Sammo

7 minutes ago, M3AN said:

Yeah, check those endlink bots @Sammo, one of mine loosened itself and clunked. If you can't see anything obvious you can always remove the bar and go for a drive to isolate (or eliminate) that as the cause.

Cheers , good idea - next step is to disconnect sway bar and see if it goes away - BMW certainly makes torquing endlinks a challenge!

Frustrating day in BMW-land.

Changed out my steering coupler for an Ireland engineering poly one as mechanic thought it was the source of my clunking over speedbumps. 

Its wasn't, although guess I know how a nice new coupler. Will need to keep hunting for this clunk - feel its related to my endlinks (new but possibly installed incorrectly.

Then I decided to give my new Mtech 2 wheel refurb with Colourlock leather fresh and it came up amazing but broke my very shoddily connected horn wire and of course no-one open on a Sunday has the correct size spade terminal in stock.

So I have a beautiful new steering wheel sitting on the workbench - will pop into Jaycar tomorrow maybe.

What could possibly go wrong?

Finally arrived - 370mm Mtech 2, definitely feels like it belongs to the car.

Great original condition which I was after as I’m not a fan of the smooth / perforated / modern leather refurbed that are often done on these.

Just gave it a good deep brush clean and added a new roundel.

Update: couldn’t resist going a little further and giving it a light refurb with Colourlock Leatherfresh to restore the rich matte black finish without obscuring the grain. Came up really well.

Old Mtech 1 wheel sold in 10 mins without even listing it 😂

11 minutes ago, balancerider said:

@Sammo the RHD E30 M3 rabbit hole is deep! I think I'd rather have a tasteful 325i and a big pile of cash. originality probably the key for the M3 as you point out, I think the issue was the RHD steering rack fouled on the headers so any converted one has a slower rack 

Or a tasteful(?) 325i making the pile of cash smaller by the day 😂

RHD M3?

https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-3630377392.htm

Wouldn’t a lightly modified RHD converted e30 M3 be worth less than an original though?

I do LOVE how this thing looks though.

@Kees annoying, I would expect if I was to proactively attempt to prise a car from someone, I should be the one making the offer, rather than expecting the non-seller placing a value on it.

Interior planning update:

My Mtech 2 370mm wheel is in NZ now so hope to get my hands on it shortly.

Found my Fabric (Anthracite Uberkaro by Relicate)

https://relicate.com/collections/uberkaro-plaid-fabric-for-bmw-e30-and-m3/products/uberkaro-fabric-for-bmw-m3-and-e30-anthracite?variant=32486462881872

I didn’t realise but I already have this same fabric in my car as Stitchboots used it for my shifter and handbrake boot - it’s nice and dark - I’m not a fan of the silver Uberkaro.

Biggest decision now is wether to go Uberkaro on the door panels as well - due to the one piece E30 door car design it won’t be able to replicate the factory look with the fake stitch  (will look like below photo but in Uberkaro) but I think it will tie in nicely compared to having light grey plain fabric (my existing door card).

Possibly could have horizontal stitched ‘pleats’ on the door card to break up the wall of fabric and replicate the sport seats vertical pleats / emulate the leather door card horizontal pleats too.

Just waiting on my 2nd estimate and hope to get done in July.

Style 32's came on E38 as well and will have better offset and widths for an E39.

Most people run style 32s in that fitment due to extra lip and more aggressive offset so shouldn't be too hard to find - 18x8 ET20 and 18x9 ET24.

18 is probably a better size for E39, you will still have plenty of sidewall.

http://www.bmwstylewheels.com/bmw/32

@SmackJackTheCrackerMan Demontweeks have a good selection and pricing, although since I got my E46 coilovers from them, shipping prices seem a lot higher.

Or locally, Speedfactor have good prices and no shipping to worry about, more limited selection though - I got a set of AP (entry level brand from KW Germany) springs from them for my E46.

They were fine for an OEM+ upgrade but I wanted lower and firmer in the end and wnet for coilovers.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/car-parts-accessories/performance/suspension-braces/listing/3623289357

Picture of how mine sat with them (330ci) they were factory comfortable but just not much lower than Msport and not much of a performance upgrade.

Got a little Karcher K3 pressure washer for a few wee jobs around the house (well that was the official justification) and thought it would come in handy for washing the car, using snow foam and hopefully cleaning wheels without a brush.

So after I cleaned the steps and fence, I gave the E30 its first snow foam wash.

After being quite excited about it seemed like much ado about nothing - foam was thick and fantastic (Autoglym Polar Blast) but just seemed like such a pain in the arse with 3 'cords' instead of 1 when you have to touch wash it afterwards anyway.

I guess it would be good for people who let their cars get dirty but mine is generally pretty clean.

Also felt like it removed a little of my sealant.

Will reserve it for when I've got more time / car is filthy, otherwise a quick rinse and 2 bucket wash is king.

Have you replaced your RTABs? Could be a real factory on a sloppy rear end.

From what I’ve read, generally poly subframe bushes won’t add much NVH at all but diff bush may do.

I would go 80a poly as an in between - I’ve got an 80a diff mount on the way for the E30 (mainly for simplicity of installation) and when time comes I’ll go with factory rubber RTABs and 80a poly subframe bushes.

Someone got a bargain I think!

What’s the plan when the Mini goes?

Car looks great - very much USDM ' ZHP' vibes, especially in Imola.

Just did my E30 parcel tray with this - worked well - just use very light coats and then brush in with a soft bristle brush and repeat until you have good coverage and penetration - just be careful not to spray on heavy as it will saturate and 'clog' the fibers if used aggressively.

Its a nice dark grey. I'll use it for my carpet too.

https://www.supercheapauto.co.nz/p/dupli-color-dupli-color-vinyl-and-fabric-paint-aerosol-paint-charcoal-grey---311g/324092.html

I used 1 and a bit cans but you could probably get away with one can if you stick to light coats (mine was mega faded).

Damn, car is looking great.

Sometimes wonder if I should have got an E46 M3 instead of the old jalopy.

1 hour ago, leonf said:

No,  there is a $120k red nz new rx2 coupe for TM sale in PalmNth at the moment but that is not mine.  Did see the $150k one and yes, it's special.

Our white one is a BaT import from Seattle that is being rhd coverted in Dunedin as we speak and I am hanging out for its completion.

Beautiful!! 

She’s sleeping rough for the next 4-5 weeks, just in time for the rainy season 😬

2 hours ago, balancerider said:

21 previous owners 😂 (10 private)

Well at least you know it won’t need an Italian tune up

3 hours ago, SmithyInWelly said:

Mostly 5-10 mins... though I do usually take the scenic route so it at least gets up to temp. Every few weeks a trip into Newtown (from Lower Hutt) for chemo... and aside from that the occasional trip to Martinborough.

I've always assumed diesels are great for long hot running but less great for the kinds stuff I do. I've nothing against diesels at all but have never really thought of them as the right option (for me).

Diesels take at least twice as long to get to temp - kind of shocked whenever I drive my 320d.

1000km a tank is nice though.

Got to be one of the best non Ms going around 

Got to be the most purposeful, loved and well used E87 going around?

Got my WOF.

Continuing to work on the interior parts so it is mostly mint when I get seats and door cards reupholstered.

Today I refinished my parcel tray in charcoal, added rear headrests (butchered some other seats for parts) and changed my huge ugly 6x9s that needed 20mm spacers for some sleek 5x7s that look much more OEM and cover the awkwardly sized premium speaker holes.

Huge difference - looks so much more premium - but very tricky to photograph due to rear window reflections - here is how much sun fade has occurred over 35 years.

Will do my carpets in the same dark grey soon.

Get in with those 2020 prices

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/3614344518?bof=XscXHVUT

Got a new WOF after fixing a few things - PS leak / floppy seat / floppy door hinge / floppy tie rods.

Do have a new thing to add to the to-do list - large amount of vertical play in my steering couple guibo causing a clunk over every speed bump...

I have a rubber one here but might go for a softer grade grade poly so I feel like I've upgraded / ruined something at the same time.