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I expected the V8 to run hotter but the fan sounds like a helicopter taking off sometimes... Surely it was never meant to be that loud! Wow... BPA free? At least it's real wood in a bimmer. The un-sun-damaged trim in my 528 looked beautiful but it does look sh*t once the sun's done its work. Will sand the maroon trim this weekend and re-install - hopefully it will look good. Did anyone have advice re: finishing it. I'm planning to wet sand with 1500 grit once the paint's cured. Will it be okay without a clear coat. I don't want it to be too shiny but I also don't want to over sand (especially the corner edges).

Is media blasting expensive? Any recommendations of who to go to? Did you do yours in the 540 or E30? I think the 540 engine bay needs the aluminium/silver colour to break up all the black plastic parts!

Hey Matt. What did you paint them with? Powder coat or heat resistant paint? About to paint my valve box covers and wondering the best way to do it. Any advice on prepping them for painting would be great too - the covers on M62tu are pretty corroded.

It's all been checked and working fine but every now and again - particularly in stop/start traffic - the fan locks up and makes a helluva racket. Sounds like a hovercraft. Anyone come across that before? I suspect an after market fan clutch... Works okay but noisily.

Keep the wheels... Mint.

Bugger... After 3 goes I call the pros.

Really?! After 4+ years! The building more important than the finished project then, I take it.

Have you got one I can borrow? I can return by overnight courier.

Blurry pics are a great excuse for another meet! Let's not wait a year.

That could work... Will have to make some sort of filter as I'm interested to know what's stuck in there (and how it got there!

Good idea! Will give it a try. I'll take a pic tomorrow but it may not be visible. It's less of a dent and more of a flat impression - which is why it's not that noticeable - about 15cm square in the centre of the bonnet about 20cm from the windscreen. I've tried pushing out it out by hand but no luck. Bonnet also flexes more than it should when you press near the middle, hence why I suspect that it has been very slightly bent or twisted somehow.

At Auckland Zoo today... Wow.

Tight.

The red I posted before WAS the primer... but have now done the actual colour and it's looking good (much darker than the pic I posted before).Personally, I like the wood when it's new... But so few are kept in decent condition, especially in NZ's intense sun. Managed to get a mint set for the 528 from the UK - so no sun damage - but sold it with the car. The wood in the new one was in pretty bad condition and really faded so thought I'd try something new. Also gives me something to do since I'm not that flash at the mechanical side!

Tried that... Even my four year-old's hands are too big. Problem is the bend in the duct... You can't reach over it.

Since buying the 540i I've been troubled by an odd noise that sounded like it was coming from the centre console. Since removing the trim I've been able to identify the problem... But don't know how to fix it. Something has been trapped in the plastic duct for the rear air con outlet. When you brake/corner you can hear it rolling around but I haven't got a clue how to get it out, short of pulling out all the ducting... Which looks like a mission. Any suggestions? The other thing is a dent in the bonnet... Well, it's not actually a dent, it's a slight but wide impression that I reckon has been caused by the bonnet being stressed in some way. Probably someone slamming it shut with some tools underneath... Which would make sense as the fan shroud is also cracked so most likely something left on top of there that has bent the bonnet. Just wondering if this could be fixed by a paintless ding repairer (as there are a couple of other small dings) or would it need a panel beater? Cheers in advance.

Cheers Tristan. Hopefully I can get the finish on the paint looking good when I sand and polish. Want it to look OEM not DIY! Cheers Sam. Very glad I decided to refurb instead of replace the wheels when they were on my 528. BTW, which was your E30? Not sure if we met, I'm a bit shite with names so apologies if we did!

Hijack away, I enjoyed the coffee! Do I look like a Windows paint sorta guy?! Way too sophisticated for me! Thanks. Last coat went on today and did a quick colour test. Very happy with it and the black monitor board trim looks 100% better... From this: To this: Will give the trim a few days to cure then wet sand and cut and polish. Probably won't lacquer as prefer a matte/satin finish unless paint experts on here suggest otherwise.

Thanks for bringing this yesterday, Tony. A highlight for me. What a car!

Ha! Thanks Tony. Very glad I didn't give them up when I sold the 528... Would have felt out of place yesterday without a set of BBS wheels!

Anyone who had a peek inside mine today probably noticed all the interior trim's been pulled out. It was pretty faded walnut with a fair few nasty cracks in the lacquer. Have been working on the weekend on it to restore it with this as my inspiration, though I'm going for a slightly darker red/maroon and have painted the monitor trim black: If it works out okay I'll post a little DIY. If it doesn't, I've got some carbon fibre wrap somewhere and will have it looking like the CSLs in no time! haha

Thanks Kurt. Good to meet you too and really good to see an E30 touring represented. I'm a big of wagons and always aimed for an E39 wagon but virtually impossible to find a V8 and most of the motorsport ones I've seen are pretty expensive so settled for a sedan.

Of course... The purple one with the black wheels, right? Liked the colour way more in person. Looked good and not many cars do in bright sunshine!

Haha... Yeah, I will... I can use the same pic and no one will know. Thanks Darin. Did we meet today? If we did, sorry I didn't make connection... If not, come and say gidday next time. Which car did you bring?

The deck can have the overspray... The kid never uses the goddamn bike anyway.