gjm

Just feeling really wound up, annoyed, pi$$ed off, and generally easily antagonised. Perhaps it is because Miss M is bringing her boyfriend over for tea? Doesn't bode well... ? ?

My ickle BMW Scanner 1.4.0 picks up a cam sensor failure (0x70, decimal 110). That's a fairly easy one to replace - I have to do this on Miss M's 318Ti (M44 engine). My OBD-OBD II adapter arrived today. However, I doubt that's stopping the car from turning over. I think the engine can run - sub-optimally - without the cam sensor? (That would need to be confirmed.)

2 for 2.

A friend on Facebook - I think he is in Blockhouse Bay - has a trailer, was looking at doing occasional jobs for cash. He'd be cheaper than a commercial firm, and you could be there to assist/watch?

I do like a Style 32!

Hopefully prepped the 318i for a WoF. Merc 190E went straight through earlier this week...

Did the lights illuminate brightly, as you'd expect? If so, could be starter motor... I had a similar issue years ago when the earth strap corroded/frayed/wore through. Hope it is something simple and you can sort it quickly.

The point about spares availability is a salient one, especially if you anticipate doing welding in years to come. I was advised that TIG may be more versatile than MIG, but that it is more expensive to buy, and more difficult to do effectively. Unless you need to weld Arc, start with MIG, and see how you go. Do you know someone who does welding? https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1637988273 may be worth a look?

This is largely true. Britain tried to abide by the rules of the EU Common Market, as did Germany, Scandinavia and some other countries. France did pretty much whatever it liked, Spain moaned a lot... And then they didn't, essentially insisting on having things their own way, and throwing a tantrum any time they didn't 'win'. The UK saying that Europe will be lost without them is unlikely to be true. Germany has been the backbone of the EU for years, especially since the Euro was adopted. The UK, of course, bickered, whined, moaned and complained about the Euro, spent millions upon millions fighting it, and then dug their heels in like a sullen child. Was that right? Maybe... Would the Euro have been (even more) successful had Britain joined? Probably. Of course, leaving the EU would be much more difficult if the Euro was the currency in the UK. Most of the Brexit campaign, on both sides, was an exercise in diversion, lying, falsehood, and misdirection. And now the UK Brexiters are insisting that Europe owes them a living. I suspect they are in for a huge shock.

NZ is dependent on exports now, in order to meet the bills to pay for the imports that we have as a result of not doing things in country. Do more here, less import required, less export needed... A bit simplistic, but we've gone through - are going through? - a period of ever-increasing dependency on other countries. I don't feel that's a good thing; I don't want to be insular, separatist or even particularly revolutionary, but self-sufficiency isn't a bad thing. With that comes the ability to deal on your own terms, and that is beneficial. Higher wages are a result of companies making more money and paying more to employees - I'm not sure if this is the definition of trickle-down economics, but that's something that has been resoundingly proven to not work. The US changed it's taxation model, benefiting larger organisations in particular (effectively increasing their income) and all the extra money went to senior staff, or overseas investment in cheaper production to further increase profit. Employees aren't seeing the benefits in the way that was anticipated - in fact, the overseas investment is seeing reductions in workforce. Companies win; people tend not to. One US company made a lot of noise about how they were giving what appeared to be a huge amount of money to their employees. Digging into that, it was found that each of 40000 employees received around 3c per hour increase, representing 40% of the money being shared. 60%+ of the money went to the top couple of dozen senior staff. And the total amount distributed in terms of salaries was around 20% of the total 'extra' money available: the balance went on overseas investment, and in bonuses to.... the senior staff. Not the workers. Then there's a tremendous amount of legal stuff in the TPP, some of which appears to have the potential for detriment to the country, or companies within the country. This is fair enough as an agreement needs to work both ways, but the nature of some of the legal action which could be taken is way outside of a balanced agreement. Take Bayer/Monsanto - if NZ decided to ban neonicotinoid pesticides (proven to kill bees and similar beneficial insects), B/M can (and would!) sue NZ as a country for not providing a marketplace for their products. Some tobacco companies are also running expensive test cases of this nature - Philip West is suing Australia for displaying messages on cigarette packets designed to advise smokers of the dangers of smoking. The TPP may not relate to those cases in particular, but it does apply to pharmaceuticals. There is a very real possibility that 'white label' pharmaceuticals could be banned under the TPP, meaning (for example) that asthma sufferers would be forced to use 'Ventolin' and not a generic salbutamol product. That's a minor example where the price only trebles (although is currently sucked up by the country) but there are other meds costing $000s that could be no longer supported and subsidised by the country. (That raises the question of health insurance, premiums, exclusions...) The TPP has the potential to be incredible. A very good thing. Sadly there's too much money involved, and lots of it being spent by international conglomerates lobbying for a better - more beneficial to them corporately - position. Get businesses out of the discussions and the playing field may be more level.

I entirely agree with the first sentence. Not sure about the second one! But will be very happy to be proven wrong.

Yes. Unfortunately (in my opinion) one of them is the TPP, which appears to be more about profit for the businesses and legal issues involved, and less about the trade and benefit for the participating countries.

If this goes ahead - and it would be an excellent idea - it'll be good news for us. It should mean a reduction in taxation and possibly price on ex-EU car parts, for instance. And foodstuffs. So the 'real' Marmite welike would be more readily available. (Up yours with you pale imitation, Sanitarium! )

It depends what you're after. If a super-low look is your goal, then yes - a cert will be needed for <100mm ground clearance. (And for the adjustable height.) If you want to drive it, enjoy it, and not worry about pebbles on the road, you need more height. 100mm is actually very low as a static height - suspension compression is going to see it go (much?) lower than that.

The E46 fitted with the M47N engine has 3 fuel pumps: In tank Intermediate, under the floor under the left-hand side front seat High pressure, on the engine I've replaced the fuel filter and intermediate fuel pump on the 320d, and now it won't start. I've documented a problem where the car just cut out while driving and thought I had tracked this to water passing a bulkhead grommet and shorting a relay (or similar) - having removed most of the car interior to check the initial suspect, the heater element, and finding it wasn't the problem, then refitting everything, the car ran beautifully. For a while. Then it died, exactly as it did before. Checking showed everything to be dry. I acquired a BMW Scanner 1.4.0 from another forum member (my apologies - I don't now recall who) and this revealed a code: - 4B90/11 - Rail pressure monitoring at engine-start Further investigation reveals this is a code given when the intermediate pump fails. The in-tank and high pressure pumps are diagnosed with specific codes of their own; the intermediate pump doesn't do this. I've replaced the pump and the fuel filter - no point just doing the pump. I even replaced them in the correct order - it looks like this may have been done before as they were the wrong way around. Probably not an issue, but let's do it properly! I've followed all documented procedure to ensure fuel flow through the pump and filter and there is diesel flowing from the front end of the pump/filter installation - next stop is the high pressure pump. Engine turns over, but will not start. Remove the inlet manifold, crack the connections to the injectors, turn the engine over for 10 seconds. Some fuel appears, but not as much as I would expect? Reconnect anyway, try again - no start. There's then a hiatus due to my unemployment while I struggle to acquire a laptop capable of connecting sensibly to the Scanner... Windows 7/10 devices don't much like doing this. OK - got that sorted, installed software. Check codes - there are no DDE-related (Digital Diesel Electronics) codes. No engine-related codes at all. I have INPA software but don't appear to have the correct USB cable/connector arrangement. I was sure I did, but maybe I dreamed it? Loaned it to someone? Just haven't found it (again)? [Note to self - tidy the bloody garage!] I appreciate INPA is far more comprehensive than Scanner 1.4.0. What I would like is for someone who knows what they are doing (I'm good at working things out, but start from a short-of-knowledge position) to come and give me a hand. It's a great car, and it is so frustrating to get this far without success. ? Compensation for putting up with me is obviously available. Beersies, food, fuel money... Pretty please? Someone...?

I really like the look of a 'clean' engine bay, but can foresee issues if you need to change something! Perhaps drawstrings are incorporated in the looms hidden away? I've not done this, but will 'follow' your thread to see what advice there is.

The BT52 is a creation by award-winning Lego designer/builder, Luca Rusconi. He has his own website - http://www.roscopc.it. Lots more pics here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/32975211@N05/sets/72157624911905176 He makes build instructions available on Rebrickable. You need to register and log in, but can then often buy parts and/or instructions from individual builders listing there. Luca's page is https://rebrickable.com/users/RoscoPC ; click on MOCs (My Own Creations) to see more than a dozen other older F1 cars he has recreated in Lego.

BT50 BT52

<chuckes> You might be surprised!

I did my own. While I did it alone, it'd be easier with two people. Just don't unroll the door before fitting it!