Eagle

Any decent quality rotor is coated\painted at the factory and usually last years depending the environment. Sounds like you got very cheap Chinese ones which are usually bare metal. Some sort of caliper paint would probably be the best bet.

I borrowed @hqstu X3 3.0 for a short period and OBC was around 12 iirc for my mixed driving, the open road was much better around 10L. 4WD system, auto, heavy\tall and short diff ratio makes them guzzle compared to a say a 330 manual. Doing the work you above can't hurt and is good maintenance anyway and probably see some increase but i dont you are far off if any. Id say check the fuel trims too to make sure you havent got any vacuum leaks etc. I always higher tyre pressure than BMW's specs which helps.

BMW specific software eg ISTA on a laptop is probably the best value for money setup and most capable . If you want an actual scan tool then something universal is the best bet imo, will cover most of your standard needs and do a wide range of other cars also. I picked my Foxwell NT809BT on Aliexpress scanner for less than $500, but you can get even cheaper ones depending on your requirements. Having both is ideal and doesnt really cost much in the scheme of things.

@hqstu would know. I believe you have to beat in the sheet metal a bit to fit the housing, run updated IIIa? light control module and some wiring no doubt

Any reputable oil that meet the specs would be fine. Yeah i usually buy a 20L which is usually far better value. Ive used Fuchs in the past but Penrite is well priced and easily available so i tend to stick with it. You'd definitely want to reset the adaptions as well if you do change the fluid, sounds like it probably needs more than that to remedy it.

Money pit is a pretty subjective term. All old cars are money pits if you start to change old parts to refresh\restore them to a near new driving experience and condition. Doing the bare minimum for servicing and WOF requirements may or may not be depending on the condition of car, how its been used, service history and luck. No real information or photos so hard to say much. Japanese imports of this era arent as good as NZ new equivalent (possibly Jatco transmission(jerky gear change issues), IR remote instead of RF, maybe extra emissions gear, no euro trims, little to no service history etc M52 engines are fairly solid and cheapish to repair but usually lots of aged plastics and rubber that can fail. ZF's transmissions last if they have been serviced at some point. Tired suspension is big cost on these but you can things like random electrical failures like ABS modules which can get expensive to fix. Interiors are usually failing to varying degrees, A\C buttons, dash pixels, headlining, rubber seals, wear of seats etc. For a daily driver i dont see the point unless you want to carry passengers in comfort. Be better off with E46 6 cylinder, much cheaper to run\fix and generally less to go wrong. Even a E39 5 series which still has decent space but lighter and more examples to choose from. If you do end up locking something in then get a pre-purchase check by someone who is familiar with the model before you hand over money.

That isn't the correct spec Penrite oil for the 6HP - this is which is much more expensive - https://penriteoil.com.au/products/atf-bmv-full-syn You need at least 2 changes (3 if its bad) to get most of the old oil diluted enough with the fresh stuff if its never been done before (using the drain and fill method). The only time i would do one drain\fill is if its clearly been done before and the oil looks still looks fairly clean.

Having to sign up and pay a $50 fee then do an induction day (not sure if that a separate day?). I thought also needed gloves, boots and neck brace also last time i looked, but maybe they changed that or i got it wrong. Do they do the full circuit often? The club circuit looks rather un-appealing for anything with power wanting to be unleashed.

Skid pan bolts are heavily re-used id say, spending $50 every time you take it off probably never happens. If you doing all the front end work at in one go and not likely to ever remove it in near future it makes more sense. I can see how are going to end up with $200 of bolts now, but most people are probably re-using most of that as you suggest.

M6 bolt is low strength to begin with and fairly easy to snap compared to a M12 subframe bolt. I dont see anything on realoem that says the subframe ones cant be re-used. If they are stretch bolts and need additional angle torque you wouldn't attempt to torque it to that spec if re-using the bolts. Probably as pay as you say to just to do them if you dont want any risk. Just make sure your torque wrench is accurate. Yeah lots of that is for liability reasons im guessing, E46 front subframe brace is a good example. Reality is they are getting used over and over without issue. Even dealers don't seem to follow their own guidelines alot of the time.

Dealers can be reasonably priced for quite a few genuine parts. Ive bought a quite a few bits of RHD specfic stuff and trim bits which ended up being cheaper than Schmiedmann. They just dont seem to stock that much of the older stuff anymore but maybe E90's fair better. If you ordering a whole bunch of stuff already then may as well replace oil pan ones which should be cheap. I probably wouldnt bother with the subframe ones myself but depends on the cost of them and were you are ordering from.

HELLBM is another wrecker one who have those sort of parts Rockauto also add GST unlike the others. They usually only good for a single or a few smaller parts on OE branded stuff, their shipping prices are all over the place are rarely end up cheaper than the others.

Stupid video. Spouts a load of crap with no caveats and puts them all in the comments instead.

Ballin

Completely agree. Paint costs arent cheap and finding something even remotely decent in these specs and price range was way harder than i expected. They are 6k new in US before any than other expenses so i thought 2k was very reasonable. Worst case i can repaint them down the line if i really want to. Ive been fortunate in the past to own 3 sets of various used forged BBS wheels that were all under 1k at the time. You still pay the brand tax but used quality beats all low quality aftermarket junk any day with a much lower premium.

Im sure ill post some more in better light with different caps, but i dont see the sun making a massive different tbh. Main benefits are minor increase in performance, way stronger and straighter wheels, nicer ride and look with the 40 profile tyre and offset and having a square setup for easy of use and cheaper tyres.

Pretty much. They were suppose to come black caps but he changed his mind hah. BBS diamond black(more of a gun metal grey) wasn't doable for various reasons so instead used a Mazda black which is appears noticeably darker but is suppose to be lighter in sun

Fixed it for you Im sure most agree these should be driven like all cars and you can't not appreciate E31 styling. Most of these have low mileage for their age so clearly arent driven very much. To me its either people aren't inclined to drive them due to rarity\parts availability\running costs, don't want to due to potential lower re-sale value or they are just that good at being garage queens. Maybe its all of the above. What's the k's on your one? How much they would increase over time i wouldnt know, but you probably aint going to lose on the purchase price provided you didnt over pay, its in good nick and you don't drive it much.

If they made it like the RHD E36 and E39 it wouldnt be much of an issue, just another example of cost cutting really.

Ordered some Black/gold ones which should match better and save cutting. BBS caps are all different fitment so you have to hack genuine stuff up or play around with lesser quality aliexpress bits.

I thought that dumb clutch line routing was an E46 thing.

Yeah it may well technically be worth its price but economic and market conditions as you say. Covid era pricing was artificially inflated and quite a few older BMW's now seem to be priced around their pre-covid values. Its certainly a speculator vehicle\garage queen at this point and that who would probably bit on it.

Sounds like its reasonably priced then. No coincidence the only people who own one think its cheap . It was actually cheap it probably would of sold already.

Shame all the rigmarole you gotta jump through with track days now but least you put it all to use.

BBS RG-R 18x8.5 ET38 on 245/40's Been on the look out for a decent set of wheels for awhile. E36\E46 wheel selection is pretty rubbish in terms of availability you if want something different in reasonable offset\tyre size. Saw these on locally on facebook along with set of similar LM's. Looking at photos i decided the RG's would suit a newer car like the E46 better. They are forged wheels at just over 8kg compared to 10-11kg style 72's, very light even with the tyres. Originally they had silver centers which i would of preferred, but beggers cant do choosers and they have been freshly power coated. Tyres fill the front wells great but do touch the fender lining under full lock as expected. Will be swapping out for current ones then moving over to a 235/40 square at some point. Gold center caps to replace to red ones if i can find some at reasonable price, otherwise ill swap BMW ones onto them. Part 2 of the DMSO clean. Didnt get everything as hot as id like and things were cooling down to fast to do a real throughout job but it works (completely black before). Used a vacuum bleeder to suck the fluid out which worked great, engine fired up instantly after cleaning Will do a another round in warmer weather to finish it off. Compression test after cleaning was 175-180 psi on all 6. Engine certainly feels stronger after doing these cleans, but be prepared for the exhaust to stink\smoke for ages if you do this part.