Fen

Hi, I’ve not been on here for a very long time, but I recently picked up an R55 Clubman S which came with a 2 spoke wheel. I have a JCW 3 spoke and the MFSW buttons so I can add cruise, but I'm struggling with an airbag. Anyone know a good place to look for one? TIA

e36 M3 with SMG and VANOS; I wouldn't touch one with yours, mate. That specific model combines the 2 biggest German automotive mechanical design failures of the 90's.

100kmh+ is not inherently dangerous. 50kmh where it's perfectly legal can be a lot more dangerous than 150kmh in other circumstances. Speed limits are fine in built-up areas, but a blanket national speed limit is a very blunt instrument and as such often unnecessary. An unnecessary limit erodes people's respect for a necessary one. My opinion is that 100kmh is a bad speed limit. Anyway think yourselves lucky the camera system works as it does. In the UK demerits are called penalty points. Your car gets snapped, even from the rear, and you get a letter. If you don't admit you were driving, or dob in whoever was, you get the same points as you would for speeding, but for an offence of failing to declare the driver. This in a country which supposedly originated "innocent until proven guilty" and where the only other crime you are allowed to be forced to self-incriminate for is terrorism. One of the reasons I left the UK? Oh yes. Seriously.

Good work. To translate to BMW then (assuming I understand correctly) any model sold new in Europe since January 2000 will meet the standard required until 2012. Thereafter any model sold new in Europe after January 2005. Given that BMW is European, that Euro 3 came in before Japan and the USA adopted the same standard and that it was known about for quite some time before it came in I would say there is a good chance that any late 90's BMW of a model that was to run beyond 2000 and did so with no major model year 2000 revisions would meet the standard also, though I don't know how you go about proving that. I'm no guru of model revisions, but I'd say unless there was a major revision of the e46 in late 1999 then it would be OK - barring individual model variant engine changes outside of major model revisions, but as the e39 revision came in 2000 (I think) then pre-facelifts may be doubtful. All the "Bangle Boxes" should be fine.

I test drove a CSL in Torquay. It's probably sold now but even if not it would be a bit extreme going 12,000 miles to drive it. I've also been round the 'Ring in a mate's CSL which was quite an experience. I test drove several other M3s both manual and SMG, coupe and cab. I really wanted one, but they just didn't grab me somehow. They don't really feel all that fast as they are quiet and fuss-free, which is what I mean by Mondeo-like. You wouldn't know you're driving anything special when you aren't wringing its neck and when you are wringing its neck you'd better hope you don't happen upon anything unexpected or Mr Plod. I don't see how spending more time with one would have changed my feeling about them significantly. I don't recall any of the SMGs blipping anything like the CSL - maybe they do it when you're driving hard, but the CSL does it even in auto mode when you're tootling down to the shops and that put a smile on my face for sure. I should have bought a CSL in hindsight but I let myself be sucked into 360bhp not being enough and had to have 500+ so I bought an RS6 - which I have since sold on as it wasn't all that either.

The regular M3 SMG might blip very slightly, but it's barely perceptible and nothing like the way the CSL does. Not even close.

Firstly disclosure: I haven't driven an e30 M3. I did however look very, very seriously at e46 M3s about 18 months ago. Ultimately I didn't buy one primarily because they are faster than they feel. Personally I think you're better with a car that feels faster than it is - it's much more fun to feel like you're driving fast than slow I'm sure we all agree, but in an e46 M3 you have to be driving really, really fast to get that feeling. The M3 CSL on the other hand is a different car. It's one of only 2 cars I have deliberately had sideways on a test drive (the other being a RenaultSport Clio 172), which shows how beautifully communicative and balanced the chassis is. It also feels fast where the regular M3 feels like a Mondeo because of the noise it makes I imagine, and the SMG 'box becomes superb when it adds the blip every downshift (which the regular M3 SMG doesn't do). The manual e46 has an awful shift action, somehow very long AND quite notchy with tight and loose bits through the gate. I voted e30 of the two options because it has to be better than the e46. If the CSL was in budget that would have go tmy vote. I wish I had bough one when I had the chance in fact.

There IS no benefit to it, that's why. I don't know if it's correct, but my wife showed me something in one of the papers recently which claimed that everybody bar the government (so that's AA, Police etc.) want to change it and that it was based on something they used to do to speed the flow of trams in Melbourne or somewhere in Aussie and that the scheme they copied was revoked years ago as it didn't work. It might be of some benefit if everyone used it, but when I'm turning right I always have to wonder if someone turning left is going to honour the rule or not, which means we usually both pretty much stop then I go as technically I'm allowed to go first. The other good alternative is when they left turner stops and starts gesticualting a me to go whan I can't as someone is going straight on from behind them, and when if I understand correctly it's actually their right of way. Add in the number of toursists driving who ALL come from countries without the rule (as nowhere else uses it) so possibly don't even know it exists and it's a recipe for disaster. Regardless of the intent it simply cannot work as it's a rule with far too many exceptions and conditions that modify it. Road rules need to be simple, otherwise they are dangerous. If it isn't a good rule then it's a bad rule. Sorry to rant - I love it here and there isn't much I don't like, but that stupid, assinine, ludicrous rule is right at the top of the list.

I still have no NZ license (driving on my UK one as long as I can; it has already saved me 35 demerits) and nobody has complained when I have insured my cars - same for my wife. I'm not with State though. Got to love that give way to the right rule. As with a number of things here I suspect nobody really understands it. There was a whole page in the local rag when we lived in the Hutt devoted to explaining it with diagrams, 2 of which contradicted each other. I just assume it's never my right of way

I couldn't possibly comment

Possibly, I don't recall seeing any others when I checked the competition or was trying to gauge a price. It was the equivalent of a $4,000 option in the UK. I believe the car cost the original owner the far side of $68k at current exchange rates

I spoke to Ken and he confirmed that. It's lowered on stock spring perches, the springs stay seated under full droop and everything apart from the exhaust and bumpers has over 100mm clearance so that should be OK. It has standard size but grooverd disks and kevlar pads in standard calipers, so that should be OK It has a smaller supercharger pulley, bigger intercooler, cold air intake and one of the silencers bypassed, plus some reliability mods but (surprisingly to my mind) the ECU has not been touched. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...n-191796076.htm if anyone still hasn't sent their Christmas list to Santa

Thanks Ian, that's a good start. I'll ring and have a chat with him.

Hi folks. I'm looking for some advice re: certification of a car with engine mods a little over 20% increased from stock. The car has some other mods as well which were carefully chosen to keep within the guidelines of what is allowed without a cert, and to be honest a mechanically identical version of the same car was available from the factory with 90% of the power mine has, but technically I guess as my specific car wasn't one of them it really should be certed for the power increase, and i want to sell it so it would be good to have that box ticked. Does anyone have any good recommends on where/who to use for the cert? Wairarapa or Wellington or Hutt Valley would be the preference in decending order. Will an inspector second-guess the other mods even though VTNZ registered it quite happily at import time with them as not being certifiable or will they just concentrate on the engine changes when that is all they are asked to look at? I'm not really worried it won't meet standards but I'd rather not have any extra hassle I don't need because the 103mm ground clearance has settled to 99mm or something (not that I'm thinking it has, but you never know). Cheers in advance, Fen

Interesting thread. I've been using Mobil 8000 in my Mini, which is tuned for 99RON. That's on the basis of my UK experience that BP Ultimate is utter crap and there is nothing else available over 95RON but Synergy 8000. I got quite excited when Shell announced V-Power as it's 99RON in Europe and the stuff that everybody into cars uses (well, some people use Tesco 99, but it isn't available everywhere and I'm not sure I'd trust supermarket fuel regardless of the octane) - and what my car was running when it was set up. I was more than a little disappointed to find it was just a rebrand of their 95RON rubbish. In the UK 95 is standard and only for use in dire emergencies; 91 isn't available even for lawnmowers. So anyway, I'm now wondering why you guys all rate BP above Mobil. I personally couldn't care less about "service" as even when I started driving 23 years ago I had to fill my own car, I don''t especially want anyone smearing dirty water down my paintwork while they clean my windows and I definitely don't want somebody coming at dried-on bird crap on my roof with a damp cloth and scratching the paint. What I do want is the highest octane fuel available to minimise the chances I'll get detonation on full boost. What do all the imported STIs that are supposed to have 100RON run over here, do just run low octane pump fuel and blow up even more often than they do in the UK? Surely they don't put octane booster in every tank?