Allanw

You either want an "INPA" setup, or "BMW Scanner". Generic stuff is crap for finding what the codes really mean, a lot of the time.

Needs more fire from the pipes

You're trying to rark up Ron, right?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Listings.aspx?member=550396

It'd be easier if they made everything standard, but the US changed their stuff! There's a UK based forum and a US one I read, so have to convert stuff for it to make sense to me... annoying as hell!

That's a whole different skill! Respected too!

They should all do that... people stop looking after old cars though :-(

And US mpg even! 7L/100kms is 40 miles per real gallon.... or 33US Unless your readout is set to US MPG, then it's only actually about 8.5L/100kms... Is everyone confused now??? That's not so bad... we only get a tiny bit better from The '29 Ford... and it's only 40 hp (US ones too!)

Balls. You need them to understand.

What he said^^^^^^ Common as muck. Use butyl sealer or tape to stick it back down. Then you can get them off when required.

I'd look very closely - I suspect those are a Metric rim, not 15", but 390mm - you can't put 15" tyres on them, only very expensive and very average TRX / 390mm tyres. The tyre size will end with "390", instead of "15", IF they are metric They look like the ones mostly seen on the E24 6 series, the "usual" E28 ones looked a bit more like E30 bottlecaps, and were 14". I'm not real cluey on the details Brent probably knows all the details.

Especially when I have experience with the two entirely different, SPECIFIC cars I made the comparison of and was talking about during my post. My experience with them is as I say. It's not perceived, you can actually measure these things Even Dad agrees - he's drives the E39 faster, simply because it's more comfortable to do so. It uses less fuel driving around here than his E30, including the month he exclusively used the E39 while the E30 was having work done over Christmas. He often found himself going faster than he thought going up to Kaeo. Dunno how you explain that any simpler. It just IS. Not sure where the racetrack ever came into it. We use them on the road. For going places. Anyway - I not going to waste more time on it. The whole actual point, was that E30's ARE an old school car. It's doesn't make them bad, but technology has moved on a lot since the E30, and in not very much time. It's moved on a lot since the E39 too of course.

Pretty sure I can't type slowly enough for you to understand what I'm saying - just like last time. I'll leave you to it.

Instead of picking the single most economical E30 year, you can average all the E30 325i and 325is years upto 1991: http://www.fuelly.com/car/bmw/325is http://www.fuelly.com/car/bmw/325i Then they average 10.3, and if you remove the (clearly incorrect) lowest 3.3L/100km one from the 1991 325is, and the '84 325i one at 16.9 (highest year, skewed by this entry), we come up with a realistic average of 10.9. I reckon they're both pretty close to 10 or 11 L/100kms - like most people get from one. The E39 525i average out at 11.1, and I bet a whole lot more of them are autos, than the E30's are. Dads around town average in the E30 is 11L/100kms. I did 9.2 in the E39, though my wife can never manage it and ends up nearer 11. They're both manuals remember, and in the same town. We have climate air on all the time, they never use the AC. We have 3 boys, seats and gear, they have a handbag dog. Like I said: But thats not why you buy an E30!

I could say the same... but I actually have both to compare. Not many (if any) E30 325i owners will have similar economy to that.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... Rice Pudding! Two things I've done in Dads E30 that could have gone badly: Dad got his E30 (325i SE manual) when I was 18ish. I grew up driving old VWs with swing axles, so knew about how badly the back end can behave (luckily!) if you do something silly..... ..... I remember vividly going around the corner the Nissan dealer was located on, with a little too much speed, and a little too much throttle... in the wet! I still had it crossed up as I went past the workshop doors, a couple of the techs watched me go by (probably waiting for the bang!). I'm sitting in the hot seat, butt clenched tight, waiting for the road speed to catch up to the rear wheel speed hopefully just as it straightened up, but BEFORE I ran out of road... The only thing I knew was that backing off the throttle too much might result in it being parked INSIDE the Nissan dealership The other was stepping from the E39 (525i manual) into the E30 just last year. I needed to pull quickly onto a busy main road (80 km/h traffic, very small gaps). In the E39, you just add a few more revs, slip the clutch a little more and give it full throttle - never any drama, it goes as fast as the grip/DSC+T allows and gets upto speed. I did it in the E30, and of course the back lit up, and instead of drama free, I got a wriggly, smokey blastoff Bonus was, the cars behind slowed down and made a bigger gap I've always found E30's to be pretty good handlers... until they really suddenly aren't! They really are old tech - our E39 runs rings around it. The E39 does it faster, quieter, more economically and WAY safer, but I can't see it becoming a cult/classic like a manual E30 325i has. Like you say - seriously OLD school, but cool. Dads has been an amazing car. There is absolutely no question - If you ask him what the best car he ever had was - It's the E30... and it's not the newest car he's had! They've done about 18 years and 130K together. Dads starting to think quite a bit more about selling it, but after 18 odd years, we'll all miss it if he does! He worries about Mum driving it (not sure if he's more concerned for her, or the car though ) BECAUSE of the trouble you can get into in it! If he sells it, I honestly think he'll cry

Does the brake pedal go hard within seconds of turning off the engine? It has a check valve, so after the engine is off, you should be able to pump the pedal 3 or 4 times before it goes hard. If the valve is faulty, or the diaphragm is torn, it can go hard by itself, soon after the engine is shut off. If you shut off the engine, and come back 30 minutes later, and still get 3 or 4 assisted presses, it's normal. Is this WOF guy clever??? (I'm not joking - there are places I wouldn't trust to WOF my wheel barrow!) Is the play in the rack, or the rackend(balljoint)? The joint certainly can't be adjusted, unless it's loose where it bolts on, but he shouldn't have let you leave if it was that. The rack has an adjustment for the pinion end (driver side), but don't over do it - the amount you turn it is tiny, to take up a fair bit of slack.

Waiting for my Mrs to do that..... She locked a kid in the supermarket carpark once, while loading groceries..... luckily she managed to coax him into pulling the handle twice... just as I pulled up after leaving work! Guy next door to me does calls for the AA, and he had 32 calls on a weekend, a month or two back!

Yep - the main cable come forward from the boot, to a junction is a plastic (red) surround... OK - asked Uncle Google - easier: 12V+ in there

Haha! That shitty little "Get WIndows 10" icon on my taskbar keeps crashing... I suspect it may be foreshadowing impending doom if I tried to upgrade.

Sounds about right... he wouldn't have to risk damaging the car if he used the connection underneath though. Our E39 has one on the left "chassis" rail under the starter. The lock has to be turned MUCH further than when using the central locking too - 90* I think.

2.5 hours left of work... ...today

Is there ANYTHING decent on those things???

Put it on air!

He seems happier today...