Olaf

BMT RBF is near as dammit (specification wise) the same as Motul RBF600; the guy behind the counter told me it's the same stuff. And it's much cheaper, being BNT house brand. Where'd you get the Penrite fluid, Navin? I asked at Repco and Supercheap down here, and they didn't stock it, didn't know about it. I do like to change colours when I change fluid, makes it easier to know when you've flushed through.

I wasn't expecting an S14. kind of a missed opportunity in many respects. Why not modern turbocharging on a production four (M10, M42?), that's robust and drivable. I guess being done ten years ago has something to do with it, engine management and turbo technology has progressed muchly in that time. And yes, I thought it needed a resonator. M3's don't sound that farty! Liked the bodywork. Shame they didn't talk more about the suspension at front and rear.

you weren't pursued by police recently, were you? ahh, thankfully wrong town.

I'd be in at $3k.

Yep. When BMW released the e38, Mercedes coincided their release of the mid-cycle update to the W140. Mercedes (allegedly) fired all their design engineers on the W140 programme as a result. "vot ze fik haff zu engineerensen been gerfikken mit fur zees gepassenfumpfenjahren. Look at zat eeee-dreisen-achtesen! Ge-FIRED!" Of course, in 1997 many former Mercedes engineers from the W140 programme thought that things couldn't get any worse, there was a notable accident in Paris. "hmmm, CV update... 'I worked at Mercedes on the W140 programme from 1985-1995', there that's better." W220 was the later result of flushing the team and forcing new thinking. One can't help but wonder how many accountants they smuggled in wearing white coats!

I knew what you meant, I can't help seeing the funny side of stuff, Jon. I imagine predicting what'll work in our little market is a tough job. I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing what's on the horizon.

it's possible, or perhaps even likely. Still, I didn't want to assume...

... comes to mind #8 )

@Scrambler hey Magnus, how did you get on? Also wondering if you'd read about the forthcoming welly roadie, take a look in the welly room, there are others from Hawkes Bay coming along too.

@BimDim - so did you go any further on this journey?

looks really tidy, love that paintwork. welcome to the forum, Shayne. is the roof motor in pool of water because of blocked drains? Is this similar to the 6 series topless, too? More and more folks in Christchurch joining, hopefully some more meetings happening down there soon.

I've only got my 'P' plates on the search trike, William. Someone with true Wizard status will need to produce the required evidence. I wasn't in a position to revisit the entire equation; in my case, the bars+wheels+tyres delivered the required improvement. If I had my time again, I'd have done Motorsport shocks and springs as well.

speaking of sway bars, when I went to the 17" 194's and 225/45 &Z 245/40's from 205/55R16, I spent a good deal of time cruising the Search Tricycle™ and learned up on antirollbars, reading much of what was written here, and discussing with @Herbmiester I found that the increased grip - and (to my mind) the increased leverage the road has on my suspension (through the wider tyres and shorter sidewalls) - brought roll to the fore. I'd already renewed shocks, mounts, ARB bushes etc. So I searched out part numbers for fatter ARBs in the online parts catalogues, and sourced some from Brent @BM WORLD and bought new bushes to suit. Serious transformation for not much coin. Something to consider, though as yours is a 330 you probably already have reasonably beefy ones and 17" already yeah? Whatever you do, if you go staggered rims, don't put square tyres on. It feels nasty in comparison. HTH. EDIT: PS, @Herbmiester hopefully one day you get a chance to resample my e46, it's come a long way since your last drive.

here's one I found earlier (the thread is worth a read) specifically:

well, "search engine"... often more of a search bicycle really I'll see what I can rustle up.

nice wagon, welcome to the forum. I nearly stopped and took a photo of this just this morning, on Tory!

Is that DC91 on left, DC93 on the right, and DC92 for the rare McLaren-esque Centre-steering model? hey @eliongater which model is your white one?

Looking mighty fine Brent!

Hang on Kyu, you kindly set me straight a while back; the rear size on e46 is 245/40R17. 255/40R17 is the e90 spec. Shane, if you use the search bicycle there's an excellent post from William @3pedals that covers "why staggered". A great alternative to Style 68 on an e46 is Style 194 from the e90, gives you 8 inches on the front, a little more offset at the rear profiding slightly wider track with the same tyre sizes, looks awesome and they're plentiful and inexpensive. That's what I run, no issues with rubbing/fouling etc. Hope that helps.

congratulations. I'm amazed it took so long! Struck me as a solid, honest car.

I think this was for sale 2-3 years ago. wonder if it's the same vendor, back on the market?

"it wasn't fair just to have one; when I take the bus he was lonely, hoping for a playmate. much better in pairs"

Alternate answer: "it's not unusual (to be loved by anyone)..." [in your best Tom Jones, of course!] or: "what, you mean you don't?" or: "it's like New York, New York. They had to name it twice; these are so good I needed two of em!"

if you lie down in the road, you get steamrollered. If you stand up and fight it, sure you may not get the car, but at least you can bring the guy a bit of an organisational or legal spanking. agree also with Graham's point, you may have made a lucky escape. dealing with folks lacking integrity is a chore. Purchasing from people on TradeMe with more than 500 positive feedbacks is worthwhile as they have more to lose, and are less likely to put their hard-won feedback at risk. "TradeMe: where we match irrational buyers with willing sellers (or vice-versa)".

tres cool!