dream///machine

Likewise Pete! Monte Cervino keeps me busy at nights, great to have the chance to finally attend one of these meets.

Nice tip Olaf, I've recently been using rain-x - enjoy watching light rain bead, and depending on conditions have often been able to drive without using the wipers. I've never bought into washer fluid, guess it has to do with experiences in the past with that 'bug off' stuff, as it was all that was available once upon ago, can't stand the amount of suds and streaks that sh*t leaves behind. BMW washer fluid you say, any good?

Good ol FCP, have a few things on my wish list there to add to the order

It states it, but from images it doesn't appear that way... either way I'll order the rear wiper first to inspect (as this is same direction for both LHD and RHD - direct fit). Are the BMW ones a single beam design? My OEM's are the original Bosch Metal ones where you feed the rubber through multiple contact points. The BOSCH ICONS are still so much cheaper on Amazon than our market options here from SCA and Repco (Tridon etc) - The Tridon's look cheap and overpriced.

Wiper Blade porn talk if anyone is interested. Have tried every corner of the web to find detailed literature on the product, even tried to search .pdf manuals of the ICONS. Reason being is that it seems this product is not avail in NZ, I can find them easily on Amazon US.. BUT - I've noticed that on LHD Bimmers the wiper system is reversed and will rotate anticlockwise towards the LHD, where as our wipers move clockwise towards the RHD. The Bosch ICONS have spoilers that run across the entire blade system, and don't appear to be asymmetrical (I could be wrong). From looking at images within US sites, the design appears to be best fitted fo LHD anticlockwise rotating wiper arms. What I'm thinking is that purchasing ICONS from the US could pose a problem, unless (I'm hoping) there are the necessary attachments provided in the pack to let you reverse a US wiper so that you're not facing the rear of the 'spoiler' on the blade towards the direction of wind flow. In short... has anyone purchased ICONS from Amazon US and fitted them without issues? https://www.boschautoparts.com/en/auto/wiper-blades/icon-wiper-blades Cheers.

As promised... a few pics (apologies to attach, will open a Flickr soon) Spent last couple of days doing the full detail, headlight refurb.. just exterior stuff for now as I have some work to do inside (roof lining) so figured I'd leave that cleaning till last. Until now I've never used a clay bar, and it was totally worth the purchase and patience.

Sagging headliner...? Try Absolute Upholstery Wgtn, if you remove the tray yourself and brush out the old glue and clean it as best as possible, bring it as is, you can save some costs on the relining work. They quoted me $250+gst for my 318Ti compact.

Weird, I don't understand how these are technically not legal.. it's black letters on a reflective plate after all, I figured the legal requirement would simply be 'needs to be clearly visible', is it somewhat FONT related? because that's the only thing that looks 'non NZ standard', as for the choice in pictures on either side I imagine this doesn't have any legal barriers, given that you can have a car make emblems on one side and a flag on the other etc.

Side note, I purchased a pack of trim removal tools (6x assorted, red coloured and made of plastic) from Repco prior to pulling the second pillar off but still snapped a couple of tabs! My guess is it's just a natural thing for plastic in old cars to do, or perhaps how I used the tools. The tools itself I know will come in handy for many other tasks, esp ones that involve removing something without damaging the cosmetics of seen surfaces, dash, paint etc

Q. the plate on your E36 M3.. was this ordered from https://www.customeuropeanplates.com ? If so is this legal?

I've wondered about this... I own 2 torque wrenches, however a DIY'r such as myself would use such tools much less than a pro mechanic would commercially. I've had both my wrenches for about a year now and have done minimal tasks such as oil changes and spark plugs etc... the certs and manuals supplied with my wrenches specify to have them calibrated once a year, but something tells me this may be overboard for my type of use? (I always reset my wrenches to the lowest torque setting after use and store them in the case supplied)

Awesome to know and yes the old mix tape era! I'll have to google 'IIRC 15uS vs 25 uS' as that's beyond my knowledge. I'll see how I go for local, I simply opened my own can of surprises by searching elsewhere and now I'm curious...and I'm also a fussy pussy cat that refuses to eat dried biscuits when I know theres something better in the fridge.

Oh, and for what it's worth.. if you're going to remove the A pillar trim just be mindful of the plastic tabs, they can be brittle and snap off which is what happened to a couple on each of mine. I'm hoping to epoxy glue them back on, and then attach the metal retainers over them prior to reinstall so that I don't re-snap during the process. It may depend on how much fabric has come loose for you but I found it much easier to do this work on a bench rather than in-car (esp with spray glue).. It also allows better time to cure (24hr) being laid flat on a bench rather than installed in car, avoid it being exposed to heat etc during the curing phase.

Are you guys both talking about the OEM factory head set itself, or a separate radio module in which all head units connect to? eg. 'Any head unit -> radio plug -> some kind of module -> cars antenna' cheers!

per qube's comment, I just did the A pillar trims on mine the other day. Using the same adhesive (ADOS), but there are a few different types all ranging under $20. https://www.bunnings.co.nz/search/products?q=ADOS spray adhesive&redirectFrom=Any There is a High Strength can, which to me seems overboard for fabric, then there's the 'Multi Purpose' one which allows you to reposition within a few minutes which is very useful for porous materials that can bubble if you lay it down wrong. The water based one, I believe is the one you'll want to avoid.