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Wheels on. Car is filthy and camera lens is broken on my phone so the photos are a bit shite but you get the idea. Square set of brand new Style 260M's in reflex silver. Michelin PS4S's 255/40/18 all round. Photos don't quite do it justice, looks mega. Need to dial the alignment in a little more, still getting a slight rub under compression on the front right so probably going to raise it + a little more camber. Been a really rough few weeks so this has definitely put a smile on my face

Gave the interior a good detail today - its never dirty, but went over the seats and wheel with CarPro 'Inside' (great product) and a shoe brush and came up fantastic.

Also some cosmetics were played with prior to turning attention to the engine... headlights sanded, fog-light replaced, interior trim re-glued or replaced... thorough clean of interior (it was bad...)

Well this one's a doozy... there is enough crude oil on the engine / subframe etc. to cause our PM to break out in hives... The focus is on the engine - practically every gasket has turned to bakolite - the PO's attempts with RTV instead of just buying new stuff has failed miserably. The chain guides have also just been caught in time with the plastic bits loose on the backing plate... so into it... valley pan, accumulator, heater pipes before heading underneath....

These look epic!

4 hrs full removal and fit crossmember back. Milwakee, hoists and me customising 95% of conversion needed for quick removal...oh yea...and strenght too😁😁

Finished putting the M5 back together!! New thermostat, radiator hoses, radiator drain bungs, new coolant, 1 new intake boot and clamp, new sway bar bushes and end links, headlights polished and clear coated, freshly painted front bumper fitted. Also took the opportunity to vacuum 14 years worth of dead bugs out of the oil cooler and radiator!! Quick test drive tonight shows oil gets up to temp a lot faster so thermostat was past its best.

Emission testing is just going to punish the ones that already cant afford to replace their car. They arent going to fix it at great cost, or buy a replacement car, they are just going to send it as is. No reg, no wof, no worries. Scrappage schemes in the UK were a disaster too. Airfields filled with perfectly good cars that were just crushed complete. Fairly late model stuff ended up there too. Such a waste and a false economy.

So the blue pool vacuum hose turned out to be more useful as a play thing for the kids than to model up my new headers, just not flexible enough when you actually get it in place etc. All this time I had been trying to model the headers nicely at low cost but it seems those desires are mutually exclusive !! What I really wanted to use originally was the modelling kits from Ice Engine Works (https://www.icengineworks.com/) but they are just so dang expensive for a one off 😕 Take a look at their site if you have no idea what I'm babbling about and its instantly visible what an awesome approach and system this is where you want to know exactly how your headers will be built, the length and clearances etc. I figured I could design and 3D print my own version along the same concept and which match the locally available mandrel bend radius's (the US based ice kit centre line radius bends are not available here). With the price of 3D printers now it will be way cheaper, hopefully a good result and can also then use it for prototyping other items and making odd widgets as needed Onto some pics of where things are at ... made a bunch of prototypes and (semi) perfected some settings that give a nice result. This is how they will clip together, will be various length straight sections along with bend segments (doing 30 degree and 80mm CLR at the mo). The final prototype which seems to work pretty well and looks fairly good to boot !! Printer is hard at work while I sleep making 7 more bends ... hoping it does not look like a spaghetti blob monster when I wake up

I've always wondered who pays for that then, a test would be expensive as hell. As would the equipment for that testing, training and other issues related to its implementation. Then the is the issue of the remedy, telling a single mother with children that her 15 year old Toyota Camry is has slightly too high CO2 and NO emissions levels so can't be driven anymore unless it has a $1500 cat and $2000 PPF installed would be a disaster, especially if she can't afford to buy a new car with the govt approved emissions levels. If something like that went ahead it would financially ruin people so they can't even drive a car, probably the plan I imagine. They'd be told to ride a bike to pick up the kids from school and to go to work in the rain, or catch a crowded bus that takes them no where near their intended location. The other issue is peoples classic cars, you'd have to have a new exemption status created so old vehicles can continue to be used. Furthermore, I just saw this: Dunedin protest becomes heated as teen blocks petrol cars - NZ Herald haha, get ready for more of this, If viewed from facebook comments were some highly entertaining reading.

Better turn in grip not a perk on the street? News to me. As with anything, comes down to personal preference and what kind of driving experience you are looking for. These days, this is a weekend car that gets smashed around every time I drive it, so I want something that's a bit more involved and fun. If I was doing a daily commute in this, then yes a larger front section tyre would be a poor choice probably. Added benefit of being able to swap the tyres front to rear is nice for a road car as well. As far as I know, yes.

18x9.5 or 18x10 square setup has been the go-to on E46 M3's for a while now. As Harper alluded to, massive increase in turn in and the centre of rotation is pushed forward,.

There was a period of production at the start of the facelift models where 337 M PACKET option was not available at the factory. I understand it was not until MY update at end of ‘88 build that it was re-introduced. Which begs the question, if I have a chicken and swap in a ducks body, ducks wings and a ducks head, have I still got a chicken or is it now a duck..?

@Harper Certainly looks snug in those arches! 👌

Yep, that's the money shot. Shades of M3 GTR wheels. Edit: @Harper does this mean there's a set of x8.5" fronts floating about?

Decent box of suspension parts arrived from fcp last week. All the front and rear bump stops, spring pads etc needed in preparation to refresh the shocks, struts and springs around September.

When looking at the aftermarket wheels sold in NZ, I could never find real information on the manufacturers and how or where their wheels were made. I wont pay thousands for wheels that, for all I know, are all made in China to low standards. Apex are a US based company that make great wheels for BMWs. you can import them or order though Speedfactor. Or look on tirerack for some good wheels and then look for a freight forwarder to bring them in. Have a look on Trademe too, you might find some nice used ones or some local supplier selling the reputable brands.

Would definitely stay away from generic wheels shops to get a “cheap” set of replica wheels especially on something like an M car. getting a decent set of quality brand name wheels would be in the thousands (like $5000+) for 19” staggered so unless you were planning to spend upwards of $6-7000 incl tyres I would be careful before deciding to put some $2000 wheels and $1000 rubber that just look the part

Should be able to beat an M440 now...

FYI I changed out my stock mufflers to straight through mufflers and it was too loud in the low RPM range and not loud enough up top. Ended up with a fair bit of drone and a weird cyclic harmonic effect when cruising. That and it didn't seem that loud when giving it stick.

the whole thing is stupid from top to toe. under the emmissions trading scheme, New Zealands emissions are capped already, and you already pay your contirubution toward that at the pump. Switching to EVs has the wider effect of freeing up emissions for other industries. there will be no overall decrease in emmissions. The subsidy is supposed to lower emmissions. true for cars, but not overall.

I

Grumpy boomers woke up and found their metamucil had run out.

Good ol BMW "improvements". I kinda miss the relative simplicity of my 1998 540i haha

Upon further research via the interweb it appears I can remove the factory trans cooler completely and thus remove 3 coolant hoses. There is a theory BMW runs the later e39 540 transmissions (and other engines) hotter to make the oil last longer (helping their bogus lifetime fill claim...) The hotter oil burns off condensation etc. but reduces ultimate life of transmission itself. The previous M62 engine with the traditional cooler in front of the radiator was a much better system than the later coolant/oil heat exchanger the forums seem to suggest. Always something to learn... I've heard of aftermarket coolers being installed (like mine now) especially if regular towing is occurring...

Ran Mobil 98 in. Car and bike for a few years. Didnt ride the bike much and had in the tank too long. Tried to start bike ( Ducati 748r) no go. left it for a few months more and then got dealer to pick up. basically fuel lines had turned to a snot / marshmallow substance, fuel pump fckd , sender stuffed. Basically $1400 in parts. i won’t use ethanol blends again.

Interesting, what is the source of that quote?

Gah.... doesnt work... well.. it does... but in unexpected ways. My oil temp gauge is now a vacuum/fuel efficiency gauge (like on prefl 330s ). Whats weird is that it responds to oil temp gauge commands from coding, like driving it to half way and sweeps. This is going to take some coding. @promo any ideas?