gjm

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.

A guy I knew back in the UK had a M635CSi with an automatic 'box - same reason as suggested here. He lost his left leg in a building accident. Caused all sorts of grief when he'd roll up at a club meet or show in a M635CSi-badged car with an auto 'box. "That's not a real M6," was a very common phrase heard.

They are a very pretty car. Nice buy, Kyu.

M20B27 as in a 525e or similar? Or a big bore 2.5? Different requirements, y'see. If it's an Eta engine, a good 10W40 should be more than suitable.

The person who buys Schnitzel will be the first to know.

Nice car Matt. Makes our ickle 320d look delicate! ;-)

There's a lot of choice in polybushes. I've been looking at Strongflex, but the UK also has Superflex. There's also some good quality products coming out of Eastern Europe.

I wish! I'm looking for one for the drivers door of our coupe myself.

Manual. Need to check other parts - some suspension, possibly a steering rack.

If you had a ZF 'box in there originally, you'd need a revised crossmember to use the Getrag units. A suitable ZF would probably be simpler.

A Getrag 260 will mount up to a M50. (I think!)

I may have a pair at the end of the month, possibly sooner. I'll let you know.

I paid GBP 8k at a deceased estate sale for my 1984 M635CSi in Graphite, but that was 20-odd years ago. Good M635CSi models in the UK dithered around that sort of price for a while, before climbing fairly rapidly. I saw several offered at GBP20k+ before we left. Cheaper ones were and are also available, of course. Caveat emptor.

Pretty much every fuel filter I've taken off and replaced has looked something like this. Unfortunately most people never think to change a fuel filter.

I've an idea what is involved in replacing the heater... Edit: I've just done some research and it looks as though I was led astray by the many 'dashboard out' assumptions for doing this. I've found several reports of replacing the core and valve in under 2 hours. My daughter said she'd be doing some work. Strangely, the entire interior is stripped out, the exterior has been cleaned, and the carpets and underlay dried, but I've not seen her near the car yet...

Just verified the rego is on hold. One less hurdle to overcome. The drying is going well - fingers crossed for a fine weekend so I can get some more work done.

Oh f....lip. Thanks. Forewarned is forearmed.

No idea. But you know the man who will know.

Thanks. I was being lazy. Well, it was getting late!

Do E30 Facelift bumpers fit on a PFL car? Similarly, would Facelift tail lights fit on a PFL car?

I was going to suggest Style 163 - used on the E46 M3 in 8x19 et47 front and 9.5x19 et27 rear, and on the CSL in 8.5x19 et44 front and 9.5x19 et27 rear. The CSL rears are different to those on the M3 and are over 2kg lighter. The front rims weigh the same, despite the CSL rims being wider.

This drying out malarky is taking a while. Fortunately, just this once, the weather is on my side. While I was waiting, I got the outside all wet again and cleaned a lot of muck off. It looks a lot better than it did. Long way to go, and having washed it I can tell it has had paint on at least two occasions in the past. At the moment I'm fighting an urge to completely strip it and do a ground-up job. No! Must not... Couple more things that may/will be needed: a glove box, and a bonnet release cable. Using mole grips wears a bit thin after a while.

To fully appreciate a 6.9 you need to watch 'Ronin' for smoke, and then 'C'etait un Rendezvous' for sheer speed and audacity. A friend in Oz used to have a turbo on his 6.9.

Looks like Chris Evans may be a solo Top Gear presenter for now. Jodie Kidd probably turned the job down when she heard who she'd be working with.

Carpet and sound deadening stuff out. The carpet had dried, but what was underneath was soggy, particularly in the passenger front footwell. Green staining shows the source of at least some of this - heater matrix has let go at some point. (Need to check with Miss M whether she feels she really needs a heater!) A little more rust found, but still nothing that looks disastrous. Time to dry it out and see what gives.