adro

$25 Used condition

Fell victim to a puncture yesterday. Pretty annoyed as these tyres are pretty new and of course it found the wider (more expensive) rear. 

shop reckoned it wasn’t repairable so got a new one overnight. Very happy with Tyre Clinics service. Not so happy with PCB builders who have been working down the road where I picked it up. 

224,xxx km

All this talk of o2 sensors in @Vass thread reminded me that o2 sensors were on my list of things to do. If I had of been paying attention @Eagle had already done the hard work and found where to find these unusually hard to find part numbers and posted them in his thread. It's a little confusing as my headers are quite different to the diagram and the DIY tutorials all over the internet.

First time ordering from Spareto and i'm thoroughly impressed. About a week to arrive from Estonia. 

I'm a little premature here and have only replaced bank 1 as bank 2 as you can see is a lot harder to access and will take a bit more time.

Old and new bank 1 sensors. 

The originals are dated 01 so being an 02 build car I'm pretty sure these are original. E30 is departing the garage this afternoon for good so will hopefully get bank 2's new sensor in soon.  

+1 for Mtech badge on the seats. Will look perfect! 

Loving the updates, looks like things are taking shape. 

What a workhorse you have there 😉 

I imagine the 3L would be lovely on those Central Otago roads. Have been really tempted by the AVIN 4. Did you get it direct from AVIN? 

Looks like the new owner of @Blackies E36 is moving on a low km E46 Touring 

https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-3630806499.htm
 

On 6/22/2022 at 10:50 PM, e30ftw said:

Have not seen your E30 in a long time. Looking very sharp, you've done a great job on it. 

Thanks John, been a while eh!

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/3648986027?bof=IrBZy8fb

Specs

NZ New 1990 E30 325i sedan

Over the last 6 years of ownership I have done the following:

(when i say 'new' they obviously aren't new now, however has not done many km's also in that 6 years)

Driveline:

Manual conversion using a Getrag 260, new guibo, input/output seals and spigot bearing, new master and slave cylinder, braided clutch line, new reservoir.

New Trans mounts

Rebuilt driveshaft (new U joints) and new hanger bearing and bushing

LSD 3.73 with a powerflex diff bush

UUC short shifter with a garagistic DSSR linkage

Suspension:

Koni adjustable dampening shocks all round matched with H&R sport springs and E90 top hats, meyle HD sway bar links and meyle HD rear shock mounts

Lemforder M3 LCA bushings to dial out a bit of negative camber from the lowering springs at the front.

Brakes:

Rotors have a bit of a lip so these will need to be done sooner rather than later.

Stainless steel braided lines fitted, otherwise factory.

Engine:

Stock M20b25. General maintenance on the engine. I've replaced the injectors with newer Bosch ones Part#: 13-64-1-468-812-M14

New leads, distributor & rotor, spark plugs, oil pan gasket (starting to weep already) Replaced all the cooling hoses and expansion tank (still running factory radiator) New fuel pressure regulator. Has a chip in the ECU tuned for 95 petrol. Valve cover gasket and those little half moons replaced. Fuel pump and fuel filter (and hoses) replaced with proper VDO unit.

General:

Boot seal replaced, New taillight gaskets, aerial + grommet, 3.5mm jack into headunit via RCA inputs wired under the console and coming out at the ash tray. Cup holders, BMW exhaust tips (these cars came with raw pipes sticking out the back) , 370mm Mtech II steering wheel, clutch stop to take the slack out of the clutch throw. 4 x BMW style 5 basket weaves (spare is still a 14" bottle cap). Working aircon, converted to R134A gas (professionally by previous owner) had it re-gassed and leak tested before summer and its working great. These cars really benefit from aircon as they are such a glass house with the big windows.

I didn't want to tart this car up too much with Msport parts, the steering wheel was the exception as it's a smaller diameter and actually makes a big difference to the driving feel. 

It has a few super market dings which i have tried to capture in these extrra photos here https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tSb5xwbN8d2KFEdf4KrPNe3rF_AtnJHF?usp=sharing

The steering rack will need some attention at some point as WOF man said it has a bit of play. Tyres still have reasonable life left in them at around 4.5mm

Was suppose to photograph the E30 for sale photos today 😓, but by the time i gave it a vac the sun had come out. Ended up washing the E46 as it's been pretty neglected lately, was quite satisfying to clean some of the gunked up drain areas in the engine bay, although note to self...do it BEFORE i clean the rest of the car next time. The steering wheel has worn in nicely now, it's not as slippery as it was at first and looks a bit more natural. Had a few mins before child pick up and the sun had ducked behind the clouds so snapped a few pics.

I got eibach pro kit for my wagon from Demon tweeks. I did have a little hiccup with them being stuck with customs for a few weeks but it was easily resolved once they called me. 

congratulations! Yeah apologies for not getting that sorted, I got caught out with the vin issue which meant my car couldn’t get a WOF for months…then some home renovations started, covid, kids birthdays…the weekends have disappeared recently. 

All the best with the mini sale. 

Does this mean the cars sold?

Good luck! My E39 drove me insane hunting for noises but I did learn a lot. Very satisfying once you figure it out. 

126,xxx km

finally got a WOF!  Rego'd, Certed and WOF'd.....only took a few months 😅

Super cool! 

222,500km

Car has been undertaking it's daily duties nicely. Jammed it full of family stuff (and the family) over to the Wairarapa for school holidays recently.

On a whim i decided to get some roofracks for either roofbox, bikerack, ladder carrying duties. Went with Thule Aero EVO bars and the roofrack mount. I'm impressed with the design, they fit nicely and the T bar system is quick and easy. Can't comment on the wind noise (i'm sure it exists) as haven't been on the motorway since fitting.

mine looked VERY similar and the culprit was the oil return line from the CCV….and the VCG and the OFHG 😝 but mainly the return line. 

This is what i wish I was driving! Looking great @Sammo

On 5/3/2022 at 11:19 AM, BreakMyWindow said:

I've been trying to chase an annoying rattle coming from the engine bay when giving it some jandal since I bought this car in 2015. I had literally been through everything I could think of including opening up the engine, checking timing, bleeding lifters, compression test etc etc.

It turn out the rattle was coming from loose exhaust manifold nuts FFS. lol. Of the 4 nuts i could access on bank 1, 2 were quite loose, and one wasn't even finger tight. I still need to check the other 4 nuts but for now the rattle has completely gone. This is a very good example of troubleshooting from the most complex and expensive part first and working your way back to the easiest and cheapest, which is very wrong. I feel like a F*cking plonker, but at the same time I'm very happy!

That process sounds familiar 🤗

awesome you eventually solved it! 

31 minutes ago, Sammo said:

Yup, all good - all things I was aware of and had planned to get around to at some point - will just do them quicker haha

Heh, nothing like having a deadline to get stuff done!

Did it fail on all those things? Or are they advisories?

lyall bay yesterday afternoon. 528i I think. 

Heard back from VTNZ today. NZTA have corrected the VIN number in their system. Now certification has been passed it’s time to go get a WOF. Not sure I should have had to pay the $100 re-vin charge in the end but not going to debate it now I have the desired result. Happy days.