Allanw

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...

He's having a real bad time right now..... http://www.trademe.co.nz/pets-animals/cats/cats-to-buy/auction-856339388.htm ... cut him some slack

Doesn't your tool have the strengthening ribs on the wrong side? My tool looks like this (Franklin TA331): So the flat surface sits against the carrier and the arm pushes pretty square on the ball joint bolt. I cranked this thing up, and it made the arm let go with a real bang! It threw the tool down, and chipped the concrete! Of course mine is a 6 cylinder, so maybe slightly different. (HAHA! He said tool etc...)

The brand new E39 ones I have does, If that helps.

Must watch... :-)

People who keep taking my freakin stapler!

The taiwanese cheapo ones on trademe are way better than the BMW ones ever were!

There's S704A too: M sports suspension - I don't know what the difference is, but our E39 is 704 rather than 705. It was really low, and I actually raised it about 20mm, with 10mm spacers in the strut mounts when I rebuild the suspension, so now it's normal low, instead of annoying low: The new Sachs shocks for the sport suspension are SUBSTANTIALLY more expensive than standard ones FYI

There is a place that does rebuild kits, in aluminium. Uncle Google knows them. I can't remember the names at all. They aren't cheap, and you don't get a new diaphragm. Repalcement is easier, and it''ll probably last at least as long as the original.

Just buy a vice

Would you beleive it's only the NZ new ones, because the lights don't have the correct veiwing angles to comply, so they are disabled..... but imports are OK to NOT comply??? That's what I heard, and it might be true.

Hey Kelvinator ... stalking you on another one now... saw your "pivot thing" for "earthing your raizins"

You can make a 350i and an 818i ?

Mine is NFS SE... not II... :-( Between us, we probably have every version though!

Or the ones with park lights on.... They've thought about it........ but not enough to put on anything bright enough for other to see OR make a difference to their vision... Maybe they're too dim (the drivers I mean... I know the lights are!)

There are E39's on the UK forum with that... that are still on the road! leaking door vapour barriers and rotted sills will do that too! Yours probably won't look anywhere near that bad!