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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/03/18 in all areas

  1. 2 points
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  3. 2 points
    Thanks Graeme for your kind words. To be honest its been hard to keep motivated sometimes, especially in winter as I don't have a garage or any cover. When I make a mistake or encounter a problem I tend to get discouraged, and the low budget slows things down too. But when I finish a section that I'm happy with its all worth it.
  4. 1 point
    So after my grief with the N46 in my 318i I decided to turn it into a project car. The car is a 2004 318i auto msport wagon with 130,xxx kms. It will be getting a m62b44 non vanos v8 m62b46 v8 with a m122 supercharger It will be mated to a 420g 6 speed manual, and a m3 rear end. I'll also be upgrading suspension and brakes, and setting the car up for flex fuel to run e85. Cosmetically it will get some upgrades, but nothing too over the top. The goals for this project are; #Do as much myself as possible. #No compromises except on budget. #Make something unique. #Learn as much as I can in the process. So lets get started - heres the car; First job was to completely strip the exterior of the car. Everything came out, engine, trans, suspension, subframes, fuel tank, even the fuel lines and brake lines. Up on stands and ready to do some work With everything out I set to work cleaning the underbody. This took ages because I'm a perfectionist. I used degreaser and a waterblaster, and eventually degreaser with a rag to get the real stubborn areas. There was no damage to the underbody but because I'm increasing the power output I wanted to strengthen it. I made strengthening plates out of 2mm steel. A huge thank you to forum member @Karter16 who posted me paper templates to make them from. I bought myself a cheap gasless mig welder and taught myself to weld. This enabled me to make plates like the one below. There are 6 plates in total, 2 for the front subframe mounts, 2 for the rear subframe mounts, and two which are like spacers. Welding is really difficult, but I managed to weld in all 4 of the subframe plates. First I used a grinder with a flap disc and a drill with a wire brush, to get the places to be strengthened back to bare metal, then I coated the area with weld through primer. I coated the back of the plates in weld through primer also and then I welded in the plates. Then I used the grinder to grind the welds back. I then coated the bare metal with crc rust converter primer to protect it - I really like this product. https://www.crc.co.nz/Rust-Converter/6895-2548b7ca-2a00-4114-b2e1-17eb0e6a576b/ Then I used a Vht top coat, followed by seam sealer, and finally Septone stone shield rubberised coating. I coated the whole cleaned underbody in Septone stone shield. Its black, but looks green in the photo for some reason. The side skirts were removed to clean and paint behind and then reinstalled with new clips from Schmiedmann. The inner arches were cleaned and painted, and the cleaned plastic pieces were reinstalled. The cleaning process takes ages. Inner arches before cleaning and painting; And after; While all this was going on I was accumulating parts. All suspension and brake parts I sandblasted in my mates sandblaster. This took many days, and would have been more cost effective paying a professional, but I want to do as much myself as possible. Then they were expertly powdercoated by forum member @aja540i who really does a nice job. Here is a pic of the before and after the sandblasting; And a pic of the same part powdercoated and assembled;
  5. 1 point
    I thought about making all that but buying/hiring seems a much less fussing around way to go. If watching every video i can find and reading every forum also in the past month and making an exhaustive list of parts and tools and torque specs hasnt prepared me... i dont know what will. I've learnt a lot from videos and forums of what not to do and what to watch out for so a big thanks to those guys sharing their experinces allbeit bad ones but it helps us put a good plan of attack in place.
  6. 1 point
    Looking good - really enjoying following your progress! keep it up!
  7. 1 point
    I literally went, last year, from a 2005 k20a euro r to a 335i. Once you get your car/car running, you will certainly enjoy the difference. I can't believe I used to think the euro r was fast. To be fair, it was much more engaging when on spirited drives. Nothing like a high reving na engine mated with manual. For everything else the 135/335i just has it beat.
  8. 1 point
    None of the NZ New cars were used as demos or track cars, all went straight to customers. This one has been through quite a few pairs of hands already, traded against other high-performance cars. The original Sport Cup tyres would have been pretty well gone after 6,000kms of moderate driving. Don't know much about the Nexen range (I'm sure it varies a lot from budget to performance) but not putting the original rubber on would look like a penny pinching excercise. Something to check further on a car like this.
  9. 1 point
    have e60 m5 large case lsd and rear end i wonder how close it would be to fit ??
  10. 1 point
    May have been a hard 6000k then
  11. 1 point
    Hey sounding good guys...look forward to catching up at some point... keep in touch. I like my BMW's...previously had a 540 and a 730
  12. 1 point
    Today this arrived. Like meeting an old friend. I last bought one of these in 2001, it was softcover then. I kept it many years after I sold my e30 Touring. so, reunited?
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    I have done this job twice, my own 540I and my fathers. -Research, I spent about two weeks doing researching everything single little thing - I was lucky to have another car to drive.-Spend time confirming part numbers and making lists of the parts you need and tipple checking. www.realoem.com is good for this-I highly recommend replacing other items whilst you're in that deep.-You definitely require the special timing tool kit for the M62. I managed to rent a kit.-I bought the crankshaft holder tool and the Vanos press tool. Other tools, torx and e-torx sockets, seal picks and a left hand torque wrench-Take your time and label/bag up all items. Have a clean working surface when doing the Vanos rebuild.-Thoroughly inspect and clean oil pick up as you will find tiny bits of chain guide-Have a laptop out in the shed for easy access to forums/help-Be very careful removing plastic parts as they can be brittle - replace if you think it needs replacing-Take special care installing alternator with new seal as I pinched mine which caused a small coolant leak. $65 from the dealer instead of $14 from Pelican for the same part....-Buy a cheap scan tool cable that plugs into a laptop - they work well just for pulling codes and clearing them.-Once you have completed the job successfully. I recommend changing the oil and filter within a few hundred kms just in case any debris/tiny bits of chain guide were still in the engine.It's a massive job, a lot of pissing around triple checking, cleaning, torquing etc. There's a lot of info on the internet about all this, as well as some good youtube videos. You can do this job quite a bit cheaper if you only want to replace the timing chain associated items. I'm a fussy prick though and will be keeping my 540i for as long as I can. I f**king love it. I rented the timing tool kit from a guy in Tauranga - PM me if you want his number. Happy to rent you my VANOS press kit and crank holding tool...
  15. 1 point
    Easy isn't necessarily "right" though. It would have been easier, and "right" had the dealer responded according to the law and fixed the issue to BMW's standard immediately. He didn't and he went further by actively avoiding his legal accountability. Protecting rights is important yet most people can't be bothered. In this case Steve has been bothered and he should be applauded for that because he didn't take the easy route. If his actions protect even one other potential buyer then he's done well. Used car dealers can make a lot of profit from even a single car, how can they make that profit without accepting a commensurate risk? They shouldn't, they are absolutely accountable for not selling faulty goods and it's their responsibility to ensure that before accepting any offer. Interested to hear how it's going. Edit: lesson to be learnt here, get the codes read and printed out (by somebody not connected to the seller), including the last cleared date before buying a modern car. Any PPI that doesn't include that is a waste of money.
  16. 1 point
    Life would be easier if he had just taken the 2x injector fix, and enjoyed the car. Sure, itll break down again, no doubt, but thats what the warranty is for. Instead its turned into a complete clusterf**k, that still has no end in sight. I want a good outcome for the OP because its been a rough intro to BMWs, but this has gotten harder than it needed to be.
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  18. 1 point
    After driving a 2016 6.7l 3600kg Ram 2500 for 3 weeks in Georgia, the 130i feels like an absolute razor blade weapon of a thing. So much steering feel! 100% the best upgrade to any car, is to compare it to something way less dynamic
  19. 1 point
    You remind me more and more of Ron. “I drove one in the 90s and it was terrible and they therefore all are”. And forever will be.
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