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I am currently in Auckland with my M535, went out & caught up with Brent at BMworld, great to meet him have a good old E28 chin wag! Today I met up with Rohan & his M535i, took some photos & once again had a great BMW chat & comparing stories

I sorted remounting the power steering pump and alternator. I used the E46 pump and alternator so I can reuse the factory power steering hoses and wiring loom for the alternator. Also I made and fitted the drive shaft

Why I chose the BMW 330i, is a complicated story. It began before I even had a license, when I used to compile car statistics and sort them by performance figures. One brand always stood out from the rest - BMW. The 3 series BMW is everything a compact sports sedan should be. However, they are and always have been more expensive than the competition, both to buy and to own. However, most of them have tried to emulate it. Over the years, their competing designs had forced them to compromise a lot, leading to most now being front wheel drive, but cheaper too. However, BMW has always tried to stay true to form as the "Ultimate Driving Machine", meaning its costs have remained higher, not just in $$$ paid but also in packaging to retain rear wheel drive. Our first car, was also rear wheel drive; a 1978 Mitsubishi Galant 2000 GSL. I remember the owners of the supermarket where I had my first job had brand new gold coloured models of the same car. We bought ours in 1987 and my first car after I got my drivers licence at age 25! and still had it when we got married in 1990 and when we returned to Auckland from Wellington in 1994. Despite being underpowered, I loved how it drove with its rear wheel drive as we travelled up and down the country to visit our Auckland based families. However, like other manufacturers future Galants became front wheel drive and so too did we buy our next two Galants (1987 Galant 2000 Super Saloon and 1990 Galant GTi-16v) were also. When the time came to buy another car after paying off our mortgage, I wanted to get a good car that would last the distance. I selected the 1996 Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 Type-S Ralliart Edition in August 2003. This was seen as a car that emulated the BMW in the looks department from the rear quarter, but was also a high performance car. I also joined Club VR-4 and helped set up the NZ Club. I considered this car one of the best Sports Sedans in the world - "An executive EVO". The technical sophistication, four wheel, Active Yaw Control, Active Differential, Twin-Turbos, etc. was a techie's dream come true. Yet despite all that, it could also safely carry 4-5 people. I had spent, over the last 13 years, more than purchase price to keep it serviced and well maintained. Over the last 18 months, I have been considering a replacement was required as the car was beginning to show its age with parts starting to break, and I was not looking forward to spending more money on it to keep it going. Even my mechanic said I should be starting to look at a replacement, knowing full well he may lose some business. So what to replace it with. The only product from the Mitsubishi family we could consider, would be the NZ Lancer or Japanese Galant Fortis, being the current sedans they had. Looking carefully and thoroughly at their product range the Lancer VR-X with the 2.4 Litre or even the Lancer Ralliart were definitely in consideration. What keeps putting me off was the styling, it looked too high, its front was like the ugly Audi and it seemed more bulky in shape over all with a big 'bum' at the rear. All this placed against the Mitsubishi as a replacement. Finally, like a last throw of the dice, they released the Lancer GTi-2.4. I really gave this a lot of consideration as it would have been a brand new car, but would also come with a 10 year warranty! However, it still had the faults I outlined above. In addition, weighing against it was the fact the Renault-Nissan has now taken control of Mitsubishi, so this was very likely the last compact sedan they would have which is now a nearly 10 year-old design. So I started browsing for other brands and models, e.g. Ford, Mazda and even Subaru. In an age when everybody seems to be buying SUVs (over 53% in last statistics), and even BMW and Mercedes makes them too, the family sedan seems a dying breed. I have never liked SUVs, but can understand their practicality for todays active families and hence why they are so popular. I kept browsing the dealer who sold us the Galant VR-4 I loved so much to see what other cars they had and was drawn to the BMW 3-series. A good long conversation with my brother also helped with this choice. So eventually my wife and I took a BMW 323i for a test drive. We drove it to my parents who despite initially saying "Nah", when it was seen in the flesh saying "Nice car". My wife said I looked like a little boy in a toy shop when I was driving it. The test drive, told me a lot about the BMW 3-series car and how it felt to drive and I needed to consider a lot more to make are really good decision. I am now entering a new phase of my life, with me being made redundant from my current job, I still look forward with optimism to the opportunities the new year and beyond will bring - helping people with computers and possibly more study as well. Therefore, I am more convinced than ever that the BMW 3-series was what I should be considering as our next car. The BMW 323i that I test drove was a detuned 2.5 litre, aimed more at economy versus performance and was in the middle $15-20,000 price range we wanted. This fact was quite noticeable in the test drive when accelerating and trying to take opportunities like entering roundabouts. So I felt I needed to consider a more powerful variant. But which one would that be. Of the 3-series range that I was considering there was a 325i, 330i, and 335i. The 335i would be the pick of the bunch if performance was the only consideration, but price was closer to the vincity of a brand new Mitsubishi Lancer GTi-2.4 I was mentioned earlier. So that left the 325i and the 330i. I was even offered a 325i station wagon at the lower end of our price range, however I do not like station wagons as they are a lot like SUVs in their utility. I wanted a sedan! After again looking at the dealers website I noticed a silver 2006 BMW 330i, which is fully optioned and with the M-Sport kit as well. I knew then that this was the car I wanted to have. But I still have some concerns about potential repairs that may be needed over the long-term. So I contacted an independent BMW specialist and had a long conversation and discussed the opportunity for them to do a full pre-purchase inspection. This conversation also highlighted the fact that the 335i was more problematic than 325i or a 330i, due to its twin turbos and more complexity. The check has identified a number of issues that the dealer has agreed to fix before selling me the car. I hope to get it early next week. This check, along with a four year warranty, should assure us of long life out of the car if we keep up the servicing like I did with the Galant VR-4. The cost is at the top end of our price range and with the warranty and the iDrive conversion to NZ takes us slightly above. A semi-retired gentleman finally gets to own the 3-series he has always desired. A BMW 330i M-Sport edition.

Personally I would avoid them as Fenix have a bit of a checkered history.

It's a very kind thought... I have some 51s with progressive springs. No idea what the inserts are, though!

hey come on Mac, we've been waiting for an update about the 750D on your other thread...

Is it unconfirmed because it's non-standard? If it's 3.6x I'll take it. Heck if it's 3.9x or 4.1x I'll probably take it also.

Or would she love you forever, really when a woman is mad, they are actually expressing their happiness, they'll never admit it though

Steering rack has seen better days! Rusted inside so not even worth building. I managed to get my hands on a Z3 rack to swap it out, unfortunately the RB Engine sits lower than the original M20's so the Z3 rack would have sit too low. My back up plan was to picked up a second hand steering rack with better internals to get that one rebuilt. Air Flow Hydraulics did that up for me, great person to deal with and would recommend to anyone looking at getting theirs rebuilt. While I was at it, I replaced the rack ends, inner and outer tie rods, boots etc. Once that's all in and a few other bits and pieces are tidied up, it's time for a full service for a bit of piece of mind. Next stop: off to my fabricators to work on the cage and get a few other bits and pieces done!

+1 on that!!!! Pictures attached for posterity.

Sold the red one to someone who will hopefully do everything I ever intended to with it. Mixed emotions.

I have some staggered throwing stars I could let go for the right price...17x8 et20 and 9 et22

You might beat me up for saying this... but there used to be a ONE OWNER one here in Whangarei - I honestly can't remember the last time I saw it, but he may have just moved to another suburb. It was an auto, 1987 i think. If I can remember which house was his, I'll pop in and see if they're there. I used to do some (non-car) work with him years ago.

Still awaiting comparisons and excel sheet from Ron to advise on best to use.