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.

I did consider that as an option but the condition of the bonnet and fenders is worse than mine so just gunna keep it as is. Plus I don't mind the pre facelift look kind of gotten used to it. I think I prefer to the prefacelift lights but prefer to the post facelift hood if that makes sense. My ideal choice would to be to swap the front end of a coupe to give it the M3 look, maybe chuck an S54 in it at the same time... Yeah have heard that the LF30's are a bit lighter. Unfortunately I think my LF20 has one foot in the grave so won't be able to test the difference unfortunately. My current rack has the yellow tag rack I think not sure how that compares to purple. Some threads seem to reckon yellow > purple then others purple > yellow so who knows. I could swap just the pump over first then see how that compares, then potentially do the purple later. Not sure if my rack is in the best condition either though and it looks like the purple tag in the parts car was swapped over at some point. One thing to note is that I have the CMP solid coupling in at the moment which helped quite a lot with my steering looseness, although it can be a bit harsh on longer drives I've found, (e.g Queenstown to Auckland...). That could also be because my power steering pump being a bit dodgy though. Parts car has finally been removed from the garage, just need to take that shadowline trim off, front passenger door and some other bits then I can try get rid of it. Also robbed it of the rear touring M-Sport springs so it's got some blocks of wood in there instead. EDIT Trimmed the numberplate as @Vass suggested, definitely looks way cleaner. Currently the numberplate is attached with a bunch of VHB tape but I will replace that some screws when I get back to Queenstown since there's a bunch of screws at work.

Unfortunately the parts car is a facelift model so won't be able to steal any lights from it. Also the corner light is flooded on one side so not so keen on that. I don't think the euro plinth from my current car would fit on the M-Sport properly having had a look at it next to the M-Sport ones I've got. Having seen what Vass did with his seems like the cleanest way to go since I don't want to give the thieves at Kiwiplates $300 for a euro plate. In other news steering system has been repossessed from the parts car, semi tempted to put this into mine whilst I'm up here since I haven't got anywhere to work on the car in Queenstown at the moment. This topic is definitely turning more into project than showroom haha. Photo of it not on jackstands lol.

As boring as silver is it definitely has it's upsides when it comes to finding parts. I found the parts car on marketplace up north and got my dad to trailer it back to his, cost me $1000 which isn't too bad considering how much all these parts would cost on their own and how hard they are to find. Gotta get to work getting all the black interior bits since I need to redo my headliner at some point. Scope creep keeps expanding... Sounds like I should take that Lf-30 since I've got it sitting in there anyway and mine really doesn't seem super healthy. Might have to take you up on that offer for those O-rings, was looking at this kit. Let me know if you need any touring bits since I'm taking it apart anyway.

Yep haha, I've had an M-Sport parts car sitting in my dad's garage for a while so needed to get it done at some point, plus family is up here so was going to be here for Christmas anyway, then I've got some stuff to bring back so in my head totally worth it... Was quite happy to see that the vents were in good condition. A parts car is probably the way to go for this stuff can't imagine what it would cost getting everything individually. Hopefully I can sell some of the parts from the parts car (e.g Wheels, towbar, etc) to make it a bit more cost neutral. Next stage of the job is swapping over the gloss black window trim things and sorting out the rear bumper. I am tempted to take the power steering pump as well since my current one might be on the way out. Although part of me is thinking that I should just fork out for a new one rather than taking a higher milage unit from the parts car. My car has the LF-20 and pretty sure the parts car has the LF-30 which might be an upgrade.

Drove up to Auckland from Queenstown to put on some new bumpers/sideskirts/vents etc. The parts aren't all mint but neither was my current bumper so bit of a lateral move really. Still, looks a lot better than the stock ones mine has. Even got the M-Sport vents so everything fits nice and flush.

Hey guys, anyone got one one of these they would be able to sell? https://protuning.com/en/64125-genuine-m-sport-rear-bumper-diffuser-for-bmw-e46-m-sport

Finally installed fresh RTAB's on it. I was going to go with Moog camry spherical bearing but gave up on getting them in with the tool I had. Also got my control arms fixed and warrant sorted out. I love suspension work it brings great joy... Control arms and FCAB's. The FCAB's were actually fine but since I was getting everything replaced through FCP Euro I switched them out anyway. The FCP thing did save me a little bit but the shipping definitely adds up. The exchange rate really did help me either. The issue with the tool is that they hadn't machined the top flat so I couldn't flip it around to properly align it. After a few goes trying to get them in I decided to just stick with the OEM RTAB's with limiters since I had some lying around from ages ago. The tool worked fine for getting those back in. Set the preload on the rubber RTAB's to the same angle that they were originally. Haven't driven it much since then as it needs an alignment but from my drive around the block it I can tell that it is definitely feeling a lot more solid on the rear so should be good once that alignment is done. I am now going to refrain from driving on unsealed roads and use the Prado for that...

Have now finished with my E46 RTAB tool, if anyone else needs to borrow it can probably ship it to them or pick up from Queenstown.

Bought these to install on my car but didn't end up getting them in since my tool wasn't well suited to the install. The best way to do it would be going at it with a shop press rather than trying to get them on whilst on the car, would probably work better with a proper set of bearing cups though. The bearings themselves have got pretty good reviews on E46fanatics. I bought an install kit as well from there which is included and helps get it into the correct depth and includes bushings to fit the stock bolts and a flap wheel to remove rust on the flange in the control arm. More info here on installing them and the install kit. Good cheap way of getting spherical RTAB's without forking out $400 on some of the other options (CMP, Turner, etc). Looking for $160 including shipping.

Yep thats the plan. It didn't actually come with the thrust bearing but I figured adding one wouldn't hurt.