bravo

Thats still a great price. Do you notice any differene? Any idea if they have e30 ones?

If your going to Matauri then make sure you make the most of the mad mile - any local will tell you what I'm on about. Usual stuff - I'm sure the idea for yuo is cool driving, not spending money doing touristy things so here's my suggestions: Take the Tomarata Road to Mangawhai on the way up hitting the coast road past Waipu Cove etc. The Pizza barn at Waipu is a must see for lunch - licensed and mad pizza. Then on to Whangaz. Drive thru the city and take the road out to tutukaka. It not bad, but the road from tut's back to the highway is f**kn mad - gary aka hamwallet back me up on this! Then on up to Kawakawa - take SH 11 instead of SH1 at kawakawa and see Russell and Paihia on the way past. Kawakawa to Paihia would be a feckn cool road if it weren't for the campervans. From Paihia go Kerikeri - hit my skid paddock on the way past - and go up the coast road (SH 10 to the top and do the whole 90 mile thing). Then go back down SH1 thru the mangamukas - if its not busy then you'll be opposite lock oversteering the whole way corner to corner. (if that's your thing) Then take the vehicle ferry from Horeke accross to Rawene so you can go thru Opononi and then down the west coast to dargaville then home. Follow this itinerary and you'll see all the sites and also see the best driving roads Northland has to offer. Have I missed anything Gary et. al.???? Peace.

Fair enough Cam. lol @ kerry - so true. When did I start this thread? 10:30. Its now been 6 hours and still no call back. I've never dealt with them before and never will again - useless pack of wallies.

I am the typical kiwi at the end of poor service. I don't tell the place that gave the poor service, rather I vote with my feet and whinge to my friends. I was more than helpful, painfully polite and friendly. At the end of the day I wanted a hose, not a chance to write a bitch thread (although I am enjoying doing that too - makes me feel much better). I had a simple request, thay are inept and still havn't called me back - meanwhile the hose is on the courier (I gave up waiting and got the hose from my regular Auckland supplier in about 30secs of phone time). You're just sore because you are in the industry and get annoyed when you have to do your job by figuring out what the customer wants. When someone rings me up wanting free advice about subdividing their property (and I know unless I actually get the job there's no way they'll pay for a single ph consultation), and all they have is a rural address and "its shaped sort of like..." I don't cry that they don't have the correct reference numbers etc - I get on my computer system and find it (how far along the road?, who's your neighbours? etc eetc) In other words I do my job. instead of saying - you don't have a chassis number so we can't help, they should have said - no problem, I'll have a look. it may take some time and I need some info from you. What year is your vehicle? and so on.

Well actually what I said was - its an e30 or do you want the actual chassis number? Artistic license lol. All 'm hearing here is excuses why they should give me the run around. I'm the clueless customer remember? They are the experts. i shouldn't have to do their job for them. This is why service in NZ is sh*t - everyone uses the tried and true cop-outs - oh its too hard, blah blah, blah. If I tried that in my profession (surveying - construction and land development) I'd be broke in 2 seconds flat.

I wouldn't be worried if they said "It's $50. We don't have it in stock though and you have to wait" That I can live with, but inability to look up a part on a computer and then take 2 hours to get a price - I thought in this day and age with computersiation, it should all be there. Once again - silly me.

All I want is a fricken radiator hose. Being a funny-shaped one, usual generic parts stores do not have them (Repco, Auto-one etc). So its either wait for one to be couried from somewhere in Auckland or go to the local BMW service centre. Me: "I want a radiator hose. Its for a facelift e30. Its the one from the water pump to the thermostat." Them: "What's your chassis number?" Me: "e30" Them: "No we need the last 7 digits of your chassis number." Me: "Can't you just look it up? It's not all that difficult - I just want a radiator hose." Them: "No we need a chassis number." Me: "Hold on, I'll just look on the internet.... 40secs pass while I look up the online etk (no chassis number required just a model and year etc) ... Would a part number do?" Them: "[Exasperated sigh!] OK" Me: " 11531287651 it also happens to be written on the hose" Them: 'OK I'll need 1 to 2 hours to find out a price for you - what's your number there?" 1-2 bloody hours for a PRICE on a hose. I was thinking I might actually GET the hose in 1 -2 hours! Silly me. Maybe its beacause they are also the local Honda service centre.... I've been meaning to get a pic of their sign for awhile - both BMW and Honda logos.

Too much oversteer/understeer and occaisonal near misses from a lapse in concentration. I must say I'm a lot better all of a sudden recently with almost no speeding anymore, letting people in, less risks etc. Must be because I'm almost 25... Seriously though it is weird - approaching 25 and all of a sudden I have less desire to drive all silly and kick myself everytime I do something I consider "not on par". The insurance companies were right all along. At least in my case.

Use a "piano hinge" It'll mount to the ends of the MDF. It doesn't matter that it's only 6mm as piano hinges go the whole length of the hinge point so you can use smaller screws - just much more of them.

You don't do that every day though do you? If you did, the answer would be the same - accelerated wear. Plus only 30-40% of the braking is at the rear. It is quite unusual for the rear wheels to lock up under heavy braking unless it is a serious emergency braking situation. I know what you aer getting at kerry, but I still think my logic is valid.

Hey Nathan - back? I've had two of the tyres go a little soft on me after hard driving, but a quick pump-up puts them right for weeks. A tendency for enthusiastic round-a-bout negotiation, major negative camber, and poor driving skills leading to understeer (i'm still learning) mean the tyres will be worn out long before I need to worry about them going flat now and again.

Eventually it will cause damage. The engine output is via the flexdisk/ringgear which is bolted to the torque converter. The torque converter uses hydraullics (crudely put) to turn the gears in the gearbox. The gearbox turns the driveshaft via a rubber coupling and the driveshaft is supported in the middle by a bearing. The driveshat bolts to the diff input shaft which puts power to your wheels via axles commonly called half-shafts which have CV joints. When you pull the handbrake a cable pulls on shoes inside the brake drum to stop the wheels turning. When everything is in good condition, the friction of the tyres against the road is the weakest link so the wheels lock up and you slide. also, the hydraulic forces in the torque converter are the weakest link so to speak in the drivetrain and so that is where the force from the sudden stopping of the wheels goes. As things wear, your brake cable will eventually stretch until it breaks. Your flexible driveshaft coupling will probably be the first to go but before that you will have added wear to the cv's, diff gears, gearbox and torque converter. Hand brake slides can be fun and even used in a emergency avoidance situation by skilled drivers (ie not me and I very much doubt - you). But basically overtime it will f**k your car.

Link now working

A mate and I found some old fireworks and decided my old toy jeep needed some well-deserved boost. Goes pretty hard. Link

why buy new? It certainly doesn't make financial sense.

Clutch shudder?

If its what I think it is - why? For that money you could get a better handling and performing and looking car. There is absolutely nothing wrong with them, but IMO they do not represent good value. Commodore VE/VZ SS V8 at $63k rrp.

Its hard to say. It dependson the skill of the welder and the condition of the metal and the size and shape of the crack. My weld is sweet - no leaks at all. The engineer who did it said he had some problems with the metal "star crackign" at first but managed to sort it out. Basccally for $20odd I would try the weld and if it looks good then use your sump. If it doesn't work, put it down to experience and buy a new secondhand sump.

I cracked mine not so long ago. $20 for welding and about $40 for gasket and gasket glue and new oil. If it is in good condition then welding is the go. Sometimes older sumps don't weld too well. The important thing is for it to be clean before it is welded. A good engineering shop wouldn't try to weld it dirty and would sepnd some time making sure it was totally clean around the are to be welded.

e46 328 or 330. You can pick them up for well under $30k now, which for a 5-6yo vehicle is similar money to a brand new base-model jappa, so not too bad considering they were close to a hundy grand new. Stylish, modern interior, with all the mod cons. Nice and easy to drive, but with enough poke to have little bit of fun too.

If not, I'm 90% sure I have a blue one lying around you can have. I'll look after the weekend when I get back. maybe PM me to remind me.

The dick is lucky to be alive after that accident - look at the damage in the roof etc.

Not sure exactly, but 2 people can lift it without gearbox attached. With the 4wd attesa gearbox attached (the biggest behemoth gearbox I've seen in a car), 4 of us struggled to drag it under my mates car.

2 or 4 door?

Chris - not entirely correct. It is 100mm to any chassis OR any steering, braking or suspension component. Cops could argue that diff is suspension component. Also, the lowest point on the front of an e30 is the control arm bush, so if your car is very low, this is the point that will be below 100mm, and thus you have a suspension component below the threshold. Springs must be direct replacements and not heated or cut. They ust be captive and maintain contact with the OEm spring seats at all times. There must be "sufficent" suspension travel for safe operation, and maintain "sufficient" clearance from unmodified bumstops when the vehicle is fully laden. Whilst I am in the LVV manual: rims must not use spacers, must be made by a reputable wheel manufacturer, must be considered suitable for your vehicle by the WHEEL MANFACTURER, must not allow the tyre tread to extend outside body panels, and a maximum of 5% increase in rolling circumference and maximum of 25mm track width. This means the maximum tyre width for e30 is 220mm (or 215's as that is the standard size below the threshold).