gjm

I appreciate what you're saying, and it's true. Hard to justify a $6k panel and paint job on a daily driver worth $8k, though. I'd like to get the multitude of stone chips sorted on our car (a consequence of driving SH1 every day) but the cost is hard to justify.

That sounds like either something serious needed doing, or someone didn't really want the work.

Check the cooling system has been sorted, and the timing chain sorted. You'll know if it's been done because if it hasn't it rattles. Valve cover and valley gaskets leak, and valve stem seals could well need doing. Nothing serious. Just maintenance stuff. Looks like a really nice car. I always shudder when I see a 'Loaded' sticker int he window, but that's dealer speak for "it's got lots of stuff!"

I suspect anyone who has any in a shed knows what they are and the price attached could be almost as 'exciting....' Always worth asking, though.

Assuming your car is a 6-pot, then this looks to be correct. This kits lowers a M-Sport-kitted car by about 25-30mm at the front and up to 25mm at the rear. Bear in mind you can use different spring pad thicknesses to subtly change the ride height, too. Also looks to be a good price for the H&R springs. However, Eibach springs currently seem to be cheaper... No idea why. I think Eibach p/n E20-20-001-03-22 is correct for the 6-cyl Touring. (You'd need to check specific suitability for your car.) They can be had ex-Europe for about 30% less. I was trying to get a set of the Eibach springs for an E46 M3, but was unable to do so. Availability may be an issue.

That looks to be at least a 40mm drop on a standard E46 ride height. Possibly 65mm. Someone else will know better than I. There's lots of options... At 40mm, there's possibly a question over whether or not dampers should also be changed. Certainly a damper designed to work with a shorter spring will be more effective than a stock damper and shorter spring. Compare BMW stock suspension with Motorsport. My background is in Europe, where suspension means Bilstein, Eibach, H&R, Koni, Spax, Vogtland and others (alphabetical order - not suggesting any preference!) are common, This side of the planet you also have King Springs and doubtless others. These are (believe it or not) the cheap end of the market, but you still get what you pay for. Some manufacturers have shared production facility at one time or another, but this doesn't necessarily mean the products are the same. Aside from the different colour (makes a huge difference, of course) the rates are unlikely to be the same. In my opinion, to do the job properly you want Bilstein or Koni dampers fitted with Eibach, Koni or (possibly) H&R springs. Bilstein don't (as far as I know) manufacture their own springs, and their suspension kits generally include Eibach springs. Koni can provide a complete Koni setup. Economically, the H&R Cup range of suspension kits represent good vfm for road and occasional track use (-40-45mm iirc), and their Cup Sport kits drop the vehicle further (-60mm, iirc). Prices for kits vary depending on source and the kit in question. A Bilstein B12 kit sourced from Europe when on special offer may be cheaper than a H&R Cup kit - it's normally the other way around) - but it is always worth checking locally (NZ) to see what is available.

The new Top Gear trailer - that's the Chris Evans 'vehicle' (LOL) on the BBC - looks to be less of an accident and more of a freeway. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rur6a9QKmi4 Sabine: "Hold tight to your balls, sonny!"

We started an old Merc - 240D - that had sat under a tree for 12 years. Flush the fuel lines, new fuel, and it fired 3rd or 4th turn. Diesels can be nice like that. I'm not sure how the transponder keys are copied. BMW should have access to the codes for a specific vehicle, something 3rd parties may not have, but Lockmasters claim they can 'create' a key for you on site: "If you've got a late model car, chances are that the key has a computer chip in it called a transponder. You may think you need to see a car dealership to order one of these specialised keys but the truth is, often they get them from us. We can create transponder keys directly from our mobile locksmith vans which means you can receive your key right when you need it most and don't have to wait for an overseas order." Give them, or a similar company, a call. Battery - borrow one to see if the car will start.

Changed the oil and oil filter. Again.

Don't worry about the kms. It's a good price for a well-specced E46 Touring. Oil level check sensor is an easy and cheap fix. The rest... There's very, very few 10+ year old cars that don't have minor cosmetic issues. Check the service history. If it looks good, buy it.

My thoughts, too. Having got this far and only being a cert short of all done, I wonder why it's for sale?

Looks and reads as a really nice car. Ticks a lot of boxes.

Silver 2007 530i saloon, travelling along Hingaia Road to the SH1 on ramp rego JTExxx (I know what the numbers are!) Nice car - pity about the driving. All those things 'other people' say about BMW drivers - this one is why. No indicators, impatient, cutting up other drivers to get into a lane, forcing other drivers to move or brake hard to avoid a collision. If you're on here, you should be ashamed. And please - don't do it to me again. I nearly did something I would now be regretting, regardless of whether I was justified or not. Be grateful I was at least awake (unlike so many at that time of morning) or you would have had a blue touring buried in your passenger door following one particularly ill-advised, un-indicated manoeuvre in moving traffic.

I had assistance, but yes - they're here, now.

The stock ones are said to protect against impact at up to 4km/h. parking knock-type stuff. There's no doubt the ones on the car have been messed with. Pretty appalling, to be honest, and sadly not he sort of thing you ever know about unless (like me!) you pull things to pieces. Most people would only find out when they were rear-ended. Edit: The same part number appears common across many E46 models and bodystyles.

There's still protection, but the mount are held by two bolts each side instead of three. Terrible way to force something to fit, imho, especially given the towbar that was fitted (and removed before we got the car!) was allegedly custom made.

Surely a WoF should pick that up? At least, I'd hope so!!

Ta ever so much.

For those who struggle with finding an 18mm spanner, a 3/8 BSW or 7/16 BSF works beautifully. That's what I used.

I've updated my project thread, but there's no fixings under the black plastic mouldings (I removed them hoping there would be!) and insufficient room to easily get the torx bolts out. I took the whole lot off as a single lump. <sigh>

I've said a little about attempts to fit a towbar to the 320d. Efforts yesterday evening were, I now know, doomed to failure. For reasons unknown, our car is a teensy bit different to some others. All suggestions received were valid. And more than likely would work on some other Tourings. Not ours, sadly. The only way to remove the bumper on our car is to remove the entire frame and all. It's not possible to get to the bumper mount torx bolts to release them while the bumper is on the car - even if there were holes in the underside of the bumper, the plastic trim holding the reversing sensors obscures access to the bolt heads. And removing that is a no-no... 6 or more plastic push pins, and plastic locking tongues. Most of which you can't see. Just unclipping the four connectors is a bit of a mission. So, I removed lots of in-boot trim. Then, using my 18mm spanners and sockets (everyone has 18mm, right? Check the sets available in Repco and SCA and you'll see why I say that) I loosened the 6 nuts on the back of the bolts securing the bumper mounts to the car. Hmm. actually, only 4 were doing anything... More on that in a bit. Have you tried being under the car holding a spanner on something you can't see while being in the boot holding another spanner or ratchet? Got there in the end. Once the bumper is off the car, things don't look quite right. When the previous towbar was fitted, the bumper mounts were cut, completely removing one of the mounting holes. (See what I mean about only 4 bolts doing anything? I didn't know this until it was off the car.) Pics showing the location of the torx bolts: It looks like you could get to them, but there's only about 40mm between the head and the plastic part of the bumper. Add in being under the car and trying to avoid everything else under there, with a very limited arc to swing a tool through, and it's just not worth the grief. Especially as the mounting bracket has to come off anyway. The towbar itself, as collected from Nathan, complete with bolts, nuts and washers (thanks Nathan. ). The bar bolts through the bumper mounts, and there are four bolts which bolt through the rear vertical wall of the spare wheel well, and two more bolts which bolt through the bottom of the spare wheel well. (Our car did once have a towbar and there are two holes in the bottom of the spare wheel well, but none in the rear vertical wall.) It fits on the car. You can see three of the four mounting points against the rear wall of the spare wheel well. The bolts on the towbar are all a much more usual 19mm head. Unfortunately the mounts to the bottom of the spare wheel well are not only in a different place, but also sit 0.25-0.5" below the well. Possibly the difference between a spare wheel well for a space-saver tyre and one designed to hold a 'proper' wheel? Regardless, that'll need sorting. In the interests of checking things out, I have persuaded the towbar and rear bumper to mate. This shows how the bumper mount sits against the towbar. Now, I could grind back a little more bumper mount, space the towbar off the body, and fit it all up. Or, I could get another couple of bumper mounts and do the job properly. I'm putting it all back together without the towbar. I'll get the bumper mounts. I'm going to need to grind the lip (circled in red) back on the new mounts anyway... When (finally) getting this sorted, I'll mount the towbar on to the mounts and then mount the bumper on to the towbar. Then mount the whole lot as a unit back on to the car. ... but at least I can be happy knowing everything is so much closer to how it really should be. Looking at the bar when fitted on the car, the lateral bar that bolts under the spare wheel well looks as though if it were unpicked, turned over and re-welded, it should fit nicely. Bit of a faff, but again, it means it's done properly. Right. Best get it all back together. Need to have it on the road so I can go to work in the morning! I've marked the holes in the vertical wall of the spare wheel well, so I'll drill (and plug) those now in prep for doing it all again another time. And to think I could have been chatting at Kyu's and enjoying some sunshine and coffee!!

Thanks. I'll have a look when it warms up a bit. It's bleedin' chilly out there right now!

That's the problem. I have plastic push pins where I expected to find screws (fair enough), but there are no holes in the underside of the bumper!

It's the rear bumper removal that didn't go according to plan today. A bit more light tomorrow, and I'm sure I can find where the fixings are. I don't think I have to do this from the inside or remove outside trims - the mountings must be underneath somewhere.

Had a look at fitting a towbar to the Touring. Did the usual thing - look on t'internet to see what is required. Absolutely no use whatsoever. Everyone talks about a couple of holes in the underside of the rear valance through which you insert a T50 and release something. Something? Makes no difference... There are no holes in the underside of the rear valance of our car. Then other stuff happened, and it got too dark to see what I was doing. I'll have another look tomorrow.