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Radium Automotive Order

After deciding on an purchasing a Evolve Carbon Fibre intake I wanted to look into an Oil Catch Can to protect the new intake from vented crank-case gases. There are multiple generic options out there ranging from ECS Tuning, to Mishimoto and there is obviously the option to build a custom kit, all of which would meet the brief. Although, as usual, I wanted a ready to go kit for this car. After a bit of research the only ready to go kit I could find for the E46 M3 was the Radium Automotive Oil Catch Can Kit.



Checking out their website I also found a few other E46 M3 parts/kits they had on offer; Fuel Surge Tank Kit, Fuel Rail Kit and Fuel Pump Install Kit. Unfortunately I fell in love with their high build quality and marketing material as very quickly I found myself wanting it all. So as a result I set out to justify why I might need all of it.

The Fuel Pump Install Kit was the easiest to justify in some ways as I was at the level of mileage where it would be prudent to replace the fuel pump while I was there. So there wasn't too much convincing required to add this to the cart with the Oil Catch Can kit.


The Fuel Surge Tank was a bit harder to justify. I wasn't able to find many examples of Fuel Starvation issues on the E46 M3 other than a few anecdotal stories over at M3Cutters, so it was hard to say it was a requirement. Although as I had to go through the onerous process of having everything on the car approved by an Automotive Engineer (if I wanted the car to remain street legal and insurable) and its a process I didn't want to have to go through multiple times to add little parts here or there in the future, I decided that if I was going to add it then it had to be now.


The Fuel Rail Kit was a little bit easier to justify than the Fuel Surge Tank. Within the regulations of Targa Australia I had to provide a Fuel Sampling point via a Goodridge G-Link quick disconnect coupling (GQD08PP06F). This would be easier to do if I upgraded to the Radium Automotive Fuel Rail Kit as it ran a -06 AN line from the back down so I could easily piggy-back off this with the Fuel Sampling point. The other advantage of the Fuel Rail kit was the Fuel Pressure Gauge option which would make it easier to diagnose any Fuel Pressure issues on the fly (not that this is strictly required, but it is pretty cool).

So with that all decided I ended up walking away from the site with not only the Catch Can Kit but everything else they had to offer for the E46 M3. Hopefully they all turn out to be solid kits and worthwhile. Although due to the cost I do feel there will be a bit of delayed buyers remorse when I realise I didn't need them all...

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