E30 325i Rag-Top

Correct it's not a kangaroo, but it is in fact a deer not a fox.Wrong colour and too big to be a fox, and the wrong shape I narrowly missed a deer on the M3 in the Uk once and saw it take out the car behind in my mirror - made one hell of a mess of the car. Not as big a mess as the roo I saw that hit the Hiace van in Victoria though, I would not like to hit one of those things, I drove along at about 50km/h after seeing that!

For most vehicles the break-even figure for diesel to be better value is around 30-40,000kms a year with all the bits and pieces, RUC, etc. However, i think that includes the depreciation which would be a lot less on the diesel wagon you are looking at, putting a few more Kms on that won't depreciate as much as a petrol with fewer Kms. That figure does start to drop dramatically if you lug a lot of gear around with you or tow quite frequently - this is where deisel really wins. Article on swirl flaps and blanking them off.. swirl_flaps.pdf

From that list I have got: 1 x Brutal Money Waster 1 x Beautiful Mechanical Wonder

M20B25 Oil cooler set up? Radiator, hoses, sandwich plate,etc? $$?

Get in touch with Gavin at Euro-Italian for the ball joint, I got one off him last week for the other side, was just over $30+ gst. You can bash, sorry press, the old one out and the new one in rather than replacing the whole control arm.

I have done quite a lot of looking into the E46 diesels as I'm after a 330d, a couple of things have come up 1) Turbo reliability - the oil really needs to be changed before the service intervals to give better life from the turbo. You can tell if there is an issue quite easily - down on power and noticeable smoke. 2) Swirl flaps - a little gadget in the inlet manifold to reduce emissions at idle, it's basically a flap like the old fashioned carburettor throat. It's mostly made of plastic, but has 2 metal screws holding it together. They can break and come apart, where they get sucked into the engine. the plastic bits just get chewed up and spat out, however, the metal screws cause a lot of damage taking out pistons & heads then turbos and cats on the way through. No official recall or acknowledgement of the issue, but there was a new design of flap introduced on very late E46, you can also fit blanking plates and take out the flaps, makes no difference to driving the vehicle. 3) EGR valve - as with most diesel this tends to get filled with oily soot and needs to be taken apart and cleaned regularly. Not a biggy, can just make the engine smoke a bit and run a bit rough when it gets too bad. If you do a lot of kms then a modern diesel is highly recommended. Not sure about that particular car as it has quite high kms, would look for a full service history and then some if it were me.

*Cough*, this is bimmersport, whatever the question, the answer is a turboed e30 On PCs though, you are spot on.

Motronic is out, gearbox, flywheel, alternator, fan etc, all off ready to go onto L-jet motor in the morning. I have been comparing the wiring and the hoses to see how I can get this all to work. There seems to be quite a lot of differences in the coolant pipes in particular and I have the Motronic version of the radiator and the header tank so it will be interesting to see what sort of a mix-up I end up with. fun, fun, fun, .... not! Yeah I know, 2 weeks and counting, tick tock, tick tock. Only just finished in the garage now, and that's because I am totally knackered and need to save some energy for tomorrow and hopefully, putting the L-jet in!

Unfortunately not Grant - just a part I realised I don't have but do need! The re-built engine is all together and pretty much ready to go in but I have only just started taking the old one out and there are a few bits I need to swap over onto the new one - flywheel, alternator, etc. The scary part is the electrics and the million vacuum hoses that the l-jets have got that aren't there on the Motronics. The moment of truth will be when I try to fire it up I guess. Should be an interesting week-end, there is bound to be some stupid little part that I find I need but don't have...oh well fingers crossed.

Done. Feedback: Top Trader would recommend to all A+++++

Not too ashamed to admit that I have done that very thing, if someone wants to drive in such a way as to put my life at risk I am not going to back down..was in the UK though so I hope it wasn't you Graham.Also had my jaw broken here in NZ after a "discussion" with a van driver who tried to knock me off my bike. I guess my Anger Management lessons didn't work that well ! Will be interesting to see the outcome of this case in Auckland, be even more interesting to know the full story.

Hey Oli, the black car is the 323i you got off Dave yeah? In which case, yes that would be the right one. Any chance you can post it up to me (I'll pm you the address) and I'll sort you out some cash at Manfield next time your up?

I seem to have two of every single bit of a pre-facelift E30 except this bit, the plastic elbow that goes between the air-flow meter and the inlet manifold. Was sure I had one but the mess that is my garage seems to have eaten it. Anyone got one going spare for cheap? Or can swap for pretty much any other piece of E30 plastic, or metal...

Arrived & fitted - looks 10 x better. Chur!

Yup. A boat anchor is a boat anchor whether it is running or not! With all the other damage, I would imagine only a "trade" buyer would be looking to get it for parts or a paint it and flick it job anyways and they would now what is involved in cleaning out the fuel system.

Personally I can't see it really made much difference to the state of the car or it's value, it was a pretty rooted BA poverty spec Falcon anyways! Possibly the owner p!ssed someone off and they repaid him by modifying his bodywork and motor? Petrol filler covers usually lock, but easy enough to open if you want to!

I thought these came as standard on all Cortinas from the Mark III onwards?

From running DCOE 40s in the past I would add that x 10, there are three jets (idle, main and auxiliary) per choke on a webber so times that lot by 6 = 18 jets to keep tuned and running smooth, I hope you like listening to hissing tubes!

It's Ok Glenn I don't think the guy sitting on the air bag was the full shilling anyway by the looks of him, probably best that he did get castrated to prevent any chace of him spawning a child.I love the Russian First Aid response, laugh your ass off, then if he's still not moving, just give him his bottle of home made vodka to drink - that'll fix him!

Damn you and your timing James! MUST...... NOT.... BUY.... ANOTHER..... E30.....

Fastways - prepaid tickets, upto 2kg and 0.012m3, allowed up to 1m long I think, works out about $5.68 + GST and is track and trace, pretty quick too. Only downside is you have to buy a book of about 50 tickets, can't get one's or two's.

Coat hanger or no. 8 wire? Still think you should do the Warrior head though!

Go out one night when the dogs are barking, get as close as you can and record the noise on your phone or MP3 player or whatever. Then wait a couple of nights, put your stereo speakers out side, pointing at the neighbour's house with the yappy dog in question, then play the recording back on a loop. If they come round and complain - tell them, "it's not nice to listen to is it? Now, harden the f#$k up!" They might take the hint?

Have a good one, try something different on your B'day - DON'T buy a car!

In like Flynn. Cheers for organising this Ollie!