Leaderboard

Richard fellow PalmNth local here. Would love to have a look at your project sometime. And if you have not seen, in person, the HellBM s54 M3 Touring build happy to show you and take it for a spin. Yours will chuck out more hp, I suspect.........

My understanding is a stage 1 tune is perfectly fine and brings it up and above a 120i which is the same car same engine diff tune from factory. I would make sure basic maintenance is up to date such as water pump thermostat and check cooling system and intake pipe as a minimum. Also maybe a bigger inter cooler at some point. Otherwise no issues at all. mine was nearing 120k kms when I sold it and drove like new. No problems at all. Would def avoid mk5 golfs too old now. Mk6 is ok but still expensive and just as problematic. still think the 116i f20 is a great choice as long as sport or ed30 or msport. great value for money cars.

shhh, im home brewing 25lts at a time. I'm using a grainfather all grain system

Hey Team Its been a while but finally getting onto this X5 manual swap with all this time on my hands. So Im slowly starting to dismantle the motor in order to change all the gaskets, seals and timing guides. Ill order them once the lock down is over. But manged to get the manual box up into place to see how i was going to attack the gearbox mount and driveshaft. But managed to almost solve the driveshaft issue. Reusing the rear half off the x5 then i found an old e34 525i front half that u joint splines matched but the input part was too small and just short maybe 15-20mm in length. So im going get input part off the driveshaft that came with the box with the extra 20mm and get it welded onto the 525i shaft to match the 420g box and Guibo, that will solve that problem. top shaft off a e39 540i middle x5 bottom e34 525i

Four orders for these `test pipes`. Thanks for the genuine enquiries and a big shout out to the Bimmersport Legal team for the free advertising.

The e60s are starting to feel old now and only going to get older. I also think you might struggle to find a really nice one as a lot of them have been run into the ground. Definitely look at f10s much more refined and comfortable. Even spring for a f30, not quite as comfortable as a f10 but a brilliant all round car

Having had an E61 and now an F10, no doubt the F10 is far superior but definitely bigger so make sure your happy with the size. The 6s either way are impressive, although I’ve only had the 8s in both ?‍♂️. F10 ride and drive is a step up and if you get adaptive dampers you get the best of both worlds suspension wise. I still love the E60 saying that, just with the tech it’s now a bit err

All of the 535d tourers I've seen have big miles (200k +) which probably speaks to good longevity, seem to be a roughly even split of NZ new and UK imports - spec levels probably similar between them, they all tend to have PDC which a lot of the Jap import E61's don't if that matters to you. M57 diesel has a decent reputation - risk of clogged EGR valve and turbo issues (two turbos on the 35d) potentially the most significant. I would also second @qube's advice - F11 is a much more modern car and lovely to drive, possibly more electronics to go wrong. Straight 6 NA petrol only on 2010-11 models (I4 in the 520/528i after that), though there are a few 535i's around too. I remember seeing a 530d with 120-odd k for <20k 12 or so months back.

Some amazing machining skills there Richard!

I am still looking, was keen on a Golf for a while but my local Euro mechanic says Mk5/6 Golf repairs are what keeps him in business.

They shut down sport, then they shut down Radio Sport so now I have Newstalk to listen to during the day which is no substitute. I'm also watching my laptop a lot, up to 7 hours of Zoom a day. And then I'm so f'ing exhausted that I frequently fall asleep on the couch watching nothing at all. I have GB's of TV to catch up on, might start Dev's this weekend.

Great choice. While brake technology has moved on the e28 brakes were used on the e30 M3 , I believe too. Did I mention you will get to know/make many new friends when you stop on your trips. Take care out there.

Hey Team Been awhile so during the lock down have had abit more time and done a little more to the v8 e46 wagon. after alot of thinking and ive gone away from the airbox idea as there was just no room to plumb and intake to the left. So this is where i got the idea for a OTR intake usually found off holden LS's Also scored a nissan silvia radiator with a twin fan setup, which should fit quite nicely once i can get bits welded after lockdown is over.

As equal lenght as I could... Will get some donuts and tidy them up. Now for the best part of this whole build...the right side???

so deep in my bubble i've been playing on the lath making chips. This is the 3rd gen crank i've made. very agricultural. Its for a Demon V8 tomorrow , piston liners x8

The zf8 speed auto in the f20 116i makes it stand out far above the crowd.

Welcome and congrats Jordan - nice photos too!

FCP Euro parts arrived this morning ?

By comparison I’m still waiting for local parts sent last Weds by NZ Couriers. Def quicker from the US atm.

Ordered from FCP last Weds. Delivered this morning.

I am happier that this is paid out than a lot of other things the govt spends it on. We need to keep people going so that when this is all over we have at least made some effort to contain the economic damage. It makes me a bit sad to hear some businesses are just throwing their people away. For what it’s worth, I’m a senior exec at a medium-sized business by NZ standards (150 odd) and we have committed to our people that everyone is paid until end of April, even those who can’t work from home. The cash burn is incredible but we’re trying to make it work.

Same model. No way I would sell but glws. Not much to go wrong with the them. Price will naturally rocket on them