bravo

I can't answer that sorry. Someone else will know.

The shocks on the m325i from factory were Bilsteins or Boge turbos. Why don't you have them rebuilt and revalved for the H&R's? Will cost you less than new shocks, but will be better than new as they will be valved for your setup.

Look at the tyre size. If its xxx/xx/R14 or xxx/xx/r15 (r being the radius in inches) then you are fine - they are standard imperial wheels. BMW made a wheel (and I'm not sure if they made it in 4 stud, so maybe I'm warning you for nothing) which had a radius of 390mm (about 15.5 inches) ie xxx/xx/r390. These were experimental and tyres are very hard to come by. I've come across about 3 sets over the past few years, usually at a tye shop where the cost of the tyres has made the owner abandon them for some "normal" wheels. Oh, I disagree, I think the 16" basketweaves are superior in terms of look and performance.

Just don't buy them if they're metrics! Tyres cost the earth.

I paid around 2.5k for a running 4-door tech II with buggered gearbox a couple of years ago. Same colour as mine so I swapped the kit over, and put a spare auto box in it I had lying around and gave the car to my g/f. She wrote it off, and insurance gave us $1700 after buying back the wreck, so worked out fairly well financially. Only thing was it was missing one of the rear arch pieces. Took me until last year, but I finally got one. Wait long enough, and you'll find some pods, but you may have to muck around like I did and buy an entire car. I think you may have erred thinking someone would swap 2-door pods for 4-door. There are heaps of 2-door kits around, but hardly any 4-door. I've only seen a couple other than mine. PS. I don't think you can get away with just the skirts - looks worse than no skirts.

They sound like BMW ones. If you can get one off without damaging it there is a number on the end of the stud - ring up BMW and order that number locknut key. $15 from the stealer from memory. The previous owner should have it though. If you are near a BMW dealership they should have a full set to try until they get the right one.

Slightly bad taste, but no humour intended...

There the auto trans fluid hoses. The trans fluid is cooled by the radiator and is pumped through. You should not be getting any coolant out of these as this would mean coolant in your fluid! Perhaps the top radiator hose is leaking and dripping down onto the trans hoses giving the appearance they are leaking? Running rich and hunting idle is most likely the cold start valve sticking, or a vacuum leak. The cold start valve applies extra fuel for when the motor is cold. If it is sticking open this would give the rich smell, and may cause the hunting idle as the computer will be calculating the AFR wrong.

Correct. It is all there in the link. Jeez, people have forgotten how to click a link for themselves!

If the fan is hitting the rad, either it's too far forward, or the radiator is too far back. Make sure the rad is seated in its mounts (at the bottom) properly, and make usre the motor is sitting square on the engine mounts. The pool of coolant could be because your motor was overheating and it came out the expansion tank overflow.

tech II skirt doesn't work without pods. Looks terrible. Get on the hunt for pods, but have your wallet ready - they prob won't be cheap. You may be better off buying an entire tech II kit and then selling off the bits you don't need. There were about 3 4-door kits for sale last year. They come up now and again.

Ring Chris at Suspension Tech (friend of Keith's). Say you're from BS and you bought your springs from Keith and he'll look after you. If you mention that the shocks are from Graham from the Bay of Islands, he should remember me and should have the figures from when he tested them. Chris - 0272145325 I don't have the rears for sale as I am still using them - I had them custom re-valved (changed the stiffness etc) by Chris.

What browser Gus?

You'd know (about the 325i and motronic dizzy) Alex since you've been down the conversion route. I thought I knew what I meant, but obviously I didn't as what you say makes total sense. The shroud is supposed to improve airflow and some motors don't cool at all well without them, but I've seen plenty of e30's without them. PM'd about your other question.

They are stock MS Bilstein Sport shocks, so will be slightly softer than brand new Bilstein Sports. Havn't been shortened, but have had the bumpstops shortened for more travel on a lower setup so you don't get as much of the harshness you get when they bottom out on standard travel. Reasonable price IMO. Would be fine with H&R's - that's what I had with them.

Another project on my watchlist! How do you find the time David?

I have what you need. $10 pick up from the shore next time I'm in Akl. (13 march probably)

Your call. I wasn't planning on picking it up before paying, so you would be paid in full before parting with the diff. Pretty safe on your side if you ask me. Deposit was only so you would hold it because I can't pick it up this week, and I come to Auckland every 2-3 weeks, so no point paying freight. I wouldn't pay in full until I picked up. I'm not that trusting. Good luck with the sale. At $750 I might be interested if you guarantee it. Let me know.

If he hasn't already seen it, get him to join Ecomodder forums. I havn't spent any time there really, but the couple of threads I saw (after a google search for something else) were pretty hardcore. Might be some useful info.

Need to double de-clutch the crash box in my dad's jeep. Heel-toeing in bmws is easy - the brake and gas are so close together. Use the ball of your foot on the brake, and the right side of your foot on the gas. Don't use your heel. Which is why I back off the spring on the throttle body as BMW throttles are too stiff too be precise. Too little resistance and you may have erratic throttle on bumpy roads, too much like your normal BMW throttle and small adjustments are immensely difficult.Finally. More info for "beginners". Very much a basic guide, much like yours, but well written with good examples.

I can't remember exactly how I did mine, but the door pods clip into the existing holes, just the rear ones need a hole drilled - you can put some wet paint on the "nipple" on the pod, line it up and touch the car with it to leave a mark where the hole goes. You then need to put a grommet in the hole for the nipple to seat into. Also paint over all holes to avoid rust. The side skirts are easy as they have a few mm play each way - get them lined up, mark with a pencil or marker, then take the little pins out of the clips, reline up the clip, centre punch the holes, drill, paint, fit. Lift the plastic sill covers off - lets you see what you are doing better. You'll have to experiment with hole size - too small and they won't push in, too large and they won't stay in. i forget how big they need to be - I just remember thinking they looked too big, but they weren't. I had the added benefit of having the car they came off to compare.

Koropewa?

Draft Land Transport Rule: Tyres and Wheels Amendment [(No 2) 2009] proposes four changes to the Tyres and Wheels Rule. These are: * a. inclusion of winter tyre requirements; * b. inclusion of inspection requirements for visible cords in the tread area of heavy vehicle tyres; * c. removal of the requirement for the sum of the load ratings of the tyres fitted to an axle of a vehicle to equal the maximum load specified on the Certificate of Loading (CoL) for the vehicle; * d. removal of the requirement for space-saver tyre labels to be approved. Submissions close on 9 April 2009. Info Here

Not sure where this thread should go, but will sticky if I can think of the right forum for it to be in. Maintenance or want to buy maybe?

HEYBBY - and in small print - How You Doin'? On my ex-workmates car. Age when he bought the plate? 17. Age now? 22. Still got the plate? - YUP. This is worse: $100 for a gay plate surround. USED. SEX NE I? HI 5EXY Is your girlfriend a GDBTCH, a CRZBCH, or just a plain old BTCH? Is she LO4AHO? or like to DPTHRT when she GOSDWN? I go tbored, but there are hundreds of stupid plates out there.