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This is what I'v got: 10/1999 E46 323i Sedan M52 USA Left hand drive N; I failed emissions today.

I think the engine is actually S50:
S50: 3.0-liter dohc Six-cylinder (VANOS, OBD-I, Motorsport engine)
1995 E36 M3, M3 LTW

Wiki says it is S50B30US:
The first E36 M3 to be imported to the United States was the 1995 model, which received a 3.0 L 24-valve DOHC inline-six engine with 240 bhp (179 kW; 243 PS) and 305 N·m (225 lb·ft) (S50B30US), a different suspension and a 0-60 mph (97 km/h) time in about 6 s. It was available with 5-speed manual and automatic transmissions.

LSD: THE DIFFERENTIAL FROM MY 1995 BMW M3- ITS A LSD- 3.15. Idon't know the specific typer, anyone else know what kind of lsd this has?

So after a minor offroad excursion under wet conditions I am getting the nose back in shape (minor rub on the tirewall, nose -in but hte car moving sideways).

I ordered new foglight brackets today- Ashraf I may need someone with an advanced degree to help me clip the fogs back in, those are bizarre fasteners! I'm practicing some body work, some stuff is just tweaked a bit out of true, the passenger fender will need to be replpaecd at some point, I'm just not the artist to make it look perfect again (like $170 online).

Speaking of bizarre fasteners the kidneys are loosened and need TLC, I may get black ones if the clips are in good shape.

I more or less needed a new spoiler before all this, more or less still need one, may ask Santa for that.

The fog brackets came in, seem like it will be hard to install them with the spoiler on- everyone keeps telling me the spoiler is easy to get off but it's not clear to the eye how that happens.

I found this Alpine White 300 touchup paint is lacquer based and thins well with standard lacquer thinner, I got another tube of it and will probably try airbrushing the flaked-off spots on the spoiler. I don't think I have enough clips un-ripped-out to get the splitter lip to stay on, it may be time to go to Ziptie Heaven and stock up, but if I get the fogs back in and the flakes touched up the car won't look too bad.

Got the front taken apart ond new fog brackets on, airbrushed some touch-up paint onto the spoiler, close up it looks cheesy but it looks okay at speed. Even got the chin splitter on.

All in all it's as good as can be until I start replaceing parts, ie fender. Pics to follow.

Anyone have any experience with Yokoham S tires? My size is 235/40ZR17 90W if you want to look on Tire Rack.

Got the Yokohama S's on yesterday, got new tie rod assemblies too, and a good alignment- car handles beautifully.

Looking at replacing the rear control arm bushings, maybe with a Turner limiter kit.

Still loving the Yokohama S tires.

Put on new serpentine and A/C belts- and a serpentine idler pulley. This was cramped but doable from underneath without removing anything else- if you try from the top you will have to remove a bunch of stuff.

From the state of the idler I should probably replace the tensioner pulleys soon, too.

Put on a new fuel filter- it's located about under the driver's seat, uneventful operation. Pulled the fuse to depressuraize the system, but the filter is so huge there is still a significant amount of fuel in it (pint or more!)

Piece of cake compared to the FD, huh?
Probably the same filter and location on my 318ti.

Meg put in a new alternator air cooler hose-

And Sean and I "restyled" the headliner.

A competent shop wanted $700-$1000 to do this, claiming the rear window has to be removed (needing a $200 trim package + possibilty of breaking the glass) to replace the entire ceiling board ($300+ from BMW).

Of note- they strongly recommended Jacob's to do the glasswork, as they break far fewer broken glasses than other outfits.

Sean and I removed the sunroof molding, sprayed adhesive into the lining, and then stapled all along the edges- yes, stapled, the board is some sort of fiberboard and you can get the flat part of a stapler in there. Molding replaced, creative devices to aid in pressing the liner up overnight, oila!

We jury rigged supports- put a stack of books on the leather seat, a wide semi flexi office trifold notepad thingy against the ceiling, and a couple of flexy/springy pieces of thin scrap wood to support the notebook against the roof, with the bottom supported by the books in the seat, adjust number of books to adjust tension.

Definitely Ghetto technique, but the results look good- I got a couple of spots of glue on the headliner, and one or two staples peek out from under the molding, else you'd never notice a problem. The rear seems to have stuck well, on the sides between the sunroof towards the windows seems not to have stuck to the contours, too much curve, but you wouldn't ever notice.

We'll see if Sean and John's 50 cent fixup does as well as the $1000 pro job, if I get a few more months out of it I will be very happy.

So the next project is Turner Bushing travel limiter plates (and new bushings) for the rear trailing arms. I have these parts in hand, looking for a chance to dismantle the rear end of the car.

Apparently getting the bushings out/in CAN be acomplished with the arm still mostly on the car (as the axle goes through it, taking the arm off is complicated). We'll see.

So we installed the Turner plates, the cups were a little difficult to accurately drill as they are odd shaped, but in all not a bad project. We did not get the bushings themselves replaced, we didn't have the time to start messing with driving them out of the control arms while still on the car. They didn't immediately yield to a c-clamp and socket routine, so we just left them.

Last Friday I also discovered my passenger rear shock had come off the lower mount, apparently some sort of effect of me goign off-road while camping. Anyway, we needed to press the metal sleeve back into the shock bushing, so to take off the shock Sean took apart the entire trunk and CD player.

Done and done, we'll see if the shock stays in place, and if I notice any ride difference from the Turner plates.