amdaman

Hi What colour is the car? After the front tow eye cover in blue. Cheers

I'd do the same, and agreed!! Same you're not closer mate, heard the sun might show tomorrow!! Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Haha yep that was indeed me on the way back from work... Had to take a detour to BP ha!

Will check the alarm at the weekend, cheers. Can you recommend a polisher I can get in NZ without having to import one? That exhaust sounds angry!! What's the cabin noise like at cruising speed? Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

yeah i've used plasicx before, it's pretty good! I'm looking around for a machine polisher to take some of the elbow grease out of it! VANOS - I got the modified oil pump disc from Beisian, also got the seal kit from them too. I also got the sprocket bolts and loctite from Dr Vanos. I had a PPI done before the sale and the subframe was fine, no mention of the boot floor either. I can't remember seeing a siren in the engine bay, it has a flashing red light under the rear view mirror though? Where are you loacated central? If you're in Welly come for a blast at the weekend

thanks guys, just got some Kerosene and a spray bottle. I'm going to tackle it at the weekend. I've been half tempted to get them refurbished but wondering who will do it as I believe the finish is polished.

Thanks guys, Might leave the standard lights on for a while longer, they are growing on me. The only issue I'm having is my passenger wing mirror isn't working at all, the heating elements or movement.. Drivers is fine though, are these things separately fused?

Hi, The passenger mirror on my M3 doesn't seem to adjust at all. It doesn't dip in reverse either and I'm pretty sure it's not heating. I'm wondering if they are individually fused as the drivers one is fine. Is there anything else that I could check? Cheers

Cheers will pick something up soon, the radio is awful ha! I've been looking at those rear lights, look decent.. Wonder if anyone else has fitted them on here

Thanks guys, will go to bunnings and spend some quality time with my alloys this weekend!

Jif.. Interesting! You could see the wd40 was trying to do its think but there was simply too much tar!

Hi guys, Cleaned my car the other day and noticed thick tar buildup on the alloys.. Not just dots but heaps of it. Took it to the cleaners and their acidic alloy cleaner didn't touch it. Went and bought some alloy cleaner and wd40 today, hardly made a dent! Is there anything that will dissolve large amounts of this stuff easily?

Thanks Steve, so you reckon grom or denison will do it? What year is yours Dylan? I've been out all day looking for some willing cars on some choice twisty roads.. No one wanted to play

Cheers Blue, looking for any excuse to drive it! I'm not sure if he's a member on here Apt, I bought it off trademe

Ahh ok a storage place would be pretty sweet as I could spend a few hours with it! Apparently it's called suds vehicle wash on seaview road? Would that be at the weekend? Cheers

Hey Tristan - Yeah on the lowest setting though the gear change just seems dim witted and slow, I'll have a play around with the in between settings tomorrow. I mean the tail lights to make it look like 2004+ spec.. I think it would freshen the rear up a bit! Steve I'll get some pics up tomorrow, it looks like the standard business tape deck. There's a 10 cd stacker in the boot though. Thanks Dylan! Which do you recommend between the dice and denison? I saw a cable that simply plugs into the h/u that has an aux input? The alarm sounds like a hassle hiding cables etc? I might just get the parts and let bmw do it! It is nz new though. Thanks - is that visible when the door is open? Cheers

FIAT - thats a very kind offer thanks but wouldn't be fair invading your driveway! Thanks for the suggestions guys, think there's a car grooming place that indeed does open for public use at the weekend Kurt! Could be the one It's only Saturday mornings though which is a shame! Apparently there's a place on seaveiw road lower hutt that I might check out tomorrow. Definitely a good gap in the market!!

So after much deliberation I got bored and just decided to pick a car. I decided to go for the E46 M3 because I always wanted one and I have previously had an S2000 and this seemed like it could be a step up. So the car has FBSH and I got the inspection II put on credit for when I want to use it as part of the deal. I've ordered some VANOS parts to be fitted when it goes in for the inspection (thanks for the help on the previous thread guys). It looks really tidy and minimal marks on the car, the interior is in great condition, even the door handles are unmarked (which seemed to be an issue on most I looked at). I also got the car PPI'd and the subframe was good - few weeping seals though and the passenger mirror isn't working. The SMG pump was done 10k kms ago as well. So onto the car, what I like; - it's quicker than the S2, the engine power and delivery is beautiful! - it gives me a lot more confidence than the S2 did in the bends at high speed - The SMG blips on the downshift are sweet - it's comfortable - I quite like the noise - great brakes What i'd change; - It's not as pin sharp as the S2 was in the steering dept - Kind of missing the gearbox (but who wouldn't coming from the S2 box!) - the exhaust note isn't loud enough for me - the upshifting is harsh - no aux for the radio So i've got a few questions! How do I get aux on this thing or ipod control? I don't know if it has a multichanger but i think i read you can replace it if it does? Did these things come with an alarm as standard? The owner said it didn't? Anyone know what the issue with the passenger mirror might be? It was raining the other day and the drivers mirror was crystal clear but the passenger one wasn't so the heating element and motor doesn't seem to work. Is it difficult to fit OEM LED lights to the E46? Are the aftermarket copies worth a look or not? Are there any common mods / changes people generally do on the E46? Not specifically engine mods but just improvements. Few phone pics;

Hi guys, Might seem like a bit of an odd question but where could I wash my car in Wellington? In the UK there were pressure washers that you could rent for xx mins and you bring your own cleaning products.. Does that exist out here? I live in a city apartment so I can't do it here and it's something I generally enjoy doing. Also is there a resident forum detailer? Cheers

Not sure what service it is going in for as the owner is doing it but it's on 160k. I might ring ahead and find out. Are the cam bolts related to the vanos? From what I've quickly read about the vanos the seals, bolts and the filter can be an issue but other than the filter I can't see how much work is involved in sorting it. All my tools are in the UK, I'd only have basic tools here unfortunately. Have you considered taking on some extra paid work??

Yeah I shouldn't let it bother me should I! I will be saving the whole time it's not broken anyway. So in a couple of months will have enough for the biggest issues it could spit out. A warranty would be nice though haha.

Yeah I'll definitely take it to BMW for the inspections for the stamps if nothing else. I wouldn't mind taking it to a good independent though for part fitting i.e getting worn parts fitted. Tristan, is the preventative fix for the vanos just the bolts or are their other causes too?

That's cool.. I'll ask Jeff Gray when I go and pick it up.. I'm also not sure it has an alarm, apparently they are set up ready for them though. I think I called Page European up a while back to ask them about servicing and they didn't know that an m3 needed valve adjustments as they thought it was hydraulic..

Haha yep will do. From what I've just briefly read it looks very labour intensive, how much are we talking for them to strip it down upwards of 3k? Could be a job for the local resident forum mechanic.. Is that you ?

Good info Tristan, thanks. I will order that bolt tonight. Do you recommend the preventative maintenance for the vanos bolts? From what I can see it's pretty labour intensive?