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Great progress! I love the colour choice for the rocker covers.

Yes, definitely get the correct coolant, as the non bmw stuff can damage the bmw aluminium parts. And definitely get a pressure test on the cooling system to find the leak. We can help you source parts when you find the leak.

Wow, you have done alot of work to this and it looks great. Sad that you went through all this and didn't use a 330i engine, as BMW didnt make a e46ti with either the 328 or 330 engine. Still a great looking car though.

What a stunning car. I wonder how those little brakes will go with that heavy, powerful engine.

That is nuts

I haven't personally, but everyone I spoke to about a cert recommended him over everyone else.

Thanks Graeme for your kind words. To be honest its been hard to keep motivated sometimes, especially in winter as I don't have a garage or any cover. When I make a mistake or encounter a problem I tend to get discouraged, and the low budget slows things down too. But when I finish a section that I'm happy with its all worth it.

UPDATE Here are some more photos that show more detail. Firstly the powerflex control arm bushings pressed into the lollypops. Here is an image that shows one of the control arms mid polish. I taped one side so you can see the difference. Steering rack cleaned up and painted (even the metal lines). This is before the boots were replaced. Anyway, the front 330i spindles were sandblasted, painted and installed and I started fitting the front coilovers. This is the other side with the springs and sway bar links installed. Here is the old sway bar link next to the new one. Quite the size difference. I got xyz adjustable camber mounts from a friend, but the colour just wouldn't work with the clean, minimal look I'm going for, so I stripped and painted them in satin black. These were installed, but not before the strut tower strengthening plates. Most people just sit the plates in loose, but I siliconed them in so it will be easier in the future should I need to remove the coilovers for any reason. Then the 330i discs and reconditioned calipers were installed. The discs were just sprayed with a rattle can to resist rust, but I will remove the paint from the contact patch before the car is moved for the first time so the brake pads don't get compromised. The calipers were sandblasted and powder coated, and then had all new seals, boots, bleed screws etc installed. I got some goodies from garagistic. Really excellent quality at a reasonable price. The brake lines are Teflon, wrapped with a stainless steel braid and stainless fittings. They are burst tested to 6000 psi and have a lifetime warranty. They really add the finishing touch to the strut. I got e46 m3 front and rear swaybars secondhand for a good price, and these were prepped, painted and installed with new rubber bushings. The m3 bars are 26mm front and 21.5mm rear, compared to my old msport ones which were 23.5mm front and 18mm rear. I used my Christmas money to give the steering rack new inner and outer tie rods and new boots, and can be seen here attached to the 330i spindles. Fronts are all done now, so now I just have to finish off the rears. I'm really happy how its coming together.

UPDATE Progress has been slow, mostly due to finances but slow and steady wins the race. Engine bay was smoothed with a bunch of unneeded brackets and metal removed. A bunch of sanding, then its high build primer and more sanding Then its time for bmw black sapphire metallic followed by clear. Thanks go to @325_driver for a good deal on his leftover paint. With the engine bay ready to receive some parts it was time to work on the front crossmember. The stock crossmember has a bit of a weak spot where the engine mounts afix so I wanted to strengthen that. Here is the crossmember upside down - I cut some 2mm sheet steel to fit inside the two 'pockets'. These were then welded in and other pieces were cut to fit on top And then these are welded in too (above picture of the left side, below picture of the right side). Then it has a hole drilled in it so a socket can still be inserted to bolt up the engine mount. Then undercoated in zinc primer ready for topcoat. For those interested here is the comparison of the e46 crossmember with the e39 v8 crossmember. It was then painted with the same paint I used on the engine bay, and then installed along with the steering rack which was painted in satin black to match the powder-coated suspension parts. New msport control arms were purchased and I spent quite some time polishing them. They were then clear coated so the polish doesn't fade and partnered with new lollypops which I also polished and clear coated, and some alloy and polyurethane powerflex bushings.

Was it $500 in tow fees!

Can you swap wheels or is that considered insurance fraud?

Wow those brakes are so much bigger than the old ones

Yea I want more than 255 on the rear - I want as big as possible without rubbing as traction is important with so much torque. I'm hoping to fit at least 275's without rubbing.

Yea but the offset is not right for me as they stick out too far which limits the size of tyre I can go to on the back of a lowered car. For my V8 wagon I want the widest tyre I can fit under the arch.

How did the painted rocker covers come up? They are tricky because the surface is not smooth - I've been trying to think what finish to go with mine.

I wish those rs had a better offset for the e46 as they look so nice

Is it a manufacturing fault, do you think? Has this brand or other brands been known to do this under just trackday pressure?

That is really scary, and could have written the car off or severely injured the driver or both. I wonder how common that is?

Ahh cool. Economists are predicting the dollar will continue to drop and be even lower at the end of the year.

The bubble wont burst - the economy will just continue to slow. Its not like how the GFC effected the US housing market in 2008.

Graham, that is wrong. The incorrect coolant damages the aluminium parts it comes in contact with. Always use the blue bmw stuff.

Nice work. Is it just the photo, or does the old engine oil look dodgy?

I was wondering the same thing.

All you have to do is video a dyno run and just pan over to show the readout on the dyno screen. Make sure you show air fuel ratios as well. Its so simple to do that you have to question why you haven't done it yet.

Great to see this project up and going again.