Olaf

I'd be talking with Jon at Auto38 in the first instance.

M43 with blown HG. Bummer. Certainly cheap!

Right then: 12mm rear bar, and 20mm front bar. On the list. iS spec.

thanks Alister, that's AWESOME! LoL! Yeah, it'll get my customary 'if you're going to do it, do it right' approach. EDIT: Though yes, the e30 parts bin seems to be more 'vin de bordeaux' rather than the 'premiere grand cru' costs of the e60!

or just drive it! Easy daily! With your RC's.

@eliongater

clutch kit ordered. assorted seals, bushes, guides associated with clutch job ordered, along with new badges and a set of plugs. Cambelt done in 2011, just4000kms ago. Do I do the belt only as tensioners will be barely worn? It's an old engine - need to track down why it's a bit smokey on start up. At 257k kms is it getting a bit long in the tooth, or does it just need some good running to clear out the buildup of doing just a few hundred kms a year of village running? It certainly needs new leads, dizzy cap, rotor, and coil, to bring the electricals back up to snuff. and I'm thinking about how to play this. It'll need some body/rust & paint in the new year, to keep her in good order for the longer term. I'm working on a plan to get mechanical remediation (clutch/cambelt/suspension) done sept/oct so I can make e30 Megameet in November. Definitely needs rear antiroll bar. In the mid-term (next three years) It needs to meet it's primary job - teaching my kids to drive mid next-year to early 2021. So a tractible easy-to-drive 4cyl manual e30 coupe. And its secondary job is providing me with a bit of lightweight classic e30 fun... and quite possibly some Surgery Classic Sprints action at Manfield. It's destined to live in storage much of the time, I think. To meet these dual-modes of operation, I'm thinking either: a) stock trim ? This is simple, big on the driver training, low on cost and not much on the sprint action. Or b) 318iS mode ? Basically some suspension first (318iS spec - heavy bars, not particularly low, decent shocks/springs) and a disc brake rear. Then M42B18 in place of M40B16. Relatively straightforward. Hubcaps on for teaching parking. ?Basketweaves for general fun use. At least the 14" rim keeps the tyre budget affordable! I prefer the idea of option b) because it takes care of maintenance, takes advantage of BMW Lego, and yet sticks to the factory formula. I guess a cert would be needed in our modern world. And then there's 2021 onward: Transformation/conversion to become sister car to Andy's MY E30. Collect conversion parts from 2020 in preparation. ? What can you guys tell me about M42 conversion for an e30? Are they still plentiful to source from e36 iS and Ti? Which Motronic would I need? I guess I'd need new engine mounts, the coil-on-plug electricals. Cooling hose and radiator changes?

Today I washed 5 cars, and waxed one. Volvo 855-T5 wagon is going on sale any day now. e46 wagon was filthy, so it got a good wash - though no time for wax. e60 needed a good wash - there's plenty of pollen flying around now. I washed and waxed the e30 (Grey Thunder); it really needed a clay-bar and gentle polish, though no time so simply Super Resin Polish from Auto Glym. The fifth car? I washed my neighbour's starlet. 17,000 steps, I think I've earned a glass of pinot. More news in e30-land, I also researched more parts for the e30, gearing up for the clutch job (no pun intended), cambelt job, and some suspension refresh work. It'll need a pair of tyres on the rear sharpish, one just passed the WoF with 2mm.

Recommendations based on experience: 1. take it to Jon @ Auto38 in Newtown, Indepenent BMW and Euro Specialists. He's excellent, well-known and respected in the BMW community. 2. 2nd recommendation: Page European, Home St. Also Indepenent BMW and Euro Specialists. Both deal with the insurers for MBI policies. Let us know how you get on.

? Volvo looking for a new home. I need to advertise it. Just reinstalled batty tonight after a full reconditioning charge (flash new battery charger), cleaned terminals and clamps, and sprayed with funky purple protectant (to my daughter's delight), it's starting with great urgency.

this is not intended to be our offspring's runabout. I'll no doubt sort them into something like an e46 for appropriate safety, when they're ready - and licensed - to drive on their own. ?

I was kindly alerted of this by an old highschool mate. His Mum was about to sell, having had it since 1997. Would I be interested in an NZ-new 1990 316i manual? Turned out to be full poverty-spec, 103hp, 4 private owners, 257,000 kms, and reasonably tidy. Our offspring are approaching driving age, and I want them to learn in a simple manual gearbox car, with none of those fancy driving aids we associate with steering, these days. Helps that one can see every corner of the car, too. Sr E-Thirty Andy kindly agreed to come with for inspection, as e30 expert to help with my mid-range mech capability. We determined that it was an honest, reasonably tidy example, needing some TLC. It had only been doing around 250km per year for a number of years now, but had been garaged. It started (stone cold) willingly, first go. Serviced last week by Mike Page. It was sold through Shelly BMW when new, and when the last owner bought it new; I even found @Barryn's card in the service book from back in the day. A deal was struck, I did the ownership change, paid the cash, got the key stuck in the driver's door, Andy sorted that out, phoned insurance and paid, and set out for Wellington from Paraparaumu. I'm pretty taken by it, it's nice to be back in an e30. Plans: give it TLC to get it machanically sorted (clutch and associated bushes and seals), precautionary cambelt kit, general servicing and maintenance (leads, cap, rotor, fan clutch). In summer, check out what's underneath those front guards, and sort out bootlid keep it fairly stock for next three years until both of our scone-grabbers have their licenses then - quite possibly - make it into a well-sorted clone of Andy's "MY E30". Or at the very least, a 318iS. Hence "project" rather than showroom. Here she is in monochromatic glory:

yesterday I... added BMW #3 to the fleet. Come to think of it. @Haitoman we passed you in the opposite direction (Kapiti somewhere), while you were out in the M3. Only saw you at the last moment, such was my e30 reverie... Today, I took a train to Petone with my lad, to collect it. Showroom page coming soon.

Pictures or this did not happen and you clearly wrote this while dreaming!

Well said.

Yep, Darwin award. For all this HSE stuff we talk about these days... he clearly hadn't been trained about the dangers of acetylene, or even welding.

That'll make for interesting reading. We're all hoping it's resolved to your satisfaction. The dealer sounds like a right arse. Upsetting the workshop isn't going to help them. And attempting to limit information further casts them in a bad light. You have it right, you're the customer and owner of the car, they are paying the bill.

@Barryn do you need spares?

Yep, like all those adverts for Scooby Legacy GT manual. “Rare 5sp”. Yeah right. So rare they’re always for sale.

what's the going rate for 14" or 15" bottle caps?

to be fair, about $6k of that value is in the pristine un-cracked dashboard, $4k in the low mileage, and $2k in the leather and manual box ?

Ha, as you know the glass is more important (along with the nut behind the lens); D700 is still a great bit of kit with lovely colours. Only sold mine a few months ago, trying to shift my 3rd D3 which is taking some time. D810 on the horizon, for me, I'm no early adopter. We'll get to shooting when you find opportunity. I'll IM.

I thought you were a full-on Canon shooter. is the nikon your personal kit? ?

if it's firmly in "hobby" and not "speculative", surely a lengthy rebuild of the white one is not an issue? good point about the red vs white. you'd need to find storage for the white one immediately and dismantle it, if you're buying the red one. or double storage if you're going to reshell the white one into your bronzit beauty. It's a tough position.

PS: I think we all told you to buy the Red One. Is it sold now?