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I just had some wheels sand blasted. Whatever you do, don’t use Master Blaster in Grafton. I ended up using Autoblast on the North Shore, who were good. But I think you’re in Hamilton?

Today TradeMe wrote... This is the kind of positive reinforcement we all need Cheers...

Get M3 ones, you'll need an alignment afterwards but if your existing ones are shot then any replacement would likely require an alignment. The TRW ones, which are actually BMW ones, will probably cost you less than replacing the bushings in your existing ones. The M3 front lower control arms add camber which is a good thing. https://babybmw.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=109115

What is the current reasonable sale price for an E34 540i , I know it's condition dependent. I was leading the auction on one a week ago that closed for just over $2k , in the final hour I had a work issue to deal with and completely forgot about it. So now I'm back browsing around and at present there doesn't seem to be anything under 8k available. Assume that I'm looking for something that is not a complete basket case but it certainly doesn't need to be a show car either. At present I'm torn between an E34 or an E46 as a run around, and until something turns up that ticks the boxes I may as well keep exploring options. Cheers.

Does anybody have Instagram, more specifically Instagram for their car? 😀 @EuroWagon_NZ

Yea that was my first thought also, i have an external gauge that i could tap into the signal for and use the Arduino to drive the gauge 🤔Would like to have maybe crank case vacuum also to monitor the dry sump setup but hopefully won't need that through it being an open breathing design. @Michael. It certainly was for me using stainless. Primarily the donuts went from over $200 NZD each to $68 AUD and all of the other bends were cheaper also. Freight was just under $200 AUD and I luckily managed to dodge GST etc when it came in. The other big plus was they did a wider range of bends so I didn't have to get custom work done locally (more expensive) ... I needed some 15deg bends for the collectors and these were a standard stocked item.

There is a factory wiring loom that runs along the roof cavity and down the A pillar into the passenger footwell where there is a factory plug to plug it into. Pretty seamless and easy to install. GLWS brother!

I've taken my wheels to Advanced Chrome Platers in Hamilton. George acid dips the wheels. Cost is about $50 per wheel.

LsBeema's BACK!!!. YERRRRR...MISSSED THIS SOUND MAN!!! Draining over night and got some Penrite Pro gear 70w75 for the Tr6060...

Amazon TRW p/n for M3s LCAs, can often find them for dirt cheap.

Oh happy days ... the bends finally arrived from 'stray-ya !! Pretty impressed with the service, pricing and packaging from https://www.ecsexhaust.com.au/. A++ would trade again. Will get some bits cut and tacked up before the weekend woo woooo !!! Also got a 2nd hand E46 cluster so I can start developing my Arduino code without going back and forth to the car, connecting the battery etc etc. Will also allow me to make a custom tacho background with extended RPM scale etc Might try to also magic the economy gauge into something more useful while I am at it.

I've watched the E34 market quite closely especially since I was making an NZ E34 540i registry. Two wof and reg examples that sold in the last few months were: An alpine white car with 400,000km on it, interior was very worn as a result of what I can only guess were dogs climbing over the seats. Exterior was in reasonable condition given the mileage. Was listed for 3K ONO on trademe and sold quite quickly. Saw it on the shore recently. The second was a silver one with around 260,000km (was in the 200s but can't remember exactly). Was originally Diamond black but had been resprayed. Interior was below average and respray was far from a professional job, but much like the other car, it had good bones. It was $1 reserve and sold for $3070. I bought mine for $2.5K in November 2020 with 367,000km with wof and reg, but have spent thousands making it nice again lol. And that's honestly why I do not understand the E34 market, particularly with 540s. Although I've formed a bit of a bond with my car now, if I was going to rewind time I would have spent the extra and got a nicer one for 6-8K because it is expensive to get them back to spec if you are a bit OCD about having a tidy car. The one on trademe for 8K, while it isn't to my taste with the brown interior and gold wheels, the paint looks mint and someone has clearly spent a decent amount on the certified adjustable suspension. Considering what 540s offer (and E34s in general) I really do not understand their low values relative to what they offer compared with the values of E30s. People would jump at a tidy automatic 318i for 8K but there seems to be little interest in that 540 for sale at the moment. The M60 B40 is one of the most reliable V8s BMW ever made, and offer decent power especially for an early 90s car. E34s have that classic classy BMW look that everyone seems to appreciate, regardless of whether they are a car enthusiast or not, and still feel like a modern car to drive. 5 Speed automatic is a very nice gearbox relative to it being 30 years old, and it does suit the cruiser nature of a 540. And since 540s were at the top of the tree, they have enough technology to make them easily daily driveable (if you can afford the fuel lol). Plus 540s are pretty rare, when I was making my registry I found that many had cancelled registrations, or on-hold registrations. Like if you think about it objectively, what other fast, classic V8 European car can you get for 3-8K. They are extremely good value in my eyes and are absolutely under-rated. But anyway, hope you find this helpful.

WOF passed with the same note i've been getting for the last 5 years that there's a bit of play in the steering rack (which there definitely is). Finally took it out for an errand run, had to remember how to change gear. Steering wheel had gotten a bit dry so gave it some mothers conditioner. This car has been converted to R134A by the previous owner and I'm glad to say the recent aircon gas up has worked a treat..it's not that warm in Wellington but these cars are such glass houses they really heat up in the sun.

Dreaming.

I'm trying !! My header bends are still missing in action ... sitting at a depot in Auckland for over a week without moving. Has been nice to have a change and do some electrical but I'm ready to get the headers done at this point !! Thanks I really want to thin out the OEM engine wiring significantly but I might just run as is before I start introducing changes that might be tough to troubleshoot later with a lot of other things going on.

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Yup it's an absolute joke. L4 - Moan about Jacinda L3 - Level Free L2 - Normal L1 - See L2 Even L4 in Masterton was a joke. I was the only one in the office so was driving into work each day. The stupid sh*t I saw. Sadly unless you call these assholes out they won't change their habbits.

Just saw this come up in my Facebook feed, E46 M3 crashed in West Auckland this morning. Hopefully the driver is ok.

NZ Post turned up at our place to deliver a package, rummaged through the van and declared they couldn't find it. Delivered it two streets over to someone who called us (number on the packing slip) to collect. Delivered another package of ours to number 14 in our street (we are 24), then the following week delivered a package for 14 to us. As an ex courier driver, I find it truly bizarre.