Leaderboard

Thanks @hqstu for the sandpaper ‘hot tip’

Hi Guys, I will be writing one quick post (possibly a day or so) with the upgrade and a picture where possibly. Today's "episode", the introduction: First of all I'd like to mention that I am originally from Argentina. Back there we have cars which are Left hand drive, hence, some of the nicer things in europe, can go straight to market and in this case, I am talking about the E36/5 323 ti, which I had the pleasure to own for a couple about a year in 2012 after some japanese cars. It was a 2000 model with the M52B25, 5 Speed manual and if I don't recall incorrectly, pulled 168 HP, in a very german titansilber. Sorry I don't have any picture. I've always loved that shape so when I got to New Zealand, I bought the closest I could get, hence, my first 318ti just 3 days after arriving here. Bear in mind that I paid 12.000 USD for the 323ti, but for the 318ti I paid 1500 USD, so, it was a lot of bang for the buck which I didn't expect. That was just a blue 318ti with about 230 something thousand kilometres, sunroof, automatic and nothing further. Just to take you from A to B. Some time went by, other BMWs went by (E90, E46) but a Compact in blue estoril was always in my mind, which didn't happen back in Argentina with the 323s but it did here with the M44 engine.. until a day in May 2018 I found him. A 1998 318ti in blue estoril with sunroof. Everything I wanted was there, waiting for me, and so I went. Paid 4000 NZD (Which I know, way too much) but with only 72.00 Kms, and pretty well maintained, I went for it anyway. Here he is as he was bought... I'll continue later with the first mods.

Car has been sold today. Thanks

New cabin filter in, one that came out was dirty but not terrible, probably replaced already at some time during the car's life. Much, much easier than the PITA e36 equivalent which is at the back of the interior centre console. I also installed the e92 M3 front anti-roll bar and new droplinks and am slightly amazed at how much a difference it's made, it's noticeably stiffer and really aids turn in. In fact I'm glad I didn't install it immediately before or after the alignment as I might not have been able to tell the difference with so many changes. The replacement drop links are much beefier than the originals that came out. This thinner section on the 130 bar and bushing flanges on the M3 bar are the only obvious differences between the two bars but there may be other meaningful ones, they weigh about the same. However the aluminium M3 brackets and captive bushes are far superior (and lighter) than the originals. And finally the replacement droplinks are also superior.

You missed out on a tidy as 325 e46 msport wagon in wlg was around 6k sitting for ages. Was very well maintained. just wait patiently and the right one will come along im sure

I can assure you it won't be the placebo effect. nice work!

That's an amazing outcome, props!

Had some time today, so swapped in the rest of the coils. Seems like it's running a bit smoother, and pulling more through the rev range. Might be placebo effect ? Old coils I tried to date and looks like they were not originals but definitely at least several years old from what I could get from the manufacturers numbers on a couple of them. The rubber boots on the new coils were much softer and flexible so a sign they had been in there a while. I also took the time to clean the engine bay plastics since I'd been in there a few times in the last month or so, hopefully this is the last time for while that I'm in there. I only took a photo of the engine cover which I cleaned first, the back half that's normally covered on it was particularly bad, cleaned up quite nicely.

Date: 10 Jul 2020 Distance: 261xxxkms 1. Cluster Service. It's fun removing the cluster from the car; even more fun stripping it down. Remember which screw goes where. Brake Pad Warning Lamp Re-flow soldered the contacts on the cluster circuit board that causes the Brake Pad Warning Lamp to go on intermittently, or stay 'hi'. Barry had kindly hidden this with some black tape as a temporary blind; it was time to fix it. If you want more details, a handy guide is here on e30 Zone. Odometer Gears. Barry had done this before, so I held the tools and assisted where I could. We replaced the gears just in time, they crumbled as we disassembled it, and installed a new set of Garagistic metric odo gears for the VDO cluster. Naked cluster, packet of Garagistic VDO km gears awaiting install. Old gears crumbled in our hands. Tacho retro-fit I attempted to fit a tacho in place of the clock, but found my povo-spec cluster lacked the right contacts. I also tried putting my speedo into the spare (earlier) cluster board, and then putting that into my own casing - but they were incompatible. The spare cluster had been damaged in transit (note to self: always inspect freight when it arrives!)... so I ended up re-fitting No tacho contacts there, then! I had to run to REPCO for some 5-minute Araldite to repair my lower dash panel above the pedals - I'd missed the 'middle' snap screw. Reinforced it with araldite, just like a bought one. Big shout out to @Autoglym, we had fun applying these fixes. 2. M42 Prep. I picked up a big box yesterday, M40 upper and lower oil pan and pickup, engine supports, dipstick and tube. Today I unpacked them, sprayed on a s#!t ton of citrus degreaser, and then steam-cleaned them. Flash eh? M40 parts after a scrub and steam clean. Lower Oil Pan (left), Upper Oil Pan (right), M40 engine support arms, and (Enis) the dipstick. After steam cleaning, 3. M40B16 experiment Prep. Most will file under 'why would you bother', though Jon and I have wondered aloud a few times if running the M40B18 intake manifold, throttle body, (and boot), might elicit just a little more 'go' from the 1600cc M40B16. The larger-bore throttle body might help with HP, and the longer runners might help with the torque. It's worth a crack, anyway. These parts were included in the big box of M40 parts. Should I do it? Well, when you've only got 102hp (assuming none have escaped over the years), a few more would be most welcome! I'll have a try soon. Big shout out to Cam @Southerner, legendary Bimmersporter if you're trading, and he packages very well - thanks mate!

Interesting thread... Between the 14th and 20th of April @E30 325i Rag-Top and @BreakMyWindow screwed around with my account. I received a number of "warnings" for various posts (none of which seemed to break any rules). You can see two of the warnings here: http://bimmersport.co.nz/profile/14-m3an/ but some have been removed. On approx. 17th of April my post and messaging privileges on the site were removed by @BreakMyWindow without cause or explanation, the whole site became read-only to me. I still do not have access to PM's at all (read or send). A few days later (approx 20 April) my two vehicle posts (M3 and 130i - as per my signature) became unavailable to all users, logged in to BS or not. They are still unavailable. (this may have happened at the same time as my read-only ban, I didn't check at the time) On approx 25 April I used the 'contact us' message to the site admins to ask what was going on. I received no acknowledgement or reply. Nobody told me I was banned, nobody told me why I was banned, nobody told me I was unbanned and nobody told me why they hid/deleted/removed my vehicle threads (not all my threads, just those two in particular). A great deal of respect shown there. Look, I hold out hope that all this was a mistake and monumental cock-up but the lack of engagement and follow-up really makes me wonder. Regardless, I'm happy to leave if people want me to leave but it seems like an abuse of power to me, some accountability would be respected. I may have rubbed some people up the wrong way in my time (unapologetic) but I've been a meaningful and (mostly) positive contributor here for nearly two decades and I had two really valuable threads that were internationally respected. If this is how the BS staff want to treat their loyal user base then I'm happy to move on, just say it out loud. Unless the situation is explained properly and my threads are restored I'm wondering why I should even bother. Hence the lack of recent contribution. The ball is in Bimmersport's court. Thanks for standing in my corner @sweetm3.