HamishE36

This car is a wolf in sheep's clothing, but unfortunately it's time to part ways in favour of something with four doors. With an M52B28 engine built with the rotating assembly from an M54B30, combined with a reasonably short diff ratio, this thing gets up and goes. Cruising around at low rpm, you have oodles of torque, and when you really open it up, it's a snarling beast of a thing. Some of the Wellington members might remember this car, I've been on a couple of runs with the club, but will endeavour to get it to the meetup at 1841 next week for people to have a look at it in person. Please have a look at my trademe listing https://www.trademe.co.nz/2472396464 if you're interested. I'll do my best to answer questions here as well. I'm looking for $8,000 ONO, but if you're serious, get in touch and we can talk. Regards, Hamish

Hi Sam, mine is running an E30 3.64 medium case lsd behind a ZF box. It's a little bit short on the street, but they're good ratios for the track. I'm getting right to the top of 4th on the back straight at Manfeild, which feels pretty quick for a 20yo car with leather seats and air con.

That sounds great, will send a PM to arrange a visit.

On closer inspection, the gearbox in the car looks to be a Getrag 250, so no surprises that giving it death on the track has given it death. Guess I'll be looking to do the complete conversion to the ZF box, including driveshafts.

Yes, I've had some rough budget prices back, and I'd be lucky to get any change from $1200 for a basic rebuild. If there's wear on the input shaft or synchros or god forbid the gears themselves, that's going to blow out considerably. It's not as if the current gearbox is exactly of known provenance, but a rebuild is something I'm keeping in mind (do it right and do it once). It has always had a very faint whine in 2nd gear, but is now far less faint and not restricted to 2nd any more either.

After a recent track day at Manfeild, the gearbox in my M52 swapped 318ti has become more than a little noisy. The input and front cluster bearings both have a fair whine to them now, so I'm on the lookout for someone selling a replacement ZF 5S-310D gearbox in reasonable condition. If you know of one or someone who might be willing to sell one, if you could point them in my direction that would be greatly appreciated. I'm based in Wellington, but will pay for freight from wherever you might be. Thanks, Hamish

My workmate has recently purchased a leaf, and now is looking to sell his diesel 320d touring. I've had a quick drive and it feels great for a car of its age and mileage, and is even better than his X3 towing for the caravan up the Ngauranga gorge at a solid 80kmh. https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1764617892

Talking with a number of the Wellington guys last weekend at the Barry's garage meet, there seemed to be quite a lot of interest in a track day for people to have a go. The Constructors Car Club are running their annual track event on Saturday the 23rd of September. For anyone not going on the Whangamomona road trip, this would be a great event, with heaps of track time for a very reasonable entry fee. With permission, I've copied the event details from the organisers below: All Wellington motorsport club members are invited to this event... The Constructors club and MG club track day at Manfield, Saturday 23 September 2017, regs and entry form are now available for downloading at...https://www.hansonconsulting.co.nz/CCC/2017 CCC and MGCRR Track Day Entry and Regs.pdf This event is using the full 3km track at Manfeild and is intended as a low key opportunity for folks to try out driving on the track, learn some skills, test their car and have a rewarding day out. There will be tutorials available, slow sessions, fast sessions and one session with slalom sections coned out on the track. A second drivers briefing at lunch time is planned for drivers who only want to do the afternoon session. $90 if prepaid on-line or $100 cash on the day. Contact details for the organisers are given in the supplementary regs in the link above.

Hi Everyone, I bought this car just before Christmas last year, and have been driving it as my daily since then. It's a '96 318ti with a stroked 328i motor & 5 speed box, 325 diff, 330 brakes and bilsteins on all four corners. I've progressively been working to tidy things up as various bits of trim are a bit tired, but in general it's been great fun. Have had issues with passenger seat occupancy sensor, vacuum leaks and broken wires at the speedo sensor, all fixed with relatively little drama so far. As it's a struggle to drive it at anything close to its potential on the road, I took it up for the MCC Envirowaste Autocross on the full circuit at Manfield a month or so ago, which I highly recommend (there's another one in November). While my times didn't set the world on fire, it was pretty respectable for a comfortable road car. I look forward to meeting up with the Wellington crowd at some point. Cheers, Hamish