I’ve been contacted by another E30 M3 owner in Scotland, Alisdair Reid. He questioned both the authenticity, and my opinion of my car’s steering wheel, and went on to offer me his car’s old wheel.

Having never been one to look a gift house in the mouth(!), I’ve gratefully accepted his offer; the wheel arrived promptly and was installed tonight.

My only misgivings at the moment are that the new wheel is fractionally larger and thinner than the outgoing one, and ideally I’d have a smaller and chunkier wheel. The picture below shows the old wheel upside down on top of the new wheel – there’s not much in it.

That said, the new wheel certainly looks more authentic, and gives the car more of a ‘brochure’ appearance with its ‘M’ strips and horn push buttons.

Here’s what the car looked like earlier today:

And this is what it looks like now.

I’m pleased to have the car looking that little bit more original, so repeated thanks to Alisdair, who wouldn’t even accept a contribution towards postage.

During the fitting, I of course omitted to note the exact orientation of the old wheel as I took it off, so there was much driving around combined with trial and error refitting of the wheel to get it back on straight. I enjoyed the drive this evening, but the exhaust really will need some attention very soon. I’m away rally navigating again this weekend – I’ll resume the exhaust project next week.

Well, it’s fair to say I underestimated that job! First though, I fitted those bulbs, so the front indicators now flash a nice bright orange.

Now, about the clutch master cylinder change. The slave cylinder was easy, but this was a bit of a pig. Yet again I failed at first to remove the drivers seat although I needed good access to the footwell – when will I learn!

Physically removing and refitting the master cylinder in the footwell is unpleasant. Getting to the pipe connector under the car requires arms like Mr Tickle. It’s like the whole car just wanted to get in my way – I resorted to using an eleven mm spanner one way up for a few degrees, then the other, and repeat, and pain…

Eventually though, it was done. Thanks to Diane for driving out to the workshop at 10:30pm to operate the pedal and work lamp.

The results are the most pleasing aspect of this evening. I wasn’t expecting any noticeable change – I was merely replacing the part for peace of mind. However, with a new master cylinder and freshly bled, the clutch feels much lighter than it used to. This all combines to make the car feel far more modern – and as such I’m very pleased.

I’ve just been to ECP. One of the advisories on the MOT pass certificate from September 2006 was ‘front indicators showing white light’, and upon further inspection it seems that the orange paint has vanished from the bulbs.

I’d attempted to get some replacements during a weekend visit to Halfords but I need bulbs with the pins 180° apart, and they only stock them 120° apart. So I’ve bought four.

I’ve also bought a new clutch master slave cylinder. I replaced the clutch slave cylinder in late February, and have since heard that it’s generally a good idea to replace the master cylinder at the same time. A recent post on S14.net where someone’s master cylinder had failed soon after they changed their slave cylinder has prompted me to make this purchase.

I shall report back when I get the chance to fit these…

Nothing dramatic to mention, but here’s an update. I’ve put the interior back together as all the underseal from Wednesday’s session has now dried. I’ve had a look at the rust around the number plate lights, and am pleased to report that it’s just a bit of surface rust. I’ll attempt to source some spray paint the correct colour so I can look into this more.

I was going to look for rust underneath the rear of the car, but I got distracted by the diff, which is still leaking a touch.

So I drained it, removed the backing plate, cleaned the mating surfaces and rebuilt it with instant gasket.

I’ve removed the number plate surrounds as I decided they look a bit crap. At some point I’ll get some nice new number plates made up.

Today Andy Eccles kindly agreed to come and do some rust busting on the M3. Ben and I noticed some crinkly metal behind the wheel arch liners, so I armed myself with Robin’s welder and Andy and I set to work. Initially things didn’t look too bad on the driver’s side:

But inevitably…

So the operation began.

Here’s the offending hole cleaned up ready for plating:

And from the inside:

Andy set to work creating a plate, while I prepared the interior and inspected the other side of the car.

The other side of the car was sound on the bulkhead, but the bottom of the wing was rusty. So Andy decided the wing was coming off. This operation starts with the bumper:

It was a good opportunity to get the metalwork treated:

Typically we were a little rushed by darkness and hunger, so I forgot to take photos as the plates were fitted and blended and sealed, but rest assured it’s all done. The car’s back on the ground now, but the interior is still a little stripped as I’m waiting for the underbody seal on the car floor and foot well to properly dry before I replace the carpet.

I’ll pick this up at the weekend. Now’s a pretty good time to do all this anyway as the exhaust baffles are so rattly the car’s more than a touch embarrassing to drive…

I’ve bought the 16″ sport evos from Craig. Pictures here are worth a thousand words! As a reminder, with the old wheels fitted, the car looked like this:

So, with an M5 supervising, we performed a quick swap:

And here are the results:

I’m pretty pleased! The wheels came with a set of Goodyear Eagle F1s. The fronts still have plenty of tread left, but the rears were very worn with signs of track abuse: chunks missing and cord showing in places. An early morning trip to my friendly tyre centre this morning saw those two tyres replaced with Falkens for only £120 the pair.

The car drives fine on them, although the rear is a little wild while the new rears bed in.

On another note, the exhaust resonance is becoming louder to the point where it’s almost intolerable. I’ll start my research into replacement systems for June.

Now just reading this diary shows that I’m keen to look after and improve this car. However, I’m also keen to show that the car is here to be used both as a motorsport machine, and as a daily driver.

So I’ve just taken a load of garden waste and a manky, rusty BBQ to the dump in it:

For further amusement I popped into Vines of Guildford with the car full of all this crap. They’re having some works done there so parking is limited, and they’ve got a banksman controlling the traffic. I got a most disapproving “Can I ask the purpose of your visit, sir?”.

For the record, I went there because I’ve been doing a bit of preparation for those 16″ sport evo wheels that I hope to collect soon. They’re black, but will only come with three black centre caps. Over the weekend I sprayed up a spare, and I just needed to grab a new BMW roundel for the centre. Here’s one of the originals, with my sprayed up centre cap awaiting its BMW roundel.

I’ve just got back from a few nights away in Cornwall with the M3. 900 kilometres at an average of 8.7 l/100km (32MPG). S’alright!

The car didn’t miss a beat, although it did really struggle with being fully laden – extra people and a full boot really hurts the bhp/tonne on a car this light. The car even made itself useful when I realised I’d forgotten the BBQ tongs!

This trip’s success neatly marks nigh on four months with the car, and over this time it’s gone from a fairly unreliable old banger to an excellent companion that I trust. I’m pleased!

Loads of progress for you all this month, amazingly I’ve done everything I planned! £63 and 15 minutes saw the broken spring replaced: it’s simple and straight forward. However, I think we all need to stop and ask why this happens. It’s a fault often reported on the forum, and the BMW parts dealers admit to shifting quite a few, so I hope BMW have improved the quality of their parts on newer models. I’ve never had a broken spring on any of my four E30 and E36 cars – why is the E46 so fragile in this area?

The car’s mileage is creeping ever closer to the 100,000 mark (apologies for a mileage error last month by the way, for some reason I stated 3,000 miles too low), and as such it is time to review its condition. The bonnet shows the distance in stone chips, but otherwise the car’s exterior is in tip-top condition. Inside the leather looks remarkably good for its age, the carpet is still rich and thick, and the only part that had really shown wear was the steering wheel which I renewed about six months ago.

The real tell-tale sign though was the slight looseness felt through the steering column over bumps, and the Pringle shaped brake discs. Not any more! I reported last month that I’d acquired some Rossini brake discs, and I spent the first half of this month amassing the remainder of the rubbery parts that form the front end of the car.

Last weekend I was ready in the garage with those Rossini discs, OE brake pads and sensor, front wishbones including ball-joints (GSF), front wishbone rear bushes (courtesy of Tom Titler, thank you!), anti-roll bar bushes and drop links, 8 litres of Castrol 0W30, an oil filter kit (thanks to Olly Bloxham from Barons of Hindhead), and a little bag containing new nuts and bolts where applicable.

I started by getting the front of the car high in the air and removing all the belly panels to provide access to the wishbones and then dropped the oil while hot. This oil change wasn’t a part of the service schedule: it’s exactly mid-way between its last official oil service and the impending Inspection II, but I believe that engines should have their oil changed more regularly, especially when the turbo shares the same oil.

Access to the nuts on the top of the inner ball-joints via the engine bay was a little awkward, especially on the exhaust side, but they were soon off and it was out with the ball-joint splitter and club hammer. And hammer, and hammer and hammer. I don’t think it’s possible to have a hammer too big for this job! Eventually, they popped off and the rear mounts could be undone and the wishbones were off.

Fitting the new ones was quite easy with three potential gotchas. Firstly, the further the rear bushes can be pushed onto the wishbones before they are fitted to the car, the easier it’ll all line up. Secondly, getting to the nut on the exhaust side inner ball-joint requires arms like Mr Tickle, a 22mm spanner and a willingness to settle for a ‘slow but steady’ technique. Thirdly, use a jack to ensure that the wishbone is held firmly up onto the car so that the ball-joint itself doesn’t just spin while the nut is turned.

Having swapped the wishbones and their rear bushes, changing the drop links and ARB bushes was child’s play, requiring basic sockets and spanners. Changing the oil filter was a bit of a chore as BMW have reverted back to the annoying plastic canisters that are capped with a 34mm nut – a socket size I don’t have. Various wrestling with a monkey wrench saw the filter changed successfully, but what was wrong with the nice metal can with a sensible bolt as found in the E36 M3? Brakes were changed (7mm allen key is the unusual tool here), oil refilled and the whole lot was comfortably finished within a day.

What’s the difference now then? The 330d steers and brakes like a new car. Everything is super tight, steering feel and turn in are sharp, and it absorbs speed bumps and undulations with brilliant competence. The outgoing front wishbone rear bushes were Powerflex items by the way, and I can’t really say I’ve been particularly impressed with them. Of course I can’t say that changing these for OE items has been the source of the improvement because I’ve changed so many other items at the same time, but I do have a nagging feeling that the OE item is superior in this instance.

It’s so nice to be able to lean on the brakes without the mental vision of poddadom-shaped brake discs accompanying a vibrating steering wheel. Rossini say in their blurb that their discs won’t warp. While the presence of the M3 means it’s unlikely that the 330d will do any track work on these brakes, I’ll be sure to put their claim to the test.

All this excitement now means that I’ve got no budget or time to spend on the 330d in the near future. I hope to be able to just get on with the business of driving it, and look forward to the milestone 100,000 mile mark. Hopefully this car won’t require any attention until its Inspection II – still some 6,500 miles away.

Mileage since last report: 412
Total Mileage: 96,796
MPG this month: 37
Cost this month: £254 (ARB bushes, drop links, pads, sensor, oil, filter, rear spring) + wishbones