Bought an old BMW M3, filled with regret...
- Thread starter BananaDunka
- Start date
I forgot to take a before pic 
Although TBF it probably would have been hard to tell the extent of wear in the pic anyway
Although TBF it probably would have been hard to tell the extent of wear in the pic anyway
Soldato
I've owned a 3 series for 9 years and I still don't bloody know what it's for when I have the digital AC/climate control temperature thing!No one knows what that dial is for. It's an owners secret
Associate
Then I'm afraid it's too late for you. You'll have to sell it
Lovely car, biggest regret of mine was selling it about 11 yrs ago, was an SMG, Tit silver with some CSL reps and the red interior. Wish they did the headunits back then, I was running a gadget that let you connect the ipod to the headunit which just treated the iPod as a hard drive for music, can't remember what it was called now! Good clean cars are going up big time in value and will only rise as the stock numbers get lower. At the time I bought mine, an 03 plate which was approx 4 yrs old, the CSL's were only about £6k more, what an investment that would have been but I was more than made up jumping up to an M3 from 406 Coupe.
Pretty much 99% of people who sold one has said they regret selling it it seems
I remember the iPod unit, mine came with one and you plugged the ipod into the glovebox into a device called the Dension iPod Gateway and then cycle the songs from the stock Business CD head unit in that rickety old school way.
Aftermarket head units did exist back in the late 2000s but they were running Windows Mobile/CE and were unbelievably slow and buggy so probably best avoided
No, it was before the Dension, had to Google it but it was an Intravee connected through an Alpine KCA 420i. Worked great though. Was around the time that a few people were experimenting with car pc's but they obviously died a death with aftermarket head units getting bigger and better.Pretty much 99% of people who sold one has said they regret selling it it seems
I remember the iPod unit, mine came with one and you plugged the ipod into the glovebox into a device called the Dension iPod Gateway and then cycle the songs from the stock Business CD head unit in that rickety old school way.
Aftermarket head units did exist back in the late 2000s but they were running Windows Mobile/CE and were unbelievably slow and buggy so probably best avoided
intravee, that rings a bell. That enabled some additional coding options too if you had the OEM nav screen like customising the lights coming on when you unlock the car at night etc. Have those functions now via the IBUS app though but still have yet to explore the full set of features.
I always found it strange that the coupe seats had more padding than the convertible on the side bolsters and seat base sides, but the headrest itself was thinner than the convertible^
The extra padding is to allow for the additional buttons the coupe has for the adjustable bolsters - I've only seen one convertible with those buttons on the seat so not sure if it was a factory option from BMW Individual at the time, or a retrofit!
So going to get my wheels refurbed but because of the scarcity of diamond cut 19s still in good shape, the only option is to go shadow chrome on the face and dark on the inside areas like OEM. Re-cutting my wheels is a no go as they've already been cut before so at the limit, and the ones FA Wheels have can't be re-cut again either for the exchange service.
This is what the shadow chromes look like, the pictured one don't have the dark inside whereas my opted ones will so will look like a hybrid of the 18" OEM shadow chromes and 19" diamond-cut anthracite inners. Still looks good and no more concern about diamond-cut weathering and stone chips as mine have been re-cut around 3 times now since getting the car.
Edit* Scratch that thought, just seen Oxford Performance have a fresh set of re-cut wheels for cheaper than what FA are charging for the shadow chromed refurb:
Gonna go for those.
This is what the shadow chromes look like, the pictured one don't have the dark inside whereas my opted ones will so will look like a hybrid of the 18" OEM shadow chromes and 19" diamond-cut anthracite inners. Still looks good and no more concern about diamond-cut weathering and stone chips as mine have been re-cut around 3 times now since getting the car.
Edit* Scratch that thought, just seen Oxford Performance have a fresh set of re-cut wheels for cheaper than what FA are charging for the shadow chromed refurb:
Genuine 19" BMW E46 M3 Alloy wheels - professionally refurbished - *Yours 4 Ours | eBay
All wheels are chemically stripped, blasted and powder coated. In the case of diamond cut wheels, a coat of anti-corrosion seal is also applied. Alloy Wheel Repair. Wheel Material Alloy. What if my diamond cut wheels have been cut too much to be refurbished again?.
www.ebay.co.uk
Gonna go for those.
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Proper PITA diamond cut wheels, one of the main reasons why I went to the CSL's, once that lacquer goes there's no stopping it and they soon look very shoddy. Even my current G20 is the same, had them refurbed last year and already got a stone chip on one and it's starting to go.
Those ones done by Oxford linked above have a coating applied so hoping that helps with bouncing off stone chips etc - Don't think FA Wheels apply such a coating to their re-cuts!
Wonder if that's an actual thing for wheels? So much rotational force especially toward the outer areas that would have thought any ppf would just work loose at the edges in time?
Hmm they do, although bit of a trek
