gjm

Chris Alexander (who runs Suspension Tech) is a good bloke. He's been in business for more than a few years, and is well-known throughout the racing community. He has a good reputation to lose, not build, so I can't see him offering anything that doesn't work or won't keep working. The Powered kit comes with a 2-year manufacturers warranty. Give him a call and have a chat. He'll fit too, if that is a consideration - he's based in Karaka, so not so far from you.

I'm going to see just how far down the window goes when fully down. I've removed the inner and outer weather strips to gain a tiny bit more space. I really don't want to get into removing the window or regulator if it is at all possible to avoid doing so.

This is not a M3! (Pic from Speedhunters - Paddy McGrath.)

Seriously? I mean, it's possible, but does sound like someone, somewhere at Amazon, may have made a mistake...

I was kidding about the cable colour. The car is a May 2001 build. Not that it matters. Having the mech out of the car would certainly make it easier - I have had it completely released, but there doesn't appear to be space to get it out of the door: either the glass or the regulator is in the way. I've been working with the window fully up, but battery disconnected (for removing the door airbag) - this means I can reach up under the glass to get to the handle mechanism. I'll have a look, but suspect that winding the window down will mean I can no longer get to the mechanism at all.

Riiight... Interview in New Plymouth on Friday arvo. Travel arrangements will be to drive over: driving to Auckland airport and flying would (in total) take about the same length of time, offers no flexibility, and probably costs more (even if I travel alone). Mrs M will accompany me on the trip and we may stay over and have a little tiki tour before heading back. @Breaker - Brent, are you round on Friday evening/Saturday? Any suggestions for somewhere to stay? The company will forward some hotel recommendations, but I expect them to be of the Novotel variety. (Which can be fine. )

My cable is black... does that make a difference...? I have seen the end of the cable in question. The nipple is present, and the square locking piece appears intact. I have no idea about the part shown depressed in the third pic - I'm looking upside down up into the door shell, past the regulator into a gap that might be 2cm wide. I can see the grooved channel in the curved part which is where the cable needs to sit, and by looking from another angle (through a 1.5cm round hole!) I can see the hole the nipple needs to sit in to. As discussed earlier, I suspect that the window would need to be removed to remove the mechanism, and I really don't want to go down that road. If I can get the nipple relocated, and the locking piece back where it should be, I'll somehow get a cable tie around the locking piece so it cannot 'escape' again. That'll mean the nipple cannot become detached in future. Thanks so much for the pics. They really do help as now I at least know what I'm dealing with, rather than having to guess.

I do not need... $14k? Problem solved!

Thanks for the vid! Not seen that one. I've taken a still from the vid and circled the area I have issues with - the cable has become completely detached form the channeled pulley-type piece. I need to somehow persuade the nipple-end of the cable back into position, and replace the clip which has become undone - this clip is to the right of the bellows on the cable, which is to the right of the blue circled area. What often happens is that the clip becomes detached. If this can be replaced, a cable tie can be used to secure it, fixing the problem. I have one more, very fiddly, step to achieve before I can do that.

What's the life expectancy of these engines? This is the second M52 or S52-powered car I have seen for sale today with over 300000km on it.

A whole car...? Actually, I don't think it is all that bad. Rear quarter, and (as usual) battery tray. I'd be looking to tidy it up a bit without spending too much on it (a few $00, max) and then see if I can swap it for a half-decent M10 or M4x automatic.

Might have lined up a swap... Our E36 318i SE 4-door 5-speed manual sedan for a 1985 E30 320i... Don't actually want a 6-pot E30 but there's more chance of swapping that on for a 4-pot model than doing the same with the E36. If it happens I'll be looking for some tips on bodywork repairs. That's not something I've ever done as I consider it more art than engineering, and I'm no artist.

09/07/2018 - Rain stopped play.

I came to that conclusion... I've packed up for the night but will try fiddling the cable into position tomorrow. If I'm almost upside down, I can look up into the door shell and see where it needs to go. Absolutely no chance of getting a hand there to line it up, so there's likely to be a lot of trial and error, and swearing, tomorrow.

OK - next question. While the battery is out of the car, reducing the likelihood of an airbag going off, I've been investigating the lack of ability to open the passenger door from the outside. (It works fine from inside the car.) Please see here: Any thoughts on the simplest way to resolve this?

Taking advantage of a battery not being fitted to the car, today I'm working on getting the passenger side door handle working from the outside again. (It works from inside the car.) Several reasons why this fails, including a cable becoming unclipped (and can be fixed with a cable tie! @aja540i ) to, and in my case, the cable becoming completely detached from the handle mechanism. I should have expected it, but was still disappointed to find 'someone' had already removed a couple of screws from the door panel and not put them anywhere sensible. Got the 'Airbag' plaque out of the door panel (and the screw behind it), got the the little plastic cap out of the handle recess (and the screw behind that), carefully removed the whole door panel. Peel the moisture barrier back, remove the rubber cap around the top corner of the door body. Cannot see where the cable is supposed to go. I suspect the handle is going to have to come off to sort this, so some investigation into where the locking slide plate is will be necessary. (Getting to the securing torx-head screw is easy once the rubber cap is out of the way. I found a pic of the back side of the mechanism: The cable in the pic is the one which has become completely detached at the handle end... I have absolutely no idea how to put it back together without removing the mechanism from the door (I can't see where the cable has to go), and that looks very tricky while the window regulator is in place. I've released the mechanism from the door, but there doesn't appear to be a way to get it out of the door shell!

I thought that might be the case, but it was worth asking. I've typically worked on the theory that anything under 10V is done.

Reviving an old battery... Is it possible to bring a dead battery back to life? The one I have in mind is a completely sealed lead acid 12V car battery... Currently showing about 5V. I have had some success in the past with topping up with distilled (or clean rain) water, throwing 14V across it for a bit, and then charging hard (6A) for a while, but that approach isn't practical this time. It got this way by sitting unused for an extended period of time. It was OK, did start a car before being left in the garage... Can't afford a new on at the moment!

Fixed the battery clamp (in the boot). Battery fitted when we got the car was too tall so the plastic tray cover wouldn't fit. The clamp wasn't fitted... Pulled the battery, found a DIN55 spec (to suit the 318Ci), fitted that, found the clamp (where are the passivated bolts??? Found some in the garage) and tried to fit it. The horizontal tang was bent out of shape, the two small vertical tongues were spread, and the adjusting screw felt like it was seized - it'd turn about 1/8th of a turn and that was it. I don't know how you overtighten one of these, but that's what had happened, stretching/stripping the thread of the adjusting bolt about halfway down. Getting it undone removed the captive thread from the underside of the clamp. Fettled the securing bar to get it back into shape. Looks like someone had dropped it across the battery at some point. Re-purposed the clamp plate and used a nut, bolt and washer to hold it securely in place on top of the battery. What an unnecessary waste of time. ? Still, sorted now.

Refurbished/rebuilt the battery clamp for the 318Ci after POs boyfriend 'mechanic' managed to strip the thread in the securing bolt... Nope - I don't know how he managed it. All good now though.

Another coolant flush today. I did expect to need to, so no great surprise to find more brown gunk coming out. I think I've got (if not all) most of it now. The car does seem to be running better since I've done this, but I suspect that's psychosomatic. Picked up (very nearly) new tyres from Paul - @Smackiee - the rears look HUGE! ? They're a correct fit for the rims. .But 255s on a 318Ci? LOL Still - this is a 'dress up' car. Very common in Singapore where travelling any distance or at any speed is uncommon; many people will buy a high-spec but smaller-engined car and upgrade it. Removed both bodykit sills. They don't look bad but are woefully impractical as they sit so close to the road. Any speed bump and you can hear them fouling. They were fitted with 3 screws front and rear, and generous daubing of black mastik (or similar) so there';s a bit of cleaning and tidying to do. I'll do a review of RealOEM (or similar) and see what engine plastic I'm missing. The 'mechanic' neglected to keep all the bits he removed in one place, and seems to have discarded all fastenings he may have found. ? I was in Hamilton yesterday and visited Kerry at Mosen, picking up screws to secure the cabin filter tray, the cover for that tray, and a couple of other small bits. More will be needed.

Huge thanks to Paul - I collected the tyres from him this morning. They look great, and so much better than the ones that were on the 318Ci when we picked it up!

Not sure about LWB. I think there is a double-decker, though.

May need a Public Service Vehicle endorsement on your driving license... This thing is huge. The grill covers an area of 1.3 square metres.

Some of the stuff I see on IT-related jobs is tantamount to saying "must have experience building 4-bedroom houses"; an applicant who has built 3 bedroom ones doesn't have the experience, and those who've built 5-bedroom places don't understand the scale or budget required.