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Showing content with the highest reputation on 03/29/16 in Posts
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6 pointsThank you all for your help/advice. Its great to have such a cool bunch of enthusiastic car nuts. It seems I was a bit out of touch with prices (not buying or selling too often heh heh). No probs to come down a tad or two. Perhaps if enyone is serious they could make an offer, 021855225 everything is negotiable. Quite happy to leave it here for a few days before putting it out to the public. Happy BMW-ering.
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3 pointsInstagram is coming to an end. Implementing the same BS "We control your content" that Facebook has. Will have to find another great place to look at car pictures whilst taking a sh*t now. I have never seen so many cars with damage as I have in DC. Nearly every car has hammered bumpers front and rear. I have watched how it happens. Everyone just uses the cars in front and behind to feel their way into car parks. It is worse than you think too. I have seen some near new cars with a ton of damage. Friends of ours said to never buy anything nice whilst living in DC. Prob just get some 2002-2005 E46 330i that I won't care about. Dime a dozen here.
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2 pointsHey Everyone. Sorry for being so slack with the stickers. It looks like there is quite a bit of demand for them. Ever since we changed to the new forum software I never updated the shop so you can order stickers online. I will look at sorting this out and will also include t-shirts and caps which we still have a bit of stock of. In the meantime please order stickers over email like so: Stickers are $8 each including postage. You can choose from white or silver. If you would like to order please email your order to [email protected] and transfer the money to our bank account as follows. Bimmersport Ltd, Westpac Albany: 03 1322 0085857 000 I will post the stickers as soon as the money is in the bank Once again sorry for my slackness.I promise to get the online ordering up and running again really soon. Also like josh said, please don't reproduce copies of the stickers, that's not cool, or legal.
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2 pointsExhaust modified to avoid steering linkage. Swapped in a 3.73 med case rear end & axles. Poly diff bush. New subframe bushings. First test drive: Brakes are great w/ new booster - a bit firmer but lovely Clutch feels awesome Goes like a banshee One or two issues, primarily mysterious driveline vibration. Has to be driveshaft related based on a bit of trial and error.
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2 pointsLSD (neeeed!) Better cooling in the way of bigger fans and maybe ducting. Paint work and general tidy ups SE sideskirts interior (seats, door cards) More power/boost (steve murch turbo tickle-ups, manifold, external gate, new exhaust) New solid bushes in rear subframe. Of course most of this is long term unless I come into vast sums of money!
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2 pointsAnother long week-end and more crap driving on the roads. It seems Easter is the holiday that every sh*t box Mobile Home / ute / 4x4 decides to tow a clapped out trailer / boat / horse box up some of the biggest hills in the country. If your piece of crap can't manage the speed limit on a flat, straight highway then it shouldn't be on the road full stop.
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1 pointHi all, After a while of being relatively quiet on here I am back with my latest! It all began a few years ago after I had sold my last E30 (black 325i vert) and was feeling like something was missing. I flew to Auckland and purchased this coupe from a forum member. It was a great car and I picked it up for a price unheard of in todays E30 market. At the time I didn't have too many plans for it, just maintain it and drive it on the weekend. I changed the cambelt with the intention of keeping the M20 in it. At least it was reliable! I couldnt help myself and installed a set of XYZ coilovers and Sportmaxx 16x8 wheels. I also had the rear guards rolled and pumped out along with painted bumpers and respraying the guards. This lasted for summer until I decided to misbehave while driving for a wedding for Jamie (Black E30 in the pic). The gearbox lost reverse while trying ever so hard (M20B20 remember) to get it to do a celebratory burnout. So I gave the 4hp22 one last farewell and got onto thinking about what I was going to do next. I decided I wanted a repower. I considered this a huge challenge and something I had never attempted before, so I was anxious. I set about stripping the old M20 out and began to think about what was going to take its place. I contemplated M5x, RB25, 1JZ, V8s.. even a 13b turbo. Then this turned up... It was all on! A 13b turbo from a series 5 Mazda RX7. I always wanted an RX7, the rotary engine was something that I just had to have. So what better than a rotary E30 to satisfy my cravings. The rotary also ticked many other boxes that the bigger inline 6 options didnt: engine bay space, brake booster clearance, power to weight. With the engine finally stripped and sitting in the bay it was becoming apparent that it was a relatively straight forward swap. Custom sump and oil pickup were to be made. While a conversion to manual steering was going to give me more room under the engine and around the exhaust/turbo and also satisfy my need for a clean engine bay. Power steering isnt a necessity in a car this light with an engine that weighs as much as a weetbix box. Custom engine and gearbox mounts were fabbed up and the engine yanked back out again to go back home. Once the mounts were completed I dropped the engine back in to check everything was correct. Once I was happy that it was all going to fit I worked out where the intercooler and radiator were going to fit and mocked up some intake piping. Then it was time to pull it all back out again and prepare for paint. This was exciting, I've always craved a smoothed over E30 engine bay! The paint was laid down and I was stoked! Engine back in again for the final time to start piecing it together. Now the fiddly stuff, nothing heavy, plenty of cursing and swearing to come! As the car was originally auto I fitted a manual pedal box early on in the piece with anticipation of what was to come. All along I wanted to intercooler to remain hidden, but still receive good airflow so the piping was tricky. Because I am using a stock turbo and boost levels I have been able to keep the piping nice and small which was helpful in keeping it all hidden. Once I was happy it was off to get alloy welded and have the BOV mount welded in place. Then black paint was applied before reassembly as well as mounting radiator, RX7 oil cooler (in factory location) and making hoses and lines to suit. I also removed as much of the front body loom as I could and hid the remaining wires between the radiator and oil cooler. I also made a throttle cable and clutch line etc while i was mucking around in the engine bay. Finally starting to take shape.. I had decided to go standalone with the engine management. An old Microtech LTX-8 ECU was purchased and I undertook my very first attempt at wiring anything more than a headunit. I also fitted and wired in boost/vac, water temp and oil pressure gauges. With the wiring completed and ready for first start up. Fluids were poured in, fuel was mixed and she fired into life! Took a bit of turning over to clear, but it started after a few goes! I was a pretty happy lad that night, it was finally starting to seem real. Also, a rotary engine is incredibly loud in the shed with just a turbo and no exhaust... Happy neighbours were not found in my area that night! The next morning I discovered a small pool of oil under the car so the sump was removed and a small pinhole welded up. I was frustrated because I had checked the sump for holes.. obviously not well enough! Next on the list was exhaust so the car was taken back out to my mates place where he has a hoist and the necessary skills to fab up some pipes/flanges. The exhaust consisted of a 2.5" short downpipe, 3" to centre resonator, 3" to rear muffler. This provides plenty of flow, a reasonable amount of noise reduction and next to no ground clearance at the height I had it. Ive since lifted the suspension 20mm at the front and 10mm at the rear just to give a bit of freedom underneath. I had my tuner come round and check the car out to see if it was dyno ready - he checked things like voltage drop to the coils and fuel pump. Interferance on any sensors etc. He also set up the fuel maps at idle so that I could at least run through a few heat cycles and bleed the cooling system before putting it on the dyno for a tune. Then it was dyno day! The tune went well until 3500rpm where we found a misfire which turned out to be a malfunction in the ECU. We also found that the spark wasnt as strong as it could be so it was decided that I would replace the old coils before the next dyno day just to be safe. It was back to the drawing board and a little bit more wiring to be done. While I was waiting for more dyno time I installed a handy little voltage gauge so I could keep an eye on the battery. I got it off trademe for a few bucks and hooked into the wiring that goes to the check panel. It reads about 0.4V lower than at the battery but at least it gives me some idea of whats going on. Back on the dyno again after a few weeks The tune was going good until 4500rpm where the turbo started to make some boost and the internal wastegate couldnt keep up. The ECU was cutting fuel at 13psi so we had to pull the pin. Back to the drawing board. I found that the wastegate was hitting the back of the turbo and not opening fully, and also put some of the issue down to the fact that the exhaust was so much bigger than the factory downpipe and the turbo was flowing much faster and free'er than normal. I solved this by taking a scallop out of the backplate of the turbo and adding a 3mm restrictor plate straight after the turbo with a 2" hole (the size of the factory downpipe) While playing around the exhaust I decided to delete the old steering guibo and heatshield to give me some more clearance and eliminate the chance of the extreme heat deteriorating the rubber. I also decided to ditch the viscous fan as it needed a shroud to actually make it work and it was too hard to make a shroud. I replaced it with an electric fan and had a plate made up to shroud the fan and enable it to pull air across the entire surface of the radiator. I wired the fan so that I can either turn it on with a switch in the car or the ECU can turn it on at a set temperature. I also added a heat shield around the turbo and downpipe after seeing it glowing red on the dyno. It was almost dyno time again and after a few hard road tests to check the boost levels I encountered another problem. Small case diffs. I quickly sourced a medium case 3.73:1 open diff from Ray @ Hellbm and installed that with some fresh Redline oil. Back on the dyno and fingers crossed for the third time lucky! The tune went well but we discovered the restrictor plate is choking the turbo a bit and the boost level starts to drop at around 6000rpm. This will be fixed one way or another in the future with either a boost controller or opening the turbo up again and adding an external wastegate. Power wasnt huge at 155kw at the wheels on a low-reading roller dyno. Once the boost issue is sorted out I should see close to 200rwkw. After driving the car home in the wet I decided 155rwkw is plenty for a street car for now and I will focus on getting the car legal/certed so that I can begin to enjoy it. The day after dyno I had to see what it was like in the dry.. Turns out it goes ok! I had to give it a bit of victory burnout love on the driveway which was great - Unfortunately the right hand side engine mount didnt think so and started to bend (8mm plate!!) So out it comes to have some strength added to it.. Two 5mmx15mm gussets at the weak point. It aint pretty but it works, the second victory burnout proved it! (on closed roads of course) This weekend I managed to put the engine mount back in and also paint the inside of the fuse box cover. I'm crazy on clean engine bays and the transparent blue lid with yellow underneath just didnt cut it! I understand the rotary E30 isnt going to be accepted by everyone here, and I also understand it isnt a first, but I'm always a fan of doing what you believe is right for you. After a bit of deliberation I decided on posting this so people that are interested can see what I've been doing and share their thoughts. After all, I built it for me! It wont get old driving down the road seeing peoples reactions to this car! Its been a long time coming but this diary brings me up to date on my build thus far. Its been a huge challenge, but something I have enjoyed immensely! I've learnt more than I could ever imagine and become much less hesitant to take on big jobs. Next on the list is learn to weld, then I'll be unstoppable!! While this isnt a comprehensive list of everything I've done and products I've used etc I feel I've covered the main points. Feel free to ask any questions you may have, or even offer criticism on things you think I could improve. I have acheived my goal of keeping the car low-key in appearance. From the outside the only give away is the exhaust, which could just be another E30 with a fart-can.. Until you hear it! My goal was to keep this tasteful and not your typical "brap brap brap Rota BeMa G" Now that I have finally posted this project I will continue to update this thread as I make progress. Happy building and thanks for taking the time to read this thread!! Jason Edit: heres a flame pic!
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1 pointSuggest this is pinned as a useful resource .... Go to http://www.bimmer.work/ and punch in the last 7 digits of your VIN and wunderbar! You get the factory spec of your vehicle! Checked my E53 and it looks to be spot on. Neat tool.
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1 pointI am slowly building a "fun" e30 (was 325i) with a few go fast bits to do alot of street use and a little track day action, and have a few questions about brakes and weather or not a big brake upgrade is better compared to a 5 stud swap, (cost, easiness, wheels) I currently have a set of rx7 brakes but i don't think there going to hack it. We think I will be adding around 150ish kgs to the engine bay and easily doubling the horsepower (probably a lot more). The main question I have is if I do the 5 lug swap will 330i e46 brakes be big enough? or would the 540i/750i 4 lug swap be a better option? Also would love to here any other advice as well. Very new to this side of performance and I would like to be able to stop if I go a bit fast on the track. Cheers Sam
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1 pointSo this happened! Its been a few weeks since then - a few hundred kms covered and I'm just loving it! The "improvements list" is already starting to grow in my mind....
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1 pointPhew, my Beetle is OK then - By the time I'm half way to Auckland, I can usually get to the speed limit Still, it's much faster than the Model A is I even manage to get out of the way when required, instead of telling everyone to "get bent" and "suck my fumes"! It's not really the cars problem of course, it's the a**hole driving, who doesn't give a sh*t about the other road users.
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1 point1989 318i E30 for sale 177k Wof and Reg, Mechanically looked after Recent Cambelt , Tensioner and idlers , water pump, Service , front shock inserts and brakes $2600 Wellington 021651591 http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1055090212&ed=true
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1 pointMade a few small changes to the car (mtech I wing, smilies etc) and finally got some new pictures thanks to Daniel Kim. More pictures on my instagram (sean_e30).
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1 pointThey perform well even with the 2.5 ltr in them as well not to heavy on the pocket as far as gas goes.
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1 pointETK.cc is also good for options lists, and part numbers
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1 pointI'd have to go with this. It's much more a real-world estimation. Base spec, 4 doors, automatic... None of these things are wrong, and personally I prefer a lower spec car as there is less to go wrong! They are just, at the moment, less desirable than a well-appointed manual coupe which could fetch $6-7k if in very good condition.
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1 pointyeah i don't see 7 or 6 either for that matter. tidy sure, but tidy in base spec and with 4 doors is not particularly sort after. You can buy manual 325i for 7, SEs and motorsports too. I think 4, if you get it, take the money and run.
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1 pointor this one if that one is out . http://www.bmwvin.com/
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1 pointVery nice! would make the perfect runabout. Due to its tidy original condition and the 15" basketweaves id say around the 6k mark would be a fair price, but hey advertise at 7 and you might be able to negotiate ono close to that 7k GLWS
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1 pointjust found the answer to the point of stretched tyres (asked in the other thread) = cuz you can make friends
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1 pointWiring all done, first start over the weekend with no majors. Throttle cable sorted using the e34 piece, Repaired my fuse box lid. Haha.
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1 pointYou make it sound like a bad thing that dealers only use genuine parts. I wouldnt want to them using inferior knockoff parts if i took my car to a dealer for work. They also have to meet dealer standards, and guarantee the work. Yes, the parts are likely more expensive than buying the same thing overseas or aftermarket, but its generally not because of "massive profit margins", it because we are a much smaller market and thus costs are high in the first place. Repco and the likes have HUGE margins on their parts (just get trade on a set of brake pads or something and see how much cheaper than retail it is), but you dont complain about that. Yes the labor at a dealer will be higher, but as we see all the time, a dealer can usually get the same job as "averages joes mechanical services" done in less time because they have all the right tools and experience. We often do work to fix issues that other workshops have charged an arm and a leg for but couldnt fix, and we do it first time for less than they have paid the other workshop. Anyway, thats just my rant. I get tired of people slagging off dealers, they arent out there to get you.
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1 pointPicked up the head after a rebuild from Doug's Engineering. Cam rebuilt and reground by Franklin Cams. Cleaned out the head-bolt-holes on the block, ground down an old head bolt to act as a thread chaser. New HG on, all torqued down, no majors
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1 pointFor those of you who haven't seen the video yet here's a link. A couple of my friends made it. Enjoy
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1 pointIt was awesome meeting people at the ECC meet! Never missing the chance to whore out my car, here are some pics from people with cameras lol And heres one from the E30 meet after the ECC meet. A bit spontaneous but awesome nonetheless!
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1 pointhaha nah man, a mate dropped off his whiny 3.64 med case. I'll weld that one for epic dorifto points!
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1 pointHAHA! PS skills on point! But really i hope to get a few track days out of the next one before it kicks the bucket.
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1 pointI exploded a small case with a m50 doing a 3rd gear pull. It seriously does not take much to break one.
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1 pointConsidering the rotary was a German engine designed in germany by a german guy for German applications...it's not really thaaaaaat out of place in a bmw.
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1 pointLol same thing happened to me, Sold my e30 then a year and a half later had to get back into one, saying to myself it'll stay how it is. Just doesn't happen... But looks good man, big fan of Delphin grey on Coupes. Just black out that chrome window trim
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1 pointSuch a nice build man well done. Clean and quick, love it! Makes me want to hurry up and get mine done
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1 pointMakeover complete. AC wheels,exhaust and steering-wheel. (white centrecaps to be replaced with gray)
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1 pointThis ... or if you want more wear eg a bit more of a touring tire and want to keep the handling then you cant go past the Michelin Primacy HP.
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