New to Dubai not new to M's

[Andy1GP]

Hi Everyone

So this is me, fresh meat as the current status indicates. I am from South Africa and an avid BMW Forum participant.

I'm on BMWFanatics.co.za as well as some other car forums. I am very hands on and DIY orientated as the workshops we have here are mostly unreliable and don't provide the quality of work that an S engine deserves.

Needless to say I enjoy working on my cars immensely and enjoy getting intimate with them. In fact I am busy doing valve clearances on my E46M3 at the moment.

Now I'm not in Dubai as of yet but making preparations for when I move. I'll be leaving my beloved cars in south africa and will be (already) hunting for another potential E46M3 to own on that side :)

This excites me greatly. I enjoy restoring former power to these cars and feeling the car come alive again.

I have so many questions to ask regarding the GCC spec cars and whether the cars are NA spec or EU spec etc... I already have mods in mind hahaha however I will do some thread searching and possibly new threads for that.

Thanks for having me and here are some pics of my current rides.

2003.5 E46M3


1993 E34 M5


2008 E86 Z4M coupe


I won't post the diesel as it doesn't quite fit the picture here :)

[Hasan Shaikh]

Welcome to the club Andy.

That's a very nice E46 M3. Enjoy in good health.

The GCC spec cars are EU spec cars, with some minor differences.

[Andy1GP]

Welcome to the club Andy.

That's a very nice E46 M3. Enjoy in good health.

The GCC spec cars are EU spec cars, with some minor differences.

This is Great news! This means no cats in the headers :)

[RAFiK]

Welcome on board Andy!

Great to see enthusiasts joining from aboard! Nice looking E46 you have there!

Like what Hasan said, GCC cars are EU spec with very slight differences, but not in terms of power. They come in different options because of the weather. Do let us know when you're in Dubai so we can update you with our events and probably you get to join any of them :)

Enjoy your stay,

[Andy1GP]

Thank you for the welcome guys :)

Closer to time I will be hunting for a neat E46M3 so if anyone has any leads I would appreciate it.

[vanhack]

Thank you for the welcome guys :)

Closer to time I will be hunting for a neat E46M3 so if anyone has any leads I would appreciate it.

Hi Andy, I am an owner of a e36 M3 3.0, if I were you, I would look for a japan import e46 m3, one that has not been touched by the garages here, as probably has not had much of the work done for known faults, i.e. bearing shells, sub-frame, etc etc. I too work on my M .....give us a shout if you need to know where to get parts/suppliers etc.

[Andy1GP]

Thanks for you input vanhack. So I take it you have the same issues with dealerships there as in SA.

Get this, not even BMW South Africa have the skills to do a proper inspection II on our cars. The valve clearances NEVER get done on any of the M's. So sad. They have the tools (i've seen them) but simply skip the jobs as the mechies couldn't be bothered.

However I actually prefer this as the quality of work they do is sometimes questionable.

Don't get me wrong some of the dealers do top work. Especially if you have good relations with them. But generally any bloke off the street gets poor service. Rant over :)

Why do you say Jap import though? Purely because it's cheap to import or an already imported and registered one? Also do the Japs get the Euro spec with no cats in the headers or US spec?

Apologies for all the questions but I respect and appreciate your local knowledge thus I ask :)

[vanhack]

I am not sure about the cats in Japanese spec cars, my 94 e36 is quite similar to euro spec, I just have temp sensors pre-cats, as per jap requirements, which don't do anything to performance, otherwise the same. But things can change in terms of emissions so not sure what jap specs were in 1999 and up. I advise Japanese cars, as they are a nation of petrol heads, drive very little so mileage is low, specs are high, and you can get lhd cars, although a rhd nation. They are quite a tidy nation, and have the money to spend on cars. Here people buy cars, but don't calculate the service costs, bmw stands for break my wallet, and m stands for more. So owners look for the cheapest option to repair, and then get lower bills with shoddy work and cheaper parts. Try and find a s54 pre 2003 that has had the bearing shells changed as per recall in uae, and you will not be able to. But saying that you may find something local, have a look what is available, try Property Real Estate for Sale and Rent. Jobs in the Middle East and North Africa , Free Classifieds in with Dubizzle.com , some s54s on there now. You do your own work, so can calculate the cost of repair, and many scrap yards here for e46 parts, but not m parts in scrap yards. New parts from sharjah, and original are cheap as the US, sometimes smaller stuff from pelican parts with shipping via shop and ship is cheaper. You will be okay here, bring your tools, some stuff is cheap here though, and gulf petrol heads will lend you a hand when some stuff not available.

Are u here yet, as this the best time to buy, you can get a good price before eid. Prices will rise after October.

[Andy1GP]

Not there yet unfortunately. Believe me I'd love to get my hands on another S54. Thanks for all that info it sure is appreciated.

I'll bring my set of special BMW tools with that I've acquired over the years. Should allow me to do vanos rebuilds and valve clearances.

I'd just like to add that the bearing issue is still an issue on all S54's. They did do a recall but changed them with the same bearings. Blues and reds are still being used. It seems to be one of those hit and miss scenarios. Fortunately out of the 4 I've had none have had issues.

[vanhack]

I thought the bearings were not an issue after 2003 on the s54 from factory....anyhow the bearing issue is on the S85 V10 too, BMW really need to get there thumb out of their backside and supply engines without these issues. I have not heard much from the S65 engines...the new M4/3 is too new to tell.

See you around...catch up for a cold one sometime.

[Andy1GP]

I look forward to that cold one. The S54 and S62 share bearings. And the S65 and S85 share bearings so no surprise they all have issues when not looked after. Cold start wear is what kills them.

One or two owners that redline it from cold and they strip the coating off to the copper and then the inevitable wear ensues...

[vanhack]

Bring some Windhoek (A)...I will provide the fridge and braai

[Andy1GP]

Lekker man Lekker!

[Vanne]

Hi Andy, love your Z4MC man, grab another when your here and join our little select few. ;-)

Cheers and welcome when you get here.

[shockerg1]

Welcome to the Club Andy. You will be spoilt for choice here!

Loads of e46s around both verts and coupes.




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