Hazzy

Finally sorted this out. Easy enough job but a bit of a pain in the ass without a garage/driveway. Got there in the end though and cleared the WOF so mission accomplished. Huge thanks to @Eagle for sending me that steering coupler, was a huge help.

Got one on the way now thanks to @Eagle

Yeah first time they picked up mine and it’s been there for a while. I’ve got a decent mechanic down here but most of the shops around here seem to just use VTNZ for warrants so not much choice on who to go to unfortunately. I reckon @modz one would be sweet unless they really know what they’re looking for. Worst case just keep your old one and chuck that back in if they decide to be assholes about it since that’s been certed? Leaning towards getting a used one and swapping it in and out since the other options are $400+ whilst not really changing anything.

Looking for one of these bad boys after my car failed warrant so in need of an OEM coupler to replace my solid one. Part number is 32306761571.

Yeah bit of concern especially since the steering thing is the only thing they picked up on so they will probably be giving it a good look. That solid one by @modz looks pretty legit as well, might be worth upgrading from what I have currently got once I've got the WOF. Ideally I'd go somewhere else but theres only one VTNZ in Queenstown so I haven't got much choice. Potentially I could get a used one, install that for the WOF then put the old one back and paint it a colour that isn't stupid.

Went for a warrant today and failed on a solid-steering coupler. Knew that purple CMP thing would get me out one day. If it was silver I think it might of snuck through. Thought I would be ok as I have passed a couple of warrants now with it installed. Basically I need to replace this part now and have a couple of choices. 1. LPSR Aftermarket Steering coupler https://www.steeringlpsr.com/product-page/bmw-e46-uni-joint-steering-column-linkage-1 Go with the above option which might hold up better than the OEM version. Main benefit is replacing the upper U-joint as well which might be cooked on my one. I am somewhat concerned I could get pinged on this again though as it's not an OEM part. It looks OEMish but not keen to fail my warrant again on this part. They can ship it with an Australian engineering certification but not sure how helpful that is here in NZ and I am not keen to get a LVV cert just so I can run a slightly upgraded steering coupler. 2. Replace coupler https://shop.sdeuropean.co.nz/products/n-steer-uni-coupling-32306761571-teilex-32306761571-sd66992?srsltid=AfmBOoqgOop49BrhXy6nqxWJ_o4KoHdpFjRa3BKkB0VP9CpWFEUqkPd3 Probably the simplest option. Don't think I would have any issues but haven't heard of this brand before and am unsure of the quality. 3. Used Coupler If anyone has a used coupler would be appreciative. They seem to wear out though so might be better off going with a new part. I had a parts car and thought I took this part off for this exact situation but can't seem to find it anywhere 🙃.

I've got my insurance on the my Prado with Cove and haven't had any issues with them yet. Although I haven't had to make any claims so hard to know up until that point. I think I have claimed some stone chips in the glass with them which was pretty easy. They have some annoying exclusions though like any business use negates your cover and a few others. They're quite finnicky on named drivers as well, e.g anyone using the car once a month is considered regular use . They are pretty open about these but best to look through and make sure you're all good with them. MAS has been good as well, I didn't have any increase on my premium on my last renewal and they have been easy to deal with in the past. But again haven't made any major claims with them so hard to know. I'll likely move the prado over the MAS if the premium is the similar to cove, my first year with Cove gave me one month free which made it more competitive.

Yeah can't really put a price on the stupid amount of hours spent on it.

I basically just set it to the max amount they were willing to insure it for without going to any extra effort which was close enough. So for mine it isn’t super far off the actual value since it's an auto, the main problem I would have is that I wouldn’t be able to find a replacement for the car at all since the tourings aren’t very common.

My car insurance with MAS actually went down this year and the agreed value stayed the same which was a nice surprise. The agreed value on mine is $7500 which probably isn't enough to replace it like for like since 330i wagons are pretty rare but is as good as I am going to get for an E46.

Definitely because of weight in the rear, had my tools right in the back so I could get to them which wouldn't be helping, then a bunch of other stuff weighing it down. Usually it's ride height is a bit more sensible than that. I did grab a set of touring specific M-Sport springs from the parts car so might put them in at some point to see if they're any different to the convertible ones I am currently using.

Made it back to Queenstown without any real issues a couple weeks back. Car is working mint after the steering pump replacement feels a lot better than it did previously. I didn't really notice a difference in steering weight between the LF-20 and LF-30 surprisingly. Fuel economy was a bit average due to my bike being on the roof but is what it is. Made full use of the touring by cramming a bunch into it. G21 Wagon in the carpark, nice colour.

Got 50% of the glossy trim on, great for showing people what a difference it makes lol. Getting the trim off the parts car was actually pretty easy, even that last panel that is known to be a pain. On my car however that part that Sreten in his E46 series struggled with had me struggling as well. I Got it off but the trim piece was a mangled mess at the end of it, I'm glad the glossy ones came off easily. I'll do the rest when I am back in Queenstown. Pretty big improvement though even people who haven't noticed any of the other things I did seem to think the glossy looks a lot better. Anyway got it all packed up and drove to Wellington yesterday, then ferry back to the south today. Wagon utility coming into it's own here.

New power steering pump is in as of last night. Has made a massive difference, the perpetual groaning it was making has vanished and the whole thing feels a lot better. Makes the car far more civilised. I also replaced the ignition coils for some reason. No idea if it made a difference or not probably a waste of money but meh. PrEveNtaTivE mAiNteNanCe. Pretty obvious where the new door is. It honestly is a lot less noticeable in person than photos for some reason. Still, better than the creaky door with the dent. Can always get it repainted if I really wanted. Hopefully someone drives into this door at some point so I can get another respray lol. Still have those glossy window trim things to go on but I can finish that off later if need be. Not the most mint E46 wagon out there but still looking pretty good I reckon.

Touring part out continues, @Vass were any of these the parts you were after? A slight side project of replacing the shocks in my mum's passat caused a bit of a delay but hopefully should get everything done before I head south again. Learnt about the existence of XZN/True square spline fasteners at 10:30pm, thanks VAG... Got to use my $50 spring compressor again, only reason I even offered to do it. Also got the bench grinder out to make a homemade strut spreader which reduced the amount swearing needed to get the things back in again. Anyway, cars looking a lot better with the M-Sport bits. Unfortunately the black shadowline trim from partscar is in a pretty bad condition so I will just stick with the chrome for now until I get a chance to repaint it or whatever. I'm thinking that I will still put the glossy window trim on that matches the power folding mirrors though since thats all in pretty good shape. I've also replaced the passenger side door which had a nasty dent in it, that also happened to fix the god awful noise that door was making whenever I opened it. I've also swapped the power steering pump from the LF-20 to the LF-30, hopefully that fixes the loud noises it's been making. I will possibly swap the rack over to the purple tag at a later date once I've got a new PS reservoir. 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒛𝒆 I can definitely see a slight difference in the shade of silver between the partscar bits and the OG car but in person it's pretty hard to tell and realistically it'll probably only be me who notices (and everyone on this forum). At least it's less noticeable than the gnarly dent.