Cement

Got to be honest here, I don't have much basis for comparison as this is the only BMW / E46 I've had and didn't drive it much when stock. I think it's pretty quiet when cruising apart from the things that are supposed to make noise, definitely no noise you can pick up and say 'that sounds like the diff' etc. Have poly bushes essentially throughout (all PowerFlex). Got it all back together tonight after making some temporary washers from some stainless sheet and life threatening times with the 85mm hole saw in the cordless drill 😂 It's super quiet again, turns out the mild clunking I have been hearing (before the loud clunking) for some time was the early stages of the bolt letting go or having excess play.

Both rad in their own way. Yellow caliper club, so naturally I approve

Yea I'm leaning towards a poor design, where the centre of the bush is too small and the clamping from the bolt (plus torque / driving) is squashing the sh*t out of a small area on the washer causing it to deform. Don't think the bolt is at fault really as it was essentially being guillotined in half by the washer ... sure doesn't help having it threaded where the washer was though !! Have written to PowerFlex to see what they think but will likely look to replace with a different design i think.

Keen to hear if anybody has experienced this issue or similar previously. I've got the PowerFlex purple polyurethane bushings https://www.powerflex.co.uk/product-details/Rear+Diff+Rear+Bush/11051.html and ended up with a snapped bolt which left the back end of the diff swinging within the subframe making a horrid knocking noise ... check out the fun video of this linked below Essentially it looks like the solid centre of the bushing managed to press into the large 'washer' (the one next to the diff cover), deforming it to the point it was tightly pinching the bolt ... over time the bolt has fatigued and snapped right at that point. I would have torqued this to the correct spec when assembling, and there was no lube on the threads. Really happy it finally let go about 1.5km from home !! Rear side of the deformed washer, was clearly supported where the pressure from the chunky centre piece was. Severely deformed and you can see the threads from the bolt formed into the washer also ! Bowed washer from the 'outside' of the sandwich where the nut goes, not optimal but not a deal breaker. Showing the relative hole sizes, no longer can I get a M14 bolt through the deformed hole ... would have not found this whole mess if I could, as would not have removed it after many attempts just thinking i was not quite aligned. The video of what your diff looks like with no rear bolt

My certifier was interested in mine and came to my place to inspect the welding before I seam sealed / painted etc. Now complete, it's noted on my cert as "Rear subframe mounting reinforced". I'd suggest working in with your certifier of choice ... a bit like dealing with building inspectors really !! I have looked in my emails and can't see any discussion of body material, but it does ring a bell 🤔 EDIT: Maybe your guy can talk to my guy (or others ?) to form a sort of standard approach yard stick.

I'll take the cup holders 👍 Please advise payment details incl shipping to Auckland.

Not sold on the twin centre tips ... or the wing 🤣

I'd imagine it's this ?

Bloody Tina !!!

Yuuuur here is the document: https://lvvta.org.nz/documents/suplementary_information/LVVTA_LVV_Cert_Threshold.pdf You're looking for the section 'Springs and shock absorbers (Including modification of ride height)' on page 16.

One other change I made was to switch out the front pad retention pins from the OEM press fit items to these R-clip style. The OEM system required a ridiculous amount of pounding on the pin to install !! Image shows OEM top and clip based bottom.

Speechless !

I decided to go the whole hog and change out the master cylinder to better suit the new setup. The new item is from a M3 with MK60 ABS pump which has a 25.4mm front and 22.2mm rear bore. Side benefit of the later model master is the ports for pressure sensors, will integrate them into my custom electronics for monitoring at some point. The swap out will change the (calculated) front bias from 63.4% to 60.5% and should firm up the pedal feel. It's all completed now and the brakes certainly have a very solid feel so pretty happy with the result for sure and was well worth the effort, seat of the pants test suggests braking performance is improved but could be related to how solid it feels. Now for the story in pictures ... first up was the booster and master sourced from Ebay / https://mpartsworldwide.com/ at a pretty reasonable cost even with the shipping. Removal of the 318 item and a side by side comparison reveals that the M3 uses two M12x1.0 ports and the 318 item is one M12 and one M10. I sourced an adapter from Ebay (and unfortunately their international shipping program ugghhh) which is USA made and adapts M12 to M10 bubble flare directly on the master. The other issue is the reservoir from the M3 was filthy and I could not remove the filter successfully to clean it. Ordered a replacement reservoir along with fresh grommets. My alternate plan was to use the reservoir from the 318 but it turns out the retaining screw on the M3 item inserts from the other side making this not possible without machining, who would have thought !! While having both units out I also compared all of the critical dimensions, and successfully confirmed they were a like for like fitment 👍 Disassembly of the M3 master for a full clean, based on what i saw in the reservoir. Can not source replacement seals unfortunately so re-assembled. That's really about it, reassembled everything and bled the system ... happy days !!

That's some pretty pornographic carbon work for sure 🍆 I like the paint booth, about to do something similar in my kitchen 🤣 Gotta love those holiday projects hah

Got the big brake setup completed / back on the road !! Really happy with the result Check my other thread linked above if it's of interest, else here are some quick snaps of a dirty car wit the big poser yellow calipers