zero

Thanks, yours looks good too. I really need to take a better pic when my car is clean.

Yup, thats me.

Thanks - It came with the car as a freebie It was completely munted, almost completely in two separate pieces as the previous female owner kept hitting it into the kerb when she parked. I spent a long time repairing it - I have photos if you want. They were going to throw it away but I managed to nab it. You can buy replicas on trade me for cheap.

In your third pic down you have a hi level to low level converter. This enables an amp to be used that doesnt have hi level inputs (most dont). Follow the rca lead on the end (the black wire with the red and white plugs) to see what is on the other end of it. Report back.

Nice car. Personally I'd only change a few minor cosmetics; Change tail lights. Debadge. Smaller wheel spacers. Clear indicator lenses. The engine bay looks awesome.

What is the best solution if you are a dick like me and didnt tape up your trim and now is all faded?

Did you use masking tape on the black plastic trim? Thats a good idea - I wish I had done that before I wrecked mine.

Ignition coil like the one below; http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=CA02&mospid=47437&btnr=12_0575&hg=12&fg=05 Pulled from a working e36 318i. $40 I live in south Auckland.

Sorry Amber. Will you be doing anything with the front cats? Its highly likely they will be blocked.

Its a bit of work but by far the best result is to cut a hole with a holesaw in the door itself. Then make up a spacer out of mdf or similar and attatch the speaker to it. That way the speaker is mounted directly to the door, and not to the stupid cardboard door card. It improves the sound in another way as well by using the door cavity as a speaker box. The door card is untouched and simply goes on as normal. There are some real nice ones built in this thread; http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/build-logs-project-install-gallery/60419-bmw-e46-cd-focal.html

If you have as many Km's as that your cats will be blocked for sure. Cheap fix is gut the cat and reinstall (sounds better than a straight pipe imo). More expensive fix is replace cat with an aftermarket one which gives you more control over the sound. Its up to you what your budget is. Personally I think replacing or gutting your front cats would be beneficial because of age as they are bound to be restrictive.

Hey Amber - how many kms on your car? Mine had about 120k when I did the cat. I cut it out and it was completely blocked. I simply removed the internals with a hammer and chisel and got it welded back in. A little louder exhaust note, and a tiny bit more power (my main car is only a 4 cylinder). I think you have a m54 engine? If so you should have cats in the exhaust manifold, and a cat midway down the length of the car. The cat halfway down the car can be gutted or replaced without effecting the sensors. The ones in the exhaust manifold require some mucking around to get the sensors working properly. I plan to do this on my second car which is a m54.

That is what I run in my n46 motor. Every 6 months or so repco has a special on them for $50, and its a good time to stockpile it then.

Wat is the price?

Want to buy a cheap second hand coil to use for a diagnosis. Must work properly. Bmw part number is 12131712219 I live in south Auckland so local suits me better. Thanks, Nathan

Anyone?

Anyone know if you can get aftermarket/performance valve stem seals for the bmw motors? The bmw supplied ones seem to be inferior and fail prematurely on the N series motors. If I'm gonna do valve seals, I dont wanna do them again in another 50k.

Yea, should be a huge improvement over the terrible stock system. There are a few diys on the net of guys doing the hole in the door mod on the e46 with great success. You make up a large spacer out of mdf or similar and that mounts to the door, and the speaker mounts to the spacer. It looks completely stock as the doorcard remains unchanged and just sits over the top as normal. On the two door part of the window mechanism is behind that hole, so once you are through the sheetmetal stop straight away. The other thing I would suggest if you havnt done it already would be sound deadener in the front doors. IMO both things are worth doing considering the speakers you are using.

Neal, have you consider holesawing a hole in the front doors behind your speakers so they can breath? An added benifit is the speakers can then be mounted to the actual door, instead of the door card as this is far from ideal. Nice fabrication and workmanship btw.

Great looking car, and awesome to see another e46 wagon. Have you thought about painting the plastic grill below the front license plate black? These fade, and are real easy to remove, paint, and put back in. Another sugestion would be to cut the bottom off the license plate holder. I've done both on mine; BEFORE AFTER Next time I'll wash the car before I take photos.

Yea, get rid of it before you get attached to it. Mine has leaked in many places and after fixing all the leaks we discovered the valve guide seals were toast and thats a $1600 - $2000 job on these motors. Have u got any smoke out the exhaust if you let it idle for 5 minutes and then rev it hard?

I use degreaser and a hose to clean my engines. Sometimes it needs to be done twice but almost never requires any scrubbing. Just keep away from the cat sensors (although you may not have any on your e36).

Ive always gone ngk on my beemers, as some have reported problems with the bosch. The Bkr6equp is an excellent plug, and is very long lasting. It is the one I buy for my 6cyl.

Thanks Glenn, I will give you a call tommorrow.

Nice. What bodykit is it?