MGL

I took my e39 for an alignment recently, the dude there thought that one of the front springs may have collapsed, that corner of the car sits like, 3 fingers lower than the others. (I'd always thought that my eye sight was why the car looked on the piss) Anyway, I've checked it out, and it appears that the shock is held to the hub by what is basically a big clamp. one of the shocks has slipped through the clamp which is why one corner is lower than the others. The problem is, I can't for the life of me readjust it! How are you suppose to get the bloody clamp thing to let go of the shock to readjust it?! Its driving me mad!

Awesome! Cheers guys, Sorry for the double post!

This happened the other day... Instead of listing all posts below the origional, it shows only a tree breakdown of posts! tried changing the number of posts displayed in the "board settings" options in "my Controls" Didnt change anything. Tried firefox... worked!! for two days Changed to another computer, same problem?! Does anyone know how to fix this, I'm sure its something stupid easy.

1K for a 535 manual?! damn!! There's one in the auto trader at the mo for 1500, but the guy seems hell bent on never turning his phone on which sucks a bit. We've also found a 525i manual, failed its wof on front shocks, the dude selling it was after $2300 for it, including replacement shocks but not fitted. I'm inclined to be a bit cautious, its got an odd history. The guys wife said that it had been running on 5 cylinders for a bit, but they had an o-ring replaced and that fixed it (all I can think of there is an injector o-ring?) It also has a throttle flat spot. What do you guys think? worth a punt or is it likely to require heaps more work?

Great! I'll check it out, I was planning on strokering up so that's probably a good thing. I'll check it out and see. So it'll be visibly squared off? it fixable by grinding or just replace the cam? Cheers, Matt

I Had a similar problem & it turned out to be a cracked intake boot, when accelerating it would suck in unmetered air which caused it to surge. That said, a diagnostics scan picks up everything so is usually a better option. Saves you sooo much time and guess work!

So I checked a couple of places, wasn't able to find a spare rad yet. I'll keep an eye out, but we did a bit of a ghetto fix on it, cut the radiator core that was leaking and folded it over and crimped it up Holds pressure fine and doesn't leak- so that'll do in the mean time. Now, the tapping, this is rather concerning the guy I brought the car from said he'd been driving it daily for 6 months while its been making that noise and it hasn't got any worse, but its quite loud and seems to be more internal than the rockers (I did the valve clearances so its not that) Its a loud tap - it happens once per crank revolution. The engine feels fine, no loss of power or anything. Seems to be at the front most cylinder. The spark plug from #1 looks ok, bitta carbon, but nothing major. Can anyone give me any indication as to what it might be & things I should check? Cheers, Matt

If you've got a sub and amp in your boot, then you can back feed a bit of juice into it through the amp cabling. I've done that before, works a treat and easier than doing it from underneath the car. Cheers

It feels mostly mechanical, so I'd be surprised if it has the brains to do that. I'm planning on converting it to manual in the next 6 months anyway- Are we thinking it'll kill it in that short of a time, or that its just sort of generally not a good idea but.... Another question... is it under much pressure? I'm just wondering if I could attach an old heater matrix and a fan to it and just stick it somewhere else. or would that not survive the pressure? Cheers!

Hi guys- Just need a little info! I've just brought an e28 525e, and the radiator is shagged and leaking. I figure all round its just going to be easier to jam any old radiator that fits in there for the time being (cheaper and easier to find). The problem I've got is the transmission cooler, Its the one that is connected from the bottom of the rad. I'm wondering if its actually necessary to even have it there, being as the car can only rev to 4500rpm the trans is hardly under a lot of stress. And RealOEM shows that my car was produced with both a rad that had a trans cooler and one that didn't (both auto models). The question is, is it going to destroy the gearbox if I just bypass the trans cooler? Failing that, does anyone have one of those radiators and if so, how much? I've also got a really loud tapping sound coming from the very front of the engine. I haven't had time to get the rocker cover off yet, so I'll check it out. it sounds like the 1st or 2nd rocker is massively out of wack. Does it sound like I'm on the right track there? Cheers, Matt

Or money, I suppose.

Need an E28 Radiator, for a 525 ee Auto model. Anyone have one floating around the wanna part with in trade for beer? Cheers, Matt

You could be right, but there was a 525i manual e34 that sold on the trademe in early december for like $1450 (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=334390462) I brought one a year or so ago for 2K. And there was one that was up for $2500 a couple of weeks ago, so they're out there for that money. We're just trying to expand the pool a bit more is all

Might also be keen on an auto 525i as long as its cheap enough for us to warrant doing a manual conversion. Cheers

I'm helping a friend track down a new car. He's after a manual e30 or e34, prefer e34. Should be: -Warrantable, or almost warrantable. (we don't mind doing maintanence stuff, cam belts, water pump, fuel stuff is all good also suspension work we're good to do) -Tidyish physical condition -B25 engine or bigger -If e30 then a facelift model Looking at around the $2k mark as that seems to be the goingish rate for e34's at least, but let me know what you've got for sale! Cheers, Matt

I've got to sell my Alfa 75, which was going to be a project, I just don't have the space for it at the moment and no garage doesnt help matters. its a 1987 75 1800cc twincam twin sidedraft weber carbs transaxel - so the gearbox is in the back. not currently running, and its got lots of rust problems. reg is on hold. I'd like $500 for it, but am open to offers. If anyone is interested, let meknow and I'll post up some pictures. Thanks! Matt

Yeah, thats sort of what I was scared of! Still, the advantage of paying someone to do it is that you know its done right. I've already pulled mine out and checked over it- its totally shagged, all the insulation on the signal wires has basically fallen off, so its shorting out- you'll be driving along and the car turns off- which is kind of scary, since that means the steering and breaks cock out too. Glenn gave me good instructions on taking the sensor out, its not too hard, just a bit fiddly. I also tried rebuilding the sensor and replacing all the wiring- worked for two days then the solder gets too weak and it falls appart again. If anyone is interested I've also got the pin-outs for the sensor now (you acutally have to cut it open though) Its just really annoying- it is just plain crap quality, the origional one- the only problem with it is the wires, the sensor and the plug are both fine. Sucks that the one on my e30 which is 11 years older shows no signs of giving up any time soon. Cheers, Matt

Anyone have a brand new M52 intake cam angle sensor in stock for less than $200? I think the original part number is 12141703221. I see theres someone on trademe selling them for $180, but I want one before the weekend, and I don't get paid until friday. Cheers

I Used partsplus / powerhaus a couple of times when I was living in wellington. On Tinakori Rd. Not the cheapest place, but they knew their fiat/lancia and alfa stuff. Cheers.

Thanks for your help Glenn, I'll let you all know how I go. Sounds as thought I've knocked something off while riffing around getting the ICV out. I'll have a hunt when I get home. CHeers, Matt

I actually havent bothrered giving it a polish, I just figured the worn clear coat would just eat my cleaning rag I might give it a shot, theres alot to be said for presentation. Seat covers and re-blacking the windscreen seals may also do it some favours! Thanks guys

Looks like its based on windows mobile 6.0 Thats kinda cool, but I recon it'd be more trouble than its worth.

But would the boogie ICV stop it from starting at all? I had thought that if the motor in the valve had seized up, then the increased current draw would screw with the ECU. I do intend to replace it now I think- but it'd be comforting to know that its the likely cause of stopping it from starting. Thanks Glenn, I'll give you a call this afternoon some time. (at work at the moment, interneting is all good, phone calls not so much ) Cheers

I brought a 520 e39 recently, m52b20 and tis got a few issues that I need help with. It came from my partners father, so I got it really cheap but it had developed a few faults. He had said that a few times recently he had had issues with it stalling out when turning corners, it jsut occured to me last night that this was probably because thats when you throttle off, and it wasnt returning to idle properly (I had an e34 that did that one,ce but it was manual, so wasnt a problem) I pulled the ICV out, cleaned it out with contact 60- (it was apretty gunked up, I used cotton buds and lots of contact 60, got it nice and clean) Anyway, when I put it back in the car started fine, when I revved it up a little it stalled out rather than returning to idle. actually seemed worse than before. But then, it wouldnt start at all- and the ICV started hmming rather loudly - is that normal? I hadnt noticed that noise before. I took it out again, and turned the car on with the ICV just wired up, so I could see what it was doing, and it just seemed to hum and vibrate slightly. Have I jsut compeltely stuffed it with my ghetto clean, or was it pretty much dead anyway? Or, is this normal and I've got another problem somewhere. Thanks heaps!

Photos: Also, theres no water in the oil or oil in the water. so headgasket seems fine. Cheers