My M3

[Dal]

Sold the 18s and got a set of 19s the same as on the car:

The added bonus was that the front two tyres have 6.5mm remaining of Michelin Pilot Sport rubber compared to the ones on the car that have 3.0mm. The set of alloys and tyres cost less than two new front tyres so it was a no brainer!



The rears are 3>4.0mm bridgestones so OK for a track day..

 

[Cartman]

mmmmm E46 M3, my favorit M3

 

[Dal]

Had a bird poo stain on my bonnet and today finally got around to getting it out. It's hard to capture in pictures but looked like a bubbling of the lacquer and kind of swirly rather than crystal clear.

Had a smart repair guy round a week or two ago to see if it could be wet sanded out as it looked fairly deep to me but he though it might machine polish out with an aggressive pad / compound combination. He didn't have the time to have a go but gave me some 3M compound to try which was nice of him.

Before:

During:
You can just about see it flattening out a bit:

Gone!:

I asked Cherie to come out and try and find it and she couldn't - result!

Had Bartletts in Huntingdon do my MOT today (it passed - just commented on edge wear on tyres) and rear subframe check which was given the all clear so stress free.

Whilst there I met up with a local Imola owner and her vert to have a chat and to get a couple of Imolas together for a change and I wanted to see what her intensive detailing session had done to her car - it did look very nice!
(Not surprising really given how much it cost - mostly swissvax products including 2 coats of Best of Show.)

 

[The Arch Bishop]

Lovely! I'm not sure there's been many cars that sit so nicely on standard springs and wheels. I hate to use the 's' word, but it does have the perfect stance.

 

[Dal]

Yeah, it makes me cry a bit when owners lower them and put stupid camber on when they look so nice when standard.

 

[spike.]

Very nice

Much better than the gold colour

 

[Davedrave]

Cracking car Dal! Looks ace.

 

[crystalpuma]

Talk about attention to detail! You should babysit Nancy for a bit

 

[Dal]

Want to keep it nice and the mark would only get worse if it continued to "etch" meaning a bonnet respray eventually.

 

[crystalpuma]

I bow to your superior knowledge of surface imperfections!

 

[Neil]

You should take a look at the front of my Civic. On first glance it's fine, but on closer inspection it's already stone chipped to hell - the paint is so thin!

 

[Dal]

Get a chipex kit - that'll sort it

 

[Neil]

I'm not that fussed - trying to do any detailing or proper cleaning is a pain in the backside where I live now. As long as it's clean, I'm happy.

Anyway, have your thread back! :lol:

 

[Dal]

Bring it round here.. red clean photoshoot opportunity!

 

[Neil]

Sounds like a plan!

 

[Dal]

Took it out the garage for a rare winter outing today to go and get it an oil and filter change as well as get the exhaust clamps sorted:

Luckily for me the chap doing the work is a renowned CSL specialist - people come from all over the country (and Europe) for him to mollycoddle their CSLs. He did the work then invited me out to have a look under. All was still good - no sign of any sub floor cracks - and the only thing he could find was that the rear arm bushes were just starting to go so to keep an eye on them. But when I said how many miles it does a year, he said it'll probably be fine for a few years yet :lol:

Then got a snap of it in the winter sunshine:

 

[Dal]

330.1bhp today on the rollers at AMD today. Happy with that.

 

[Dal]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wot8UNaflOw[/youtube]

 

[Dal]

Gave the M3 a coat of something rather special..

Get a pot >here<

PS: Not my pot - borrowed from a mate with more money than sense

 

[oilburner]

£195!!!!! I've bought cars for less than that