gjm

Schulz made about 80 of them, but most are now pretty rusty. I suspect they'll mostly, if not all, be left hand drive, too. Europe would be the best place to look.

I think it is an advertising tactic that has been picked up elsewhere, too. I'm sure I saw this in London, or somewhere. Great stuff. I really hope Audi take it as a challenge and come back with something similar.

I'd need to check, but I think the back end is steel, by Schulz Tuning. The BMW factory produced a couple of prototypes, but Schulz did quite a few E28 Tourings. Having done some digging, the turbo project (not the white car above) looks to have been finished some time ago. There's a page on Stanceworks about it.

Not much info yet, other than that it is in Norway, but judging from the size of the turbo I'd guess this to be 600bhp minimum. Apparently the M88 is good for at least 1000, something I wasn't aware of.

I was doing some research into the 540i for someone in the UK. The person in question wants something unique, special, different, and isn't afraid to spend money, either on buying or modifying/keeping the car. Anyway, I found a 1999 BMW 540i Alpina in Techno Violet for sale. 112,000 miles, or 180,000km. 10km more than the one in the TradeMe ad. OK, this one has an auto box, and it is an E39 instead of an E34. But the price... TradeMe at $20k, or UK at 20% of that price. Yup - you could have the E39 for the equivalent of $4000. Sadly that is representative of supply and demand in NZ. A rough giide to the costs involved in shipping from the UK to NZ (excluding any tax): about £1,350–1,400 shipping (call it $2800), £100–300 marine insurance ($500), NZ$2,250–2,750 in New Zealand to include port and unpacking charges, customs and MAF fees and entry certification and registration. Total: $6000(ish). Cars are zero rated for tax, but subject (I think) to 15% GST. So, if you'd like the E39, it'd cost under $11000 delivered.

I saw an E60 545i Touring on SH1 this morning. (I spend enough time driving up and down there, I'll see most things eventually.) As I was travelling at aroun 100.0000000001km/h and he was driving at 100 (speedo error, officer - more accurate in the newer car) I overtook him. But from the back, it just looks unfinished, a little like the Chrysler Voyager. There's what appears to be an awkward slab of metal across the back - plain and featureless. From the side it's marginally better, but the swoops and creases just don't, for me, combine into an attractive-looking vehicle. And the front looks awkward because there's too much going on. Great car, no doubt. Enormously complicated though, and really not my thing.

Sounds like the default BMW servicing interval - my 320D reckons I should do 12-14k miles between services, so that's about 20000km. You don't have to obey the service intervals. I change oil and filter at least every 5k miles, normally more often. 'Normal' petrol engined cars I change the oil every 6-7.5k miles, or more often. (These are upper limits, set by me for our cars.) Oil needs changing more often if the car spends a lot of time sitting in traffic.

Is there a 'hierarchy' of preferred aftermarket EMS solutions? I've heard of Alpha-N, but don't know anyone who has used it. I was looking at Link for another (non-BMW) project.

I had to look it up, but yes... The 118d uses the M47TU-series engine, too. My surprise around the 318TDi comment was based on RealOEM where the car is listed as a 320d.

That would standardise the fleet very nicely! Are these the folk you sold the engine to? I wonder how they know there are "no unknown problems"? Still they say it is a 318TDi with a 2000cc diesel engine!

The R8 may be a better car - I don't know. As I said, I have no experience of it. It does look, on paper and in pictures, to be a good car. I do know the R35, especially after a couple of drives, becomes a mind-bendingly fast car yet remains one that is quite ridiculously easy to drive. And the R35 can actually make quite a practical family car, if that is a consideration. That's something the Porsche can't even begin to consider doing.

The R35 absolutely destroys the 911 in terms of performance, and in the best way - it makes that performance available. The 911 may be marginally more comfortable... For me, between those two cars, there is no contest. And this assumes both cars are in from-the-factory spec; start tuning and the gulf between them just grows and grows. Can't comment on the R8 as I've not ridden in or driven one.

I found this somewhere and was going to post it, too.

We drive motor cars because that's what they were originally called. Motorized horseless carriages. Had they been called engineered horseless carriages, perhaps we would drive engine cars.

But if you fit an outboard motor to a boat, it becomes a motor boat. OK... Let's get pedantic. An engine is something used to bring about a change. This can apply to the device under the bonnet of your car, or an emotive piece of text, or many other things. A motor is a specific case of an engine, where it is something that imparts motion. As such it could be an electric motor, a person, or even an engine.

Length: 30″ Width: 31″ Height: 24″ Weight: 830 lbs Displacement: 960 cubic inches Max Wide Open Throttle RPM: 8,500-9,000 So shiny. So many rotor tips to replace... More info here and at www.12rotor.com

Dunno. It was this one: I didn't see the driver this time, but last time I saw this car was also on SH1, northbound and approaching the Greenlane exit. That time it was a young (<30) coloured gent at the wheel. Jammy git.

It's a stunning-looking car. Just the wrong time for me or I'd be down in the boondocks gettin' me some new wheels.

Brent is in Papakura.

696hp. Apparently it ran 820 with more boost...

Another hurdle on the way to diesel-driving nirvana... Brakes. It'd be good to have some. I knew the rear pads and discs were a little worn, but it'd be more accurate to say there's very little left. So... Time to get it sorted. Thanks to Paul at MillAnd I have two new rear discs, and a full set (front and rear) of new pads with a pad wear sensor for each axle (one per axle on the 'cooking' cars - hotter models like the M3 got a pair of sensors at the front and a single one at the rear) on their way. That's taken care of what I'll do with the several seconds of free time I may have towards the end of next week. Something else will have to wait - I'll do a full system brake fluid flush while I'm at it because I have no idea when it was last done. Still, another job will be ticked off the long list. Incidentally, the rear discs on my car are large than on some other E46s, even other E46 320d models. Brent was able to offer an excellent used set of discs and pads which I had planned to use, but they are simply far too small. The pad fittings look to be slightly different, too... Of course, this is the sort of thing you find out only after you've taken the brakes apart. Not something I'd anticipated. (Note to self - carefully check RealOEM before buying anything, even if I'm sure it's the right part. Still, that was attempt number one, and gave me the opportunity to clean and check the pistons in the rear calipers. At least I've saved myself that job for next time. (Still go the fronts to do, of course.) So another set back on the turbo front, but at least the car should stop after I get that sorted.

This guy almost made me want to buy a Supra. Then I remembered I don't need one... After all, I'm married, and have a BMW diesel.

257 GSR Greenlane is Archibald & Shorter - can't see them trying to fob anyone off with something dodgy. It'd be more grief and do more damage to their franchised dealer reputation than it'd be worth.

Lime green Lambo and a matt black Maserati being chased by a blue Audi S3 on SH1 this morning, just north of Hampton Downs...