Herbmiester

I also felt a twinge of want when I saw Brads E30 Mtech2, then I got in it and realised that at 6'5 the E30 is just to small for me. I felt like a Greyhound trying to mount a Chihuahua. Pretty looking car though and the M52 conversion made it nicely quick.

That is the million dollalr question

E30 fans boys will be foaming!

Thanks for that. Really dont want a set just two new wheels.

I dreamed of this car so often if only I'd had a spare 10k.....

PM sent

Need a pair of 8.5 wide Style 68's, would look at buying a complete set 8.5 and 7.5's but really only want the 8.5's, can trade back some 7.5's with Pirelli P Zeros 3-5mm and cash for the 8.5's.

I put some Re003's on the back of my E46 when the one of my Goodyear F1 Directionals got an unrepairable puncture. So far I like them; the tyre grip in the dry seems pretty good, they require a fair bit to let go and when they do go you know it's coming. Ride is nice and with the stiff rear on the E46 a little bit of compliance is not unwelcome. I did a run to Palmy and back and over the Paekakariki hill the rear end was very well behaved. While I cant compare them directly to Re002's I did have 02's on one of my E36's and the grip levels driving the "48 corners to my house" was definitely lower. But my e36 setup was a parallel 225/45/17 set up, while the E46 is a staggered 17 inch setup.

The front was a bit average and I suspect the P Zero Neros may be past their best but I want to do a bit more with the front end geometry before I replace them.

Having driven the car now for a few days I will says it's a bit firmer and the small irregularities are noticeable but not unbearable. In the corners what is most noticeable is that there is less need to re adjust the steering once the outside tyre loads up. In the past you would pick the line, try and hit the apex but you would then need to make a quick correction or two as the rear moved. It now holds the line much better and requires far less input; it almost feels like there is a bit of rear steer that pushes you round the corner.

I assume this is because there is less toe angle change but I am not an expert here. Ron? Anyway the upshot is that it more predictable and feels a lot more stable in the corner and has lost that skittish feeling that inevitably ended up with tyre squeal and the ASC light flashing.

I think I am now seeing what E46 chassis can deliver and I can now understand why it is so highly regarded. I better start saving my pennies for an M3 so I can get the full monty.

Next up is new front control arms and a brake overhaul.

$300 delivered or $280 pickup

Bump.

I have bought head units off Abtec great prices but found one of the installers quite stroppy.

Carrying on from my earlier post on E46/36 Rear Trailing Arm Bushings I thought I would add a few photos.

The old bushes were replacements and were not as bad as the ones I pulled out of my E36, in fact they were still in close to original condition. However with the upgraded springs, shocks, bars and new tyres the movement (Toe angle changes is what I believe it is) became quite noticeable. So if an average wheel man like me notices it then it must be awful when the bushes are shagged. But as Ron mentioned when you have one weak link it becomes more obvious. So if you have flangeless bushes and want to borrow my toll I am happy to lend it to members. It turns a prick of a job into a 1 hour job.

The Old bush was the new style without a locating flange.

The tool that I bought off E Bay UK, it removed the old bush in just a few minutes.

As it comes out of the arm.

Both halves just press in by hand and with lots of grease the housing slips back over, the locating bolt is torqued up and its ready to go back up into the chassis.

Good news when I dropped the drivers rear trailing Arm I was surprised to see a newer bush in there. Being newer it had no flange so it came right off with the tool I had. The bush was in quite good condition so it will be interesting to see what the other one is like. Have a look at this video and you can see how much stock bushes move around. Imagine how much worse it gets when they are buggered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9HhqLhxKc4

Yeah thats why I want the tool. But seen enough videos of how to bash it out so will see how it goes.

I have a tool but it won't work with the older flanged bushes. Looks like a brute force hammering is about to happen.

That makes sense Ron, if I can get them out in one piece it will good to see what state they were in.

Olaf you're most welcome to take it for a spin when it's done and see what you think. I have seen that post and may resort to it if I have to but prefer to use the correct tool for the job.

Olaf, I replaced the rear bar with an 21mm Eibach Bar that had Poly bushings, Links were ok. Whole car has very little roll it's the feel of the rear sliding that gets me. (And it's not the tyres sliding) Discussed with a few guys on the E46fanatics forum and they said worn RTAB's give this feeling. So I am pretty convinced it worn RTAB's, and this makes sense as it's a common failure point on higher mileage 36/46 cars.

Hans yet again is the man of the moment.

I posted this also in the tools for hire section but I am not sure how many read that section. So I need to Rent/Borrow or even buy at a pinch a RTA bush tool. I can feel the rear end move on the bushes especially when getting a bit of oversteer and it's quite disconcerting. From what I can figure just about every older E36/46 will have sloppy RTA bushes so surely someone must have the tool.

I need to borrow/rent a rear trailing arm bush tool for an e36/46. It needs to be the one that works with flanged bushes.

Agree; the tires are junk, and 17's while an excellent size for older 3 series dont get the cash 18's and 19's do.

Thats rural life. Oh and dirty cars as well.

Its like taking the faithful lame horse out behind the shed and shooting it.

Had to do that for real yesterday.

Anyone know anything about this M3, its been on for a while now, suspect the colour is putting people off a bit.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-959876314.htm