gjm

That thought had occurred to me!

There's gotta be something... (He said hopefully!) Lol I've done a bit of rim refurb in the past but not on split rims, and I did have access to a monster lathe (12' bed) at the time which made life a lot easier. Stripping the rims isn't an issue but I've no real idea how to go about tidying lips and such by hand.

Any tips for doing this? I was trying to find an excuse for you to do mine for me, but couldn't remember what it was that I was so sure you owed me a favour for... Seriously - if you have any more you're doing, could you do a photo essay?

True... An ex drift-diesel engine doesn't appeal!

Really great to see this - thanks. I have a set of 18" Lorinsers (Mercedes fit) from Matt that I'll be doing similarly at some point. I may need some help with the welding...

I'd quite like the engine in our 320d!

I've never looked for one, but do the engines really sell for $8-9k?

Washed it yesterday. And the cats walked over it during the night. <sigh>

For some reason I'd fixated on 4-cyl engines. Probably because that's what we have here... Thanks.

^ I wondered the same but thought I'd wait and see if they sold with the car...

Ethanol, like LPG, can be excellent if the engine is properly set up for it. In some cases that can mean much more than just sorting the ignition timing.

This?

Thank heavens! I was toying with the idea of (yet another) financial shuffle...

I think this is for a M40?

If I had the money I'd be all over it. It's the sort of price I'm looking to spend on Miss M's car, but her car is currently two bodyshells and a pile of bits! Great colour, looks to be in good condition, and the wheels really suit it (are they 15s?)

The unmarked cars are getting sneakier too - I saw a blue/grey Holden wagon lit up like a Christmas tree a few days ago, when he'd pulled someone over. That one even had a towbar!

I think this is a beautiful car. Given current prices for manual E30s, it very reasonably priced too.

Sadly, I'd suggest your chances are nil, or worse. It may be worth trying the "car in front was doing 85 and sped up" line, but I doubt it'll wash. I've talked about officer discretion in issuing a ticket, but I get the impression they have been told they will not exercise any. If you're really lucky when you're pulled for 120+, you may get an officer who is prepared to reduce the figure you were stopped for. This will reduce the fine and number of demerits applied.

It'll be an accounting statistical analysis that says the drivers of Remuera tractors (Chelsea tractors - insert location as relevant) feel more important when the name of their vehicle is less comprehensible. Besides, by splitting the designation into two parts, it opens a door for more parts, making the driver feel even more important. Roll on the X5 M50dTT Bavaria cabriolet.

Fuel filters get overlooked all too often.

Chris Evans is having problems... He had to stop filming during a piece on the Audi R8 V10. He got out of the car, and puked. Note smiley-faced lass with radio!

I've not had a problem using the car jack, and in fact prefer using it to lift the car into position on many occasions. It's easier than hauling the trolley jack out... And you're right - jacking the car from one end or the other does tend to result in the whole side of the car being lifted. It sounds like the foot of the jack wasn't exactly under the point that the lift pad connects to the car. Regardless, you shouldn't be working under the car supported by the jack. You should be using axle stands or similar.

Sounds like a fuse... Perhaps your PO fitted some somewhere they shouldn't have? Had a very similar thing happen on my Mercedes - dash out, headlights out, and more. One fuse fixed the lot, but it wasn't one in the fuse box. There's another couple of fuses mounted in their own little box on the inner wing.

Other than the logging trucks (there is significant logging in Sweden) everything you say is road user attitude which is, imo, one of the biggest failings in NZ. I don't know what the average 'size' of a person is in NZ, but there are stereotypes which aren't helped by squeezing four of the larger members of NZ society into a Mazda Familia, possibly with luggage in the boot. Now, the car I saw this morning may have been air-bagged and riding low, or it may have been massively overloaded which is why virtually the entire top of the tyres were in the wheel arch and hidden from view. It was wallowing all over the place and the driver was trying to maintain 100km/h or better. I've driven in many countries around the world, but it seems NZ has a significantly higher proportion of road users with a blasé attitude to what they are doing, be that unroadworthy vehicles, overloading, riding motorcycles without protection, using phones while driving, just generally not paying attention, or being unaware of anything going on around them. This approach is the result of long-term negligence on the part of authorities; it doesn't happen overnight, and (at present) nothing appears to be happening to turn this around.

This sounds true. There is a 'formal' MB club, but they're pretty much into concours and fit the pipe and slippers stereotype. There's various groups on Facebook too, but chrome and airbags are fairly predominant there. I've been talking with some folk in Oz about the electrickery that goes on under the MB bonnet. There is a way to make it much, much better, without junking the entire system and starting again. BMW briefly flirted with K-Jet but moved on. Porsche, and others (including MB) stayed with K-Jet for much longer.