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Hyundai i30N, or wait for the gazoo corolla and get awd. Also, thats not a BMW 😛

Probably the F10 M5. Far better than the other two. It was an option right?

Golf… the 1 series is pigdog ugly, like a capybara

GTI

My nephew needs to regretfully sell his pride and joy, so I'm putting it out here for feed back on value etc, and seeing if there is any interest from members before throwing it out to trademe etc.. This is a well spec'd example and of course has had a manual conversation performed by myself, as well has some other essential retrofits.. The manual conversion has the 330i Getrag S5D 320 with the 2.93 ratio diff and driveshaft. It has a new clutch kit from a 328, all stock parts so no mod cert required. (done approx 10k ago.) The cooling system has a new radiator, thermostat and manual gearbox parts fitted (trans cooler removed) when converted, including the electric fan only as per original manual cars. Just replaced the alternator bearings and regulator. New tyres front and rear. New battery about a year ago. Retrofitted stuff: Navigation Mk4 unit and latest maps etc, Reverse camera, Rear park sensors, Bi-xenon headlamps, BlueBus Bluetooth phone / audio streaming. Style 71 club sport wheels, (reps) ** This is an interesting spec'd E46 with rear passenger airbags in the doors, non folding rear seats, and headlight washing with halogen lights from factory! - Australian version ?? known "issues" to note; slight oil leak from sump - not serious at this stage, but will need looking at in the future, and front bumper has had a knock and needs repair with new fog lamp. - see pic. I was thinking around the $8000 mark.. thoughts? - (yes, I know, it should have been washed with some decent photos.. ) From the Vin Decoder: ET36 325i Europe E46 (4FL) Sedan right M54 2.50 l 141 kW Rear-Wheel Drive automatic Alpinweiss 3 - 300 Leder Montana/basis-ausst./schwarz - N6SW BMW AG Rosslyn, South Africa 2004-06-02 (Wednesday) 204 Drive Version Export 205 Automatic Transmission 210 Dynamic Stability Control (dsc) 226 Sports Suspension Settings 249 Multi-function For Steering Wheel 261 Side Airbag For Rear Passengers 338 M Sports Package Ii 354 Green Stripe Windscreen 411 Window Lifts, Electric 428 Warning Triangle 441 Smokers Package 473 Armrest, Front 481 Sport Seats F Driver/front Passenger 495 3. Headrest Rear Centre 502 Headlight Washer System 520 Foglights 521 Rain Sensor 534 Automatic Air Conditioning 548 Speedometer With Kilometer Reading 550 On-board Computer 5AB Brake Force Display, Deletion 602 On-board Monitor With Tv 640 Car Telephone Preparation 650 Cd Player 672 Cd Changer Bmw For 6 Cds 710 M Leather Steering Wheel 716 M Aerodynamics Package Ii 724 Edition Sport 760 Individual High-gloss Satin Chrome 772 Interior Trim Alu Black Cube 775 Individual Roof-lining Anthracite 785 White Direction Indicator Lights 788 M Lt/aly Wheels 810 Australia Version 818 Main Battery Switch 823 Hot Climate Version 825 Radio Control Oceania 832 Battery In Luggage Compartment 853 Language Version English 864 Overseas/dealer Directory 876 Radio Frequency 315 Mhz 880 English / On-board Documentation 925 Shipping Protection Package 926 Spare Wheel 962 Number Plate Holder Front, Deletion 991 Pre-series Management

Finished modelling the plastic mock headers so I have a record of the design. A lot of work to get to this point and I'd hate for one of the kids to throw one onto the floor and have it shatter into pieces Got all of my TIG bits now so putting some time into learning and practice while I wait for my laser cutting (now from L3 Hamilton hah) to show up so I can start of the header jigs.

Cheers. Thanks, already have a "CCTV in operation" sign and two cameras at the top of the driveway gate. I think at the moment 105 is getting a hammering so there are delays. The last time I called 105 I felt very much like I was calling a offshore call centre, it was also just after they had launched 105 and I'm sure that it's better now. With any luck I won't need to call and the cops will take care of this via the online report I filed. Thanks, I have a pile of cameras that I installed all over the property. Mainly as I used to travel overseas (those days a gone....) regularly for work and wanted some peace of mind. But I will be installing another camera at the gate that covers the road. And before anyone gets all offended by the idea of CCTV covering the road in front of my house, I spoke with the local cops about a year ago after someone decided to repeatedly over a few nights do burnouts up our street - first thing they asked was "do you or any of your neighbors have CCTV aimed at the road"? I asked them about the legality of that and was basically told that unless one of my neighbors complains about it then the cops are totally onboard with it. A minor pandemic and life got in the way of me installing the camera that I bought specifically for that job.

Git her scanned, could be water pump/thermostat/cooling service time.

now that is a tough call. I've driven the 135i msport, and it's a capable nasty exciting thing, but not one I can carry my teenage kids in the back of. I'd expect the 128Ti to be great fun to drive. OTOH the mk8 is aparrently great, and has a long legacy of GTi's backing it. I've owned MK2 GTi 16v, driven MK5 GTi & R32 in anger, and MK6 GTi's, I have some idea of just how good a mk8 will be, and no doubt I can stow my kids in a Golf. Haven't driven the MK8, (or the 128Ti), I think the MK8 is race favourite at the starting gate, would need to evaluate both. For my use case, most likely 3 series wins.

Better yet put up a real camera. These days the cameras are very capable (image recognition) and cheap for its price. Probably about a decade ago I would setup my own server, camera, etc. I am a bit older and I have deemed this to be low priority. My wife has been bugging me about it for years, we live on a relatively quiet cul de sac too. Everyone knows everybody, however things are getting been not so good for past few years. 1 of our neighbors was burglarized.... during the 1st lockdown last year some weirdo went to our property and my son confronted him. Gladly one of our neighbors suspected something wasn't right and was able to take the photo of person and car. Anyway this is a sample clip of the recently released Nest Camera (battery) https://store.google.com/nz/product/nest_cam_battery?hl=en-GB The image quality is ok, not the best but it's ability to sift through what is important and noise is very good and useful. Local AI image processing is super fast. Putting this up for a few hours and I will take it down (please don't share the link). Just to convince a few of you that spending a few $ and probably just 15 mins to install it is sure worth it. I have procrastinated on this, but I think best do it now while in lockdown. You can also see how crappy the SMG on low speed [edit: link removed]

it all looks fixable! Though expect to fix a lot more than what the previous owner has neglected or butchered. Lightweight, a poor-man's CSL! A slicktop 316i coupe is the lightest e30, they have little sound deadening. In rude health and with good suspension, they're a quick car through the twisties and can hold their own with 325i's (and some much bigger cars too). Make no mistake, on a straight road with the chance to stretch it's legs, the torque and extra HP of the 325 will eat the 316i. Horses for courses! Air Filter: I doubt the cone/pod filter is going to give you any more HP, paper filter elements are cheap and the factory intake will be quieter and give colder air. Selling the pod might get you some dough for a rear muffler. Rubber: Essentially you'll find a 30+ year old e30 has probably been pretty well neglected, and you can expect to work your way through every rubber bush and mount in the car, once you've got it on the road. Engine and gearbox mounts will look okay, but that rubber has lost it's elasticity, and replacing them improves NVH. Same for rear subframe mounts, RATBs, diff bush. No need to go to Poly, the OE/OEM rubber solutions are proven, inexpensive, and reliable. Check your fuel hoses! easy to replace under the hood, you might as well replace the fuel filter while you're at it, it won't have been done in years, possibly decades. Be sure to use EFI high pressure rated hose. Lubricants: Time for gearbox oil and diff oil. I'm running Penrite Synthetic, don't mix them up (get the back oil into the middle and vice versa). One assumes you've already done the engine oil and filter with quality kit (I like the Mahle) Brakes: Slider pins - unless they're badly pitted - can be cleaned up in your battery drill with a scotch-brite pad and Brakekleen. I like the ATE silicone brake grease. Brake hoses are cheap, give the existing ones a good look over. ARB bushes and endlinks are cheap too. 316i has solid front rotors, you can get six cylinder calipers which allows you to upgrade to vented front discs, a little more meat. Two types of front calipers, both run the same pads. The racers prefer the ATE calipers which makes 'em more pricey (one can run brass bushings in place of rubber - though for street use not really a consideration); the Girlings are fine. You can take your time, recon a set of calipers (seals, bleed nipples, boots, sliders, paint) then install with new hoses, pads, rotors. Bear in mind the six cyl calipers/vented rotors are incompatible with the factory steel wheels if you ever wanted to go back there, once the pads are worn in. You could always extract some more cash to fund your brakes by selling those D-window steelies and stretched tyres and score some bottle caps for next to nothing, ride the coming fashion resurgence of bottle caps being uber-cool and authentic 80's e30. Stay cool: Give your cooling system attention, replace aging hoses, check thermostat bleed and flush it, replace with BMW Blue coolant and demineralised water. Check passenger side carpets for glycol, this is the age that those heater matrix are letting go. HTH

One side of the headers are completely mocked up now, managed to get the lengths the same to less than half a mm which is a good result. Modeled them up so I have a long term record but will need some tweaking due to errors introduced going from plastic to digital. Will likely build off the glued up plastic tubes making jigs to support the tubes at key locations.

Got enough bend blocks printed out now to start being useful ... pretty tricky to get everything to play nice !! Had to revise the design a little more also to prevent some breakages. All in all happy with how its looking but need to print some more specific parts to tweak the design a little then can start to add up the lengths and see if we are on track for equal lengths without having to do anything too freaky to correct the design lower down. The other side will be more difficult with the ABS steel guard (body work) and dry sump pump / starter motor / brake and fuel lines in the mix also.

If its not rusty you should jump on that as a quick easy project to get back on the road. Looking at the state of it, it needs someone to save it from its current owner.

I would not make up my mind until having driven them both and thought about my needs. I favour the Golf, only because I owned a Mk7 GTi from new for 35k, most of which it had a stage 1 tune (which transformed power delivery mid-range and above). Personally, I'm not sold on the 128ti looks. Happy shopping.

If the mk8 has those non tactile buttons for everything then it would be a no deal for me personally. But I do love the GTi range, having had no issues with my wife's MK6 for the three years and 80,000kms until we traded it on the new family wagon. It's a hard choice, made easier when you look at the nose of the bmw though.....

I love my ES e91, hard to go back to petrol - having had the diesel for a little over a year now. Had the all too common DPF issues which were born from faulty thermostats, all sorted in one foul swoop, including DPF/EGR and swirl flap delete. Coded out all the crippling emissions *clip-ons* and a wee tune, and now it feels like it can breathe properly...... the torque is simply exquisite 🥰

My 5 cents About 5 yrs ago wife needed an around town car and I did a lot of searching for the right car. 1 series and corolla where quickly out of the running due to lack boot space and rear leg room for kids, MK5 has far too much go for around town according to my wife and until now we have had no issues with maintenance. When its time to replace were are going Golf for the around town car.

@Olaf Fair point. While inherently I find nothing wrong with drifting, I wasn’t at all endorsing for everyone to go out there and do skids/drift. I was merely just saying that what was done in the gif is something else to someone doing donuts. I’m glad that you got out fine, many others are not so lucky.

Both 😎

Can you get it without the red accents? 🤮

The only point that the cage will help you - unless you're harnessed-in and wearing a helmet - is if you turn it upside down**. Pretty much every other scenario where it goes remotely wrong sees your head impacting some very hard steel pipe. Couple that with momentum and you've got fractured skull, brain bleed, and concussion and/or damage. ** and you've probably still whacked your head against the roll cage on the way there. Drifting a car is all fine until something goes wrong. You get to figure out how far short your talent deficit was while you tell your insurance company, and hope they're sympathetic to your plight. I was lucky, I walked out from a rollover that wrote off the car I was a passenger in with just a scratch on my little finger. YMMV. Do you want to play the lottery?

So I found what is now one of my favourite videos on the internet. It is of a BMW Hill-Climb event at the Chelsea Sugar Factory near Birkenhead on Auckland's North Shore, in 1992! The value of some of the cars hurtling up the hill is insane! Cheeky E28 M535, E30 M3, 2002 Turbo and what looks to be a 3.0CSI among numerous M-Tech E30s, E24s, old 2002s and E12s.

Thankyou Nice to know folks are looking and interested given its a bit of a departure to the standard projects round these here parts hah And I hope to be able to show you !! Was really hoping to be mobile over summer but its not looking too likely ... at the rate things are moving at present I'll still be making the headers !! Once I can fire it by turning the BMW key that should spur me on. At some point soonish the oiling system has to be completed also and that's not going to be pleasant on the wallet 😕

Thanks @Michael., its one of those project phases that I'm ready to move on from but should look back and feel it was worth while Nice to hear you had success also with your project, fingers crossed I do also ! Some of the clearances are tight so I will be checking fit on the car as I tack things up. The 3D printing does take a while alright, not sure on total hours but it would be many hundreds for sure. Gone through nearly 4x 1kg rolls of filament to get to this point (includes prototypes, calibration, some scrap etc). On the larger prints I would do up to 9 segments and that might take say 20 hours or so. The collectors took 16 hours each from memory. I could print a bit faster but decided to maintain settings to ensure consistency of parts etc. The best thing will be now I can start prototyping other things like the transmission mounts, and making a custom steering column gauge pod. Is the single turbo for the Soarer ?

Slow progress still lately tooling around with header mockups and getting organised to start learning to TIG weld (waiting on gas bottle in L3). Happy to report that header tubes are mocked up for both banks now at least and lengths all spot on ... on the downside they will be a nightmare to fabricate, on the plus side I will be able to put them in and out of the car without removing the engine Onto the pictures since this is basically a photo record of the build it seems ... Started on some parts for the jigs I will make for the header fabrication. This is a fake collector end and some slit 1-7/8" tube which will snugly support the 1-3/4" primary tube OD. I will cut this down into small segments as needed and weld upstands to attach to a base plate ... this will support the plastic tube at key locations. At either end will be a flange to simulate the head and the fake collector on the pointy end. Sounds confusing but will be clear once I get a picture up of the setup. Left bank all mocked up. This side was much harder as expected, mainly due to the starter motor, brake / fuel lines, LCA bush carrier, clutch line fitting and the body work where the ABS is located. Managed to get it all working without any panel work or relocation ... will need some quality head shielding however and removal of the sound deadening fabric. The view from underneath ... not super ideal but about the best I could do and the lengths are all spot on. Finally something looks familiar and not like some crazy guys arts and crafts project

I have found the issue with header wrap is it gets the manifold super hot changing the metals corrosion resistance, it's also a problem if a weld cracks, makes it quite hard to find the leak. Ceramic powder coating and some appropriate head shields are often more practical.

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