Neal

Have one of those supercheap alloy racing jacks. low enough to get under my lowered race mini and is more than up to putting an e36 on two wheels. Only small annoyance is the circlip on one of the wheels pops off every now and then.

Does the e38 have a heavier battery gauge ground lead that other BMW models ? Hard to tell from internet pics.

Put bm53 module back in rack. Clearance for RCAs is tight so opted for 90 degree adaptors rather than tracking down short RCA plugs. Allows use of some standard interconnects rather than making custom. Added accessory outlet to equipment rack for netbook power supply. Will sit behind boot carpet and heat can dissipate into the rear guard. Added ground cables for amps, processor , netbook supply and remote on relays Powered up 3sixty.1 processor to setup the basics such as RCA levels . Looks like its a dead unit and wont boot up. Just another reminder to self not to buy s/h stereo gear from tradesmen. Shame as I spent a day on modding brackets and building custom RCA interconnects. I was mainly going to use the processor as an input switch to a 4.1 output. New plans, Precision Power have recently introduced (re-badges) a new entry level processor . Has OEM integration and has three inputs plus handsfree input. Features 8 channels of output and 3rd octave equalisers on most of the channels. Also has time alignment so I'll be able to add some delay to drivers side speakers. Have ordered one so hopefully will have one in a few weeks. http://precisionpower.com/store/products/accessories/signal-processors/deq-8-127.html#

Have (new old stock 1960s ) sidchrome set for the mini(s) and blue point and 30 y/o sidchrome metric sets. Seem fine for home use. Screwdrivers have been Stanley but I've broken a few along the way Can anyone recommend a suitable brand for home use air ratchet and socket set ( both metric and sae) ?

Bright red Z3 with the plate "camp" Brought a smile to my day

Seriously nice car ! One of my all time fav BMW models.

Putty re11s werent stocked in M3 friendly sizes

I think someone needs to do the right thing and share the profits

You'd think Mind you. Even super cheap are charging $10 for 5 meters of a single colour . If you've ever priced up multi colour your talking hundreds . 23 colours isn't too bad. Btw, wrap it in tesa tape. Less likely to rattle inside talegate and gives oem loom look. Cheap via ebay uk.

Get a factory loom repair section and redo the broken and repaired section . It's colour coded so should be straight forward to bypass the bodged section. http://www.schmiedmann.com/en/product/1945562-new?product=V20-83-0008 Came across these kits when researching reverse camera installs .

Great solution ! I noticed the infra red aerial amp on the right rear pillar when doing a rear speaker replacement and thought it was in an odd place. Especially when the ir receivers led is in the clone noise. You've worked through the system well. I was thinking that the charge coils would need adding and the ews would need some kind of custom load. Tim325 needs to see this thread for his compact project.

Great write up. Did you also add a inductance charging ring to the ignition to charge the keys ?

Just a word of warning on static Tom. Flashing devices on carpet via unearthed laptop is an easy way for devices to go pop. Get yourself an electronics anti static work mat and earth it to something if flashing the modules out of the car . Mats are $20-$30 Static isn't necessarily a problem all the time but I've seen enough expensive equipment fry to be weary of the effects of static. ( worst was a pair of $170k network modules) Otherwise, great project to learn on.

Retire $4.4 on term $500k on family $100k spending spree Spend $100k pa on living / holidays $40k pa on toys Rest is tax on interest

They are easy to get to. Takes about 10 minutes to get the door card off with care and also disconnect battery. Passenger door air bag can be seen here ( note this was taken prior to replacement) Front pillars also come off reasonably easy. Tabs can be a bit brittle from what I hear though.

Mine is a import . Not sure what the policy is on this. The particular dealer has been giving me exceptional service of late .

My car gained a status sicker on the boot floor. Code reads 0072330100 A quick Google links to http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/searches/expand.asp?uniqueID=C9B828BDA491A9A180257B820050985B Passenger Side airbag recall

Good tyre smoking Vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgXnbgS_XBk&feature=player_embedded

Dealer replaced mine about 6 weeks ago on the E46 M3 . That will explain it.

lol , I'd probably go broke if I did based on time taken Controller for the Carpc arrived today. Will be my version of idrive to control the PC. Probably change it's colour to black and the blue LED to orange to match BMW lighting.

Wasn't happy with the RCA mods I'd originally done to the Bm53 tuner module . One of the wire connections had broken free. Redone with RCA panel sockets and cable ties .Added remote trigger wire running off aerial power / factory amp on fet output (Pin 13 of main BM53 connector) Will use it to power on one relay that will in turn power on 2 amplifiers and the 3.sixty.1 processor.

Go for Mdf rings to space out 6x9 . You might need a couple of sets to get the basket clearance. Bolt these to the deck to help avoid rattles. 6x9s can sound good depending on quality .

My guess is s/h e60 m5 and a few e90 m3 in the price bracket where E46 M3 owners would consider an update. Mind you, I know of two people that haven't gotten over selling their e46 and have gone back. 100,000 km seems a problem for some people yet these cars will have likely had the more expensive services done such as shims and rotors. In which case they fall back to e46 320i servicing costs.

Originally had the tray hard up against the foam insert. Trimmed to allow an RCA from iphone to plug into PC aux. The lid height will sit about 10 mm below boot board level so little chance of weight transfer from anything heavy that gets put in boot.

Spent time over weekend on car pc rack. I with either cover the lid or use factory fabric pannel to cover. Hopefully the netbook will run cool enough without the use of addition fans.