gjm

Hmm. No. The flange - p/n 11531247122 found towards the front of the engine has been replaced, and I have a new thermostat. If I'm going to drain the cooling system I may as well do it just once. Can you point me in the right direction for part numbers?

You're a bad man. A very, very bad man. But I like you.

Brakes are a bit softer than I'd like, but I'm fussy. They work. I think I said before, a bleed and new fluid may make a difference, maybe some new flexible hoses. Pads and shoes look fine. Driving is, on the journeys we're doing, uneventful. The engine thrums along nicely with no unexpected noises. Once warm, tickover takes a while to settle to something around 850rpm (I've not checked what it should be) - it's fine when cold, but coming to a halt after 40-50km of SH1 sees idle at 1100rpm, very slowly settling to something under 1k. I can see why short shifter kits are popular. Changing gear involves moving to the next town! OK, so not that bad, but it does seem to have a long throw. The Style 73s really seem to suit the car. They look good, and drive very nicely. I must get the alignment done as the steering wheel is about 30 degrees off from where it should be. I would like to get some different mirrors for the wing mirrors. The E46 has a 'wide angle' piece at the outer edge of the mirrors - is something similar available for the E36? I'll probably replace the (thought to be) Jamex springs at some point. I can get an Eibach Pro-kit (-30mm, front and rear) reasonably economically. There are some cosmetic bits and pieces that would be nice to deal with. The peeling lacquer (aka clearcoat) is not something I'm going to worry about unduly, but there are some seals and suchlike that would certainly benefit from being replaced. I have a feeling that the rear screen has been replaced at somepoint, and it's quite an untidy job. Of course, it may just have been resealed and I overlooked it. The plastic piece that runs the width of the car under the front windscreen has been thoroughly chewed up at some point. A faff to replace, but it'll look much nicer if it's done. Other than that - it's a nice car to drive. Feels nimble. No idea at present about the economy but hopefully it'll be pretty good. The economy gauge sits at between 4 and 6 litres per 100km under a light foot on SH1. So far - happy.

Probably best, just for the moment. Keep your powder dry!

I don't know the details, but I got the impression James was relocating the hosting of the forum. There's several reasons for not transferring all the data involved, from hosting costs to time. The time to transfer isn't the whole story either - the database holding the information could need to be re-indexed, too and depending on the hosting model, that could also cost more money. The forum was down and had to be sorted ASAP. It's back... It may be possible to investigate other issues in due course.

Nope - not having any issues at present. Jon - could your problems be related to the change of external IP address? (I don't know if that has happened yet or not.)

And there's a voice of (sad) experience.

One day... The buy price is perhaps less optimistic than the 5l/100km desired? Dunno... The performance and economy relative to a petrol-engined 5-series does make it attractive. A 335d won't be available for $5k any time soon, but the performance and economy are something to ponder.

You need the right tools to do the job properly, in the same way as if you were making up replacement solid brake lines using cunifer pipe and a flare kit. There's no reason why DIY flexible lines can't be perfectly good for purpose, but there are too many cowboys around. That said, there are also cheap-as lines available that look the part, but most definitely are not suitable. The kit to crimp brake hoses correctly isn't cheap. Save your money, save the grief and buy Goodridge, Earls, EBC or another known brand where the lines are supplied with appropriate certification. It's easier and cheaper in the long (or even short) run.

One tyre is a bit borderline imho, but I priced them to sell. Too may wheels, not enough space. Replied.

Set of 4 replica ACS Type 2s in 17x8.5 et13. No ACS or Ronal markings anywhere. Actually, no manufacturers markings! They are stamped JWL. (For details of JWL, see here. These were on Miss M's E36 when we bought it - et13 is not the best fit , although to be honest there was very little rubbing. Arches have been rolled to fold the inner lip, but as far as I can tell, that is all. Lips on all 4 rims have been kerbed, and rather than refurbish them, someone has painted the whole rim instead. (I think it is paint rather than plasticoat.) They look pretty good until you inspect them closely, at which point the grazing and suchlike is evident. No massive chunks missing - just untidy. Tyres fitted are all 215/45ZR17: 2x virtually brand new Vitora Sportlife. 7mm++ tread 1x Michelin Pilot Preceda. 3mm tread, slightly less at the edges. 1x Bridgestone Potenza RE05A. Less tread than the Michelin and showing edge wear, but still just about usable. It passed a WoF. I suspect the Michelin and Bridgestone have been run under pressure as there is more wear on both inside and outside edges. Given the size of the rim and the tyres fitted, I had expected them to feel much heavier. According to the bathroom scales, each rim and tyre combo comes in around 20.5kg. Collection in Te Kauwhata or Manukau, delivery for a small consideration in the local area. If national transport can be arranged via the forum, I'll help out with that but would much prefer to not get into courier shipping if that can be avoided. Need 'em gone, and need some money for new tyres for the E46! (Especially now Miss M has commandeered the Style 73s.) $350. From what I can find, genuine are worth $6-800. I think these would be around 50% of that.

It pays to shop around for your diesel, too. Gull at Hampton Downs was 84.9 per litre last night; 10kms closer to Auckland and the Mobil is charging 121.9. That's a monster difference.

Tempted to offer our 320d, but we're still racking up significant mileage too. 150kms yesterday evening to take Miss M to youth club!

Me neither.

Exactly what I was thinking! Living in the boondocks, I'm unconcerned about waiting for a page to load. 2 seconds or 10 - makes no odds to me. Certainly when I came to the site a few minutes ago the speed of load was evidently quicker.

It's a TradeMe price - it'll be high. Or, spend a bit more and get this. Looks like an M3? Except it has a 535hp V10 in there...

Have a look at www.jbracing.com, too.

Only on the lower-end cars. 316i, 318i and 318tds from 1989-2000. It is allegedly a 5MegaPotato camera! Must have more eyes than lesser potatoes.

Suspension springs have been replaced with some 'red ones'. (Edit: After speaking to the PO again, I'm told the springs were fitted by the PPO and are probably Jamex Superlows; bought off TradeMe, definitely. The PPO ran Cooper Tyres, apparently.) Front shocks have been replaced with something from Monroe, rear shocks look to be stock. My biggest issue is not turning this into a project... I found myself looking up rear disc brake conversions earlier! (This model has drums.)

Not got to that yet. Symptoms point to a duff thermostat - car runs fine, but temp gauge doesn't get out of cold when moving. The needle will move to a normal operating position if stuck in traffic, but as soon as moving again it drops back to the cold end of the gauge. Doesn't overheat, doesn't appear to use any coolant. Does blow warm air. I have a replacement thermostat which I'll fit at the weekend. Only real issue is that the car will use more fuel, but obvioiusly I'll keep an eye on things in the meantime.

Looks as though what I had thought was a split, could actually be a part of the design. However, I'm sure the exposed channel should be filled by some sort of trim piece. However, that doesn't seem to fit with anything I'm seeing on RealOEM at the moment, although this knob could have come from another BMW, or somewhere else entirely. Regardless, it looks pretty 'orrible, and doesn't feel good to use. IIRC it should come off easily enough, being a relatively simple case of simply pulling it off the shaft. Thanks for the offer but I'd like to stay with black leather. If they're looking for a home, I can offer them some cosy shelf space.

Swapped the ACS rims for some others that were available. Fit much better - 17x8.5 et13 doesn't quite fit on an E36 without bodywork mods. Couple of slightly better pics of the engine bay (still from my phone, so quality is barely better): You'll just have to take my word that the leather interior, while showing some marks, isn't ripped, split burnt or anything else unpleasant.

Thanks guys. I'll take a pic of the gearknob - it appears to have split vertically, which isn't something I'd expect. Could be normal (for an E36) ?

It's Cordoba Red. Not really red, but not quite purple. It will be along.

The gear knob in Miss M's car is falling to pieces. Anyone have a good spare? I'd post a part number but realoem is having a break.