Olaf

Wheel god. Yes, I think that suits you. I expect you’ll need a t-shirt with appropriate graphic! hell, I have just three sets of wheels in my basement workshop, Mrs Olaf and the Olaf juniors have been prodding me about “so many wheels”. I must remember to mention “Kyu, God of Wheels” for appropriate perspective! ?

You bought more wheels?! ???

Bridgestone RE003. Please, don’t put sh*t tyres on your capable German car. There’s no coincidence that wreckers observe a good proportion of their custom from BMWs equipped with rubbish rubber! The RE003 is reasonably priced, performs well on e60, brilliant in the wet, sticky enough yet give reasonable wear too. The difference in grip and braking distance between a decent tyre and a cheap shitty tyre will be marked in the pedestrian you may well hit on the cheap tyres in an emergency stop. The few dollars saved won’t seem worth it, then.

And in today’s news, this: ... I’ve never had a car that someone liked enough to try to buy! Think I’ll dust off my sheepskin coat, put on my best Arthur Daley, and see if he’d like to buy a classic 855-T5 instead ?

Hi Mark, yes indeed! And thank you ? I’m about to install the wheel. Being a fastidious bstard, I ordered a new locknut. Yes, I have 51mm Koni Yellows, and have sourced 51mm housings. I have all the hardware for new shock build and new wheel bearings too. Just waiting on finalizing spring choice and source them. ? And refinishing the housings. That’s after the wheel refurbishment, coming soon. Looking forward to seeing your build thread!

you after the 1.9 version that works with the G240 in e30? I sourced mine from FCP. BMW Manual Trans Shift Lever - Genuine BMW 25117527252 if that helps?

gotta hand it to you, you don't mess around Dan! Congrats on your latest purchase. I'm sure you'll move on the 2dr 130i in no time.

IMHO, if it's on the shelf, they've got inventory costs... and then I don't mind paying 'a little extra' on the basis that it's there for me, and they're a business and they need to make a profit. What I find difficult to reconcile is where the part isn't in NZ, so it's indent order - no inventory costs - and it'll take two weeks and cost you an arm and quite possibly a leg or part of your reproductive system... and it's way more speedy and way slower than ordering it yourself from USA or Europe. EDIT: and most of the time, when it is on the shelf, it's still rather pricey.

Hang on, Dan. Did you subtract 10% discount on the NZ dealer retail for showing your membership card of BMW Car Club NZ?

That's awesome, Allan! best Richard

thanks! it's not too late, mate. you'll find another ?

Sorry @qube Kyu, it's been so long. Here's something approximating a rear 3/4 shot, from November 2018... Lachsilber goodness ?

now you've gotta show us some pics of your col, Chris. Welcome.

brilliant, thanks Allan!

great result, Dave!

20 February 2019. 172937kms 1. Replaced rear ARB bushes and associated fasteners (Genuine BMW) for the Dynamic Drive. 2. Replaced rear ARB endlinks (TRW OEM). They were showing signs of cracking around the boots. 3. Aircon service, drain, re-fill including dye. Monitoring. Car is a little sharper again, as a result of the rear-end preventative maintenance. Have only driven urban roads and speeds so far, though the rear feels a little more alive, as though it’s more engaged and responding to changes in the road more actively. Odd! Overall: “better”. ? Auto38 great service. You should use them too!

Grey Thunder is more 'girl next door' ? ? The Biturbo is that supermodel's sister you lusted for, and she's out of rehab, takes her meds infrequently, and hasn't been taking care of herself; she'll lead you astray and then cast you aside, wrecked. Can't deny a man his dreams! Though these threads on Retro Rides make somewhat sobering reading. http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/203380/1988-maserati-biturbo-late-arrival http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/195267/1992-maserati-222-4v http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/181696/another-maserati-biturbo-build-say http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/175233/82-maserati-biturbo-coupe now this is the one you *really* want to see for heroic dedication: http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/37171/xbolx-blog-2016-fleet-update?q=maserati

The other advantages of the Maser is that they are self-recycling in the way that they are predisposed to returning to earth. Coupling that with Italian reliability and electronics, and you get to realise the third efficiency: emptying your wallet like (insert your favorite similie here). ultimately a kitschy 80’s Box with little merit in today’s world. I’ll get me coat, then.

Last time I saw this car it was a stunner. Not tempted, @Herbmiester?

Look @Jono51 another Baur for the Register...

Detroit Diesel?

Looking sharp, Sam!

Had 2001/2002 gone well for my in UK, my plan was to head to Germany and buy an M3. Solid M3s were available back then - with 70-100k kms - for GBP5-6k. Sadly IT contracting interpreted contract differently, and shrunk severely. My plans went out the window. So this would likely have been sub-10k when he bought it, at that time probably buying a decent example was priority, and that it was one of the 'limited edition' builds wouldn't have figured much. Of course with hindsight, I rather wish I'd picked up five of them at the time and put them in a shed!

I'd send an emissary ?

Update. Department of Beep Beep! Some horn material, yesterday. Brought to you by the department of bad puns. A friend kindly dug these out of his parts stash. A pair of 325i Fiamm horns, one high, one low, complete with brackets. Along with a couple of connector shells, sans pins. (I must be) need a couple of nuts. And either there will be good fortune when I get underneath it and all the wiring is there to plug into, or I'll find those crazy Germans put in different looms. In which case I'll need to find the right pins for the connector shells, and make up some cabling to run from the central 'meep meep' horn to these PaaaaarrrrRRRRPPP horns. One goes on the Right side, and one on the Left (or wrong) side. Depending on your viewpoint. Wish me Luck! @adro next time we catch up I'd like to have a look around your SE to see how it's been done. Other things... Twirly thing I lucked-out, and nabbed a three-spoke leather OEM Sports Steering Wheel (aka SE wheel) from the book of faces, recently. It's pretty tidy, was just a bit faded. I've cleaned it, given it a couple of coats of black leather toner, followed by two coats of leather protectant, and a couple of coats of Elephant Leather preservative. I'll get it onto the car soon. Being fastidious, I've ordered a new locknut. ? Graunch in suspension. The Graunch of Suspension Wood, has been diagnosed by Jon at Auto38. Inner tie rod. I'm going for gold, and we're going to do tie rods, wishbones, lollipop bushes, and replace the steering guibo. I'll install the 20mm front bar, with new bushes & Meyle HD end links. That'll do for the next couple of months while I refurbish the Style 5 rims, and then the 51mm strut housings. This work will get it steering straight and true, and eliminate older (as in 15-20 years, probably) bushings and balljoints. Jon spanner-checked it, and it's a bit 'tighter'. The rest of it (excepting the tie rod) is all still WoF standard, though I want the front to feel as good as the rear end now does. Strut Housings Of the strut housings, thanks to @gjm & @_ethrty-Andy_ for the Bimmersport Good Bstard Express™ assistance from @nick496's. I have all the parts for the strut builds, including new wheel bearings. Just need to sort springs. Sampling @adro's SE last week, I think I'll be able to live with HR Sport Springs to match with the Koni Yellows 8641-1210 Sport (front), & 80-2522 (rear). Abrasives and PPE I've ordered new filters for my 3M mask, and a bunch of abrasives to use with my Dremel and handpiece. It's going to be slow and steady prepping those buggers for paint. I've a large box to lash up a paint booth out of, and an old office chair that I plan to make a wheel spinner out of. Need to figure ensure all rims are true before I start (a precaution only), and cut the valve stems out. Questions about paint Now to source paint for the wheels. Thought about standard Wheel Paint (Felgen Silver) with clear. Nah, I'll get Granitsilber mixed up in aerosols, and clear coat. I liked the idea of Nogaro Silver, but it's darker and too close to Lachssilber. I'll pay a lunchtime visit to Union Hardware soon to source paint. Just thought, though... I have an airbrush compressor, and an airbrush I've little experience with... though it'd probably take an age to paint wheels with an airbrush, eh? Paint would be going off while I'm still painting. I'll keep it simple and go with aerosols, no clean-up. For the strut housings, I'm going to strip them down, rust preventative, etch prime, and two coats of Rustoleum gloss black. Questions - Paint: If you've thoughts or tips about painting my wheels, please let me know. 1k vs 2k, type of paint to withstand wheel heat, etc. Questions - Horns: If you know what bolt/nut, or in particular what the connector pins are for the horn connector shells, please let me know!