Olaf

Definitely in for a Cert for the M42 swap. Cheaper to buy a cap and rotor, give it an oil change, and put some MBL8 in there.

Soon you can expect media campaigns funded by the government that driving so far as to exceed the range of a responsible EV like the MG ZS is irresponsible wanton consumerism, and working from home is best for the country. You'll end up in the stocks for suggesting this might be a reasonable requirement; and when they discover you've a Maserati under that drop cloth in the garage, the guillotine will be oiled.

One hopes a new government will come in with fresh ideas and clean up this goverment's mess of clean car legislation so that it's workable, eliminates robin-hood tax transfers, and provides workable solutions and addresses current fleets with the introduction of emissions testing, to the benefit of everyday New Zealanders and the Car Industry alike. James Off-Shaw may bring back new ideas from Glasgow, watch this (MIQ) space?

The question on everyone's lips is will a reasonably-priced replacement battery be available when the time comes. One hopes a suitable modular solution is available to provide for the varied custom solutions each manufacturer has engineered for their cars to date. Eg if Toyota, Nissan, BMW et al all used standard cells (as with the ubiquitous automotive battery in it's various standard form factors) it may become affordable. Not only are we a dumping ground, but we're a clearing house as we export much end of life waste to third world countries rather than dealing with it here. And then there's tyres.

they certainly used to, though freight etc ++ pricey (when shipping the liquid stuff), so as you say, get the coolant locally.

I've been ordering from FCP Euro for a bit over fifteen years now. They're good. Their FedEx rates are excellent. Service is very good. Prices are on the whole pretty good. I've tried Pelican, found them more difficult by comparison. I happily recommend FCP Euro. The less said about GST the better. Keep your orders under the threshold, all is good. Find 'what's my duty' on customs. govt. nz and use it. I would not use YouShop for anything at all. When I need drop-shipping for anything, I use MyUS.com - which gives me great service - customer-focussed service! - an address in USA and UK, a great web interface and a reasonable app, and excellent rates with FedEx, very good rates with DHL, and a choice of other carriers too.

hugely impressive. bravo! you going to open source the plans for this?

Gearbox: 1.1l Penrite Pro-Gear 75W85 Full Synthetic. Diff: ~2 l Penrite Pro-Gear 75W90 Full Synthetic. Best not to mix them up. If you're going to replace your diff bush, might as well wait to change diff oil as you'll be pulling the cover to press the bush out. You'll want the diff cover gasket too. HTH. PS: $300 for shock repair? Ouch, you can replace it entirely from the USA for that price. Good to support local! PPS: You're going to need to cert after doing the Z3 rack. Suggest you make a plan, figure out your endgame, and get everything sorted to minimise (or eliminate) your non-compliant time.

Given current pressure on the cook strait with two of Interislander's ferries going out for maintenance it may be better to arrange storage for 3-4 weeks and then bring it across.

One man's meat is another man's poisson. Was the Clio V6 desireable to anyone other than Francophiles who prefer their cars from America? "Everybody would love to have one" - a Clio V6. No doubting your enthusiasm, sir!

😄 I see what you did there! Seriously though, what a brilliant combination of thinking and engineering. Bravo Andrew!

"Dousing with a HUGE amount of water from a pressure washer". Bzzzzt. Confusing PRESSURE with FLOW. Did not bother watching further.

E30 CSL - I like the sound of that! 😁 but what will I do with the iS badge that’s waiting to go on it? 😎

@aramoana all is not lost. With luck George Stock & Co will be able to sort you out. At worst a new piston rod and rebuild.

@Southerner Cam it's looking good mate! FWIW I did Sachs OEM shocks, bushes etc nearly 100k kms ago on my 2002 325i touring, kept the stock springs and 16's. It rode better, but tippy-toed around corners. Great advice from @Herbmiester and 3pedals/Bill/William.... I ended up hunting out the fattest ARBs from the BMW Lego parts catalogue, fitting with new bushes, and staggered 17" motorsport setup using e90 Style 194s. This made the car ride and handle better, without making my family uncomfortable. Handles way flatter, half of the steering wheel input required for SH1 and SH5x corners compared with stock - a big improvement. Watch for broken springs in rear, a bug-bear of e46, particularly Tourings. As the car's about to become my runaround again (it's been my wife's car for last 4.5 years), I think next year I'll give it a birthday - Koni Yellows and - most probably - Motorsport springs by Lesjofors... @adro reminded me they're available from Rockauto and it's what M539 Restorations used on his on youtube [edit] e46 Touring. HTH

selfie ommitted! opportunity missed 😲. next time, my friend.

Date: 14 Sept 2021 Distance: 263337 kms 1. WoF Gave it a wash, drove to trusted workshop where it flew through another WoF, renewed rego on-line. Lovely day to get out in my e30 in the spring sunshine with friends 🙂👍 e30 ahead of being put to bed last night

@aramoana it took me more than six months, but then I got lucky. I’ve been seeing them coming up in Australia. I only went for 51mm as the shocks I found were 51mm. @Deano1968 I’d be surprised if a 316i would have ABS? @aramoana you may have totally lucked-out!

@aramoana pretty sure you can get 45mm struts in high performance varieties (Koni certainly do); look for 45mm Bilstein B8 if you can't find 51mm housings, and you'll sell your 51mm easy enough. If you're changing housings, you might as well refresh the wheel bearings while you're at it. Mine was also pretty grumpy when I first got it - esp when cold. Plugs, cleaning up the leads, coolant temp sensor all helped a lot. HTH PS: pleased to see my project thread is useful, thanks 😀

That perspective hardly accounts for tensioner or guide wear in general (in addition to the chain itself). One would be foolish to apply that logic to, say, an M60 or M42. @balancerider good to hear you're enjoying positive ownership with N47.

@balancerider could be, mate. I've heard of - and seen evidence of - intake manifold and glow plug issues on N57. Seems there was a recall on the intake manifold? Still digging.

This from Autocar: The 2.0-litre diesel engine in pre-2014 facelift X3s is codenamed N47. According to reports, it has a reputation for excessive timing chain wear leading to premature failure. BMW took action to fix the problem, culminating in the fitment of the new and uprated B47 engine from 2014. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1826001 discusses N47 & N57 this is sobering viewing! I'm about to buy an N57... though he takes a sensible approach to preventative maintenance. Other reports on a basic google search indicates the N57 is largely reliable... Earlier version:

as I said, "to a lesser degree".

Back around '99-'01 in UK M20 (and M30 to a lesser degree) had a reputation for head gasket failure, cambelt and water pump failure. Clearly a result of neglect (or not updating the head bolts?), but now we're past that, it's understood. Get you A-B with minimal maintenance => reliability? I think that's a great distillation!

@Herbmiester you may have some useful experience/info here?