Cement

No certification re-check tomorrow unfortunately due to the certifier getting Covid and pushing everything back a week. That has been a blessing in disguise as I've had time to not rush things. I never mentioned that after flashing the standard Uprev ROM to the ECU I was unable to get past 70 km/h ... I thought that was very strange as my code to send the speed to the ECU was not functional (did not show speed in my OBD dongle). Upon investigation today it turned out it was in fact working !! Just calculating incorrectly. So have corrected that and now have an accurate speed signal to the ECU which is great as some of the tables reference speed. Did a little data logging from the Arduino and from Uprev just to ensure they lined up when actually driving and have had great success.

Some good engine pr0n in here ... not sure why your crank is blue but i'll just assume its a BMW thing 🤣

Nope, this was at Race Lab where I got all my AN fittings and hose from ... would be surprised if many alignment places have the gear ? Would be more race car setup / suspension places like Autolign. I have a friend in the race car business in Hamiltron who might know. Will see if I have his number and flick him a message 👍

Bit of an interesting one today ... got the car onto a set of corner scales to see how it looks. This was with minimal gas in the tank, maybe 1/8th and no driver. With me sitting in there it was quite well balanced left to right at the front which is cool. So its a 52/48 split front to rear ... full tank of gas (lets say +40kg) makes it 49.4% rear give or take. Would be really interesting to see some numbers from a 330 and M3 in RHD to compare !!

I'll get some video at some point once certified and fully road legal, its fairly fun as it is but suspect it will be even more so when you can drive it hard and bang through some gears etc. Went in for cert yesterday and came away with 13 things to address, only a couple that will need some thinking about ... mostly tidy-up items like heat proofing a brake line, some receipts for various bits, get a wheel alignment etc. Also, wheel bolts were 0.75 turns too short ... thats 1.1mm from memory 😂 Luckily found some UK made items from Racerproducts yuuuusssss. Hoping to get in for WoF recheck within the 28 day period but unsure if i can get all the cert items finished by then to be honest. In other progress, got the UpRev 'tuner' cable today so can try to address the wacky idle issues (noted for cert unfortunately, rats). Should be fun to do some proper data logging at last !! Also got in on the HPA Black Friday sales and got the tuner starter course for 50% off which is pretty sweet. Couple of shots from today, the lads at my tyre guys (JP Tyres, Glenfield AKL) were pretty interested and commented on how it looks beneath ... first time i have seen its belly on a hoist after starting at it from 30cm on my back for 2 years !! Still need to get some better shots before i drive it more.

Thanks Going for cert Monday so hoping for a fairly pleasant experience there !! It's quite fun and would be super keen to see how it feels compared to a 330 and a M3 if I ever get along to a meet or similar where other BMW folks hang ... on the other hand also keen to see how it feels compared to a 370Z haha.

Trying to get the Arduino side of things complete, at least for the physical install ... which involves my glove box display and temp sensor i am going to put in my engine bay electronics box to see how hot the ECU(s) are getting. Doing this since in Nissan land they are mounted in the cabin. Have been implementing some performance monitoring on the Arduino also which should be a bit of a laugh, taking the ABS wheel speeds so can do things like 0-100, 80-120, 100-0 times or what ever. Poor mans Dragy 😅

Just to round this one out ... replaced clock spring today. Horn working and airbag light off after code clearing

I'll get it jacked up shortly and bridge everything out to see if there is any change 👍

Definitely nothing in the rear near the arm rests, only the two on the parcel shelf. As far as the amp goes I managed to find this image which may show something useful ?

Definitely aint 10 speakers hiding in there (rears in parcel shelf only, fronts are the driver down low in the door and tweeter by the opening handle), I wish there were hah ... when I say dead I mean stuffed, the rears both produce fart bass etc. Only one is not working at all (drivers door midrange). Feeling like after the cert next week I'll pull things apart a bit to see exactly what is in there, then I can also sort the rear parcel tray which apparently should not be blue Just looking to get back to a reasonable factory sound which is pleasant to listen to really ... not going for any sound offs or uber hifi.

I did look at the codes, and nothing stood out from memory ... ASC was moaning about no CAN signal to / from the ECU (which has been removed). Checked the brake fluid sensor connector but unsure how it functions, one terminal was ground and one had about 10v on it. Might take a look at the wear sensors next i think, assume continuity is broken when the sensor wears through normally and I should be able to jumper the plug to simulate 'all good' ?

Brand new pads, discs and sensors all around ... but in saying that it could be wiring or similar hmmm. Any way to check via INPA or other diagnostics so I don't have to jack it all up in the air etc ?

I'm trying to get to the bottom of the things that can cause the dash brake light to stay on (red) in my E46. So far I have: Validated I'm getting all 4 wheel speeds from the ABS unit Validated the make / break switch on the handbrake itself is functioning Checked there is plenty of brake fluid in the reservoir When I lift the handbrake slightly when driving I get the audible beeps so that confirms the actual switch function. Anybody aware of the requirements for the light to go out ?

Ran the VIN and I have the below (https://www.mdecoder.com/decode/wbabl32040jr45006) ... which i take it is the basic bits. Did you have a source for the MB Quarts in NZ or just ordered from overseas as per most things for our cars ? 😅

So I just got the CD changer working again in the E46 and have a great collection of the previous owners music to now listen to ... but the speakers are all rooted. This is a NZ new coupe with the 'Business' audio. This is the front door setup ... hoping somebody can ID the speakers and replacement options (good mid price range not crazy expensive ideally) before I remove the door cards etc. Will be looking to replace fronts and rears, all poked basically.

More pics of workshop please 😍

Also, major development on the engine output front !! Had been feeling like it was no where near as potent as it was lately although it was driving much better (idle, rev hang etc). Have been trying to data log my a/f ratios or voltages via Android app NCSIII and OBD2 dongle but alas they only have readings in 'alpha' ... this was on the thought that my sensors are much further back in the exhaust than previous and may not be getting hot enough etc, hence skewing things. Annnnnnnyyyhoooooo ... via the phone app I could at least reset the fuel trims, so I did that. Idle and drivability back to been a bit pants BUT it must have picked up 100hp !! Back to ripping like it used to. So will have to get it on a dyno with some calibrated wide band and see what the story is some time soon ... great that I was not imagining it slowing up at least !! Now, these may look essentially like the same photos but ... they're not 😆 Did a ceramic spray coating, dressed the tyres and finally cleaned under the bonnet. Its probably looking about as good as its going to for a while !!

The WoF didn't turn up anything unexpected which is great, so with a couple weeks to go before certification booking I have been hitting off more odd jobs: New BMW 'evo' wiper blades installed after the Bosch ones didn't wipe a patch of the window New fog lights and surrounds arrived last week so installed those Ordered a replacement clock spring which should fix the airbag and horn Installed new oil pressure switch, no longer leaks yuuusss Installed swanky little air filter for the rocker cover Probably most fun of all was giving it its first post op bath and then a luxurious clay bar treatment Will give it another wash then onto some polishing to get it looking sorta pretty. So many stone chips in the bonnet and the bumpers have spider web sorta cracking .... but looks good from five meters at least

Soooo back on topic here, confirmed the source of the issues which is great !! Also explains why the horn was not working Clock spring is completely fubar !! Ribbon detached and some plastic bits broken also.

I reckon they're on the right track there (😜), but still eludes me why people don't spend a few hours cleaning to make it look 3x better !! Like selling a house with your skiddy undies on the floor and last nights nachos still on the bench.

Unfortunately not its just the very basic one with just the one button ... the horn

Ya, told them I was hoping with some cleaning of contacts etc on the way through it would be resolved ... they were keen to keep the car for longer to diagnose but I had another appointment to get to so could not. Horn is not working also (can't hear relay activate, fuses have power) so could well be something in the clock spring or similar which sounds kinda common.

Sorry I should have clarified, the error was present before I took it in for the replacement. Was hopeful it would be fixed as part of the process but alas no.

So I need to get this resolved to fail my WoF to get my cert to get my Wof to get my rego Translated from German INPA. Has just had the drivers airbag replaced under recall. Anybody faced this one and have some ideas of where to head first ? Or alternately a recommendation on workshop who can resolve cost effectively ?