Olaf

So you’ve just bought photo 2 from Wellington? Thats a low-mileage beauty, yeah? That’ll be collectible soon, as they’re pretty rare in clean in-molested form. I’d drive it for a couple of months before spending up on your wheel and tyre combos, and lowering it. You might get the gen from @Herbmiester and @eliongator as John built up the 330Ci with Ohlins adjustables, trick springs, and beeeeeg antirollbars. It was sublime in the ride and handling department.

Welcome!

post-trip wash completed. Hooray for Auto Glym!

Bummer dude. Still, nobody hurt, I trust.

Date: 12 June 2019 Distance: 259342kms 1. Engine New engine mounts, oil filter housing gasket, sump cleaned inside and out (found bolts reinstalled), and new gasket. Oil filter and fresh oil. [edit:] 5W30 synthetic. The lifters in M40 respond well to the modern blend. Also replaced the two drive belts. 2. Suspension Front: Installed freshly painted 20mm front ARB, with new bushes. Assembled and installed 51mm strut housings with all new hardware (upper spring perches, and strut collars excepted), H&R Sport Springs, Koni Sport 8641-1210 strut inserts, new bellows kit and iS bump stops. [Edit: also new wheel bearings and associated hardware]. Rear: Installed freshly painted 14.5mm rear ARB with new bushes. Installed H&R sport springs, Koni Sport 80-8522 shocks with new top mounts. 3. Front Brakes Installed Vented rotors (Zimmermann Sport X-drilled Z coat rotors, rebuilt Girling calipers, Hawk Performance HPS pads, ATE hoses. Bled brake system rear to front. 4. Steering Wheel. Sport (also called SE) steering wheel installed. I just hadn't got there. 5. Aligned. It was aligned again, iS/m-technic specs. Jon & Auto38 did the hard work, with customary efficiency and precision, and updates. Report: Initial impressions: I collected it on Thursday at the end of the work day. All the slop in the steering is gone. It feels a bit lower (30mm for the H&R's). Jon cautioned me the the M40's sump is now closer to the road surface. I think a sump guard may be a wise precaution for touring. The setup is firm, yet comfortable. It's like a go-kart, compared with how it was previously. Big grins. Noted I may need to reduce tyre pressures; I was previously running higher to counteract the baggy suspension. I was initially worried that the tyres weren't up for it. This was proved to be wrong. Saturday morning I was out on the road at 0600, bedding in the rotors and pads. Zimmermann call for braking from 100 to 50 km/h over 3 seconds, cool for 3 mins; repeat 15 times. Then do heavier stops of 100-25 kmh over 3 seconds, cool three minutes, repeat 15 times. A saturday morning is a reasonable time with less traffic, slow lane on motorway, check mirrors, hazards on, brake. Rinse and repeat. After 90 mins of driving (to Te Marua, then Ngauranga, then Paremata, Johnsonville, back to town), a Nada Bakery pie was needed to settle my now-queasy stomach. The Brakes were feeling better. The Z-coat takes a while to wear in. I figured I hadn't finished the pad bed-in, but that would happen later on the Rimutaka Hill road. I sorted myself out, packed the car, and headed out to Melling BP and brimmed the tank with 98. A bloke in a people mover asked me if it was for sale. Told me had 3 other BMWs; I said "search for BMW Club NZ, we're off on a run. Join us!". I met up with the crew for the Wairarapa & Castlepoint run. The run over the Rimutakas was a joy. My first distance drive since buying Grey Thunder and bringing her home from Paraparaumu. Not a lot of power for hill-climbing, the momentum style is required. I did manage a couple of passes, notably a 4th gear pass toward the top of the Akatarawas. On the Rimutakas, I tucked in behind a D-Max whose driver knew the road well, we had a great run down, with a few motorists kindly making use of the stopping bays to let us pass. This is where the new suspension setup started to show the new character & capability. Loads more grip, turn-in is vastly improved, You can precisely place the car in the lane. Weight-shift is now a ballet, and the car is far more planted. I stopped at the bottom on nearer Featherston, and did my customary photos of the group passing at a bridge. When I re-joined the group at Martinborough, I couldn't stop smiling. This thing is a buzz. It's so much fun to drive. Later I headed out to find another vantage point, and drove more roads trying to re-join the group after they passed. I drove, dry, drizzle, rain, and fog. I drove unfamiliar country roads, and some more familiar, on a variety of seals. 200kms from the start point to Castlepoint, and I enjoyed every one of them. I can trust the car's handling, even if my entry line is wrong. It's going to take me a little longer to make the weight shift super-consistent, but I'm loving it. It's less a scalpel, more a sharp chef's knife, and it's forgiving. Oh, and it's comfortable. Firm, not jarring. I hit the bump stops on the fronts once on the way home, just off the brakes at the end of a descending bridge (to turn right) and found a pot hole right in the line. My fillings are intact, it was fairly gracefull. There will be some experimentation to do with the Koni's adjustable rebound damping. Tyres. These Hankook Optimo K415's are pretty good for what they are. Shame we don't get high-performance tyres in 195/65R14 down here. Reviews on the Falken Ziex 912 indicate it's no better; there are a hoarde of low-cost el-cheapo tyres to choose from, but little else (mostly touring tyres). I think it's nearly ready to receive it's iS badge. Should I wait till it has rear disc brakes? An LSD? An M42B18? I'm going to buy a strut brace. ? Workshop Photo Credits Jon Mechaniker. Beneath Grey Thunder in dry dock II: Sump gleaming, new gasket installed. Photo Credit: Jon Mechaniker. Beneath Grey Thunder in dry dock II: H&R Sport Springs, Koni Yellows, 14.5mm Anti-roll bar. Photo Credit: Jon Mechaniker. Beneath Grey Thunder in dry dock II: New front brakes. Photo Credit: Jon Mechaniker Rebuilt caliper with new piston and seals, nipple. Ready to install.. Photo Credit: Jon Mechaniker A more comfortable helm. Moody garage shot showing Sports wheel. Out in the country, photography pack-horse.

Elijah buy that and have it painted.

fingers x'd. I found I'd missed some spots on the brake shields with the wet top coat (there's a dusting only). Hey ho, can do that another time. Was planning on cooling hose replacements, but unable to make it swing this week. Hopefully they're sound enough for the trip (top and bottom main hoses already replaced with genuine BMW). It's scheduled for tomorrow, we'll see if it's ready to rock by Friday arvo. I have a very kind offer of an alternate vehicle if Grey Thunder isn't ready. Well spotted on the other rubber. That's for the SS Commodore in a German Suit, will go on soon.

My god they’d look good on my car I reckon. Not sure my partner in life and crime would agree, won’t be chancing my arm there ?

Haerae Mai, hope you’re enjoying being back!

@nick496?

Though to be fair, what you see as “doing it wrong”, doesn’t register for many people who shoot with their phones for consumption on their phones. For them, this is “doing it right”.

Yep. We call this a “landscape fail”.

So what's the plan, John? GM V8 re-power? boosting? ? Great score.

Another observation: I think next time I'm using the Rust Converter, if a great finish is needed I'll use the spray-on product rather than the brush-on. Even though it's thin, the brush-marks show through on smooth surfaces.

Thanks mate. They were black and in reasonable nick when I started, though with thirty-odd years on them, there was an amount of rust. And as I stripped them back, there was a good amount of rust penetration beneath the coatings. One side more than the other, oddly. Most importantly, it was surface rust only. And nothing structural in the spring perches or bases. Hopefully my work is good enough to keep them in good shape for another twenty.

Sunday update. This morning I: Touched up a couple of marks in the topcoat on the ARBs Scuffed the primer with Scotch Brite, then top-coated the Rotor Shields Primed the Strut Housings This evening I: Top coated the Strut Housings. I didn't bother rubbing them down, scuffing them up... they're not meant to be pretty, they're meant to be protected. Hopefully the paint has enough time to cure before installation Weds/Thurs/Fri! Conclusion: The hot-water bath for the aerosols to pre-warm the paint, really does make a difference. The paint is easy to mix with the ball in the can, and the paint flows better, easier to get a good finish. Tomorrow night I'll clean the brake caliper pistons, clean the slider pin housings, and then assemble with new seals.

@Tom Delahunty

they look awesome

^ this.

So today I ran some errands. Bought rubber grease from BNT, more abrasives from Bunnings. and some other stuff. As it wasn't raining, I took Grey Thunder. After chilling a little this afternoon, I got stuck into it in the workshop. I was initially doing the tubes with the flap disc, and the cast iron with wire brush on the drill. It was slow going. After about 30 mins, I figured I needed something faster. It was time to try: The Cup Brush on my angle grinder. I just have a baby grinder, Black and Decker. A present from a friend years ago for helping him out with computer probs. When I'm buying my own kit I usually buy Bosch Blue, De Walt etc. I find the 'pro' tools have more power, more torque, do the job faster. I've been pretty impressed with this little grinder. I think going to the cup brush reduced time to complete by 2/3! So I've bare-metaled both front strut housings, and brushed on rust converter. As you can see above, the brush cup is pretty much shagged. And above: the beauty of CRC brush-on Rust Converter. Yeah I've left the cups on as I don't have a 3-jaw puller. Hints. Eg, if you're going to do this: - the cup brush produces little metal arrows that'll go through 3 layers of clothing and nick your skin. Overalls are a good idea, or better still, a leather metalworkers apron if you have one. - Make sure you use full PPE. This is not a rehearsal! I used 3M respirator with 2297 particulate filters; De Walt safety goggles, Peltor H7F Class 5 earmuffs (Ear Defenders, if you're from Blighty); and Welding Gauntlets. In case I slipped with the grinder, to protect my hands and wrists. We might not be doing this for a living, but the damage occurs just as quickly, and a trip to After Hours med centre or A&E to get stitched up or your eyes operated on is much more costly than some saftety gear! - Buy 2 cup brushes, you might go through one and not be finished. They're not expensive. 20 or 22mm spanner to tighten the 'Brumby' (from Bunnings) quick release into your grinder. Oh, and here's some pics of the rotor shields that I primed this morning before errands. Tomorrow I'll be painting.

dibs!

Your landlord is clearly a cool and benevolent dude! That man is a professional, just look at his martial arts stance. Gun clean as a whistle. I'm very inspred to do the same to my bumpers. And, I have a confession. I covet your 15" baskets. They are things of beauty. PS: neat wedding photos!

thanks, Cam! I was about to break it down for the recycling, suddenly thought 'oh, that'll be good for the brake dust shields!'. May even get the strut housings in. We'll see.

Welcome back, John!

After work today, I degreased both struts (SIMPLE GREEN) and removed all the stones, unblocked the drains. And degreased the brake rotor shields. I stripped the brake rotor shields with the flap disk followed by drill+wire brush. After a go-over with wax remover, I gave them a good dose of Rust Converter. That was enough for tonight. So I'm a little behind schedule. I'll catch up by Sunday morning.