Yet another rescued E36 328i M Sport project...
Discussion
OK. I sent the car over to the repair garage to get the car sorted. All the panels and parts that I bought were in good, rust-free and serviceable condition. The guys at the garage stripped off the damaged parts and checked the car to be sure that there wasn't going to be any hidden nasty surprises and gave it the all clear. They then started putting the car back together, after first painting the panels.
Just love those big E46 330 drilled and grooved brakes...
As you can see from the picture below, the panels came from various cars and were various colours...
The replacement driver's side headlamp fitted
One of the damaged parts was the radiator
I managed to get a brand new replacement from Arrow Radiators in Bristol for...... £58 all in!
And fitted..
And a couple of shots of the car being finished
The nose panel came with it's original kidney grill, both in excellent condition
The bonnet came with it's original sound deadening lining and was in much better condition than my original
Just waiting on a couple of parts to come from BMW in Germany and the car will be back on the road...
Just love those big E46 330 drilled and grooved brakes...
As you can see from the picture below, the panels came from various cars and were various colours...
The replacement driver's side headlamp fitted
One of the damaged parts was the radiator
I managed to get a brand new replacement from Arrow Radiators in Bristol for...... £58 all in!
And fitted..
And a couple of shots of the car being finished
The nose panel came with it's original kidney grill, both in excellent condition
The bonnet came with it's original sound deadening lining and was in much better condition than my original
Just waiting on a couple of parts to come from BMW in Germany and the car will be back on the road...
Well, after getting the car sorted after my accident. I then took it for it's MOT. I was a bit worried about it the emissions as the car needs to be live mapped now and is running REALLY rich - around 17 MGP! But, passed with flying colours. Happy days... 
So, I decided to give it a present and managed to source a mint condition replacement steering wheel - as the leather and air bag cover were shagged and really scratched...
Mr Paul Glover came up trumps again and sole me this for £140, including postage.
As you can see, even the original red, purple and blue M stitching is in perfect condition - on my original the stitching was black...
I also took the car to an auto electrician to get the central locking, ABS light fault, fog lights and seat belt warning lights sorted too. However, the boot lock still wouldn't lock with the central locking as the actuator was found to be f
ked, So, once again, Mr Glover came to the rescue with a replacement for £20 posted.
Next... After keeping my eyes peeled for the last couple of years or so, I managed to come across a set of 5 BBS wheels, 3 RC041s AND a pair of - rare as rocking horse st - RC042s. Complete with all waffle plates, centre nuts/caps AND decent matching Toyo Proxies tyres for £500. They turned up today and am really pleased with their condition. Might need to get the outer rims polished and lacquered though.
RC042s...
What a result! Was seriously starting to fall out of love with the car recently...
So, I decided to give it a present and managed to source a mint condition replacement steering wheel - as the leather and air bag cover were shagged and really scratched...
Mr Paul Glover came up trumps again and sole me this for £140, including postage.
As you can see, even the original red, purple and blue M stitching is in perfect condition - on my original the stitching was black...
I also took the car to an auto electrician to get the central locking, ABS light fault, fog lights and seat belt warning lights sorted too. However, the boot lock still wouldn't lock with the central locking as the actuator was found to be f
ked, So, once again, Mr Glover came to the rescue with a replacement for £20 posted.Next... After keeping my eyes peeled for the last couple of years or so, I managed to come across a set of 5 BBS wheels, 3 RC041s AND a pair of - rare as rocking horse s
t - RC042s. Complete with all waffle plates, centre nuts/caps AND decent matching Toyo Proxies tyres for £500. They turned up today and am really pleased with their condition. Might need to get the outer rims polished and lacquered though.RC042s...
What a result! Was seriously starting to fall out of love with the car recently...
I took my new set of wheels off to Prestige Wheels in Bristol to get them refurbished as, although they had been painted silver and COULD have gone straight onto the car, I wanted to do them, and the car, justice. The guys there have had them for the last week and have stripped, acid dipped, painted and lacquered them. I am very pleased with the outcome and can't wait to get them on the car.
They sorted the barrels, centres, waffle plates and even the centre waffle plate retaining nuts.
I'll add some more pictures of them, once they're on the car. Well pleased...
They sorted the barrels, centres, waffle plates and even the centre waffle plate retaining nuts.
I'll add some more pictures of them, once they're on the car. Well pleased...
Lovely bit of BBS action
You did well there - enjoy the split rims while they are pristine!!
Mine were done a about three years ago but winter driving has started to do it's thing on the laquer. Poorboys wheel sealant helped a little.
As with many on here have been following for a while, so keep up the good work matey.
You did well there - enjoy the split rims while they are pristine!!
Mine were done a about three years ago but winter driving has started to do it's thing on the laquer. Poorboys wheel sealant helped a little.
As with many on here have been following for a while, so keep up the good work matey.
After getting the new wheels refurbished, I decided to fit a fairly discrete star-drive screw into each waffle plate. This was to avoid them getting lost if the centre nut worked loose AND to prevent any chancer scallys from nicking them.
I also managed to buy the original centre nut tightening tool recently.
The wheels really set the car off magnificently.
This morning, the fked key issue reared its ugly little head again!!!
Basically, I found that I had to repeatedly re-programme the key as it kept loosing it's mapping to the car. However, the last time this happened, the usual trick for re-programming the key wouldn't work and I had to take it to an auto electrician to get it to work properly again.
So when it happened this morning, I happened to be near a Timpsons key cutters in Bristol. This time, the red light on the key fob would not go out and the unlock button wouldn't work. So I went in and asked the guy if he could take the battery out and see if he could get it to work again. He took one look at it and said "the button is fked!". He then produced a replacement and said "would you like a replacement key fob body?". I couldn't believe what he had...
It's a BMW exact replacement for the key fob the car originally came with. AND, he went on to say that to put my ship in the new fob, a new battery and the key cutting would cost me the princely sum of £30. BMW wanted well over a hundred quid for a replacement. Bargain of the week!
I also managed to buy the original centre nut tightening tool recently.
The wheels really set the car off magnificently.
This morning, the f
ked key issue reared its ugly little head again!!!Basically, I found that I had to repeatedly re-programme the key as it kept loosing it's mapping to the car. However, the last time this happened, the usual trick for re-programming the key wouldn't work and I had to take it to an auto electrician to get it to work properly again.
So when it happened this morning, I happened to be near a Timpsons key cutters in Bristol. This time, the red light on the key fob would not go out and the unlock button wouldn't work. So I went in and asked the guy if he could take the battery out and see if he could get it to work again. He took one look at it and said "the button is f
ked!". He then produced a replacement and said "would you like a replacement key fob body?". I couldn't believe what he had...It's a BMW exact replacement for the key fob the car originally came with. AND, he went on to say that to put my ship in the new fob, a new battery and the key cutting would cost me the princely sum of £30. BMW wanted well over a hundred quid for a replacement. Bargain of the week!
Great result on the key, could do with that for my spare key fob which is showing the cars high miles. I do have one half decentfob which I am now using.
I was thinking of a similar discete screw in my caps too - thought I was a bit mad and did not actually do it. You have changed my mind; really good work.
I was thinking of a similar discete screw in my caps too - thought I was a bit mad and did not actually do it. You have changed my mind; really good work.
Mine's in for its MOT and some jobs doing at the moment. I asked him to check the sills while he has it and am pleased to report the corrosion is not severe. In his words, "there's plenty of metal to work with" and he's going to sort it while he has the car to do the other jobs, so good to know that will be resolved. Once I have it back I'll be on a big push to get everything else sorted and hopefully have a really good example by summer.
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