Allanw

I don't think many people who've only driven auto versions really appreciate the difference the manual box makes. Our E39 is only a 525i, but factory manual. I'd pick it again, over an auto 530i just for the directness and dynamics. It probably still doesn't make it faster than the auto 530i, but it sure feels "right" with a DIY trans, whether nana-ing around, or working it hard. Well done!

That newspaper test people say to use is a crock too. it ONLY works if the coolant in the radiator is hot enough AND it's transferring enough of that heat into the bimetal mechanism on the fan clutch to trip it. It's pretty un-scientific. If the gauge is pegged, and the fan is still freewheeling, it's probably faulty Some have been known to leak the fluid out, then they don't work very well, and can seize - locked up. Some wear out the friction/bimetal mechanism, so DON'T lock up, when they should.

The 325i doesn't use much more gas that a 318i in real life, unless you're stuck in traffic all the time. The 320i auto is the hungriest of the lot. The 325i has pretty effortless power, so 4 adults (a squeze!) on a trip, can make the 325i more economical AND faster. Dads old manual 325i SE did quite a lot of short trips, and he averaged a bit over 11L/100kms, but it was easily down to 8.5 on long trips (still not very good by modern standards!). The thing is, to get a decent 325i manual is going to cost a LOT more than a similar condition manual 318i - We sold Dads E30 Last December for $8K: http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/54221-e30-respect/ http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/54837-fs-dads-e30-325i-se/ Personally, for an E30, my (simplified) preference order is: M3 () 325i Manual ... ... ... 318i Manual The 320i doesn't make much sense... although they're easy to upgrade to a 325i engine... but for a classic E30, I'd want a stocker - I was tempted to keep Dads one, but I don't have a decent place to keep it. In reality, you really want to buy the BEST CONDITION one, because there are some REAL dogs out there.

In my VW Kombi, I doubled my power from 62KW to 125KW, on standard brakes. The brake test is fairly crude, really. If they work OK standard, they probably pass the LVV tests.

It's seemingly only been registered in NZ this year, so it's been sat in a garage in Japan somehere. Maybe they went broke buyiing, so they never used it :-)

The £750 one was the one with the sills rotted off? I read a UK E39 forum... they have issues!

Sorry... got you all beat: Introduced July 1970: Daihatsu Max 360 SS - 40PS (39,5HP) from 360cc... of course it's 2 stroke :-) It was also detuned very early in it's production life, but it still was just over 100hp/l I had 2 non-SS models, which were a bit less powerful.

Doesn't the drum for reverse break in these transmissions??? I though reverse disappeared? Maybe it's part way there so far??? Sorry.

I recall Dads E30 manual saying something along the lines of: if you've done a lot of town/low speed driving, to take it on the highway and use a gear or two lower for a while . It sounded like a PC/Professional way of telling you to give it a gentle italian tuneup.

"don't even bother asking me if there is and issue because you will not find one" then: "CHECK NUMPLATE LIGHT" Perhaps one mans perfect is another mans... er... not?

How 'bout both??? Save by buying in bulk!

Haha! Time to paint the M5!

I called *555 late one night, as on the way home, a boy racer in a legnum VR4 nearly collected my family and I only 100M from our house! I was only doing about 50K (country back road), I suggested to the cops he was well over 120 on a curvy part of the road. After I pulled left into the gravel, and he very nearly took out my wing mirror, easily 1m over the centreline, I saw him fishtailing down the road, before regaining control. I had hoped he'd plummet down the 50M bank on his side I called *555 as soon as I got home. I had NO idea of the rego number, just the car, and colour - it HAD to be a VR4 version, as a non turbo could never achieve that speed there. 2 hours later, I was awoken by a call from a cop in a suburb 25 minutes away. They'd pulled the guy over, asked him why he was travelling in a reckless manner on our road (calling his bluff - I didn't have the rego), and he admitted it was him. The cop asked if I wanted to pursue charges or or if he should just be fined, and given a letter of warning. I went with the latter, as it's probably more effective for the young guy, and I hope he thinks twice next time. We've all done something silly, and he was honest about it. I have dash cams now - not so much help at night, but it does show what happens. A good one will show regos from daylight footage.

I ordered Mintex rotors from micksgarage.com, based in Ireland for our E39. set of 4 rotors, INCLUDING shipping, was NZ$210 and took 7 days to arrive. They have regular 20% or 25% off days. It was about 28 KG in the box. I got "posi-quiet" ceramic pads (that Jooles (Jeffbebe) recommended on here) from ebay for NZ$140 shipped. The rotors are plain ones, but Mintex should be OK quality and the pads were specific ones I wanted, because low dust etc.

RUN!

ordered online 0W-40 A3/B4 edge for the M54 Cheers.

aja540i You can tell if it was him... he'll be in front of everyone. All the time.

The E39 seals have been known to give up by themsleves. Stick them back on with butyl tape (or Wurth Dab-Off window sealer). E39 fronts are usually OK, but not the rears,

Shouted from the cheap seats: "Did you put the grilles in yet?"

I wonder if it's one of those cars that's a buttload quicker than you think it will be??? Something might be lurking in there.

People know where to find you when they need a decent job done and done properly You could always drop the sponsor part, and just be one of us plebs, and start giving out advice that you heard in the Pub

The BMW Coolant is actually cheap - Retail on some decent stuff at Repco was about the same as I got the genuine stuff from Milland for.

I thought that too...

You can pull the binary file, and change the hex code in it to read differently - I've done ours, so it reads more "real". It refers to the gauge marks and positioning of the needle - it doesn't help (properly) if the needle is on wrong. The adjustment sets a degrees reading for each mark of the gauge - top of the blue, first mark, 12o'clock, high mark, bottom of red, and pegged. Something like this: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=1013600 I'd suspect your cluster had been apart, and they've stuffed it up, with the needle in the wrong place. You have all your pixels, so it's probably been done at some stage!

Whangarei, on Saturday: