Olaf

Get a shark fin antenna, cable it up, job done!

Bloody good job too! Safety first.

Aliexpress? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/one-din-Fascia-For-BMW-3-Series-E46-1998-2005-CD-DVD-Stereo-Radio-Panel-Dash/32849302159.html I've only changed factory units. Prefer the linked lighting, ergonomics, and cool features like speed-related auto volume control...

Edd China has done a really informative video on changing out your brakes. I'd latched on to silicon high-performance brake grease a while back, though in my case it's ATE. Worth a watch. These FoMoCo calipers are clearly Girling design. The stainless shims are a nice touch.

very reasonable! I was on $100US for less weight than shocks.

How’d you find the freight charges? I was ordering last night and nothing heavy or large; freight costs to Wellington had trebled. I shipped to MyUS instead.

So much to see and do in Paris. Villa Savoye if you’re into La Courbousier; the Picasso museum, Musee d’Orsay, and of course the charming fromageries and delecatessens one finds everywhere (though the Ile St Louis seemed to have great representation)... great subway transport, and of course connections to SNCF Rail. Just waking around and checking out the architecture used to keep me entertained. At least you’re not going in Feb; it’s as cold as NYC at that time of year. I always found Parisienne's very helpful. I attribute this to trying to speak French, usually receiving an enthusiastic response that was well beyond my mediocre grasp; politely explaining. (In simple Spanish) that I’m not a monolingual tourist from the EU but a visitor from Nouvelle Zealande... at which point exclamations triggered “ahhh, les All Blacks!”, happiness, and English flowed. Finishing off with a French thanks and farewell seemed to make an impression too.

Paris is superb, Brussels is nice but... essentially not exciting. Depends what you want to do! As Gaz mentions above, a visit to BMW in Munich would be brilliant. Plug here: BMW Car Club NZ members can get access to areas and tours at BMW that are not open to the public... needs to be organised in advance. Who'dve thought that $95 membership fee gains so much! ?

@Autoglym

e36 suspension had been well buggered by the adding of lows... did ya'll notice how it was patching back and forth, back end was compressing then bouncing. Cheap coilovers? Makita specials?

Today I spent time in my basement workshop, cleaning up and clearing a workspace. I’d forgotten about the bench vice a friend of ours gave me years ago. I thought it was knackered, today I was pleasantly surprised to find it just needed some oil. It’ll get a full refurb in future. So I set to finding the right 10mm drill bit to mount it to my carpentry workbench (it has a woodworking vice at the other end). And, a trip to Bunnings for some more 10mm 40x40x3mm zinc square washers. Result. With my workshop HiFi playing Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness, I got productive. I stripped down the two Girling front calipers. If you don’t have a compressor to get the pistons out, a track bicycle pump will do. It was after I got the first one out, I remembered Jon’s warning about a flood of brake fluid ?. I removed the pins, boots, seals (not the inner seal inside the bore), hoses, and bleed nipples. The pistons are good. A little mild burnishing in a couple of spots (around a centimeter Square), they’re visible though I can’t feel them with a fingernail. The slider pins were a bit tight and corroded in two of the holes. Uncertain how do address that. Do I measure the new pins, use the right size drill to dress it? Valve grind paste? I used a ton of brake cleaner on the two main parts. Then donned my PPE (muffs, goggles, and respirator), and started the naughty wellington strip. It feels good to be productive. Strained my back walking down the street with my Volvo battery yesterday; this was better than sitting around acknowledging the pain. This post brought to you by shitloads of tools acquired over the past 35 years, 90’s Rock, and the power of Naprosyn ? I’ll continue stripping them back to prep for painting. VHT caliper paint, and then rebuild next week.

Hey Tony, welcome! Plenty happening in Wellington, and you'll be wecomed along to any events. In addition to this weekend's Cars & Coffee meet in Raumati, next BMW CC NZ Wellington Chapter pub night is Thurs 6 June 6.30pm at 1812 Bar in Johnsonville, Bimmersporters welcome. In addition to plentiful parking and renowned great ribs, enjoy the camerarderie and banter of the welly crew. Family-friendly! 15/16 June we have a tour of some of the backroads of Wairarapa, to and overnight stay in Castlepoint.

"basically a station wagon"? Have you been reading "The Jeremy Clarkson Bumper Book of Hyperbole"?! 1er's - while certainly good fun - are not capacious by any measure. ?

Gutted, surely? Or is there some preoccupation with drainage?

Very sensible!

Or buy a handsfree unit?

I feel for your bad internet, mate.

You beaut 320i manual spotted in Wellington last week...

It's a very reasonable qualifier, and unrelated to expected sale price. That says to me "if you want to feel the loud pedal from behind the wheel, I'm qualifying you as a genuine purchaser". Implied is "and if you break it, you've bought it". Good luck with the sale @francoisv!

A step in the right direction yesterday, at least. Workshop prep to assist with motivation: Surplus home theatre receiver, and a classic Philips CD502 (one of the best (budget) CDP’s ever for fun and pace. Made the interconnects with my son, teaching him to solder. And now to clear workbench space and get to it. Struts and calipers first. # days till Castlepoint: 25.

Of course I'll give Jon a shout ? Thanks Graham!

Air leak? Get video of it happening, from both drivers position and under the hood. There's a big Suzuki forum here, initial skimming revealed this thread... https://www.suzuki-forums.com/suzuki-swift-geo-metro-forum/262241-suzuki-swift-sport-p0607-issue.html Is it throwing any codes? HTH PS: also https://www.suzuki-forums.com/suzuki-swift-geo-metro-forum/262105-suzuki-swift-1-5-idling-issues.html

outstanding, mate.

Took the e30 for a buzz out to the Hutt Valley this morning. Gave her a drink - 300ml of Messers Penrite finest HPR5, and later fed her $75 of BP Inc’s 98 octane. However, I returned from buying a Stilson wrench, and my son greeted me with a present. He’d been waiting in the car. Hmmm. Where can I find these?

wait, what? @treone Time for Duran Duran torture: