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BMW ownership is a disease

Spoke to the boss about the job, he agreed it was not up to scratch. Turns out one of the guys went on holiday part way through the job and it was finished by someone else... presumably with less skill. Car is going back in next week.... Zzzzzzzzz

Man, thats gotta suck. Still, having one fabricated from metal has to be better than foam and glass. I really want to see this with paint on it.

Had some spare time over the weekend and decided to investigate a rattle and squeak coming from the RF wheel. Suspected Brake caliper and pad issues. Upon taking the wheel off there was a bit of play on the caliper and a pronounced rattle as the caliper was wiggled. First problem, who ever did the brake job last lubed the Guide pins. Big no no according to TIS. Cleaned. Caliper bracket cleaned and re-lubed with anti-squeal. Found some tar stuck on the piston, cleaned and lubed the piston to pad contact surface along with the other areas as per TIS. Brake pads look to be after market items. Cleaned up and lubed with anti squeal. I also measured the disc thickness in 5 different places. All areas within spec so I'll be throwing a set of OEM pads along with new guide pin bushes in the near future. Took the car for a spin afterwards, no more rattle or squeals. Job done!

Ah its been a rough few weeks with this, was all prepped for paint and on the way to the painters, the towy's crain slipped and hit the rear sail and cracked it all through the joining points, so it is now getting a new rear sail made up, but from sheet metal this time. Luckily his insurance is covering some of the damages, unluckily since its all custom work, there been some negotiations happening around how much the insurance will actually cover. On more positive notes, ive ordered the custome VS XX Gold wheels and the engine is near completion of its rebuild, just wating for the new intake manifold to arrive from Aussie. Sub frame has been sent off for acid dipping and powder coating. Will start putting that back together with its new 375 slotted brakes soon hopefully. Will get some photos of everything over the next 2 weeks, including the twin 3" straight through exhaust and custome extractors ive been working on.

Ended up buying another BMW. What's wrong with me

Got my boot lip spoiler and halo rings, haven't installed the halos yet as I'm not sure I'm convinced on them yet. Installed lip spoiler quickly after work today, really like it, matches the lines of the e36 similarly to how the same spoiler matches an e39 M5. Can tell my car has been garaged during it's life. I got this spoiler painted and shipped from ebay (To order) - $76ish NZD shipped. Painted in #335 Estoril blue and matches the car perfectly, indicating that the car has had no color fade at all over the years. Very good quality spoiler and quick shipping, I'm impressed. Quick pic as the light is disappearing. Also redid all my interior lights with White LED's when I got home, took all of 3 minutes. Looks much better already although I'll see when it's pitch black out how it looks.

They are always after car trailers. Makes it easier to steal the Skyline/WRX/EVO/Silvia they are after. Nothing wrong with newer Link ECU's. Best bang for buck. Can buy/Install/Tune x3 for the price of a Motec ECU on its own.

Getting the E46 airbag recall done as well.

Cars been found, trailer still missing. Seems the car was dropped on a back road in Takanini. It must have been too obvious I guess. Was left outside the friend of a guy who I know on Fbook, so we got informed before the cops even knew. We have cctv of the theives leaving Steve's place with the car in tow and know who the car belongs to and where they live, cops have been informed. Would like to thank all involved very much, we are due to be at the opening meet next weekend, so here's hoping it is all ok.

I guess this counts as a project so may as well introduce it here. Recently picked up this 1986 E30 Tech 1 Coupe in the hopes of getting it back on the road. Spent the first couple weeks at the Compliance, then went off to the panel beaters for a few small bits and pieces and to get it's engineer's cert. Finally got it back last weekend and it's in the process of being pieced back together to pass compliance. It's a manual running a M20 2.7L stroked with an 885 head. Chipped with a LSD sitting on Bilsteins+Dobinson Springs. Currently sitting at around 210hp at the crank. Here it is in it's current state: After it's all back together and on the road, we have a lot of plans for it but I'll update as I go along.

Change of work location and I need to offload my E36. Really enjoy driving this car, have owned it for 9 years. I'm in Christchurch and I need this sold by Friday. $2000 and it's yours, negotiable. 1993 318i Ac Schnitzer 191,000km NZ New All 4 tyres replaced in March 5 speed manual Rego SR3429 Only real issue is the fan in the dash sometimes squeaks under negative pressure (decelerating), turning the fan off and back on again stops it. It's rare, would maybe happen once or twice in a 7hr drive. 20 year old car so it's showing it's age in a few places. Paint on front bumper is flicking off in some places. Little bit of wear on interior, just driver's seat. Leather around the gear stick is cracked and the gear knob itself is a bit loose (not a problem for how I hold it, but have had comments from other people). I'll take a whole lot of photos tomorrow and outline anything. This probably sounds negative, really it's in very good condition for its age. The attached image is out of date, just here to give you an idea. 0274656285 if you have any questions or want to come and have a look. Car is in Ilam, Christchurch.

Can confirm that, a little more than one bottle (quart each) from memory. I also run Redline ATF D4 and it's good stuff.

That is a very pleasant automobile. I think it could potentially be nice in my drive

no

Definitely use 316 wire. It might not be perfect but it'll be fine for an exhaust. Also a magnet will not stick to m3 headers

So did you also inform the boss of the managers offhand remarks / response to you?

I have bit the bullet and bought reps ( insert flame comments here) I could not say no. They are like 2 months away though but black and gold will be nice..after the wedding I will sell my wedding ring and buy some genuines hahaha

Sooo $200 for the rear wheels??

i ran Redline ATF D4 in my M3 and it shifted like butter. Its good stuff.

Hmm... you're giving me ideas...

Is it name and shame time yet

Seems like a lot of trouble for a Link ECU and trailer ... if it was a Bosch or Motec it'd make sense. No offense intended for those running a Link : P Good to hear the car is back however at least!! I have always been baffled by why people steal racecars ... it makes almost no sense.

Shouldnt all the ""limited skill workers or apprentices" be working under full supervision to ensure this kind of mess up doesnt happen? Seeing the work through properly once is way better, quicker, cheaper than fixing mistakes. Also is this kind of skill gap normal for these kinds of businesses? So if they get a BMW they will give it to the higher up skilled guy but if its a 1990s toyota it goes straight to the noob? Do they charge less for noobs fixing it compared to a skilled pro like the case with specialist hair salons for example where they have junior stylists and senior stylists?

Id never start another job there that's for sure. But under the situation they should be making right their wrongs, at least the main ones, at no cost to me. Clearly they have just palmed this job off to their limited skill workers or apprentices. Now they need to get their skilled guys on it to sort it once & for all. I won't be letting up until I'm satisfied.

i dont think i would take it back there. I would take try to get a refund and take it somewhere else even if it costs a bit more..

could have been ANY BMW that age... Perfect!

ok, seems the Link ECU is gone, if anyone hears anything, please get back to me. Will publish the culprits name tomorrow if the police can't sort this.

been working on this for a while... http://

Meh, my E30 has 732hp when its sitting on the spot idling as well.

F##king arseholes. Lowlife is an understatement. Good luck with this Dave

Lack of attention to detail really. The "good enough" attitude that lingers across a lot of trades.

Personally, given the age of your vehicle, & the future life ahead of it - I'd just suck it up & go genuine. Do it once, do it right sorta thing. Even if you buy the genuine bar / wiring kit, & get Ray or some-one similar to fit it. Or lean on your dealer for a better price, as getting towards 2k is probably starting to take the pi$$ a bit IMO........... IMO, its something that really 'needs to be right' - its being bolted into critical structural points on your vehicle. Genuine bar will be a perfect match for the vehicle, & will be designed for the vehicle's MTM rating - you can't really go wrong, even if its a bit dearer.