Andrew

Apologies for the small forum downtime there... hah

Having a looksie..

We could active members as members who have made a post in the last 3 months. That makes just shy of 2000 of you. I've always found the meets pretty well patronised. I think a lack of well organised events is more a problem. Monthly meet on the shore usually gets 5 of us, but we have scared away at least 40 people who have met us.

BMW last week reported a 33 percent drop in its 2nd-quarter profits. But things are a little worse for BMW than they seem. CEO Norbert Reithofer said on Friday that the luxury German automaker will be increasing prices later this year and next year. Speaking to the press on a conference call, Reithofer also said that car sales in the U.S. will be lower than last year. He said that the automaker will cut the number of cars that it originally planned to sell in the U.S. by 40,000 units. BMW will also cut production by 20,000 to 25,000 units to counter the current market conditions in the U.S. Reithofer said that BMW will also cancel plans to produce the X7, a large SUV that was supposed to compete with the Range Rover and Mercedes-Benz GL-Class.

That is what I was using on my b25 old race car motor.

That sounds about right for a 335. What did it give you for guesstimated horsepower?

The 323i head I had was bigger than a 320 head? Perhaps there was a change one year? But yeah - no power gains.

Virtually any ECU (right back to the 80s motronic units) can be upgraded real-time on the dyno and retuned. Gavin Bellars from Hi Velocity can do this for you - 09 442 4451

As we said, even luxury car companies are not immune to the U.S. economic downturn and high gas-prices. Second-quarter profits at BMW were down nearly 33 percent resulting in BMW dropping its year profit forecast for 2008. BMW said it earned 507 million euros in the April through June period, down 32.7 percent from 753 million euros it earned last year. Sales for BMW were down half a percent to 14.6 billion euros compared to 14.7 billion euros from last year. “Business conditions for the automobile industry deteriorated sharply again in the second quarter due to further ongoing steep rises in oil and raw material prices, the weakness of the U.S. dollar, the impact of the international financial crisis and a weaker U.S. economy,” BMW said in its press release.

I would so daily the R-GT Mint photos - keep em coming.

The brakes and clutch aren't connected.

I've had a GTech meter measure very accurate quarters. People often go slower at Meremere.

Don't go for the un-named chipping. Get on the dyno and spend your money getting your ECU remapped properly - while on the dyno. Naturally do this after you have done all the other mods to get the best value for money. Gavin Bellars is a BMW man and runs Hi Velocity in Auckland. He has got good results from other E46s (CSLs, M3s and so on)

Sure can.

I concur - it also has a skidpad feature. This needs thorough testing.

Righto - naturally we have been a tested this on a closed and controlled circuit. An RS6 (V6 turbo one) has done a 14.1 1/4 which sounds about right considering the conditions - some controlled vehicles may have got in the way....

For those of you who doubted how badass the iPhone was, now is the appropriate time to eat some tasty humble pie. Dynolicious can measure horsepower, 1/4 mile and other performance related crap using the iPhone's in built accelerometer. One word - BADASS. Also lurking in the app store is G-Tac which can do lap timing and graph it. Both are in the AppStore right now - Dynolicious will set you back $16.99 - sweet bugger all compared with a GTech meter. I am downloading it now.

Can't replicate it - still having the problem Tim?

Most of them are a waste of money. If not all. The best way it to tune your car on a dyno with somebody who has the equipment to tune your ECU (like Gavin Bellars @ Hi Velocity)

I always think of my car as an E28.. I'm not sure why but I'd love to join the club.

Along with the new 2009 BMW M3, BMW has announced minor upgrades for the 2009 BMW M5 and M6. Both 2009 M5 and M6 get new exterior mirrors with larger ‘field of vision’ - which BMW is an extra safety feature. Like the 2009 BMW M3, the M5 and M6 also get the new iDrive with ConnectedDrive. Power still comes from a 5.0L V10 engine that produces 507 horsepower but BMW has added some EfficientDynamics upgrades to make the models more efficient. Increase efficiency is achieved by a new high-performance sports brake system and a lighter rear-axle. BMW is also adding a Competition Package for the 2009 BMW M6 Coupe, pictures of which have yet to be released. The package gives the M6 a high-performance profile with a new concentrated chassis which is lowered by 12 millimeters on the front and 10 millimeters on the rear axle. BMW also added new forged aluminum wheels with double-spoke design and other visual distinctions to showing the Competition Package. More details and pictures will be released closer to launch. On sale later this year, the 2009 BMW M5 and M6 also get a new metallic Carbon Black color. 2009 BMW M5 and M6 Details:

Following the new 2009 BMW 3-Series Sedan, BMW has released a facelift for the new 2009 BMW M3 Sedan. Like the new 3-Series the 2009 M3 gets redesigned L-shaped tail-lights and LED headlamps and flashing lights. The inside gets minor cosmetic changes to center console and driver-side controls. All 2009 BMW M3 models (including the coupe and the convertible) get the new iDrive with an 8.8 inch with an image resolution of 1280 x 480 pixels - perfect for unrestricted surfing of the Internet via ConnectedDrive. Power still comes from a 4.0L V8 engine producing 420-hp. The new 2009 BMW M3 will arrive in showrooms later this year with a new metallic Space Gray color available for the M3 Sedan. All three body variants get a new metallic Le Mans Blue color as well. Click through for more images. 2009 BMW M3 Sedan and Coupe:

Actually I'll do regular full paint protection for the odd M3 drive..

I'll admit that Le Mans X5 with the V12 motor was kind of badass. But seriously - an M offroad car is FAIL

Badass