TonyT

1 hour ago, Hazzy said:

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.

If it's an agreed value policy then set the value at a figure you agree with. I always adjust mine each year, precisely because their estimate doesn't gel with the market. AA insurance wont bat an eyelid if you want to insure for more than they suggest.

Another idea might be to get a can of C21L made up from Spraystore or similar, test spray some random panel or part, and then see how that looks relative to both your original paint and your newly resprayed parts. If it's close to the old paint and different to the new paint, then you can go back to your painter with more confidence. 

All colours change over time, and blacks perhaps more than most. If you have a good paint depth on the rest of the car then you might find a deep cut with the right pads and compounds will bring your old paintwork back to what it looked like new, and therefore closer to the newly resprayed parts. 

4 hours ago, Straykiwi said:

Yes it is a factory order and no I have not received a build slot yet.  The colour is Isle of Man Green with black wheels, black brake calipers and a black leather interior.

Nice, the green is a very cool colour. Please keep us updated as the build progresses. 

Is it being built for you? What colour did you choose?

Possibly BMWs are so loved that they get repaired if they break, and have preventative maintenance completed. So there is plenty of discussion in the enthusiast communities about these topics. Whereas some other brands are just driven into the ground then ditched, with little in the way of enthusiasm to keep them going. 

23 minutes ago, Fail57 said:

They’ll be the originals no doubt. 150,000kms old, I’m certain they’re stuffed but was hoping to find someone who’s fitted the same or similar springs on a factory shock who can chime in if it’s pretty normal to have this and I need a sport option for the new pair or will a new oem option work fine. Last thing I wanna do is buy a oem replacement and find out it’s a travel issue on top of me just having worn shocks 

At 150k they will be stuffed, for sure. If you want to stick with the H&R springs I would email H&R and ask them what dampers they recommend. Otherwise, troll through the online forums and see if you can find someone else who has done the same, and what dampers they went with. 

How old are your current dampers? What you have possibly done by fitting the H&R (which as has been noted, are significantly firmer than stock) is push your worn dampers into only a small part of their operating range. Hence they are not operating very well. You have a number of options, none of them cheap. But all worthwhile in terms of improved handling, if that is your goal. 

1 hour ago, bimmerguy said:

If that's the case, I'd have to get it checked by my mechanic and claim for any repairs/parts. But, why do you say do?

Failing fuel pump? 

Sorry to mislead. It was an attempt at humour - a comment on the price of petrol these days. If I was to hazard a guess I would say check your fuel breather valve. 

Its the sound of your hard-earned money leaving your account at high speed... 😆

As a minimum you'll need to give it about half an hour of full operating temperature running every 800-1000km (so about once per tank full) to regenerate the DPF. Obviously the more you can run it at at full temperature the better. 

Different flow rates through the DPFs perhaps? ie. the 2011 one more clogged than the 2010.

Timing chains were an issue on the earlier N47s but.a redesign post 2009 improved them a lot. There was another design change in 2012, and the twin-scroll version used in this F31 is said to be improved further (no doubt as a result of the failures of the previous versions). While timing chain faliures are the most common issue with a N47, they are not very common issue, and you would be unlucky to get one so long as regular maintenance has been kept up. The difficulty with this particular car being a new import is to find the service history - if it has a service booklet with regular services in it thats good, or check the service section of the idrive. If it's not had a good service history then it becomes a more difficult decision.  

Given the higher kms you might be doing, the diesels could suit you well. Pretty bullet proof in the F series. BUT, be aware you will need to do a decent high speed run (20-30 mins) every 1000km or so to regenerate the DPF. So long as you have some out-of-town running in your usage the diesel will serve you well. 

While driving it till it dies IS probably your only financially sensible option, you could prolong that for a while. 

1) Use a "stop leak" oil additive and keep the oil topped up.
2) find some second hand shocks and bumpstops from a lower mileage car. The labour fitting these is not huge.
3) Assuming you don't have allergies, ignore the pollen filter
4) Spark plugs are worth doing and should be fairly cheap with minimal labour
5) Ignore the diff leak, buy a drip tray for your garage floor,  and get the fluid topped up every oil service. 

Very likely the FRM. Usually thats easy to get reset by someone who knows how.

2 hours ago, gofaster said:

Call Basil at Autopassion. I have paid $995 for their stage 1 tunes on several cars. Talk to him directly rather than what their website quotes for power as it is not up to date. No plug in boxes used, an ECU remap or whatever it is called. 

I've also used Basil and fully recommend him, a good person to deal with. 

Try emailing AFE direct and see if they will sell you the rubber gasket.  I suspect most of their resellers would want to sell you a complete unit. 

You might want to think about why you have so much movement at that joint - have you replaced your engine mounts? They are a wear item on a 10+ year old car, and they are not expensive parts or a lot of labour so well worth doing.

Two unicorns - the mythical F81 CS, and the fabled G81 CSL

2 minutes ago, HELLBM said:

DSC controllers available @HELLBM

Thank you, I'll keep that in mind.

A bit of a long shot but here goes. I have a 48070D code on my F31. Traction control is not working.  The message is "DSC unit: Valve data for intake valve, EEPROM, perform adjustment"
Code appeared after battery got low. Have now replaced the battery, but cant shift the code. My Foxwell has a DSC valve calibration routine which I have tried a few times, but which always fails. 

Before I go down the route of finding a replacement DSC controller (1300 Euros for a new part!), has anyone else had this problem and solved it? I'm inclined to believe it's just as likely to be a software issue as faulty hardware, but cant be sure. Would getting it on an ISTA be a useful next step?

Thanks for any input.

NZTA says "All plates must be fixed securely to the vehicle in an upright position. They must be displayed so that all the characters (numbers and letters) are clearly visible at all times."  You can paint over any and all of the rest of the plate with body colour or whatever you want. I had the police stop me once to check this was a legal plate, then they admired my creativity. 

2 hours ago, m325i said:

Some what relevant an f80 just sold for $47k. I’d rather have that for the same money as a e9x personally 

Having driven both, the F80 would be easier to use as a daily, but the E9x provides the more special experience, something to look forward to driving.  Plus for $47k you'd be getting a ratty F80 compared to a rather better E9x. 

4 hours ago, JohnM575 said:

the car may be on original software and I understand this makes a slight difference to the way the DCT performs.

The GTS software for the DCT makes a significant improvement to the way the DCT shifts - they become faster and smoother. Well worth getting.