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184,452km Okay so earlier this week I went & saw Ray @HELLBM up on the coast to pick up a boot-lid lock mechanism. Was the first time I’d ever been there & got to see some of his awesome cars (he was working on his infamous “M140i”) Wish I took photos, only got a sneaky one of his e39. We got the mechanism off a detached boot-lid and I got to pulling apart & re assembling everything. Rookie mistake after everything was re-assembled I realised I had forgotten to re-connect the plug into the actual mechanism 😅 Anyway everything’s all sorted now however will need to clear the code. Also still occasionally being thrown the “Trans. Failsafe Prog” code and Ray says it’s due to my battery having low voltage. Still awaiting my outer right rear CV boot to arrive so will address the battery at the same time. (Hopefully this will fix my seat memory function/steering tilt & spastic left side mirror) Also picked up new instrument cluster bulbs from continental to address the dimming. Installing those this afternoon. 184,780km My leather kit arrived finally & put in some elbow grease to give my interior a bit of a refresh! Cleaned & Conditioned. Hopefully the shine fades once the conditioner seeps into the leather a little but so far loving the product!

Started welding away the curb rash, I am doing sections about 20- 50mm long, and about 5 sections spaced around the rim at a time to minimize heat input and avoid distortion. So, wire brush a section, weld it, wire brush the next section, weld it, etc, etc, leave the whole lot to cool down, file down the welds with a cheese grater file then smooth off with a fine file, then repeat until the whole rim is done, then repeat for 3 more wheels!! I am guessing around 4 hours each for the worst wheels and 1-2 hours for the ok ones!!

Early Apfelbeck-designed 16-valve diametral cylinder head for M10-based engines, designed for F2 racing. Sometimes called a 'radial' valve engine as like valves do no sit next to each other - an inlet valve sits opposite an exhaust valve and the close adjacency helps keep things cool. These engines, known as the M12 and M12/1, made up to 160hp per litre, normally aspirated, in the late 1960s. The built engine with opposing intakes looks more like a V8 than a 4-cylinder.

Update: Finally arrived this morning! Ended up going with the Toptul 3/8” 19-110Nm as it suited my immediate needs, will probably buy as needed again in the future. Was going to use on the wheels today but totally forgot that I didn’t have a 3/8” to 1/2” converter - big fail 😂. Thanks for all the suggestions!

I should likely spend more time driving them than building them I guess.

Different car but on the E46 the lever is under the steering wheel. Anything to the left of the steering wheel or under that looks like a manual lever? Surely someone here can chip in 😅

Interiors come up nicely!

Looking good! Leather turned out great.

If the liquid isnt oily, is clear and odourless... do you have the AC on? Could be normal condensation draining from the AC system, tends to come out sort of behind where the engine is, where the footwells are.

Here's something quite special..

I think your vibrations will be from the lack of rubber dampener, that I assume was removed to clear the manifold? When turning under acceleration, does the shaft contact the exhaust manifold? Your best bet is the Barina shaft mod and swap. It involves fitting the upper e30 mount to the Barina shaft. The shaft is collapsible which absorbs alot of the vibration. I think I have a more in depth how-to on my build? If not, there's a few on the interwebs. It's a fiddly job (needle rollers on the UJ bearings) and a dremel with a small cut off wheel makes life easier. There was one already done on TradeMe recently. Also, my certifier wanted a heat shroud made to protect the bearings, more specifically the grease, from the heat given off from the exhaust manifold. He said wrapping the exhaust manifold would do. You might get away with it however.

That's not a crack... THIS is a CRACK !!! Understood to be from a 328xi on runflats. I'm lead to believe that when something like this happens, runflats may actually hold the wheel together for long enough to get the vehicle off the road to safety. But I sure wouldn't want to be the one testing the truth of that conjecture at 100kph Cheers...

Hmm might have to use a friend when I sell mine…

A loose wiring plan is taking shape, turns out there is a lovely big removable port hole from engine bay electronics box to the cabin !! Rugged plan (likely my initial one) is to just stuff it all through said hole. Ideally I'd tackle making a new loom and terminate into a nice bulkhead connector where the LHD steering wheel would come through. Then in this magical future state I'd also locate the dry sump oil reservoir where the electronics box currently is. In any case there is a path forward to get mobile without too much drama.

SOLD $27.5k Selling my E36 M3 if anyone is interested https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/3290830029?bof=Ra2B7nkf

Its been a while between updates ... that's because, I had the bends !!! Mandrel bends that is It all turned into a bit of a saga to be honest, I'd switched to mild steel in order to make the cost closer to something realistic which was all good. What was not all good was the tight (1D) 90 deg bends I received, which were all pretty sub-standard with over 3mm of necking through the bend ... so not fancying trying to weld circles to ovals I arranged to have these replaced with donuts and straight tube (this would nearly double the number of welds needed without the straight legs the bends have). Alas the donuts were also average and measured about 2-3mm under size across one side also !!! Shocking. So ... I've not got stainless bends and donuts on the way from Australia which are hopefully actually round. Switched back to stainless as they only had a single steel donut in stock and their prices were far better than the locals for stainless. The chap measured some while i was on the phone and they sound pretty good ... the donuts are imported from China and everything else is made locally. Crossing fingers for their arrival this week. Anyhow, onto some pictures of what I have been doing other than scouring the internet for tight bends. Completed both header jigs now and re-matched the stainless flanges to the engine, which I'd somehow managed to mix up the first time ?! Started making a few cutting jigs ahead of the new bends arriving ... the idea is to cut with a thin cutoff wheel then sand to perfection on a disc sander to match what was designed with the plastic mockup tubes. This one is a 30 degree bend with 30mm straight from memory. FINALLY into something that isn't header related. So refreshing I can tell you !!! Getting the head back into the wiring space and starting with mating the BMW accelerator pedal plug with new wiring to go to the Nissan ECU. The original M43 was cable throttle so this is a new run of cable and second hand pedal. Stitched together a full ECU wiring plan from the Infinity G37 service manual and printed on the wide format printer at work ... should be rather handy !! Severe brain strain trying to marry up the 6 wires for the pedal, seems so simply but took AGES

One jig complete ... bends for this side are ordered so can get into it proper once they turn up.

Getting jiggy with it ... na naa na na yea naa. Seems to be working well enough, man these things are a lot of work !!! Once I have a little 'cradle' under all of the straight sections I'll probably just weld rods under / around the bends more as reference points than supports which will control direction also.

Got the laser cutting on Monday ... removed the mill scale off the large flanges with white vinegar which worked great !! Drilled and tapped the M10 holes on the large flanges and drilled out the holes in the individual stainless flanges plus removed the cut start / stop marks. Have made the call to switch to mild steel for the headers, with a ceramic coat ... will probably work out the same overall insane cost but cheaper up front for the bends and better thermal performance ultimately. Next up I can assemble the bank 1 plastic headers onto a flange and start on the jig proper !! Yay.

no Jon, it's just again that you expect differently from others than you do of yourself i feel. and your "Ok boomer" attitude clearly shows this. Jon, maybe it's time you stepped aside for awhile if you are a little confused to give you time to gather your thoughts? as a community are we not allowed to call those that are "superior" out for acting in ways that they ? or is this turning into a dictatorship? Again, like multiple people have highlighted. This forum needs new leadership, and some new moderators.

Okay so slight problem, due to being unable to adjust my steering wheel I can’t physically remove the instrument cluster to change the bulbs…

A cold air intake will actually lose power, unless it is behind the bumper or very well insulated from heat.