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I'm also led to believe Swedish girls are much better looking. They also have many crazy turbo bmws.

Inspired to complete my own toolkit..........goes out to drive.....raids tools in e38. Job done!

Hi guys. Starting thread for the little black E21. It's a 1982 320/6 with cosmetic changes as per the photo. This is how I brought it. It had been in the body shop where it was rust removed and painted. Not sure how high a quality the rust work was but it's straight so I'm not going togo looking till I have a reason. Currently has a sportline steering wheel pioneer head and 6x9. Seats are out of a early 90s fxgt and are much better than the factory seats of craps. E30 boot spoiler and a set of 17s Looks cool. Needswork but I'm happy putting around for a bit. I also have a 323i parts car. The plan was to sell black and keep restore the 323i.The 323.was meant to have the lsd but no it's got the big sway bars, rear disc and bigger front struts. But realisticly it's to far gone for me and it's full of rust and poo. Been repainted 3 times and has had a few non welded rust repairs. And all.of the desirable bits on the 323 are comming off and bbeing up graded. So no need for the 323......but it will still have it's uses . My plan is a little different. As of today I have an amazing little 18 day old girl. I have seen to many projects for sale due to kids comming along, not enough time, loss of motivation etc etc The plan is to keep the 320 as is, make it more reliable, upgrade the seats, tidy up the carpet, fix some rust and some leaks . But the plan is to keep it on the road so I can still enjoy it on weekends and go to events. Keep the car fresh in my mind so I can't just lock the shed door and walk away. The 323 is going to get stripped and parts sold off to fund the build. What is left of the shell will be used to mock up the modifications in preperation for the big rebuild. So I have been collecting parts and researching, researching, researching.

Dave, what Jon and BMW are saying is that a new 2.0L turbo engine (whatever the designation is N something something) is far more powerfull than say an M54B30 in an E46 330i. for someone who wants to buy a BMW but doesnt understand them, why would they trade thier E46 330i in on a F whatever 320i? when they know the old 320i was a pile. BMW need to subliminally get the message across the newer car is better and more power full as much as we might not like to admit it, BMW is a company that sells new cars. keeping enthusiests with 20 year old "obsolete" cars happy doesnt pay the bills. getting people to trade in thier old one and buy a new one does, and I can see why they need a "better" badge to do so.

id argue if similar price, the rebuild is the way to go, another used could be 6 months away from failure it self. at least a rebuild is under warrenty

I have ended up at Page European in Wellington City. Dealt with VJ. Excellent guy. Job ended up being split radiator side (dratted plastic thing!) so new radiator. Also viscous coupling was dead and did the belt tensioner pully bearing while the covers etc were off. Overall am happy and would recommend this shop.

Just get a used trans, rebuilds are almost the price of a new one. Or just convert to manual. Hellbm has a new shipment of manuals that have just landed.

Those are the custom seats ive made for the ute. Just some bucket seats moulded over the factory BMW seat skeleton so I can get all the motion and heating that you would from factory seats, but with a "race" feel haha

Have some drive shaft safety loops you can have to ease the financial pain a tiny bit if you do the M54 swap.

^word. All those water born enamels have a sh*t load of self levelling in them and if you use a good brush the finish will be sweet. Stop fkng around.

Swedish drivers are strictly advised to not drive with any alcohol in their bloodstream. You can be imprisoned for up to 6 months for having up to 0.02% alcohol in your blood; over 0.02% and up to 0.10% can see a 3 year sentence. Repeat offenders (who typically, worldwide, make up the majority of drink-drivers) are treated more harshly. Less than 0.25% of drivers breathalysed in Sweden return a positive result. Sweden has a population more than double that of NZ, yet has around the same number of road deaths. In 2012, just one person under the age of 7 died in road traffic accidents. The Swedish toll is dropping. Take into account the weather over there, and this becomes even more remarkable. However, driving standards are immeasurably higher than in NZ, and road construction carries a safety first, convenience second approach. Speed limits in Sweden are determined by a number of (sensible) factors. Main arterial multi-carriageway roads are 110 or 120km/h, and speed limits for other roads are assigned on a case by case basis, not arbitrarily as over here, and can be as low as 30km/h in populated areas. That said, there's not much attention to speed limits on motorways and police turn a blind eye provided you're not being dangerous, so you're unlikely to be stopped for 126 at 3 in the morning, for example. However, exceed a 30km/h limit and you will be stopped and fined. The speed limit and punishment fit the circumstances.

So got the V8 on Friday, and wiring loom. I must admit, this was a little tricky to remove as there was always one more cable, pipe or bracket still connecting the engine to the car, but it came out in the end. Still busy with the wiring, will be removing at least half of this mess and then make it all pretty again to stick into Rusta. Hoping to get the car in the garage this weekend and have the engine in place for the custom engine mounts to be made up and also take measurements for the drive shaft etc

Hi all, I'm selling a 1987 E28 525e on behalf of the owner in Napier, Hawke's Bay. 5 speed manual running a 2.7ltr M20 Just over 305,000km Power steering Sunroof Central locking Power mirrors Tool kit in boot (missing a socket) Documentation and service history Registered and warranted They'd like to let it go for $4,000. However they're open to offers so please PM me.

I had a 3.91 with ZF 5 speed on my E30 race car with S50b32. 2nd gear launches weren't a problem but top speed was 220km/h @ 7400rpm, this became a problem when I got more power as I started running out of revs in 5th. Now I have 3.91 with Getrag 6 speed I can idle at 3000rpm at 100km/h on the motorway, top speed 260km/h. The best thing is it's like having a close ratio dog leg 5 speed as 2,3,4,5,6 are all used on the track with the most used gears being in a H pattern.

have good cheap low km trans here if needed

Just add a digit and write the peak HP. Oh hang on, that's not going to work, cos the torque curve is important. Best convert a dyno run to a csv file and write that out on there. Or, be logical and write the engine size + a T if it is turbo. Having the badge indicate a tuned ECU is way too pretentious. I can sort of see their ///M rational to put it after the X5, because if done 'properly' it would end up being an ///MX5 *shudders*

I have, for the most part, found Ron's posts to be very knowledgeable and helpful, as opposed to your pointless and misguided opinions scattered all over this poor forum. If you have no first hand experience with the the X5 then pipe down and have some respect for the OP and the people who know what they're talking about.

Let the lady drive what the lady wants. A happy wife is a happy life.....

come on lads, this is not new. consider, if you will, the e23 745i. Oh! It was a 3.2 or 3.4l six with a KKK hairdryer on the side. Turbo gave about 1.4 x displacement. Whatever - it's just a rationale. You were comfortable with it previously. It seemed to make sense. What does it really matter?

Look, don't get me wrong guys, I do understand and I don't want to seem objectionable - and most certainly I don't want to be offensive! I could care less what BMW do nowadays, I gave up caring about their cars (except some of the M cars) in about 2004. They're a commodity now unfortunately. Any offence was not intended and I apologise if it was construed. I don't agree with the current convention, I think it's more complicated than necessary and believe it requires a level of interpretation and understanding that's beyond most, even the enthusiast. As suggested earlier, there's a better way of achieving BMW's marketing aims if they want to play with numbers - use kw's - X4 215 (or whatever) is more powerful than X4 175 etc.

I'll type this slowly so you can follow...40 does NOT mean 3 litre, it means an engine with a power output EQUIVALENT to a 4.0 ltr engine. And as such, it is more powerful than a 35i which is more powerful than a 30i even though they all have the same capacity. Purely and simply it is a way of showing "my one is bigger than yours", yes it is marketing spin and I am so very sorry if trying to explain the system behind it has offended your sensibilities. The last two digits = the engine size has not been the rule since the E28 525e but some people still think it is the case.

If you go the route of new 'box fluid and filter, use a cheaper fluid. If it works, run it 'round the block a couple of times and replace fluid and filter again, using good fluid this time. Fingers crossed it is that simple.

Lucky Matt doesn't live in Auckland and have to probably even worry about the proliferation and parking bullshit. If like me living out of Auckland, larger vehicles are not the same road blocks and add comfort for the rural journey compared to small cars. Buy what the misses wants mate you'll have more say in keeping the E34 forever

And I'm not suggesting there should be a literal connection between designation and displacement. But the designation should be meaningful to people other than BMW's marketing department.

You obviously can't see. I'll "spell it out" it for you: X - 4 - ///M - 4 - 0 -i Now, if it started with an "M", it would actually start with an "M". See my logic there? And if "40" means "3 litre" then how the f are people meant to work that out? It's seriously stupid as are arguments trying to defend it. It's far more sensible to say - "it's marketing rubbish with no real world meaning because, unless you have inside knowledge, it's impossible to decode". Which could be cool, if you're a BMW groupie. And let's be honest, none of us wants a proliferation of BMW groupies. Least of all on this forum.

Their Motorsport division should revoke authority to use the ///M - it's undermining brand value. If it doesn't start with ///M then ///M can't be used. Period. X4 40i is fine (I assume it's a 4.0 litre?). Anybody that cares knows that sticking on some plastic or suspension bits doesn't deserve an ///M badge.

IMO probably cheaper, easier and quicker to just get a replacement used trans?

Man, you guys are awesome - you've really cheered me up. So today, seeing as I couldn't get to work anyway I striped out all the cooling system parts and washed them out. The transmission cooler and its lines had the same milkshake in it that the cooling system did, so I'm pretty sure it was a transmission oil cooler fail. My plan atm is to take out the transmission and either rebuild it or replace it, replace the oil cooler, and get the car back on the road. I will use the oil cooler off my parts car for the time being, but as soon as I have some spare cash I will replace it for a new one, as I don't want to go through this again. How easy/hard is it to replace the necessary parts in a transmission? Obviously I will be doing filter and oil anyway. Thanks for all the pm's of support, and offers of parts and help.

Can see why people are struggling with this, it does take a bit to get your head around, but it's not that hard really! FWIW it is primarily driven by the Asian markets where bigger = better.

That'll be the 4x4x4i.

I was talking to a European specialist yesterday. I quote: "It's a BMW. It's not like it's a real car." I did chuckle. The 190E is a nice car to drive. Different to a BMW definitely, but better or worse? Not in my opinion... Just different.

Holy crap 0_o nice job!

I was running a 3.15:1 before a clutch pack bolt head broke off. If I end up fixing it I'll go to a 2.97 : 1. The LSD was completely rebuilt about 1,500 k before this happened. I'm running a getrag 250G which is not an overdrive gearbox...it's 1:1

What are those seats you've got man?

+1 Though I disagree that it's going backwards - going form a newer car with a large number of known reliability issues to an slightly older car with far fewer problems sounds like an upside to me The M54 wagon is only 3 years older, not 300! I can't imagine there'd be a huge difference in real world gas mileage either, not like going from a Prius to an old school 440 Mopar The diagrams are pretty comprehensive in the Bentley manuals - unless you've set fire to the looms everything can be fixed Guys like Brent & Ray would be able to supply you with what you need too, could even go harvesting from Pick a Part if you have the patience & time Hope you start getting some happier news soon!

Swedes start 'practicing' driving at 16, with a full license available from 18. Median salaries are comparable - NZ ~$51000, Sweden ~$53000 (equivalent). Swedish income tax is 29%, but taxation is a combination of local and national taxes, so this is an approximation based on median salary. Even alcohol consumption isn't that different: NZ 10.9l per year, Sweden 9.2l per year. (Pure alcohol, aged 15+. Source: Wikipedia.) Let's face it. We're pretty crap over here.

Forgive my ignorance but would it still crank normally with a bad ground? EDIT: okay, have just read that bad ground can mean that when the engine cranks voltage to igniters can drop below required so they don't fire. Just wondering how rain would affect the ground strap. Wouldn't an issue like that present itself all the time not just post-wet weather? Not saying you're wrong, just trying to eliminate possible causes.

Talk to Ray @ HellBM he's done a hell of a lot of conversions on E46's

what i would do is swap all the nice bits like msport kit and interior over from the 2004 318i into the 2001 325i then paint. no worries about cert or motor/trans swap and the time and labour you saved should cover the cost of a cheapish paint job? only downside is you're going backwards from an 04 to an 01 but you're going up in every other way. was there anything missing in your parts car? if i remember correctly it just had a smashed rear bumper or something wasnt it?

If it is the one I think it is, he's being trying to sell the engine for quite some time. And the box is from a W124 diesel. It'd work, but not really what I'm after.

That was a W124.

Have done two 2.8s. One, a red NZ New 320i SE 4 door is running standard 325i cam and exhaust with a 240 box and a 4,1 open diff. The other, a black LHD 320i auto 2 door with full Mtech kit now has a 272 cam, SS headers, a K&N, 260 box, 3.73 open diff (soon to be LSD) The red car is a real cruiser and does every thing really well whereas the black car is a riot and a hell of a lot of fun. I definitely recommend the 272 cam if you are going to do this conversion, the difference over the standard 325i cam is well worth the investment. Scot from GER supplied the cam. Both engines were set up the same with the standard 325i pistons, M20B20 rods and an M50 2.8 crank. I also used the 325i ECU and AFM on both cars. Good luck, it is well worth the effort.

^what he said, have done the same with good results. 160 odd hp at the wheels

They leak oil & water..... now they are starting to make icecream

After having a few low ballers and time wasters during the sale process of my first M5 I decided to make a few improvements to improve the appearance for any new interested buyers. Wet sanded, polished and waxed the headlights. Pretty straight forward.. 600,800,1000,1200,1500,2000 grits followed by some Meguiars full strength cut compound and a final coat of Mothers caranuba wax. Pics don't quite do it justice but you get the idea. Before : After : Next up was to replace an exterior door trim piece that had suffered some corrosion.. chemical reaction I believe as this part is made of aluminium. Old : New : Finally I completed the trunk tool kit with the missing tools :

Well, I could put up the data that goes through the facts in detail, but last time I put up the speeding data in the speeding thread I got attacked for it.

Wouldn't bother with Abraham/Marshaw, unless you specifically want the abraham/marshaw. There are a lot of versions of the wing out there now. I got mine off ebay through a Polish seller. There is a couple sellers out there now from Poland/Bulgaria, seems to be from the same manufacture. Complete 4pcs fiberglass version (really light, solid construction) shipped to my door for $340 a couple months back. No sag, and the base tapers down like the original LTW/GT wings. Build quality/fitment was better than expected considering the price, but like all fiberglass parts the surface needs to be flat sanded and re-primed.

Paint stripper sounds like hard work, we did my mates one with a box of flap wheels on the grinder in an afternoon.

you might have to twist Raewyns arm up behind her back

After further research I think need another g260 (probably the same as euroho) and some appropriate drive shaft and shift linkage