gjm

Thanks Nick - I can have a look for that.

E30 Maplight mirror - is the wiring for these in place in most cars, or does it require splicing into the wiring for the interior light? Thinking of fitting one to Mrs M's Baur.

Does depend on perspective. To me... No. That doesn't seem good. Well, not good value anyway. Might be a good price, but that's another matter. Nice car to be sure, but really not worth that sort of money. IMO. Case in point - a recent question on Facebook around valuing the sale of a tidy 318i auto convertible was seeing responses ranging from 4 to 14k. The seller was happy to list at $8k, which doesn't seem so very expensive.

Not an 'exciting' one, but a capable one. Looking at a 1997 1.9 (M44 engine) with autobox. Should be a nice light, sweet handling car, as far as I can tell. Anything in particular to look (out) for? It's a vert, and the roof has been replaced; no damp inside. Interior looks good and tidy, lots of history, M-sport suspension, possibly a LSD, usual age-related paint issues which if it is any good, may be worth spending a few $ on to get sorted. From pics (which can be deceiving) it does look like a nice, well-looked-after car. And not even half the current asking price of a similar E30!

That's at least in part because drivers think the speed limit is to reduce the number of loose chips being thrown up by vehicles - the reality is to allow a second-rate road repair system (regardless of diligence of those applying it) to have a chance of curing properly. It's exacerbated by (in the case of some local work) 3km of 30km/h temporary sped limits applied through a normally derestricted dual carriageway area before seeing 20m of so-called road repairs taking place on a hard shoulder where no-one should be driving anyway. And the piece of road in the carriageway that was in truly bad condition sits maybe 5m away, but is untouched until someone shovels some leftover bitumen into a hole.

It was a rural road, funded by a District Council. The NZTA funding is sufficient to rebuild roads not just resurface them. It is simply a lack of oversight and preparedness, coupled with a profit-driven contractor motive, which compromises state highways.

. etc This. As far as I can tell, it's nationwide. Do the effin' job properly, ferchrissakes!

Feckin' roads. Y'know - the slippy slidey loose gravel bit that's laid around the potholes. A little bit of rain and there's a hole where my left front wheel would run. Dark, rain, can't see the hole and ***CRASH***. One lightweight forged alloy with a split in it. ? Of course, they're rare (isn't everything when you need it?) and because it's forged, it's apparently more difficult to repair.

Gotta love the 'just testing the market' listings.

Looks like it was a water/damp issue. The problem occurred after prolonged heavy rain... The battery disconnect/reconnect was probably a red herring. Yesterday, after a couple of days sitting in lovely sunshine, everything is working exactly as expected. ?

Reconnected this morning, and turning the ignition key didn't reveal a zombie speedo climb. However, the two displays in the lower part of the dash aren't displaying anything. I think there is power to the displays, just no activity. I think the speedo works as it should, but I've not taken it out on to the road. Got it up to 30km/h on the drive. Indicators and (as far as I could tell quickly) other lights are working. If I can get out of work without being exhausted and in daylight, I'll see if I can remember how to use the Win7 laptop... Not much opportunity to have someone visit, and the nearest other scanning-capable place is 60km away.

Battery is disconnected - I'll leave it overnight. I even remembered to not close the boot lid... ?

Riddle me this... This just ignition on - engine not running. Starting the engine makes no difference to the speedo, which continues round past 220 (at which point I turned the ignition off). Note the centre LED doesn't light up at all. Any idea what's happened to cause this?

? I'd never use a power tool with stuff like this. It's worrying that a manufacturer/supplier appears to suggest it! The second one looks like a 'discount' version of a proper solution. While it might be possible to do something sensible along those lines, that one looks perfect for anyone with a discount life. Somewhere in the container I have a set similar to this: Finding it is proving more difficult at the moment! And Dangermouse was awesome! ?

The price disparity seems to have grown. Suspension top mounts for the Merc - (equivalent) $26ea from the US (plus shipping). NZ - $68ea for something which is an unknown brand. (Plus shipping.)

Or this... http://tetools.com/catalogue/detail.php?item=6915

The evergreen topic of "should I buy tools to compress suspension springs" has reared its head again. Every time I look, it seems there's another 'solution'. Anyone seen these before? I've never seen a suspension spring tool which actually shows use of power tools before! https://www.lislecorp.com/specialty-tools/strut-tool