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What an awesome first weekend out. The car is now safely home and in one piece, not even a scratch on what is one of the few cars that drove to and from the track, running flawlessly the whole time. The entire weekend people kept coming up to me and cracking jokes about my little hatchback, name likes "shopping wagon", "little girls car" and "hairdresser's car" were thrown around, but after people had a look at in on the track the names changed to "it's pretty f**king quick", "What the hell is it" and "that's not a 316ti". Race 3 was a good race with me setting my best lap time of the weekend, but also managing to gain .3 of a second on sector 1 by adding 2psi to the front tyres which made it a lot more stable in high speed corner entry. My best lap ended up being a 1:13.301 but going off best sectors for race 3 the car is capable of a 1:13.081, then if you take the best sectors from all 3 races, the car is capable of a 1:13.037, but with 2psi extra the car was loosing a few hundredths in the slower corners. Still stoked I was able to get pretty close to my goal of a 1:13.0 by weekends end. Here is a video of my best lap, a bit of drizzle in this Now its time to cut out 100kg+ of weight, get a swirl pot so I don't have to run a full tank to avoid surge(-40kg), get a tune to add some HP (+30rwhp) and add a rear wing so I can keep the rear end under control. New goal will be 1:11.0 around Hampton Downs.

Took the 540 for a bit of a blast yesterday, forgot how much fun a 20 year old can be! Thought I'd get a pick of the pair of 5's.

I see there is an S50B30 on trademe currently for $5500. M3 performance for around 5 grand. Easy.

You need an e28 in the picture

Parked at Smales Farm, given condition I'm picking wasn't genuine

yes, for the cost of the car yard, they need to turn over x units with a $5k margin to make costs. They'll balance that with some units with higher $$ return (prolly same margin) and on it goes. I've a friend who's brought in a few cars through IBC, you take on the risk, and save a little money - if it all goes your way. PS - today's the end of the month, today's the day to SEAL THE BEST DEAL. Tomorrow (1 Feb) is a new month, and your salesman is starting again on his rush to meet budget. First car of the month he'll be fighting to retain margin.

Shipping + GST on the total amount is probably 4k on top of that 10k for the car mentioned. I would assume they aim for 5k profit approx, of course once they pay staff and other expenses the true margin is a lot less than that. They also have to cover the car under the CGA for the first 3 months, which is why they push those mechanical warranties, as this is a way of avoiding any liability.

UPDATES: Big update for you all - detailing the last modifications and work to the E36 before finally getting her to the 2016 4 and Rotary Nationals Show & Shine! There was one thing missing about the rear end of the car which didn't suit the look, and that was the cutesy stock exhaust tips I still had on the car, so, in order to beef it up a bit, and also give her a bit of volume, I had the rear muffler removed, and replaced with stainless steel pipes. Ultimately I would've preferred to install an aftermarket muffler, but in the interests of time and funds, I decided to go with this temporary option to make it for the show. I have to give a huge thanks and shout out to Juhan and the team from Backyard Developmentz for helping me out with doing the cutting, and welding. They are a busy bunch, all trying to get their *own* cars finished, but he offered and took the time to knock out the exhaust job in one night for me. Really appreciate his efforts! With the ride height dialed in to a drive-able height, there wasn't much else for me to do with the car other than to take her to the show. I made up a decal which I decided to place on both my doors, which are the names of the few key individuals that really helped me make this car come to fruition. I wanted to illustrate to people that this car is by no means the product of one man's work - but a team of people coming together and pooling their skills and resources. This list of names does not reflect the *only* people who helped me - but they are the people who spent the countless late nights with me, working in the garage till the ridiculous early hours of the morning, sharing sleep deprivation with me. They are the people who impacted me, and the progress of my car the most. Without these people, this build would not be where it is. It would not have made it to the show this weekend. And for that reason, their names will always be on this car. It is as much a product of their work, as it is mine. SHOW DAY The time had arrived. Time to take the cars in to the show and shine, set up, and show the country what we had spent so long to put together. The set up day began with our StanceMob member Bryce, arriving at our place to convoy to the show together. I think some of you may appreciate his absolutely clean E36 on Modenas, running genuine Ferrari centercaps: We then lined up our little convoy together, and wow ... it was just stunning to see our work finally on the road. In these pics, the car was at it's raised height for driving, the plan was to drop her down for the show once we were there. Arrived outside the show and took a few cheeky snaps ... Once inside, we dropped the car back down for it's intended show height ... And that's the way we left her for the show. The next day was sensational. My first experience as a competitor at nationals, and it was an awesome experience. Meeting all the people who have been following my build was incredible. It was really fulfilling to have strangers approach and ask about the car, showing interest in the work done, and the process of making it happen. What made it all worth it for me - was being able to step back, and watch people just stop dead in their tracks when they saw the car, and then continue to turn their heads sideways to oogle and look closely at all the fine details we put in. It was a great feeling to see people appreciate all the hard work put in to the car. It was also extremely fulfilling when people would ask about the colour of the "paint" - only for me to reveal that it was a wrap, and not only that, it was all done by ourselves, in our garage. The responses I got from that was priceless. Again - it made all the hard work finally worth it. The day ended on a very slightly sour note unfortunately. In the packing up process, I was raising the rear of the car to get her home safely - however, one of my rear shock mount bolts decided it wanted to cross-thread, and no longer sit tightly and hold my shock in place. A silly little problem, but one that meant it was no longer safe to drive home. With the help of my lovely girlfriend, my friends, and StanceMob family we managed to organise a quick and affordable tow truck to take her back home. And that's that! So for now, I'm going to relax. I intend to edit some photos, kick back in the sun with some beers, spend time with people who I've been neglecting due to this build, and catch up on sleep. The next time you see the car, hopefully it'll be on the new wheels I've intended to have for them since the beginning of the build. I'll keep you all updated on any changes to the car though. Thank you for following my build, and reading my story to this point. It's been awesome sharing my journey. Peace. Jeff P.S. - Does anyone know how to fix the threaded shock bolt/hub problem? Anyone able to lend me a hand to fix it this coming week?

Here it is, the first ever race in the newly put together BMW M Compact. Started 9th and finished 8th. Two cars in front were .3 faster at the start, but I was catching them at the end, so it's good to see the compact doesn't slow during the race like the others. From the telemetry I am down .4 of a second on what I would consider a perfect lap, I am also going to test a new unconventional line on the hairpin as that gave me another .2 of a second when passing a slower car in qualifying. My goal of a 1:13.0 by weekends end still stands, but to help give it a bit more power I am going to try removing the viscous fan and shroud today and see what sort of gain that gives. Funnily enough I found due to having the predictive lap timer that having the headlights and electric fan on were sapping .2 of a second just going up the front straight and about .3 on the infield, suffice to say they were turned off mid race once I figured this out

I converted it to a manual , was m30b35 3.5L , I think I fitted lsd to it as well if it didn't have one already. theres pics and details on it somewhere on bimmersport http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/15734-e34-alpina-b10-35/ http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/32030-selling-my-e34-535i-alpina-b10-35-replica/ http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/16545-just-found-out-the-size-of-the-alpina-wheels-i-have/?p=178024

Race 2 - Handicap Start Race 3 - Grid Start - Drying track

that's my old car . was a replica b10 built up like that in japan.

Trademe sellers. I offered more than what they wanted, only to decline and let the auction run. Only to put up a lower buynow for someone else a week later. Why?

Dont forget they'll have to build in some haggle room. I always add about 10% to my asking price to accommodate for all the low ballets

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1024604813 $1 reserving my 530i MS as I work in Oz 9 months of the year. I bought this a couple of months ago when I planned on living full time in NZ and it was the ideal open road commuter that I was using it for. Plans change. Awesome cars these, I've had VE Commodore and FG Falcon, With the exception of the 4.0 Falcon 6 engine, this beats them in every way despite its age.

Hey guys, just joined the BMW club with the BMW 435i 2013 with M package and M performance kit. Just looking into Bimmersport and Euro car club for meets and cruises. Keen to meet the members here, i am based in Auckland.

Andriod phone + Racechrono pro + bluetooth 10hz GPS

RC's have been on the car for a while and the new wheels are the ones next to the car and yes they are mpars (reflected on the car)

so a 4 is a 3 series 2 door coupe?

Anti-TPPA people. Facebook. People.

Luke would be gutted, I sure am that was mint back in the day!

Hydro dip done on Hellboy`s M50 Rocker cover. Let the pics speak for themselves.

I'm just using the mister from my grow room and extraction fan from my meth lab. Damn it, the drugs can wait, I need to sleep! And the kids don't need the extractor in their bedroom anyway, they don't sleep at all. Ever. Crazy that, not sure why.

Thrashed it. Took the 750i for a long drive to my sisters today. She's about 40mins out into the country on deserted roads with tons of hills and corners. I know this road like the back of my hand and as I haven't been comfortable driving the 750i as hard as I would the 740i I decided to find my limits in the car. All I can say is WOW. Turn on the S/EDC, put in Sport mode and gradually pushed myself and the car. The torque from the V12 just eats up the hills and surprisingly(to me) it cornered well too.Stinking hot day so super sticky tar might have helped a bit..lol The harder I pushed it the more planted it felt. Probably the fasted trip I've made out to my sisters. I'm going to have to do something to increase the volume/noise of the exhaust though. Would've been nice to hear the V12 roaring through the hills.

Isofix tether mounts on e46 M3. Nervous bit of drilling on rear parcel shelf, but came together alright. Took about 5 hours . My Little girl likes ridding in the M3 which made it worth while.

Changed the eeprom .bin for the lying-bastard stock E39 temp gauge. Now shows something like what the engine temps actually are, instead of being about as useful as those blue and red light things on newer cars. Can share info soon, for others interested - found stuff on some US sites etc, and deciphered the info from the bollocks.

Simple answers: S50 cams will physically fit but you still need a bit of machining and the correct lifters. Ideally you should have bought the matched lifters and trays with the bearing blocks. If boosting the engine use the B28 crank in the iron block, though i don't understand why you're bothering with hotter cams if you're turbocharging. Longer duration cams = power curve shifting to the right. In your position I'd look for an M54B30 crank, might as well go for maximum displacement while you're in there. Google Steve Murch, MSE Engineering. NZ agent for Holset & knows a thing or two about boosting bimmers. Good luck

Drove my E38 to Tauranga, currently here, on the back of Rivesdale (40 mins out of Masterton on the coast ) and back to wellington over new year, and ECC meet and back last month, Also run to auckland and back some stage this week done over 2500km in it in the last month, 3000 by the time i get back. Such a nice car to drive! Scruffy around the edges etc but runs and drives well. Definately recommend looking at an E38 or E39 if you want a cheap hack, they are the ideal car for a BMW enthusiest, basic engines for self servicing, while also having the luxuries you need and want without over complicating things

My M3 vanos was sticky due to a varnish-like oil buildup (and i suspect, lack of use). Took some decent scrubbing to get the splines to move smoothly again. Are you running any sort of engine flush through it? Its risky due to the posibility of moving some large chunks and blocking passages or the oil pickup, but hell, if its just crud like in the photos it might help break it down a bit?

First outing in E36 was a success. Started with 1:18's with the street tyres, then fitted slicks and started doing 1:14's. Then took passengers and was doing 1:15's. Top speed was only 205km/h (1340kg) without passengers and 198km/h (1420kg) with passengers. With an actual tune (currently got an ebay one that runs rich) I expect to gain a lot of power through the middrange to bring it back to where it was before the rebuild (swapped ECU's), plus removing all the trim and cutting some weight out should drop ~150kg, this should see a top speed of ~225km/h and use of 6th gear down the straight. What a mission it was to drive with slicks without a harness and a race seat, there was probably another second or two to gain from being thrown all over the place. Best sectors had me doing a 1:13.0 but I was unable to string a perfect lap together. The car is way to stiff, it was lifting both inside wheels coming out of the sweeper, on one lap I even managed to take it with a minimum speed of 115km/h around the sweeper and turn one. Don't have a video of when using slicks as the camara kept getting torn off the mount, but it was ok with road tyres Bonus for the evening was that I stood on it all evening and the water temp stayed at 80c, no oil leaks or anything went wrong.

You have failed to mention that you decided to do your oil change on my drive. And that it is literally, on my drive! Still by previous Watson Engineering efforts it was relatively clean and painless!!

Are Rks becoming a classic? I guess if ya wait long enough anything comes back...

Time to chime in ... Importing is simple and easy to do. I have helped numerous friends complete their first import for the cost of a 6pk (when local). The main reason I import my own cars is because I want to know if it has been in a crash or repaired. In Japan they are graded from 5 down to 1 and then if it has been in a crash, they come out with R or R1 so you can tell BEFORE bidding what the history is. I once almost bought a car in a yard where the dealer stated it was a 4.5 grade, showed me some documentation ex Japan to support it, then we got it checked out at a dealership and they said it was damaged. I went back to the dealer and asked for the Japan info again and it turned out to be for another vehicle on the yard. Sorry but I don't trust anyone in car yards after that experience and apologies to those on this forum who work in the industry because it was just one yard involved but it tainted my feelings towards car yards. Anyway I started dealing with a company called TAU for importing my first cars but after 3 cars, I was put onto Kadoco by a mate who mentored me in the beginning. Since then I have brought in about 10 through this company and they are very user friendly to deal with. http://www.kadoco.co.jp/ The Yen is at 68 cents so it is getting better but I personally won't play in the market again till it is at 70 cents + as the margins to make some money are better. Process is simple enough; you find a model you like, check to see if it is allowed into NZ thru the VTNZ web site. Pick on cars that are Grade 4 and better and hopefully not under 2002 (from memory). You ask for some history from Kadoco on what previous sale prices were at auction for similar cars you are interested in and they give you a lot of history showing mileage etc. After that it is a case of sending over a deposit (to prove you are genuine bidder), then when the right car comes up for auction in the right colour, specs etc and ask them to bid on your behalf up to a maximum price. Once the auction finishes, they email if you were successful or not and what it was sold for or passed in at. Fairly simple. If you want some more help, flick me a PM with your email address and I can send you a simple .xls spreadsheet I use to work out the on road price here after punching in the YEN price at the top. Love helping fellow BMW owners