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Compared to previous progress things are happening fast now ... final bit of seam welding done in the rear seat, only showing the welds painted with epoxy primer as they don't look great naked Made a custom socket for the subframe mounting studs so I could avoid trying to locate a cheap 30mm crows foot. Worked a treat !! Fuel filler neck, fuel tank and subframe now installed ... will clean the factory wax off the tank which I missed, don't worry

Xmas makeover Gate to Hellbm.

Id rather buy a 2nd hand laptop then install ISTA. You could also add INPA,DIS,NCS etc depending on your requirements. Should be easily less than $200 and far more capable than all those cheap scanners.

I also had great service from him on my 1996 Audi front seat which at 140km has more wear than usual on side bolster. A touch too grippy but look great. I haven't used the car in 6 months so can't comment on the resistance to wear and tear.

Pulled into BP Bombay in the M5 wagon and saw this rare beast.... 😉

Washed it so it looks pretty on the skid pan at the BMW festival tomorrow, for about 2 minutes....

That beautiful bumper deserves a shiny new Euro Plate now 😎

Another myth - If it were true all race engines would be diesel dynamic power delivery and getting it to the ground in a well tuned chassis pedalled by a talented pilot is what wins races. We used to beat 6 litre v8's in a 2 litre alfa all the time - they had nearly twice the torque we had but the alfa could get it's wheezy 150kw and 240Nm to the ground a lot more of the time. And its not really an "S" engine - it's a bored 2.8 boat anchor stroked to make barely acceptable power to be worthy of putting in an "M" car .

A few new findings regarding the brakes. Multiple people in the UK have since confirmed their Style 208's fit the m-light brakes... yet my calipers and wheels (and hubs and rotors) seem true. There's a small possibility the rotor hats are too thin but, being Zimmerman, that seems unlikely. I visited a LVV certifier today, and aside from being quite derisory about NZ Transports entire LVV programme, he was very helpful. He pointed out that certification, quoting NZT, was required because "you need to get an LVV certification if you heavily modify your vehicle" (emphasis added). He couldn't speculate on why slim spacers are considered a "heavy" modification. He also mentioned that NZT costs have gone up and a new cert could be between $1000 and $1500, 75% of which is administration and fees, not 'on vehicle' time. This is just more BS NZ hidden taxes. He suggested that at a fixed cost of $200 per certifiable change, more people would come through the door exposing dangerous mods rather than just skipping the cert altogether. Anyway, he answered these questions which are either ambiguous, misleading or simply missing from the certification standard, leaving it up to the certifier and customer (if you're lucky) to interpret it and sort it out. 1. a spacer can have more holes in it than required for the application (e.g. a spacer that suits both a 4 and 5 stud car, so 9 holes, is fine). This is not clear in some parts of the requirement and ambiguous in others. 2. A spacer must affix to either the wheel or hub (rotor) but, since there's no method specified and most can't be affixed, then simple heat resistant adhesive is good enough to stick it to the rotor hat (it's not load bearing and, being hub centric, can't move about). It's just to stop the spacer falling off when the wheel is removed and some numpty forgetting to put it back on. 3. All spacers must end up being wheel-centric (regardless of vehicle type) and this is real tricky in some applications. For a BWM we must use hub-centric spacers that have a wheel-centric flange on the outside unless... 4. The spacer is thin enough to allow the hub flange to extend beyond the spacer and engage with the wheel. 5. With <5mm spacers you probably don't need new wheel bolts but check they turn fully 6 times before torqueing them up. The good news is with 3mm spacers I will both clear the brakes and have heaps (~7mm) of the original hub flange engaging with the actual wheel to ensure wheel centricity. His final bit of advice? If you already have a cert (I do) then don't bother with a new cert if you're using 3mm spacers, it's a waste of time and money because most WoF shops won't ask to see the cert or even know what to look for on a cert. Since my last warrant never even required sighting of the cert I can understand this advice, regardless of how prudent (read: legal) it actually is. But he did emphasis that you must use high quality wheel bolts or studs and nuts and never, ever aluminium. Anyway... I'm ordering some high quality 3mm slip on spacers this evening and will attack the front brakes again when I get the time. The LVV guy said to take it in to him for a quick look-see after I've done the work to get his opinion on whether it's safe and roadworthy. I'm not really sold on a particular long-term path yet but will change the brakes out and use a slim spacer in the short term. If worst comes to worst I have confirmed my BBS RC's clear the calipers without spacers.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-2926873918.htm

I didn't use the dealer but it wasn't for want of trying. Was going to use Winger in Wellington but it wasn't worth 4 figures to me to update it 🙄 Coombes Johnston in Hamilton and Hawkes' Bay BMW quoted a much more reasonable price - PM me if you want details for self-updating. I think Carplay requires new hardware for pre-mid 2016 build cars Also not technically something done to my car, but joined NZ BMW Car Club! 😎

Thanks, was a long project with a few changes along the way (as I learned what did and didn't work). I don't have any photo's of the internal matrix (anymore) and have never seen inside the B&W speakers. I did pinch their idea though as it makes perfect sense and suspect the insides would be similar. I'll take some pics of the amps later on. They're not painted yet - just white primer. I don't think I've got any pics of the insides though - maybe the input board only. I'm thinking about changing the amps to Hypex so they can be mounted into the base of the speakers. There's room left in the base for amps to go, I just never did it. With the Hypex amps and Power Supplies it would tidy up the wiring a fair bit. Most stereo setups (2 speakers) only have one pair of speaker cables and interconnects (some maybe 2 pairs of speaker cables). For active setups you need one pair of speaker cables and interconnects per speaker - 5 pairs or each in my case. I like to show it off too so anyone who wants a listen is welcome if they're ever in Napier. The next generation will have the amps, and DSP in the speaker with wireless connections. All I have to do is figure out how to sync the two speakers. It shouldn't be too difficult... The only unknown is how sensitive the ear is to left/right timing errors - I suspect as long as the difference is under 1us you won't notice. It should be fairly easy to get the two speakers sync'd to under 100ns. Here's some amps pic's: Front: Still only undercoated... The indicators show power, protection, overtemp and clipping. These pre-date the DSP modelling the speakers and amps so clipping cannot occur. Protect can still occur if there's DC present in the output. Overtemp is in case of fan failure. There's 2 internal low speed high-pressure fans that suck air in over the 5 x 1kVA toroidal transformers , 200,000uF caps per channel and then blows up the heatshink. The fans are variable speed based on heatsink temp and you never hear them unless I've been blasting Infected Mushroom for 20 minutes+ and then only slightly between tracks. Back: Balanced XLR's and 4 Pole Speakon connectors. Balanced Input Board:

KBM hooked me up, legend.

Was that NZ's biggest ever E61 M5 meet???

Thought I'd throw up some better photos, post an 8 hour groom. I know, need to work on my photography!

Sell your Bitcoin and buy E30s https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2946929933?bof=mR1FVzUq

Hey guys, I've looked everywhere but couldn't seem to find one and the cost for a new one is just.. atrocious. if anyone has one please shoot me a pm! also, will pre facelift ones fit? I've read somewhere that they do fit, just need to change the bumper clips.

Was just going to say something similar. Generic White Man Name Generator was definitely used.

Gosh the guys reply reads straight like a Nigerian scam. I know english probably ain't his first language but there are some similarities in the wording to common scams.

My brother has just alerted me to this site - it's *awesome*! https://amazingribs.com/bbq-technique-and-science/how-to-grill-and-smoke-everything

Mine is the Meguiars Ceramic Wax liquid. From the youtube review I watched the spray and rub in application seems to be the best followed closely by the liquid. Spray on and rinse seemed to be a bit of a dud. For the price ~$50 for Meguiars Ceramic and ~$25 for Autoglym SRP I reckon it's pretty darn good.

I wouldn’t pay more than $40k for a Competition, let alone double the price for a base spec.

E60/E61 CiC idrive conversion. Complete and ready to swap. Massive oem upgrade from the horrible and unreliable ccc system. Has nz maps (2015) and upgradable as well as nz radio. Very rare to find for this chassis. Also has the benefit of storing music on the in built HDD. Emulator adds video in motion and reverse camera option if you want to add one. Feel free to ask questions or about the install. Includes CIC iDrive unit CiC screen (with cable & power plug) Controller (with plug & tails) Cic center console trim Idrive faceplate LCI button panel (not needed) Usb module for glovebox (no cable) Conversion emulator $1500 West auckland

Have some in Hamilton. Or can have a go at getting your wheel bearing out. Just got a very stubborn wheel bearing out of an M3 trailing arm.

https://www.bmwblog.com/2019/11/08/video-comfort-access-for-a-convenient-way-to-get-in-and-out-of-your-bmw/ You just keep the fob in your pocket to enter the vehicle.

It should be cross compatible with f30 at least. The newer wheel is much nicer but are way more expensive. Probably around $800. its a shame because i would recommend a fake alcantara wrap but being msport it will make it way too fat. It was a perfect “upgrade” on my sports model with the thinner wheel. yes engine is noisy but only from outside and especially with bonnet up. Inside it should be all good. radio conversion should be cheap. Gps maybe a bit more. Should manage okay with google maps and spotify via bluetooth? try negotiate the price to account for rotos and pads at least and get it. Service history etc is the big one and if mechanically its sound then it will be the best one to get.

I don't disagree with any of that Nick, indeed that's all the stuff I found amongst others. I think the highlighted bit above is the key... for example my interpretations was similar to your but differ to the LVV engineer guy's, then add in a page like this (including all the comments) and the confusion is just amplified, it's a minefield! I will double-check my bolts today on the back of your post... stock is 25mm (thread) and I can get 27mm bolts if necessary, 30mm will probably be too long (potentially bottoming out) but I'm not sure. That's one thing I will not skimp on. Thanks for the post, helps as a good cross reference and sanity check. 👍 Edit: I've asked for non-multi-fit spacers, so 5 holes only, that was one of the things that concerned me most.

~10mm... unless it has it's own flange to centre the wheel on which a lot do. Basically, if you can't engage the actual hub flange, the spacer itself needs to have a comparable (same diameter) flange, flat faced spacers are a big no-no (apparently) and lug/bolt centric solutions are also unacceptable. Essentially, if the only thing stopping the spacer (or wheel) moving around is clamping force then it can't be certed.

We are saving all our pennies for the Auckland tram. 😂 On a related note, I drove SH16 Auckland to Whangarei today. OMG.... I feel like I’ve been in a fight after driving over the road, my poor F30. M-Sport suspension is not built for this!

Saying something when you can get S65's in them...

Misuse of words... Torque specs are critical and rely on all parts not being worn

It appears the $1100 is the total incl labour with the bearing and axle\hub from Brent. At those prices i hope they are using a quality branded bearing as generic Chinese etc ones don't last very long .

With out the right tools to do it, all they will end up doing is damaging parts that would not normally need replacing when replacing a worn wheel bearing.

Probably not wrong! At the AA right now - only place open that could get me in before a trip up north with car, last resort and all that. I'll keep the recommendations in mind, thanks guys!

Lava matt Heat shield Heat wrap Heat sleeve. Welder buddy coming on 27th to final....

@fred_ 😎

I appreciate that, but you made up the 5% figure no?

A Xmas miracle, got the car back last week driving great with no leaks and no engine lights. Lets hope the Audi Gods wrath has nothing else in store 🤣

"Yassisss..."😅😅😅 Nah lekker brru...after cam she gonna be one!!!

Managed to conquer the rear axle today. Much like the lhs the shock and control arm balljoint were f’d. The lower swingarm balljoint was looser than the lhs one. Made a start on the front too. So far the lhs shock and control arm are f’d. The thrust arm balljoint and bush (x5 item swapped out 3 years ago) are fine, along with the drag link and tie rod ends still feel ok so may leave those and replace when actually needed. In the last pic I forgot to fit the strut mount bearing. Was a sign to finish up for the day. Hopefully wrapped up tomorrow.

That is 135i money. But you would get a better 135 for that.

Since I live my life a quarter mile at a time I decided to upgrade my neons. This new setup uses led strips with 60 leds per meter, as opposed to my old setup which used 30 leds per meter (now twice as bright so twice the street cred). The led strips are addressable meaning you make make then do all kinds of stuff not even seen in the new Need for Speed. I put together the whole thing custom including the wiring harness (and no, I won't sell you one because I don't want anyone stealing my thunder (or should I say lightening) at a car meet). The end result is this: NFS-final.mp4 Also a final shot showing off the interior lights as well which are hooked up to turn on when the doors open.

I'll charge both thanks. It costs to run my vehicle x amount per km. And it costs for my time. Otherwise I'm better off to do jobs close by / at the workshop and actually get paid for my time rather than drive around for free.

My E28 has original Black Plates, I received them today after saving it from dereg.

Another small update, but mostly some pictures. I forgot to mention on the previous Meremere post that I fitted an E21 Kamei spoiler. Fits quite well and is adhered using the 3M automotive tape. It's different and very '80s/'90s, I'm a fan. You'll also spot I fitted an OE towbar. I had it tucked away for awhile and never really intended on fitting it. I would preferably have a towbar on the E91 or E36 (did find a westfalia electric retractable for the wagon but it's bloody 50mm ?‍♂️). The old battler has been an absolute life saver with the house & garden projects we've been doing. The catch is though, house stuff being done = car stuff paused once again. There's still a HEAP of wee projects I'd like to do on the E30. Cooling system upgrade, oil/water px and temps. But for know I'm loving just driving it around.

I LOVE NZ ROADS!! Another windscreen gone. Bigger than a 50c piece. Struck by a large rock on the open road passing through some shitty road works.

Finally killed it properly, and now I can't find them on aliexpress 😕 There used to hundreds for sale.

Just seen this video on another thread .😬 Cringe worthy

Before: During: After: Despite various internet confirmations my wheels don't clear the callipers... 😕 Looks like I need some 5mm spacers and an updated cert... 😖