Sammo

Little longevity update:

Been done 3 months now and about 2500km and no issues at all, thats with plenty of sunshine and beach trips too (i.e. damp, salty bums).

Only difference is drivers seat has lost most of the nice, super matte finish, not sure if thats oils or wear, but... so far, so good.

12 minutes ago, M3AN said:

Nice list of parts.

GST is due for all goods now, including low value. It's meant to be collected at the point of sale. If it's not collected at the point of sale it's now highly unlikely that it will be intercepted for GST at the border unless it's also subject to duty collection (your parts are not). 

Thanks, yeah, that's what I hoped , I'm guessing Demon tweeks and FCP Euro don't sell enough to NZ customers ($60k pa?) to collect GST at the point of sale. 

Had several things through from FCP recently without getting stung.

Exciting, before the exchange rates gets even worse, I bought a bunch of parts today,  mainly to do a suspension refresh.

I want to lower the car a little, mainly in the front and tighten up the steering and handling - its not too bad but I know it could be a whole lot better than what I presume is 150,000km old Msport suspension.

From Demontweeks:

• AP / ST Suspensions (same part number) Suspension kit of shortened 'sport' shocks and matched lowering springs.

Decided on these after a bit of humming and ha-ing as the drop seems perfect (40mm/20mm or for Msport, 25mm front, 5mm rear) great price(!!!) and they answered all my questions online quickly - AP is a less known brand in BMW circles but is TUV certified and made by KW alongside the ST brand (KW sales rep advised its the same part as the higher priced ST suspension kit).

I was thinking of BC Gold coilovers (local support) but decided against them due to cert cost, not actually wanting to lower or adjust the car much and potential ride issues(?) with pillowball mounts and 8kg spring rates.

From FCP Euro :

• Meyle HD Front control arm bushings
• Meyle HD Rear trailing arm bushings
• Lemforder Strut mounts
• Meyle HD Shock mounts
• Strut and shock mount reinforcement plates
• Front and rear Sway bar bushings
• BMW steering coupler / steering Guibo (heard this can be great for tightening up sloppy / loose steering),
• Mahle fuel filter 
• BMW window rubber for one that is perished.

And if I read the new import laws correctly, as both orders were under $1000 I should not get stung with GST at the border ?

Now I need to figure out is how, or more realistically, who to install as most of its beyond my capabilities / facilities ?

Beautiful car, tastefully done and good price IMO, GLWS.

On 3/14/2020 at 10:52 PM, Azukamii said:

The dream car in question is a Honda NSX in manual. I've just loved them for so many years now.
There was a white one that sold for 80k (which I admit one at that price probably wont ever come up again) a couple weeks back and it just flicked a switch. So yeah, giving myself the VERY challenging goal of bringing one in by Christmas. 

Though in saying that, The M3 has a very special place in my heart, so tbh even if it never sells i'd still be pretty happy

You have excellent taste ?

Photos are definately 60% better. 

Looks great. 

13 minutes ago, Blackie said:

I'll give him 6.

Sounds about right IMO. 

Saw another on Facebook marketplace that I almost bought last year for $10k - really nice jet black factory manual with certed coilovers and 18" schnitzer type 3s. Nice car. 

Was asking $15k, after buying for $10k 6 months ago... 

Seems the amount of people chancing their arms on these is increasing... 

This one is worse than the recent guy trying to sell a silver auto with 40kms for $21,500.

$16k for 130kms, some questionable cosmetic mods and no maintenance to speak of.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-2566248312.htm?rsqid=5c8e9d47e50742ebb814a3e5edaada4a-001

Wonder if the market will eventually start picking up for nice non-m' E46's with M3's getting spendier by the day? 

Great choice, e90 LCI Msport's look great and nice colour too 

Tackled the valve cover gasket today, after seeing oil on my spark plug threads a few weeks back when I changed those. 

Also noticed some oil leaking on the exhaust heat shield, creating a nice burning smell... 

Went very smoothly, being the most 'invasive' job I've done under the hood of a car to date (newbie to this stuff) and the old gasket was very hard and brittle, especially around the plug seals. 

Got the BMW gasket from FCP euro with the 15 fastner seals as well and torqued in a star pattern to 10nm.

On 2/9/2020 at 5:56 PM, KwS said:

Id say the spark plug tube seals are starting to leak, but not yet bad enough to be on the coils. Rocker cover gasket should sort them out.

Those plugs looks super worn out with massive gaps too.

Yup, you were right. 

A week after this post got the telltale burning oil smell and saw it was leaking onto the exhaust heat shield. 

Sprung for the BMW gasket and replaced yesterday, was particularly brittle on the plug seals. 

New plugs had a little oil on the threads already, so cleaned them up and everything else. 

Double Damn!

Your facelift E46 is lovely (both are) - the style 193's have a very tidy offset for the 46 and nice modern look on the facelift.

Very nice ?

Much planned for them?

15 hours ago, GorGasm said:

I also saw you while I was scooting around Auckland, only noticed it because of the stand out interior and thought darn that looks good.

Cheers! yeah, its a nice colour combo, bold enough but not too loud IMO

3 hours ago, m325i said:

By NZME

Ahhh right - yeah, have clients at Spark, NZME and Bauer so am often around that area 

7 hours ago, m325i said:

Saw you the other day - car looks mint. Super clean. Surprisingly few mint e46 on Auckland roads....

Nice, whereabouts?

Thanks - yeah, try to keep it clean which helps too!

On 2/23/2020 at 2:28 PM, KwS said:

I wont lie, that is stunning and makes me really want one now!

Good work on the interior too. Most would've just swapped in boring black, but that tan is lush as fark.

Thanks mate!

Pretty happy with it right now but can't wait to get the suspension sorted and then make it a little noisier in the next few months

On 2/16/2020 at 10:34 AM, Palazzo said:

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/e30-bmw-325i-sport-sells-for-51k-because-the-world-has-lost-its-mind/

Always wanted one of these ?

On 2/9/2020 at 5:32 PM, ryanhorton1973 said:

Thanks for the link qube. So after reading many horror storied maybe not a wise choice (like any used car I guess, some are fine and others are a nightmare!). Does the earlier 3 series (e46?) have the same engine / issues? I have taken this for a drive today and it was nice (NZ new with service history from Jerry Claton  BMW and one independent garage).

https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=2513548383

Thanks once again for any advice (it is greatly appreciated).

Get a NA 6 cylinder ?

Jeeeez, almost as bad as the very low km E46 330ci for $21,500.

A silver auto, no less... 

4 minutes ago, KwS said:

Id say the spark plug tube seals are starting to leak, but not yet bad enough to be on the coils. Rocker cover gasket should sort them out.

Those plugs looks super worn out with massive gaps too.

Thanks mate, yeah, car definitely felt better with the new plugs in.

Will tackle the valve cover gasket in a few weeks then check the plugs again a month later.

Been freaking myself out googling valve stem seals the past half hour ?

So was giving my 330ci some love this weekend (oil, filter, plugs).

This is the first time I've changed the oil and plugs on this car, so not sure of its history.

Anyways, when I pulled the Spark plugs, several had a decent amount of oil on the threads (one particularly so) and most were a bit wet and sooty.

The ignition coil boots however had no oil at all, even the one connected to the oiliest plug.

A bit of googling has me thinking it could be the Valce cover gasket leaking, but given the coil rubber boots were dry, I'm not sure.

Car showed a few misfire codes several weeks ago (P1342, P1346, P0300) but after I cleared them they have not come back.

Car had been feeling a little sluggish, nothing obvious but is running great now with the new plugs and no codes - if its a leak I imagine it will be a matter of time before the issue manifests again.

Pics below, including the plug wells.

Car has been using a fair bit of oil (2 litres in 4000km) but that isn't unusual for an M54 from what I've read.

Update, Airbag light from the seat swap sorted ?

Dropped car this morning at BMW (the huge, brand new Continental dealership on Wairau Road) for the latest Takata airbag recall. 

They replaced the passenger airbag but drivers airbag is on backorder so will need to get that done at later date. 

Fantastic service I must say, gave my car a vacuum and hand wash and even got a call from one of the techs working on it who was extremely complimentary and wanted to buy it ?

Cleared the totally unrelated airbag light as I'd hoped as well ?

On 2/6/2020 at 4:56 PM, Palazzo said:

There’s an e36 being wrecked onFB that looks to have the same or very similar colour.

I think yours is a fantastic job by the way.

Hmmm, think the E36 had a similar tan - Modena I beleive? considered that as well. 

Update, dropped car this morning at BMW (huge brand new Continental dealership on Wairau Road). 

They replaced the passenger airbag but drivers airbag is on backorder so will need to get that done at later date. 

Fantastic service I must say, gave my car a vacuum and hand wash (was pretty clean anyway) and even got a call from one of the techs who was extremely complimentary and wanted to buy my car ?

Cleared my unrelated airbag light as well ?

17 minutes ago, Gabe79 said:

Is this the one BMW Australian has been buying back E46s over? 

 

https://www.caradvice.com.au/810298/bmw-takata-buybacks/

Very odd - appears to be, but I also saw this article late last year with BMW NZ indicating it only impacted AU cars:

https://www.driven.co.nz/news/news/bmw-nz-confirms-local-3-series-models-not-affected-by-takata-recall/

Contrasting with the guy from BMW who called me this morning, proactively, (I half completed an online form in the weekend) looking to book me in ASAP for potentially both front airbags... although I've only had the car since August 2019, I have not received any letters.

The driven article states “The Takata safety recall is limited to certain BMW E46 3 Series built between November 1997 and June 2000. These vehicles were built for the Australian market only.”

Mine is a June 2001 build, imported from Japan in 2006...

At least once done, my 20 year old car will have brand new airbags!