Olaf

indeed, I can attest that (when I last had the pleasure of a drive), the suspension setup on John's car is superb. I know he's further progressed development since then. Sadly I may not get the chance for a repeat performance until after the school hols, by which time I expect this car will undoubtedly be bedded in with its new owner! GLWS John, though you barely need it as this car sells itself!

Jeez. I just re-read my post. Which is to say, I now realise how my last post could be read: - as a direction or order (just re-read my post), or - as a statement (I) just re-read (as in reviewed) my own post. I meant the latter - though understand that by ommitting the apostrophe at the start of the sentance, there could be misunderstanding. cheers

had my local trusted independent Page European replace the rear springs with 325i Touring springs, and replace the top and bottom spring pads. And an alignment. Only a couple of short drives today, but it feels a lot better. Happy days.

yeah, it came from my macbook Andy - I drank the KoolAid too #; ) Could be one needs to be logged in to Amazon? Not sure.\ cheers

your offspring grow up fast - it's good you're there for them when it counts. our no. 1 son just entered his teens, I can't beleive how quickly that's happened. good to observe you've not given up on your 5er, and know it will be there when you have some spare $$. Looks superb!

yep, ^^ when I was investigating RFT 18" recently, JGBMW were competitive and had tyres in stock!

you can buy brand new, fresh TRXs. They're for the well-heeled, though.

the whole of Blakes 7 is on youtube... it's slow, but 80's good.

certainly, though making it a sleeper didn't give them a license to make it look butt-ugly!

Neal, if you were to get free freight within USA from your supplier (eg TireRack), ship to your box address at www.myus.com and then trans-ship to NZ you should be fine.

19's eh? I always scratch my head when there's cheap rubber on a car, makes me wonder what other aspects of the maintenance they've cheaped-out on.

those blistered guards: what were they thinking?! Still, good to see an '02 on the roads.

... and the good news: The Grand Tour is set to start on Amazon Prime on November 18th. Teaser trailer here It looks slick and sharp.

wow. if your tyres are as sh#t as you describe, the word "justify" doesn't come into it. It's a safety item, pure and simple. replace them.

I know what you're talking about, I was in a similar position. I went to Sears and bought a Craftsman socket, the workshop I went to (in a rough part of Mexico City) we like "you sure you want to do this to this nice socket? We're going to leave grinding marks, it's not going to look pretty...". Yep, thanks. Explained what I was up to. When I collected the socket, they said 'go see our neighbour, he's just around the corner, he car swap out your shocks without even taking the wheel off. Tell him we sent you, he'll look after you". They were bang on the money, he had a big f*ck-off lever tool, and showed me how he did it, I came back with the parts, and he had it done in no-time flat.

Folks, I've just bought some parts from Nathan (from this e46), and you should too! He's excellent to deal with, the parts come well-packaged and in the condition described. As they say, 'would trade again'. "bump".

I think I used an offset ring spanner, and an allen socket on a 1/4" extension. Years ago (for my VW Golf GTi) I had an engineering shop in Mexico weld a large nut onto the top of a spark plug socket to acheive the same thing. Still got the socket. I like the idea of grinding flats onto a socket.

today I got a puncture repaired, and all four wheels rebalanced. much smoother on the highway, now. And my new rear springs have arrived, so looking forward to those being fitted on Tuesday.

you got a thread for this, Nathan? I'm keen to have a read. Would this make my 325i feel less like the 330i's poor cousin and more like it's little brother?

what makes you think that? #; )

Yesterday, new OEM ATE rear brake hoses fitted, and of course new brake fluid and flush. Thanks Page European! Gotta note, one can certainly feel the difference at the pedal with different fluids. I'd been using BNT's inexpensive RBF (broadly similar to the Motul RBF600) previously - much firmer pedal that standard 'Super DOT4'. I understand you're up for greater risk of rust in the system with RBF and it needs changing more frequently (something to do with less rust prevention??) than standard. Looks like my new springs have arrived (thanks Nathan), so they'll be fitted Tuesday, along with new spring pads. Double Orange Stripes FTW.

Just re-read my post, John. My reference to M3 parts wasn't springs/shocks. What I meant (but didn't make clear) was that you can retrofit the front control arms and the rear control arms (FCP do a TRW kit) - going from folded steel to forged alloy in the case of the rears - which is allegedly quite an improvement for each end. Quoting FCP: "Upgrade the handling performance of your non M E82/E88 1-series or non M E90/E91/E92/E93 3-series with components originally designed for the E9X M3 and E82 1M To start off, the non M and M designed suspension are similar in terms of design philosophy which is not surprising when you consider that BMW's M division is working off what BMW already designed. However, there are numerous changes made to the M version control arms which drastically improve handling performance. Because the suspensions are almost identical in design it allows for the 1-Series M and M3 control arms to be installed in their non M counterparts without modification. The tension struts (big curved control arms) feature a solid rubber inner bushing which reduces deflection and eliminates the hydro bushing weakness which is tearing and leaks. The solid rubber bushing is stiffer which helps tighten up the front suspension without being overly stiff and unforgiving. The lower wishbones (straight control arm) features a sealed inner bearing, also known as a monoball, that allows for the inner part of the control arm to rotate more freely when compared to the non M rubber bushing. This design change also allows for added durability in the long run. The lower control arm is slightly longer which adds approximately .75° of negative camber helping reduce under steer and drastically improving turn in response without having a significant impact on tire read life." and "Significantly improves handling, a great modification for non M E82/E88 1-Series models and E90/E91/E92/E92 non M 3-series models The rear control arm suspension is drastically different on the E9X M3 and E82 1 Series M when compared to their non M counterparts. The non M upper control arms are rolled steel and feature traditional rubber bushings in both the inner and outer position. The "hollow" design of the OE control arms are weak and flex a lot, particularly under acceleration. The M3 version of these upper control arms are made of solid aluminum and are light in comparison to the non M variants. Similar to the front wishbone, the upper wishbones use a monoball mount which allows for free movement of the control arms under all conditions. This helps keep the suspension stable and planted under all conditions."

the wrong kind of excitement, eh? Glad you're here to complain about it, Barry. The 'Takas could be a challenging place for a blowout. Indeed, it appears they're not runflats; the combo of rim and tyre was supposed to give better performance for the (comparatively) lower profile, and be less-likely to peel off the rim in failure. There was (apparently) a TDX (different rim and bead profile) that gave some runflat capability. cheers

yes, I certainly appreciate what you do here, Glenn, When it comes to advice, you know what they say: "you can lead a horse to water.... but you can't make it THINK." button back a little, take it slower, hopefully the passion will return. best regards Olaf

hey, I'm impressed with 470,000kms, Dion!