NOR-CAL General Chat.

[mbonanni]

Yes but powdercoat them, especially the front.

Not worth powder coating, I would just scuff them up and plastidip them.

I will go Euro bumpers someday.

[Vivek]

Don't do that they'll be specked with silver in a week.

[mbonanni]

I am going to do it

[ohthejosh]

Pretty sure you dont need to scuff the surface prior to plastidip. Its plastidip, do three coats of it evenly is more than sufficient.

[Wh33lhop]

Wh33lhop (Nate, right?). What do you think of an e46? I feel stupid asking about one seeing as my dad owns one I can drive at any time, but I want a more educated opinion. I'm not really considering one, but i'd just like to see how you feel about it as a car overall. Easy enough to work on? Given 8k and a choice between an e30 and an e46, which would you buy?

Give me a bit and I'l give you my full 2 cents. But the general jist is that the e30 is fun, the e46 is nice. They are each a nice break from one another.

[mbonanni]

Pretty sure you dont need to scuff the surface prior to plastidip. Its plastidip, do three coats of it evenly is more than sufficient.

I'm going to sandblast them, scuffle them, and do five coats.

What now.

Thanks for the heads up doh. O had no clue.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

[Vivek]

give me a bit and i'l give you my full 2 cents. But the general jist is that the e30 is fun, the e46 is nice. They are each a nice break from one another.

:D thanks

[kronus]

:(

That's similar to what happened to the M50... Except I had to floor it to get to 120 :giggle: it would have blown immediately had you turboed it. C'est la vie. Etc. How was the body roll/bump steer?

In other (good) news, we found a MM built diff for the E46, so if the guy ever gets me pics and accepts my currency the car's weak points will be addressed. I demand you be happy for me in spite of your bad fortune.

Bump steer was a bit hairy coming down through 6 because the pavement sucks there. Body roll was nonexistent.. I had a bit of understeer at first, but dialed it out by firming up the rear sway, and now the car is completely neutral.

I saw your email about the diff.

[ohthejosh]

If the m10 is kapoot do a 2.7i, i want a 2.7i m20 in a 02

[kronus]

meh, M20s. I have everything needed for a turbo M10 build.

[ohthejosh]

BTW your 02 with the flares and those wheels and meaty tires. DROOL

[Wh33lhop]

Bump steer was a bit hairy coming down through 6 because the pavement sucks there. Body roll was nonexistent.. I had a bit of understeer at first, but dialed it out by firming up the rear sway, and now the car is completely neutral.

meh, M20s. I have everything needed for a turbo M10 build.

do it sir.

[Pantless Spency]

alex your dawg is cute d0e.
love german shepherds

[kronus]

btw your 02 with the flares and those wheels and meaty tires. Drool

<3

nate - pliny.

[Wh33lhop]

:D thanks

h'ok. For $8k, you are going to have to get lucky to find a nice E46. I found a salvaged '04 330i 6 speed for $8500, but buying it was a risk and I dumped some money into it directly after I bought it (CCV, Vanos, water pump, struts, CABs...). If you're able to find a nice well-maintained one for that much and have some extra put away for maintenance, then keep reading.

Basically, the E46 if not well taken care of will live up to the hype of being a plastic breaking wonder. The good news is, if you keep on top of the maintenance it's not so bad. The bad part of the good news is, maintenance is not incredibly cheap, and consequences are high for not keeping on top of it. Stupid stuff like expansion tanks and oil filter housing seals springing leaks happen a lot. In fact, at the Oakland meet awhile ago two E46s pissed their coolant out because of ET failures. So you need to be on the lookout for this stuff, because all-aluminum M54/M52TUs do NOT like being overheated. Then there's the water pumps, bleed screws which inexplicably just start leaking... and the rest of the cooling system basically. You will probably want to keep spares of a lot of this stuff. I have a full spare ET and bleed screw kicking around along with some premixed BMW coolant. Then there is the subframe issue which I would personally address for peace of mind. That's another $1k at a shop, or $150 plus DIY structural welding. Oh yeah, it needs LL-01 approved oil. Generally $7-10 a quart depending where you go. You can't just toss anything in the motor like an M20.

So, if you feel like you're up to all of this crap, what's the payoff? Well, it's a very nice driving car. It's quiet, rigid, suspension has lots of travel, if you find a 330 the brakes are awesome (I regularly beat the piss out of mine going full ABS from 80-90mph and they are great, stock pads and errthang), good torque as long as the Vanos is functional (it won't be, but not a crazy hard fix), great highway cruiser and still capable in the mountains. Limits, especially in stock form, are much higher than the E30, though it's missing a lot of the fun factor. DSC is a nice safety net if you are just cruising along. Convenience features. One-touch everything. It's nice.

Having said that, the E30, practically, will probably be a better buy at your price range, if you can find a nice one that is ACTUALLY worth $8k (maybe look in the $6k range if you only have $8k). It is an absolute joke how much these cars are going for these days, but if you can find a well-maintained E30 they are simpler, have less annoying issues to be addressed. Worst case you somehow manage to blow an M20, find one for $300 and swap it in. And swappable diffs are nice. The E46 non-M does NOT come with an LSD, and it's very pricey to have one fitted if you so desire. E30 is obviously much more simple, and more grassroots style. It's also a lot more original. How many E46s do you see on a regular basis...

Anyway, this has been a wh33lhop rambling of cognitive dissonance brought to you by... wine. Thank you and have a wonderful evening.