Leaderboard

Soooo.... Installed my new suspension - AP Suspension shocks and lowering springs, Lemforder shock and strut mounts / Meyle HD CABs / new bump stops. An educational experience with a more skilled friend. After initially being worried I got the install wrong (front didn't really lower and a few noises) car seems fine. I just had everything suspension / bushing wise checked out at Bellars Motorworks today to be safe and they changed the transmission fluid (I couldn't get the fill plug off!!). Disappointingly the new springs appear to have lowered the rear but barely lowered the front - 10mm max? I was expecting 20-25mm in the front and barely anything in rear. It also still has a typical(?) BMW lean with the drivers side being a bit lower than passenger side. Car rides well though and handles a little sharper - not as much of an improvement as I expected but meh, its better... New transmission fluid made a positive difference though, noticeably smoother, less notchy shifts - apparently had wrong fluid in it. And car got a pretty good report from Bellars (who I was super impressed with) - does not need new RTABs (which I already bought) and they only noted slight play in the rear upper outer joints and a slight crack in rear diff mount - didn't seem to be a concern, so will likely hold off on that for when / if I eventually reinforce the rear subframe and bushings. Will drive it a few weeks but have a feeling coilovers may be in my near future....

I think it's important for license holders to choose not to use "assault style" weapons, including those that imitate the aesthetics of military firearms. There's no point and it only gives ammunition (pun intended) to the anti-gun lobby. Function over form, nobody needs to use a "scary" looking firearm and if people do it because they think it's "cool" they're missing the mark by a wide margin. Short mag semi-automatics have a place in NZ but that place is very, very small, and in that place everything should look entirely functional and not at all intimidating. Even simple aesthetics like wooden stocks make a difference, nobody needs a FRP stock, deal with the weight, our forebearers did. I gave up my license many years ago now because I had no ongoing need for it but I can sympathise with elements from both sides. IMHO NZ should be "gun free" insofar as only those that need a firearm for a very specific purpose should be allowed to (lawfully) own one. Edit: I do consider being an active member of a gun club to be a valid reason for ownership. Once the supply of attractive (to criminals) weapons dries up nationally we can focus on boarder control which is actually quite easy with modern tech.

Interesting discussion for a car forum ?

And they'll compress over time. Owning BMW's = getting used to the lean. Even my 130 on fully adjustable coil overs leans and they're adjusted perfectly hub to arch... ?

Actually that truth never came out either, the person that made all the claims about the gunman at the range in Dunedin fabricated everything......nothing he claimed actually happened except the gunman was a member of the club and had used the range. That person actually ended up on the wrong side of the law and ended up having his firearms license revoked from what I understand. If you look at history, Aramoana happened because the Police failed in their duty. The police diverted funding away from policing firearms policing and didn't remove David Greys firearms from him after he had threatened to kill a shop keeper. And Christchurch happened because the police had again diverted funding away from firearms policing and didn't follow due process before issuing the gunman his license. Yet the Police get off scott free in both cases and the firearms owners end up being persecuted with unnecessary law changes, and after the Christchurch massacre firearms owners were vilified by the politicians, the police, the media and the none firearms owning public due to the narrative from the media.

First post on this site, Thanks for letting me join!! Pic is of my E46 M3

Lovely colour too!

"Nobody needs" isn't any kind of argument that makes sense, the appearance of a firearm has no bearing on it's lethality. Case in point, my old SKS was not military style and had a wood stock, yet was a military rifle and continues to be used very effectively by many (mostly unconventional) forces today. The firearms community were constantly on at police to change the rules so 30 round mags had to go onto an E cat licence but police said no it's too hard, all the paperwork and the cost of changing our systems and then getting it through parliament, it can't be done... But they were happy to put huge time and effort into banning pistol grips and other "military style" features that did diddly squat to the rifles function. It was even ruled by a judge that pistol grips are a safety feature. Registration is a joke, the system in Kapiti was hopelessly inaccurate and that was only looking after 6500 firearms owners, I believe after Christchurch they did a system update and lost everyones data surnames A through to G. Nevermind the constant court cases against individuals who are illegally accessing firearms owners information. As for AR15s, there is no better rifle for pest destruction. I believe police need to be replaced from arms act administration. They have had a go, some things have gone ok and many more have been fluffed. Create a seperate agency so their budget can't be robbed like PNHQ was doing with their firearms budget. Let police stick to their job- policing the rules, not creating them.

Really pleased for you Dan... Have to laugh every time I see this...

Hey fam New to all that is BMW so have been reading through quite a bit here, thought I'd best sign up and say hello. Just recently purchased a 2007 E90 323i Msport. Pretty tidy with only 62000k's on the clock. This particular one ticked a few boxes (stock as, low k's, black, non turbo, no idrive etc) and was within budget so I flew up to Aucks from Welly to grab it. Quite different to my old MkII Escort Sport and stripped/slammed EK hatch civic, sure makes for a nice change though. Not sure if I will put some $$$ into dumping this one (don't hate me lol) or maybe just drive it for a little bit and upgrade to a turbo diesel one @ around 100000k's or something ? Kinda really like this one and am well over the days of having to go fast. Anyways, here's a couple of pics ! Looking forward to learning a lot here. Cheers !

The laws weren't perfect and were due for some loop hole corrections but they offered a fair balance for decades, the police failed to enforce them in this instance. People who are genuinely scared over firearm aesthetics aren't people who i consider rational or possess the knowledge to know anything on the subject besides what the media tells them, the same type people who equate what they see in the US and apply it to NZ. Id wager most owners have legitimate uses for a firearm, just because someone purpose doesn't align with their thinking doesn't mean it should be written off. Firearms related stats are a drop in a ocean but it's a easy group to target for a "win" when all the real issues are just too politically\financially difficult.

e28s all have play in the steering... ?

Can you also get different thickness spring pads for the E46 like you could for the E36 to balance that lean?

I had the same issue using cobra lowering springs on my old touring. Drivers side measured 585mm from centre cap to arch, passenger side 600mm. If you swap the f springs around the ride height should basically balance out when you’re in the driver seat. I think all these after market spring makers for bmw’s use lhd cars as their basis.

Car looks mint IMO!

you can get "normal" slim plates

A lot of NZ new ones came with the M badge only (both of mine were like this) Jap imports typically have the model designation (our touring was like this) The OP's M badge is clearly an aftermarket add on and hence removal would look best. If he wanted the M badge, can buy a nice new one and stick it on in the "correct" location using hqstu's photo as reference.

That M Badge was likely originally put on from BMW NZ, being NZ new, but not the "540i". But M badge now obviously in wrong place. Here is my NZ new 530 (now with a new caregiver...)

The steel gray looks nice

Bit of a round-up, so apologies for any continuity errors. To drown out the creaking I decided to do something about the stereo. Went for a modern (but middle-school looking) blaupunkt and some tweeters inside a pair of premium sound tweeter pods. Thanks @Rob HB1! Keeping the original kick-panel and parcel shelf speakers for now - I want to get the premium rear speakers in too, but need a better condition parcel shelf to house them. A couple more appearance things - popped on a mtech 1 steering wheel (cheers @Contrails) , and got it tinted to make it bearable for the two year old who faces directly out the rear window. The tint was about 20 years too late to save the poor sunfried interior, so I replaced it with a lovely set from an SE courtesy of @BMTHUG I replaced the lollipop bushes (as they were polyurethane) in the hopes of curing the creaking, but it wasn't til my swaybar bushes finally arrived via the dealership that I finally achieved blissful silence. Not surprised they were complaining - they were pretty munted.

Car has now been running for the longest period of my ownership without breaking woohoo! Completed a nice road trip up the coast today and took the Paekakariki hill road home. Car drove magnificently, the suspension and manual box was a treat on that road. Grip for days and planted the whole time. Exhaust sounds good too! Have found the bushing kit for the shifter, I already have Driveshaft guibos to fit(have to take Driveshaft out to get to shifter bushings) and will investigate trans mounts since will be in that area doing the shifter/driveshaft and that should also help with the gearshift feel/slop.

Around here debates on suspension usually revolve around one member saying Koni is the only choice and dismissing other products. You will get used to it.

"Looking at selling my 1986 E30 318i... No WOF and Rego on hold.. brand new mags, tyres and German made shocks and lowering springs - has had previous rust repair in drivers side floor (not the flashiest work, needs attention to clean up, rest of floor pan is mint) also “minor” rust in boot that needs some patches, interior is out of car apart from front seats, loads of spare parts, engine and gear box are good! only known issue with engine is at idle it fluctuates up and down until cars warm, then good to go - im sure it’s just a $50 new cold start air fuel sensor to fix... apart from that fairly honest car good project for someone.. $6000 - owes me more...." There's another '86 manual, no WoF or rego, lowered, big exhaust, no details about interior, obvious nsf bump at some point - asking price is $7500. When does the silly season end?

Excellent work! The NZ New boot lid with the wider number plate section ties things in really nicely. Might have to find a bootlid for my Japanese import and swap over, much nicer look.

2297XX Celis F/L tailights installed. I've been trying to do this for about 1 year now. After 2 dud sets off trademe I had sort of given up but then @BreakMyWindow came through with a set from one of his recent missions to A&E. These also had the plug adapters, major score. Then I was too noob/scared to use NCS to try and code them in and my ISTA P is still not working but @hqstu came through with an LCM IIIB off a late model 525 running all the celis and xenon goods. My PA soft 1.4 is working and so following the E39 source videos I coded the LCM to my car, was alittle apprehensive as to how the front Xenons and wiring were going to respond but everything works perfect so I went ahead and started drilling some holes in the the tailight buckets. I followed E39 source videos again for this and a forum DIY. No hole saw but this stepped drill bit worked a charm New holes plug adapters Before after Fitments pretty good, I did have to do abit of bashing with a hammer. Since I've had it 3 years as of this month I thought some new plates would make a nice birthday present. TBH i was planning on keeping the plates when I sold it so went about remaking them while I was filling in the forms to make them mine. I didnt drill the rear plate, I just screwed the surround (which is abit faded and could probably do with a refresh) and then snapped the plate in place. The E39 community really helped me out with this one, thanks guys! Update on the shimmy. Case closed. I've had 2 people drive the car now and they are more worried about my mental health than any vibrations. Tyres are still on the cards and a new Battery is in the not to distant future too.

You can only get the BMW logo via BMW and they charge you $300 for the privilege !