central3

Shame - but then again diesel

Makes me want one

Lifted the M3 by 11mm (rear) and 15mm (front) as "life in the weeds" was not good. Enabled putting the rear spacers (9mm) back on. Liking the new stance. About to order some "eye and lenses" and a Dice.

Your seats look pretty good Brent but if there are any defects that you want to touch up I have some product you can have. Refer this

Yah hoo - that looked like fun (the spinner aside) - what is the spec of the car please Brent (link)

Hey steady on - my "hoist" may have been dodgy but I was not wearing socks and sandles whilst doing the job. I would also not have attempted the work with that huge hole in my workshop floor. Additionally I would not have employed a somewhat retarded paperhand (what was wrong with his left hand) and let him loose on my boot with 80 grit. Lastly I would not bother wasting my time on a f****n Audi with lepoard skin f****n seat covers. Enough said

Great looking car - welcome

Good luck - looking forward to seeing the results

Can vouch for this machine - works sweetly - best $350 you will spend

Yes you are right - got mixed up with my videos - this is the 34 - 351 stroked to 508 (?) and injected - the 32 is the nicer machine by far

Well done guys - like a few other comments my daily visit to the site is habitual now and when down I was geting withdrawl syptoms - all good now

Never been convinced by 5 spoke rims on an E46 but these look good - look forward to seeing where you're going with colour (I'm a silver guy but like seeing others have a go)

600 hp

This looks like great fun - wish I have the skills to follow suit - looking forward to the end result

I got it from these guys - They recommended a litre but I could have gotten away with a 250mls pottle. I also brought a cleaner which I didn't need/use.

Rubbed in with a piece of towelling cloth. The product supplier said to use this method and spray the final coat if I thought it was needed. I didn't, the finish was streak free. If this was my car rathere than my daughters I may have made the extra effort.

I know exactly what you mean about the detailing journey - you are either into it or you are not but I find it most satisfying. I agree with the Meguires Tech2, it is a great product. If your paint has a lot of fine tar specs (which most are hard to see but give your paint a rough feel) give it a wipe down with turps after you have cleaned it. The turps won't do any harm and makes a big difference quickly. Wash it again before using the clay bar. Use a glazing compound (as apposed to a cutting compound) and a black foam wheel, you won't take any appreciable amount of clear coat off. I don't know what your seat are like but if the are shiney rather than a nice matt finish then a good clean will sort this. I never use cleaning products for this. I was told by a very experienced upholstry tech that Lux soap flakes are the bees knees and after trying it I have never looked back. If you have scuffed areas then for around $60 you can get a 250mls pottle of colour which can work wonders (see my post in the appearance forum). Many will not want to venture to the underside of their car but if you are brave enough there is lot of fun to be had getting this into good shape. How much did that M5 gear knob set you back Christian? I also like your thinking re the steering wheel upgrade - I might tag along if it all works out for you. Have fun.

IMO the joys of the S54 are well worth the risks involved. To reduce the risk you can inspect the vanos oil pump drive tabs and the cam bolts by removing the cam cover. Doing this enables you to clearly see the tabs and you can also see the ends (but not the heads) of the cam bolts. Given that they generally come loose before any catastrophic failure you can get a high level of comfort from seeing whether all of the bolts are evenly engaged in their camshaft flange drillings. The job only takes 4 or so hours for the average home mechanic – on a scale of 1 to 10 the job difficulty is about a 3. If this isn’t enough for you (it wasn’t for me) you can disassemble the vanos and check the bolts more thoroughly (in my case I removed, inspected, loctited and torqued them). I also crack tested the tabs (refer my post in the maintenance section). To do this you need the camshaft alignment/check tools (plus the crankshaft lock tool) and the BMW TIS. The job difficulty goes up to a 5/6 but only adds an hour to the cam cover off job duration. Beware some of the easier DIY’s on the web as they are just plain wrong in their method. Tools and TIS are the one and only way and it (i.e. the TIS) is not onerous.

Very sorry to hear about this - for the sake of fellow owners do you know what the root cause of the failure was?

My daughters grey leather was looking very used after 260kms so tried the Pelle product. $245 delivered (cleaner, conditioner and 1litre of colour). Pretty happy with the result but the proof will be in how well it lasts. The product is "latex like" and fills cracks and scratches very well but again I don’t know how well it will stand the test of time. I have ¾ of the colour left over so if anyone wants to refurb their grey leather drop me a PM

The driver has ovbviously been around the ring a few times but the car looks well up to it - I'm a convert too

This is Modus operandi for Tom - I am a little ashamed to say that Tom did similar for me but not a weekend - New Years day!!!! Such members make this place pretty special

Been on before but hard not to watch again even if it's just the soundtrack

Got them both on the road - M3 certified, wheel aligned and scanned - 325i reassembled and waxed

That sounds bloody good - you must be chuffed