kiwi328i

So, as I thought might happen, I have a cross over of minor projects and no more real room to do it in. So I collected my Rims from Arrow Wheels. They are light, bloody light compared to the Harman's, and as for the m-pars 9.5", flippin heck! The bloke from Taupo drove them there, which was lovely. Lance from Arrows drilled one of the rims out to 72.6 (yes I know, I know, we had that discussion) and the guys from Bridgestone back out in the real west mounted it with some difficulty I must say. It's not really stretched, it's just a big f'n wide thing. So here is a couple of pics. As my leather restore/electric to manual has gone viral in the garage I have spread out into the lounge, like a few of you I am guessing. Just as well the Missus is out, cause she would have flippin kittens. Note to self, put all the sh*t back in the garage somewhere before her highness returns. Here is the mounted one and the other three lined up waiting for...me to get those flippin front seats back in for a start! I think it fits well, I don't have much choice to be honest, the only other relatively similar OD in a 17" is a 315/35-17, which would be lovely on this 11" but I haven't heard of anyone managing to fit anything near that size on an E34 in googleland at least. A super rare 295/35-17 could be doable, but sh*t the $$$ must be eye watering. 315/35 possible due to brand variances it could be done, maybe a Nitto or something, but heck, I think this looks sweet as. It's going to be tight. These secondhand dunlops are BIG for a 275 I think. So this is a 275/40-17 on a 17x11" chicane made in good ole NZ by Arrows Wheels. The et is reputedly +20, which in my mind will be bloody close. So close whether it fits or not, it will be worth a few giggles I am sure. The rear of the face of the wheel, the part which mounts to the hub is totally flat, I hope like hell the calipers are less than flush with the brake rotors. I had them converted to 540i calipers and rotors some time ago, I cant remember if they are or not, effit if I have to modify anything or heaven forbid go back to 525i spec calipers and rotors. Cant be much in it. The slight stretch should help also, I could have gone 255/40 a-la S5 or 265/40, but I like some others feel that the std E34 OD is a bit on the small side. But overseas seem to go smaller OD more than anything on E34's, and I don't dig the look to be honest, some I see have piddly 215/40-17's on the fronts! It doesn't have to be the stretched, slammed, flush, hella flush, or the meat look. 'Stretched meat' that's what I am going for. Isn't that what every bloke wants? lol. Fingers crossed the rears might have a very slim chance of fitting. Then again it could hit the inner fender, outer fender, caliper and trailing arm all at the same time.ha. The fronts, well they have no chance, they will at the very least require an inner barrel change. Well the test fitting will have to wait till I finish the seats, in which time the DUDMD chip should have bloody arrived!!! arrgghhh.

Has this been sorted? I had idle issues also, and looking at your engine all apart was a very recent memory for me. I was lucky I had 2 of everything so I just went through every combo I had. In the end I don't know what fixed it other than, I took the battery off for a bit and it got better instantly then let it run for a bit and it runs well now, but I looked for leaks that didn't exist and whilst I didn't do any resistor testing, I swapped every bloody cam/crank sensor I had, every TPS and ICV I had, and triple cleaned everything. It will come right. Of the other possibles, it could be anything but under brakes tells me possibly that it cant figure out the load which must be a TPS or ICV issue? All other things being equal. When I was turning the wheels whilst being stationary mine would cough and splutter, so it wasn't figuring in the additional load and it did turn out to be TPS and ICV related. I dunno, good luck

I think because they did come from your old Hartge Brent. True story. E32 aye? It gets even more interesting. Best wearing leather I have come across in a beemer. The old blue is the new black...

When is the next meet? It's taking a lot longer than I had hoped. When you start sanding and start getting fussy...it's like...endless. Just did the 2 front seats today, and I got heaps more to do, but the front seats, well with all of the electric to manual conversion going on, it was always going to be more involved than restoring the rest of it. But yeah, I guess the 'meets' serve in a few ways. It gives you ideas or inspiration, it empties the bank account, it puts more pressure on yourself to improve your car. blah blah. It could be worse! First time leather fixer upper for me, so it's also a challenge. A lot of elbow grease. It is quite rewarding. A lot less swearing than the engine conversion that's for sure!

I hear ya Josh. I am pretty miffed that I have had to open and close it a few times, and that's mindful that it has already been opened. I guess I will know in a week or so, which is a guess on how long it took for the original one to turn up. But...plenty to do in the meantime. A secondhand DME is not too hard to find, or costly, but sure, I will be pretty frustrated if I have sunk this one.

One way would be to gladwrap or similar the original top and bottom pieces, then bog as usual, file and sand. then epoxy or fiberglass the middle pieces, then sand further and paint. I cant help thinking though that if you had someone with a 3D printer, you could scan what you have, and make the necessary mathematical adjustments (by measuring your tops and bottoms) and have a nice nylon version. I am sure someone could do it. Those pieces are not that big or complicated for a 3D printer.

I have done some more work on the seats. All of them are stripped now. The sport seats are stripped, all of the rusty hog rings are out. So... Sports seats stripped. Backs are gutted of their electrics that control the headrest, but otherwise left alone. I put some more lumber support in the passenger seat (which will be the new drivers seat as there is less wear in the supports, smart aye?). On that note, I will be using the seat section from the original sports seat for the drivers as well, for the same reason. I have had to repair slightly the most worn side seat support (drivers obviously) as years of foam against the metal chassis has weakened it. I cut some foam off the original seats and did a cut and paste job literally with silicone so it will hold up better than original. I will put a strip of leather from the old seats on the fronts of the side supports of the drivers seats to make it slightly more robust again. Note: The leather on these sports seats is tough, much much tougher than the comfort seats, which looks lovely, but is thinner and I can tear it off with pliers. No can do with these sports seats that's for sure, after all of this I can imagine the seats outlasting me easy. The electric seats are heavy, the bases especially, I can see why everyone advises against using them if possible. So with me going to cable ties and a few other mods they should be lighter than stock again. it's not like an E34 needs to gain more weight!!! Manual seats seem to go lower too, and must be more reliable, because there isn't much going on down there to go wrong. I have bought the leather restore stuff, so that will be in transit soon, hopefully for the weekend. Just need a good dry weekend, because like all of my other projects, it will be up the bro's driveway. Compressor and guns will be at the ready. Here are some pics: Here is the drivers seat, both sports electric and comfort manual in front Car interior looking pretty gutted Rip all of this crap out By unscrewing these 2 Phillips screws on the side, I didn't do it this way the first time...second time was a lot quicker in all regards. Here is the sports back passenger (back view) I have put some more padding in the very bottom of it that will be better for my build I think. Seats are much better designed these days and in this area in particular. So just cut out some hard foam from the originals to fit and wallah. So here is an after shot of the repair I did to the inside of the damaged side bolster from the sports seat drivers side RHS. It obviously gets the most wear due to hopping in and out of your car. The foam deteriorates under compression. My silicone fix creates a buffer between the foam and the metal chassis as well as gluing the pieces I put in there. I don't want to go to overboard as I...probably have already to be fair.ha. Might as well fix it whilst I am there scenario and foam crumble under your seat is not a good look either. It was the only one that needed repair of the four.

He is sending out a new chip tomorrow or Tuesday. he ran out of blank chips. I am working on another aspect of my car whilst I await the chip, so whilst I am a bit miffed, it didn't work, I got other things to play around with. It's not like every other thing on this car didn't drive me a bit insane. Don't worry I will let you all know when I power it up

I think I may have the original paperwork on the work done to this one, but it wasn't directly from BMW as a new car as it's a UK import.

So I have an additional three minor projects, I call them minor because they are not as big as the M60b30 to M60b40 conversion. Number 1, Big feet, everyone wants bigger feet. So I have bought (In stupidity I think sometimes) 4 of 17"x11" Arrows three piece wheels that once lived on a racing Commodore. This racing Commodore had more modifications than I have had hot dinners to make it work. Easier on the E34, but I will still need to do some major fettling with them to make them work. Thankfully arrows are not too far away, and they know I am coming. Still waiting for them to get from Taupo to Auckland. I have bought some cheap second tyres so I can at least get them fitted and to the rims to see what I have to do to make them fit. Number 2, see the performance forum, on the DUDMD chip I have...let's just say another chip is coming, should be here within a week I think. This one better go, because I am going to end up wrecking my DME at this rate, open close, open close, open close..... Number 3, ahhh another foolish stab here. I was always hoping to get 'better' seats than the normal 'comfort' ones that I have. Nothing wrong with them, they just don't inspire me or support me in any way. Beautiful leather, just uninspiring really. I bought some leather Z3 seats...then they went to the dump eventually. Too bloody difficult for me to even know where to start. Then I saw Matt's Sports seats in his E34...they instantly appealed. they have subtle differences, but on close inspection, heaps different. Three piece bottoms, much more extreme padding, made out of stronger stuff, different back enclosures. Ray got a hold of me, and I went to grab some electric ones, and then I did some googling. I had a look at the general consensus, and it was that electric is evil and manual is better. I looked for anyone who had converted the electric versions to manual. One guy did, and he has more of everything so he cant count. Bugger it I thought I have 2 sets of seats, it cant be THAT hard. Well I have started to change things over. it looks like it could be doable. I have to restore the leather as well, as it is history really, dry cracked, and one puncture, but I am feeling up to it. my garage is a mess. f'n leather everywhere. Number 4, almost forgot, a bought a set of headlights to play with, I was wanting to see if I could recess the lights themselves back into the enclosures. Its hard this one, had a play, and yeah its hard, I want to be able to keep the adjustability AND have it recessed back an inch or so. Sounds simple, but in reality it's a bugger. See this chip! Didn't work, another is coming.....arrgghh Here is one of the new seats that will have a manual conversion and leather restore.. Here we are a steps ahead, I have attached the foam from the sports to the manual base. OK quite a few steps ahead. I worked out why later why it was so easy to get into my DME....someone had been here before. And surprise a superchips chip is in there for the ole 3.0. Here is the sports original base with the back unceremoniously pulled off Here is the back of the original Sports seat. I will keep this intact and put it on the manual base. It looks almost impossible to gut the electric seats to get it to a manual version, but the backs are much closer, I gutted the electrics to the electric headrest and all of its mechanisms. I will secure the leather back together and press it in. You don't know these things until you do it, but if I found a DIY, that would have been easier I guess. As the electric sports seats also have electric extended thigh...thingy, I had to do some grinding to get the pieces I wanted off and retro fit them to the manual base..so here are the differences. This is the front of the normal manual seats This is the grotty sports electric one. Notice the 2 runners. They are riveted from above, and thankfully the holes are there on the manual base as well. However underneath they are welded to the electric base. Stink, out comes the grinder, and they are off. I used 2 pot epoxy to 'weld' them on to the manual base. Should hold, needed 5mm rivets but had 3mm. Should be fine, I don't think there is going to be a lot of weight there anyway, can always spot weld it later if need be but I doubt it. So it is coming along!

He recommended I put it in upside down. Which I did. Same result unfortunately. He does get back to me quick mind. He is sending another chip. Fingers crossed, I really don't want to keep prying this DME all the time, it's a powder keg, especially as the top board requires some serious wrangling with every bloody time. So I guess I will wait...

Well I let it charge overnight, had another go..crap it aint going. The DME unit was hot as, for under 30 secs of non starting it was pretty hot, I thought farrrkkkk, that f'ker is fried. Its like its got no fuel, so could be relays and sh*t, but the car was fine so doubtful. I took the DUDMD chip out replaced it with surprise the original chip is a superchips 530i chip. It fired up after a couple of cranks so I am guessing its the chip. Thank god I didn't fry the DME or something. I have FB'ed DUDMD see if he has any hints. He may have to send out another me think, will see what he comes back with, thankfully its not too much of a mission pulling them in and out.

I put the chip in after a lot of mucking around. I will put some pics on later, but to cut a long story short. It wont f'n start. Turns over...and over, flat battery now. I will charge it overnight and see what happens. If new charge don't get it, in goes back the old chip, till I sort it. Could be the chip, could be me, dunno. Updates to follow!!!! ffaaaaarrrrrrrrrrkkkkkk.

An E34 not full of spare parts is technically not an E34. My boot is almost as full and its a daily.

Try the guys on trademe who offer services. It will be guys who will encourage you to do as much of the prep work, but they have access to painting booths etc and most of them operate directly out of existing panelbeating shops. Easy coin for them.

I do more wrenching than posting. So I am hopeless in regards to posts. I try to be helpful where I can. Is some of the stuff I do interesting to others? Maybe, maybe not, should I post stuff in the hope someone may be interested...maybe maybe not. It's hard when you have to take photos download and stuff and you just think to yourself, is this any good to anyone. I have learnt heaps from this site, and I cant possibly imagine learning anything remotely helpful to me on a social media site unless there is a fundamental change in the way they currently operate. If I don't get what I am looking for on this site...I go to the other forums. Facebook? Hardly. If we had a clubrooms....now that would be the ticket

Text me bro, Might be able to help you out on that one. I avoid retail like the plague. I am in west Auckland if that helps. 021795306. Lionel

Chip has arrived, one week to the day. Guess what I will be doing this weekend...

If you have an E34... Replace everything that you can and even things you don't really need to, replace them as well. OEM if possible or 'better'.

I have Bilstein HD's (B6) in mine front and rear, as most people on the web preferred them over the sports (B8) even though I have lowered springs front and rear. It seems the HD's can handle lower springs no problem with no ill effects at all. I had sports in my lowered E36, and they were too harsh for me, so I went to HD's and they were a lot better. I don't know if the difference is as marked for the E34 versions?, there is much debate about the differences between sports and HD's online. Take from it what you will, but from what I read, most still preferred the HD's. From my E36 experience, at least the sports were far 'sportier', but too sporty for me that's for sure. Even a 520i is plenty heavy, I guess, and I don't know how you want it to drive, but you may even want to consider the touring versions (B4)?, if you are not going to fang it everywhere you go. Roads in Auckland are pretty custard as well, and if my E34 was a DD I would probably go B4, but as its a weekender I don't mind it being a bit on the firm side. I guess it really depends on what you are wanting to do with it in the end?

Taupo...where all the racing wheels live. Should have them some time this month. No rush, gives me time to let the coffers grow a little.feek.

I did some rudimentary maths. The 10's were et39 The 11's were et20 To make the 10's work front and rear would actually require a lot of work, mainly because neither inner barrel or outer lips would work for the front in any iteration. To my maths the inner barrels of the 10's were slightly larger than the ones on the 11's. Having the 11's at a squeeze should mean only a inner barrel change. Fricken huge lip for the front but from my maths its doable, and in any case gets closer to fitting the front thatn the 10's. I was actually going to by them staggered, but considering the modifications I would be having to do, it didn't make sense.

OK, I don't know if anyone is actually following this thread but what the hell, it may help someone else so here it goes. I got a hold of DUDMD on facebook, he's not that flash on bimmerforums in terms of getting back to you, like any other busy fullah I guess, and like most busy fullas, they are always pretty good on facebook however? mmm. So he asks for $140.00USD which is currently about $186.00NZD or thereabouts. I yanked the DME just to make sure I have the "404" which I do. So paypal just got hammered to the aforementioned amount and it should get here by next weekend I guess, its only a small thing? HIs FB reply was about 2 mins...much better. HE said he will post it tomorrow or Tueday (they are nearly a day behind you see as well). Will keep everyone updated. Oh, I wont be doing any dyno this that and the other, or any other stopwatch before and after, because...well I cant be stuffed really, if I cant feel or see the difference, it is money ill spent anyway. No-one said faffin with these things made economic sense, so yeah. I am all good with that.

Whatever he ends up doing... Just have loads and loads of money. I have done in the rear: poly rear subframe bushes, low Jamex springs, billie hd's, HD strut mounts, dogbones For front: Lowered King Springs, Billie hd's, HD strut mounts, 1" correction plates, tie rack centre and both ends, sway bar links, spherical uppers and lowers A bloody fortune, and I don't have coilovers and strut bar things and stuff, or hydraulics...adjustable koni's or that real high end stuff. Another suggestion is not to buy cheap crap. Our cars are snobs and will sh*t out any inferior crap. My first attempt at replacing the upper's with FCP Euro shite...meant that I was doing the same job 6 months later with sphericals. Ultimately get it right, or as close to right as you can the first time. These things are heavy and need good suspension parts for them to work proper like.

I have just re-contacted DUDMD again, and hopefully he will get back to me. My car is ready to go, well only just got the b'stard running well, so the chip, or entire dme is ready to get unceremoniously yanked from the car and something else put in there. I will let everyone know how I get on. Time flies...