Herbmiester

Lets be very clear here, this is constant slipping on a wide variety of roads. So not OTT when it happens every time it rains.

Yes, I did fit Hankooks to my wifes Skoda Octavia, and found them to be quite good. But even they seem to have rocketed up in price.

One other thing I have noticed recently, is how expensive Bridgestone and to a lesser extent Advantage (Beaurepairs) have become. Tyre Clinic and of course Hyperdrive can often provide a similar spec tyre at 2/3 to 1/2 the price. Not always I will admit, and you always have to add fitting of $25 or so per tyre, but RE003s seem to have nearly doubled in price over the last 5 or 6 years. Even the buy 1 get one half price deals still make the tyres expensive. The other thing I notice is we seem to get Asian spec tyres that are just not sold in Europe or the USA. As such it can be hard to find reviews. The Pirelli Powergy is a good example. I really do struggle to find a decent tyre at a reasonable price these days and I struggle to trust the lesser brands.

I have had a god Run with RE003's. I found them predictable and decent in the wet, not to bad when pushing hard. I have Pilot Sports on the 540is and they were good but are close to replacement now. I like the look of the Goodyear Asymmetric 6 for $200 each. The reviews are very good.

Well I now know what really bad tyres feel like. I have always bought decent midrange tyres or premium when I could afford it. My current daily driver, a Skoda Superb Came fitted with some Laufen S-FIt AS, 235 45 17s up front. The Rear is fitted with some Farroad FRD26's in the same sizing. To be fair the rear has shown no bad habit's yet but I dont punt it along enough to get it to break loose. The fronts are a different story however. In the dry they are ok, but quite vague. The issue is in the wet. I can get them to break traction in both 2nd and 3rd gear just by using too much throttle, especially in turns. Its very unnerving and it is only the traction control that seems to snap it back into line. The Superb is the current model, with the 110kw 340nm diesel. Being a FWD diesel with a good amount of torque, I did expect some understeer in the wet , but this is ridiculous. Hypedrive have some decent Goodyear deals on at present, so I will likely but some Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 tyres. Hopefully that will help fix the problem.

Thanks that, really good advice, great to have a starting point.

I will admit I am a sucker for punishment. Now we have that out of the way, I am looking to buy a 2000 E46 323i that has issues. It starts and runs but above idle it has no throttle response and literally wont rev. At idle it sounds ok, no strange noises, clunks or bangs. A mechanic who stated he doesn't know much about BMW's made very little headway with it and gave up. Its missing a few bits from said mechanic who seems to have lost engine covers and the airbox. it has a battery that is too small, but does start the car and allow it to idle. I get no response from the DME when I connect my K-Dcan cable. I vaguely remember that K-Dcan is only for newer BMW's, so that's maybe why. If that's the case, will the ELM327 Bluetooth scanners work with it? The car only has 163k kms and looks to have had some love in the past. Guy is asking $1200 for it and I have been watching a whole load of M539 videos so obviously I am primed for a project.

Ok so it sounds like my fuel economy is about normal. Funny my 335i was only a wee bit more thirsty.

Keen to know what your fuel economy is like? I average around 10.6 L/00kms on combined city/highway driving. Is this high or around normal? On a flat bit of highway at100kph I will have 2000rpm on the speedo and will be getting 7 to8l/100km.

Mischa drives a v10 e46 and loves it.

I replaced the strut inserts, so now I am wondering if I might have done something wrong. I haven't gone over the ball joints bushings etc, mainly because I didn't have access to a hoist. Looks like I will have to do all that. If only John from Auto 38 was still in Welly.

I did wonder about that, I found a test but it was Thai perhaps and they seemed to like the tyre. Hardly a recommendation I know.

Has anyone tried the Pirelli Powergy? I think its a tyre out of Thailand rather than a Euro specific tyre. For my fitment they seem like a nice price.

I have just had a thought, when I replaced the front suspension, I also replaced the stabiliser link bars. (sway bar links). I remember at the time, thinking the diameter of the bolt was smaller that the hole in the sway bar. I am thinking that might cause a clunk as it moves/slips in the hole. Any thoughts on that. BTW I tightened everything up to specified torque settings except the top of the sway bar link where I was unable to get the torque wrench in there.

My 540is makes a clunking sound when I turn right, and also sometimes when I go over bumps etc. It sounds like its come from the front of the vehicle. FWIW I have recently replaced the trailing arm bushes and dog bones in the rear as one of the bushes was shot and a dog bone was in pretty poor shape. There was certainly a noise coming from that rear area and now it seems gone, but now I have a slightly quieter, but still noticeable clunk up front. I will hopefully get access to a hoist soon, where should I start looking?

Two paragraphs of I hate BMW they are no good. As an Auto electrician and someone who has tuned and built engines, I dont really see where you are coming from. Yes the N46 is a troublesome engine, but I repeat if you had done your research and bought an N52 car you wouldn't have these problems, that said you probably got the car dirt cheap. You keep saying how poor BMWs are, but you give no examples, I worked on cars for years, where's the lack of basic engineering? Go and buy a Toyota, lots of hard grey plastic, questionable styling and no driver involvement. Oh and throw in a lack of safety features, slow engines and abominable auto gearbox's, as well. That sounds like your happy place. Honestly coming to a BMW enthusiasts site and then slagging off BMW's as a whole, what the hell are you even doing here, apart from being a Troll. We all know the ins and outs, the risks and the rewards, you go and buy that old Legnum, sleep happy and dont think about nasty BMW's.

Is it worthwhile doing a manual swap? Is the 6 manual box the same unit that sits behind the 4 cyl engines? As I only have 5k in the car, and after a couple of months and as everything seems solid, I am considering it. Opinions thoughts?

Yup we are fanboys, and as BMW fanboys know this stay away from N46 engines. My old M54 engine 530i was a 265k when I sold it, and it was still running fine. The issue is you didn't do your research, if you had, you probably would have bought an N52 car, and you would probably be quite happy. Live and learn.

Have you checked with your local transmission specialist?

I have found buying dampers in NZ can be frustrating. I end up going to FCP or Demon Tweaks. Landed with GST they are usually about 20% cheaper. FWIW I quite like the ride quality on KW kits, realising that coil overs and certification isn't for everyone.

Thanks Dave, yes I ran the M3 arms on my 335i and did notice the difference. I had wondered about doing the bushing on the tension arm and just buying the longer lower arm. It depends on what the tension arm's ball joint is like I guess.

If you have a set of new, close to new or m3 front control arms I need a left and right set.

Wow, really impressed with what you have done here. Let us know how you go at the drags.

I think is was 7.5 x17 front and 8.5 x 17 rear.

This looks like a solid car. sadly I think we are in a slump for car sales at present. I bought my 130i, that looks very similar to yours, for 5k. It has 122k on the clock and is on KW coil-overs and is certified. Mine did have a small shudder in the trans, but a service got rid of it. Point is your car may be a 9k car but in this climate 7k might be where it sells.