gjm

Thanks Ben.

I think these are a great-looking car. I know many will disagree! Didn't seem to review particularly well when released, but now it's a car that will bought less for dynamics, and more for gentler enjoyment. Looks like this one was shunted?

Will came over today and cast an eye over the brace of coupes, and we're agreed - the black one is the better bet (for me). The white is easily sorted, certainly for track, but the black one presents a better option for a road car. So... More stripping of the black shell to be done. I'll confess - this is getting more involved than I had originally planned, but hopefully it'll not all be bad and I can get down to enjoying doing something constructive! This won't be any sort of attempt at creating a concours car. It'll be tidy, solid, and safe. It should be fun to drive, and easy to maintain. I hope!

His car (with the M10) is the test mule for the roller solution. He can manufacture roller solutions for most cam/rocker-equipped engines. The M10 solution is still being prepared for market. There is a guy in Oz - Rama @ RHD Engineering - who has developed a kit for the M20. I'm unsure how effective that will be given the variable ratio rockers the M20 (and M30) use, but it seems to work. I know Robert has had similar design concerns for the M10 which he has ironed out.

I didn't see any numbers, but the curves on the screen are impressive. I have seen a lot about Robert Karlsson's M10-powered E21 (940+ whp) so I've no reason to doubt the figures.

Apologies - I'm normally a bit sharper than that!

Facelift or PFL? I need a PFL front bumper!

It actually looks better than the white one - Rick had spent some time on it. It'd retain it's M10 status, but I'm checking the re-reg reqs before making any decisions.

"... safety inspection, certification, registration and licensing" This applies: "• has been registered in New Zealand before, and • hasn’t been structurally damaged or deteriorated, and • hasn’t been modified." That's no problem. But: "Take the vehicle to a TSD agent with proof that it has been previously registered in New Zealand and that you’re the person entitled to reregister the vehicle. The proof of previous registration can be old registration papers or documentation that verifies the vehicle’s VIN or chassis number, eg registration plates and a warrant of fitness checksheet, or registration plates and insurance policy documents that show the VIN or chassis number. The TSD agent will need to be satisfied that these documents demonstrate that the vehicle, when originally registered, was designed and constructed according to the requirements applying at that time. For example, vehicles manufactured before 1991 don’t need to meet as many vehicle standards." This is more difficult. The VIN is clearly stamped on the bulkhead, of course, but I have no reg plates, no existing checksheets or policy docs. I think it should be traceable via the VIN. I hope it will be... I'll check that first., Ta.

Re-registration If a car has been registered in NZ but the rego has lapsed, what is required for re-rego? A WoF and registration fee, or does it need a cert too? (Let's assume no mods.)

I'd probably go with the Febi. Doesn't mean the others are bad, only that I've not used them and never had problems with Febi parts.

OK. Pics of the black 318i coupe. Incidentally, the white and black cars were manufactured in the same month and year. Only significant from-the-factory difference is that the black car does not have a sunroof. (Of course, the white car has since been converted to manual, while the black car hasn't [yet] got that far.) Both cars are from Japan. The black coupe has the opening coupe rear windows that are missing from the white car, most of the chrome trims, and a rear bumper. (Still need a front one, if anyone has one?) There's also a big pile of parts - heater, drivers and rear seat (rear seat is really nice!), the loom, dash (some cracks), auto pedal box, rubber seals, front lights and mounts, +++. No engine, gearbox or radiator, and certainly other parts missing too. So - we now have two July 1985 E30 318i automatic coupes. Questions is: do I transfer parts from the white car to the black one? If we were to do a proper job, there's still a lot of parts to come off either for a respray, but the black car does have a head start. There's been lots of sandblasting - here's a bucket or so of spent material. Insignificant surface rust, provided it's treated soon - a finger wipe removes it. Something missing. Can't quite put my finger on what... Firewall was rusty as, so a piece has been removed and the area cleaned and primed, ready for repair. Little bit of tin worm in the rear right quarter. Similar, rear left corner. There's also a very small amount in the centre (not pictured). More little nibbles under the battery tray.

Sorry Vincent - there is no such thing as a true lifetime fluid. Our 320d has covered more distance than most, but the fluid in it about 150000km ago was thin, black and like water - very little ATF property left. The LT71141 is an 'ideal' fluid, but there are others that are more readily available, cheaper and at least as good. I use Penrite ATF FS which (iirc) exceeds LT71141 specs. It is important to note also that there are two autoboxes in the E46 - the ZF and the GM-sourced boxes. Specs may differ slightly; use the best fluid you can regardless.

As Toby says - remove the fill plug first so you know you can. The E46 auto boxes are a bit of a PITA to sort, but not difficult. It's just that ridiculous 'filled for life' mentality that lets them down. There is, for instance, absolutely no way to accurately check the fluid level. Get under the car. Not always practical for everyone. Check the location of the fill and drain plugs. Remove the fill plug, position catch tray under car (get one that will hold 10 litres and then you'll be fine - total system capacity is around 9 litres.) Remove drain plug. Wait. If at all possible, get a transmission filter and change that too - these don't normally come with a gearbox sump gasket so order one of them as well. It requires removal of 20-something bolts. Remove sump, remove filter, clean sump, replace with new gasket, and refit drain plug. If you're keen, remove the hoses from the trans cooler at the front of the car and drain that too. I don't recommend flushing the gearbox. Drain all fluids as best you can and leave it at that. Next, you need to pump the trans fluid up into the fill hole. Apologies - I don't recall the amounts to use but this should be done in stages. Pump (say) 3 litres into the gearbox, fit the fill plug, start the engine and cycle through the gears. (Don't try to drive anywhere!) Repeat until fluid starts to dribble while you are pumping fluid in, then repeat once more. By this time, the gearbox fault light on the dash should have gone out. There's a couple of much more complete write-up here: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166135 and here:http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=438667

The 'other' car is on the drive now... (Pics to follow). It had been stripped in prep for a drift project, but that's as far as it got. The PO had sandblasted all the rust he could find and primed, and cut a rusty area out of the firewall (which will obviously require replacing). It's another 318i automatic (the white one has been converted) made in the same month and year as the white coupe. This one does not have a sunroof, but does have a rear bumper and both opening rear quarter lights (which we were looking for). The question now is whether to use the black car to make the white one good, or t'other way about!

It makes a lot of noise when that happens!

"'ere, Bert, it's Fred. Need a WoF. Rego is BMWX33 - get the details offa Carjam, eh? I'll buy yer a pint later. Churz."

I had no idea it was possible! I can leave the windows open on the 320d and lock the car without incident.

Seriously considered a E38 728i at one point. Really nice-looking, well-appointed cars, and the 728i is (relatively) economical. At 100km/h, what is the difference between it and a 750? (Other than the ability to disappear over the horizon!) At the time, the extra flexibility of the wagon meant we decided against and stuck with our venerable 320d Touring.

My first thought was Rial: Kings look like this (OK - these are 5-bolt, but you get the idea): MSWs have this centre:

The battery in our 320d is original too. I keep thinking I ought to change it, but it shows no signs of any problem so... Cleaning 10 ITBs sounds like a fun way to spend a couple of evenings!

I think they are King 15x7 et26 - a friend had some on an E30 back in the UK. The Kings have a serrated edge to the circle around the bolt holes; the MSWs have a much squarer cutout to the centre.

Thanks Colin. All being well, I pick up another E30 coupe rolling shell this afternoon (black, no engine, box or... Well, pretty much anything else!) and will then evaluate the two shells and decide which one to use. The white one unsurprisingly does have rust but nothing too serious, but starting with a bare shell would give an opportunity to do a 'proper' job. Perhaps. And... I may be taking delivery of a E21 320 auto before Christmas. More on that another time.

I can imagine just how frustrating and disappointing that is. Hopefully the autopsies can be forensic and not clinical.

The M20 engines could benefit from a high zinc content in the oil, which will help reduce wear especially in the valve train. I use Valvoline VR1 Racing 10W40 in my Mercedes for this reason.