cheap M3, whats the worst..

[Matt82]

Sounds dodgy! Are M3s easy to nick/get started? I know some cars have top immobilisers as standard which makes them hard to steal quickly.

Its 1994 technology, it bet it would be away in a flash. Plus things like mirrors and bumpers, chavs love that sort of stuff. Being bright red it doesn't seem to blend in at all (ill have to get some pics up, I think its wonderful, but I could be biased!)

Vince, you have your car back on the road now? There was a 966 I used to see about which I thought was yours. I think this calls for ganglandesq OCUK hand motions at passing cars if you think the may be from the board

 

[Matt82]

and this is how it looks right now

 

[sigma]

True, there is no shortage of fake 'M' cars out there, not quite sure what you can do to stop someone stealing bits.

Stealing batteries is pretty low :\

 

[NathWraith]

Nope, not a good thing at all!

Thought so, I am confused because clarkey said this:

Pretty sure it was 75w140 that I used in my diff, seems really good thus far. Never had any noises during slow turns though. It is a bit whiny at speed but you can only hear it if you are driving without the rear bench in.

 

[HummuH1]

Thought so, I am confused because clarkey said this:

Whiney diff's on ///M cars are not unusual. Can often be cured by adding the uprated diff fluid, which I think is the one Clarkey was referring to, but not sure.

Problem is if they continue to whine at low speed tight turns after the fluid has been run in (c. 1,000 miles), it's usually new diff time then.

 

[Matt82]

mine is still creaky, seems louder when its been stood a while btu once on the go you dont hear it

when i get a chance ill get the "different oil" and try that

will be a waste of the 75w90 stuff i put in though



with regard to the car standing or it being my imagination, so many people have commented on the car to me today.

oddly, even though i am from the chav capital of the world, there are very few e36s about. the ones that are are chavved to high heaven, mine is a complete rarity being a nice standard looking one

 

[Matt82]

Close to 300 miles on the car since the MOT now.

So far it has been very well behaved and the fixes to the intake system on friday night have all worked. the idle is now perfect and power is consistent all the time in every gear.

it despirately wants a wash. after countless passenger rides this week the wheels are now black.

GF drove the car lastnight and didnt like the throttle pedal, it had started to become sticky for the first 10mm of travel, i had possibly not put the cable back together properly when i did the intake system on friday

i had a fiddle with that and now the throttle is perfect, she has even attempted to H&T downchange a few times. she really likes driving it but isnt confident enough to go banzai just yet.

 

[Janesy B]

With regard to iffey areas, two dead car batteries were pinched from my front garden today. Downside of living in a very quiet area, people can get up to all sorts and not be noticed

Even when I get the CCTV sorted, what can you do about gyppos?

Romanians. If you leave ANYTHING that isn't fixed to the ground on the front drive apart from bins it'll go missing. Next door left some copper piping outside and it was gone in about half an hour. I'm always seeing vans with heads poking out the windows doing a slow cruise up the road.

 

[Matt82]

we had a stack of bricks delivered yesterday for the garage. there was no way they could be left there they all had to be moved round to the garden there and then.

now that i have developed a bond with the BMW, the sort of bond only experienced with new born children, i even feel twitchy about leaving that outside, but im probably just being paranoid.

 

[Matt82]

so after a week and 300 miles it looked like this

wheels were almost black and i hadnt actually washed it once since i bought it in feb. gave it a quick clean and clay before the sun went down and the gnats actually ate my entire body.

the wheels were actually a pleasure to clean, i love those wheels so much.

they were a tad minging but it came up looking nice

gonna give it a quick blast with a cleaner wax today as it needs some protection and then put some TW protective extragloss on there

one last thing, anyone know what this module is?

found it disconnected when i sorted out the intake system. obviously something redundant after the engine swap but id like to know what it is

 

[phi1]

the silver can thingy is idle control valve, the plugs below are the sensors for the knock sensors x3 on the block.

 

[Matt82]

sorry, i should have been more clear. im holding a plastic tube between my thumb and finger. the tube has been cut and the electronic module doesnt appear to be connected to anything

 

[phi1]

ahh, mine is the same, some kind of vacume pipe I think mine has a bolt rammed in the pipe.

 

[Matt82]

perhaps ours were both worked on by the same "professional"

 

[phi1]

haha, well mine is a 325 converted 3.0 but was rebuilt by phil at cpc took a huge ammount of abuse at trackday last weekend really enjoying it!

 

[Matt82]

omg. so it was washed and clayed lastnight. the aim of the game today was get some cleaner wax on it, a couple coats, to make sure it was nice and clean, then if time allowed, get some sealant on it.

the pic above is of how it looked post-wash

the cleaner wax did lift more dirt on the first run. thankfully being a small car it didnt take long

and

then went over it again

and finally the sealant

just in case my day hadnt been hard enough (also layed another big section of the garage floor) i thought it would be a great idea to put some hard wax on the car

hadnt used one in ages. satisfying stuff!

only did the front end though as i feel so dead. off to have a shower, couldnt resist another look

i chose the right colour

 

[MatteH Oxford]

I've enjoyed reading this thread, would love to see that car in the Flesh -a classic!

 

[Fuzz]

Should have bought a white one

 

[Berger]

Should finish that drive!

 

[Matt82]

Finishing the garage Floor first, hence all the sand. Just got back from a quick drive to get "breakfast" stuff and three badly focused and noisy videos are being uploaded (my first very lame attempt at a video)