gjm

There's a part in the door handle Mech that wears when the handle is lifted too far, as it wears, you need to lift it more, exacerbating the problem. Eventually something breaks, and the handle becomes floppy and stops working. I think I sorted this on a car we had, but y'know how it is. So many cars, such short memory.

Another thing on the list... The driver side front door handle on Miss M's E46 has far too much travel - needs lifting further than it should when opening. Is this the same as the E36 issue? Is there a fix kit avail?

Original rims were AMG 17x7.5 (et41, I think). I fitted a set of 'front' rims from the W210 E55 - 18x8 et31, and they rubbed on the front. I had a couple of mm machined off the inside hub face of the rim, and spaced the wheel arch to stop that. There were 7-10 RHD W124 E36s made in the T-model (wagon); mine was (as far as I know) the only one in Malachite green. It required the purchase of a W124 E320 estate which was then sent to AMG for the conversion work. This led to some interesting times at main dealers when trying to order parts because the car would still be listed as an E320, and led to them fitting the wrong exhaust centre section, bodging the AMG exhaust which was fitted in order to make it work. I had no idea - a subsequent owner of the car accused me of cutting corners. ?

I know a bit about the M103/4, from MB, AMG and Brabus. When that controller gives up, throw it all away and go MegaSquirt, Link or Haltech. It's cheaper. This was mine. And yes - two of the coil packs did give up...

I think that was a short-lived issue, applying to mid 90s vehicles. Of course, they'd also started using less paint of a poorer quality, and suspect steel for some suspension components. Manufacturing by over-zealous accountants.

Both front struts will be sorted on Thursday. And a full alignment, of course. It's debatable whether this is sensible expenditure given the value of the car, but the alternative was to buy another. I'm not averse to buying cars ? but while money spent on this car will never be recovered, we do know the car and know (despite student-car appearances) that it is mechanically good and safe. And a replacement could easily need work, too.

The new layout is painful. Lack of filters and so on - used to be able to choose multiple areas to search in (my region, and neighbouring regions) but can't do that now.

Sadly, probably too tight a timeline. She has to be in Hamilton for Friday evening for an interview - but we're seeing if that can be done remotely. I have the start of a plan. Hoping I can arrange something tomorrow morning. Always the way - bad timing. This is a recent problem (I hope) - passed a WoF about two weeks ago.

Replacing the pair is the plan. Aside from making for a balanced setup, if one has failed the other is likely to. Sadly no time to wait for an overseas delivery. Miss M is with us in HB and needs to head back to Hamilton before next weekend. But I have found somewhere local to talk to.

Does this present as a dash displayed fault?

Miss Ms car, 2001 E46 318i (M43), has one front strut which isn't doing much. Jack the front nearside (left, as viewed from the drivers seat) corner of the car, grasp the wheel rim, and it moves up and down far more easily than would be desired. There's signs it has been leaking. Strut top mounts look OK. Does anyone have any struts they're not using? Complete strut would be easier to swap into the car, of course. I'm very aware that using s/h ones is probably just delaying purchase of new kit, but budgets are ridiculously tight at the moment.

It reads like it is the M43 of the N52 range. Biggest difference I can find between the 323i and 325i is the intake manifold and a remap which is worth about 20hp. Capacity is the same.

Anything especially bad about this that I should know? Aside form teh electric water pump which should be replaced no later than every 80000 miles (125-130,000km). The earlier N52 had issues with rings and oiling, but I think that was sorted for the 'N' engine? Considering an E90 323i with the N52NB25 engine.

This is the sort of scenario that globalisation cannot deal with. The drive to ever more dependence on overseas money means a downturn of any sort has a significant impact nationally (in NZ). I wasn't in the country when imports were previously (1976?) halted in an effort to create an uptick in locally sourced revenue - no imported cars led to many older cars being on the road far longer than might have been anticipated, for instance. (As I understand it.) It's too easy to blame one majority political party or another, especially when all they seem to do is criticise any activity or position the opposition might take. But this is a *government* issue. In business terms, what's the DR plan? Where is the bigger picture view? For a moment, let's assume we do need to drastically reduce international travel - what does the self-reliant NZ position look like? NZ can do this. It just needs preparedness to change. And change is the issue - it tends to not suit those who will influence the really big decisions.

Conspiracy theories.

Yup. A resurgence (and this is tiny) was to be expected. Ardent (pun very much intended!) right-wingers jumped on the announcement, claiming it as a victory in their desperate fight to show Labour as not managing Covid-19. Conspiracy theories abound, with National supporters claiming it is a deliberate ploy by Labour to gain votes. Meanwhile... [conspiracy theory] National engineer a new outbreak of Covid-19 as away to show the public Labour haven't been any good, and that National should be elected. (Fits with Woodhouse's previous attempt at discreditation.) [/conspiracy theory] And, of course, Labour accolytes want the world to know what a great job their party is doing, managing this, clamping down, and so on. People just need to wake up. There are no winners in this. We're all in it together (inadvertent side-reference to the team of 5 million) and what happens next is up to us.

BMW appear to have been clamping down on unofficial VIN decoders, and in some cases have taken legal action to have sites remove the facility - one of the Russian sites reported the unavailability of their service (3 lookups for free in any 24 hour period) as being directly due to a legal request from BMW. I don't think any fines or financial actions have been issued. If true, I have to wonder why? I can't see an upside for them in preventing owners, operators and businesses being able to check parts suitability. Unless there is the potential for a more nefarious activity, in which every other manufacturer worldwide would surely be doing the same?