Eagle

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.

Smacking a suitable size torx socket in and then using a manual impact driver would probably have it out easy enough. If you dont have impact driver have the driver then you can attempt with a ratchet.

More like $4900 with core charge and shipping + GST. FCP are overpriced as usual though, the same product at Spareto is $4365 with shipping and no core charge + GST.

Story of my life every time i have to collect something from Manuaku onwards in Auckland.

I reckon even if they did it that you'd just end with numerous WOF places just passing\making up results anyway, just like they do for smoke tests which these vehicles would clearly fail. Cant see the enforcement side of it being very effective either.

Always wondered about that. Probably much easier to do with all the apps around than back in the day.

Looks awful

Id say you would you will when you do the fronts but many variables at play. I did the rears (new) before the fronts(used) on my friends E36 recently which had done about 110,000km and he couldnt tell the difference on both occasions, some people dont really know, feel or just get used to it i think. Yeah Lemforder stuff made everywhere these days, Turkey is another common place. Their made in Germany these days seems to be from older stock of parts that are less common to replaced\go bad eg Spherical bushing\bearings.

Worst case you can try this procedure i came across at some point. I may try it on mine if i get bored one day. https://www.e46fanatics.com/threads/ultimate-engine-flush-process-part-1.1285390/ https://www.e46fanatics.com/threads/ultimate-way-to-clean-the-engine-part-2-combustion-chamber.1285432/

Not BMW's but i still get paranoid about this happening on other brands even though ive never had an issue yet. Complete agree about the rest though, not many people removing the head for preventative reasons.

Probably the same situation with other BMW's around the time period eg E46, E90, E60 etc. Just looks out of place to me on more modern stuff.

The E36 was the last proper DIY friendly diff BMW made, sh*t design followed by sh*t bearings from then on out. I think Kane Barrie rebuilds them with taper roller bearings instead those cost cutted ball bearings which are generally only good for 100,000km. You gotta be able to suck out and drain the oil at regular intervals also to keep them going once rebuilt.

I don't keep track of E60 sales but given the maintenance performed and condition it seems very good buying at ~6k. I dont think ive seen an E60 for sale that appear to say 'only spent the bare minimum on it'.

Understandable. I think much of that doesn't necessarily need to be done but certainly an added risk when removing and re-torqueing the head. Id say its quite rare at this point in time to have a non rebuilt M54 that doesn't use any. I though my current M54 used none or very little under typical driving, but like my previous one it soon changed under high vacuum\declaration expressway driving. If didnt have to top oil between ~10,000km changes then id consider that a non issue, but you don't really know until you start putting some milage in my experience.

Surprised you didnt put in updated oil control rings after tearing it down to that extent

Majority of it is just a revenue gathering exercise under the guise of safety.

Given the rate at which these fail a second hand one is a big gamble. Kits are probably around, not sure what type of diff your car used but places like https://www.difflab.com.au/ sell various ones. Obviously you need varying amount of tools and skill to replace them yourself. Kane Barrie is the guy to talk to, he rebuilds a lot of them. https://www.facebook.com/p/Kayne-Barrie-Motorsport-Ltd-100063718410238/

NZ BMW club. More of a family picnic type meet up rather than a drive by the looks for it.

What a c**t. If that happened to me id be going to court with my dash cam footage. R7 international with Mithheru firmware is probably the best performance and features vs price atm.

Yeah via the site

Looks like generic unit, no real specs etc, probably very slow. Xtrons, AVIN or Eonon are the typical android options that you buy from overseas. Based on those requirements https://www.bluebus.dev/ could be the better option, far more reliable and simple to install. Not having the factory phone setup or being prewired for it is the only real disadvantage if you want hands free calling.

I found it quite satisfying when i dismantled my E39 from complete car to scrap metal. Only ended up with a small amount of plastic trims pieces for the landfill. Rest of the car going to scrap dealers?