TDP

Best thread EVAH! I am very interested to hear how that front end works out for you. Are you still using the original sub-frame and steering rack but with modified hub-carriers and custom control arms? I'm curious also about steering weight with wider tyres fitted?

M5 E39 would be a beautiful dream, one that my bank account laughs at with sadistic pleasure.

That black one is such a tease. It comes up under my 'transmission: Manual' search. I had all but booked the tickets to Christchurch before the photos tipped me off. Turns out 'steptronic' refers to an automatic transmission and not some sweet, electronically assisted, dance moves. Do these things ever pop up in actual manual?

Ah. I see. Cheers for the heads up. That sets me off on a whole different 'hidden costs' tangent.

I'm pondering an E36. This one has many appealing features. What do I need to be looking for though if I want one with an LSD? M spec?

At a rough estimate I would say that this car is approximately 1 billion times better looking than the abortion that it is replacing. I can safely say that the E60 never grew on me (possibly because I practise decent personal hygiene), but I find this new 5 series reasonably appealing. I am sure the management at BMW will be pleased to learn of this endorsement and I give permission for them to use it in any future advertising.

This is true. I think I can still remember every word to every song on Soul Asylum's Gravedancer's Union album. CD's were expensive when I first started buying them as a kid, so I think I tended to treasure them more. And you're right, there's something quite enjoyable about sitting on the floor, poking through your collection, finding forgotten albums and the forgotten memories that go with them. I do NOT experience this whilst trying to organise my itunes.

I still do (Bat for Lashes & The Big Pink just last week) but I am a bit of a magpie and I like having shiny things, things I can hold, things that won't be lost forever if my itunes sh1ts itslef again. Also, aside from buying music because I like it, I think for a while there, before the ready availability, or legitamacy, of downloads, I had managed to delude myself that the Ladies (Hullo Ladies, would youse Sheilas like a drunk?') would be impressed by a bookcase overfilled with tastefully selected albums. I have never received any indication whatsoever that this was the case, but the collecting habit has stayed with me.

I'm hoping to shortly. I've ordered a big brake kit and as soon as I source some rotors and zsome wheels to cover them my existing ones will become surplus.

Tail lights? $?

Saw Muse the last time they played the BDO and they were spectacular, however, my pick of the day for that day was Kasabian. And they're coming back. And they've got a new album to play. Them, Muse and The Mars Volta might almost tempt me out of my 'no more BDOs' resolution.

Welcome! My first bike was a Spada. They're neat little machines. Sounds like your car is going to be... interesting.

How much of a hurry are you in? I'm sidling ever closer to needing 15"s and will therefore have a set of 323i 13" factory alloys which I will no longer have a use for. Could take a couple of months though before they become surplus...

Speaking of typos... Ad claims an engine capacity of 3.0L?

Did not think of that. My E21 is running an M20b25 and all the plumbing was there from the k-jet debacle, but were the M10s carbed? That makes sense... Dammit! Even more work I'd have to do.

Yeah, 2k for a M20 is dreaming. Mine was a quarter of that. And mine wasn't, inexplicably, carbed. Single carbed at that. I can't help but feel that it'd be a dog. But yes pictures of the engine would be nice. I'm actually kind of thankful for that carbie. If it didn't have that I'd probably already be even more broke (not to mention disowned).

If those old 3 cylinder Diahatsus (or the Triumph Triples) are any indication they'll actually sound pretty damn cool. Turbos may mute some of the sweetness though. Also adding my voice to those impressed by the kind of numbers they're talking about getting out of those small displacement engines. Presumably they'll be quite compact units... the sort of thing that would fit easily under the bonnet of say... an E30, or, I dunno, something...

The longer this thing spends on trademe the more likely I am to do something really stupid. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...n-217519284.htm There's just nothing about it I don't like. I'd tidy up the paint, but keep the scheme (including the Autobot logo), maybe lose the bumpers. The wheels would have to be replaced by 15s (to accomodate the brakes that these things need if you actually enjoy stopping), but the new ones would still be flat gold (neat, plain 5 spokes?). I'd rather restore the engine to fuel injection (in fact I believe I have a 325i loom lying around at home). LSD and 5 speed would be nice (but expensive and... GRRRRAAAAAAGHGHGHHGHGH. ARGGH. Arrrgh.. aahhh. *implodes* This, children, is why some people will never, ever, ever have any money.

I too would like to know what has happened to this car. Not because I want to lick it until my pants explode. That would just be strange. I would, instead, be interested to hear how that suspension setup handles (and what it tastes like) and what I would have to part with to get my hands on something like it.

He must have been prolific! That, or I just kept seeing the same car over and over. I always figured that either the dealers, (or whoever prepped the cars) didn't want to be associated with a negative motoring experience like being pulled over, or that the cops didn't want to do somebody elses advertising/make associations with unaffiliated groups.

Yeah. No plate surrounds, steel wheels, an LPG sticker and you could usually see the lights. Picking the Holdens was cake. These new ones... not so much

Yeah I can believe that. I was just south of the Bombays when I saw some poor schmuck get pulled over by a Hyundai Sonata mufti car. Educational...

Yeah... Probably not really worth keeping it eh? I guess I could be persuaded to take it off your hands, if, you know, it's getting in the way or something. I wouldn't even make you pay me anything for taking it away. In other news... Old BMWs are the dog's proverbials. I await with some interest the debut of kento's new CSL racecar.

I'm not a psychopath, but I am greedy. I figured she killed the sister to maximise her inheritance from the dead mother. Didn't really factor love into the equation. Sad.

I definitely believe the ability to drive a manual car is a good skill-set to have. When my Mum was a little girl growing up on the farm she and her sister had to know, from an early age, how to drive the farm equipment so that they could go get help if needed. Obviously that is less relevant in this day and age but surely its better to be able to drive a manual and not have to, than to not be able to and suddenly find yourself in need of those skills. Besides which, manuals are WAY more fun. I'm not a particularly talented driver (at all) but I have never driven an auto that can do a better job than I can (usually they do a lot worse, reactive rather than proactive), and I have never driven a manual car and thought to myself 'well this is nice, but it'd be even more fun if it was an auto'. In short, if you care even remotely about cars (and you must, otherwise you wouldn't be here) you've got a get a manual. E30 seems as good a start point as any.