Tidy30

Update time! Clearer photos have yet to be processed, but after another semi-mammoth detailing session, I'll give a sneak peek at what has happened since last time before a proper run through. After spending enough money to bail out the world's banks with Ernst at Bavarian Motorworks (who has done an excellent job so far!) I have recently done the following: Tie rod replacement Suspension bush replacement Filters replaced as well as an engine re-tune (had my valve clearances done last time, needed to retune since) Full diff refurbishment (and paint! for someone to look at sometimes!) Lowered the car on an H&R Sport Cupkit. The cupkit is the real visual difference here. I did quite a lot of research on the net beforehand to figure out heights (as my driveway is horrendous! Did not want to condemn the cabrio to outside parking if it couldn't get into the safety of the garage) but the amount of concrete information is rather limited, especially with a non-touring cupkit installed on a cabriolet. I will have some numbers in the near future, but the kit gave an approximate drop of 3" front, 2.5" rear which was quite a bit more than I had expected, but has turned out exceptionally well. The cabrio even came with a sump guard, so it was meant to be! Once again, you're probably skipping over this text, distracted by what you see in your peripheral vision: A massive clean of the bottlecaps was included in the list for the detailing session, and I must say I have actually really taken a liking to the OEM look. Still looking for a set of RS's, but have now thought about considering some super tidy 15" weaves. Gotta find some for a test fitting sometime! Anyway, will have some more photos and informaiton up. Just got home and couldn't resist posting sometime in the meantime as I've been teasing for quite some time!

That's enough justification for me! Cheers.

Hi guys, After having just done another 8 hour detail session on the upgraded cab (pictures incoming!) my arms are fully dead again. I have decided to consider going slightly more serious, and started looking at buffers etc. Just so happens Repco (horrendous) is having a sale on their unbranded buffers here: http://catalogues.repco.co.nz/Christmas_Countdown_/5366/GearUp_Gear_Up_Buffer_Polisher_110W/526239 Any advice from seasoned vets on these mystery brand buffers? Price seems like something worth trying, but the car says otherwise. Better off saving my money for something better? (I'm more of a "preventative" detailer: Give it a super good clean once in a while, then you'll only need quick wash and wax each fortnight to keep it looking like a flying mirror.)

Is that a houndstooth interior? Nice!

Comin! Gonna be going out for another wanky photoshoot tomorrow hopefully, get some pics with the spoiler and other stuff added so far. Would've been nice ot have found some wheels as well! but alas, it is a cruel game we play..

Sorry dude, they're currently sitting on my E30 now. I can highly recommend trading with Jordan though, great guy

Another (I think) Mspec E30 just came on. It is all happening today! http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-662227575.htm

Going to piggy back here, but if you get your goodies shipped over, any chance they'll throw in a tech1 cabrio kit? We can split the shipping!

Typical probabilities: http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/m325i/auction-662172617.htm

Sorry guys, hilarious mistake. Original post now updated.

May I ask what's different about these bumpers than normal chrome PFL ones? Mounting points only?

I definitely agree, found this PFL Tech1 front attached to this car: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=658179370 Ha, ambitious call, but anyone want to buy the car? Too time and skill limited to buy and sell on myself. I'll give you $400 for the (genuine?) front bumper!

Long shot, but those FL smileys won't go into a PFL right?

You're referring to a tech2 kit right? Man, looking for these is like house hunting. Everyone spends a whole heap of time looking around but the prices for similar things always end up ludicrously inconsistent. Time and place I guess!

If anyone happens across a tech1 kit like that I'll take it for a similar price! I don't know why I got so excited finding this, not even compatible with mine.

Unbelievable! This is going to save someone years of searching... If this were a tech1 kit I would have bought it in a heartbeat! http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/bmw/exterior/auction-661229828.htm Best of luck to whoever gets it!

Ha! Got me with the covers. From what I can tell in the photos, your exterior is looking really good. I highly recommend giving it a real good wash, clay, cut, polish and wax. Should take you a day to do it real thoroughly, all the consumables should cost around $100. You become a bit more familiar with the body as well, it helps you discover new dings and scratches each time you look at it afterwards! Once you do it, you only have to give your car a real quick rinse every week or so, and a light wax every 2-3 weeks and it stays looking immaculate. I love watching the rain from the office as the water just beads and runs off my car compared to every other one in the parking lot!

I am jealous of your fogs! Can you please show some more photos of the interior? I am very intrigued by the cloth pattern. Looks great. As for the temp needle, I did a bit of reading just then after hearing John saying it should be halfway. Mine is usually 1/4 of the way. It seems apparently there are 2 different thermostats, 75deg and 88deg. 75 deg ones cause it to stay around 1/4, which is what happens with me; and 88, which causes it to stay around half way. I'm no specific expert, but generally speaking hotter engines run slightly more efficiently, but place larger strains on the cooling system due to increased operating pressures. If anyone is able to expand on this feel free to do so.

Pro-tip (I don't have a trim for you but..): Make sure you measure the perimeter distance you'll need, and to measure the perimeter distance of the trim you're buying. They can sometimes end up too short, like mine. It was around 15mm too short when I replaced mine with a new chrome one, had to cut a section of the original and put it in place.

Hi guys, Having posted nothing since the original "photoshoot" thread, I have been finding odd times during the last month to perform some cosmetic upgrades to my E30 cab. Thought I would start as Project thread to keep everyone updated, and myself motivated (although I don't see this becoming an issue!). I also thought it would be good for me to start a little planning list here, to let the general community know what's coming up for the E30, to offer you the opportunity to berate and commend my tasteful vision. Admittedly, it's primarily for the odd chance you stumble upon something which I may be on the lookout for! I would be very appreciate if something like that happened, but I figured it's better than starting a whole lot of "WTB: Sweet stuff" threads everywhere. If you can offer some comments/leads on the list I would be much obliged! The list itself (no particular order, a few "long term goals" if you know what I mean): Replace the plastic rear window, as it is heavily UV damaged and has a nice "L" split from the constant opening and closing she sees as my daily driver. Fortunately there are no leaks, and it's passed some "controlled" testing I did to determine if it's something of immediate concern.Replace the rear chrome bumper. It appears somewhere along the line the rear has bumped into something, slightly bending the chrome bumper allowing water to get into a small section of it. Looking onthe E30 wiki this isn't the greatest news as apparently the PFL bumpers for tourings and cabriolets are different to sedans (longer), and since the tourings didn't come in PFL, the chances of finding another are quite a bit slimmer.Reduce the wheel arch gaps. The stock suspension is amazingly comfortable (feels like I am driving a marshmallow made of mild steel) but I would like to lower the cab a bit. This item may be crossed off sometime this week and I've gone and purchased Jordan’s (JC_FVTEC_E30) new H&R sport cupkit, which I am planning on installing sometime during the coming week. Done some quick measurements, and I’m going to have to be slightly more careful going up my driveway, but the rather silly drop should still be fine.Find some new wheels. I have been on the lookout recently, trying to find some period mesh wheels (ie BBS RS). Somehow have the idea of gold wheels stuck firmly in my head, but have yet to find any pictures of the cirrusblau and gold combination together. I have found some 16x8 et20 from Street Works in Wellington, but am trying to find something which won’t require me to put spacers in as I have very little desire to entertain the certification process for something so trivial. Ideally I will stumble upon some 16x7, but I am keeping an open mind. Something I have recently found were some gold 15x8 et15 Klutch SL1’s, but some very light research shows the front callipers will need a bit of shaving, which I’m not too keen on either. The 16x8 silver SL1’s may be a potential candidate.Complete the rest of the Tech1 collection. You may remember I already have a Tech1 steering wheel, and I recently installed a Tech1 rear spoiler which I got from David (Silver Fox) from these forums as well (see below!). It seems the Tech1 sideskirts will require a bit of modification to fit properly, but I am relatively confident in my composites/bog/painting experience.Way down the line: 2.5L upgrade and manual conversion. It’s currently an automatic 320i, which as a daily driver I have found to be absolutely fantastic and smooth. A little more digging on the net has shown the 325i may be slightly better on fuel, but the primary reason for upgrading would be the improved manoeuvrability as she takes a little longer to get going than my other Honda Accord, or even the E220 Merc. The automatic transmission is in pretty good condition, no delays, slipping or weird noises, so I’ll probably switch bother over when it decides to depart one day. I plan on looking after it though, so hopefully it won’t be too much in the near future.Anyway, I’ll start the project side of things with the first update. I replaced my discoloured windscreen trim with a new one from Chris (etwenty1). The old orange strip has been changed to a much nicer chrome, and it no longer jumps out at you, now blending in with the rest of the car. Had a big grin on my face when none of my friends could tell what had changed when I got it back from the autoglazier (who did an awful job) Before: After: Another addition is the installation of a Tech1 spoiler (seems there are quite a few cabs now with Tech1’s here!). Getting back from David I was so excited I didn’t manage to take any photos of the work in progress, but will make sure I do so in the future. I gave her a good clean, played the rusty-fastener-no-more-hex-easy-out-game on 2 of the 3 screws fastening the panel to the rubber, and proceeded to colour match the panel with the cirrusblau of the rest of the car. Since the original panel was Mauritius Blue (I think, and some blue paint was on the black rubber itself!) I needed to strip and repaint. I got some colour matched paint in an aerosol spray for $35 (less with a great discount the guy gave me after a good chat), some adhesion promoter and clearcoat and was off. Working 7 days a week I had to paint during non-ideal times (but still warmed up the fluid etc before painting) in some non-ideal locations. After sanding down the panel the first paint attempt was foiled when multiple sandflies decided to plunge head first into the fresh coat. Just about screamed in frustration as I suddenly remembered I had painted quite a few things in that very spot with similar results, although in the past I only ever did filler painting outside, so the material could still be taken back. Second attempt was foiled again with the tip of my finger edging too close to the spray nozzle, and a lovely drip of clearcoat the size of the planet smashed itself into the panel just as I finished the last coat. I was going to live with it, but the clearcoat combined with the (dried) metallic paint left quite a visible discolouration, which my OCD did not accept. Third attempt was a great success. Taking some time off work I did everything properly, swept and wet the floor, heated the spraycans, multiple light coats of paint and clearcoat, leaving the right number of time for each layer to flash off properly. Got myself some 2000 and 2500 grit, and after leaving the clear to cure for a few days, polished off all the orange peel. Actually polished it a little too well! The small amount of orange peel in the rest of the car makes it look slightly out of place when the light hits it at a specific angle. Anyway, the pictures can be seen below. The boot needs a little adjusting now (had some weights on the spoiler as the RTV cured) but I am very happy with result. Bonus awesomeness is that the spoiler is just at the right height that the 3rd brake light “sits” along the top edge of the rubber when I look at it sitting in our other cars. Another photo of the inconspicuous trim: And finally the view from my desk at work! (Played around with the tilt-shift effect settings) Cheers!

Just saw pommy's E30 cab drive past my E30 cab along the Northern motorway just before the Constellation off-ramp. Just about squealed in excitement seeing another E30 cab!

Didn't know you had little pony seat covers Andy

Hi guys, Posting on behalf of a good friend of mine selling an immaculate 1983 Porsche 944 for a very fair price. Thought I would post it here (sorry!) as I know all of us would appreciate honest classics. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Edit: Sincere apologies from the both of us! My friend is selling on behalf of his in-laws, who have moved overseas. He was been looking after their car for a while now and with himself moving overseas he was given the greenlight to sell the 944. The 5 digit odometer has had both of us fooled. My friend went and got a carjam report done to provide more info to interested buyers, and it seems apparently the car is 260,000km, not 160,000km. Absolutely hilarious how something like this could have been missed, but as he says: "went from wondering how the dash got so cracked to being amazed how well everything else has been looked after". We are both very sorry and have never had any intention of misleading anyone. The car itself is still in amazing condition and the fact it fooled a few people into thinking it was 100,000km younger should speak volumes to it's owners. The price has been adjusted to $5995 ono which is a very reasonable price. Still priced to sell, so feel free to look at the purchased carjam report! https://www.carjam.co.nz/report/?ref=078A6C35 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NZ New Manual 260,000km Completely rust free. Fastidiously maintained mechanically, only a few cosmetic issues (pedantic small paint scratches etc) Cambelt replaced at 138k. Regularly serviced at MotorScience, Auckland. In the past 6 months, have replaced: - Radiator - Wiper motor - Battery and connecting electrics - Installed a battery isolation switch - DME relay Owners selling as moving overseas. Great car always kept in garage, otherwise covered on the odd occasion. $6750 $5995ONO (Just had a full valet, cut and polishing treatment 8-Nov so is looking incredible!) Enjoy the photos below, please tell anyone you'd know who would be interested. Edit: Trademe listing can be found here!

I absolutely love how your RS's look on your car. Are they 15x8? I am currently talking to Street Works about the 16x8's, but am being swayed big time by how nicely the gold 15's look.