Matt

Hi again. It seems I am constantly posting here with problems haha. Such is the fun of having an old bmw I suppose. Anyway, latest problem is to do with the steering on my e30 that has an e36 rack. It is an intermittent problem where, sometimes when I drive it, the steering has a massive dead patch about 10° each side where turning the steering wheel does absolutely nothing, as if theres a heap of slack between the worm gear and rack. Once past this point the steering feels really rubbery and doesn't self centre very well. Needless to say it makes it pretty hard to drive the car, even just in a straight line. Weird thing is I could park up and when I get back to drive the car an hour or 2 later the steering might then feel absolutely fine again. It never starts happening mid-drive, its either like that from the beginning and will stay until I stop or it will be fine the whole drive. Anybody got any ideas??

They are actually e46 mounts which are supposed to be the best of the oem ones from what I've heard. I also heard they are a direct swap into the E30, so I assume you can use the original plate underneath. Although searching realoem the plate seems to be specific to e30, e36ti, and z3. May need Glenn to chip in here with what I actually need though... Same for what goes underneath the plate (I currently have nothing). Cheers for the help so far Ron. Edit: Woops, didn't see your post Glenn. Cheers for the input. Do I get those other 2 E30 parts as well??

Thanks guys. Is that picture for E30 or E36, Ron? Looking at this pic below from realoem I am missing 4, 5 and 6. I will order them all today.

Not sure exactly what you mean by the discs. As for the rest of it this is the kit I got for the shock mounts

They are definitely bilstein sports. It happened while I was driving on metal roads and hit a deep pothole which I didn't see in time. I guess this setup just isn't designed for those kind of roads haha. Oh well, lesson learnt.

They are OEM parts but I got them from Pelican parts. While I'm sure they're still covered by warranty it is probably more hassle than it's worth to go through it with them. I'm going to try and press the bushes back in tonight but if I'm not successful I'll just get new ones from BMW tomorrow. At least it isn't a hugely expensive part but I'm pretty disappointed they only lasted a few weeks.

Just went and checked that actually. Answer - Nope! Both sides the rubber bush has blown out of the bracket, so my shocks are basically hanging free at the top. I guess it happened yesterday when I hit a pothole, only really noticed it from then, but it also happened to be my first big drive with the new suspension. Can they be pressed back in and reused or do I need to get brand new ones (again). Kind of annoying because they're brand new shock mounts too. I even got the e46 ones because they're meant to be stronger Edit: Pic for reference...

Hi guys, Need some advice about my suspension. When I drive over bumps the rear of my car is bouncing and wallowing around heaps. It feels like there's hardly any damping so the rear springs just keep bouncing up and down. If I push down on the back when the car is parked it seems to bounce around more than it should as well. The car has brand new bilstein sport shocks and brand new H&R sport springs (Plus powerflex bushes, new shock mounts, and factory rear swaybar). This is a pretty common setup so I don't know why I would be having this problem. IS it likely that the shocks are sitting to close to the limit of their travel so aren't able to provide enough damping? If this is the case, what can I do about it? Any other possibilities? I would hope a brand new pair of shocks haven't gone bad. PS. It seems to get a lot worse when I've got people sitting in the back of the car. I'm not having any problems with the front end of the car, that feels perfect!

At my work we have an FDM machine for prototyping which make parts in ABS plastic, not the greatest resolution though. We also get all of our more finely detailed parts prototyped in SLA before we make our mould tools, which speeds up the prototyping process massively. BMW (and probably a lot of other car makers) prototype a lot of their parts these days by 3D printing aluminium so they can pretty much rapid prototype major components of the cars in the correct material. Very very cool. I've also seen a 3D printer that can do titanium in incredibly fine detail. Unbelievably expensive but so awesome!

Spotted BABYM3 on Esmonde Rd. Hot.

bumpage. If I end up needing to paint them, anyone know if I'm better off starting with the black plastic as a base or one that is factory painted another colour?

Rather than having my crappy faded black plastic ones painted to match the rest of the car I figured I might as well see if anyone has some wing mirrors that are already in the right colour. So, if anyone has any zinnoberrot wing mirrors for an e30 (facelift, if it makes a difference) then hit me up.

Give it to Sam, it's about time he replaced the Trueno...

Yeah, 2 of those M kontours have turned out to be buckled. Vibrates like crazy above 80km/h! I thought I'd look into some other options before I investigate getting them repaired. Pretty gutted tbh!! They would be great but out of my price range at the moment unfortunately :-(

Hi all, After some 17" wheels to fit an E36. I'm mostly after either Alpina, ac schnitzer, bmw style 32s, or e36 fitment style 5s but let me know what you got. Don't really want to go too wide so would prefer 17x7.5 and have an offset of close to et40. Cheers, Matt

Sweet, thanks for the advice guys. Will try give it another good go tomorrow with the bleeding. Ashkan, if you could send me a pick of your bleeder that'd be awesome. Chur.

Hi guys, My E30 project is nearly done, the only thing really preventing me going out and enjoying it is that the brakes are performing terribly! I have done a 5 stud conversion so up front it is running E36 M3 brakes and 318ti at the rear. The master cylinder is a brand new 25mm unit from an E32 and it has braided brake lines all round. Basically, the brake pedal sinks most of the way to the floor before anything starts happening and even when you really stomp down hard on them the car doesn't stop anywhere near as well as it should, it's a real "heart in the mouth" moment. We have tried twice to give the car a really good bleed on all 4 corners but to little improvement. The master cylinder was installed following the procedure in the bentley manual which doesn't say to bench bleed it before installing, could this have caused a bit of an air lock? Does it maybe need to be pressure bled instead of the normal 2 man method? Is there anything besides it not being bled well that might be causing it? It is worth mentioning that the brakes were just as bad before any of the 5 stud work was done, ie on the standard brakes, master cylinder and rubber lines. Any advice would be appreciated.

Wow, they look so much better already!! Can't wait to see them sitting on the M3!

Hi all, I need more bits for the E30. 'Tis a facelift coupe in case any parts are specific. Excuse the poor descriptions... factory rear speaker covers Triangle thing on parcel shelf that middle belt clips into triangle bit to cover bit on door where wing mirror bolts in tail lights (with hole for rear fog light) drivers floor mat, dark grey Let me know what you got.

Can anyone recommend a good place to install car alarms around the East Tamaki/Highbrook area? Seen these Mongoose alarms on trademe (Visit My Website) which seem really cheap but will still need someone to install it and that will be easiest if it's somewhere near my work which is on Highbrook drive. I guess on the same note, is that actually a decent alarm? Any other recommendations for a similar price? It's to go in an E30, btw.

Ahh yep, I thought it was you that got them when I saw your name is Phil in the email. They will set your car off beautifully! Wow, I knew they were rare but didn't realise they were quite that rare! I replied to your email this morning, just let me know when you wanna come get 'em.

SOLD!!! Wow, that was fast! Someone hit the buy now on trademe so sorry to everyone else who was interested. Yongxi, if you end up selling those style 5's anytime then hit me up, you'd be pretty likely to find a buyer in me haha.

Yongxi, could be very interested in a swap for style 5s. Are they genuine? Specs?

Hi All, A wave of madness has swept over me and I am selling my 3 piece AC schnitzer wheels. They are 17" and 5x120. Made originally to fit the E30 M3 but would look awesome on an E28 or E34, or even an E36 with a bit of guard work. Listed on trademe with $1100 reserve or $1400 Buy Now This is a rare opportunity so don't miss out!! TradeMe Link

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