Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

You are such a man eater.

2.0l petrol. 72000mi runs like a champ

Yeah we got one similar. Ours always has this slightly ghostly whistle in the signal at all times that sounds like a wind noise. Kept thinking something wasn’t right with the car at first.
Was planning on keeping the tape deck for originality so was just wondering if anyone had tried the other sort. Obvs I had an old school version in my first car when I taped my md walkman to the dash.

Ours always has this slightly ghostly whistle in the signal at all times that sounds like a wind noise. Kept thinking something wasn’t right with the car at first.

Now that you mention it, mine does give a little whine when you floor the accelerator. Thought it was a belt about to go at first but I know of at least one person with the same car/transmitter combo where the same thing happens.

Never found out what the reason is for that happening, might be worth double checking it's not an issue with the tape deck one though.

For a few moments, you're outta touch?

You are such a man eater.

Ooh, here they come

Just make some mixtapes, man

As long as you don't abandon your lunch it'll be fine...

Nice work

Meant to reply to this the other day. Makes sense that a lot of it is down to set up. I guess, as well, that many of the issues that I heard about BEC at the start have probably been remedied by advances on the bike side of things as well. Not sure if people are still using late 90's/early 00's bke engines for kis any more or if, as times gone on, they've also started using more current engines with even more power and torque too.

Any idea why I can’t seem to find a service manual/Haynes type thing for my e46 diesel?
There’s a Haynes for the petrol, but the diesel version seems elusive.

There’s a digital version it seems:
https://www.emanualonline.com/Cars/BMW/3-Series/E46/BMW-3-Series-e46-320d-1999-2000-2001-2002-2003-2004-2005.html?currency=GBP&product_country=GB&product_id=16605&placement=&adtype=&keyword=&gclid=CjwKCAjwiOv7BRBREiwAXHbv3NYUt1Wl034SP7noy8x03tyjCJqRWnMbMzPr3aRAEiiRXxXard2laBoCZckQAvD_BwE

I've had some luck with https://www.newtis.info/ working on the M3, but YMMV...

Cheers, navigation is a little bit labyrinthine but it’s a start!

Probably a repost but this caught my attention after the fiero guy recommended it. Have watched a few episodes now and it's alright:

https://youtu.be/AuDXfH1N16c

I've watched the series and can confirm there's a lot of rust.

In todays "you win some, you lose some".

Win - I thought something was loose/was borked in the C55 as I could hear a knocking noise from the passenger side at certain engine loads. Turned out to be the seat belt had been turned around and the tongue of the buckle was knocking on the B pillar trim. Turned it round, no more noise. Hurrah!

Lose - bank two VarioCam solenoid is borked on the 911, £2,200 to you sir. Arse. Still, explains where my torque had gone.

Also, WAF problem with the plans for bike hauler - a van is "not sufficiently dissimilar from" the C55 for owning both to be acceptable. But, apparently, a race car is sufficiently dissimilar.

Had something similar - a high pitched faint whirring appeared, turns out the Bluetooth fm transmitter makes the noise when nothing is playing. Phew!

That second one is an ouch tho.

As for van being too similar to the c55, has she been reading this thread? ; )
(assuming the W in WAF stands for wife).

I can see her point, to an extent - van being just a larger version of an estate car. I'm not saying I agree with it, but I can see the direction as it were.

Anyway, I'll park that for now.

I can see her point

That's because she's right.

I'd suggest that a medium sized commercial van and a performance car display subtle differences in the driving experience that the experienced motorist could detect.

Did a roadside oil change round the corner from my house (the flattest point nearby).
Got an amusing array of interest. One grumpy old bloke rudely asked what I was doing, while his wife tittered hysterically telling me to ignore him. I promised not to make a mess and explained that it was in my interest to do it cleanly.

Then a neighbour of his pulled by in his 90s e320, and enthusiastically asked what I was upto, and if I needed a hand. We had a chat, he introduced himself and said I should come round for a drink so we could chat about cars.

And then a little french girl came by with her parents and exclaimed
“Oh non, c’est casse!”
But I was able to explain in broken french “c’est normal, je change l’huile - c’est bon for la voiture”

And then her mum explained how she almost lost her license during her provisional period in France because she crashed it drink driving. Fun times.

Sold my CLK350 to a nice guy today, only got £1600 for it but he seemed happy and I'm glad it's gone to a good home. How you get on with we buy any car @mmccarthy?

I bought a mk3 golf 1.8 GL for £285 in a mad moment and went to see today in crouch end, it didn't start as he said been stood for two weeks, not a great start but going to pop back tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Speaking of selling cars; need to sell the RR this month.

Probably worth around £45k.

Is it mental to try to sell something at that value privately? Imagine there aren’t many cash buyers kicking around for something like that?

I bought the Piglet privately, and while it wasn't that much it was that general ballpark. Has to be worth a try I would've thought. Buyers can always arrange their own finance if they need it.

Oh yeah sorry forgot to post an update!

Got £700 in the end, wife lost the V5 and service history so we had to order a new V5 but apparently the lack of service history knocked off less than £100. There were small scrapes all over the thing and the material on the steering wheel was peeling off so was pretty happy with anything more than £500 considering the initial value was at £1k.

If it weren't for the current situation making it more difficult/unlikely for people to view a car, combined with the fact that we're living in the Republic of Ireland selling a car that's registered in the UK (as it was a diesel it would've cost in the region of €4k to have it registered here), it's just nice to have the thing out of our sight!