Michael.

1 hour ago, jon dee said:

Curious... what difference does this make in the real world ? I assume that engines can handle a range of viscosities as they don't always operate under ideal temperature/load conditions. And I always figured that if you used the manufacturers recommended grade e.g. 5W-40, you weren't going to be damaging anything. Is there more to it than this for an every day driver ?

Cheers...

PS: I accept that race cars will need an optimum grade when racing, but that is another story

Well I just bought some 5w-40 for that price cant go wrong. 

In reality it's neither hear nor there, the differences are so minute, even if you did back to back lab tests and all that if all is well you prob wont see any trends to worry about. 

I've always believed engine oil comparisons and test can only really be fairly shown in controlled  environments with 100s of thousands of kilometers done in a short time to find distinct patterns, otherwise you wont really see much of a difference in the real world. It's a hard thing to gauge when the difference of an engines life could be 300,000km vs 450,000 due to different oils, thats decades of driving under normal use! 

At the end of the day, a certain window of viscosities are going to work just fine in the majority of engines, of course going to thin or too thick, namely in very hot extremes or cold winters will bring issues fairly quickly, although seasonal temp variations are not so much an issue for the North Island. 

Youre certainly right with race cars though, close attention needs to be kept on the oil temps and pressures and really lab tests to see how the engine is doing internally, relevant if you dont have  big budget to do engine rebuilds every 5 minutes haha 

The key to understanding the oils is reading beyond the rather misleading label grades Penrite HPR5 5w-40 vs Castrol Edge 5w-40 are both quite different

Thats actually a fair margin different in viscosities. I have a large table of comparisons I use when looking at oil options. Nerdy fun. 

What are these worth in 4.5-5.0/5.0 condition?? 

Very nice! Some potential there for sure. 

These BMWs were really peak BMW. The glory days! 

8 hours ago, qube said:

Surprised at the lack of love for the e9x 325/330/335! I guess it goes to show how compelling the other options are at this price point

I wouldn't even take one if someone gave me one for free.

Well I would.. but only to sell haha 

I guess it depends what you want really haha

My E34 project will pass 20k with purchasing and doing the full bumper to bumper service soon enough, manual conversion down the road will blow that out further but so be it. Personally I dont see keeping under a 10k budget with an E34 is realistic these days, they need money thrown at them or just aren't that enjoyable.  

I was never going to bother with an E34 again unless I went through every part that can wear out. I didn't want to have that feeling of driving a semi maintained near 30 year old BMW, mind you this is exclusively a sunny day only weekend treat & to take to the odd show, if those ever happen again. Otherwise I'll quite happily just look at it shinny and parked in the shed knowing I've got it back to a fully maintained clean standard.

Depends what you want out of your purchase I guess, is it for driving once or twice a week tops or everyday driving? 

I still think an E46 offers the best compromise, not too complicated compared to later models, no Idrive nonsense, they look great and are easily improved. That said they are getting on a bit now at 20 years so they have lost the freshness they once had, means more DIY but that's fun (imo) 

4 hours ago, HELLBM said:

Certification completed. 

Do they give you an option of where you can put these tags?

In the boot would seem ideal. 

I wonder if there is a unique ecosystem inside the car now. Must be pretty funky by now.. 

1 hour ago, Twistee said:

 unmasked folk (apparently they are immune to any virus - just don't tell them)

Oh 

On 11/17/2021 at 11:44 AM, nath said:

Few pics from Kura of BMWs in the '80s 

Looking at that location with the tower block, seems they are on the waters edge on Curran street, just after the turn off to get onto the harbor bridge heading north. 

The people suggesting to ban a technology they don't like should be banned themselves. 

It's come along way. Another saved from the scrapheap! 

12 hours ago, Driftit said:

 

And a know it all asking him to check the car for damage with zero intention to buy.

Hahhahah. Poor seller

"So why did you ask to check on some phantom cracks if you are not interested in buying it."

Slight misalignment on the front left corner of the bonnet? 

Other than dirty shifter, and scuffs around drivers seat base/sill looks like a very desirable car.

Would expect the above cosmetic details and any other specific servicing done for that price though. 

Still one of the weirdest things. 

Its like time stopped for this car haha 

5 hours ago, Kodachrome said:

I had a CSi so Im a big fan, even of the pseudo 850i CSi, but LHD is a big turn off and LHD + Manual even more so. I think it would be really odd to swap gears with the wrong hand?

Being highhanded I find LHD cars with manual nicer, just feels a bit more conformable from the cars I've driven. 

3 hours ago, Ghost Chip said:

The fact that the photos used in the listing looks like it was just taken from what he already had in his phone makes your statement so much more plausible 😂.

Either that, or he’s a very very ‘laidback’ person.

My thoughts precisely. Couch effort advert. 

60k for no interior pictures haha.

Maybe one of those hey wifey, its for sale things? 

Looks like such a boring model though, especially with those wheels. 

I haven't watched these guys for so long. Enjoyed their earlier content though. 

10 hours ago, aja540i said:

I use Gough, they have a branch just around the road from work but all the testing is done in Christchurch I believe, you buy the kit from them and drop it back to them, they send it to the lab and email the results.

I've used them over a dozen times for a variety of cars since you told me about them years ago. Super useful 

Modified new cars like this are worth less than a standard one IMO. 

Each to their own I guess. 

Do you have a wife? 

Whats with the Euro/UK plates though? Bit confusing looking at the pictures. Gives me the impression the cars are overseas or those are really old not current pictures? 

Remove those horrible new cars and it looked like a fun event.