Neal

Batteries for the IR versions are less than $10 , easy enough to replace. In terms of the replacement key , would need to be an IR version if a Jap import as they tend to use ir rather then rf. The diamond keys charge off an inductance coil that is around the ignition key on later models. The ir models have a plan battery and the spare key needs to be used once in a while to keep up with the change of sequence numbers. The learning new key squence can be found here for RF and IR remote keys.

As above , Arrow wheels would be my pick (they repaired a ACS type 1 rim of mine a while back , came back like new). Otherwise if you feel up to it have a go yourself. Have been doing this on some early 70's alloy rims , it takes considerable time and effort to do refurb them and they are only 10 inch !

The white / yellowing of the alloy is caused by oxidization. The clear paint coat has become chipped and is exposing the alloy to air / water / salts. The clear coat needs to be removed and the alloy needs a small layer of metal to be removed and then polished and clear coated again. Check out this for the idea. Would need a clear coat or two added after to seal the alloy from happening again.

+ one . They also would extend past rear guards if correct size and offset on a non M3 body. Would look ok silver or gloss black if painted. Otherwise, bead blast and sand back and clear coat. Have a search on here for reburbing wheels. Not hard but does take time.

Make great weekend toys ! Very rewarding if riden well. GSXR's another great option.

0-100 km in less than 3 seconds , 10.x quarters , Circa 300kmh top speed , in your price range .... one of these

Iphone / ipod + heat , can see a few of these devices having shorter lifespan Perhaps it runs 1500 watts of pure class A audio amps ..... that would heat a room !

Hotrod maybe but not on that. Mind you , not as bad as these

some paint shops have colour scanners . Not sure how good that would be on matte black or frozen colours Could be worth a try ?

Isn't the idea of matt black that you don't care about paint colour because it's so gangtsa ?

Add looks like the standard TM dealer cut and paste rather than an add for NZ new. Dealer mistake IMO. Should have waited a year rather than buying a low KM e46 M3 Would be interesting to see what a non trashed servicing costs run at. Launch controlled starts , brake pads and clutch every year ? Sounds like their money would be better spent on a 1000 cc sports bike which will take it all day !

Get the same on commute. Can go higher with lots of short 50 kmh type trips. Drops to 7.x/100 on open road

Just interested in how many on here have had smg II pump failures ? Anyone ?

Nice car. Factory 19's look fine , don't go any larger ! It won't corner as well. Get some light 18 rims and super sticky tyres for track days (Mind you 18 inch factory ones as same weight as your forged 19's) Nailing it in 2nd / 3rd brings a huge grin, hard edged noise of the 3.2 six reving out is very addictive. Same colour as mine !

Nice car.Looks almost identical to my old one. Rear spoiler is a BMW motorsport item. Great to see that your taking time to fix up those wear and tear items, the car is in good hands.

Seriously nice looking M3. looking forward to your updates. In terms of hard wired safety devices there is a nice install for BMW's. Fits into your rearview mirror and headrest. http://www.radar-mirror.com/Gallery.html

would this work instead of single pipe muffler ? http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-...n-505787387.htm

Car is still missing plaque on dash , Steering wheel button, I think they even had thier own t bar. The 1993 3.0 version on 325i base

Go for period mods like Alpina C2 2.7 rep engine or drop in Brent HARTGE535i's worked M5 engine that's for sale at the moment. Be different from everyone else putting in M50 engines into E30's IMO.

Talking M50BXX ACS 3.0 bored and stroked engine non vanos motor with roughly 240hp rather than S50 with 286hp When the ACS of around that year came to NZ your M3 hadn't come out put the price was roughly $130k nz (Same as your M3) Once your version came out the performance drifference of the M3 meant the ACS was no longer cost effective.

Every time I read this thread I want a coffee

He's dreaming .... Wrong body kit , steering wheel etc. Even the 3.0 E36 version didn't get to 280 hp.

Hmmm , cats out of the bag on that mini now. With 250 + being advertised no wonder the little brick made it past 250 kmh. 380 hp, That beats all the UK guys ! And here am I aiming for 130hp using a 1275 block + ihi rbh5 + 5 port. Shows what an expert can achieve compared to a novice

I buy roasted coffee beans (italia) from Gibbston Coffee Co on the terrace in Wellington. Tony doesn't advertise and doesn't need to as word of mouth is he's one of the top roasters and barista's in Wellington. He also produces a wide range of roasting styles and uses a antique looking itailian roaster. Im a self confessed addict Machine wise use a La Nuova Era Cuadra E61 head and a Mini Macho Grinder

In my opinion 1, If your running stereo , then only rear fill is needed at back with clean and basic speakers. However , matching fronts and rears in my opinion sounds good. If running multi channel then matched speakers are the way to go. The rear tweeters in the door are put there so they don't put the image backwards for front passenagers and also so that rear passengers have better stereo panning than if the speakers where behind. Personally I'd just run the componets in the rear parcel shelf. 2,Tweater position comes down to personel choice. If you like a headphone still of stereo image then use the doors. Down side is that the image is pulled middle to the right from the drivers side due to greater unequal distance between left and right speaker relative to the seating position. I prefer pillar or dash corner mount for tweaters. Pulls the image up and forward. Closer to listening to music at home. 3, I suspect that your amp doesn't support balanced audio input ( only a few higher end car amps do) However , you can use speaker out to high level in on your amp. Not ideal but will sound ok (two amps in the audio chain). The other way is to modify the headunit and take RCA out before the unbalanced output stage and run these to your amps. Will give a cleaner sound but doing the mod's is not for the the faint hearted. (Check out my profile attachments of a bm53 tunrer unit that I modified for RCA out) If the amp is close to 500 per channel then check the gauge of the standard speaker cabling. I'd probably run larger cable if it knocks out close to 500.