gjm

Not really. Our car has done 100,000 more, and in 15 years less. Brent's car has been quite a bit further still. Only concern for me is the lack of rego... And how long has it been sitting?

This is pretty much what I thought. And this is where a tester is prepared to differentiate between a safe and roadworthy car, and one which complies with the letter of the testing manual. Thanks guys.

Not for the E46!!! I was having a chat with a guy earlier today who had a very nice-looking E36 coupe. He was picking up some bits'n'pieces before heading home to fit angel eyes and black-tinted indicator lenses. Got me thinking... Are these actually legal for a WoF? The black lenses show orange when the indicators are used, of course.

My experience with glass-fitting companies in the UK is similar. Typically, the larger ("we've got all the glass for everyone") companies have aftermarket, non-genuine, or second glass which they will fit. They'll tell you anything to get the business - "this car didn't come with a top tint as standard, so we can't fit a top tint" is typical. The staff are good and friendly, and often know the limitations they are working under. They'd like to do better, but head office economics mean they don't get the opportunity. Insurance companies don't help as they are looking for the cheapest solution, and that won't be genuine glass from the manufacturer.

I confess - I like the 73s. I feel they are classy. The ACS IIs are great, but perhaps just a teensy bit (and it is the teensiest tiniest bit) boy racer. If the 73s were 8, or even 7.5 wide, with a touch more offset, then there would be absolutely no contest. That'd be something like a Style 160, then. Except an 8x17 et34 may be getting a bit marginal and perhaps could rub, especially on the front? It's only 4mm different to the ACS rims, but it is more offset. (We've not had any issues at all with the ACS rims fitted.)

Your Dad will be one of those people who manages to go downhill. Everywhere.

^ Damn. That's more expensive! Lol This was something that had occurred to me but the seemingly correct bounce characteristics took my eye off the shocks. It is a relatively recent slight 'settling' on one side, and after 440000km (most on the same NZ roads) replacing suspension probably isn't unreasonable. I was also thinking about spring pads yesterday evening. Mercedes have a fairly wide range of these and I was wondering if BMW did the same. Thanks.

I've written off the idea of fitting M3 bouncy bits to a non-M3... As far as I can tell, it cold work, but it's too uncertain to take the chance. The next best option, from my perspective and to ensure I don't buy old and knackered kit, is to look at something like the H&R Touring kit. The shocks on our E46 look fine and bounce correctly, so it is likely that the springs have become 'tired'. The economic option is to buy a set of the H&R springs which will give a 35/20mm front/rear drop in ride height. The stock shocks should be able to cope with that, and I'll change them later. What I was hoping to find out is the 'look' this will give (I've not found found any pictures that help) and comparing to M-sport kit seemed an alternative place to start.

OK... Scrap that. Anyone know the difference in ride height between stock E46 suspension and M-spec?

M3 rear discs are 328x20.

There is some appallingly poor construction in some air filters, as in some oil filters. Good ones may not make any difference in terms of power, but they certainly will make a difference when it comes to reliability.

I thought all E24 M635CSis came with a manual gearbox...? Surely this is not an M635CSi and 'just' a 635CSi? Certainly RealOEM seems to think so.

I've (currently) got ACS Type IIs on our E46. 17x8 et39, and they sit well out in the arches, but with no rubbing. Add another 0.5" rim width, and poke them out the side of the car by an inch due to the lower offset, and I think you could find yourself with rims that stick out of the side of the car a bit. Nice rims, though. If you have the opportunity, pop a couple on the car and have a look.

When I was in the UK, there was a concept of 'future classic'. No idea if that could apply here, but some brokers will work harder for you than others.

Right - time for a quick update. Our car is now running on brand new Hankook 215/45-17 rubber, fitted to the ACS Type II rims. This may not last... The long version follows. We'd be running around on the original 16" Style 45 rims wearing 205/55-16 Michelin rubber. Alls well, but there had been a slight 'bumpiness' to the ride of late. Nothing significant or serious, and quite possibly could have been put down to road surface conditions. However, when collecting Miss M from school one day, a (rather attractive ) young lady came to the car, leant over in the way that only young ladies can, and said... "Your nearside rear tyre looks a little flat." D'oh. Pulled over, looked, and the tyre was completely and utterly unusable. Torn ends of wire belt were showing. The tyre was visibly lumpy. I've never, ever seen anything so bad (on my cars). Frankly, I'm ashamed that it got to this state. I regularly check tyres and pressures. (I'll post some pics another time.) So, on with the (spacesaver) spare and a very relaxed, 80km/h max, trip home. Once home, I had the option of fitting the Style 73s with known knackered tyres. or... Fit the ACS Type IIs (which were sold to another forum member, and awaiting collection) with good (6-7mm tread) tyres. What would you do? I went with option 2, the ACS rims. Following morning, I had to take Miss M into school. Mrs M was with us, so family in the car. And... That lumpy, bumpy feeling reared it's head again. Must be the road? But this is worse... Suspension issues? Driveshafts? Bearings? It was bad enough that we stopped in Drury and visited a well-know tyre supplier there. All 4 tyres were completely f*cked. I'd bought the wheels in good faith, believing them to all be good. Looks like they were anything but, and that the previous owners had either parked them flat for a long period of time, or they had been run on very low pressure for a long time. In my opinion, unusable. So, with no option, I bought 4 new 215/45-17s. Not a planned expense, but necessary. Essential. Well, they look pretty and they ride well. But it left me with a problem - I had agreed a price for the ACS rims, with (I thought) good tyres and now had nearly 3x the sale value sunk into the wheels. And this is why I've not written this up sooner - I had to discuss the situation with my buyer first. The saving grace in this is that I would so very, very much prefer to find myself in a situation where the tyres are bad than have a buyer come back to me later with that problem. A moral victory, if a complete financial failure. My buyer has been a star. His 'these things happen attitude' made me feel a little better. I offered him a full refund of his deposit (goes without saying), or one of a selection of alternatives: A (reluctant on my part) suggestion he could pay more and get the rims as they are with brand new tyres (and receipt) I'll swap the tyres to the Style 73s, and sell the rims as a rim-only. The Style 73s, with the (in my opinion) tyres that should be changed Style 73s, rim only Or the original 16s - 3 good tyres, and one completely stuffed one. In the meantime I asked the question of suitability of 215/45s on a 7" rim. I've run these before and felt ehy were a little vague in steering: 205/50s may have provided a better solution. However, the Hankook 215s on an 8" rim show a decided inward slope to the tyre shoulder, suggesting the Hankook design may suit a narrower rim. So... Decision time. I'll get another 16" tyre to suit the original rims regardless, so we have a 'spare' set of wheels that can be used. I think I sort the Style 73s, swap the tyres on to them, and move the ACS rims on. If I keep the ACS rims I'll want to restore them - not refurbish. They still have the AC Schnitzer logos on one spoke, something that will be lost (forever!) if the rims are refurbished. The logos are NLA, but I guess something could be sorted as a one-off. This would return us to the (almost) Alpina-look Style 73s, which I confess I quite like. But cleaning them is a b!tch! (I know - no update on the hedgehog replacement. another time.)

Another oil change. A good run out over the long weekend saw a new 'best' for fuel economy - 700 miles (1120km) on less than 60 litres of fuel. That's very nearly 19km per litre, or a touch over 5 litres per 100km. There's plenty of cars around that can better this, but we're happy.

Bought a cup holder from Slammed E46. It's the little things, y'know?

Big money, but helluva car. I had one, back in the UK - Graphite paint (not black! ). Fabulous car. Horribly expensive for suspension and brake parts. Had a ride in a Dinan M6 while visiting the US - it was like someone had just taken the M635CSi to a whole new level, several rungs up.

A 2001 Touring advertised at 16.5k... I wonder what a 2002 Touring might be worth? (Even if it has covered 7x as many kms... )

I didn't see it all. I did see what looked to my unqualified eye to be some good cricket. I can't help feeling NZ lost when Brendan McCullum's wicket fell. That must have been inspiring for the Aussies, and demoralising for the Kiwis. No matter what your sports psychologist says, that must have hurt, and would have presented a huge hill for the Kiwis to climb. I know it has been said in the press, but the way the Kiwis presented themselves as sportsmen stood out. Jolly good show, chaps! The Aussies? Scumbags. Some of them, anyway. The way some of the Kiwis were treated showed a lack of sportsmanship more commonly found in rough'n'tumble Sunday league football, not in a cricket world cup final.

"Starc’s in-swinging yorker to castle him was just a delight." Please could someone translate? I like watching a good game even if I don't play, but I don't even understand this!

Subtitles.

I hear tell of a new program which will air on Sky, called 'Top Speed'... Anyone care to guess who the three presenters will be?

Errmm... No thanks. 420hp from a standard 4.0?

And http://www.scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk/GEAR-Guy-Martin-favourite-ahead-Chris-Evans/story-26242089-detail/story.html I said it first!