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.

Great tip regarding the increments, cheers. I believe my Ti is a Jap import, but using the vin checker was made in Munich... are we saying here that during the build, German cars destined for Japan get made with specific bands? Prior to pulling out the old head unit the other day the frequency settings was moving in increments of 0.05 and would pick up the common low and high limit. It was a single DIN pioneer CD player only, hence the need to replace - guess this means I have a Jap import with a good enough band on it?

Anyone have any prior experience with this one? I'm currently comparing brands, models and prices from most common suppliers here together with the likes of Amazon, Ebay (US). It seems some head units can be purchased for a LOT cheaper on Amazon etc, BUT it appears model #'s and cosmetic design can have the slightest variances too, yet the SPECS on the head unit itself appear the same. It also looks as though NZ suppliers is either behind a year or missing out on certain models?? Just wondering if this is due to the manufacture process where they design a head unit for a specific region, and that the unit itself will only work for radio station frequencies in the region it was designed for etc. (much like the whole DVD region thing) OR, am I good to ignore this thought and move forward on purchasing? I need to ask because arranging overseas returns is such a fun process if I get this wrong Cheers.

Sounds good!

Thanks for all the info and the warm welcome Peter, as much as I'd want to do a driver training day... dream///machine needs to undergo the usual health checks before any long trips, at this stage anyway

Thanks Olaf! Went to the link and clicked 'follow' assuming that's how I subscribe to it.. I mainly work nights so here's hoping I can make it too some of them. Thanks, and yes pics will come soon... just need that day off to drive somewhere and park it up for a tasty shoot. Looking forward to the meets and the range of bimmers that come with.

Hi Andy, yeah I saw the link from Peter.. at this point it would be too early for me to commit to the costs of the BMWCCNZ.. the events in Taupo sound fun, but I simply would not have the time at this moment. Totally up for the casual hangs at this stage.

Cheers Adrian! yeah I closed my Flickr years back, but will def look into reopening an account for stuff like this. I've noticed through other forums that some user 'DIY steps' which are supposed to have photos are instead replaced with a 'photobucket' ad, that states I need to login to photo bucket in order to view them. Will see how I go on the meets, working a lot of nights at the moment.. but yeah catch up soon I hope! Seb

Thanks, yeah I've seen some cheaper aftermarket ones online.. weirdly with the rivets, I've always thought that forged wheels were more expensive. I'll take a look at BBS in the meantime

Hi NZ, Looking to purchase 4x Style 78 wheels, and hopefully some that are in great condition and won't require additional work. I don't know how rare these are but I have never seen them on anyones ride...yet. Which makes me want them even more. Most online stores I've gazed at do have them, but sadly not the *exact setup I'm after: (pasted from bmwstylewheels.com) 3er E36 Compact, M3 7,5x17 front ET 41 10,16 3er E36 Compact, M3 8,5x17 back ET 41 10,70 *Must be BMW original, I'm not interested in 3rd party copies that are of the 2/3 piece forged design with all the rivets, way too much unnecessary attention and cleaning for a wheel of this design. Ideally I would like to try out the staggered setup, but open to standard 7,5's all round if that's all someone has and is willing to part with. If you used to own a set, I'd be interested to know what tyre type and profile you ran on these. Many thanks! d///m

Ignore my Q, just saw the Meetings Forum on main page still navigating my way around and setting up prefs