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Thought i had a small issue with the older clutch pedals but turns out i could of easily re-used my earlier one instead of buying a new one. The new style clutch master cylinders have a clutch switch mounted on the side of them making the stop obsolete. RealOEM isnt very helpful when it comes to this sort of thing. Brake pedal is a different story as it completely different for the facelift DBW setups. Couldn't find a manual RHD brake pedal but the auto pedal is identical to the manual in regards to shaft shape and position, so just needs the pedal reduced. Do it right and its basically factory in regards to fit and distances, it's just has the foot wielded on the opposite side to the manual version. Completed Tidied up transmission and replaced all shifter bushings, clutch components and rear seals. New hanger bearing and centering sleeve. Looks like CV has been done at some point which i was hoping it would have. Correct ratio 2.93 diff. 2500rpm @ 100kph Turned out my SMF flywheel conversion done by the previous owner was an M20 228mm flywheel conversion (****ing cheap ****) but i managed to score an old (but still plenty of life) DMF from an awesome guy named Kayne Barrie. Waiting on my new 240mm Luk clutch kit then should be good to proceed.

Friday it was decided that the time had come for the long awaited heart transplant. So we began stripping the 2.8 out of the ute and marking all the bits and bobs. I then began striping the 4.4 and marking it's bits and bobs for match up to the ute. Was easiest to drop the entire subframe from both cars as to just swap them over 😊 the plan for this week is to get the M62 stripped, cleaned and rebuilt, as well as giving the utes engine bay a good clean and tidy up.

Walls to be lined, benches and shelves to be installed... but SO MUCH ROOM FOR ACTIVITIES!

sold to @WYZEUP pending payment and pickup

216849 km Has been in with Jon at Auto38. New TRW center drag link (ebay UK) $600 landed incl customs. New Febi idler arm bushing $74.75 Car feels significantly better....shimmy at 80km/h is CURED as is the shimmy under braking. Car feels so much more responsive and the steering feels tight, best it's ever felt under my ownership. I still have a click going on but I can live with that with the shimmy gone. Finally a mechanic who is enthusiastic about their workmanship and knows the car inside out. Jon diagnosed 5mm play in the idler arm and also found the clicking to be coming from the boots on the draglink. A way more precise diagnoses than the previous crowd I took it too.

This was on trademe for 2.5k not long ago in Christchuch iirc. Guessing he's added on his expenses to the price with some profit. Paint\panel are poor (it had a major respray patch failure on the left rear quarter if memory serves). All this guy has done is take pictures in the dark to hid the fact along with a weak ass description rather present it how it is.

Replaced nasty old rusty wheel bolts with nice shiny new titanium wheel bolts, must be good for at least a second off my 1/4 mile time!!

yep no point bothering with M20 unless its for a specific racing class, you just want to keep the car "more original", or you want the cheapest option to get the car back on the road. M30 is dinosaur tech and boat anchor. was the engine of choice for decades when M5x engines were over 2/3k, but no point doing that now. i have done a bunch of M52 swaps, its easy to do and my engine of choice. just do plenty of reading, and read through a half dozen build logs and take the average of suggestions as the fact, dont rely on any one person. Bear in mind two things, 1/ most of the logs will be in American which means they are left hand drive (important when it comes to exhaust stuff, steering, and clutch control), the pinout tables are not correct for your car, and also 2/ most of the threads if not all are outside of NZ, where rules are generally a lot laxer and do not require the certification process we have. thus you will need to think about things like drive shaft hoops and bump steer tests, possible be forced to upgrade brakes etc. worth looking through the LVVTA Threshold guide as a starting point. also i recommend swapping to stock E36 steering rack at the same time, they are cheaper now than they used to be, and cheaper than having to make up custom power steering lines to adapt the e36 pump to the inferior E30 unit. use the holden barina / opel corsa linkage youll see mentioned, e30 nuckle on top and e36 on bottom. also means you dont need to recert later down the line when you do it anyway. having said all that, if i do another swap in the future, i think i will use the M54B30.

I have been slowly warming up to the idea of open-pore, non-glassy wood trim in cars. It looks super great in the X5, and I am kind-of over the glossy wood idea on premium sports cars. So, I found a black wood grain textured vinyl and proceeded to wrap the 6-er's wood trim. Not my first time doing a wrap, but first time using a heat gun whilst wrapping and boy does it make a world of difference. The Vinyl is super easy to mold around curves and corners. Anyway, pics attached. Let me know what you think 🙂

Date: 19 Mar 2019 Distance: 258970km Beneath Grey Thunder in dry dock I: stripped nekkid, awaiting new clobber. Empty rack, no ARB or LCAs. Photo Credit: Jon Mechaniker. 1. Steering. Replaced tie rods (inner and outer - OEM), lock washers, boots. 2. Suspension. Replaced Lower Control Arms (OEM) and LCA Bushes (e36 solid). Installed freshly painted 19mm front ARB, with gen BMW bushes. I'll find a 20mm bar eventually. New end links. 3. Shifter. Replaced all the bushes, and a Z3 1.9 short-shifter. New gearbox mounts. And changed the gearbox oil to the right grade. I'd run it on diff oil by mistake... 4. Aligned. It was aligned given so much work on the steering/suspension. Report: It’s been a gorgeous day in Wellington, blue skies, no cloud, warm and sunny. I decided to drive back from Auto 38 in Newtown over Alexandra Road/Palliser Road/Hawker st/Majoribanks St to town. Car is transformed. First impression: the short-shift courtesy of the z3 1.9 shift lever - along with all the other bushings and stuff - is groovy. Very short crisp gate. - The steering is smooth, even, and it tracks straight. No more pitching into understeer. Handling is improved - even with 19mm front bar - though now with new (genuine) bushes and HD endlinks. It's more progressive and the rear end mostly follows the front! The gearbox bushings have improved things, with less drivetrain lurch (in concert with the fresh diff mount from a couple of months back). I'm looking forward to engine mounts. It's much easier to drive, now. More predictable. It's smooooooooooooth. And quieter. Yes, despite my plans and intentions, this job was wallet-mechanic'd. Jon at Auto 38 has done a brilliant job. Efficient, communicative, reliable. I'm just not getting the opportunity to spanner myself. I have complete confidence in Jon and Keren. If you're looking for a great independent workshop in Wellington, give them a call or visit. They'll see you right. Beneath Grey Thunder in dry dock II: New LCAs, Bushes, Tie Rods & Boots, ARB, Bushes, End Links installed. Photo Credit: Jon Mechaniker. Next steps: Prepping and painting the 14" basketweaves. EDIT: and sort out the horns, and install the sport steering wheel! EDIT II: Future job is sump gasket and oil filter to block gasket. Deferred this time.

Hi There, I have recently modernised from a 2007 Volvo S80 V8 AWD to my first BMW - a 2011 550i with 80,000 kms on the clock. The Volvo was a wonderful car that served me very well and I won't hear a bad word said about it, but with the Swedes abandonment of anything bigger than 4-cylinders I was forced to look elsewhere when it came time to upgrade (I need something that can tow a boat). Having said that I am LOVING my 550i. It's a truly wonderful car to drive. I'm looking forward to swapping info with other BMW-fans on these pages. My first question to this forum is, "Can anyone recommend a good place to get a towbar fitted in Christchurch?" This is my everyday car, but in the weekends it will need to tow a boat occasionally. Cheers.

$400 wheel nuts but manky old center caps? 😕

Hi everyone, Forums newbie here base in Auckland. I’ve just got back to the BMW family, last BMW I had was an E92 M3 9 years ago. Had a couple of V8 AMG’s then decided to switch to the 3.0 M4 as the fuel price keeps going up 🤣

It’s being restored at the moment by a worthy owner.....saw it recently and it’s being done right.

Tare weight on the coupe is 1,890kg - so meets the criteria, just. When @jeffbebe is around to bring his E31 850i to the Sunday meet I will try and borrow the coupe M850i so we can do some back-to-back comparison tests photos.

How was the Auto Glym de-stinker? Noticeably less stinky? I am about to change all my cleaning product to Auto Glym after having decent success with their Ultra Deep Shine polish/wax.

After 3 tries to set the timing right and new spark plugs, i took it for a test drive today, and no problems. Troy came down tonight and put it on the computer and cleared most of the codes, only 2 codes left, passenger airbag and drivers side seatbelt tensioner, and now the cosmetic outside of the car to do. Should be all done by the time I get my licence back. Thanks Troy

31 February 2019. 172???kms 1. Washed and dried, vacuumed interior. 2. Cleaned and deodorised A/C with Auto Glym Air-Con Cleaner. Ahhh, less stinky!

There's zero consistency here re wof, one place fails, take it to another place and they may very well pass it.. Probably the same with compliance..

Had the day off to get a few things done. Started with wheel alignment post the suspension upgrades. Off for a warrant, VTNZ. Ok here we go. much discussion from the team there on the new suspension. FAILED, requires LVV cert, WTF. (Replaced Self Leveling Suspension and deleted it) Also failed excess smoke, brake bias. ( has been sitting around a bit). Stupid notes about the spare wheel not being bolted down. Righto, minor argument at the time, off I go somewhat steaming. Changed the oil (was going to do it anyway), few emergency stops on the brakes. Bit of LVV website printing, back I go. into the revert line, everyone vanishes . into the office, say I want to challenge the findings thanks, in my nicest management tone. Please wait by the car sir. 5 mins later, nice manager comes out and we have a wee chat, he knew all about it. To his credit said he’ll have another look, on it goes over the pit. 2 of them prode, shine the lights around, ask me about the replacements and then are worried that all the control arms are for a different car. FU summaries my update to them, in general terms. after much umming and erring, me waving the standards about, they decide it’s acceptable and recheck the brakes, How are they I ask? Perfect no problem now sir. Ok how’s the excessive smoking ( I’ve near even seen smoke out of it)? Revs it a bit, yip that must have fixed it sir. Great, Warrant passed then, yip. So once it’s on the window, I ask how do I go about avoiding this next time and get told it’ll be fine because it won’t be all shiny and new any more, oh yeah of cause the dirt clause, missed that in the WOF Requirements .... I need a drink. At least I can drive to get one

I absolutely recommend Jon for anything e39 (and many other models to be honest). He was able to sort so many little issues with my old M5 when others just didn’t have the experience or want to diagnose. Glad you got rid of the shimmy!

I'd be buying DCT more fun than manual once you learn how to control it

And just like that it's changed up again. Gumboot Rally in a few weeks, so I've made a few changes. I added clear paint protection film to the headlights as well. Still gotta wire up my CB properly and add the monster aerial - I was talking to someone in Mangere while driving around in Albany a while ago when I tested it haha. Once the rally is over I'll be swapping it back to standard and running the e92 18's for a bit

The thing is though, the Working Group never wanted a CGT- until they were told to go away and think again. Political interference is at play here. The 3 most (only??) clued up members of that group were and remain dead set against any CGT.