Mark

Trademe Link Wow... How long has he had the car for Atta? 5 minutes!

With all the talk of clutch stops recently I decided to have a go a fabbing one up this arvo. My car was converted to manual so has never had one. The clutch goes all the way to the floor, which means a sore leg and really slow gear changes. Went to Bunnings and took a look in the nuts and bolts section. Bought a 6mm x 20mm coach bolt and a spring washer. The pic below is of an 8mm bolt (bought both cos I couldn't remember what size the hole was - fail) but they look the same. I threaded the washer and the nut onto the bolt then bolted it into the clutch stop bracket with another nut. It's a tight squeeze but you can get a 6mm ring spanner behind there to tighten it. Test the clutch take up and add another washer or two until you're happy with the point at which the clutch grabs. Then to stop the annoying metal "clink" of the clutch arm hitting the bolt, I stuck the original rubber bung that plugged the hole onto the head of the coach bolt with some double sided foam tape. What a difference this mod makes. Shifts are faster and clutch control is greatly improved. At a cost of less than 50 cents it's well worth it.

Go the Diamond Schwartz SA 325i's!! I really like it Alan, Alpinas are sweet and the iS lip is a nice touch.

Keen on elec aerial, gearshift gaiter, roundels, under dash panels, and perhaps parcel tray and heater controls too. That is if you're parting the whole car! You live round Avonhead way eh Gaz? Saw the 200 parked on the street the other day when I was heading to an appointment.

^^Probably been dyed or painted with fabric paint. It's been on there for ages cos I think the 2.7 conversion has been done poorly and it burns lots of oil / smokes etc. Mine are purty Graham (shameless car-whoring):

^^They give you 50 more horsepowers. Not a big fan... as has been said, the red needs to be on the lip of the rim and rims ideally need to be black.

Pjay: They're Style 50's according to the BMW Wheel Index Oh and welcome to the newbie too!

Glenn, do you need to drop the gearbox to fit these (was told by my mech that I may have to)? Also, is the kit just the shifter or are there the plastic-y bushes and bits needed as well? Cheers!

What happened to them? Did the product peel the paint off someone's car or something? Weird....

Standard on MSport optioned cars certainly. Welcome mate... tidy E36.

Thought I'd update this thread now that I have the car back and the niggly issues have been sorted out. Once the guys at DCH had the head off the engine a few more things needed replacing (As you'd expect). Things like the exhaust guides needed replacing, valves needed relapping etc. They also did all the drive belts (cam, A/C, powersteering etc) as well as the water pump. The total was quite a bit more than the 2k I was originally quoted, but I expected that, and DCH always kept in touch with progress and checked with me before completing any extra work. I got the car back a few weeks ago, and it was running very rich and stalling at idle. Turns out the thermostat was stuck partially shut causing the car to stay on the choke and overfuel even when up to operating temp. This has been replaced (free of charge I might add) and now the M20 runs like a dream. It would be interesting to compare my rebuilt engine with one that hasn't been done to see what sort of difference it has made, the performance is certainly worlds apart from how it drove beforehand. It's got pull right up to redline now, whereas prior to the rebuild it sort of petered out after 5000rpm. It's also now got a nice gruff idle with the upped compression and reground cam. Would like to say I am very happy with the guys at DCH Motorsport, they've done a fantastic job on the car and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

Welcome, enjoy your stay. BTW Posting pics of your car is compulsory....

Keen on the AC compressor... was it working when you pulled it out of the car?

Is this the same kick down mode that all automatic cars have had since the 50's? I like the exhaust sound / straight 6 growl on my car.

The new word censor takes its first victim However, I also don't condone VTEC. It's horrible and should be punishable by life in prison. EDIT: ^^ Doh!

The E30 was designed completely from scratch and no parts from the E21 were carried over (apart from the roundels). So, I imagine that no, E30 suspension won't be a bolt on fit.

Happy B'day Atta.... did you get a BMW for your present?

Correct. If you want to paint your stock grilles I have a spare set of kidneys that will fit your car, and all of the paint/primer etc to do it. $40 for the grilles and use of the paint if you're keen. That way you can always swap your chrome ones back in if you don't like how they look.

They can look good.... but depends on what colour your car is. You can save about $89 of the purchase price of those TM ones by just painting your current grilles black.

Are you sure that's not vinyl? Leather would wear and craze a lot more before just splitting open like that. My car has similar seats with vinyl on the outside of the bolsters.

Bravo is totally right... but if I may add one other point to that: Every engine, even if they're the same and built in the same factory, is slightly different. Different tolerances, slightly different power output etc. The Ebay chips (and most aftermarket chips) are reproductions of one car's successful ECU remap. Take into account that most of these chips are reproduced in America, where the octane ratings of fuel are far different to what we get here and you see that piggybacking a "one-size fits all" chip onto your ECU is not a very good idea. A good remap done on a dyno by a professional will cost you about $1000. But you're far more likely to gain that 15-20bhp, and in a manner safe for your particular engine.

Giggity giggity!

Looking good. If you can find an Alpina front spoiler (replica even) it would really complete the look.

Nice Ian, go for a drive to the Dairy...in Taupo! ... I think it should settle a lot lower than it sits currently. Post some more pics in a month.

They're not even in the Mobile Tradition catalogue? Bugger.