Harper

Still looking for a trim set for an E46 Coupe/M3 if anyone has any lying around. This includes dash trim + front and rear armrests, though I will consider just the armrests. Not too worried about condition or colour as I will likely repaint them.

Don't give me any more expensive ideas, I have enough of those 🙄...

Oh yeah, this thing is good... Fixed the alignment a little so pretty close to no rubbing. Probably still needs to be slightly higher front and rear. Waiting on some strut spacers for the Ohlins so I don't have to preload the spring quite so much on the front before I get a proper alignment. For now I've just gotta hope the driveway measured camber and toe will suffice. I also accidentally ordered a set or recaro pole position ABE's which I've decided will get trimmed in m-texture to match as well. Oops, man I really need to take a break from spending on this thing.

Better turn in grip not a perk on the street? News to me. As with anything, comes down to personal preference and what kind of driving experience you are looking for. These days, this is a weekend car that gets smashed around every time I drive it, so I want something that's a bit more involved and fun. If I was doing a daily commute in this, then yes a larger front section tyre would be a poor choice probably. Added benefit of being able to swap the tyres front to rear is nice for a road car as well. As far as I know, yes.

Potentially. 255 square is actually on the smaller end for what is common. M3's that see track use have even been known to run 285 square. 265 being the most common square setup tyre. There is definitely tradeoffs for running the larger tyre in the front such as reduced steering feel and increased tramlining. Steering feel is offset somewhat by running a purple tag rack and a solid steering coupler in my case. The tramlining felt no different driving around today than my stock 235 tyres on my style 67s. Upside of the larger tyre is way more turn in and pushing the grip balance of the car forward for a bit more oversteer bias. Swings and roundabouts. As for whether it is a compromise or not. That is subjective, hence why I thought I'd try it out. Happy to report back 😁

Unfortunately not. Bought four rears brand new via ECS, when they were on a silly clearance from BMW and cost me peanuts. Kicking myself for not just grabbing 2 fronts as well for the option of a staggered setup though...

Tyre shortage meant 265/35/18 was ~6 months out for PS4S, 255/40/18 is the OE rear size, thought the taller sidewall would be nice, bit less camber required on the front. Lots of reasons really. Downside is that it's maybe a little small in the rear. But the car only sees street use so its hardly under gripped for that use case.

Wheels on. Car is filthy and camera lens is broken on my phone so the photos are a bit shite but you get the idea. Square set of brand new Style 260M's in reflex silver. Michelin PS4S's 255/40/18 all round. Photos don't quite do it justice, looks mega. Need to dial the alignment in a little more, still getting a slight rub under compression on the front right so probably going to raise it + a little more camber. Been a really rough few weeks so this has definitely put a smile on my face

Yep its a real special interior. Probably my favourite thing about the car and I'm quite obsessive about it. Finding out production numbers/hunting down what remains of the original m tex cars in NZ etc. Mine was one of the few factory specced but was retrimmed (poorly) in black leather shortly after being imported to NZ. I have no idea why anyone would do such a thing. But when I discovered I committed to spending far too much money restoring it to original. Only thing I have yet to source is the rear seat.

short for M-Texture Alcantara Interior. Rare interior option available for E46 M3 coupes. Also was an option for E46 clubsport but only on the seats I believe. It is just a neat perforated alcantara layered fabric that was an option in place of the leather on the door cards and the leather inserts on the seats. Photo of my M texture door cards for reference:

Fitted, nothing better than fresh M-texture. In desperate need of some trim to replace my silver junk now though... Ordered an exciting package out of Germany over the weekend which should be here in 3 weeks, pilot sport 4S's arriving this week or early next, this car might finally start to actually take shape soon.

Doesn't appear to be. Different wheels, different rear valence, different model year, different nav system, different japanese plate.

Are you kidding?? A different one! It's not like these are common either. I don't know how many worldwide were made but I know there were only 20 made for the states in AW on Mtex. Even fewer without a sunroof. Who knows how many were made RHD for the rest of the world but not many (Just had a look and a total of 69 AW on M tex cars were made RHD worldwide, not sure how many had no sunroof). To see two get imported in 2 weeks is very surprising...

Very jealous, mint car have seen it in person. Until this white one shows up yours might be the only m3 on the road atm with a full m tex interior as far as I know 👍. Mine is still half m tex and half black leather as I source the final pieces to restore it to OEM.

Would love to see photos! Didn't realise that had m tex in it. Where did you get the interior from? My car is one of the 5 (soon to be 6 with this new AW m3) in NZ specced with the interior but was retrimmed to black leather. Sourcing a set has been seriously difficult, but it's slowly coming together.

F2AT is the option code for the m texture interior. This will be the 6th one in NZ afaik. But this will be the only one still on the road that's factory specced (sort of). One other m3 running around with this interior but it is not factory specced. Rays old LSB.

@KwSthe temptation is very much there. I don't need two M3's, I don't need two M3's...

@M3ANsteering wheel looks fine. Bolster wear is perhaps slightly more than expected for the mileage but hard to tell from those abysmal photos. The spec alone makes this easily more than a 40k car. 1 of 1 in nz and 1 of very few world wide even. Not to mention fairly low mileage. They haven't listed the vin so we can't know if the interior has been swapped in or not which could explain some of the bolsters wear. Early MY and smg does definitely make the car a little less desirable however. I can see this being purchased very quickly by someone who knows how few of these are around.

So much want. Alpine white, no sunroof, m tex interior. I assume this is being imported as I was under the impression there was only one AW coupe in NZ and it was a sunroof car. Not to mention the interior, which in addition to mine will be the only other factory specced car left on the road. 40k asking seems very... low https://www.trademe.co.nz/3131580110

This pretty rad E30 325i Wagon. Manual, cloth interior, AC Schnitzer wheels, yes please.

@leichtbau Sure it's not paint? Have heard of a few of these being resprayed to LSB. On a side note, I'm sure this car popped up at a car show thread on here somewhere a while ago. I remember checking the vin and seeing it was supposed to be PY on kiwi.

Should really have made a build thread for this car, maybe one day I'll get round to writing it all up. Had the CMP topmount subframe kit + front mount extension installed @HELLBM couple weeks back. Pretty beefy unit. Should have some better photos once I get the time to lay some paint down and cut the carpets to size. Got a much needed wash too after being on daily driver duty for the last couple weeks. Then thrashed to Kawakawa and back. Getting sick of black wheels though, pilot sport 4S's on order for the new square set. Backordered until at least mid June, yikes.

One step closer... Rears done as well, just need to be assembled. Now to find some seats...

Did I just see this driving through new market about 15 mins ago? Looks minty if it was you.

@3 SERIES Ohlins are the way to go 👍 wouldn't go back after having them on my M3.