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I am happy to say I have purchased the 130i from Liam as above to join my fleet !

One of the things that's been on my list for quite some time now is sorting out the topside reinforcement of the RACP. My car had the rear mounts reinforced with the BMW epoxy foam process in 2011 before I owned it, and the underside reinforced with epoxied plates in 2017. Since then I've put very few km on the car but deciding on the right approach for topside reinforcement has been on my mind since then. Part of the reason it's taken me so long to sort is because of all my family/kids dramas, but the other reason is that I've really been struggling to decide on the best solution in my circumstances. I'll probably get some flak for this but I'm not really keen on weld-in solutions in general. In most welding situations I don't see how it's possible to control corrosion prevention well enough given the application, and then add in welding to thin sheet metal that has been through 20 years of stress cycles and it just doesn't appeal to me. Another reason is that welding around the rear mounts, in my case, is complicated by the presence of the foam epoxy reinforcement. Lastly is the permanence of the change - I've seen several comments from people who bought the early version of the CMP bar, etc. who say they wished that they could use the newer, less visible, option. Likewise there's no certainty there won't be better options available in another 5 years. In the work that I do on the car I want to keep it as close as possible to original, so that if I realise at some point in the future that I have bad taste in modifications I can restore to stock. That goes, as far as possible, for things like RACP reinforcement as well. To this end I've ordered a variant version of the Yurkan Cages YC46W6. This is a welded single piece brace that ties both the front and rear RACP mounts to the rear shock mounts. This design allows for the rear seats and fold-down functionality to be maintained without interference. I don't need the fold-down feature anyway, but I certainly want to keep the rear seat unaffected (although again it's only to look nice, I only ever have a single passenger in the car, so I essentially use it as a two seater anyway. The variant I've ordered includes an additional bar directly between the two rear shock mounts. Probably overkill, but for the small amount of extra weight I'd prefer to have a direct link between the two to help stiffen things up as much as possible. With this solution all I need to do is cut the top cosmetic layer of sheet metal above each of the 4 RACP mounts and bolt all the way through from the subframe to the brace. While this does require some cutting of the body, it is about as minimal as I'm going to be able to achieve while still providing for topside reinforcement. Yurkan do make a version of this brace with separate brackets for the rear shock mounts that the brace then bolts to, but given I need to cut the interior carpet, etc. either way, I decided to opt for the welded one piece option for additional stiffness. My plan with the carpets, etc. is to pick up a spare set from a wrecker to cut up and I'll put my current set unmolested on the shelf. Once this is installed I'll be able to finally stop thinking about the RACP, and should also have the added bonus of a bit of extra stiffness in the rear. I placed the order today and expected manufacturing time is about 20 days, so with shipping, getting lost at the East Tamaki depot, etc. I expect I'll receive this around the middle of the year. I also ordered a replacement steering giubo recently - looking forward to getting that installed and hopefully getting rid of the slight play in the steering.

E36 NZ NEW, LOG BOOK, PORSHE BRAKES, PURPLE RACK, MOMO STEERING WHEEL, STRENGTHENED CHASSIS, LIGHTENED, 18×10 ENKEIS. PICS FROM THE FIRST DAY I VIEWED.

Win!

Rant...

*snicker snicker* 🤣 Looks pretty awesome, keen to hear how it goes as I would like to add some additional piece of mind to mine at some stage also. Care to advise what the damage of product and freight was ? Does not look super freight friendly 😬

I bought a "genuine BMW" charger from Continental, had a euro plug on it and it died after about 18 months, have had a Bosch one for about 2 years now and still going strong, the M5 seems to need about 5 amps to stay healthy between runs, usually once a week. From memory the Bosch one was about $160 - 170 on Trademe.

I have two of the MSX5's, one in permanent 'tender' mode on my M3 and the other used for my 130 and they're brilliant for my needs. The M3 battery seems to love it and is still in perfect condition which, considering the engine only ever gets turned over once every few months, is a win in my books. I got these combo kits when they were less than the cost of the charger alone, the eyelet attachments and rubber bumper are genuinely good additions (the battery bank not so much). I paid $139 for each of them looking back, and coincidentally one in August of 2020, and the other in August of 2021... I wonder if they'll do a similar deal in August this year? Might be worth keeping an eye out if you can wait that long.

The average car reads around 5km over actual GPS speed in my experience, most of BMW ive owned have as well iirc except my old E30 which read 10-11kph too high. Current cars are both +\- 1km though. Probably some correction value programmed into the instrument cluster.

Thanks Darren. That's a good question, I’m not sure yet.. I think I’m going to use the set that’s currently on my 15inch basketweaves for now (205/15/50). Ultimately, I’m leaning towards a set of road legal semi slicks but need to do some research and find a “good deal”.

Finally finished the interior last year Feb. 1st car show was last year's Euro show in Pakuranga last year. 4 weeks after the tune, 357kws 700nm at the engine, 1300kgs, and a beautiful someone ran a stop sign earlier on a Friday morning. 9 month battle with his insurance company. Had the car valuated at $55 000. Got paid out a fair amount, kept the car. Man was it tough!!! 4 year build, and boy was she running. Absolute weapon. Day and Night with the tune. Picked up torque and thrusted you in the seat as the revs climbed!!!!. Truly Power to weight at its finest!!! Anyway, moving forward after an +-8 month depression, aggrevation, isolated and busy az time poor life running Highspek......LsBm2 Build soon.