Neal

The e46 has a electronics module called a "general module five" which controls alarm / door locking / lights / windows and a few other bits. The car also has an immobiliser built in.

The module has connections for alarm siren / ultrasonic interior sensor & a tilt sensor which is in the boot. The alarm is a factory option .

With the Japan e46 some have an alarm , some are pre-wired for an alarm and some are not wired for the additional sensors

Looks like we need to work out work what your car has.

If you key has a battery then you car will more than likely have the infrared central locking. Once you replace the battery you will more than likely need to re-sync the key (and any other keys) to re-enable the central lock function.

follow this link first

http://www.bimmersport.co.nz/forums/index....showtopic=19404

Hi all,

Once again I'm here, asking some nooby questions? ... Anyways, would it be alright to install an aftermarket alarm system on an E46 or you'd be better off with just activating the built-in alarm if there's one? Cheers

Factory way is easier if your car has pre-installed alarm wiring. Easiest way to check for pre - wire is to remove the boot side carpet and check for tilt senor wire connectors. Check out this guide for dyi install. http://www.e46fanatics.com/faq/alarminstall/index.html

If you do have pre-wire you and do install a factory system then you will need to go to a BMW dealer or specialist on here to get the sensors / alarm enabled.

Not sure on aftermarket install / others here may have done so and my be able to advise.

Early BMW branded Sony head units should work with later CD / CD / CDR text stackers. I tried a 94 Sony Tape / CD stacker on a mid 2000's stacker which worked ok. Not sure about the MP3 versions though.

Drifting Volvos is just wrong ....

@ Mike

I looked at bringing a TVR back when I lived in the UK 2005/6 . The main issue is that they aren't tested for euro impact laws which means your not able to road register them here (TVR sent one for testing but the outfit doing the testing dropped the car off the back of a truck before it was tested so they didn't try again). They also don't qualify for low volume rules as they exceed the number of cars built per year under this scheme. I couldn't find a way to bring one other than for motorsport / trailer queen. I don't think the laws have change since.

From experence of running 16x8 AC Type 1's with 225/50/16 with rolled guards I tend to agree with 3 pedals. The car suffered badly from bump steer and hard braking downhill would require two firm hands on the steering wheel to counter weaving. I've only recently relised how bad this was since changing car.

A recent trip to Auckland in the e36 I released how much of the time was spent guarding the tracking of the front wheels in corners and on road chamber. I now have a car that shares much of the e36 suspension yet the handling is night and day dispite harder springs / wider wheels and tires. The car holds true on corners and moves less on road camber than the wifes e36 328i. This is due no doubt to the correct geomerty being run

Hi All

I have a 540i Motorsport (2000) and am using a external Sat Nav. The problem I have is that the charger in the cigarette lighter continues to work after the car is switched off therefore so does the satnav. Is there a way to get this linked to the ignition? Cheers Br3tt

Get a glove box torch to sig socket converter cable (ebay $5 usd ) and connect your satnav to that outlet . I'm reasonably sure it is ignition switched(mulitmeter to check) and should have enough current to run a satnav

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-Auxilia...=item51976d0379

Started getting a PC together to intergate into the e46 Nav Stereo System primary for sounds , but will add Freeview tuner / bluetooth / 3g internet and maybe alternative Nav sat and front & reverse cameras

Will use usb to ibus controller so hope to use steering wheel and tv screen buttons for PC key board / mouse emulation.

Also need to sort out speaker replacements / amps installs / and intergation with factory tuner / Nav & CD stacker and studio quality sound card off PC.

If anyone is interested I'll start a project thread.

Have a word with a car audio store and show them a bsw style setup.

http://www.bavariansoundwerks.com/product/...6/X5-Subwoofer/

Bass wise maybe a DD 500 8 inch and a sound stream stealth amp which can daisychain off the bmw factory sub amp.

How is this done??? My olds are looking at an X5 with the TV screen. Does this mean that it wont need a band expander?

Follow this video , X5 will need to have world tuner circa 2001 cars or later

Never seen snow in our back yard before

Got to speak to Peter Brook briefly in the garage carpark under the libary area.

Was looking for myself in the crowd under the JQ people bridge area.

The oldman put a lot of work into using the waterfront for NM500. He got to see a few of these before he passed on. Used to get pit passes as a result.

First of all, thanks for running a great forum , whilst I'm not a volume poster I find that I'm often reading the forums.

Some ideas / thoughts

Events calendar on the front page , have a running ticker tape of up coming events

Front page has past events going back over a year. Try and keep the page a bit more recent

Check the multimedia area more frequently , many of the links are broken and are old . Look at a way where members can update this area out of the forums

Put bimmersport merhandise on the front page

Keep a check of relavant advertising on the front page. E.G tonight we have dresses and handbangs being offered (great for drag racing ?) yet what % of members are ladies ?

Make it easier for member to contribute to the running of the forum via email drop or front page (internet / webhosting charges etc)

Have a look at using later versions of Vbulletin, later versions are great for embedding multimedia , sponsor adverts etc (Check out kiwibiker.co.nz for E.G of this software)

Rolling banners on front page for those companies that support bimmersport

Have an Expert forum with a number of topic areas....... Some ideas for Expert forums going beyond forum stickies.

This site has some of the best advice found on any site in the world , People like Jochen on all things electronic / Nat Sav , yourself for that matter on race car setup/car mods, Conrod for engine advice, The guys that built that E46 race car with M5 v8 transplant.

No doubt we have professionals in the tyre industry on here that can offer advice less subject advice on performance tyre choice and advise on the lastest and greatest developments in this area.

I also notice from time to time we have some great NZ bmw race drivers on here. Would like to hear about the odd racing story , bios etc.

Some people know more about E30's than is humanly possible in one's life time , others know E28's E36's E46's like the back of there hands

BMW motorsport area .... Role of honour , team profiles , car profiles.

Also ,perhaps keep a check on the BMW Dealer bashing that goes on here ? When a dealer tried to enage via the forums on here (offering discounts on e46 body kits a few years back) they where chased off by a couple of members and haven't re-engaged since. No doubt other forum members could have benefitted from the start and future of that inital enagement.

I belong to a Mini club in Wellington which enjoys great Club support via the local BMW / Mini dealer and as a result I can get a discount on BMW parts as a result of Mini Club membership. You'd think it should be via Bimmerport.

Sound like the 323i Msport now has the owner it deserves ! Nice work

Cheers Vanossa , These are a good sounding head unit with great features for ICE setups (4volt our front/rear/sub , DSO , Listening postions setting etc) . I ran one of these with a Phoniex Gold amp and Boston Acoustic speakers and then later with a Soundstream and PPI speaker combo. It was also able to run the factory sony Cd changer.

The reset to factory default reset button is on the left of the cd when the face is open (2 mm hole). However , a remote sequecnce is required to restart the unit after (Anti thieft system)

Go for the proper xenons lights with autoleveling if you can , I have these in the current car and they are the best headlights i've driven with short of rally car setups. Low beam is great and highbeam is expectional. Down side is you don't get that angel eye look. You might be able to get these second hand via some of the parts suppliers that advertise here.

Thanks everyone for all suggestions......Since my last post on this subject I have been managing to 'limp' through the reception boundaries by activating a couple of buttons on my head unit e.g....the AF (Alternate Frequency) button, which seems to work ok. I am now pretty sure it is the head unit (Sony CDX-M600R). So no problems with the BMW Antenna it would seem after all. I must study the sony manual to see if I can 'reset' the radio functions to stay tuned automatically like they were.

Make sure it isn't the local station isn't set ( Might be toggled via sa button on right hand side)

Note , you can default all the settings to factory by putting a paper clip end into the reset hole. If you do this then the unit will drop back to factory settings. You will need your remote control to re-activate the head unit after with a squence of buttons (PM me if you need this info)

Otherwise these units do have tuner module failures (Sony CDX II tuner, my one failed, but Sony NZ replaced the tuner module under warranty) I think the part was a few hunderd dollars retail

I'd say your more thank likely to be ok with these as they have crimped fittings. The cert laws have on briaded lines have been relaxed a bit since they first came in.

I have ones on a race mini that I'm converting back to road use I'm building that have a second nut where the line goes onto the fitting. I belive that it this type they are not letting through as they are worried about DYI's lossening these by mistake (LTSA and low volume cert web pages)

on a similar vain .... Ruth Flowers

Seem to remember an articile in Top Car Mag in the 90's that had a Hartge widebodied 850i with quad turbos and 550 plus hp.

Running Soundstream sst4.0 in the rear boxes. Didn't want to change to IB rears as the air preasure from sub would pound the crap out of the surrounds.

About the right size for the small read ported boxes. These are reasonably powerful for a 4 inch. Sound good and clear considering the size. Just using them for rear fill.

Remember watching him during the Nissan Mobil 500 in Wellington. The 2.5 M3's had a fantastic sound at high RPM. Unfortunatly he had an altercation coming together with a lapped car. There where paint marks in the concert barrier from where his helment touched the barrier. The M3 was totaled and Tony was very lucky not to have been seriously hurt. (remember seeing a very bent M3 in the pits after)

Not good for Samoa , Was booked into a resort next week. The resort owner is in hosiptal & his wife has died. Much of the resort has also been taken by the sea. Not much to say apart from I'm glad to be in NZ at the moment.

1, E9 3.0 CSL

2, E30 M3

Funny how the M cars get more and more powerful , for those that picked the latest M5 I wonder if they would have the same view in 10 years time

Hi

I need to replace my windscreen on my 3.0 CSI.

Where can I have it done properly?

Have had mixed success with Novus and Smith and Smith were rough as.

Cheers

Warren

Have a couple of small dents left from Smith & Smith last time they replaced my windscreen. Take them off your list with a decent classic such as yours !