Yuen

So do sh*t fakes equate to Bling???????

You could spend a little more and get something that looks half way convincing.

That bar has "Tosser" written all over it in neon letters

I fully agree. Forget about it. Save up your money and spend it on something more worthwhile.

$130 is a pretty good price. Up to you, but remember they crack easily, they don't bounce back like the stock ABS bumpers do. Plus fitting will be a hassle.

Saw a cupholder go on trademe for over 80 bucks about a week ago one that sits in your console bit, anyways heres mine, pickd it up from the warehouse for under 10 bucks, works a charm holds everything and its adjustable, photos dont look the best as taken at night.

Looks like it works, but did you have to screw them into the center console/dash? If so a cupholder isn't worth that kind of permanent damage to my interior!

Docile: The E36 center console cup holder part # is 82279404572.Picture attached.

There's always been arguments as to whether strut bars make a significant difference or not. It seems strut bars should be the last thing you add suspension-wise, because they give you the least value for money. Have you lowered your car? Also, the guys on Bimmerforums say the X-brace is a good value for money mod to firm up your chassis.

If you want to go with strut bars, I wouldn't get those, they look too flimsy. You get what you pay for. There's also the argument about hinged vs non-hinged strut bars, hinged doesn't do much apparently.

You can, but it's a bit of a pain to do the cutting, so I'd only do it if I felt the 5.25"s were really lacking in midbass.

Only $30? They look fantastic. Hartge right?

are you talking about changing the entire headlight of just the bulbs? just get ya bulbs from repco, they got a big enough range with some lights costing up to $50 each, depends what you want, i got the bluish tinge lights in mine, looks nice and lights up the road quite nicely cost me $25 per bulb, but theres better ones.

It looks nice since it's whiter, but you're losing output because any tint will decrease the amount of light transmitted through it.

alex: Not much of a choice in terms of good lighting which will look newer/nicer than your current setup. I'm assuming your car has the Bosch ellipsoid headlamps which all Euro E36s have, and they're the projector ones, not the parabolic ones? If so, that's about the best one available, it's the best headlight for the E36 and it's a big upgrade for the guys over in the USA

One option that would give you better lighting, and look new, would be the Hella HID setup for the E36. They're the only company that has manufactured a HID setup specifically for the E36. The other HID setups are either retrofits (best result would come from retrofitting Accord Euro HID projectors into ellipsoid headlamps), or HID bulbs in the normal ellipsoid (ie: Bosch) headlamps, which isn't ideal because halogen headlights were not designed for HID, and it causes glare to oncoming traffic. Also, the beam pattern and output will not be as nice as using a true HID projector.

If you're a DIY person, I'd suggest going with the Accord Euro retrofit, the next time you come across an Accord Euro at night, pay attention to its xenon headlights (assuming it got the xenon package).

Also, the Hella HID lights come with angel eyes as well, but it looks a bit weird - the rings are smaller than you'd expect. Still, they'd make your car look a bit newer. Perhaps the simplest upgrade would be to get some blue tinted bulbs, if you think white light makes your car look newer. But I wouldn't do that, you'd be compromising your safety for looks. Plus blue bulbs will NEVER match the colour and intensity/output of real xenon.

I hear what you are saying. I have had some good and bad experiences with dealers. Not long after getting the M3 my DME got flooded. From memory I was left with a bill over $500. I have an AutoSure Warranty but it did not cover this.

Basically, because BMW put the DME in an incredibly stupid place (under left side of windscreen) and used drainage pipes that were far to thin and prone to blocking, I was liable. Hence, I no longer use this dealer. How can they expect you to be loyal when they charge you a rediculous amount of money for simply removing the DME - letting it dry then putting it back in. With this said, it still amazes me how dealers like the one in question get pissed when you buy your next car from another BMW dealer.

On the other side of the coin, I approached another BMW dealer who is very willing to accomodate, including a sat morning service if booked atleast 2 weeks in advance. They also offer free pick up and drop off (of your vehicle). From memory the last dealership that serviced my car could only offer a courtesy van every half hour....thats average!

Back to the original topic. Thanks for all your advice on the rotors and pads etc...I am having a service soon, and plan to ask a lot more questions thanks to your knowledge input. Cheers.

You're welcome. And let us know how it goes! May I ask which dealer you're using now? If you're in Auckland it'll be useful info for me.

Nice work! I like the ///M, it's a nice touch

Wowww.. thanks!

Was that for 2 straight pipes all the way back (getting rid of the catalytic converter) and having 2 resonators in the midsection, with a custom muffler at the end?

LOL, all the confusion. For what it's worth, mine are the Nokia speakers. I will get a picture of the speaker against a ruler tomorrow and post it up.

Valid points. I'm sure I could have got them cheaper. However, I'm all about economy of effort. I got McMillans to fit the Mintex pads and rotors for me too.

I don't even wash my own dog, so you don't think I was going to work on my brakes myself do you?

At least buying it here in NZ, I can get follow up support if required.

Fair enough I prefer to work on the car myself. Having said that it was pretty easy. Hardest part was compressing the brakes!

Thanks for all your help.

With regard to time, I was told around 3-4 months ago that they were thin and to expect to see the brake pad light up in the dash pretty soon.....it has not appeared thus far.

I have looked at getting dics/pads from the UK and other places, but ultimately I am keen to use OEM parts, thus I think I will get a dealer to do the lot when the time comes. It will undoubtedly cost more, but its what they do, and I know it will be done well.

No worries Ok, so you're pretty much in the same situation as I was. I was told the brakes were wearing thin at a WOF. About 3000-4000kms later, the brake pad wear light came on. Even after that I waited about 1000+km before I found the time to do the brakes. I was expecting it to be pretty much grinding on metal, but there was still about 3mm of pad material left! The rear pads still had plenty so I have not installed them.

Bimmerzone sells mainly OEM parts, so they will be able to supply you with them if you require. I believe they will be cheaper than the PBR pads I got too, I only got them because everyone on Bimmerforums loves them for the track, and I wanted to give them a go. I feel they're about the same as stock pads in terms of performance and also dust, maybe I don't drive the car hard enough.

About the dealer doing the job correctly... just my point of view here, they do not. With the dealer, you're getting overcharged for a less than decent job. I bought the Bentley manual and torque wrenches so I can I do it the right way. But with the dealer you get so many cars coming in each day, and I really doubt they will torque everything down for you. It's just a car to them after all, but it's YOUR car. When I was replacing my radiator, I asked the dealer if they sold distilled water so I could mix it with the BMW coolant.

"No we don't sell it. What do you need it for?"

"To mix with the coolant. Don't you guys use it?"

"We just use tap water"

And in 50,000ks, when your cooling system fails prematurely, you send it back to the dealer and pay them to fix their own mistake

In the end, sure you're more than likely to get an OK job, the brakes won't fall apart or anything due to overtorquing, but for what you pay, sometimes an independent will do a better job than they do. Still, I'd get a quote for labour and parts separately, chuck it on the forums and see what everyone thinks

Is there a way to do this to an e36 radio or is it just rubbish?

It depends on what year your E36 is, or you could also tell us which model BMW radio you have. It's very likely yours does not have a world tuner. I think only in the very last year(s?) of the E36, some came with radios that had the world tuner.

Not another stolen car!! Bloody thieves, they should be shot. Good luck on the search, I will keep an eye out for it.

Post it on MMC.org, MSport, AMAZD, Performance Car, Chosen Few, and any other car forums you can find.

Hi mate - wanna give me a clue as to how you have a shot of my car

Thats a bit freaky - how did you know it was the same one too

That was the initial belief from the States - that the CS and CSL wheels looked identical, but were different - until someone cross referenced the part numbers and they turned out to be exactly the same for the rears. As far as we know they are not forged, but might be a semi solid forged construction, hence the light weight.

If you don't believe me check on www.realoem.com The best website for looking up part numbers and getting pictures of how things are put together.

Oh I see. Good to hear the CS guys are getting some good wheels too then! RealOEM is the best.

nice one

yeah not a fan of the chrome either .. but you can get em in any finish you want .. their are some hot metal / brushed finishes out at the moment .. I would take the inner part as the same as my paint and keep the polished lip ... (which isnt chrome) Same as I what I have on the C4 multi's at the moment ...

Would love this finish wise (the below one would suit your CSL to a t)

or

Those DPE wheels are sick.

http://www.racebrakes.co.nz/

Call Steve at Race brakes.

My Brembo rear rotors were about $700 incl GST off memory.

I got Racebrakes to quote me prices on my brakes, and importing them from the US was still quite a bit cheaper. Though if you can't wait that long for them to get here, then they could be an option.

How long exactly do you have till you have to replace them?

I got 4 Brembo rotors + 4 Axxis/PBR Ultimates + 2 brake pad wear sensors for around $550 NZD, shipping included, from the US. Ask Vincent from www.bimmerzone.com. From what I understand there is no difference between Brembo and OEM (unless you go for Euro floating rotors which Brembo doesn't seem to manufacture), because Brembo makes them to OEM specs.

The shipping was $100 USD alone, it was the cheapest form of shipping too, USPS said 6 weeks but it took about 9 If you want faster shipping, it will cost you a pretty penny, close to $300 USD.

You can see how much you'll save, if you can wait a while, then you should just import them. $1500 is just ridiculous. My car is an E36 320i but the M3 brakes have similar pricing IIRC. I actually got a quote from shops in NZ, I was planning to go with EBC Red pads, but they cost way too much. I replaced them myself too which saved me even more money Btw, if you care about the rotors looking crap from rust in the future, once you get the new ones, give the centres and the edges a coat of high temp paint and you'll be thankful in the future!

Don't think OE pads + install would $700, but could well be.

If that's true, I'll do it for $600

Thanks! BMWCar July 06, I thought it looked familiar

Yea they do, its a bitch to get on, i didnt glue it, look closer.......... exterior bolts, black an hard to see though, shame i had to do it, dont ever buy one lol

Hahaha, ok, and don't hit any curbs with that thing!

Hmm, actually no they are not. The M3 "CS" package offered to the rest of the world like the US and Europe shares the same rear CSL wheels made by BBS in 19 x 9.5 but narrower fronts in 19 x 8 (rather than 8.5). If you check the part numbers the rears are exactly the same between the M3 "CS" and the CSL.

But one thing's for sure, the CSL wheels are very light compared to similar 19s.

That's odd, I read in some magazine that the actual CSL ones were forged, while the CS ones just looked the same but were heavier, presumably cast!

Saw that a few days ago, that was the first time I've ever seen one.

Yeah, I've seen at least a couple of 4 door M3s, the Estoril one on TM sometime ago, the Byzanz one, and there was a Dakar Yellow one at the track day... pics aren't loading for me btw?

you can fit 6 inch ones in there, ive put 6 inch in the back of mine, there orignally 5.25inch.

I thought they were all 4" in the rear regardless of year? Anyway, mine's a 1992 E36, and I just pulled one of the speakers out yesterday and it's definitely 4". The kickpanel speakers are 5.25".