BMW and M Power Owners

panthro · 13 Mar 2015 at 19:36

[TW]Fox;27769159 said:
Oh yea, ZF 6 speed autos are so awfuI. Not.

Good to see you're being your usual self.

It's not a particularly nice gearbox and doesn't suit the engine. The manual is much nicer to drive.

panthro · 13 Mar 2015 at 20:34

[TW]Fox;27769313 said:
Is actually a very good gearbox and suits the car well. It's a 3 Series Estate not a Z4, the nature of that box combined with the power delivery of that engine is a great pairing and excellently suited to effortless performance.

It's nothing like a DCT in terms of shift speed but It isn't meant to be.

Ok thanks for stating the obvious; no where did I compare it to a Z4 or a DCT gearbox so not sure why you felt to bring that up.

I don't like it paired to the N54 engine and find it's changes to be sluggish as well as undecided under acceleration. It is however a lot better than the 5 speed box in the E46, which is even more awful.

panthro · 13 Mar 2015 at 20:52

From my experiences I disagree, the manual gear box goes much better with the N54 (DCT excluded).

panthro · 13 Mar 2015 at 20:57

sigma said:
I've tried searching for M3 within this very thread but no joy. Too short a term to search.

Duh, didn't state that in my other post.

http://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/index.php

This is the best M3 forum in the UK.

panthro · 13 Mar 2015 at 22:19

[TW]Fox;27769703 said:
Isn't it the only M3 forum in the UK

You might be right there....

E46 Zone and BMW Land are pretty good for E46 related issues.

panthro · 14 Mar 2015 at 15:10

I've put an offer in for an E46 I've found, but I have a feeling that someone else is going to snap it up. Keeping my fingers crossed and waiting for the guy to get back to me.

panthro · 14 Mar 2015 at 16:44

Guys, how much should I be paying for a 4 wheel alignment on my 330d. The camber and toe are out and the steering wheel is slightly off centre. Got quoted £110 by some tyre fitting centre using a Hunter machine. I dont trust their technicians as they barely knew how to set the machine up so can't bear parting with that sort of cash to people who have no idea what they're doing.

panthro · 16 Mar 2015 at 22:16

badgeruk said:
Don't think that applies to M stuff but I am not really sure. At the moment the prices I am going off are the ones listed on the Health check tick form I have. Might ring a few main dealers in the area as well and see what prices they can do.

Any bmw over 5 years old receives 10% off parts and labour.

panthro · 16 Mar 2015 at 22:48

badgeruk said:
That's nice of them. Guessing that applied automatically by the dealers to the price they give you ?

I wouldn't say it's nice of them, it's one of the only ways they can retain customers who realise they are getting ripped off by main dealer servicing but value the bmw stamp in the service book. it will be itemised on the bill.

panthro · 17 Mar 2015 at 21:36

I was so close to buying the perfect E46 M3 today. Late model, silver grey with red leather, OEM CSL wheels specced with the car, fully loaded, manual, coupe, 1 owner....The guy advertising it got so many enquiries when he put the advert up he had to withdraw it, but offered me first refusal on it as I enquired first and offered him his asking price. Today he called me and said he's withdrawing it from sale completelyand is going to keep it another couple of years. My heart literally sank

panthro · 17 Mar 2015 at 22:12

He's a car collector, quite well known on Pistonheads. We discussed the price at length and the reason he was selling was to make room in his warehouse for a couple of incoming cars. Now he's realised it's such a good car and possibly underpriced (IMO it wasn't) he decided to keep it. Whether or not he sold it to someone else is another story, but I'm inclined to believe he didn't, but you never know.

panthro · 1 Apr 2015 at 19:57

Voxination said:
Car went in for an end of warranty check last Friday where they discovered one of the horns had failed (news to me) and the washer jets were all gunked up in the pumps. I expected to be told this wouldn't be covered due to someone using non-BMW fluid at some point in the cars life, however they were more than happy to book it in for today to do a de-clog of the whole system without even a snide remark at how it's due to cheap fluid.

Not wanting this to happen again, does anyone know where you can get BMW washer fluid at a decent price?

You actually think that using BMW washer fluid will make your car washer jets less likely to clog up?

panthro · 1 Apr 2015 at 20:20

[TW]Fox;27859142 said:
The clogging up is caused by reactions between different types of fluid, so yes, using the BMW fluid exclusively will make the jets less likely to clog up (Though in theory so will exclusively using any other brand of fluid). The other crucial point is that it's a warranty issue if it goes wrong again and it's only had BMW fluid in.

It won't be down to the washer fluid blocking the jets it will be down to the water you mix it with, unless you use it neat.

panthro · 2 Apr 2015 at 08:20

PMKeates said:
Why do you say that?

Washer fluid as far I'm aware is made with distilled water, solvents and alcohol/ethanol/meths. It shouldn't contain any trace minerals or solids in it to clog up the pump and filter. If you mix it with tap water then you're introducing impurities into the mixture. I could be wrong though.

panthro · 2 Apr 2015 at 17:28

Wow, BMW have authorised my rust repair on the rear arch of my 330d Touring. Didn't think it would go ahead but they're repairing it on the 13th. Instead of cutting out the arch they are replacing the entire rear quarter panel :eek:

panthro · 6 Apr 2015 at 09:58

NVP said:
You guys think the E61 M5 will start going up in value soon, or got a couple more years yet? I plan on storing one till I'm old but now I'm saving for a wedding and new house which has thrown a spanner into my finances.

Not in the way you'd hope. It's got a bit of a cult status, but limited to BMW enthusiasts and in no way near something like a CSL or 3.0L CSI/CSL. Very unlike the 911; most classic models are being snapped up and put into collections. Your money would be better placed in Porsche, maybe a 996. It's this generations 964

panthro · 6 Apr 2015 at 18:39

NVP said:
I get you but I have a special connection with the v10 m5 and want to build my BMW collection as a personal thing not purely for investment Apparently only 300 odd sold in the UK so scared they're going to shoot up soon...

That's not the question you asked though; if you have a personal love for the car then why not. If you were buying it purely for long term investment, then there are plenty of better cars to put your money into. If you can't do it now then just keep an eye on the market until you can. Just a point to note, there aren't many modern BMW's that are "collectors" cars, and the E61 was massive produced so it's unlikely to be a highly desirable model a la CSL, 1M etc.

panthro · 6 Apr 2015 at 19:06

[TW]Fox;27876347 said:
The E61 M5 was actually very rare (it is likely the rarest production M5 ever made), but I'm not sure why people keep mentioning it as NVP has an E60.

It's still a standard M5 and wasn't made in specifically limited numbers. He asked about the E61 so that's why it's being discussed :confused:

Only 300 odd RHD 3.8 E34's were produced and they are only starting to become more desirable.

panthro · 7 Apr 2015 at 16:56

I replaced the full track rod, had to buy a ball joint puller and use a fair bit of heat to get everything freed up. Doesn't take long though.

panthro · 7 Apr 2015 at 18:09

.:SAmSuNG:. said:
Dont have any option for heating things up and just have a basic spanner and socket set and would get a cheap ball joint splitter.

Videos make it look pretty easy.

Videos always make it look easy otherwise no one would watch them. They edit the part when they spend 30 mins just trying to free one seized nut.

A cheap ball joint splitter will not work, you need the scissor type. Also, go and buy a camping gaz blow torch. If the track rods have never been changed before, you literally will not be able to undo them without a scissor type ball joint splitter, a blow torch and a breaker bar.

Actually I'd just give it to a garage if I were you. Should cost around £150 including parts and labour.