Neal

What’s your ideal m3 and price bracket? Been a few good examples lately like the silver manual on with CF airbox / csl style boot lid for example. Was also another silver one in Wellington with 66000 kms . Really great car to own ( had mine 8 years now) and still enjoying it.

Most of the shark fin aerials where for car phone kits . I don’t think they cover fm frequency’s. I did however reuse mine as a Bluetooth aerial when I removed my jap phone cradle and retrofit a ULF for handsfree and voice commands. the old analogue tv aerials which sit between the body and rear bumper may work be an option . I’d connect it to the rear radio antenna behind the lh c pillar trim. It needs to be powered via 12 volts to its white wire. fm antenna is normally built into rear window btw

USA retail price is also low. The 1M was retailing for the same amount as I paid for an 8 year old e46 m3 at the time. Couldn’t believe the base spec was $43k USD which was about $50k NZ at the time. 1M retail was $100k nzd but slightly higher spec Drove the M3 today outside of normal commute mode?. If people have the means you’ve got to own one at some stage in your life. Bucket list car

SMG / CSL parts bin are a plus for me. The red interior seems to be a common UK thing . It’s going to be more collectable than standard models. Biggest expense on these is worthy tyres in my experience.. People worry about bearings / smg pumps , subframes , vanos , biff bolts , cam bolts , steering hoses , coil packs , gear position servos , head gasket , alternator replacements etc. With mine it’s done 160,000 and I’ve driven 115,000 of them.over past 7 years. biggest expenses... $9k on rubber. Or $25k on gas. , $21k on parking , and $1200 per year in dealer serving and parts. I think some times we focus on the maintenance costs on e46 M3s where as the costs are elsewhere. $30k for the cs seems like good value for a car that is a joy to drive.

The e46 has a built in alarm and immobiliser but many either didn't have the wiring or the sensors. If your e46 has the alarm wiring then id be more inclined to get the siren / ultrasound sensor and appropriate headlining cover / tilt switch / bonnet switch and add them yourself. Then its just a simple code option via a dealer or BMW specialist. The original retrofit with wiring loom is no longer available , but you get the alarm components from eBay or ecs tuning Eg https://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-E46-325Ci-330Ci-328Ci-323Ci-328i-325i-330-M3-Siren-Alarm-Kit-Set-/282815365033 Instructions attached alarm.pdf

Think it would be quite a process and from what I’ve been reading with my own car project ( 63 mini race car without vin) there are quite a few stages) from memory if 60 percent of the original 2002 is present then its modification . The key would be use a car that’ can be proved to have been registered and on the road. Using s 2002 would mean some of the impact and airbag rules might not apply. if it’s beyond 60% then your building a low volume scratch built car which in some ways is a easier Cert process. However, the rules around almost every aspect of the modifications apply. i thing the key to the project would be around any welding carried out to be done by a certified welder with careful consideration as to how the body / chassis/ suspension came together. A low volume Certifier would be required every step along the way. The key to the project is making sure that you can get a vin or re-entry vin line of sight sorted. Otherwise you may build it and find you can’t re vin the vehicle ( I’m stuck at this stage with trying to returning a old race car with no vin onto the road) Id probably start with posting a how would I go about this and get the lower volume car constructor manual for the current regulations. Would be a cool project https://m.facebook.com/LVVTA/

Thanks for the give a little links. Condolences to family and friends. Just heartbreaking !

Can’t quite see but do the early din speaker connectors look like a match https://www.jaycar.co.nz/2-pin-din-plug/p/PP0300

Thats the reality and people talk themselves out of owning great cars Still loving my factory standard m3 with smg 7 years on and 120,000 kms .... and it’s a early 2002 model ?

Wife’s new car had a $400 version done from the dealer. Even at that low price I find her suv quicker to clean than my m3. Paint comes up great with a simple wash and towel. 1 year on still please with the results

Great project, looking forward to more posts

Thought I’d cooked a subwoofer. Turned out to a screw working loose on the badge causing a voice coil gone type rattle

I think he’ll only part with it if he finds a 850csi that he’s after ( or gets another Volvo ?)

I think if anything unless well hidden a change of system may devalue a E39 M5. Bavsound could be worth considering. Quite well thought out drop in speakers and amp option. https://www.bavsound.com/

I park near the blue on from time to time. Looks and sounds nice. Tyres are stretched a bit. Pitty the black in wasn’t SMG. Otherwise would take a closer look. Wouldn’t go back to manual now.

It’s basically an amp and speaker (10) plus sub replacement to take it to the next level. On the bm53/54 The difference between the balanced outputs and converting it unbalanced is noticeable for CD listening but hard to tell on radio. I found from a sound quality POV it brought it up to a mid range car CD player. i did evolve the system in my e46 over a few years in pursuit of audio goodness. But also set a budget of 3k for speakers/ sub / amps / Dsp sounds I didn’t get carried away. Basically it has a entry home hifi sound and is still largely controlled via factory the board monitor. if you want some lite reading I have a build thread on here . It should hopefully give you an idea of what is needed to uplift a e39/e46 system.

I think BMW made two errors the e46 & e39 systems over other years. First was Midbass treatments on the front going into small enclosure rather than using the door space. Gave limited and strangled upfront mid bass. The second was the bm53/54 using a poor final stage to the amps. Ironically the audio stage before that used opamps used in recording studio mixing boards. On paper they should have been better. Each speaker getting its own amp . Active 3 way front stage.Reasonable dac and preamp stage etc. Ironically the only model with the Midbass advantage was the e46 318ti but tended to have the poverty pack stereo. I sorted my e46 for the same reason above.

Mercedes also ran the Hirschman brand power antennas so could be a source of parts.The earlier metal body ones from e21s and other BMWs late 70s early 80s should also fit the e30. Otherwise look for universal ones such as below. https://mercedessource.com/store/hirschmann-universal-replacement-power-antenna-custom-instructions

Same dyno day the best sounding car was s54 powered with CF airbox. What surprised me was both the e46 m3 and 1m were rated around 250 kw at the flywheel yet the 1m was doing closer to 300kw at the hubs verse mine at 210kw. What got me was around the time I brought the m3 ($50k nz) I visited San Diego a lhd new 1m could be had for $52k nzd for the base car. Here they where 102k or something like that. The m3 has halfed it’s price in that time was as the 1m has dropped less than 25%. 1M must be one of the lowest drops outside of a z8. btw... m3 e46 replacement was stopped initially by child / single income / house mods and then wife’s new suv. My first choice would be f10 m5 or m2 as I do like turbos . But the e46 m3 will need to stay based on its unrefined raw nature and the induction noise makes it a grim factor package that’s not worth a lot so can be daily driven. 1M still one hell of a good car and it’s understated power will surprise.

It would be slower and have less torque. We had a dyno day a few and the the 1m made more torque and kw than a s62 and it was in standard form. Far more than the 250kw advertised.

My car history has a few. They have been service items like wiper blades, tyre tread death ( eg 1.4mm on rears a couple of series back) and rotors. wifes car has been down to items such as brake light blubs and stuff like that . so to answer the failures are often wear items that might look ok from the owners point of view. Only thing I’d be concerned about is failure due to rust or major structural repairs

aux option was a late 2002 build option. what radio combo do you have ? Depending on unit you can add a Denison or Grom device to give you aux / USB / Bluetooth. https://www.dension.com/automotive Otherwise some units such as bm54 can be flashed to give aux, mo3 I’d tags etc, but the process is very easy to brick the unit. Bm54 is a tuner module used with Nav screen setups

Was it Palmerston North based early in its ownership ? Remember a white one based there in the 1990s . id leave yh period body kits on

I find in Wellington the service to be very good to excellent. It could be worth moving yourself and family down here. It’s not.too large to get bounced around the various group but seems to have critical mass in terms of specialists. My daughter has been a frequent flyer of the system and we’ve done well with the right level of attention. Had similar experience with elderly mother over the last couple of months which went from very serious , bed ridden to back home and living normally. with my wife, she is here today due to the quick action of hospital staff. Even with myself after having chest pains. From doctors through to hospital specialists. so if you get continued run around in Auckland. See if you can find a specialist in Wellington and consider the move. ( big decisions, but your already making these) Ethierway, hope you find the right people to help with your son in what are obviously stressful times.

Info on ibus / gen 2 tv module digital tv upgrade. Applicable to circa 2000 plus E39, E46, E53 and later ZMcoupes scroll to last couple of pages for tv tuner