hunter

Dropped car off at local painters for front bumper respray, long over due. Getting rid of paint cracks scuffs and scrapes.

Yeah, my H&R are nose down, which i expected and like but the back didn't quite settle as much as i really wanted...but meh looks great and rides super nice. I am sure yours will be awesome too! it'll look great .75" to 1" down

Cool beans! How much drop will you get from the Vogtlands?

began the fiddly task of installing baby seat rear tether brackets, whole rear interior out to get under parcel tray. all going well, fixed all the rattles while i was in there. Then miss drilled the holes for the tether mount, didn't correctly account for the shape of the brackets and where they would contact the rear tray, and now need a new tray or different mounts. I have seen some coupe ones that are straight up and down rather the Z shaped, will have to talk to dealer Monday.

Pretty frustrated at myself for that blunder

WTB rear parcel shelf for 2001 E46 sedan, must have standard speaker option holes. I have all hardware and just need the shelf.

Must be in good condition, no rips or missing foam etc, faded is ok.

Cheers

Ben

in respect to wheels have you looked at the HRE range?

They are on the higher end of the market but the classics range is to die for http://www.hrewheels.com/wheels/forged

example of classic 300 in black

https://www.instagram.com/p/-QJk5Bv0gf/?taken-by=hre_wheels

I like the ambers on the Blue / black combo. They add a nice touch of contrast. the clears look a little flat. especially if your going carbon /matte black on other details. Or go for clears with amber bulbs maybe

I'll just get the legal type - no one will even notice the difference!

Still looking for wheels.. VMR? Seem affordably okay.

Not sure if you can get an okay set of wheels around 3-4K in NZ :/

Hey Amber, I can personally recommend VMR CSL style wheels, their other wheels look really nice too, their service was great and can ship direct.

Also Apex ARC-8 are very nice and light, maybe more a track focused wheel though, http://www.apexraceparts.com/apex-products/e46-m3/#.VkTG8XYrLDc

Looks amazazing Amber, well done finding such a gem. Hopefully get to check it out in person at the ECC Summer madness.

look like VMR CSL reps - V703 like mine...http://www.velocitymotoring.com/vmr-wheels/

awesome wheels and great outfit to deal with

Hi, I mean adjusting the bar, so the end links are in different holes. Both front and rear are adjustable.

Hi guys, looking for some advice on adjusting my front sway bar, have read conflicting reports on whether this should be done with both wheels off the ground as to have no pre load on the bar when adjusting vs. adjusting one side and then lowering the car tothe ground to do the other side.

What have the suspension gurus here done? I'm trying to soften the front a little, current setting is full still as per the H&R install instructions, so just having a play, will the adjust the rear to balance.

Cheers

I had a similar issue a couple of years back, play in steering from side to side and a knocking or light thud when quickly turning the wheel side to side whilst parked, it ended up being part 3 in this diagram http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=AN16-EUR---E46-BMW-320i&diagId=32_0942

The unit had the smallest amount of play that transferred up the column and felt huge in the wheel. the part was replaced and all is good. the way the tested it was pushing on it from under the bonnet with a log screw driver, i could feel the play in the joint.

good luck!

How's this coming along?

As Snowflake said, ask the team at VMR, Kevin who helped me 3 years ago did a superb job with discussing options and knowing what would fit in terms of max size / offsets and tires too.

Thanks for all the replies guys, really appreciate the thoughtfulness and detail of them

I have decided to keep the E46, with our first child now on the way (holy cow!), a recent development , I'll keep the newer safer car for the growing Fam

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=900489503

Yeah saw that last night, might be a bit too old for what I'm after, was thinking mid eighties

Why not. If you want it as a tidy up project you will have a lot of fun. They are very simple and anything you replace will be rewarding.

Step one. Replace all the cooling gear in the car.

Go for an M30 variant if you can.

Plenty of places still cover the E28. Full suspension replacement will have her driving like new.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-control-arm-upgrade-kit-e28-e24-meyle-e2816piece-my

Thanks driftit for the link, good to know this kind of stuff is available.

Cheers all. Would like to get a ride in an E28 and see if the memory matches with reality. Want to put the E46 on the market soon and will consider it over the weekend, don't need a replacement right away, so no probs if the E46 sells quickly.

Hi all, I'm thinking of selling my beloved E46 and replacing with an E28 as a bit of a project.

I've always liked the idea f owning an older "simpler" car, for that classic feel and style. Drove one in USA a few years back and loved it. To those out there who do or have owned an E28 how are they to maintain and get parts for?

What are common issues found or pit falls to look out for with these older models? there is a semi regular flow of them on Trademe most in good looking condition.

It would mostly be a weekend car for cruising, something the E46 seems wasted on sitting in the garage.

Can't help with the wheels - kinda need them on my car and I head north towards Auckland every day. Out of interest - what tyres do you have fitted? All 4 having high spots sounds unlikely. Not impossible, but certainly unusual.

Alignment - I used Tyre Tracks on Kent St in Frankton.

No probs man, I have Nexen N-fera SU1 tires. I have had a problem with one before which was replaced as it had a patch across it that was going off. So i wouldn't be surprised if these were from the same batch they're all potentially bung.

i dont think trying new tyres is going to help you locate the issue but it might so i guess its worth a shot if anyone is willing to help.

on another note, only 10k kms? thats quite a lot and enough to make tyres go bad. just my opinion.

u cud have drove over a pot hole in the past few days that buckled a wheel so having a report or someone say they were sweet 2 weeks ago isnt really going to hold much value.

yeah that hasn't happened, hardly driven the car, it isn't daily driven, and haven't hit any potholes at all.

From what i was told today, all tires have either high points or are going out of round, not the wheels. So i believe trying some others would be of benefit.

Take the car to a different tyre fitter and ask them to check the wheels for balance - an alignment won't show if the tyres are round. When they're spun up for balancing you'll be able to see if they're round or not.

And if they're out of balance, that can cause the vibration, too.

What year is your 320i? E46s (in particular) get vibration when LCA bushes need replacing.

Hi, Car is 2001 has had LCA bushes replaced recently so confident it isnt those, the vibration is from the rear. Driveline was also checked and seems ok, some minor wear in rubber "doughnut"

Yeah Beaurepairs checked for roundness, while checking and balancing 2 weeks ago and said it was sweet, but the report from today was that they aren't. Hence i want to try (hopefully) some other wheels

It will need another alignment as the guys who did one today,as part of other work messed it up so now needs to go back to them to correct rear camber (not mechanics)

Hey guys, is there anyone in Hams that can help me out, with some 18" wheels and good tires for a short drive? I'm trying to locate the source of a vibration in my E46 sedan, I want to try some other wheels and tries to eliminate the list of possibilities for the vibration.

Mechanic says tires aren't round, Beaurepairs (where i went for an alignment recently) says they're sweet. I do plan to take them back to the store i purchased them from to try and get replacements if they aren't round as only have approx 10k kms on them of weekend driving. But would like to try some other first, to either support the position that the tires aren't round or help pin point other areas of vibration.

Cheers

Ben

New FCABs and front brakes from the guys at SD Euro, great work diagnosing my cars "shimmy" at speed and under braking and fast turn around on fitting new parts, same day service.

The new bits have also stopped the car groaning and moving after handbrake is applied.

The guys at www.bavsound.com came to the party supplying me with a fix for this issue, and I only had to pay shipping. So i'm back to the cut free, plug and play installation i always wanted.

Cheers