Leaderboard

Well 2 days of driving an excavator, 4 months of weekends, 300m of rebar, 14 tonnes of concrete, 232 CMU blocks, and a lot of manual labour my retaining wall is complete - finished backfilling it today. Starting to get a bit wet here for the winter so great timing. Bit of a general update on the car. The latest version of the SMG reservoir bracket is in use, I've got some more tweaks to make to it so will do that and print the latest iteration. The MAP sensor adapter in CF-PETG shows some evidence of softening. It seems, under the clamping force of the bolts, it's not quite up to the ~100 degree C temperature that the rail hits. Plan is to get this printed in GF-Nylon which should be able to handle beyond 150 degree C temps. I'm doing some preliminary work on the reinstallation of the trunk interior with the RACP brace in place. Working through a few things to get to a lightweight, high-quality solution that meets my need to make it look as OE as possible. The version of the CSL tune I've been running the last while seems super stable. Even as it's got colder here it's remained super smooth. Seems I've got the warm-up maps pretty much spot on. I still want to do some more fine-tuning, and in particular am keen to try out running the fuel tuning process with the MAP sensor integrator turned off, but it's not top of the priority list given what I'm currently running is so good. Planning to get the headliner out and off to the pros to redo with the BM-134 fabric that I have stashed. I've also got brand new A/B/C pillars to go in once it's reinstalled. Intend to make more progress with the 0401 disassembly as well - especially as the days get shorter and the weather gets worse. Lots of little bits and pieces on the go. I've also been enjoying driving the car. The refreshed diff bushes have eliminated any remaining clunk in the drivetrain. Combined with the smoothness of the CSL tune it makes for lots of enjoyable downshifts with no need for the manual throttle modulating that I'd previously gotten used to to minimize the thunk. Secondly the RACP brace has, in addition to providing top-side support to the RACP, made an enormous difference to the torsional rigidity of the rear of the car. It's a very significant improvement and I'm getting itchy to give the front of the car similar treatment 😛

An anonymous post in the E34 NZ page was about this car the other day... "Hey guys just as a warning I would recommend staying far away from the diesel wagon currently for sale on TradeMe: https://www.trademe.co.nz/.../cars/bmw/listing/5313690264... I've seen the car in person. It is not like the seller is advertising at all. He is being very deceitful about large parts of the car. He touts it as tidy and straight while almost every single panel has either missing paint down to primer, or is completely the wrong colour. It seems like it was attacked with brake fluid or paint stripper. It would need a full respray at the minimum. Further he claims the interior is in great condition - this is also untrue. He tries to hide these things with the photos. No photos of the car dry, no photos of the car from the side, or the mismatched white rear bumper. No photos of the boot interior which is definitely not in great condition. I have attached some pictures that show the true state of the car. He is also being deceitful about the legality of the car. He claims the car will be sold with fresh wof upon sale, which might be true depending on when he sells it. But the listing claims the wof expires this month, which is untrue, it expired in August last year. Further in the comments he claims that he "spent money on [the car] and got it legal" - this is untrue as the car still currently does not have a warrant of fitness according to the NZTA. It should be noted too that the car is not certified for the manual conversion, which is required in this case, another thing not disclosed on the listing. The car is notorious for its idle issue that has persisted through its big list of owners of the past couple years. Another thing conveniently left off the listing. I cannot prove it has been fixed in this case, but it is likely that considering all the other big feats he mentions in the listing about the value of the car he would have mentioned this. I have attached a video of the idle issue posted by the seller only 10 days ago. I would seriously avoid the car at all costs. Do not even bother viewing the car in person, it is a waste of time and you will be disappointed. The car is simply too far gone and taking any effort to go see it will be wasted. In the comments someone jokingly asks the seller if he would take 5k. If this was you I would be afraid that the seller would take you up on this offer. The car in its current state is worth nowhere near 5k. I would say avoid going anywhere near this car for more than $1500. I was going to ask the seller why he was being deceitful about the listing. Unfortunately I have been blacklisted from posting more questions on the listing. I simply want people to be aware of the reality of the car."

That's the problem, there is no good. The photos are old and don't show anything. This one has been passed around more than Bonnie Blue at spring break. I'd stay well away from it

I thought we had an agreement!?!?

I installed a new diffuser today that hides most of the "cow udder" effect of the M2C exhaust. Probably should have removed the bumper because I broke the stock one during removal (very surprised at how brittle it was!). Not too much of a concern, it's an inexpensive part and I quite like the new one. This is just a plastic one from China, fit is good and tight, installation was easy enough, the plastic is arguably more durable than the stock one. Hopefully it doesn't melt! 😭 Old: New:

Must be 1 of 1.