Jacko

Apparently these are the RHD version 

It'll be something like this, heatshield will have to get chopped up a bit too. 

Went back to the manufacturer, who is talking, and is also scratching their heads. Engine mount is standard across 1/3/Z N52s...

Its more than the shield, Its about 10mm of the lip around edge of the bolt hole. 😕 

So the question is... do I tweak the headers or trim the engine mount a smidge...

Weirdly, drivers side body loom pinned for heated seats, passengers one not... swapped some pins around and now passenger also gets a cooled ass. Thanks to @HELLBM for hooking me up with the rocking horse sh*t seat side pins.

Seats in, kind of. Need new bolts for the rear of rails, getting a torx bit in there just aint happening. Dont appear to have power on the passenger seat, will break out multimeter, must have got wrong pin as everything else is working (heater, cooler, power adjustments). Seats have WAY more adjustment range than stock, and at lowest position are about 1.5" lower than stock, much less "sitting on the car" feeling. Coding out the airbags takes 5 seconds, occupancy sensors, seat belt sensors, and pretensioners all still exist. 

Stock Msport electrics 27.7+27.7 = 55kg

Recaros 20.4+24.6 = 45kg

10kg saved, with more bells. 

Very shiney.

Meh, do it. Putting Alpina stripes on a toaster makes the toaster more cool. 

+3 dont get them from Repco/Supercheap they are total f**ken garbage (have big hot glue dags inside waiting to fall off etc etc...)

Genuine or Mahle (people like Mann too, but Ive seen some shitty ones). Mahle ones are always well made. (2c's based on 280,000km of N52s and changing oil every 7000 km  ) 

Waterpumps are weird beasts, some die at 30,000km, some at 300,000km. Its entirely possible to pull out a working 300,000km golden version waterpump, and bolt in a hand grenade. Normally imminent failure has warning signs first (like intermittent can communication faults). 

Best bet, rather than fix something that isnt broken, I think is to keep a waterpump and thermostat in the garage shelf, so if the warnings start popping up it can be changed quickly. 

https://www.steeringcover.com/mewant-hand-stitch-black-alcantara-car-steering-wheel-cover-for-bmw-m-sport-m3-e90-e91-e92-e93-e87-e81-e82-e88-x1-e84-m3-e90-e92-e93.html

Im up north all week, if you are still stuck by friday though yell out and I can give it a go. Have screw extractors etc, but looking at that it'd be easier to grab with something else first.

Looking at my engine on stand, id try get a cold chisel on the upper rear side of it and give it a thump with a BFH, should loosen it enough to grab with something less ape-ish

Can you flick up a pic of the butchery?

25 minutes ago, M3AN said:

Looks good although not a fan of the stripe. Easy enough to do? Where did you get it from?

Was more customisaton to get without the stripe, this way racecarAF  Its a Mewant one, they are all over the place, support was really good and considering it was custom made, turned up in a week.

5 minutes ago, NZ_InFerno said:

Forgot to comment on this but can I send you mine lol

My cover has been sitting on the desk for months, went with the stock style in leather with the perforated hand grips. 

I am no pro.... Would do a few things bit differently if did again, when youre positioning it use the gap between the sides that get pulled together to position it, so if the gap between the seem is even *all* the way around. Took about 2 hours to install. Definitely remove the wheel to do it too, would be a pig to do on the car. 

Netflix and sew.... went red stitching (and Alcantara) to match the recaros... in hindsight black would be cleverer.

2 hours ago, M3AN said:

Does anyone have an idea about how much coolant I might lose replacing the top hose? It's still dripping nearly 4 weeks on so clearly there's still coolant running into the existing hose (much to my surprise, I've lost over 1 litre already).

 

Id just dump it all anyway, going to need a bleed etc anyway. Coolants cheap. 

50 minutes ago, Blackie said:

That bumper damage is the only thing triggering me. Can't complain though at that price.

Q&A made me chuckle...

Q: Does this have reversing camera and Bluetooth, thanks.

A: Has mirrors and an AUX input

Made me chuckle too, I'm pretty sure I got the very first of the E87 android headunits in my car. Manufacturer wanted to send me a reversing camera add on for free if I made a video about it, reply was its a hatchback and my man card would be put in jeopardy. 

As far as Im aware, its across whole model range. LCI cars can have e-LSD coded as factory option, its sh*t. 

Not an M car = No LSD option from factory, as stupid a decision as that was. 

125's occasionally pop up, same basic engine as a 130 just detuned to not make stock 135s look slow (its only software) on the forecourts, and coupe body. 

I suspect pricing will remain fairly static, 135s are enthusiasts cars... probably get 2 groups of buyers - those who dont know what theyve bought and then suddenly get slapped with repair bills, and the enthusiasts where logic goes out the window when it comes to gas prices etc. 

130 Vs 135 pricing is weird, 130s are awesome undervalued which makes them great buying (likely due to the odd styling, and people thinking a 120 is the same thing). 130s are way rarer than 135s, I saw something like 60k 135s produced Vs 14k 130s. Havent seen 125 numbers, but suspect rarer again.

If you are not specifically after a N54 and going silly fast, I wouldn't overlook a 123d, manual one would be rocking horse sh*t but they do exist and would be great little car. 

2c.

Cleaned them all up, lots of leather conditioner. Gave the rails a bit of a spruce up (they are Recaro E87 rails, which is cool). 

Also drove over the Kaimais today in torrential rain, lots of standing water on road. Tyres arent even a little bit sketchy in the wet, work fine. 

Bunch of parts are common between US 128/328/330 and 130s, not really too much of an issue other than LHD/RHD. I dont think they got many diesels in the US though, so will be harder. 

Will post pics when they are arrive, I'm dubious for the price, but who knows... sometimes ya luck out

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003627350571.html

2 hours ago, M3AN said:

I don't know how they work to be honest, will need to wait for my new one to arrive to inspect it.

The clamp is onto a plastic quick disconnect. 

I have a full load of cooling system hoses (and a new rad) sitting here if you want one fast (I just ordered Realoem.com...), just replace it with the ordered one when it arrives.