schwarz88

thanks andrew, i didn't realise that, but to lay it out for those who might have thought i was pulling a fast one. amazon quote US$31.46 for a secondhand one or US$31.47 for a new one + US$6.99 for shipping and turnermotorsport US$34.95 work that out on a .67 x-rate and there's not much in it.

...anyone here want one? The sticker says I paid $130 at techbooks, but if someone here wants it then it's $50+postage in NZ if not i'll stick it on tardme. PM me. cheers mark

...ok this seems to be a recurring theme in any topic i post on. on the way home from town on thursday the car temp gauge decided to sit at 3/4 warm, if i was stationary it crept up a little but otherwise it was just running much warmer than usual. ...flushed the radiator today and once clean started refilling the system with coolant, got about 2.5litres into it and it wouldn't take any more and just started coming out the overflow tube, pumped the hoses trying to get it to move zip...again out the overflow, started it up and ran it for a little while to see if the water pump would pump through, nothing, opened the bleed valve...just air coming out. let it all cool down checked the expanision tank, still at the correct level, tried opening the bleed valve again nothing. ran it round the block managed about 100 yards and was edging the red, came back kicked the tires and cursed it. any ideas???

Ok, so in a fit of disgust my fanbelt let go the other day...got me "concerned" about the state of the other perishable parts of my engine bay. I've no idea when the hoses were last done and am wondering what the best option is for replacement and $$$ it's going to cost me. Has anyone tracked down a silicon set? (i see turnermotorsport and samco both mention one - but it's not very clear if it's for the M3 exclusively). Or is OEM the way to go? or just some cheapo generic?

usernames aside, i'm 99% sure my 88 is prefacelift, but i want to know how I can be certain. looking round the engine bay etc i can't find a plate which says built in... and the VIN code doesn't make sense against the online VIN checker at least when i tried it. Ideas? It would just make life a whole lot easier when buying parts if i could be 100% sure of the model year. (oh yeah it's an 325i e30). cheers

...having paid $3k for a plain looking 4dr 325i auto 4 months ago and spent $2.5k (new rubber, new disks/pads/hoses, new viscous fan unit, radiator flush, new seats, new stereo, Momo wheel etc) to still be looking at a plain looking 4dr auto...I'd say that $15k for your car sounds like a bargain. Whereas I'm torn between flicking this one off to buy a manual 325i or continuing to spend money on it with a manual conversion, new shocks, springs and pr. Gus' exhaust...decisions decisions.

ok, so i scored a deal on a momo wheel to replace the original one in my 325i, i bought a boss kit (sportline momo compatible). but, since i'm a fool, i cannot sort the wiring out, there's only one wire fitted to the boss kit, the momo horn assembly has two connectors - one already fitted with a wire one without and i'm pretty sure i've worked out that my problem is that i've not grounded the connection cos the horn sounds as soon as the ignition is on. but i can't see an obvious route to take a ground wire to the ground point beneath the steering column - or do i not ground it there?? so for the time being i've just taken out the fuse so i can steer but not honk. take pity on a fool.

now this is more like it... http://www.race-cars.com/carsales/bmw/1094...094689404ss.htm

but if it was the temp gauge, why would it get better with air flow/revving it? if the gauge reads wrong wouldn't it read wrong all the time? or is that not the case??

aaaaaaaaaaaaargh. According to Trevor Morris Radiators it was only about 10% blocked which shouldn't cause it to overheat, they've run it and it's still creeping up over halfway when stationary. So am guessing I need a new water pump? Unless anyone has any other suggestions???

hang on, if the revving strategy works - which you're saying wouldn't if i had a radiator problem...is that pointing to a new coolant pump, rather than a radiator flush?

i'll try those gills...that'll look sweet. the fan def. works, i got a brand new one put in two weeks ago and had it double checked the next day cos i wasn't seeing much improvement in my temp gauge. According to bmworkshop at the time the water pump et al were all good, there wasn't much air in the system and they bled that out anyways, i'll try getting the radiator flushed and work from there. cheers.

ok, so what's the deal with revving it in neutral? seemed to cool it off nicely (or at least bring it back to halfway)... any ideas what a new radiator would run me? i like the idea of it running cooler, especially given that this is winter performance and summer ain't gonna make it no easier.

haha, when i hit it, it got hotter :-(

i noticed a week or so after i acquired my e30 that the temp gauge crept up in traffic, which i pointed out when i got it serviced and subsequently had the viscous fan clutch replaced...thing is it still runs "warm" when idling/stationary in traffic. i say warm cos previously it would move up to and beyond the 3/4 mark now it approaches it but hasn't actually reached/passed it. the thermostat is working fine, the fan's working fine, there's apparently no airlock/air in the system...BUT it's still frikkin WARM as soon as i sit there in Dorkland traffic. Would replacing the water pump and hoses be a worthwhile next step? any other ideas??