[karan561]

KW coilovers came in from Germany earlier this week;

[karan561]

A closer look at these Flow Forged, Lightweight & High strength race spec Wheels by Apex;



Cant wait for these to go onto the car

Next up are the tyres

[dipen]

Did you not pick any of these parts during your Germany trip. Would have been much easier and cheaper as well.

[karan561]

Originally Posted by dipen

Did you not pick any of these parts during your Germany trip. Would have been much easier and cheaper as well.

No, as most of the parts are bulky so wasn't practical to bring it along.

Hence best was to import (Germany, USA & UK) them stage wise as & when whatever was required during the build

[RohanDheman]

Absolutely fantastic to see the build progress Karan. Every update makes me smile!

Had the NGT not ruined it for me, i had planned on doing a proper engine and gearbox swap on my E36 as well. However, with the registration expired and NOC not being issued, she is in storage for an indefinite period. All the best for the build!

Rohan

[abhiram7912]

Originally Posted by karan561

A closer look at these Flow Forged, Lightweight & High strength race spec Wheels by Apex;

Attachment 1747880

Cant wait for these to go onto the car

Next up are the tyres

Karan, how much duty was charged for importing the wheels? I am looking at some wheels for my F10 and i am thinking it would be cheaper to import than pay inflated prices here.

[v12]

Originally Posted by karan561

A closer look at these Flow Forged, Lightweight & High strength race spec Wheels by Apex;

Attachment 1747880

Cant wait for these to go onto the car

Next up are the tyres

Lovely Lovely Karan !! These BBS lookalike wheels are the best suited to the E46. May I suggest the following paint combination :

Light grey body with matt black wheels
Gun Metal grey body with glossy black wheels
Pearl White body with matt golden wheels (Impreza type)

Seriously within a year, this is going to turn into the best E46 in the country.

[karan561]

Originally Posted by RohanDheman

Absolutely fantastic to see the build progress Karan. Every update makes me smile!

Hey Rohan Thanks, glad you are enjoying the build.

Had the NGT not ruined it for me, i had planned on doing a proper engine and gearbox swap on my E36 as well. However, with the registration expired and NOC not being issued, she is in storage for an indefinite period. All the best for the build!

Extremely saddening to hear this news. Hope NGT relax their policy for such rare imports.

In the meanwhile you would be glad to know i recently renewed my RC book upto 2023

Originally Posted by abhiram7912

Karan, how much duty was charged for importing the wheels? I am looking at some wheels for my F10 and i am thinking it would be cheaper to import than pay inflated prices here.

38%

Originally Posted by v12

Lovely Lovely Karan !!

Thanks v12 !

These BBS lookalike wheels are the best suited to the E46.

Though they may look like BBS but Apex have their own identity in the E46 aftermarket upgrade / race setups.

May I suggest the following paint combination :

I am not repainting the rims, the current rim finish is in Race Silver & would continue so.

Light grey body with matt black wheels
Gun Metal grey body with glossy black wheels
Pearl White body with matt golden wheels (Impreza type)

Almost zeroed down on Exterior body paint (repaint) which will probably be Silver Grey Metallic.

Seriously within a year, this is going to turn into the best E46 in the country.

[v12]

The quote that I am reminded about when I see these wheels is "Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder". You can see the design of these rims in 2ways - the Y shape or the U shape. And they look amazing in either way (although I prefer the Y).

[RajBajwa]

Hi Karan,

I am one of the lurkers on the forum. I have little to share in terms of value addition by way of my comments with my limited knowledge. I still consider myself a car enthusiasts and like to read up any material which has to do with automobile engineering, high performance cars, performance mods, etc.. Reading about cars being restored is extremely satisfying. I like BMWs for the whole legacy of the Bavarian Engineering and how over years they have been perfecting their cars to make them machines which entices people who love to drive. I have been keenly following your thread and I am quite excited to see how the build is progressing and how it will ultimately end up. I just want to give you thumbs up. Please continue sharing!

Best,

Rajwant

[karan561]

Originally Posted by v12

The quote that I am reminded about when I see these wheels is "Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder". You can see the design of these rims in 2ways - the Y shape or the U shape. And they look amazing in either way (although I prefer the Y).

Excellent Observation there

Originally Posted by RajBajwa

Hi Karan,
I have been keenly following your thread and I am quite excited to see how the build is progressing and how it will ultimately end up. I just want to give you thumbs up.

Hi Rajwant,

Thank you for this motivating post

Please continue sharing!

Sure !

[jalajprakash]

Originally Posted by karan561

KW coilovers came in from Germany earlier this week

Hey Karan, any reason that you imported the KW Coilovers direct from Germany and did not go through the Official Indian Distributors which is RaceTech? (I think). If you ever have any trouble with setup or something not feeling right then you will have to coordinate with KW Germany directly. I'm asking this because I too am interested in KW V2 / KW Street Comforts / Eibach Pro-Street S for my Laura and am torn between importing them myself or just getting them from the local distributer. The price ends up being almost the same either way since when you order online and get it delivered through Fedex or DHL, they include shipping in the Invoice price and charge you duty on the whole thing which is

This is what you end up paying :- ((Price of product + Shipping) + (Price of product + Shipping)*Duties)

when in reality duty should be charged only on the price of the product and not shipping which should be separate (as discussed with a shipping agent).

Please do share your insights/experiences on how you get the best price while importing car parts, you must've gathered lots of experience since you're rejuvenating the whole car using mostly parts ordered from online.

[karan561]

Originally Posted by jalajprakash

Hey Karan, any reason that you imported the KW Coilovers direct from Germany and did not go through the Official Indian Distributors which is RaceTech? (I think). If you ever have any trouble with setup or something not feeling right then you will have to coordinate with KW Germany directly. I'm asking this because I too am interested in KW V2 / KW Street Comforts / Eibach Pro-Street S for my Laura and am torn between importing them myself or just getting them from the local distributer. The price ends up being almost the same either way since when you order online and get it delivered through Fedex or DHL, they include shipping in the Invoice price and charge you duty on the whole thing which is

Hello, these KW Coilovers were sourced through N1 Racing (www.n1-racing.com, https://www.facebook.com/n1racingequipment).

They took aprox 5 weeks to come in through Germany though.

N1 Racing are official dealers of KW Suspension here in Mumbai

Please do share your insights/experiences on how you get the best price while importing car parts, you must've gathered lots of experience since you're rejuvenating the whole car using mostly parts ordered from online.

Websites such as www.ecstuning.com & www.fcpeuro.com were mostly used to source the parts which gives a good idea on the parts pricing. Freight quotes are also calculated at checkout & then add 38% duty which will give you the exact pricing of the landed price.

[karan561]

In the meanwhile the installation has begun & here's a WIP pic @ D.A.D workshop;



A proper video (Project E46 - Part 5) is in the making, stay tuned

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by jalajprakash

This is what you end up paying :- ((Price of product + Shipping) + (Price of product + Shipping)*Duties)

when in reality duty should be charged only on the price of the product and not shipping which should be separate (as discussed with a shipping agent).

No, Shipping (and Insurance) is always added to the costs for calculating customs irrespective of the mode of transportation/ Clearing. If your landed prices are same - direct import + expenses vs local INR, better pick locally. This will be due to Trade/ Volume discounts being passed to the Indian dealer.