E30 325i Rag-Top

So much mis-information and mis-use of the term OEM, some deliberate and some accidental. And you might be quite surprised by the differences between some "genuine" parts compared to "OEM" parts made in the same factory. Not all of them, but certainly some. P&A sales are also where component suppliers try to make some money after being screwed into the ground for the OE contract.

Just got back from first trip to the Mother Country in nearly nine years, even more cars, white vans, buses and trucks than ever I can remember (even in London with congestion charges and Low Emissions zones) and overall traffic density probably 10 times that of New Zealand.. And yet the traffic still flows better.. and why? Because the standard of driving is much, much, better overall.

Close... Boomrock have started up a second venue up here, near Clevedon south east of Aucks. Also found out I am crap at archery!

Getting paid to muck about in cars, shoot shotguns and with free food / drink thrown in. Choice Bro!!

If you think that video is bad, have a look at the M4 GTS one... oh dear...

Yeah, not sure what's funnier - the photos or the fact he wants MORE than $5k for it...

Fronts will fit ok, but cab rear is different and will look odd in a sedan.

Lol! I got old and sensible. And realised it's best to save it for the race track!

Production life and numbers will be limited. Not sure if more or less than the 1M, but certainly similar.

I find that hard to believe.. I was the best driver in the world when I was 18!

Paying the same in pounds for a litre of diesel as I do in NZ dollars. When the exchange rate is 2.5 $ to the GBP!!

Yup then that is a medium case, not a small case. small has 6 bolts on the cover, 8 bolts on medium case.

Yeah, also got the top rubber somewhere! I won't be around until Sunday if you can wait until then?

Pretty sure I' be got some in the cupboard. How does $20 for the pair sound? I'm in East Auckkabd

Looks to be a medium case, count the number of bolts holding the backing plate on.

I was referring to the inaccurate rumour part of the previous posts, I love the way these things get reported, distorted and turned into rumours and stories. You would have to be rather gullible to think any elected government going through such a process would be anything other than squeaky clean on such a high-profile tender. But that won't stop that gormless twat Little and his cronies trying to bash National over it I suppose??

Or have they... ?

Exactly, these rep E36 wheels were quite fashionable on E30s for a while in the UK.

Cars are always targeted as they are thought to be the worst polluters in the towns and cities. Out of sight and out of mind applies to things like power stations, ships, steam trains, etc. Push bikes for all...

Are the spacers Hub-centric for E30s??

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, key points to note are that again this is the US media and federal agencies attacking a foreign car maker (as they did with Toyota). This time the greenies and other governments are starting to jump on the bandwagon and it is starting to hit other, un-related, car companies (BMW and M-B share prices dropped sharply). My prediction is that this media frenzy greenie sh*t storm will reverse a whole load of governments initiatives on diesel, and make car efficiencies / emissions much, much tighter and fuller tested. And any bullshit electric ideas will get more publicity and help then they deserve. Fingers crossed the hydrogen fuel cell cars will make it to market off the back of all this.

More aggravation than a big deal, it mostly depends how much you can do yourself, if you have access to parts, tools, workshop, trailers, etc. That is where the "professionals" come in against the DIY approach. But there can be a few curve balls along the way, even when you are paying someone else to do the job for you.

You missed a few steps there Dan.. Pay MAF fee. Get told by MAF car is too dirty and needs to be steam cleaned. Pay fee to designated MAF steam cleaners for car to be "properly" cleaned. Get told by MAF car needs to have under body and wheel arch liners removed as they have water behind them (not from the steam cleaning surely...) Pay another fee to designated MAF cleaners to have parts on car ripped off removed and cleaned behind. Try and pay GST. Find out you have to be "registered" as an importer, set up Importer number. Try and pay GST Find out you are registered as a Business Importer not Private Importer as you were sent the wrong form. Get correct form, register as Private Importer. Try and pay GST and find out you already have a number!! Pay GST. Get car.. etc.. Find half of trims have been thrown into the back of the car still wet and have not been refitted as they are now broken, and find the other half are still attached to the car and haven't been removed or cleaned behind. Take to compliance, if you can get hold of some dealer plates, if not, get company to take to compliance. Pick up / get picked up from compliance Buy parts to fix the list of bits the compliance people have picked up. Get parts fitted / fit parts. Take back to compliance / get taken back. Register car.. Get to enjoy vehicle. And if you are really lucky you get to add in the extra steps.. Go to collect car on trailer.. Find driver's window smashed. Ask why.. get told "the keys got locked in the car" ... really? in an E30? And no-one asked if I have a spare key - which is here, in my hand..? Get blind f**kwit to guide you onto trailer so you scrape the door on the trailer. Buy replacement window. Chase shipping company to pay for window... It's a great game!

The front strut towers are not the strongest tbh, and will benefit from strengthening of some form. And in answer to your question yes, you can use an adjustable strut brace to pull them in, or push them out as in your case you are looking for LESS camber. The only draw back is that you can't really control which of the two towers will move... so rather than push out your -1.6 degree LH you might move your RHS. You can use the offset lower control arm bushes, but they would only give you more camber I think.. and would be the same on both sides, wouldn't recommend running on only one side. If you want any level of adjustability over the two sides then camber plates are the only real "proper" solution, but for those you will need a LVVT Cert which adds to the $$$s. WIth those, relatively small for a road car, differences between the four corners I wouldn't worry about it that much. There are probably bigger issues affecting the tail happiness, than the camber, which you might want to look at first.

Keep an eye out for the dude wearing your shoes.. find out if he lives at the house up the street. If not follow him and find out where he lives.. Then have some fun with him, pizza deliveries, plumber call outs, turn the power off, turn the water off, etc..