Bought an old BMW M3, filled with regret...

mrk said:
Thanks guys :cool:

I think the novelty of having the roof down will wear away a bit but not entirely. That exhaust note with the roof down I tell you will never ever get old!

I know we've had some poor weather and yes indeed dirt shows up much easier than on the Titan Silver I had before. Even light stone chips are more visible as white specs - Sacrifices have to be made though I guess. I've seen those clear film wraps you can have applied on all panels, one guy did it to a custom 330Ci in the USA. No idea on costs or anything on them though but it's certainly an option if the dirt and grit showing up does end up being a right pain. At least it won't be harming the paintwork.

It is Carbon Black but it's more of a very dark midnight blue. I wondered why it was called as such but then it hit me, Carbon Paper is often a really dark bluey colour :p

I will most likely keep the wheels kona, as you say they are unique to the E46 and this new finish is really sweet. I really like CSL wheels but as you say, too many reps about.



The OBC was indeed showing 31.2MPG on a motorway run - It is a great engine and as bizarre as it may sound, economical for the performance on offer and the weight it's pushing. Local driving nets me 22-25MPG on average with bursts of excitement. I know some have said they've seen mid teens but they must have been flooring it everywhere!
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Your not trying hard enough. ;)
Yep can match your motorway run, but I typically average 17-20mpg which involves no motorways.

Also a tip if your car consumes any oil at all, mine was using 1/2 litre every 1000 miles, I changed out the air oil separator, a £20 part and 10 minutes to change, my car now uses no oil. :)
 
Gibbo said:
Your not trying hard enough. ;)
Yep can match your motorway run, but I typically average 17-20mpg which involves no motorways.

Also a tip if your car consumes any oil at all, mine was using 1/2 litre every 1000 miles, I changed out the air oil separator, a £20 part and 10 minutes to change, my car now uses no oil. :)
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Already have the correct CSL tyre sizes so all good, I will keep these 19s though I think having thought about it some more. Thanks for the tips above though, the air oil separator sounds interesting, will keep an eye on oil consumption.

Btw I already have Euro tips. I'm just having a ballache of a time getting the stock tips off. Those pop rivets are on sodding tight. I can't even chisel them off. Someone recommended using a file to get them off but I can't see how could use a file correctly in that space? Probably a much easier idea to just take the whole backbox off and do it that way.

A job for another day :o
 
mrk said:
Already have the correct CSL tyre sizes so all good, I will keep these 19s though I think having thought about it some more. Thanks for the tips above though, the air oil separator sounds interesting, will keep an eye on oil consumption.

Btw I already have Euro tips. I'm just having a ballache of a time getting the stock tips off. Those pop rivets are on sodding tight. I can't even chisel them off. Someone recommended using a file to get them off but I can't see how could use a file correctly in that space? Probably a much easier idea to just take the whole backbox off and do it that way.

A job for another day :o
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Backbox comes of easy, just make sure where it clamps to mid-pipe is not rotten otherwise you will need to put new ends on it and when you take it off be prepared for the heaviest exhaust backbox you ever experienced, its like 28kg, lol. :D
 
Nice car, the guy who sold me his 330ci had just upgraded to one of these. Perhaps a path I will take come new car time :)

That Andrive headunit looks great too. What was the cost of it, I can't seem to find the product on their webpage?
 
loltim said:
and smg.

jk mrk m8. Lovely looking car.
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SMG retrofit planned for next week..... lol j/k m8.

MeAnBoY said:
Nice car, the guy who sold me his 330ci had just upgraded to one of these. Perhaps a path I will take come new car time :)

That Andrive headunit looks great too. What was the cost of it, I can't seem to find the product on their webpage?
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It is this one: http://www.andrive.co.uk/android_bmw_e46.php

It's taken a month so far but the first 2 weeks were through the Christmas and New year period. I've been promised it is in transit on their pallet container though.

My other option was the new Parrot Asteroid unit which is a narrow frame/depth double din. It is also a direct fit but doesn't have the buttons around the side and will need a fascia bezel. It looks good but not as OEM as Dynavin/Andrive and other E46 Android units do of course. It is the last resort head unit should the Andrive not live up to expectations.
 
Look forward to seeing the Andrive installation and interested to see how you get on with it. Most people go for the Dynavin so it's nice to see alternatives in action.
 
Lovely example there, great choice.

Shimmy said:
Absolutely lovely.

Black looks great when freshly waxed, but you'll soon hate how quickly it shows any sort of dirt. Especially this time of year.

Even those summer specs of dust show instantly.
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Unfortunately, this. Such a shame to see nice cars like this look grubby just a few hours after cleaning once that film of dust in the air settles on them.
 
Just seen, it does sound good! I will see how I get on with these tip swaps as I now have a small list of things to try to get the rivets off :D
 
I have drills, too big for the gap on the top rivets. I bought a small drill for just this task later, still too big. Hence the above!
 
Nice write up and photos mrk, something for me to read on my lunch break. Nice to see one of these cars in such excellent condition; see far too many of them now that have fallen into the hands of idiots.

mrk said:
What don't I like?
- I don't like the weather-depending creak introduced by the softtop rubber seals rubbing against the windscreen frame. There is only 1 creak but it is consistent and only over rougher roads. I will spend some time cleaning this area until it's gone but it's low priority and quickly tuned out with the right foot ;)
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Give this stuff a try on your rubber window seals:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EINSZETT-GUMMI-PFLEGE-STIFT-RUBBER-CARE-STICK-/390397740572

Very useful on all rubber seals, but especially for frame less windows - keeps the rubber fresh, supple and lubricated. Stops the windows sticking to the seals in freezing conditions; it might help reduce the creak you're experiencing, but even if it doesn't, it's a good product for rejuvenating ageing seals.
 
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