Herbmiester

I had a yellow Mazda RX4 Coupe for many years. 13B 5 Speed. It was a pretty tidy car. Saw it on TM a few years ago for $45k.

I am not convinced this is the best way to go about this unless its just so you can get a bigger turbo roll on effect. As stated by limiting boost in first gear you all but eliminate the bog. I have read about launching a manual in second and it is brutal on the clutch as well as being slower.

I have run stage 1+ for 4 years now and all you really need to do is upgrade the IC, which is as mentioned very easy and worthwhile. Plus you CP will likely blow so that needs to be done as well.

Ok no this one has 189k so different my bad.

The E34 is being looked after

Oops just realized I put this in the wrong section should have been in the FS section.

BMW Style 30 16 x 7 inch wheels with good tires. Tires are 225 50 16 with between 4 and 5 mm tread. Wheels have NO scratches or curbing and are in excellent condition. There are 2 Bridgestone Potenzas and 2 Maxxis Premitra 5 tires. $300

But is it a quicker way of accelerating?

I have now had a chance to really drive this old girl and I am pleasantly surprised. The steering was much better than I expected and while it is slow compared to modern cars its well weighted and surprisingly direct. Its very comfortable and reasonably well balanced in the corners but I can see some new shocks in the near future. The M60 is a gem, revs easily to 6700rpm and the power is very useable and such she's reasonably quick.

I have driven this car, and it drives really well. Lovely example.

Not tried XHPs version but do use MHD boost by gear which certainly helped my launches. Set 1st to 10psi and virtually eliminated the rear end breaking away just before it changed to second.

Your the lucky one I used to do that in the 90's so much less traffic. Anything after 7am these days is a nightmare.

Yes I hear you re the money. I have some Michelin Pilot Sports on my E34 and they are a very nice tire, great feedback and high levels of grip, but I could get Re003's for up to 30% less and the reviews (Sold in the US as a Firestone Firehawk Indy 500) are pretty positive, as is my personal experience. That said I would like to try some Continental Contisportcontact 5Ps but $600 a corner is a lot of coin.

I think they look good, certainly better on the car than in pictures. The RE003s are a solid choice, not the highest performers but bang for your buck nearly impossible to beat.

I have not done it but saw a video a few years back of it being done. It was a difficult job, personally I would take it to a reputable exhaust shop or try Jon at Auto 38.

Yes stop start is the killer and the main reason I dont drive a manual as my primary vehicle any more. It just about unavoidable in the Hutt to Wellington Crawl.

Great to see it up and running again.

I am after 3 Instrument cluster/OBC bulbs for my E34. They look like this, anyone have any in NZ before I order from overseas?

Maintenance is the key, servicing costs are not onerous but higher than something like a Toyota Corolla. The Transmission will need a filter and fluid change every 70-100k and other wise its just normal servicing. As to the brakes look for standard brakes as opposed to the Blue brakes and even then you will find the rotors will last for a number of years and the pads can be changed for less expensive but just a good aftermarket pieces.

Not sure what rush hour traffic you drive in but my experience with a manual is; clutch in clutch out repeat a thousand times, all the while wearing it out prematurely. As to putting an auto into neutral there is no need, all the modern autos are designed to deal with the rigors of stop start traffic and as the torque converter is operating at slow speed with only minor slip the heat is far from excessive. As to DSG gearboxes my wife's Skoda is at 220k of which a great deal is city commuting and there are no issues. I am pretty sure a manual gearbox will have had a new clutch or two if it had to do that amount of rush hour crawling. Auto transmissions like most mechanical devices if serviced regularly present few problems. And yes we know BMW's sealed for life statement is wrong. And FWIW I have a manual again and I enjoy driving it, but it cant compare performance wise to a modern auto like a ZF8HP. Your comment re Ford vs Holden makes little sense apart from reinforcing how much you dislike them because they are not European.

Not 100% sure but I think so.

I think its locked to your Vin.

These are in excellent condition no curbing or scratches. 2 tires have about 4mm tread and 2 have just over 5mm. Tires are 225 50 16. $350

Just checking that you do know about MHD as an option?

If your commuting in traffic an auto is best, I have done the Hutt Valley to Wellington City Commute with two manual cars now and its a chore, plus diesels and modern autos like the ZF8hp work really well together always having you in the right gear. Plus the Auto will be quicker.