M3AN

3.23 is stock for the 6 speed but still, the leap is significant and I'm expecting satisfying results. Should be about 450 RPM higher per gear which will make 100km/h two shifts instead of one but I don't live my life by the stopwatch, just by the seat of my pants! Shifting all that torque down the range should be fun, it should put the "pull" about halfway between the e46 M3 and the CSL. I'll keep the original gear set for posterity.

Should have gone for Euro delivery!

Popped up in a casual conversation on the web, had to jump on it immediately. Comes from a proper enthusiast from across the ditch... half of what it would have cost me here and near new... ?

Ooh la la...

And with respect to all e92 M3 owners... the e46 is far more fun... it might even be "better"... I expect the e9x prices to continue to drop where e46's will hold. I do think Gareth has a point too... are many people getting $35k+ for their 15 year old M3's? It also makes a mockery of the e36 M3's advertised for $30k+ - our world is full of dreamers. But anything desirable with not much more than delivery km's will go for huge sums - their target market is completely distinct from your normal buyer and those prices are not a good indicator of "normal" offerings.

It's about 100 times more difficult to get a car into Australia than here (new or used). That's a legacy of protectionism for their (now dead) car manufacturing industry. Good luck.

Wow! Even though the final destinations are not near a (Pacific) port surely you can still stipulate sea for the Pacific leg? Even if the final address was in LA it would need to go on a truck from the port to the destination... perhaps give Mainfreight a call and see if you can do sea+land - I reckon you can. It'll take weeks but should cost hundreds less. I brought ~120kg's back from Amsterdam in 17 boxes and that was "only" about NZ$2100... that went truck -> boat -> truck (and via the UK). Either way, good luck - sucks to lose a fish off the hook!

Yes ^ please.

I'd say if that's a pulley then it's in very bad shape and I wouldn't drive the car until it was replaced least you lose a belt. Pulleys normally give a telltale high-pitched whine long before the bearings fail. Also a pulley noise will change with the revs, does that happen? You can test them yourself by slacking off the belt and spinning them with your fingers to listen for noise and feel smoothness. if you're going to do that you might as well loop the belt off the accessories also (keep a track of routing) and check the alternator, water pump and power steering pump by feel also. If it's not something belt related then I'm sorry but I can't offer any other suggestions.

Try FCPEuro.com - often their shipping is better than Schiedmann. Otherwise... I got nothing for ya.

Can you bring a vehicle in and not seek to register it, thereby avoiding compliance? And then store it for x time (say, until it's 20 years old) then register it? How would you get a track-only car into the country (for example)? It seems if it's already on a boat, and there's a chance that it won't comply, then you'd need to find some other path to follow to avoid having to walk away from it.

It's too soon for me to conclude its a waste of money, it is noticeably different to the purple rack so, if you like the differences it may well be worth it. I've reserved my judgement until I can take it on a variety of journeys. I paid somewhat less than "normal" asking price for this and I agree that ~$700 is ridiculous. I didn't watch the alignment procedure so can't comment but they know what they're doing. It's off by less than the normal on-centre 'slack' of the wheel at rest so nothing dramatic but enough for me to notice. As for centring, there are no key marks on the steering wheel or splines and the wheel has been off many times. There's no harm playing around with this, even with an airbag because when you remove the wheel the entire clock spring comes with it so unless you remove that from the wheel itself and bugger round with it you can't damage it by simply changing splines. I did centre the rack when I installed it by making sure that the steering wheel was on-centre and had the same turns from centre to full lock left and right although I accept that it could easily be off by a small margin (but that wouldn't prevent perfect centring, just marginally different left and right lock). What you can't do is be miles off at the bottom spline and try and compensate at the top one as that will surely tear your ribbon cables. I'm going to try and adjust the wheel this afternoon, if moving it one spline brings the wheel closer to perfect centre then I'll be happy with that. If it makes it worse then I'll revert and take it back in if I don't get used to it (the human brain is an amazing compensator!). Update: I moved the steering wheel one spline clockwise and now it's about 1/4 degree right down whereas it was about 1 degree left down before. I think I'll be happy with that, I suspect 99% of people wouldn't notice it at all.

Alignment sorted this week and a quick drive, I'll take it out this weekend for a proper run. The feedback it gives is amazing... perhaps even disconcerting for some as it translates every imperfection on the surface through the steering wheel. Some may not like this and over a long distance I imagine it'll take more out of you but I really like it, you feel directly connected to the road. I would certainly say that it's not worth the 100% premium over the purple rack unless you really want that direct and instant feedback. The purple rack is vastly superior to the stock one but the Z3 rack is only an incremental upgrade for me and I reckon many people would prefer the purple as it's a little more compliant. But whatever you do, if you have a stock rack make sure you upgrade it to one of these two. I've had to recalibrate my turn-in and wind-out but that was easy enough, this rack would be perfect for auto-x or gymkhana events. My steering wheel is about 1 degree off centre. ?? I'll try and re-centre it at the actual steering wheel this weekend, I'm not sure if it's worth taking it back to the alignment shop or if that's just being a pedantic dick...? Happy so far... and I've just purchased some more bits that should have me visiting Kayne sometime soonish... ?

I enjoyed Clarkson's spiel about how BMW have butchered and devalued the ///M moniker. Just wait to he gets his hands on an X5//MDPHSXiswhatever. I thought the 8er looked okay, good even. I'm glad that it appears smaller than it actually is because if it looked as big as it actually is they'd have to call it a GNSGT (Ginormous, Non-Sporty GT). I did note they didn't do any agility tests with the cars... are they all 2 ton plus? Automatic disqualifier as a "sports car" if so. I still prefer the new Top Gear, pity Matt is moving on.

Pics for sure.

But... is there any reason at all, good or bad, to leave out an LSD? That's madness. Or are they wanting you to rely on the traction control? :sadpandaface: Seems mental to me with anything capable of breaking traction. No driving on the limit.

I remembered this thread when I rode passed a 'secret' dog park the other day. It's small, but then so is your dog, lots of parking, trees for cover or you can stay in the car if it's raining, doggie-doo bin and I've never seen another dog (or person) there. Best parking is on Derby but Lonsdale will get you there too. Back of the racecourse.

1938 323's are very rare, best you look after it well. ? Yes, you can clean the existing hoses no problems. Any detergent will be fine, just make sure you flush them clean and let them dry really well. Silicon hoses can be found here: https://roosemotorsport.co.uk/silicone-hose-kits/bmw-silicone-hose-kits/e30-hose-kits.html And also other places, I'm sure Samco will do them but if you can afford them you can't go wrong with the Roose ones, they're exceptional quality. Having said that, as you've noticed the stock rubber ones are pretty durable, given the cost of silicon for really, very little benefit, I'd take a lot of convincing.

Wut? ? Some came without an LSD? ~450hp RWD.

Stance nation!

If I'm honest I don't have a problem with this concept (with some minor tweaks). Fully configurable dashboards are a near-term inevitability. The look above reflects modern HUD design language and has a lot of scope. It's not a replacement for analogue gauges though and each have their place.

Yep, still spinning freely. I'll take the belt off anyway, it's just wasting ponies at this stage.

Traced the drip on my driveway from the 328 to the aircon compressor... ?!? Didn't realise that contained fluid... my aircon doesn't work and I'm never going to bother with it so how much fluid is in the compressor? I've got to decide whether to just let it drip dry (empty) or remove it entirely. The fluid (which is a lubricant of some description) is coming from a join in the compressor casing. I know it must be coming from there because I dumped two cans of degreaser into the area yesterday and got it spotless then washed it all down with a pressure hose. Started the car today up on stands once it was all dry (and I'd wiped all the surfaces) and 10 mins later a drip formed under the compressor (with nothing coming from anywhere near the engine). Was quite surprised.

What's the difference between "Off" at zero RPM and "Ready" at zero RPM? And does it ever sit at "Ready" - assuming not, what's it for? Idiots?

So the main dials form a mirror image? God only knows, all the self respecting engineers have left the BMW building.