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suspension malarkey month for me; each winter for the past 3 winters the car had been making an intermittent groan when turning the wheel at either low speed or stationary. this year it became more persistent, and after much investigation and checking of bushings control arms etc, it was found that the H&R front springs i had, had sagged / compressed past the point of being useful and the car was effectively sitting on the bumps stops (although compression under driving didn't provide any noise the bumps were under constant stress) and that is what the groaning was. This was disappointing as i loved the set up and "stance" of the car and the springs weren't that old, 5 years, and cost a bit. So i agreed with the local suspension shop to swap my OG M Sport springs back in, this worked but the rears were on the piss with different heights from left to right (see post in suspension section) this would not do - front were great and car felt much better when turning. ( i also noted that the shop and put a huge gouge in one of my wheels when it was with them - grrr they did agree to put it right and have since done so ) That was all 2 weeks ago, so this week we swapped the H&R rears back in, the car is now level left to right and has a slight rake front to rear as factory. the spring rates although different springs front to rear are very complimentary and the car driving feel is better than it's felt in a long time. So now all sorted, no odd noises, no crooked looks, no bung mags. Now she just needs a solid clean one my garage project is done and she can be parked inside again

Hi everyone, well i bought a E46 M3, with just under100,000kms on it nz new, .needs stone chips sorted but think i will just use it as is. decided it was a good choice and half the price i might have spent on a 1M. will get some photos up soon, amoff to highlands this weekend then down to invercargill on sundat to watch the drags, might even put the M3 down the quarter mile. Will be M spotting while i am road tripping

well the diffs in place now and I've dropped it 15mm using the coil overs( can see FA difference) which is about as far as I want to go for now. Too many changes and ill get lost with settings. I'm toying with the idea of using the old tyres for one more meet before I fit the new ones. pics for reference

Sadly its time to sell my first love, I have owned this car for 11 years. I purchased it from my next door neighbour when I was 15. She purchased the car new from Team McMillan BMW back in 1987. The car is in outstanding mechanical condition, serviced every 10,000km religiously in its 31 years of life. No expense has ever been spared on its maintenance. There are a few trolley dents and a couple of scrapes however the paint is in incredible condition for its age. Its an M10b18 engine with a stock manual gearbox, the suspension was overhauled in 2010 with H&R springs and Bilstein shocks. Everything is in perfect working condition, the sunroof etc all work. The toolkit is also complete. Sadly I have to sell this beauty as my Datsun 240z needs some much-needed attention... I can't keep them both ? If you want to know anything about the car please just ask... I want to find an owner for her that will take great care of her... She has done me well and she will be missed. - 1987 BMW 318i manual - 165,000kms - NZ New - Looking for $6,800 PS: The plates, roof racks, and bikes are not included. however, for the right price, I'm happy to sell. Contact me on 0211754995 or grantdavis28@gmail.com

Keep going, and enjoy it when youve finished. Take pride in what youre doing. Im 10 years on and still love mucking around with mine.

Great progress Jon. So be ready for 21/22 season huh?

the road from opotiki thru to Gisborne is great, not the coast but the direct route following the river. A real drivers road scenic but great bends and flows, really satisfying

Come on guys this is a steal! So much car for the money. These earlier e92's had large case diffs and a lot of the internals were forged, great if you want to add boost!

Personally I would call that an SUV, or SAV (Sports Activity Vehicle) in BMW-speak, which is VERY different to a people mover. A people mover is more a Toyota Estima type van thingy, to me anyways. Can't see the point in making those things go any faster, maybe for when the Bretheren are late for church? Performance SUVs seem to be very popular at the moment, but if you really want performance why would you try and get it out of a big, heavy, high-up vehicle? Sports wagons are a much better compromise between practicality and performance and handle much, much better.

@dirtydoogle

Like this? I'll stick to my M5 wagon thanks!!

I really think a better way to weigh it all up is this: All that petrol money for the 335i tied up in that Honda. Tsk tsk.

^ that's why SUV's should be banned in urban areas, they and their owners are incredibly inconsiderate.

Kyu “babe, can I borrow your F20 tonight to go and pick up a big box of parts from Tom? And you come and help me load it also?” oh wait ?? Seriously, she’s a keeper! My wife would slap me around senseless if I asked her to do the same ???

When we first moved to NZ we had the use of a Swift for 6 weeks or so. It was a very good car. The only issue we had was a feeling of being 'exposed' in busy traffic. We always felt vulnerable - so many much bigger vehicles who didn't care, and so many fuggin' muppets in beat-up pieces of crap who cared even less. Perhaps it was a feeling exaggerated by driving someone else's car?

You know, there's some truth in that... used my mum's Swift for a few weeks a few years back and was suitably impressed with its around-town ability. Long trips? Not so much. But as a daily point-to-point sure. Having said that I was stunned at the high resale values they command, I suspect people realise they cost nothing to run and don't need any meaningful maintenance for 100's of thousands of km's. They're the new Corolla.

pics - or it didn't happen

Sounds like it's all getting a bit George Orwell's Animal Farm in here - "Two Doors Good! Four Doors Bad!"

Drove some more tonight, and so far i can tell that before the work on the weekend the trans was still average when cold but much better warm. Now the trans is about as good as it was when warm, cold, and pretty bloody good warm now. Manual mode is snappy, with minimal lag between changes, and no lurching. D mode is smooth as butter and doest flare between gears anymore. A+ result, highly recommend.