Ownership Verified: A new car, sort of by accident

Nice car. But please get rid of this radio, looks awful. At least in Germany, there are decent Navigation systems available for this kind of slot.
 
Nice car. But please get rid of this radio, looks awful. At least in Germany, there are decent Navigation systems available for this kind of slot.

Yeah, the stereo HU is going, it's on my list. First I want to take care of things related to running the car and making it look and work as smooth as possible, then I'll start working on the inside. I'm not sure whether I'll go with the original HU (I've got the navigation system in the trunk) or go with some aftermarket unit that looks classier. The thing bothering me even more than the stereo is the lack of original carpet mats. The ones on it now look horrible and don't fit at all.

Tomorrow it's going for a wheel alignment and diff oil, coolant and brake fluid change. After that I'll change the motor oil, diesel filter and auxiliary belts, then I'm finally satisfied and can start working on the inside :p
 
The license plate is dented and worn out, so I'll order a new one soon.
Are those new plates going to be with or without that [FIN] part?
 
I'm only renewing the front plate, I ordered it with the FIN-part. I thought it's period correct as the car is a '04 :p
 
Last Thursday my wheels were aligned and coolant, diff oil and brake fluid changed. Then on Saturday I changed the diesel filter and as my front tires were very worn from the outside due to bad alignment I threw them to the rear and the rear ones to the front. I'll look into getting new rubber later on, but I decided that these will last until winter. I also found good looking carpet mats for el cheapo, that was a pleasant surprise.

Old vs. new carpets:

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The old rear tire, now in the front and the old front tire, now in the back. Plenty of rubber to go through still..

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The diesel filter was surprisingly easily located: just under the driver in the bottom of the car. The change itself took 10min, but crawling under the car took at least 20 :p

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The left inner rear light housing was very worn. It leaked a bit, so water came in and ruined the plastic from the inside. I ordered a new one and changed it in a few moments.

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I also changed the motor oil on Tuesday. The oil filter case lid was stuck and because it's plastic, the amount of brute force had to be minimal. I had to buy a 36mm bolt head and a meter long lever to get it open without violence. The GDPO probably hadn't followed the 25.5Nm tightening torque so accurately. Also the oil sump draining bolt acted weird: I got the new one in tight, but removing the old one and inserting the new one left me with a feeling of threads starting to be ruined.
 
My brother's E46 has had the tail light clusters swapped to facelift ones, and while it's not a bad idea, they lack the inner plastic covers and might even be completely aftermarket. What I'd do would be to swap on some junkyard originals and put carrots on the front, but that's just me... With the clear front ones and the facelift rear ones the car's just a bit too silver to my taste.

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I've pestered him to join the forum, but it hasn't happened yet.
 
The one I installed was exaclty like the one I took off, same plastic etc. everywhere. The new one is aftermarket but I'm quite sure the old one was original.

I'm exactly the opposite: the carrots on front and pre-facelift rear lights just make it look so old and...old. And besides, I think carrots would look stupid with Xenons in an E46 :think:
 
Yeah, yours is an actual facelift car so it should look like that. The silver car is a 2000 316i 1.9.
 
Ah, well in that case period correctness is the way to go. Make it more orange!
 
I lifted the car up the other day:

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I really need to get my DSLR cleaned, these potato photos are ridiculous..

Everything is clean underneath and there was no free movement in the bearings when I tried to shake the wheels by hand. The only thing is that while the car was hanging with all wheels free, the right rear wheel didn't go up at all when pushed but the left one rose a few centimeters. I was on my way to work, so didn't inspect it more, but I'm guessing a broken spring? It doesn't bang or anything while driving, the rear only feels quite bouncy at times. Luckily a rear suspension/spring change in an E46 is very easy.
 
The only thing is that while the car was hanging with all wheels free, the right rear wheel didn't go up at all when pushed but the left one rose a few centimeters. I was on my way to work, so didn't inspect it more, but I'm guessing a broken spring? It doesn't bang or anything while driving, the rear only feels quite bouncy at times. Luckily a rear suspension/spring change in an E46 is very easy.

Yep, checked it out yesterday with a friend. Both of the rear springs are broken :-| The usual E46 fault has happened: they've rusted away from the bottom. Spare parts are arriving next week and I'll be hitting the Ahvenisto track day with fresh springs!
 
Nah, I'm only changing the springs as the shocks are still totally OK. I'll go with original parts, it's sporty enough like that (boy, that made me sound old.)

I'm trying to solve the problem with the HIFI system. As we all agree, the HU on it now is just terrible, but it's quite hard to find anything really worth swapping on that doesn't cost 1000?. I don't want the original navigation-HU on it because that technology is past its best before-date, I want it to have as many gizmos as possible but it still needs to look fitting with the rest of the interior. What a puzzle.. It has 10 quite decent speakers, one of which is quiet at the moment. I'm sure a proper head unit and some reconnecting would make a real difference in the sound experience :cool:
 
I've got a Kenwood KDC-BT92SD in my BMW, which does just about everything you'd want from a single slot head unit, BT handsfree, USB/SD card and CD, which is novel enough these days (the Meizler/Mengele/Mugabe/Whatever HU doesn't have that. Edit: It was Kienzle, wasn't it?) Also this one has adjustable colours, so you don't have to worry about having a blue head unit in a BMW.
 
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Hey, thanks. That looks really neat and isn't too expensive.
 
We changed the rear springs on Wednesday. It was a delightfully easy job: car up on stands, lower shock bolt open and the spring basically fell out. My friend had to stand on the brake disc with half of his weight for the new one to fit in. The difference is very clear in handling and the car also rides a bit higher :)

Before/after:
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Old springs and rubber plates. You can see where they broke.

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I also got new rear rubber: Hankook V12's. I'm going to have them installed before Sunday's Ahvenisto blasting as I don't think my present rubber would last until next week.

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Be sure to take some cooling laps every now and then. Those tyres don't do track days too well. :p
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The car ran nicely during the track day, no problems whatsoever :) Except for the front tires, they're awful.

I snapped a quick photo the other day:

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