E30 325i Rag-Top

Sorry to tell you this mate, but that's not a genuine m-tech wheel, it's just a standard 318i wheel that someone has tried to make look like an m-tech. Sorry for the bad news dude.

Not photos of the actual wheels, but these are what they look like: They are genuine BMW, not replicas or copies and are staggered. I am away for a week from tomorrow, I will post up some actual photos of the wheels and tyres when I get back. Thanks.

Came across a new one today after wiring in the plug for the trailer on the E46 wagon. I think all the information, and the wiring I got with the towbar, were for a pre-facelift while the car is actually facelifted with the different lights. The trailer lights are powered off a set of four relays with the trigger signal coming from the cables for the lights on the back of the car, the 12v supply coming from a fused connection on the battery. All work fine apart from the rear (tail or park?) lights which only flicker and the relay is constantly clicking. At first I thought it was a dodgy relay, swapped the wires onto another and got the same result. It turns out the rear brake and tail light design is a new one on me - whilst there are two bulbs, both come on dim for the tails and then one lights up brighter for the brake, however it is still only a single element bulb. This is done by only a low voltage (3.3v) being supplied for the tail, and then the full 12v for the brake. Which I think is doing two things - 1) the low tail light voltage is not enough to keep the relay open - hence the constant clicking - can I replace this with a lower trigger voltage relay and still swith the 12v? 2) when the tail is on this also raises the voltage of the brake signal wire to 3.3v due to the shared bulb - can this be solved by fitting a diode to stop the cross over? Any thoughts most welcome.

A little word of caution, there are very many types of plastic that bodykits can be made out of, some are very easy to paint and it will stick like whatname to a blanket, other types especially polyurethane are a bitch to paint and need much more work and special primers. It will look ok to start with but start to peel after a short period of time if the wrong paint is used on the wrong plastic. The simplest way to do it is to mount it up on the car the best you can and then use a heat gun to warm the distorted area, then pull it back into shape and hold it there until it cools down with clamps or tape etc.

E46 coupe in Palmy, on big (20"?) dished rims, wearing a "CSL" private plate ?? strange as it was not even a CSL / CS replica?? Looked tidy if that look is your bag.

Had to butcher the lower part of the M-sport rear body kit to get the towbar to fit on properly. The bar was supposed to fit on with a sport kit bit needed quite a bit to be cut out to get it on, was also supposed to fit a wagon but needed some major mods to get it on.

Glad you got it sorted Jack, and also that it was a simple fix that didn't cost you lots to put right. Andy will know what to expect on the pedal feel so that is a good indication. Did you watch the guy while he was doing the bleeding so you could see how it works? I am not having a go, and I realise you are young and inexperienced, but this is one of the standard, simple jobs, that you really need to be able to do for yourself. In the long run it will save you time and money and also give you a better understanding and feel for your car. When you get to be be part of the BMW racing circus there will be lots of old heads about that will give you plenty of help and advice on this type of thing, so don't worry you'll pick it up as you go along.

Ahhh, I see. This is exactly what I get, the digital signal is fine until the Sky box is turned on, then the signal breaks up badly, I guess this is due to "cross-talk" interference from the Sky decoder to the digital TV signal. Unfortunately I found no way of solving this, and in the end I seperated the digital signal from the Sky box so I could watch both at once, but only on certain TVs.I'm not sure if the cores supplied with the TV will work for that kind of interference, maybe try putting them on the out cable from the Sky box? Before buying the other leads, I would talk to the guy in the TV shop as they have probably come across this before.

That wouldn't be ANDYnonymous would it Jack??

Must have been a good Christmas if the shackles have come off the old wallet Stevo! I hope you had a good one. Have you replaced an existing TV with this set, or is this an extra TV in the house? Sounds to me like there is a bit of a problem with how the aerials are running through the house. How have you got them wired should be something like: aerial in to Sky decoder - out to signal splitter - splitter then runs to the various TVs around the house. Check all the aerial connectors are still good, might have dislodged one in the change over?

Been trying to find a PDF version of a workshop or sevice manual for the E46, tried searching here and googling in general, but to no avail. Anyone have a link or know where I can find one to save me opening more spam PDF sites that DONT have what you are searching for... grrrr

Did the bits needed to put the E46 wagon back in for compliance checking: - new front fog light (thanks Mike @ Mosens for the part) - new OE front brake rotors (thanks Matt @ Jeff Grey BMW) Back for re-check today, then rego after Christmas and all on the road an legal - whoop, diesel power!

Dear Santa, if you are wondering what to bring me this year please look at Ray's photos above and choose something from those, I'm not fussed what you pick as it's all good. Thanks, JTP

I got a set of Powerflex ones from Repco, reasonable price, once the manager agreed that the $1095 showing on their system was wrong! And they got them into Palmy overnight from Aucks, so you should be OK for tomorrow morning at the latest? I haven't fitted them yet, so I can't tell you how good / not they are!!

At the current exchange rate, the Welly street race winner on racecarsdirect is going for a shade under quarter of a million NZD. Without full details on either car, this one has to be about the same, possibly slightly less (as near as makes no difference).As this is going to Aussie, I think we as the bimmersport community should have a collection to buy the Wellington car from the Oz-straaaalians and bring it "home", I've got 5 bucks and some change I can throw in to start us off, Ollie can hold the collection Makes the JPS 325i seem a relative bargain at only $145k!!

Please, please, please do that. Knowing conrod and his high standards from the previous M3 this new car is going to be truly something special I can't wait to see and hear it in full flight.

Hmm, an interesting read there, just goes to prove a few things... 1) The internet is NOT the place to get into a slanging match. 2) There are idiots out there who take things too far without thinking where it could end. 3) Those Mercedes owners sure get their knickers in a knot over very little. I'll stick to Beemers and Bimmersport thanks, makes you realise what you've got.

A good question, it would have more value locally due to the Aussie / NZ history. A quick browse found this Group A E30 M3 for comparison.. http://www.racecarsdirect.com/listing/3350...BMW_E30_M3.html What does $185k aussie work out at in Kiwi dollars?

My personal choice? I wouldn't have to think twice about it, the E30 without the slightest shadow of a doubt. How many E90 M3s are built each year? Thousands. How many genuine Group A E30s were built? Less than half a dozen. Value of the E90 M3 in 3 years time? Half the current price. Value in 10 years when there is a new model M3? Next to nothing. Value of the E30? Allowing for general market trends and no further financial melt downs - possibly more than the current price! Driving the M3 on the road (possibly tracking it now and again) - pretty good, but would soon get over it. Racing the E30 in historic events - always an amazing experience! Yes the new M3 is a great car and I would love to have one for a daily, but that E30 is soooo much more than just a car.

That is truly my cup of tea, no real outward signs of the mods, rims and a slightly tell-tale muffler outlet but under the bonnet - wow! I bet he has surprised a few people with that car....

Have a good BDay in the 'Naki mate!

Sorry Foxy, it's in Palmy so I'll get there first...

Exactly, it's a historic race car, just look at those stamps in the log book - Amaroo, Bathurst, Calder Park, that is what you are paying for it's racing history. Yes you can probably buy a faster, better handling more modern race car for less money, but not with that kind of pedigree! I even have a video of a race featuring this very same car, it's worth every last cent I would say, and when my numbers come up on lotto I will be straight around to buy it!

I've got a spare set of rims & tyres and need some cash, just wondering what they might be worth. Full description: Genuine BMW E46 M-Sport 18" Staggered MV2 Alloys + Bridgestone Potenza RE040 Tyres. - Front 18 x 8 ET47 with 225/40/18 - Rear 18 x 8.5 ET50 with 255/35/18 All tyres have very good tread, both rears 8mm and one front, other front has slight wear on inside. Slight curbing on most wheels, one front slightly worse but all straight and true 4 x BMW centre caps in reasonable condition and 4 x M badges present Haven't seen any staggered sets of these for sale, and only a few sets of genuine BMW. They are off a face-lift wagon, but I believe they will fit on a sedan or coupe as well, plus possibly other models. Any ideas?

Not a bad assembly plant, but not the best by a long shot. It seems to be trying to sell the process as something special, but it's underneath all the bling it's no different to any automated line in the world. For the price of the Phaeton I would have thought they would have gone more for a hand-built angle. As getting the customer to build their own car - what a great marketing ploy!!Unfortunately the Phaeton has been a big flop for VW and has cost them a lot of money - wrong car at the wrong time i'm afraid.