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We even had a helicopter built in the workshop for Kent Baigent owner of Tellus Vacuum Cleaners in 1985 This photo was taken when moving the workshop over to new premises in FOX St Parnell From Eglon St. Was a Rota Way Kitset built by aircraft engineer and Blair Crossan. Our workshop was also used by advertising companies in the area who were also customers for automotive adds. Customers like Saatchi & Saatchi and Clemenger BBDO.

Taken in my workshop in 1985. Glenborne Motors Ltd. Parnell

123,000km Car had been in with Jon @auto38 because it started bucking and lurching at 2000rpm, it had always had quite bad drivetrain lash but this bucking/lurching made it very unpleasant to drive. Jon diagnosed play in the U-Joints as probably the main culprit. I dropped the exhaust and heatshields (not that fun on your garage floor) and took the driveshaft out to Bryan Howatt of Howatt engineering in lower hutt for a rebuild and balance. This manual swap came out of a members black convertible 325i that was stolen and then recovered....so the drive shaft is high mileage Found the hanger bearing's rubber casing to be broken. Also found my mysterious exhaust leak. Bryan worked his magic and a week later the drive shaft was ready to be picked up replaced the hanger bearing, both U joints, the little vibration damper, 1 exhaust stud (the bolt stayed on and I screwed out the stud) and new copper nuts. Car was running much better, no clonks from the drivetrain when the clutch engaged and disengaged but the bucking/lurching was still there @2000rpm in each gear. I thought it must be the diff as there was still rotational play there when I put the driveshaft back in. Called @beemwr who I sold my original diff too and had a good yarn. Then called Kayne Barrie who had rebuilt the current LSD in it and he said it sounded like the engine was running lean and to check my tune. So I chucked the Turner Motorsport chip back in (I had taken it out to trouble shoot the bad fuel economy) and the lurch is gone. Car is pulling nice and healthy and drivetrain is smooth, and no mysterious exhaust smell in the cabin. Happy days.

Finally taking a quiet moments lunch to post on my recently acquired 2008 135i. Sparking Graphite Metallic with Coral Red Leather. Bought from Auckland City BMW, provided with a complete and detailed service history from new, serviced only at BMW, and found every WOF sheet in the glove box :D. My wife says this is a midlife crisis type of purchase. Paint is swirl free as dealer did a cut and polish, but it seems to be more of a cut and a bit less on the polish as there are still fine inperfections here and there that a true machine polish stage would have removed. One day I'll rectify this but haven't got the energy right now :D. Won't be doing anything too ambitious for a while on this as got a good deal on Autosure with it, so will drive it liberally (as much as one can with a weekend occasional driver) and hopefully the big ticket items will require replacing over the next couple of years (Injectors! please injectors! and turbo wastegates). She's had a new water pump 2 years ago as well as some injectors replaced under warranty. I need to do an assay on what injectors are currently installed so I know where I am for the future. I'd really love to at least get a dual cone intake (if only for the sound!) and possibly a better intercooler on there but suspect that is squarely in Autosure voiding territory so won't be going there for now :(. Have driven only an embarassing 19km (yes NINETEEN) in the last month due to lockdowns and prepping Post purchase activities were: Wheel deep clean, they do a good job at the fronts but never get in behind the wheels. Poorboys wheel sealant used afterwards. Proper interior clean (it was okay, but needed some detail). Paint sealant (Klasse High Gloss Sealant) Collinite 476S Super Double Coat (lasts > 6 months I've found) Paste wax (Fireball) Front and rear dashcam install. AVIN 10 inch Android 10 iDrive screen replacement. Plans: Walnut blast booked in soon too as it seems not to have been done at all prior to now. Smokers pack retrofit!

SO I accidentally a ActiveHybrid 5 last night, Ex-Japan, Cream interior , Now, to somehow collect it from Palmy....

I have just purchased an E30 318, has had the M40 motor swapped out for an M42, the centtre muffler has been removed & a Coby fitted, I would like to fit a standard centre muffler section, whats out there, more then happy to cut & weld to suit Thanks Barry

Both front struts will be sorted on Thursday. And a full alignment, of course. It's debatable whether this is sensible expenditure given the value of the car, but the alternative was to buy another. I'm not averse to buying cars ? but while money spent on this car will never be recovered, we do know the car and know (despite student-car appearances) that it is mechanically good and safe. And a replacement could easily need work, too.

Very tidy example! missing mine already

Thanks. I liked how the red worked with the graphite. Also first one I've owned with the shadowline rather than chrome and I'm quite liking the look. Can't vouch for the beading since I've put the Fireball wax on but I'm impressed with the finish it brings. Need to get and and do some driving!

Nice colour combo, and bet its beading like crazy with all that wax on it!

Stunning! Makes a nice change from the sea of black or white ones. Manual / Auto?

Couple of interesting developments. When I bought the 335i, before I even sat in it I heard a kind of soft rhythmic beat while the car was idling. I asked the guy selling it... what is that sound ? And he said that's the turbo wastegates. As a total BM noob I was prepared to accept that as I had read about wastegate rattle and thought it was probably related. Fast forward a nine months and I fail a warrant for an exhaust leak. Get under the car and take a look... both downpipe gaskets are toast... pretty much only the two perforated foil layers left from cheap aftermarket gaskets. Did a bit of research after I discovered that OEM gaskets are $50 plus EACH!!! Discovered why the OEM ones work and cheap aftermarket ones fail, so bit the bullet and and bought a set of ELRING gaskets. Whacked them in and suddenly no more "wastegates" noise But wait, there's more !!! Prior to replacing the gaskets I had been getting this CEL for an O2 sensor problem. My scanner showed a 100% fail on one of the WBO2 sensors and after choking on the cost of replacement sensors, I bought a full set of four sensors (which look pretty decent BTW) from China for less than the price of one OEM sensor. I wasn't looking forward to replacing the sensor and thought I would put that off until I installed downpipes. But dang me... since replacing the downpipe gaskets the CEL has not come back, and when I scanned for codes today, not only has the previously "dead" sensor come back to life, but it tests 100% OK Cheers...

I had the exact same kind of black rocker switch in my 135i. In my case it was wired to a garage door remote/sender mounted above the rear view mirror. Was actually a very tidy install (apart from the fact whoever installed it ran a +ve AND GND ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE BATTERY, rather than taking a feed from elsewhere. The +ve ..maybe I can understand...by why run a GND all the way back to the battery??

If you're on firefox on a mac - right click then "view background image." If you hold down command at the same time it will open in a new tab. In Chrome you need to inspect element and manually pull the url. In safari you can inspect element and then click on the resources tab, then the images folder which will show all images blown up to full size.

Few fixes needed this week. New radiator installed to cure the slow but quickening coolant leak. Thanks to Mosens here in Hamilton for sorting super fast. loosened sun roof surround today from on top to release the headliner and wedge some high density foam between the headliner and roof. The head liner was popping and crackling when going over bumps at times, very annoying. it also looked like it was bumping the sunroof cassette in the same region. Will test tonight. Update: foam placement worked a treat not more popping from headliner. Yuss.

Only do this if you want to see some serious sh*t.

Happy now William ? Ooops I forgot the question mark...sorry

“Garry from Tauranga” spec.

Usually pretty easy to spot NZ New isn't it. Old man color combos like Green with Cream comfort seats and a towbar. ?

They are really banking on the low mileage to add on the thousands there. I sold a well running 530i LCI with maybe 260k on the clock for like, $9k nearly 4 years ago. $15k for a 2008 E60 thats not an M5 is taking the piss. IMO.

If they were for a manual I'd be in...

Looks like a really well specced example and very unique these days a rear wheel drive, manual NA 6cyl hatch. Plenty of 130i pros in here as well for if (when?) the modification bug gets you...

Agreed My 135i (albeit n55 motor) has been way more reliable than all of my old DC2 Integra type r's haha. 3.5 years ownership now and I've only had 1 weeping o-ring on a sensor.

I think I may have found the reason the 330d is losing a bit of power...