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Almost done ..... 400 lossless digital albums all controlled via factory nav and sound via digital audio straight into aftermarket DSP.

come one, where's the details, wheres the pics?

bought 2 new bmws in less than 24 hours. great weekend.

Love where the prices if these are going: http://www.historics.co.uk/buying/auctions/2016-06-11/cars/ref-127-2003-z3-m-coupe-s54-specification.aspx?p

Have been meaning to make a replacement set of headers for the e36 for a while now, and finally got started on it, it will be good practice for when i do the same thing in the e21, Laser cut flanges, U bends and donuts, all 44mm OD. Jig to hold flanges in factory locations homemade former to shape the ends of the primary tubes primary tube pressed over former to shape end first 2 cylinders... all 4 started, test fitted at this stage, clears steering shaft (just) welding up each pipe individually before welding to flanges... will post more photos when i make some more progress.

So this week I am beginning my rather ambitious project of dumping a m52B28 engine and Getrag manual box into what was originally my 1997 BMW 318Ti running an M44 and 4 speed auto (Slushbox). I have owned the car for 7 years and this has been a project I have always wanted to undertake, I will be posting photos of the build process and trying to document most of the stuff that I end up doing. I have sourced a donor car, it is a 1993 325i sedan, however someone in its past has put in an alloy block m52b28 along with an m50 intake manifold, K&N cold air box, custom headers and exhaust. I am picking the car up this weekend so will only be able to confirm once I have it if it has undertaken an OBD1 conversion or if the older chassis was swapped out to OBD2. Once I have the donor car I will have everything required to do the swap except for a diff that is suitable, currently on the hunt for a Z3 diff to mate up to my Getrag 5 speed. If anyone has any suggestions on the best ratios to choose from let me know thanks If anyone else has experience in doing this swap let me know any potential problems that you guys faced, I will also be swapping the larger front rotors and calipers from the sedan over to the Ti, this is an easy swap in comparison to everything else. More to come and hopefully I can have her all done up in time to take it around Ruapuna on the 29th of June

The time has come I think to buy some horsepower. My trusty E46 has served me well and I do love the chassis but I am hankering for a bit more grunt. My budget is $20k ish and looking around there are a few E90/91/92's in that range. I drove a NZ new coupe and I did like it but I saw a nice Motorsport Touring in white and I have to honest and say it looked lovely. The Coupe front end is much nicer in my opinion but I am thinking perhaps I should get something a bit more pratical.To be honest even the Sedan in Motorsport trim looks good especially when the chrome kidney grills are replaced with black ones. The real reason I want one of course is the engine. I am interested to hear anyone's N54 tuning stories; it seems to me that MHD is probably the way to go especially when supported with a few bolt on parts. Also curious to know more about a walnut intake port clean, oil catch can upgrade and general service issues. Oh any if anyone has done a Koni/Bilstein or other upgrade what did they find? I am partial to good suspension after having Ohlins on my E46. What bushes wear out and are poly bushes worthwhile? So many questions...

So I spoke to Geoff Gray BMW and the the service manager said that in the 9 years he had been there he could only remember 1 o2 incidences of N54 engines with rattly wastegates. I wonder how prevalent an issue this actually is.

I used to have a Scirocco. What a great little car that was. BUT, it was little and very agile. Your new Bimmer is much bigger with a lot more weight to it. Give it a bit of time for you to get used to it and I'm sure you'll come to appreciate the car and the way you can drive it. I have just as much fun hammering my big E38 around the windy roads as I did in my Scirocco albeit a bit slower..lol Welcome to the forum and the joy of Bimmer ownership.

So I have found some new tires, going to go with some Hankhook Ventus R-S3 215/45zr17 tires for the rear, and I managed to find a nice set of Yokohama Advan AD08r 225/40/17 tires that I am thinking of chucking on the front due to running into under-steering problems. I have a track day next Saturday out at Ruapuna, and am getting the tires fitted up tomorrow, so hopefully I see the lap times drop considerably. Last time I was running worn out goodrides and the standard non vented front brakes. Opinions on running the wider tires on the front vs on the rear would be great! I will be running them on my style 97's as my Type 1's are currently with my dad getting restored. Changes since last track day include: Replaced the front shocks (Failed wof on old ones so got replacement 2nd hand ones), New rear pads, Vented front discs and calipers, New front pads, Better tires Hopefully this all comes together to help it run better times! I still need a new diff but I have yet to find one in the correct ratio (The one I thought was a 3.64 was actually a 3.9). I will chuck the gopro in the car again, kinda gutted I lost my one so am currently borrowing my little brothers one (Mine is currently at the bottom of Lake Waihola, fell off the boat while doing some powerboat racing down there a few weeks back).

Black

If you really like the e46 why don't you look at upgrading the power on the m54b30? Supercharger or turbo would give you plenty. Alternatively an e46 m3 is inside your budget.

More testing done today and can't get it to rise above 97 now so it's looking good. I am getting heat from the front vents I just never turned the middle wheel up enough (what a dick ha ha) will take it to work tomorrow and sit on onewa road for 12 hours in the morning so that will be the ultimate test.

Welcome, we had a E61 550 with standard tyres but with Motorsport susp and kit on 18s. Never had any issues with 'significant' traction loss. remember your over 350hp as well though so that's a fair bit of power to put down. Would definitely look at your tyres, get some new ones as an easy first fix

Nice car, but dont forget it has bit more mass than the VW, and quite a bit more power, and is rear wheeel drive! You shouldnt have any trouble at all getting the traction control light going on the absolute sh1te roads between Auckland and Northland, but I would suggest maybe doing some homework on replacing the run flat tyres, they dont seem to do well on our "unique" roads, and if its any indication, they didnt fit them to the M5. I believe that the ASC activating kills the cruise control, and personally I think youre a bit optimistic hoping to maintain 80ks through the Dome valley on a good day anyway! Just my 2 cents worth.

Big brake upgrade completed! e34 540i upgrade on all four corners, all much bigger diameter, and vented. Full flush and new fluid. Significant improvement in the braking dept. Haven't given them a full test as yet, will give the new pads an opportunity to bed in first.

This:

Are you putting the internal temperature setting to max (32°) before you bleed it? That should clear any air out of the heater.

Hmmm, interesting one. Sounds like the fault would have to be the Central locking system module, 1 61358368173 Would be happy to have a look, perhaps remove the unit and inspect the module to see what you're dealing with. I'm at home today so feel free to call in

Saw this at the mall