Olaf

You'd hang onto it because you love it, not because the e36 is about to turn into the undiscovered classic.

good bstard award right there!

who doesn't love a good head (unit)!? GLWS

Mike Brewer rates the Z3 1.9 too

in e60 land that's certainly not the case.

oh I'm used to oil leaks; I've run an M54 for 8.5 years. Given one would expect them to have been replaced 2.5 years ago, they should last ~5 years in a BMW?

Why would you buy Bilstein B4s instead of Sachs OEM? For e60's, Sachs have alloy housings, B4's are steel... price is within about $5 each.

27 November 2020. 180622kms 1. Annual Service to keep current for MBI. Oil & Filter (Penrite HPR5 & Hengst filter) Brake fluid flush & pressure bleed Genuine BMW coolant and demineralised water (I do annual as a precaution on N62 coolant tube) Removed cabin filters, wash filter boxes; vacuum out debris; remove & clean drains. Reassembled with new cabin filter. Checked sunroof drains front and rear Replaced air filter Checked belts, hoses, underbonnet fluid levels. Lubed boot lid and bonnet hinges Replaced wiper blades Tyre pressures checked (nail removed left rear tyre). Scanned and reset service items. The craftsman's workshop, Auto 38 in Newtown! I've only done 3583kms in this car in the last year. Between Covid, lockdown etc, there hasn't been as much need or opportunity for use. It still puts a smile on my face every time I drive it. Next steps: Give it a damned good clean, clay, wax. Sort out the headlamp lens fogging - it's come back after a year Replace serpentine tensioner and pulley Replace rocker cover gaskets. They're starting to leak again, wondering if they were actually replaced when the valve stem seals were done at 166699kms in Apr 2018.🙄 One wouldn't expect these to fail in just 2.5 years. It's worth noting that oil consumption is ~0 since the valve stem seals were done.

Hi Simon, I bought those e60 wheels from you a while back. I also recommend Jon at Auto38 in Newtown. Best in Wellington region. https://www.auto38bmspecialist.com

cool keyring! I've bought THREE keys at retail from Winger BMW and never received a keyring.

Yes it is tempting, though the last thing I need right now is a risk-filled BMW of unknowns. I have a few with their known, I think that’s enough for me. it is a potential good buy, assuming it’s had a reasonable level of maintenance. More likely it’ll need $1-2k of parts, to address deferred maintenance.

@Cale your touring's no slouch! very sharp ?

"$8k is as low as you'll go? Well, good for you. It won't be with my money. My offer is now $7k, it's realistic and takes into account the damage and repair work. If you come back to me tomorrow, it's $6500. Over to you."

that's interesting, though I'm still not clear on why you must have 500hp? If 650i is out of your pricerange, have you priced the true cost of modifying and engineering (certing) a 640i to 500hp?

okay, where do I sign? time for some more power in Grey Thunder anyway.

They keep tossing out 'cold war' like it's a brand on a pair of designer jeans. That's a greater travesty than whether they'll be able to get the power down and enjoy it pointing in the right direction. Still wondering when they'll get the welding done ?

well, he's got everyone answering and hasn't contributed anything to the thread apart from a question...

I have lived in a city so badly polluted they go to TWO carless days when polution levels pass the threshold. At this level everyone's personal health and safety is far more important than the individual liberty to drive one's car - whether it's meeting emissions regulations or not. I can take the bus. It's not a big deal. I will allow your right to *breathe*, to trump my desire to drive my 30 year old 4 cyl factory non-cat e30, or my 16 year old emissions-compliant V8. I hope you'd afford me the same courtesy. If there was good reason for it - eg our current pollution levels were measured daily and data published, I would get by. I think you've made too great a leap - from a vehicle that fails emissions to a fancy new one. Is there no middle ground? Perhaps a car someone can afford, a few years newer - or even older - that meets emissions levels? What would I say from my middle-class palace? I'd say "you do what you have to do". When I was a nipper, my dad commute about 80 mins (bus/train/bus) to his job. Coming home he'd do the reverse, only adding a couple of extra bus rides and more time travelling on night-school nights - studying to get ahead. A wife and four children, one income, rent, no money for the luxury of a car, just putting food on the table and saving a dollar here and a dollar there for a house deposit. In those years I think if he heard your argument through a time warp, he'd have a quiet laugh - "having to have a car?".

not to mention durability/negative impact on longevity. Yes, I'm the kind of sad git likely to add a cat to my e30 as part of the M42 conversion! The e36 had it, engine management expects it, so why not? It'll give me some peace of mind.

Indeed, why should number-8 wire New Zealand join the First World by enforcing emissions standards, rather than just accepting that 5 extra horsepower by removing a CAT is okay, along with poisoning your wife/neighbour/cat/stranger down the street as a result of these mods. It's bloody unreasonable, and we should be left to do whatever we like! Especially those who can't afford to safely operate a car on our roads, they should be given a get out of jail free card, exemption from WoFs or any form of safety test because owning a car is expensive enough without compulsory insurance or emissions testing, even though there's just one WoF test per year instead of two (as long as the car's less the eighteen years old now)... I've been advocating emissions testing for years, I don't vote Green, and would prefer to ensure testing is implemented as most lack enough common sense to ensure their vehicles are well-serviced and not polluting. EDIT: I've also lived in two first-world countries where emissions testing is compulsory, and had no issue with being a responsible citizen operating a vehicle within the law. For more than thirty years we've made a national sport out of importing worn-out cast-offs from Japan that have finished their useful design lives (I drive two of them), and these days we continue to import used Trucks and Busses from Europe (notably UK) that no longer meet their emissions standards, but appear to be good enough for us. As for Environmentalists, I'm not a fan; they're more likely to recommend a battery-powered vehicle that could have questionanle ethics around the production of it's power cells, or adds stress to our national grid.

or... just get the OEM Sachs Msport part and be very happy with the factory setup? I appreciate that as you're punting the car around the track at motorsport events (more power to ya!) you may want more spring rate and a corresponding increase in damping... EDIT - and ARBs...

Not so sure everyone who knows the monotube design loves it... cue @3pedals for an excellent explanation of the benefits and flaws of said design. PS: B6 = Sport, B8= shortened Sport.

PS: "stiff penalties for non-compliance" I was thinking about the systems tampering. eg 'well son, you've pulled all the emissions controls from your vehicle, so here's a $3,500 fine which we'll waive if your car is presented for re-test in compliant state within 30 days, and passes". A vehicle not passing test would require re-test within 30 days, potentially pink-stickered if it hadn't improved, re-test in 30 if not meeting spec... third time unlucky? I wonder what the Germans do, if a vehicle is driven on the road in a non-compliant state? Crush it?

holy sh#t that translates south of the bombays to 'do not drive in wellington'!

None of it fits with the kindness schtick, to be fair. I take it you were being ironic describing it as a paradigm ?