gjm

E30 and W201s are sufficiently different for comparisons to not really apply. The W201 was even a one shell design being only available in 4-door saloon guise (if we ignore the specialist aftermarket conversions). Take 4 adults and their luggage. Put them in an E30 and drive for 200km. Compare that experience with 4 adults in a W201... The only real similarity is that both cars, E30 and W201, were successfully used in DTM racing.

When I read about the 19" rims I was ready to think 'they're going to be too big'. But they look pretty good... Sweet.

Bolting BMW calipers on to a 914 is a common brake upgrade... Slightly tenuous, but I suppose it is a link!

Easter isn't over yet! There's a Hells in Pukekohe. That's about the closest. Good bunny. Tasty bunny... Speaking of which - anyone know a good , not-quite-so-seasonal, source of bunny for stews?

Bunny tastes good. Didn't know Hells did one. Must try.

Unfair. And, perhaps, deliberately inflammatory...? The M3 was developed especially for motorsport and as such represented a no-holds-barred, optimised for the track, approach, and then prepared for the road. The 190E came from the other direction - a road car that was developed for racing. I like the M3 too, but the MB deserves respect.

There were three engines built for the W201 with design and assistance by/from Cosworth - the WAA, WAB and WAC. The WAA was the 2.3-16 engine and featured design cues from the BDA including the bearing supports for the camshafts; it was originally designed for competition use (around 300hp), but later detuned for the road. The cylinder head work was pure Cosworth from design to casting, and the 2.3-16 engines were assembled at the Cosworth factory. The WAB was the 2.5-16 road engine, and the WAC was the short-stroke engine (a whole 8cc less displacement!) used in the Grp A racing W201 190E 2.5-16 Evo II. The WAC initially made 330bhp from a normally-aspirated 2490cc, and was later tuned to over 370hp (some sources say over 400). While Cosworth contributed to the design specifics (especially for the cylinder heads and fuel systems) for the WAB and WAC, all 2.5-16 engines were built by Mercedes. </mercedes geek>

I think I was passed by one on SH1 this evening. Which just goes to show that with a ~6km run up, a diesel 4x4 travelling at 105km/h is faster than any other car travelling at 100.

The 2.5s are quite a lot rarer than the 2.3-16s. It's a solid 200bhp engine, with a fair bit of tuning potential. Both the 2.3 and 2.5 engines were developed in conjunction with Cosworth. Frankly, those two look bloody expensive, but that may be my ex-UK perspective. Certainly they are significantly cheaper over there, especially once you take the over-pricing chancers out of the equation. The MBs are not typically as nimble as an M3, but that has typically been the case anyway. Stop thinking of MB and BMW as competitors (although they were/are) and view them more as being complimentary: MB was more comfortable while BMW was more sporting. For daily driving, commuting 50km+ each way, I would take an older MB over an older BMW. For more excitement and perhaps a detour via some backroads, the BMW would be better.

... at that price. There's a-ways to go yet.

It was certainly very similar... Couldn't say if it was that one, of course.

This morning on SH1 in Huntly, a northbound grey E28 M5. Lovely.

It'd need one of the numbers in the price completely removing before I could consider it, too.

That'll be us.

I am. :-)

Probably not. Correct fitment for an E46 would be a 225/40-18 tyre, and this would need something closer to a +45 offset. That extra 20mm is going to be pushing things.

Where? Is it really, really cheap?

And despite best intentions, and quite possibly being closer to HD than anyone else, I didn't make it. Not a great day on many fronts... Taken most of the day to get a few things sorted. Hopefully there will be another time. Perhaps I can get there for the AMCC meet tomorrow.

Joe Public gets scared of what they think are big km numbers. Glad I didn't.

Another 3-series ute: I've not seen this one - a friend emailed the pic from Pretoria.

Yup - that would be nice. Just $20k more than I could afford at the moment.

I lost interest after the B5. :-)

Give it a couple of months and someone will have bought it.

Funny how none of the reports I've seen make any mention of the Mazda pulling out on the Lambo. It's all been about the potential top speed of the supercar. "The moment a £300k Lamborghini Aventador crashed and became airborne, the 217mph supercar became airborne as flew round a bend, clipping a Mazda" - which had pulled out in front of the oncoming car. That said, the Lambo does appear to have been moving far too fast - Knightsbridge has a pretty much blanket 30mph (maximum, as many parts are 20mph) speed limit; that bit is 30mph. Show off time gone wrong, no doubt, although other reports suggest the driver had been tearing around the area for some time.

I kinda hoped the 'drop sump' bit might suggest draining the oil first! But yes - do this at the same time as an oil and filter change.