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A set of `Rays` to roll on.

Long time no update Just the carbon roof to put on and it’ll be a near 1:1 replica

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1293538293995670/permalink/5348426515173474/ $1200 needing repairs.

Take a nice NZ new N47 powered 120d and repower with M57D30TU. Swirl flap delete along with DPF and EGR delete, Tune should be good for 700NM.

WBAAB320X00858585 NZ new Mtech 1 black enjoying life. A friend of mine is selling his silver one on trademe (30k).

Why does that gear stick look so chode like?

The more I drive it the more I love it...Have a 2020 Mustang as well...and a 1965 Gt Cortina for retro feels...

Counterpoint, do what Milan did with the last caged m325i for sale...

It didn't have AC or sunroof. Yeah I'll drive it a fair bit. In some ways it could be considered my daily.

Stroking doesn't really affect idle in any meaningful way. M20's don't get lumpy at idle until at least a 280+ degree cam setup, speaking from experience with my Alpina 272 degree cam and a friends Hartge 280 degree cam in his 2.6. I've attached a decade old potato quality video of my Alpina 2.7 at idle - it's rock solid. You can't really "know" that a stroker has been well executed unless you've first hand knowledge of the build / or can be provided evidence of what was used, there's simply too many ways to skin the cat when stroking an M20. 2.7 is obviously the simplest with either the crank from the eta or the forged crank from the M21 diesel. 2.8 and above uses an M5x series crank but then you've got to have a spacer machined up for the nose (simple enough) but anything larger than 2.8 you're going to have to clearance the gallery for the crank counter weights to spin freely inside the block. The other route to 2.8+ litres is boring the block, but there isn't a heap of meat between the cylinders to start with, as a 2.5 M20 is oversquare to start with with a ratio of 1.12. Some of the larger cranks really throw this ratio out the window, and there's a tonne of people over the years who have been disappointed with their 3.0L M20's. Not nearly enough attention is paid to head flow, as there's no point in going larger displacement if you're not going to address the main M20 weak point which is the combustion chamber shape and how little the ports (particularly the exhaust) in the head flow. For example, at 10" of test pressure the Alpina head flows some 10cfm more than stock at 0.40" valve lift, and almost 20cfm at 0.60" Anyway, could go on for hours, might post some ramblings in the performance section. yt1s.com - E30 325iS Evo 1 at idle_360p.mp4

Just buy everything from Japan. All the best stuff is made in Japan.

E30s selling at $15k+ are now double the price of a slightly newer, similar condition, Mercedes SL320. One of these cars was $270000, new.

Hmm I'll give your suggestion some thought, it has merit. But, what would I have to chuckle over while having breakfast? The daily post count would be significantly reduced. Just curious is there a prize at the end of each year for the user who has the most posts?

@leichtbau I asked and he explained it more in detail why it’s all good but essentially it’s running the factory ECU from the 2.5L.

LMAO. Theres always one hey. 'certifiably racist' - is that a new catch phrase those who are offended on behalf of others use now? You'll find similar stereotypes apply to other countries as well where a lot of consumers have had bad runs with their products or the quality has been sub par. Australia, England, France, USA etc.

Just to be straight. I couldn't care less where you come from. What does Chinesium mean? Chinesium is a made up element, not found on the periodic table, which was invented as a blanket term for every cheap material (metal, plastic, ceramic) originating from China, manufactured at a low quality to decrease production costs and to maximize profits.

Man it's been decades since I last saw these. Every garage/service station in the 70's had a bunch of them. My mate had some in his shed we used to use (in the 80's/early 90's). As you say, weighed a ton, need manhandling into place, but the benefit of the slow raise/lower is the precision. Wonder why these fell from grace?

You get what you pay for. Also assessing the tool is fit for the job and realizing using some tools when used no matter there origin comes with some risk. Hydraulic presses, grinders, axle stands, jacks etc to name a few all have a lot of forces involved when being used so should be treated accordingly with safety in mind.

In an open society healthy debate should be welcomed and encouraged. No-one should be punished for holding and expressing an opinion even if it contrary to the popular opinion of the day. Two of the the greatest problems we have in the world today are popular opinion being manipulated by slanted media reporting, and the widespread practice of using personal attacks to try and discredit those who hold opposing opinions. A recent ex president comes to mind as being a leading exponent of this particular technique. Oh yeah... and cars are interesting too Cheers...

Its the angle...Genuine BMW short throw lever with a weighted gunmetal Storm 'knob' It really is a 'pleasure' to hold. http://www.storm-motorwerks.com/interior/bmw/shift_knobs_v1/ Weighing in at just over 500g, the stainless steel shift knob really does feel substantial. The "notchy" nature of the BMW gearboxes is significantly smoothed out with this weight through providing a greater pivot force, giving you an effortless and precise gear change every time. Prototyping revealed that with the shift knob too light - the notchiness would still be there, too heavy and gearchange would become laboured and sloppy. With the weight optimised, we have met both criteria - smooth and swift.

Jeez leave some E30's for the rest of us 😂

yea did a bit of searching around and found the tread when it was SUXGAS, figured I should keep the story of the car going on here.

Thread Resurrect: I highly recommend SJ at Apex on the shore, he's a great guy and is extremely professional and knowledgeable. I just did my F10 WOF and service with him and it is always a pleasure. (fought the morning traffic from South Auckland to get there by half eight) Thanks Man.

+1 for Bimmer Geaks Their support on facebook is incredible. https://www.bimmergeeks.net/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/BimmerGeeksProTool

Can confirm, my Standard 2 books are still looking mint, some 28 years later.

Another mt1 out of the woodwork... https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/specialist-cars/competition-cars/listing/3091182680

I just want to thank promo for his fast turnaround of my ECU tune. I posted it to him on Monday, he tuned it on Tuesday and I received it back at lunchtime today. The car feels great with the remap, well impressed - pulls like a train. I do love the shove from these 330d's!

Yeah contact @promo He will be able to do this for you no worries.

Finally happy with the body is work was looking at rhs with some newly learned technique's casting shadows and sanding it with some longer firmer blocks found a few more areas that were really taking the definition away from the line. Was hard to see in photos but in the flesh it was pretty obvious when you run your eyes over it from different angles. I bit down on the mouth piece and slugged out a few more small filler > primer > guide coat > sanding runs and have got it to something I'm signing off on. Doing it at night is ironically ideal at the moment as the shadows under the line are really apparent and you can sand to better shape it and sharpen it up. I sealed it off with some left over base coat from another car and the proof is in the pudding she is looking Sharp, and also no strange reactions with the remnants of 1k primer I was dealing with so that's a relief. Sure there are some areas that I know about that I know to be slightly off but good luck finding them with the eye once paint is on. One hell of a learning journey for me with body work. Started to clean up the dust everywhere, bonnet is primered for a sand down, and I'm moving onto the rest of the car now which is just sand down with 400 grit as I've delt to all dents.

Hi All. Sorry, another bloody x-pom.. I pick this up on Saturday. Looking for the roady back to Darfield, Selwyn.. I've had a few BM's in my time but this is going to be a good one.😎 I plan to make some subtle changes. Just wondering if there is many of these around Christchurch. Catch you around Christchurch guys.. Gary. (xpom)

Oh dear... I must have touched a nerve then... sorry about that But I say what I think and if anyone disagrees with my opinions they are welcome to voice an opposing view. An opinion is not worth holding if it cannot stand up for itself in open debate. And if my opinion is defeated in honest combat with well considered, technically correct, logical and skillfully presented arguments, then I will graciously admit defeat. Cheers...

You really shouldn't, because it wasnt.

Sold! TA

Jeez you talk some sh*t on here.

I agree with you generally, but any manufacturer that gives in to demands to build sub standard safety equipment, and any government that allows this practice, deserves to be called names.

Looking forward to getting my hoist. And no more chinesium stands or tools.

There was a time when I believed that I needed to buy the best British made hand tools for doing a bit of DIY woodwork in my shed. Now those fine trade quality tools are quietly rusting away while I use cheap electric or battery powered tools when I feel the need to saw, drill, sand or plane. So what I have learned is that a person should buy the tools that are suitable for and appropriate for their needs. Trades people should buy the best quality, handymen can manage with medium range and DIY "FARK!!! hit my thumb/cut my hand!!!" type people might as well buy cheap as they are going to end up getting someone else to finish the job anyway. Back on topic... I have four Chinese "3 ton" jack stands exactly as shown in this pic... These same stands are sold in every country that has covid and yet the news media are not reporting a pandemic of crushed bodies or severed limbs due to stands failing in service. Yes, I have no doubt that there have been failures but covid vaccines appear to have contributed to a few deaths as well. How many ? Who knows... maybe one for every ten million jabs ? About the same with jack stands I would guess. In any event, I put four of my "3 ton" jacks under my 1700kg car, so assuming equal weight distribution they are each carrying around 425kg which is 14% of their rated capacity. That gives a safety factor (LOL) of 7 for the Chinese stand. I'm OK with that. But there is no way I would put three tonnes on one of those stands and want to be in the same room. It's just basic risk management Cheers...

Should look like this if you do it right.... Cheers...

Think I'm sorted. I have two pairs of these. Biggest issue is getting the car high enough to get these underneath!

Just because the ratchet part doesn't work you can still make good use of the stand... Cheers...

I really want a pair of the OG screw style stands my friend has. Weigh a ton, are a pain to level anything on (since they have a fairly fine thread) but are almost impossible to go wrong. They're the same as these I have two pairs of old ratcheting ones instead. They have never been a problem, but they're about 10 years old now so probably before the bits fell off the tooling dies. I do feel safer using my Quickjack though.

Watched the Hydraulic Channel on Youtube testing jackstands make me decided to get pin style jackstand.

It's about time. There have been multiple recalls on various brands in the states for quite a while Likely worn out dies and typically poor Chinese QC Ratchet stands are poo. Pin lock is the way. I had a reasonably new ratcheting stand drop an RX3 at my head while servicing after the Motu. That was scary

This seems to happen too often with this type of equipment, one more reason to get a hoist i suppose!

Yep, just bought 3M outdoor mounting tape. Put strips around the edge of the whole spoiler with two strips in the middle just for peace of mind. Had my sister help me line it up so it sat in line with the part where the roof and back end meet. Oh and I wiped down each surface thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol and put pressure on the contact points for around 30 seconds. You can do it yourself but makes things a lot easier with two people, less chance of putting it on wonky.

Managed to pick up an OEM aero spoiler from the wreckers for $190 shipped ... Already painted black as well. Makes the car look so much better

Part number is CHAMPION BS1610 for the 6 x 50 if anyone else need to know I've not been able to find anywhere around Wellington where I could safely do a hard 1st thru 5th gear pull, so I'm not fussed about the IAT going up a bit at the end of that kind of run. But anecdotal evidence and a number of casual tests reported on the internet indicate that generic stepped made in China IC's do hold the temperature down much better that the OEM IC on single gear pulls. And that did interest me for situations where there are repeated hard acceleration / hard braking cycles, or simply high speed cruising. Cool air is the best thing you can feed a turbo engine, so I figured chuck one on, get some benefit now and have a bit of headroom for future mods Cheers...

While all that was going on, I was slowly getting the car ready for getting a LVVTA certification. Eventually, it was ready, so I booked the date. The battery was fairly old and decided to give up a few days before my cert appointment, so I had to get a replacement. I went with a slightly smaller DIN44 battery to save some weight. The certification check went well, but not perfect. The only thing I had to do was get some lock nuts for the engine mounts - a rule I had no idea about. A few days later, the recheck was done, and the modifications were certified. The car ended up receiving one of the new donut style LVVTA electronic data plates, riveted to the passenger B-pillar. The only thing left to do was get a fresh WoF and some registration, then it was finally road legal for the first time in 4 years. Last weekend, I finally got the chance to take it for decent drive. I am absolutely stoked with how nicely she handles. The poly bushes, coilovers, and purple tag rack produce a very direct and responsive steering feel. The ride is not too firm, but still stays flat in the corners. The brakes are quite effective, certainly lighter to engage than a stock E30, but the larger Audi master cylinder firms up with good feel. Though, I'm yet to push them too hard as the pads are still breaking (braking?) in. The LSD amazing - This is the first RWD car equipped with an LSD that I've owned, and...I don't think I could go back. Although, not everything is working how I want. The exhaust is the lowest point by far, and I have already managed to scrap it a few times on speed bumps. The main V-band clamp has taken a few hits, and is already damaged. So... I'm already planning to make some more changes to the exhaust to gain some much needed ground clearance. I've also got a new clutch and flywheel, as well as some shifter and gearbox bits ready to be installed at some point. And the body is going to need a bit of rust repair, and a respray before too long. The project continues...

It's been a while since I last updated this thread, but I haven't stopped making progress. I spent many weekends sorting out various bits and pieces on the car. First up, I noticed a slight rubbing sound when test driving, and found that a balance weight on the driveshaft was slightly contacting fuel tank. This is must've been due to the poly subframe bushes which raise the subframe slightly. I got some washers, and longer bolts to space the Differential down from the subframe Another issue was the wipers. They started sticking as they moved. I pulled the wiper motor, cleaned it up, and put it back together with some new grease. The insulation on the underside of the bonnet had completely crumbled away over almost 30 years of life. Only the adhesive remained. It looked pretty ugly, so I cleaned it off. Much better.