Eagle

Struts and shocks sure to be well worn if they are original. Bilstein B4's front and rear from Spareto are $700 shipped. Less than 1k you can replace the entire suspension - subframe bushings, trailing arm bushings, sway bar links & bushings, front control arm bushings and struts\shocks. Very easy to do and makes a big difference.

Shipping for multiple small\light stuff usually only $20 euro. Arrives quicker than average US parcel too with less stops.

Penrite product selector is a good general go to and is usually fairly accurate. Plenty of aftermarket fluids available for all of that with everyone has their own preferences. I generally use Penrite as they make good products at reasonable prices and are easy to source. I bought an online Haynes manual awhile back and it was ok but it they can vary alot in quality. Bentley publishers make good BMW manuals based on official BMW literature, but i dont think they make one for your car. Usually with BMW's you can find enough info on whatever is required without paying though.

Id class those brands in the same tier as Michelin, Dunlop and Falken probably at the bottom for street rubber at least. I find Michelin is a very consistent brand, never the best at everything but do everything to a decent standard whatever the product. Easy to source, heaps of sizes with a easy to follow product names also helps.

Just another rubbish tyre with a dumb name category, not the worst maybe but its like comparing a dog crap with cow crap. We sell both at work and lots of customers have switched over to Continental UC6's, just regular drivers and most are happy with the extra cost for very noticeable difference. When you got old and worn vehicles the tyres do a lot of work.

Around the same as mine was with that value. No restrictions? Seems to be a recurring theme down there. Do you have any paper evidence or tag to say its been been completed and passed? If so then id be driving in the mean time and putting it on him if i was ever pulled up on it.

I tested them for about 50km vs OE M3 bushings + limiters, same setup both using lower M3 spherical joint instead of non M rubber bushing. Its certainly a obvious improvement for rear end tracking, much more controlled for sure. If you dropping good money on coilovers its probably worth it given the fairly low cost to extract additional performance id reckon. Installation is a bit harder especially on the car and harsher over sharp bumps, but not things that i would expect to matter at that point. I will be in Auckland in couple of weeks so if you want you are welcome to have a drive. Im basically a stock setup now with these and solid mounts.

"Condition: Unrestored, close to factory delivery condition". Didnt know they came from the factory with wear on seats, shift boot, gear knob and the rest that cant be seen.

Doing toe\camber adjusters? Looks like it could use them

If you doing trailing arm, diff bushes and hoses its not much more work to drop the whole subframe and makes doing the bushings way easier. Ive got a spare subframe with all new bushings, too bad you are a bit far away and probably expensive shipping otherwise id offer it.

Lots of Bosch ones ive seen are remanufactured, could well be one of them, they probably re-use certain components. What was the battery doing over the 12 mths?

Yeah they dont look that worn. Having 'rebuilt' one of these anything beyond the regulator\brushes and the slip ring replacement is a major ramp up in time\effort (if you can find the parts).

Wasnt just worn brushes was it?

Need to clear all codes, drive the car for a bit then rescan to see what comes back. A lot of those are probably from battery going flat. Replaced lots of alternators on E90's compared to the older stuff so probably pay to test that if you have a multimeter. Also need to code\register the new battery.

Are the current faults the highlighted ones?

Design flaw. If you keep it clean and dry it out now and again it's not usually an issue. Could probably modify it i suppose.

Yeah im just comparing their rates to other setups, Ohlins for example is 7\12kg (similar to their comfort model) and suppose to be fairly compliant for a coil over. Street to me is a wide spectrum and im sure Australian road are far better than ours, then you got individual preferences and adjustment side of it, who really knows what its like until you try it is basically what im saying. No doubt massive just in performance from OE once thats all done. You running monoball rtabs?

Frist time ive heard of them. They seem good value for money compared to importing from afar and black is nice. Be very interested to see what you think of them when you have them setup, the rear spring rate looks quite high but im guessing you can always change it if needed.

Yep tends to be the 80's-90's stuff in my experience.

Even if you found one it would likely be in worse condition. Always going to loose to insurance with these type of cars if you have anything that better than average.

In general or a certain VIN? Ive found some VIN numbers don't decode even though they appear correct in parts catalogue

I just put a set of PS5's on my compact to replace the Pirelli P7's which had a few mm left. Went from a 205/50R16 to 215/45R17, rides just as good with better turn in. As you say the grip is so much more effortless in normal driving and conditions without even pushing it, everyone can notice that. Double the price of a cheap tyre on special but $600 isnt much extra for what you in at least 30,000+ k's of driving.

Probably plugged it into some calculator no doubt. To be fair the average E46 325i auto is around that mark, they wouldnt have a clue that tourings are worth a chunk more. We know mainstream places never seem to care to really care\want to know about condition either.

Rear sure looks sacked out in some of those shots. Weight in rear? Terrain? or both?

That was always going to be the result wasn't it? AA Classic insurance were fine with the value i had on my W140, but E46's are too modern for these classic policies at various providers when i was asking. Star insurance was the only decent option i could find. My premium has gone from $585>$619>$680\$720(+3.5k valuation) in 2 years and that's casual\hobby usage rate. Its going on 3rd party at the end of the year if i still have it, not worth it to me.