Jay 735i

Yeah it is a small case. I would say that is the right approach too, I rebuilt an OS Mini gearbox with a mate last year. Well I say rebuilt, it didn't like going from 3rd to 2nd when it was back together, so eventually he took it to a Mini specialist who pulled it apart and said we didn't so much rebuild the gearbox, as put some gears in a box. As a result, I'm reluctant to touch anything that has gears and shims involved

Jeez, been a while since I've been a regular on here... the 735i has long since gone to the scrappy in the sky and I've moved on to newer things. These days I'm driving an '07 320i wagon (manual), which has a grumbly diff. It has been whiny for a while, but now the whine is definitely a grumble. A bit of net searching would indicate this is a knackered input or output bearing, but also that it is probably better to replace the diff than mess about trying to repair, shim up etc, especially as the whine was ignored for some time, which will probably mean more damage than just the bearing. Any opinion on the repair vs replace? Any diff I put in will obviously also have the potential for wear and noise, as apparently it's a relatively common issue for e90s, especially with high KMs on "lifetime" diff fluid (car has done 180,000km). Might be able to find someone who has wrecked a low KM crashed car that could donate it's diff though.

How many UK cars have you owned? Being that I've lived there on and off for about 15 years and owned plenty of cars when there, I can say with reasonable authority that your simple statement is complete bollocks. I've owned an E21 with no rust anywhere, an '85 944 with no rust anywhere, even a '92 205GTI with... no rust anywhere and that car was shockingly badly built (but sodding good fun with the MI16 engine). It's funny, but I've heard about the UK "rust issue" many, many times, always from people who've never been there.

ha ha yeah, they're safely stored away with their respective partners...

Just on the off chance... If you see a ute like the one on the photo, please let me know, it was stolen today from Union St car park in Auckland central. It's ugly as hell, spray can paint job etc, but that makes it stand out. Cops reckon it will probably end up dumped somewhere, hopefully not set on fire first, as I just rebuilt the entire brake system at a little over a grand.

But if it's a drift car, appropriate for the scene/style.

Hmmm I'm with kiwi... especially with some subtle gold pinstriping...

Sweet, that is what I was thinking, just wanted someone who actually knows what they are doing to push me in the right direction... Thank you kind Sir...

Don't know if it's the same on the E30, but on my old E21 I could adjust the height of the pedal by fiddling with the adjuster behind the pedal itself. Reason for mentioning this, is because I have just done the master and slave cylinders on my B2000. I could not, no matter what I tried, bleed the clutch afterwards. Then in a flash of genius... ok I looked it up on the interweb... I adjusted the pedal travel at the back of the pedal so that the pushrod for the master cylinder was able to move further out on full pedal extension (i.e. with no foot on it). What was happening was the pushrod wasn't coming back far enough to allow fluid to get into the system, basically the valve wasn't opening and there was nothing for the master cylinder to push. It is apparently reasonably common, especially if you're using pattern, non-OEM parts, with the usual variances to OEM.

After a few random overheats and some disappearing coolant, the inevitable head gasket failure has confirmed itself with the 735 now starting and running on 4-5 cylinders for the first minute. And coolant is now disappearing much more quickly... So, being a semi-skilled home mechanic of sorts (done a couple of engine swaps and a head gasket before) which do you reckon is the go with my situation? The prices for head bolts, gasket set etc are reasonable, but it's been years since I've had a head skimmed and tested (and don't know where in Aux to get it done), so would it be cheaper with the used engine? Anything tricky to be aware of with either option?

It will be interesting to see what happens if this does end up on TM, cos I think there's a few of us here that are in a position to buy this for the indicated price.

Sweet, sell it to me (I'll pay the 6) and the Trademe muppet problem is sorted. Although at least on TM you'll get more what the market will pay, which I'm pretty sure is higher than you're thinking as well.

Saw you this morning, 8.30am (what are we both doing out of bed that early on a Sat morning???) Northwestern Motorway... saw a yellow E36 coming up behind me, obvious rear cage and yep... reckon you need to sort the tyres out as well, but otherwise very, very nice.

I have just replaced everything on the front of my E32 and it's wonderful to drive now. I used the ebay kit as well, quality is very good. I got all the rear kit too, which I'll get around to fitting with the rear Bilstein Sports and H&R springs at some point... should be quite a sporty old bus at the end of that (Billies and H&Rs already on the front) My shimmy has gone, also had the brake judder too, the ball joints on the lower arms were rooted, so I assumed the braking force was able to move things around a bit too much and change the steering geometry (I am guess here though). What ever it was, the judder is also gone.

As above, the E32 just failed a WoF on non-retracting seatbelt, preferably a tan and black belt, but colour not that important.