Olaf

(after doing those simple jobs, I was a bit cream crackered. This recuperation business takes time.)

agree - they never actually fail! Though whenever I've replaced one (I did a couple of Bosch GT40's back in the late 80's/early 90's on japanese cars, and more recently on my e30 325i, volvo etc), it always seems a little smoother in the range. Thanks! And, oh, since you mention it, there's more where that came from. ? I've been putting together the plan for a "316 iS". Working on the reliability and safety, then handling and stopping, there's lots of parts prep. Some unplanned health issues have slowed me down over the last 5 weeks. Preparing for suspension. Koni Yellows on their way from ebay. Going to match with H&R Sportsprings 29663-1 (-35 + -35mm for 4cyl iS). I've always wanted to do Koni Yellows on one of my cars, and these came up at a reasonable price (used). I remember what @3pedals said last year on my e60 thread, an excellent description here, decided this is the time to have a crack with Koni Yellow. The Eibachs sound a little soft, so H&R it is. I'm more concerned about handling than "lows". New sump gasket ready to go in. Engine and Gearbox mounts. Diff gasket and bushing. Shifter bushings, and maybe a short-shifter. New fluids for the diff and gearbox. Rear: Meyle Subframe Mounts, Lemforder Trailing Arm Bushing Set, Meyle HD Shock Mounts. Koni 80-2522 (general e30 spec, not absolutely perfect for the 318iS, though possibly rebuild as 80-2641 in future if necessary?) Considering conversion to rear disks, a-la 318iS. Front: Sachs strut mounts, BMW Bump Stops, Koni 8641-1210 Sport. new ARB bushes, Meyle HD ARB end links, new wheel bearings. Need to figure out if I have 51mm housings, or need to get them to build with the konis and new parts. LCA and bushes, rack ends seem okay for the mo, so they can wait. I've bought 14" baskets, getting some new rubber. Need to get the rims down from Napier... anyone coming down soon? Some time in the new year it should all start to come together. There are other maintenance items to take care of too. In summary: it's not to be a race car, just a healthy street car that's fun to drive, reliable, teach my kids to drive in, and I may have a go at the Surgery Sprint Series with it next year. I'm not expecting to be particularly competitve, as I'd be a total track novice and it's just a 1.6l M40. But hey, participation and fun, I think I'll have the ingredients for low-budget entry-level track time. PS: I think an M42 conversion will be on the cards, just not until everything else is sorted.

9 December 2018. 171760kms Prep for service: 1. Replaced hood support struts. I was jump-starting my neighbour during a storm a couple of weeks back, and the bonnet slammed down on my jumper cables. Fortunately no damage. They clearly needed replacing. Sourced OEM Stabilus, they're easy to install. (1) Old struts. Slow to rise, fail in winds. (2) And the new struts, push together right to the top of the travel, and raise the hood from approx 2/3 of travel. I'm sure they'll work better in Wellington's winds. 2. Replaced Air Filter. Bit over a year since the last one. Another Hengst E728L. Easy job. (last changed Mar 2017, 152k kms) 3. Replaced Cabin Filters, cleaned the surrounding area of debris. I bought a second set of Meyle filters last time, they were cheap. replace in pairs. Tomorrow's a general (annual) service for the MBI. Oil & Filter, Coolant, anything else required.

9 Dec 2018. 258,375kms 1. Replaced Coil It's one of those 'I had room in the box' things. I've always found replacing coils at 10 years old, worthwhile. Slightly smoother running, generally. This one was nearly 30 years old. Original Bosch (Germany), and I sourced a Bosch (now made in Brazil). From this... To this: I must re-seat the rubber hood. I gave it a clean-out with WD40 and a rag.

10/11 Nov 2018. 258,252kms 1. Clutch kit (Luk), RMS, gearbox input and output seal (Elring) 2. Timing Belt Kit (Gates) 3. Radiator (?OEM), top and bottom hoses (Genuine), thermostat (Vermet), fan coupling (Meisterstats), Coolant (Genuine).

IM'd you via FB messenger ?

Sounds like bolts are same, I'll just need to get a set of puzzle nuts and a key. Got pics of each wheel please, Rob? I'm keen.

Please place me at front of queue. Keen to see the pics, make a decision after that. (Tomorrow am) my e30 is on Steelies; I’d need a set of alloy wheel bolts, and a puzzle key and four nuts, yeah?

Are these e30 spec/offset? interested!

Yeah I think that was on Trade Me a few months back?

Why’s that, then? Love to understand the connection... ?

Well it looks like you have a ton of options... what you choosing to do?

and more cowbell.

that's an understatement! ?

here's a couple of funky videos and some info about the Valeo Kit4P (Clutch Conversion Kit)... https://www.valeoservice.us/en-us/passenger-car/transmission-systems-passenger-car/service-kit-conversion-kit, Beware of club beats and lab-coated engineers on drugs, and a jack-booted model pulling faces while suffering a Renault: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-clutch-kit-e39-e46-z3-valeo-52401220 I worked out as NZD1140 ~1200 accounting for a 5% discount (you could buy a little more and get 10%), FEDEX, and IETP. Whereas the Mick's Garage LUK option (DMF Flywheel & Clutch kit) comes in at about $1250 (free freight) including IETP. Pretty close eh?

Blad. Niiice. Must show me that rig some day soon. EDIT: "Swiss shoots German in Wellington!"

Contact Mark at Winger, you may find useful pricing with your BMW Car Club NZ discount. did you get that FCP Valeo SMF Kit? One of the FCP kits includes an alum flywheel I think. If it we’re mine, and I wasn’t looking to race it, and there wasn’t a lot to be saved by going single mass, I’d be going OEM LUK, Valeo, or Sachs and basing it on price and service. That is, yes DMF is a bit of a crappy solution, but if it’s nearly the same cost to add risk of rattle with the SMF Route, both options will outlast your time with this car (you’d be expecting 160k kms?), so why add the risk? On service, : if you’re buying from Micks or FCP you know you’ll have it in 5 days. With BMW if it’s not in stock it’ll be about 2 weeks. With eBay sellers - I’m still waiting for a part I ordered in October. Having to chase for refunds and re-ordering is a total sh*t. HTH. Oh, and YMMV!

I didn’t do the swap, though I can confirm you do want them. ?. You had them in the Ci?

I've a slightly different perspective: I just wouldn't re-use bump stops under any circumstances. They're not expensive, and if the closed-cell foam hasn't died in the previous 15-20 years, it certainly won't be performing as new... and a failure in the next year or two requires removal to replace. Same goes where bellows-type dust boots are in use, the plastic goes hard and brittle, and if it hasn't failed yet it soon will. Why risk $40 of parts on a thousand dollar job? YMMV.

what's the Mercedes diesel in the Ssang Yung Musso? OM606? Wonder if they're reasonably priced and available?

@adro?

Hey Bozza, you're welcome to try both vehicles when we can find a mutually convenient time. The e46 is bog-stock, standard springs, Sachs OEM shocks; the only changes are the thicker ARBs (Msport front, Cabrio rear), and the staggered rims with wider rubber. So standard ride height. Here's Jane on RealOEM (based on your VIN): https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/partgrp?id=DT62-EUR-10-2000-E39-BMW-530i To give you some idea of standard shock refresh parts, looking up 2001 530i on FCP: Rear (Sachs/OEM) https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-shock-absorber-kit-rear-170855kt Front (Sachs OEM) https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-strut-assembly-kit-front-556832kt-kit-556832kt Plus your springs, as you've indicated they need doing. Hopefully your tension struts etc are sound and you can do those another year. You may get away saving on a few bits... but then you get it apart, didn't buy the shims, find them worn... many of the fasteners are single-use, so better not to try and scrimp on those. The feel of a car when it's been fully done is superb; most reckon my e60 is driving like a new one. You might get away without some of the hardware like "shock mount plates" and "shock mount supporting cups", take advice. If you're keeping the car for a number of years, you'll get the value out of it. It's not a cheap job, though, and I understand your caution. You don't want to fire 'the parts canon' at it unnecessarily. Comparatively speaking, around USD100 per corner for OEM shocks is pretty reasonable. It'd be interesting to see if Sachs OEM for e39 have Alu shock bodies; I think the Bilstein touring are steel (it was this way for the e60), which saves a few bucks and adds a little weight. Going Meyle shocks/struts and carefully selecting Lemforder/Sachs/Corteco/Rein/Meyle parts may save you $100-200 or so on your overall parts cost, so worth considering. One thing's for sure, with your suspension refreshed, you'll get much better wear out of your tyres, assuming sympathetic driving. Another area you may be able to compromomise budget a little is Bridgestone RE003s in place of Michelin PS4. Not as good, though still very good for the money, and should save you a further $200+? Hope that helps.

PS: I really like the style 81's too, FWIW. Keep your eyes skimmed for a set, then you have a couple of spares.

Nice one Bozza! You've done well to put so many kms on in a short time, and while studying. She's a beaut car. If you want to go m-sport springs, you'll want to match them with m-sport shocks. A little lower, a little more rate, matched with the right damping characteristics. And then there's the fatter ARBs too. And, as @Young Thrash Driver points out, when you do your shocks, you want to be doing the mounts, bushes, bearings etc. Be prepared to buy a dollop of sachs or lemforder bits too. Meyle okay - as long as they're Meyle HD (IMHO). If you look up your VIN on RealOEM, you'll get the suspension listings and all part numbers. You'll also be able to crib the m-sport suspension part numbers - springs and shocks etc. One possible option to maintain the ride comfort, height, and address a bit of the roll, is to replace your shocks and springs with OEM, and find the ARB's from M-sport and add new bushes to fit. They're probably 1-2mm thicker than stock, and will calm it down without sacrificing your ride. I took this route with my e46; did a full OEM refresh, and found it didn't handle that well (the tyres weren't helping), so (with some excellent advice from @Herbmiester and a drive of his car) I added the staggered rims with wider better rubber, and added the m-sport bars. This gave me the better roll perfprmance, crisper turn-in, and held the line better, without compromising family ride quality. Suggest you drive a recently refreshed Sachs OEM car, and see if you can drive an M-Sport. I'd be leaning toward M-Sport (it was that fancy electronic active anti-roll thing that disuaded me on the 545i) particularly if you're placing the springs, though your informed decision based on your experience will be far more powerful. Although the e60's a different beast, you're welcome to have a crack in mine, if only to suss out what a fully refreshed OEM setup can feel like. Cheers

total bargain!!