Sammo

Nice man, what did you use to patch the dash? I have a fantastic matte clear finish product used for refinishing leather that leaves a great silky matte soft finish - want to use it on my dash if I ever re-do it at some point (only one crack at this point).

A big thank you to @Cement for sorting the exhaust leak for me today and taking me for a quick blat in the mighty (edition 1 of 1?) VQ37 E46 💪🏽 One less thing on the to-do list!

Might help - damn common spot: https://e30garage.no/product/left-firewall-european-version/

Curbed the missus' front left wheel on the F31.... she had already curbed it so no real drama but have lost my right to moan about her curbing! Is there any way to repair machined metal finished wheels?

Was the motor out to weld in this area? got some rust there too (under glovebox / firewall skin) that I've done a temp patch on but will need doing properly eventually...

This thing is getting so dialled in!

I think you made a great choice - F31 is a great base and 328i is a good mix of performance and economy. I added wireless Carplay / Android Auto to mine which is a cost effective upgrade to bring it into the current decade too.

That would be amazing thank you!

Aside from a bit of drone under low load at 1500-2000 (rarely experienced due to gearing) I’m very happy with the current sound. This is the only part where it goes to a single pipe - presumably adapted to fit the one in two out Remus muffler.

Correct again! Can also detect a tiny rasp / buzz at 3k that was not there previously. One step forward, two steps back haha

Thanks man - summoned up the energy to try again today and you were correct on two counts: I had slightly misaligned the cross member (took off one side to squeeze in the new mount) and noticed a quirk (defect?) with the new mounts: On the side where it mounts to the cross member the metal base was clearly convex (pictures show it below but quite obvious IRL) meaning it wouldn’t sit flush on the cross member and would also try to spin on its base when I tried torquing the lower nuts. Put the old mounts back in and while I can still detect a slight vibration at 1250 and 2000, this is only in neutral with the clutch out and car stationary - it goes away as soon as the clutch is depressed and is not detectable at all while driving. I suspect it may be an existing minor clutch component vibration which was made more obvious with the new mounts and my poor install effort. I did find / create another side issue though - replaced my rear exhaust hanger bushing (rubber figure 8 thing) and think I’ve created a little exhaust leak wrestling with the exhaust to get the rubber on 😑 I assume an exhaust leak looks like this:

Changed out my engine mounts and transmission mounts yesterday (with OEM rubber) and all seemed to go well but on my test drive had a strong vibration at low rpm. Got under car again and saw the exhaust bracket bolts where it connects to trans were loose (presumably from me jacking up the tranny to change the mounts) - this only helped but didn’t solve the problem though… Still have a mild vibration right under my drivers seat at around 1.25k and 2k rpm (it goes away if clutch is depressed). I re-checked the nuts and believe I installed the transmission mounts correctly - only thing is I used different top nuts to what was on beforehand (I used a flange nut with washer as the ones that were on it were some kind of one piece design and partially rounded. I did not torque the top nuts as I could only fit a little 13mm wrench on them so just tightened as much as I could. Any thoughts? I assume as it goes away with the clutch disengaged it indicates it’s driveline related, most likely something I did wrong installing the new mounts... the DIY I followed was similar to the engine mount process - i.e. jack up slowly until you can carefully remove and replace mounts - wondering if I should have removed the brace instead to minimise lifting the tranmission?

Lovely looking Cirrusblau(?) E28 525 in Wairau just now - beautiful car - such a great colour with the chrome trim and polished lips.

You’re making me nervous about when my kit comes off for rust / paint next year!

You're absolutely right 😶

Especially being a manual swapped LHD when a gorgeous and overhauled bona fide M325i is currenrlt for sale at $43k

Same vin - not sure why the plates were swapped though

I think it was more speculative - has had a fair bit of work done since though - paint / uphostery etc

This one went for $23,500 in the end - up for sale now for $49,999

This one went for $23,500 in the end - up for sale now for $49,999

Good to hear - it looks amazing. Keeping a car always clean is the best mod. Might explore ceramic coating after I get panel / paint done.

This is a great run - go earlyish on a Sunday (7-730) and should barely see a soul: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Bp+Connect+Bombay+216+Mill+Road,+Bombay+2675/-37.3095384,174.950796/Glen+Murray/Naike/Huntly+Power+Station+Te+Ohaki+Road,+Huntly/@-37.3704054,174.9049307,11z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m27!4m26!1m5!1m1!1s0x6d0d4d40d679478b:0xb34a9b0d875289a9!2m2!1d174.9813202!2d-37.193165!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x6d12b4d944d2d029:0x500ef6143a2c9f0!2m2!1d174.9651017!2d-37.4437363!1m5!1m1!1s0x6d6d4ab1dc1497dd:0x500ef6143a2cb10!2m2!1d174.9556069!2d-37.5146918!1m5!1m1!1s0x6d6d3886891ca36b:0x9d6d803fb86339e8!2m2!1d175.1515218!2d-37.5445082!3e0 Basically Bombay to Huntly via Highway 22 backroads, then turn around and come back the way you came. Bombay BP > Tuakau > Pukekawa > Glen Murray > Naike > Huntly Power Station

Perfect!

Damn dude, this is wicked! have always liked the idea of an E24 with V8. Malachite with the BBS is going to look amazing too.

Few little wins: While changing out my non-existent accelerator linkage bushings (great, quick, cheap, noticeable change) I thought I would have a look at my clutch pedal which had been a bit noisy and 'off' the past week. Turns out one of the two bolts holding my newish master cylinder had wriggled loose - simple fix and firmed the pedal right up. The real benfit however it has totally solved my 'other' issue of 'clutch judder' in 1st / reverse changing certain gears - I thought I was in for a new clutch / flywheel etc! Love it when a seemingly big issue is solved with something so simple - car is now shifting smooth as ever. Also sourced a new flasher relay for faulty indicators for $45 (Hella - looks same as what came out of it) after finding out at BMW North Shore no BMW parts were in the country and would be $230 plus GST to import ex Germany. Did get to see @Breaker 750i at BMW getting a wash though Got quite a few jobs to do over the Xmas break while the wife is overseas - want it tip-top for summer spankings before it goes under the knife in April / May: Engine mounts Tranny mounts and fresh redline MTL Exhaust hanger / poly bushes for my aftermarket end links Oil & filter Refinish interior plastics with matte soft touch clear Paint correction and headlight refurbishment New Osram headlight and spotlight bulbs See if I can fix partially functional blower motor and resistor / washer jets before throwing parts at it 9mm spring pad front driver side to perfect ride height Full Cluster refurbishment (if my parts arrive on time...)