Vass

When doing my rebuild, was told that pressure testing is an awful lot of hassle and not commonly done. A hardness test usually gives enough of an indication on whether the head is good or not, and that's just a quick 2 minute test. I'd get that done and get the thing hot tanked at a shop. Potentially, get the shop to install the stem seals whilst they're at it as well, also check the valve seats for pitting and correct that if needed. Valve lapping isn't really a thing on modern engines apparently. Removing the collets and springs with a punch could damage the valve guides so unless you have a special valve clamp tool it might be best to leave it to the pros.

Ahh right, didn't know that. My bad.

My mate picked one up for fairly cheap a bit over a year ago, also an early 2005 model. His first ever BMW and has been cursing it ever since. In the time he's had it, in addition to working on it himself, he's had it in at BM Workshop nearly every month for stuff he couldn't figure out and has spent multiples of what he originally paid for it in repairs. Vanos issues, some electronic airflow flap (not sure what it is on the N52, looked like an equivalent of a DISA flap from an M54) had completely fallen apart, constant check engine lights for emissions codes, airbag lights and annoying me chimes, sunroof leaking and so on. To top it off the fuel pump gave up one day and left him stranded. His did have around 120-130k km's but with age I think they'll all start having issues regardless of km's. Another mate with a 525i started having issues with the rear air suspension leaking and the compressor giving out as well. You'll definitely have a better time of it if you're hands on but replacement parts are noticeably more expensive than the older counterparts and the added complexity doesn't help either.

Yeah, typical. They've also got an "ICONIC M CAR - 6-SPEED MANUAL - CLEAN UNMODIFIED" M3 that was clearly SMG from factory. That, with the swirled up paintjob and horrifically scratched up interior plastics can be yours today at a bargain price of $55k. As an added bonus, the factory strut bar has also gone off for a wander somewhere, because weight reduction.

What the hell is up with those misaligned tailpipes? Cannot unsee it.

Or, alternatively: https://www.trademe.co.nz/4232455827 https://www.trademe.co.nz/4229101961

Ended up doing an engine swap 😅 But for the new b30 I found a guy up on the North Island that was selling already rebuilt valves through Trademe for $250 iirc, then sent him my old DISA as a core for I think $50 back. He had the flap replaced for a metal one as well as a new diaphragm. Just checked and he doesn't have any listings on TM at the moment, username was 'brtsnz' so might have quietened down a bit, but you could also find him on FB, goes by Bruce Perkinson, quite a helpful fella and was pretty active in some of the FB groups. For the O-ring I just went to Seal Innovations and got a few spare viton O-rings in case I'm taking the thing out again at some point. Couldn't tell you the size off the top of my head though, sorry.

I've seen it in the flesh sometime last year when I bought a set of wheels from the owner. Did look mighty tidy, always took it to Eurocare, servicing hasn't been skimped out on. Whether it's worth the $12k he's asking in today's market I wouldn't know but definitely a very nice example.

I suspect it's down to the absolute robbery the telecom companies are getting away with in NZ. I'm always having to be super frugal with data over there. I'm currently in Europe for the summer and am using Waze all the time. Here you can get an unlimited data plan for $10-15/month, in NZ I'm paying $30 for like 1.5GB so having to skimp out wherever I can... It's 2023 ffs, the cheapest unlimited data plan is what, $70? f**k that jazz

Don't think there's anything special about that sealant in particular. Any sort of automotive RTV should be fine, usually grey is the best stuff to use, like this one or any other brand equivalent: https://www.supercheapauto.co.nz/p/permatex-permatex-rtv-silicone-gasket-maker-rigid-high-torque---ultra-grey-99g/5359.html#q=Grey%2Brtv&lang=en_NZ&start=2

The M3 boot floor is different as well, basically there's no spare wheel compartment to accommodate the quad tip muffler running all the way across the rear. What that might be worth to anyone is anyone's guess.

In my case I swapped a 2.5L engine for a 3.0L one that are visually near on indistinguishable, and swapped an auto gearbox for a manual one using all factory parts, which I advised them on as well. Both modifications that by the book require certification. Passed WoF without faults and the mechanics even praised the tidiness of the work... The whole WoF process seems to be a roll of the dice kinda thing.

Wait, you actually have to fail a WoF when going for a cert? What if you pass?

Speaking of... parked next to this slammed beauty the other day over here in Esto land, complete with that bumper I like so much. Seems to line up pretty well. A bit too low for my liking but did look pretty sharp, possibly on air suspension even. Would have been keen to chat to the owner but didn't feel like waiting around like a complete creep. I'm also reminded every day why I'd never consider having a nice car over on these shores... Couldn't bear putting any significant amount of care and effort into something only to watch it be eaten away by rust. Anyhow, whilst I'm over here, quietly exploring the possibility of putting together a few pallets of manual swap bits and shipping them over. Manual gearbox prices over here are veeery tempting, just need to figure out if the import costs would make the endeavor not worth the hassle. Got a very reasonable quote on shipping and handling on this end for a partial container load, now need to figure out what the import costs, duties and port handling stuff might run me back on the NZ side. If anyone's been through the process or has any contacts in the imports / customs broker fields, I'd be very keen to hear about it. Cheers

Not something that's going to happen in the very near future but eventually I'm thinking about respraying the whole car, and at that point I'll probably source a replacement bumper as the current one is all sorts of shagged and is held together with zip ties in a few places. Possibly leaning towards an M3-style one a fella sells down here that comes with a euro plate holder in the kit. Euro plates wouldn't be far off at that point either. Might be a questionable style choice but I reckon it looks quite sharp on facelift cars.

Yeah it ain't great but not sure if it'd look much better on a Euro plate trim bit either. Will figure something out eventually, still have plenty of mechanicals to address before I get onto that though.

Nah don't you stop! I'm a few hundred thousand km's behind and not on the original engine anymore but hoping to get to half a million as well one day, this serves as an inspiration Keen to see some photos of how those E53 seats sit in there. I've got a set sitting in the garage as well but they'll need a good restoration before I throw them in.

Finally got onto cleaning up the manual diff. Disassembled the thing, gave it a good clean with a bunch of wire brushes, hit it with rust converter/primer and a few coats of paint, then resealed and put back together. Made for some pleasing before and afters. Then went on a hunt for the culprit of the clunk but still couldn't pinpoint it with any certainty. Jacked the car up and had a mate operate the clutch. Clunks like a bastard every time the clutch is engaged to go into gear. Video Found a few videos on YouTube as well with exactly the same issue, combed through all the comments but doesn't seem like anyone's found a definitive answer either. Some are blaming the dual mass flywheel, some say it's driveline slop and their mechanics are claiming it's perfectly normal. I somehow doubt it. Regardless, got onto swapping out the diff. Tried reproduce the clunking with the driveshaft disconnected but all seemed fine with no load on the gearbox. Had another try once the shaft was connected to the diff and still all good. But then with the axles hooked up to the diff the noise came straight back. The search continues. Bit disheartened, bolted everything back up to go test out the manual diff and was pleasantly surprised to discover that the clunk had became much harder to reproduce. Definitely still there if you're looking for it but nowhere near as prominent under normal driving circumstances. Going from a 3.38 diff to a 2.93 fixed the gear ratios right up, 1st gear actually became usable and overall the car was now more pleasant to operate. Properly enjoyed driving it for the first time since the swap... ... just in time to park her up for the next 3 months as I'm off to Europe to catch up with family after 4 long years. Will pick up where I left off in September ✌️

If you made a spare set of those speaker adapters, I'd happily throw some money at you.

Not gonna lie, looks like a pretty cool build to me, quite clean too. $20k is what some are asking for automatic sedans nowadays, would rather this any day of the week.

Might be mistaken but wasn't the supercheap deal on 5L jugs? This might be a better deal ok 6L

Saw that pop up on Trademe a while ago. Nice that it's low mileage and all but honestly, $20k? As far as E46's go, there's literally nothing desirable about that spec for any collector to blink twice at. Least desirable body shape, least desirable gearbox, midrange engine, non-Msport, no rare factory goodies like auto lights & wipers etc. etc. No matter the km's, all the usual rubber and plastic components under the hood will be getting hard and brittle with age and will need replacing in due course anyway if it's ever destined to do more than the annual 20km to the WoF shop and back. Maybe in another 10 years time the E46 prices will start creeping up to the heights of today's E30's? In the here and now though, a real enthusiast would go for something like this, surely.

Nah there's very obvious defects on near enough every panel, most well beyond what a cut & polish would come close to fixing. It is what it is. Got the new lifters in. Used the magnet trick from the 50sKid's videos when installing. Worked perfectly. The old ones looked really horrid, the tops of all of the exhaust ones were all badly pitted. Pretty silly of me to not have replaced them the first time around but got there in the end. With it all apart, also took apart the VANOS assembly to check over. Having watched M539's latest project series I realised I hadn't checked them over properly, just bolted everything together and slapped it on. And sure enough, both the pistons weren't spinning freely at all and one being near enough completely seized up. Disassembled, filed down the spacer washer a few hundreds of a mm and loosened them up a bit. Still not spinning as freely as I'd like them too but not completely seized up either. Had a check of the spare VANOS unit I had laying around and whilst those pistons were spinning freely, the surfaces on them weren't in the greatest of shape with marks and scratches in places so didn't feel like using those would have been much of an upgrade. Will hunt for another unmolested unit, chuck on a spare set of O-rings I have laying around and not bother with an anti-rattle rings if they don't need it as it just seems far too easy to mess up the piston internals. With all that, got everything bolted together and did a bit of driving around today. Might be imagining it but the engine seems to be running more smoothly and don't have any signs of a niggly patch of a rough idle when standing at a red light. But... The little second-long rattle at cold-start is still there and not really sure what else it might be at this stage. That and the clunk from the driveline just keep annoying the hell out of me and really running out of ideas as to what it might be. Will investigate further and probably drop the gearbox again at some point. Want to recheck the flywheel, wonder if the starter being misaligned for a period managed to knock it out of alignment or something, or if the starter itself got any damage to it. Also realised that the pressure plate bolts were meant to have Loctite on them, which I completely missed at the time. Got a brand new set of flywheel and pressure plate bolts when ordering the lifters so will see if those help with anything. It just never ends.

Not an awful lot to report on of late, spent a few weekends fixing up my Swift Sport daily and the missus' Outback so have only tinkered with a few cosmetic bits here and there. Got the AC system degassed, removed the tensioner and cleaned up the mess from the blown up compressor clutch. The AC belt and tensioner didn't look great at first but luckily all the gunk came off by just scraping away at it with a fingernail, the rest just came away mostly in bigger chunks. Will do a refresh on the whole AC system at some point down the line, not before sorting out the subframe and suspension though. Got myself a 3D printed roof rail delete kit from Huggins Racing. Don't see myself putting on a roof box any time soon and just wanted to see what it'd look like without the rails. Does make the car look that wee bit sleeker so will stick with it. Have a spare set of inserts as well that I'm happy to let go if anyone's after one. The state of the paintwork is really starting to eat away at me, the front end being especially horrific. Can't wait to get all the mechanics sorted and start putting money aside for a respray. Noticed a bit of a rarity browsing the interwebs one day - a manual coupe at Pick-A-Part. Not as exciting as it could have been as it came in with the majority of the important bits already stripped off but figured I'd go for a wander anyway, if nothing else then just to see how much more wiring I can cull to get closer to a factory manual. Only manual bits that were left was the hard clutch line running behind the heater core and the pedals - the car had sustained major front end impact and the shell had folded in so much that it basically pinched the pedal box in place. Neither were really worth the hassle of digging them out. What was left behind though was the cluster so I was happy to come away with that. Back when I switched over from a coupe, I did notice the cluster on the sedans and wagons looking a bit dull but took me a while to figure out what the difference was exactly, can really see it side by side. I needed to take the cluster apart again anyway to adjust the needles as mentioned in a previous post so used it as an excuse to switch out the backing plate once again. Meaningless little details but pretty pleased with the new look. Then finally got back to tackling something substantial this week. Ever since the rebuild I've been getting an annoying tick for the first second of a cold start that I couldn't quite pinpoint. Recruited a more knowledgeable mate to have a listen who figured it sounded like lifter tick - likely just a couple not sealing properly, draining out overnight and causing a tick until the oil pressure pumps them back up again. That's one theory anyway. New lifters were already on my to-do list so just bumped it up on the priority list. Actually came out cheaper than what I thought they'd be - a set of 24 OE INA ones came out to under $300 from Spareto. I only remembered them being US$11 on FCP so thought it'd be closer to $600 all up, which put me off at the time. Hoping these fix the issue, otherwise I'll be left with more gremlins to chase. Took the cover off earlier in preparation and it's quite a nice sight to be greeted with.

So timeless! Some awesome shots in there. Both of you present really well