyre sidewall will look since I can't increase the sidewall height as I need to keep to the same overall diameter.

Just can't imagine how rear with look with less tyre sidewall, will it look funny? I know if I used 225/45/18 then it will looks better since nothing has changed except for bigger alloy.

E46 coupe Windshield cowl for LHD cars. $100

Does anyone have a LHD e46 coupe?

It had same part number as RHD cars, no differentiation between RHD & LHD so I bought the wrong part. Should have studied the photo.http://www.trademe.co.nz/1226161405

Thanks Glenn.
If you haven't replied, i would have never seen it.
They should make the rules more obvious or have it displayed when someone starts a topic in For Sale.
Anyway, Thank you for pointing it out.

I have had two topics in the For Sale forum deleted on the day it was created.

One of the members had even replied and in both our accounts, there was no trace of that topic or post.

Anyone knows why, it's like someone doesn't want me to use the For Sale forum to sell or maybe someone doesn't want me to sell my left over Fuchs brand oil

I see... still, it can't be legal to advertise it is a later model just because it's registered late, surely?

It doesn't happen often because dealer would register the car themselves and put some kms on it and sell it at a little discount to get it off their yard and get some profit in their pocket but things like this does happen for whatever reason. I'm sure if you ask a dealer, they can come up with many reason why this happens, it's rare but it does happen.

These pre-facelift e92 are manufactured right up to Feb2010, so whether it's made in 2008 or Feb2010, it's still the same car.

If it was registered in 2011 then there maybe some confusion as to whether it's pre-facelift or facelift which bmw calls LCI.

I have seen e36 328i registered in 2000, now e36 328i stopped production in Sept1997. This is a big confusion when advertising the car, but it's not illegal, it is all legal, you advertised the year of the car based on when it was registered, that registered year is on all your legal documents. No one would have thought dealer won't register a vehicle for years.

At the end of the day, yes, these are maintenance items, i should file it under "sunk cost".
It is wrong that the owner of a badly maintained car gets the same replacement value if something happened to their car.

By the way Olaf, i was looking for e92 electric water pump, and the N54 & N55 engine's water pump is electrically driven instead of belt driven so it's not an extra item.

Yes, i would still need to do all the things i did in the e92, however in hindsight the alternative plan might have been replacing only what was broken, and mine e46 wasn't broken yet. so sell e46, rather than spending money, then get a e92 and the plan continues.

Paint does not qualify as an insurance risk, only need to be noted if the original colour has been changed. Any bolt-on additions to a car that are under 2k in value and do not require certification were not a requirement for disclosure, according to AMI when I renewed my policies last month.

Everything else that has been mentioned are maintenance items. However if you're willing to pay a higher premium then I'm sure they'll gladly take your money. Just don't expect to get it back if you ever have to claim

Lots of people use AMI, myself included, they must be cheaper.

I told them about my modifications, they were listed over 2k for most however they didn't care, said all in insured, i should call up and check if they were noted on my file. Just thought about it now, if it's not listed on my file then i'm probably not insured.

exactly what does it mean by insured, if they get stolen i would be replaced with an equal value audio system?

If my car is stolen, they would pay me what the car is worth + audio, wheels etc?

I sold my 1999 328ci for 8500 today. Was a very clean example. Had it insured for 10 k agreed value and had a seperate policy on my wheels for 4 k. I don't know if the insurance company would of paid me as much as I got but like yours mine was very very well maintained

WOW $8500 - give us some details, can we still see the ad on Trademe for details and photo?

$8500 is a lot, never thought it could go for that much.

How much were you paying for the $4k wheels?

I wondered the same thing, would they really pay out $10k.

So what are you going to replace the 328ci with?

I just tell them it's a very well-maintained example, and insure it at the top-end of their range. Going beyond that requires valuations.... and if you put your car as it is now on TradeMe, would it fetch top-market PLUS more for the good parts?

Probably not; file under "sunk cost" and enjoy driving your well-maintained vehicle.

HTH

PS - you'd still have to do the same to an e92! as well as electrical water pump, right?

most of the stuff you have done would be considered maintenance by the insurer, and wouldnt factor into the insured value. The wheels, steering wheel, sounds and paint will have to be declared as they are modifications, and may increase the value of the car (or more likely, the premium due to increase in risk).

I generally just insure the car for a couple of grand more than i paid, and its usually not an issue. If its something special, then it might be worth getting a pro valuation and having that on record.

In my experience, insurers just go off straight book/market value for most cars, giving a set range depending on km of the car (high km will be low end of the scale, low km will be higher end). Ive never had anyone ask me if its been well maintained, just that there are no known issues.

AMI wouldn't insure the car at agreed value, for what I paid for the last car I brought...

It was a prefacelift, in a crossover year, so I had to have it insured for 25% MORE than I paid, if I wanted agreed value

DONE!

It's all based on numbers, and not details, though I've "discussed" values with the local AMI branch manager, and we've come to values suitable to both of us. They know what they can do, and you know what you want. I can't see it working with a call-centre pleb though.

People buying would not appreciate all the good parts, they probably won't know the difference. It would be easier to sell.

I did get a pro valuation, i asked the insurance company who is a pro, they said a car dealer and i got one. So they have insured it for more, even though it's agreed value, i have a feeling if something happens, they could always say the agreed value is way over the top-end of market value therefore we will give you market value only.

Maybe i will visit my local AMI Branch too and have this discussion with them and see how they respond.

As he is a bit vague on "new paint job" i wasnt sure if it was original color or some flashy chameleon paint job or something

State required that i disclosed everything to them that wasnt original, and only when it exceeded 20% of insured value did they "claim" to have an issue with them. Mind you, i did also find out after years of insurance with them and many modified cars, they hadnt been insuring any of the modifications correctly anyway.... so i dont know.

new paint job is the original color, i might have gotten away with a chameleon paint job on a Lamborghini something LP something

i have told insurance company of my modifications then 2 years later they tell me they have no details of my modifications(i was fuming, i thought my car had not been insured if something had happened), lucky i still have the email so showed them then they said it's fine, premium stays the same, they do not need to be declared, i am covered for everything, which contradicts the fine prints.

I really wondered will they pay for replacement e36 M3 alloy wheel?

If you can find another set on Trademe it will be cheap, but if you buy from BMW then it will cost heaps.

2010 is the year it was registered overseas, year of first registered in new country does not change. Even if you import a 25 year old car, the year will remain 1991, you can't advertised it as a 2016.
That car is actually imported into NZ on Jul 2014 and registered in NZ on Dec 2014.

Now that Jan 2008 Germany built car probably took 6 months after it was built to be shipped to Japan then from Jun 2008 to Jul 2010, it sat in the showroom until someone purchased it then it was registered.

I have a 2000 e46 328ci which is only worth around $5k.

The car has new

- bushings everywhere (engine, trans, subframe, diff, rtab, fcab, anti-swaybar + links)
- new cooling system (radiator, all belts & pulleys, waterpump, thermostat + housing, expansion tank, fan clutch)

- new shocks, springs + adjustable front & rear camber

- new transmission oil + filter

- e36 M3 alloy wheels

- motorsport steering-wheel with paddleshift
- upgraded sound system
- new paint job

So lets say the unfortunate happens and insurance company will pay me the $8k i am insured for.

The 328ci replacement that i can buy will be high kms too and i doubt anyone would have done all the bushings & cooling system. It would cost me more than what the insurance company pays me.

My issue is, how do i get insurance company to insure it for more?
Should I be insured for more, or are all these considered maintenance so I should not be insured for more?

I think it's unfair that all the old cars are worth the same, especially when some have gone through and replaced all these parts to make the car drive like new again.

Should a highly maintained car be worth the same as a car that is not being taken care of?

Maybe i have chosen the wrong car to have it maintained this way, it's not a Porsche or a Ferrari, there are certainly many things i could have gone away with.

I never thought about this when i was just paying for these things to be done (the bushing, cooling system & shocks were done over three years), maybe i would be better off to have done minimal maintenance and put the money towards a e92.

I think if you're going to stiffen one part up, any movement / stress is simply going to shift to the next weak link, IE the sheet metal holding the subrame to the chassis

Having dealt with an E36 falling apart at the rear it was plain to see how the sheet metal in various places split from the welds.

My thought on rubber mounts is they would dampen the shock / stress transferred, of course the older they get the harder they become.

I don't know what the new F80s are designed like, but if its anything like the E36-E46 setup that is concerning.

That's very true, when one part is stiffen up, another part is taking more stress, maybe it's the diff bushing?

The F80 M3/4 run solid rear subframe bushings ala the old E92 M3 GTS ... It is simply brilliant for a road car. So I am not sure what all this negativity is about?

The rear subframe floor will tear the same way with rubber or solid bushings, It makes no difference as the torque loading from the differential loading and unloading is verticle and upwards on the front right and downwards on the rear left not side to side. In fact I would wager that the solid bushings will probably place less stress on the verticle torque load as there's no actual verticle movement as you get in the rubber bushings. Force = mass x acceleration.

I think the negativity with solid bushing is from using it on engine mount, transmission mount, differential, front control arm, don't know what affect it has on rear trailing arm.

ok, i see, differential loading and unloading creates more forces on those two corners. Thank you.

Make it solid so you start cracking the subframe, that is always fun.

Turner Motorsport says with solid subframe bushing, you will avoid subframe cracking the chassis, that issue comes from worn rubber bushing.

Oh gosh no, do not use solid bushings for a street car!

And you'll need your subframe reinforced anyway so don't look to bushings to get out of that task. Although I thought the tearing was only an M3 problem?

Subframe tearing has happened across the e46 range, maybe more on M3 as it's more powerful and driven harder?

It's only subframe that i'm thinking of using solid bushing, differential, rear trailing arm, front control arm are still oem bushing, those i would never use solid.

That is the other question, reinforced or not. Do i really need to, it's a lot of work, i doubt my mechanic can weld, need to transport the car to panelbeater to weld those extra plates, cut open a section from the trunk and weld in there as well and the time to prepare it then also painting it.

Currently the mechanic said there is not movement in the subframe bushing, so no need to change it. I was thinking it's a 15year old car now.

For street use I'd advise against solid bushes. Great for the track, but that's about it.

Uprated bushes will transmit more road vibration into the car... Perhaps not enough to matter but that's a personal taste thing.

Poly bushes - yes, but perhaps stay with stock or marginally increased hardness. Poly bushes won't wear as quickly as stock rubber.

have you changed out your subframe bushing? Have you used any Powerflex bushing in any parts of your car?

Have also heard of Powerflex bushing cracking, that's why i'm asking.

I am looking to replace the 3 diff & 4 subframe bushing.

I have been searching for what bushing to use, the 3 diff bushing i will stick with OEM like Lemforder however unsure about the 4 subframe bushing.

Turner Motorsport is saying subframe tearing the chassis is due to movements in worn subframe bushing, i was thinking of replacing them with solid bushing.
There is also the option of Powerflex Black bushing 25% stiffer than the yellow ones for street use.

Has anyone used powerflex or solid bushing for their e46 subframe, and any comments?