Sammo

I painted them with satin black - came out good but was literally 3 hours of masking (lots of rubber seals right on the trim, very frustrating) and still managed to get a bunch of overspray somehow... polished most of it off but it will be getting a full paint correction soon anyway. Sweating away on the E46 biannual mega detail now, hope to have some glamour shots later 👌

All sorted again (for now) - got a couple little things to do when its serviced in a few months but nothing else significant flagged. Did a chrome delete on the grill frame and window surrounds yesterday which looks much better with the dark wheels IMO so at least its looking good - will look great once I get a full paint correction done.

I've seen these for E46 too, could be good as I use wireless carplay so am not tethered (charging)- can't imagine the charging rate is too quick though? 5w?

Yup, I've had no issues - only reason I topped up the fronts after a year is I'm anal and it only took a few hours - no issue with colour transfer etc, with the caveat my car is fastidiously cleaned and maintained and the interior never sees food and drink, and seldom a passenger.

3 series all the way - infinitely better looking car (assuming F30 vs F10) and superior power to weight - likely better handler too and its not like the 3 series is a small car these days...

Parked next to this stunner at the gym this morning in Glenfield - Manual 540i 🤟🏽

@Karter16 mean, pretty sure I see that around Birkenhead pretty regularly

Damnit, already sucked it up and got it coded - not really motivated to do much DIY on this one 😒

Yeah... no idea, it was one of these behemoths... https://www.trademe.co.nz/trade-me-motors/car-parts-accessories/batteries-chargers/auction-2960727132.htm Buying this car in 2020 was a real highlight, right up there with Covid 19 🤣

You after sedan or coupe?

Depends on your budget. Something cheap - this looks like great value: https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2947402316?bof=3wWl8Vjt Something nicer, you may have seen the Jet Black Factory manual 330ci on BC coils and BBS RS reps for $13k Plenty of OK looking auto sedans in the $5k ballpark

Is that their UK or US site? I ordered some more product in December as I just did a little refresh on the front seats last weekend as the matte clear was getting a little shiny - they (UK site) still seemed to have Caramel available. I didn't need to fill cracks - minor cracks / creases like the ugly before shot below naturally fill with the colourant as it is sprayed on. I did fill a very small hole (less than 5mm across) with leather glue which I sprayed colour over - bigger cracks would be a similar process - the leather glue they have is flexible, dries quick with a hair dryer and can be built up and sanded back and coloured over.

Needs a new $850 battery apparently - tested OK and monitored overnight with no significant draw but failed load testing - apparently its a specific cell type (of course it is!) that can throw false results on standard battery health tests.... Workshop (Vodis who I've used previously and rate highly) also flagging all the shoddy work dealer/ used car salesman had done (few missing bolts / broken clips / siliconed bracket - nothing major). Having them check the front suspension bushes too as the low speed ride feels a bit jiggly to me. Oh well, I was planning on the car costing a fair whack when it had its first visit to a reputable workshop!

A great run, Audi managed to have no problems for 5 weeks. Now dealing with a mystery battery drain issue... Battery tested healthy, alternator charging it fine but then drains overnight. Wife is working today (AKL Anniversary) so had to drag me out of bed at 630 to jump start it but no luck (leads may not be big enough to revive a dead battery and the Audi battery is literally twice the size of the one in the E46). So she had to take the E46 - first time she's driven it in a year, got to hear the clutch riding and engine screaming up the road - sounded pretty damn good though 🤣

I think so (if one can put nostalgia style aside), its still 'analogue' and thanks to Takata / BMW, I'm rolling with 2020 front airbags in my 20 year old car

I was weighing up getting into a nice 325i Manual 2 door (in general) but would cost a crapload to get one / get one to the standard of the 330ci... hopefully as a weekend car in a year or two 🤞

@M3AN I did actually time myself on that Sunday as I cleaned it before going to the BMW Festival at Hampton downs. Just under 5mins for all 4 wheels, to be fair, they had been cleaned a week or two earlier and I was racing haha

Soooooooooo..... been quite busy pumping money and time into the car lately - went on a bit of a blitz as I've decided to keep it after humming and ha-ing over selling to get into an overpriced E30 - that day will have to wait. Had my driveshaft hoops for certification installed - cert plate will be here soon although rear hoop is hitting exhaust over bumps and will be sorted shortly (spent a Saturday chasing the noise thinking it was to do with my swaybar install) Upgraded my Msport sway bars (23.5mm & 18mm) to an M3 front bar and Msport vert rear (26mm and 20mm now) with new bushings. These have tightened the handling up really nicely (especially the rear) and complement my moderate coilover spring rates perfectly. Adjustable end links are on the way. Had a small dent fixed, my boot resprayed and rear gaurds blended and my M3 mirrors colour matched (boot and mirror colour was off before) Installed a no-name (Ruff?) Short shifter from Speedfactor - great unit, it uses the factory style shifter cup, but has a steel pivot ball, adjustable throw length and adjustable height - can be notchy at low speed when cold but feels awesome 98% of the time - If I had known how easy and satisfying this job was I would have done it as soon as I got the car. Gave my front seats a respray with leather matte clear coat - after a year since my refinishing project they still looked great, but drivers seat was getting a bit shiny - this was a 2 hour cakewalk compared to the colour change nightmare and they look absolutely sensational again. I used a more durable clear this time around so expecting the matte to last a bit better. Things I hope to do next week - Alcantara (well, Ebay suede) shift and handbrake boots and a full groom including polish and sealant - need to get rid of a few tiny swirls and the little buffer trails panel beaters love to leave everywhere. Seat before and after below.

Just needs a camo wrap and some blacked out 20's IMO

Exemptions; scratch built vehicles and modified vehicles certified by the Low Volume Vehicle Technical Association Incorporated. Good to know my coilover & manual swap cert will make me exempt - maybe I'll keep the E46 forever 😎

Gosling rolls around in a lovely CS in 'Fracture'

Another ticking all the boxes: 318 / Sedan / Auto / Only a little bit of Rust / Cambelt done (17 years ago) Good buying at sub $15k https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2955793008?bof=xBSkn149

@qube @M3AN

Awesome man, love how purpose driven this beast is - I would too terrified of breaking something on mine haha

Been chasing a bad rattle (metal on metal kind of sound in front part of car) for the past week or so. Car came back from workshop last Friday for driveshaft hoop install - then last Saturday I installed a short shifter and front and rear upgraded sway bars - so made it a bit harder on myself with all the changes at once.. First noticed the rattle over bumps etc on Sunday and have been chasing my tail on it ever since - first assumed it was the M3 front bar hitting something, then thought it was my end links and then thought it could even be my new short shifter linkage being too close to the driveshaft... So I reinstalled the factory shifter and removed the front bar and end-links and it was still there. I also checked and re-torqued my lower strut bolt, strut nuts and strut mount nuts - still no joy. I don't believe the driveshaft hoops are the culprit, although the rear one is very close to the exhaust. Finally, I remembered I also had the shop change my transmission mounts - just checked those and the lower nuts were VERY loose - like no resistance with a very short handled 3/8" ratchet... Tightened those up which will *hopefully* be problem solved. Dinner time though so will have to test drive again in the morning - fingers crossed! Edit: Knock / rattle is still there FFS, will need to take it back to the shop 😐