Leaderboard

Put my ST XA coilovers on today... went well - really stoked, so much flatter and more responsive through corners and WAY happier changing direction, no rubbing and rides pretty good too - firm but well damped (in middle of adjustable damping range at the moment). Might do a little more fine tuning in the next week then its alignment and cert time. Is about 325-330mmmm hub to arch all-round which is a good balance between looks and (relative) practicality I think. Was thinking of rolling rear gaurds and getting a 10mm spacer on there for a little more thicc before cert but given its not rubbing may just leave it. Bonus pic - new Piano black trims installed - loving them.

Today's update, Started off with a mate dropping by in his M5. Three things to sort; Airbag light on, fault was in drivers side airbag, disconnected and cleaned contacts, reset the fault and the light goes out... sorted... hopefully... Next up the HVAC control panel was rather secondhand with missing buttons etc... Fitted a replacement I had and all good... Then upgraded the cabin air filter boxes and tubes to the later type as the rubber securing straps had perished. Then spent the afternoon sanding back the filler in the style 66's. Then applied a layer of etch primer as plenty of alloy had been exposed. They are looking good. A coat of primer, and light sand back then colour (Reflexsilver metallic) and clear they should be back to as new. Also sanded and primed the left wing mirror cover as that was looking rather sad. The aftermarket towbar came off and boot floor holes bogged up. I have the proper fitting BMW type bar to go on when I address the rear bumper. Engine wise I've fitted @adro's spare MAF (cheers) and engine is now running smooth and as it should... just waiting on the arrival of coolant hoses etc before getting into that and gaskets etc...

Ran into this beaut M325i at Continental Cars BMW today - couldn't resist reversing in next to it and getting a couple of pics.

This doesn't fit with the kindness paradigm @Olaf

I like sh*t old British Cars, and would be disappointed if it came down to me not being able to import one because someone behind a table thinks they aren't "special" or "desirable", in their opinion. We should be doing anything we can to increase the average age of our daily use fleet though; there are too many old shitters that barely (or maybe dont) pass WOFs, and wouldnt stand a chance of passing an emissions test. The big downside to that is that it will greatly disadvantage lower income families that still need a car to get around, because they cant afford the latest model so will either continue using their old car illegally (no WOF), cant have a car at all, or will have to get a loan at some seriously bad rates to get a "new" car. Hell, my daily is 13 years old now, and even thats considered old now. What I dont want to see is a cash for clunkers situation where people are scrapping perfectly good cars to move into a newer, but still sh*t, car. Its a false economy.

Went for a look change. Niche Rainier, 19s 8.5 in 35p fr 9.5 in 40 p rear. 265 pilot sport rear, 235 front.

Morning Team. Having a nightmare trying to figure out why this lady will not start.. 1991 e30 with an 89 e34 535i m30. I finished the swap about a month ago and got it started for 1-2 mins before my buddie played with the throttle to try and get it to idle lower... In doing so we heard a fairly loud plastic tick/crack and the motor died.. After we could not get it to start and put it down to a broken tps... From there I have done a 3 wire tps swap (auto to manual) and setup all the other wires as needed. I have run a multi meter across the tps and am getting the correct voltage and continuity between the pins as per the Bentley manual... I have pulled the plugs and have spark on all cylinders as well as fuel for all. Crank sensor is within 540 + - oms. I tried carby cleaner in the intake and got a cough but nothing else.. Ideas? Am I missing something simple? If anyone is keen on some cash/beers/joy rides once finished and is willing to come round and lend a hand, would be greatly apricated! I'm in east auckland. Cheers

Broken distributor rotor ?

Don't want to turn the thread into a political slanging match but I 100% agree that annual emissions testing / more independent entry certification / WOF testing (including suspension check / snow tires banned except in Winter in SI) would only be a good thing. odds of it happening ~0 IMO.

The point I have highlighted is just one aspect of the possible regulations, what you have listed may well also be included at some point.

And the ///M badge on the 325 is from the wrong era... details BMW, details.

I still have a US address that matches my US credit card. Otherwise I would be in the same boat. This is only temp though.

Yeah it always sucks learning the expensive way! It always pays to have a specialist with the particular to car look at them as they're more familiar with the cars and will generally have a better attention to detail with them, or at least a workshop with a solid reputation where you know they have highly skilled mechanics.

hamann is a tuning company similar to alpina or ac schnitzer but this isnt a genuine hamann, just has a front lip and a badge/sticker on the bootlid. nothing special. the LHD on vin is probably just an error, its clearly a japanese car and hence RHD. still, not a bad looking car for 9k but non msport wheels, nothing special that warrants "hamann special edition" tax.

Out with the old, VERY old, and in with the new, who says you can't get 300000km out of suspension bushes

Auto levelling is what i meant

Not sure about that. I believe what they require is auto-levelling and headlight washing.

Finished the upper chassis braces / roof racks!

Not quite, i think you need the levelling sensor setup that connects to the lower front control arm. Plenty of scrapped E39's around though to be able to find all the parts.

You'd have to replace your projectors\reflectors in headlight assembly with units designed for LED for it to be legal (assuming they meet the a recognized standards here in NZ) Replacing existing bulbs in headlights and fogs with LED's is a bodge job because it's likely going to blind oncoming traffic, which is why its a WOF failure.