Leaderboard

so this really pisses me off "i have live plates and tags" so yo can turn the 94 325 in to a 96 328. The police even have a name for that kind of activity. its called car conversion and its what car thieves do to convert stolen cars to legal by changing their identity. If you have plates and tags just do us all a favor and cut them up. hand the plates back in. How mega pissed would you be if you brought a car that had been converted?

Clowns in euros (mostly x3's and e90 320s...) who drive in the RH lane bouncing between 80 and 130 with their rear fog lights on. Seriously... think they looking all trick with their extra illumination when in reality they just dont know what the buttons on the dash do.

Often the best is FCP Euro for the parts man, probably easier to replace the affected arm, kill two joints with one stone. https://www.fcpeuro.com/BMW-parts/525i?year=1993&e=177&m=20&keywords=ball joint There are others overseas too that I've used, like Pelican, Turner Motor Sport etc.. Someone will hopefully chime in with the Software that exists, i've forgotten what it's called, but TLDR; use parts finder to get a part number, whack the number in the software and it tells you shops and their prices where the part is available. Always cross reference prices with freight and GST if any to local places though! Beware of SAS, they use a lot of unbranded 'house' brands, I do use them for some stuff because it's cheap, but I'm wary. I've found a place in Christchurch (Also a branch in Auckland) called BM Workshop, about 30% of the time their price is comparable or lower than importing the same. http://bmworkshop.co.nz/parts-department/ Oh, and Brent @BM WORLD has a full front linkage out of an E34 M5 from wheel to wheel including the drag link that's in fairly good nick, but I decided to go new.

Maybe we need a tool thread? I'm happy to start one, just need to clean and sort them...

This is my set, it's pretty rare I need any other tools other than grabbing, pulling and hitting tools. For circa $250 (Cheaper at hornby branch and George Henry Tools) it's pretty hard to beat, I'm not kind to any of it, and nothing has complained. The articulated Socket Spanners have been particularly helpful over the years. What isn't obvious it the driving stuff, PH1/2/3/4, PZ1/2/3/4, SL x 4 Sizes, Torx 8 - 40, a few impact sockets and I could go on... The lift out spanner holder is awesome too. Photo doesn't show the partition that keeps the upper tools in place, and has a high contrast drawing of every size and it's location for quick reference. https://www.mitre10.co.nz/shop/bahco-socket-set-106-piece-orange-black-and-silver/p/267254

E39 Touring > E46 Touring all day every day (edit: and E91 too.. I had a E91 325i msport and this E39 is miles better)

E91 330i are pretty uncommon. More likely is 325i, 335i. unless you go e90 330i. great news that you've refined your target, looking forward to seeing what you turn up, and coming along to some meets!

I've pinned this

Awesome, has some really nice options, GLWS. https://www.etkbmw.com/bmw/EN/vin/decoder/GL81800/EN

both. I bought a couple of nice 3/8 ratchets, and a set of 3/8" and 1/4" torx sockets on a socket keeper strip. BNT also sell socket sets with your usual ratchets and stuff. EDIT: The ratchets were well-priced, well finished (one stubby with an anatomic soft grip handle, one very polished with 80 tooth action), really nice kit. The tore sockets seem a little nicer than my powerbuilt 1/4" torx sockets.

Me! I had a pipe attached to the handle so it was essentially a power bar... kinda. Got an actual power bar today, worked a charm.

Who trys to undo a wheel bearing nut with a ratchet!? Thats what a power bar is for.

I've never been told that one before, is there a theory behind it? Just asking out of curiosity, not a criticism.

Koken is probably the best value for money as far as socket sets go on the market. Probably over kill for the weekend mechanic, where the horrible junk outa repco would suffice. My boxes are full of koken and snap on. Have a snap on 1/2" drive metric socket set 10-32mm which was about $800. For the same price I could get a comprehensive koken 1/2" set plus a 3/8" one. Throw away the koken ratchets and replace with snap on 80 tooth for best of both worlds. Ive managed to crack several snap on 1/2" and 3/8" drive sockets... but no Koken ones, which are a fraction of rrp. Go figure. Luckily they do a no questions asked warranty.

Bahco sounds german though, so it's definitely better than everything else. Okay Actually Swedish originally, that explains the fish and the hook. But Swedish Women, I rest my case, buy Bahco and have blue eyed babies.

I paid about $30 for a kit on TradeMe with all the fittings you'll need to test most cars and it seems pretty accurate. Most important though, you need to know what to look for and how to test it. Should always do the test on a warm motor whenever possible, and you're looking for more than about a 5 to 10% variance across the cylinders, don't get too hung up on overall numbers (unless they are really low across the board). If you have a cylinder or two that are lower, drop about half a tablespoon of fresh oil down the plug hole of the offending cylinders, crank the motor over a couple of times then retest. If the compression rises on them, you have an issue with the lower end (block or piston rings) causing the lower compression, if it stays pretty much the same the issue lies in the top (head, gasket, valves etc).

or you could do it your self with some very basic tools. If you can change spark plugs then you can do a compression test. the only extra thing you would need is the compression tester.

Nice, Koken.

very talented man

Haha I would but there's a limit to how many cars they'll let me keep on base! I think 4 is not going to work, so gotta cull a few!

Let's get this thread back on topic and help Nathan (remorse) with his questions. If I offended anyone, it wasn't intentional just my opinion and how I see it. I'll keep further comments and opinions to myself. Go and talk with Ross at BM Workshop Botany, Guido at BM Workshop Grey Lynn or Ken at Bellars on the Shore. Don't ring, go and talk to them about your intentions of what you want to do and what you would like to achieve.

New video!

Try the UK if you think cones are bad in NZ. When I was at uni a mate and I coned off the M40 by moving them late one night, funny until cops turned up and we had to scarper.

Rant? I should coco. Here we go. NZTA f^ckwittery at it's best. 2pm on a Friday afternoon... First: SH1, looking from Dragway Road towards Hampton Downs: Absolutely no sign of anyone doing any work, or even the presence of a work-type vehicle, anywhere. Next, from the corner at the end of that straight bit, we can see the vehicle Chris ( @Jacko ) referred to: Yes - it was ablaze with orange flashing lights and arrows. It was also the only vehicle on the road. No sign of a single working person. Finally, the southbound straight that goes past the Hampton Downs exit: Further complete and utter absence of any sign of anyone doing any work during the prolonged drive along that stretch. Just over 4km of traffic cone storage. Which will be there all weekend. Then there is the subsequent 6.3km of further single carriageway... OK. Now factor in an overloaded whanau wagon never exceeding 45km/h along the entire trip. Stereotyping? I would be if it hadn't broken down about 50m short of Paddy Road, in the single carriageway section. I was 5 or 6 vehicles back, and we sat there... After several minutes I, and a couple of other drivers got out to see what was going on and all we could see was a silver Toyota Estima apparently parked in the carriageway ahead. Walking up, another guy knocked on the drivers window. The door opened and then reality ceased to exist. I kid you not. This is the stuff parallel universes are made of. "What's going on?" "It stopped. I don't know why," says the Estima driver. "So you've broken down?" "Yes." "And you're going to sit here?" "We've called for a friend to come and help us. He's on his way from Papakura." {Bear in mind that there is no way on this earth anyone from Papkura is going to get to Hampton Downs when the traffic isn't moving.] We get the bonnet open. Probably the first time in a very, very long time. It stinks of burnt toast. There's no visible water or coolant, no oil showing on the dipstick. "Have you thought of pushing your car to the junction ahead?" "Oh. Could you do that? I'd be ever so grateful." [Complete and utter disbelief from me and other people.] "You have some passengers. Could they help?" "I couldn't ask them to do that. It's raining." [Anyone know how to drive an excavator? There's a few up ahead... I think someone had to be restrained at this stage.] Eventually we persuaded the passengers to leave the vehicle. 7 of them. All huge, overweight and of.... Well, I'll let you guess the origin. I swear the Toyota breathed a sigh of relief and lifted about 5" from it's bump stops. We had to tell the driver to take the vehicle out of gear so we could push it. We didn't have much help from the passengers. The driver of the ute in front of me apologised to the rest of us for not being to get to the Estima, or he (apparently) would have used the bars on the front and shoved it firmly into the excavation trench, driver and all. Not a good start to the weekend.

Ended up going down a path I never thought I would with this car! Just finished installing the last generation UZ series V8 engine. It's a 2001 3UZ-FE, 4.3 Litres rather than 4.0 and runs VVT-i, variable intake length, Coil on plug, DBW and various other changes. A considerably better engine with 20% more power and 23% more torque over the standard one. Direct bolt in swap with the 5 speed auto too. Currently runs but have a few gremlins to sort so I can drive it.