bravo

Look at the new golf gti wheels - I like. Sorry about the size.

beleive me, I've thought about it.

Need a couple of pics to show the exhaust shop. Post up some DTM or similar style tips preferably on e30's.

Take the week off, send the wife and kids to the inlaws, pray for good weather and have fun!

Agreed. Spent my first year in a hall 8 years ago. Not only was it one of the best years of my life, but my best two friends I met there. We live miles apart, but the catchups are the ones you never forget. Not to mention if you don't live in the hall there are only 3 types of flatmates you can get in second year - classmates - gay as you all doing the same thing. Old school friends - gay, uni is about making new friends. Random strangers - that comes later.

Tidy car. Spend a couple of hundy on clear (not crystal) corners and add 3k to the price.

If your boss is a good c**t tell him/her. Just say you want to hook up an extra speaker but won't damage the vehicle in any way - they'll probably have no idea you're running power cables and so forth. If not, run the wiring and maybe make up a distribution block in the boot and tap into it form there. Use black wire from the battery and say it's factory. Finally be aware that 1) your gear won't be covered by insurance and 2) if you have a sh*t of an insurance co and they decide not to pay out due to non-disclosure then you're f**ked.

Yeah, would be doing most myself, hence the cost without labour. Cheers

Rough total projected cost including tuning, excluding out-sourced labour?

Modifying the wheels and adding legal spacers/adapters requires a cert. Just so you know if you are planning on doing this the legal way. (I know you know this Josh). With rears on e30's it is mostly the guard clearance that is the issue with lowered vehicles. For fronts it is mor the struts so if you go really wide you may need different offset front and rear. For instance those 8" ET35 rims would have 3mm more guard clearance than my 7" ET20's which means you won't have to roll the guards like I did. However, they will have 13mm less clearance with the front strut than my 7" ET35's I used to run (which had bugger all clearance - 7" ET38's have been known to rub the struts slightly unless you have the smaller 320 struts). That means you will need at least a 10mm spacer at the front for those wheels that fit fine at the back. Either that or go for a 20 offset for the fronts which will fit fine. Here's a good tool you can use to judge how much difference offset will make on various width wheels. If you know for one size the max and min offsets that will fit front and rear, then you can work out the same for any wheel width.

Sorry, can't answer your questions, but would love a full write up when its done (or even part way through). Seems like it may be alot cheaper than turbocharging, and although less gains, I'm only after slightly higher numbers than you suggested you'll be getting.

How long you been saving that up to use?

Have some unknown brand e30 springs that I had in my 320i, then my 325i up until recently. Were in Gus's earlier motorsport before that. Drop is around 50-60mm depending on how worn your bushes are and what spring pads you have. They were a little bit harsh a ride for me. I want some 35-40mm springs for another e30 I have and would be willing to swap for someone who wants to go that little bit lower. Staight swap for kings or jamex. Cash your way for H&R's, Eibach, or similar. Let me know what you have.

Starter motors on e30's are identical manual/auto.

done.

If you want 17's and by optimum mean practical and good handling without too much scrub then 17x7 - a max of 17x8. if you mean optimum in terms of aesthetics then a 16x8-9 or 17x8-9 with a stretched tyre looks awesome if you are in to that sort of thing.

It's not the diameter, it's the width, but I'll assume for now that you'll be buying either 17x7 18x7 or 17x8 18x8 Then you'll want betwteen 20 and 35 for 7" rims if you want to run them without spacers. (35 max). My 17x7's are 20 and because the car is low I had to mildly roll the guards as it was hitting them even under crouch when taking off (esp with my old soft springs). I have heaps of clearnace from the struts. 8" wide you'll definately want 20 or less. Prob is then you are going to have to roll the guards - esp. for 17's and 18's. If you are running say 16x8's the high sidewall of the tyre will allow you to run stretch on the tyres and get away with wider wheels without rolling the guards in some cases. Also remeber that no matter the wheel you will probably have to have hubcentric rings made or all the weight will be on the studs not the hub (bad and illegal). These range in cost from $15-20 ea for nylon to $50ea for milled alloy - what i have. They alloy ones are nicer and last longer, but the nylon ones are fine.

And arrange for me to test drive on your behalf. Would be willing to undertake arduous delivery voyage from Kerikeri to your location in return for airfare home and a box of Becks. PM me. Link

Around 20-25 for standard rims.

Not sure about the radio problem, but an engine that won't turn over when everything else is working fine and with a good battery could be faulty starter solenoid, faulty starter, or loose/broken engine earth strap. When you turn to the first click have a listen under the bonnet for the hum of the idle control/cold start valves and get someone to try and start it and listen for the click of the starter solenoid. If nothing, look down on the passenger side for a thick wire or strap going from the sump to the chassis. If if is loose or broken there is your problem. If you can hear the idle valve etc buzzing then look at your starter for the solution.

Noone seemed to know ...

Stopped reading after the first five or so paragraphs, but from what I gather, when a production run becomes 20 years old, BMW change a few letters on the books so that the parts become part of the "mobile tradition" department and hike the prices. Only 4 years before this happens to e30's.

Fault in the cluster. I had this happen too - always seems to be the left one. Probably fixable if you want to carefully inspect the circuit board for a break and have the skills to fix it. If it relly bothers you, start looking for a new cluster.

try using a pin to put a tiny hole in the sticker and squeze the air out - you'll never see the hole.

They would be joking. For the millionth time - plates are not a wof issue. You can go in with no plates if you want. (just means they have to f**k about entering the VIN on the computer system.)