M3AN

Smarty pants.

Don't know how to do it with a single character (= + /)!

I'm looking at options myself... dealing with this guy at the moment, prices are sharp. http://www.bmwfabric.com/#!home/mainPage

GST != import duty - it's important to distinguish between the two. And "online GST" is referring to digital, not physical goods.

Seems like you've got one too many.

Heated steering wheels? WTF pussies.

I've got a "proper" BMW scanner that I have no need for if you're interested. You just need to make sure your car is supported by looking at this table. Have a look around their site, it's a proper BMW scanner with "shadow code" support. I'm offering the "Enthusist" version with 2 VIN slots still available. You need a Windows computer to use the software. Send me a PM if you're interested in a good deal.

You'll probably need to add some spec's like diameter, width and offset...

Passive aggressive behaviour.

They may not be tagging fences but they're fencing goods to cook meth. That's far worse.

I have two here you can borrow if you pick up from Hillcrest on the North Shore... Can also recommend a couple of alignment shops in Wairau Valley if that's suitable.

I tracked down all the part numbers for the various kits on the Bilstein site some time ago and it was possible to cross reference everything. I use B6's with Eibach red springs and bars on my E36. The springs are slightly lower than stock, 15 or 20 mm.

As it happened this all collapsed between Christmas and New Year so for days I couldn't got hold of anyone (and my goods were being returned to Amazon!). When the NZ office opened I eventually got hold of them who eventually got hold of California but not a lot happened. When the Cali Op's Manager got back from holiday (the following Monday) he proactivly reached out to me with the "we'll do it fro free" offer which I was satisfied with. As I say, shouldn't have happened but being willing to fix the mistake and go beyond made it all okay for me in the end. As it turns out I also got a 100% refund from Amazon even though they were not at fault... so I landed my suspension in two weeks and all it cost me was GST on the air freight (invoice for the goods from Amazon was $0).

Kiwi Shipping initially failed me but recovered 100% by sending the goods air-freight for free... it was a monumental cock-up on their part but only cost me time and frustration. They shouldn't have stuffed up but credit where credit is due, they properly fixed it. And now I have the email address of their Operations Manager in Cali. I'll probably use them again because they do make it easy and I got photo's and tracking information along the way.

It's all good mate, 1uf is a tried and tested solution. And since my "oem spec" 0.47 blew out I wasn't going to try that again!

Wow, so I finally put my original VANOS unit back in. It's been a while since I rebuilt the solenoids and I've been using Mark's (SweetM3) spare unit in the meantime. Suffice to say I was very, very lucky to have that option and am very grateful. Nevertheless I totally forgot about it until the other day and still had my rebuilt unit sitting in a bag in the garage! Needed to get Mark's back to his shelf. So I swapped them over yesterday and today and checked my valve clearances at the same time (most between max and out of spec). Happy to report that it all went smoothly! Everything fired up first time and the VANOS passed the DIS test with flying colours! This is (hopefully) my final VANOS journey now that not only have I done the seals and rattle kit, I've also cleaned and re-soldered the solenoids having dug them out of the gunk that a PO installed many years ago. Touch wood!

Fixed my digital climate control head unit today which was a little annoying because I actually had it professionally fixed about 8 years ago and secondly I hate soldering electronics, I'm fine with larger electrical stuff but find electronic components very fiddly. But it had to be done and this time I'm using a 1.0 instead of 0.47 capacitor for more headroom. And to be honest I think I did a pretty fine job... All tested and working fine! I followed this DIY so thanks to Richard for keeping it up: http://www.macadamizer.com/bmwfix.html

Cheers dude, it's a labour of love and hate! Keepin' an eye on your progress too...

Just wanted to throw it out there that the car's just ticked over 164,000 km's and it's running better than it has in the last two years (since I pulled it from storage), it's really purring and, for the time being I'm quite satisfied, maybe she's paying me back? Starts first turn, idle settles quickly and is stable, warms up well and pulls hard and smoothly in all gears, quite as I could hope for too. Nothing's perfect and the list of two-dos is as long as ever but I'm enjoying the experience of driving an ///M at the moment. Nice.

lol - standard e36 problems then! :-/ Long story, see here.

I finally got around to replacing my old floor mats too and I have to say the new (to me) ones look fantastic. Finally I have floor mats that match my carpet perfectly and are all clipped down properly. I'll keep my old mats because whilst they're OEM they're some type of super heavy duty ones that I've never seen before. Could come in handy if I'm hauling around dirty crap. Thanks to Brent at BM World:

I recommend everybody with an E36 coupé should check their boot latch and surrounding area for damage right now... It's apparently a common problem (see here) and can lead to total failure. There's a reinforcement discussed in this thread but I made one and it prevented the boot from closing. So I've replaced the latch with an undamaged one but I imagine that too will fail over time (especially now that this area is weaker). I'll have to just keep an eye on it for the time being.

Picked up my inner tie rods from the machine shop today. They look okay but it remains to be seen if they'll work. There are 3 slots, about 120 degrees apart from each other.

No, not fixed yet but I have a set of inner e36 links at the machine shop now which I've asked them to cut grooves in them. They said it's possible but I've not heard back from them yet, I need to give them a call. The other option I found was a bellows/boot that has a nipple for attaching a hose. There are quite a few out there but it would be a bit hit and miss as to what would fit.

^ Cheers buddy. Now I just need to work through that 'track ready' list and address a couple more things (that's a list that never ends) and we can hit Hampton Downs - I won't be keep up with you but it'll be fun anyway. I thought to myself after you left that we missed a good opportunity on a sunny day to get a pic of 1 Sweet and 1 Mean Estoril M3 together!