Olaf

very happy outcomes. the lads at Page European kindly fitted me in to their pre-xmas rush, found we'd not been tough enough with the upper strut mount bolts. they rattle them down. we used faccy spec on the torque wrench. Took opportunity to have the new steering inner rods installed, it's now aligned, clunk-free, and like a magic carpet... that handles the bends too! here's a few images: Parts Haul - pre-install. Dad Rock Alert: like the U2 song. Elevation? the finished product. "good enough for a couple-a kiwis".

the car gets older and needs *at least* as much maintenance/servicing as it did when new. so to answer your question - yes, it will still need the $200k car level of servicing. but then, you knew that as it aged, it'd need *more* - not less - quality servicing. Toyotas are prolly the only vehicle that can make do with less and continue to function. IMHO. It's a whole shitload of car for thirty k. It's not like buying a two year old Toyota for $30k; it's your new girlfriend who has a champagne and coke habit. she's yours for the price of the quickie vegas wedding, but needs the champagne, coke and leather constantly.

I like the look of the Tite-Reach. pretty handy - esp where you've passed the loosening/tightening stage. I'm very impressed with the Bahco 'Go-Through' socket sets. not a gimmick; really handy!

good point, Darren. The travel insurance benefits of the platinum cards are not to be sneezed at! checking of course that you're covered, not taking CDW and LDW on rental cars saves a bundle; accident just call insurance co, pay the excess, credit card travel insurance sorts it out and refunds you (less their excess). Medical costs - brilliant. I was rear-ended in a rental on one holiday, took the shine off. All sorted out on goldcard credit card travel insurance. Damaged leg on holiday, all sorted by platinum credit card travel insurance. return of rental car to another city, additional flights, medical treatment, x-rays, physio - they were great, and certainly made a difference in a downer situation. I wouldn't travel without it; these benefits are rolled into those (relatively inexpensive) annual fees.

oh, here's the best writeup I found: http://www.crookedriverwriter.com/downloads/E46Springs_Struts.pdf

great to read of your progress, Andy. I really dig this project.

you got that right! we finished at 9.50pm. The wagon trim takes ages to put back together. mine's stock as a stock thing, too. non-motorsport. I too used the strut tower reinforcements as a precaution, in the front - inside the shock tower, from underneath. rears - on top of the shock tower. Used Meyle HD rear bushes. #8 ) yep. The Sachs OEM shocks provide a beaut ride, though I have some 'clonks'. Will need to check it over tomorrow. Surely my rear LCA bushes and endlinks aren't gone again, and are now shown up? Could be back to my independent on Monday; though I've never had to have a business fix issues from my spannering before. Could this spell retirement for my tools? tune in next time...

we got it out with a lever on the lower control arm, pulling it down low enough. strut assemblies done with new spring seats, bump stops, dust boots, dust washer, top bearing. now we start the tie rod end replacements, and get the whole front buttoned back up. It's taken a great deal longer than expected; both of us have done plenty of suspension jobs before. Just got caught out I guess. #; )

hmmm. got ball-joints separated with pickle fork. Thankfully a new pair of steering arms with tie rod ends (Lemforder) on the shelf at my place. Been back to retreive balljoint separator, returning with manual, steering arms, separator... hopefully we'll get this sorted! Can't help thinking there's a trick we're missing here. Olaf

ahhhh. just consulted that on-line Bentley manual - as mine is on the shelf at home, 25kms away! Looks like I need to: Remove tie rod outer end nut. Use BMW special tool 32 3 090 or equivalent to press tie rod end off steering arm. - Remove lower ball joint nut. Use BMW special tool 32 3 090 or equivalent to separate steering arm from control arm.

hi folks I thought this was easy. it should be. I've the e46 elevated, evenly. both sides supported by jack stands. Wheels off. removing front struts. I've removed the sway bar end links. I've removed the 18mm pinchbolts at the bottom. I've removed the three 13mm nuts at the top. ISSUE: I can't seem to drop the control arm down low enough to get the strut out. What am I missing? thanks in advance for your expertise. Olaf

great to hear of progress on your compact, Andy. less of the 'today', though over the last week have been catching up on e46 maintenance. last weekend a decent wash, clay-bar. rain came so no wax. cleaned interior. wednesday, washed, dried, waxed. all meguiars product. removed racks from roof. yesterday, new AC compressor and receiver drier, rear sway bar bushes and end links (thanks Page European!). Cool air again, the old compressor was pooched. luxury! Rear end now happy to follow front again. Today I'm off to install new struts (Sachs OEM), strut bearings, bump stops, spring pads, dust boots, fasteners, and sway bar bushes; rear shocks (Sachs OEM), bump stops, dust pads, fasteners. Another episode of 'middle-aged grey-haired bastards on driveway with tools' to start at 0800 #8 )

awesome. that'll put the proctologist out of business. $3-5k for a colonoscopy? Nahhh bro, got my android smartphone and one of these endoscope thingies eh. good curry the night before for a 'cleanout', half-bottle of JD for the relaxation, all good. My mates have promised not to post pics on facebook with this thing hangin' out my arse...

yep. they don't call 'em "French Fords" for nothing. The Peugeots are usually okay to drive (in that Gallic non-BMW way), but christ they're self-lightening! Bit's falling off and failing... no thanks. If you want that experience, you can get the same thing with genuine flair in an Alfa. I'll get me coat...

water? it's LA, barely rain, dry as a bone. perhaps he suffered an errr emission entering the corner and lost traction... with his seat? #; ) yep. complete talent evacuation sufferred before he entered that corner.

True Rewards on Platinum works out well enough. Channel basically all your monthly expenditure through it, clear the balance every month. Before you know it, you have a bag of sand to spend. Noel Leeming are good, you can use your TR cards there *and *collect flybuys for your expenditure. Bought my daughter an iPad Air 2 64 for school, she's happy, didn't hurt my back pocket; result. Still, I think the reward rates are better with some of the new platinum air points cards (lower threshold for a dollar reward than ASB Platinum). Must get around to changing. ASB service has been dropping over last few years.

Probably they have experience on the japanese iron, coming up through they standard japanese drift cars; don't understand BMWs. I thought it interesting; all that work and no strut brace?

big grin.

some years back I had safely driven my family back from a holiday in Auckland. We'd had an excellent run down, leaving a wet Auckland early - may have been ANZAC day? Got all the way to a warm, sunny and dry Porirua without incident, though on straight 3-lane piece of road I encountered an old Hilman Avenger Wagon, tail well-down (overloaded) towing a weaving trailer with bald tyres... doing 100-105. I know this, as I was following him in the second lane travelling behind him. I indicated right, moved into the 3rd (outside lane), and pased him doing 114 ( I know this, as it was police verified). I was nabbed by a policeman with laser gun sitting at the end of the straight, and motioned to pull over. We had a cordial discussion. I offered that I had no issue about the speed he'd clocked me at, and accepted he would give me a ticket. We talked about my journey down from Auckland; he was interested in what time I'd left and did the mental calculation on how long it had taken me and satisfied himself that I'd had a reasonable trip. I said "I have a question for you, officer. in my well-maintained Maxima, why did you choose me, driving 14km/h over the speed limit, rather than the driver next to me with the dangerously laden car weaving and towing a trailer with bald tyres, exceeding his speed limit by 25km/h?" His was the stock answer: "you can't know how fast he was going, yours is an estimate only". I replied "yes I do - I followed him for nearly a kilometre before deciding to pass, in order to avoid the road hazard he presented; our speeds were matched. Now, please, can you help me understand why did you choose to pull the driver presenting the lesser hazard to other road users? I'm not arguing the ticket; I'd really like to understand." "Well, the laser gun has a narrow lens. I focus on the outside lane to catch the greatest speed" "Ahhh, so you're focussed on the number plates of the cars in the outside lane?" "Yes" "and you didn't see the orange Avenger on the inside lane, because while you're hunting speeders and looking through that laser gun you're focussed on one lane only?" "that's right." "Well, thank you for your honesty officer, have a good one." "you too sir, travel safely" As I said, it was a cordial, and indeed respectful conversation. Clearly this passive road policing by sitting "catching speeders at the end of lanes" contributes nothing to road safety. As I mentioned, I had no issue with a ticket for 14km/h over; it was what I was doing. It was the indiscriminate and non-sensical nature of the "policing" in this instance that underscored to me that they "have it wrong".

Hmm - it's his toyshop, his money, and they're paid minions! To channel Ricky Bobby, If I had to finance, lead, and manage that risk that and one of my minions suggested I was clipping the ticket and the glory, I'd show them the door and recommend they contact a bank and a realtor, go set up their own! Or give them the contact details of the local Socialist party; "it's not a collective buddy, it's my company". "Praise the infant baby jesus". On the other hand, it is television, and "reality television", at that.

outstanding. Is there to be television coverage anywhere?

yes. although one wonders why he did not QA the original job before it went out, and kick his worker up the arse and get it remedied before the job was "signed off" in the first place. still, good outcomes, and cheerfully remedied - excellent.

oh sh*t. somebody's 'wrong' on the internet... #; ) yep, they wanted it auto. might have had two legs and one arm! or just hated manual. who cares, hopefully they enjoyed driving. And chose an M3 as their selected tool.

what would Bruce Dickinson drive? #8 )

you were joking about the heater, right?! safety item for winter driving in NZ. cool project, Graham. Is your daughter pitching in?