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Today marks 100 years of the BMW AG. In prep for the 100 year anniversary drive with the BMW ccnz I spent about 350 minutes cleaning the M5. First clay bar and wax since the ocd treatment last November. Before : After :

Bought my E36 Evo vert and drove it home from Christchurch. Absolutely no regrets its amazing to drive.

https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-25363-genuine-bmw-hood-insulation-foam-e30-325i-325is-325ic-325ix/

Parked beside missbm Sylvia Park rd, she going north on the motorway. Try to drag her at the lights, but I had a 50 ton disadvantage. Than the rest of the m3 clan coming from Mount Wellington heading north on the motorway. Bugger I didn't have my dashcam on.

Got another e36 on Friday and it's green. Biggest problems it's facing so far: Me being a rough c*nt It's going to be my daily driver Gearbox whines terribly. Will either fix, buy another or both interior is missing so many bits of trim, interior door handles fall off if pulled too hard terrible steering vibration windscreen washer jets aren't working Ac doesn't have a belt going to it Tyres are bald at the back Lacking performance Plan so far is to get a warrant, which only needs some minor things. Then sort out a standalone ecu and do some needed and preventative maintenance

So much want in one post. Looking awesome Martin.

Went for a nice sporty drive today. No issues, did its thing very well. Next thing to look at is the brakes I think. Was getting a good bit of fade after a good thrash through the windies. So next on the list: - keep trialling different engine mount setups to get the NVH just right - new rotors, some performance oriented brake pads, sporty brake fluid - 3.46 or 3.23 lsd - beefier front sway bar - add rear sway bar

Next time I'm getting stuff profile cut I'll give you a message about an undertray.

No idea. It's a little unprecedented - a road legal McLaren of this era just doesn't come up for sale. Good lottery money, regardless.

I think its time for black bmw #5.. very tempting

Still failed a warrant so instead of making seatbelt adjuster covers I started taking apart the front end. Couldn't remember if there was a way to remove the bolts without taking the trigger wheel/harmonic balancer off. So tapped it off. Is there a way? Next I wanted to swap the cast exhaust manifold with a m52 stainless one. The main reason for this is the cast ones that were on it don't have an O2 sensor bung. Luckily for me one of the mates removed the old manifolds. The next photos show the purge setup I used for welding on some extra stainless fittings to the stainless manifold. Argon going in through the bottom, all holes taped and covered apart from the fittings. Argon is heavier than air so you want the purge venting through the top of the part to make sure it is full of flowing argon. I usually run a flow rate of 2lpm or less while welding. I do alter this depending on the size of the outlet of the part. This was rushed and i don't intend on keeping this exhaust manifold for too long. The part wasn't as clean as it could be but you get the idea. Being an exhaust it isn't completely necessary to purge it. It'll just be a bit ugly, not as smooth and not as strong(not by much). The tube thickness of the manifold was about 1.2mm and the fitting was about 2.5mm thick. Unsure exactly what each material was. They seemed to weld like 304 or 316 Welded with 1.2mm 316L wire at about 58 amps. 3 second slope down and a post gas time that's just long enough to keep the tungsten covered while it has color. Like i mentioned earlier I was in a rush and I could've gone lower on the amps, longer on the slopedown and spent some more time getting comfortable All up this took 45 minutes. I haven't measured anything so I hope it fits I designed some under tray things a while ago and got a couple profile cut. Thinking up a tidy, and easy to remove way of mounting it to the bumper and body now. It sits just behind the lip not under it Currently I'm mid way through removing the front suspension. Control arms are getting all new ball joints including the meyle hd outers. Offset lower control arm bushes (lcab) are also going in. The lcab is definitely one of the reasons the car was handling so terribly. The old ones had nearly torn completely apart Also going to swap in all the m3 bilstein and H&R gear. The badges and spoiler have been removed. Turns out the spoiler is genuine (i'd assumed it was a rep). It's developed a crack in the lower part because it had a screw attached in the wrong place. So that is getting repaired as well. Undecided if i want to keep the spoiler or sell

Would have been good to see what was right up his date too, kept his eagle eyes on the mirrors a lot. Love that he was so comfortable in the ole M3 he could still drive it like a demon, carving up the fleet on M1's (or half scaring them off the track rather).

sell car and buy a e91 325i touring (black)