The touring dreams are made of....

[Sammy J 1]

Interested to know what peoples opinions on going between V-MAXX adjustable coil-overs for say $1500, or full GC kit for $3000 roughly.. Whats peoples opinions?

[Lucan 196]

Will have VMaxx setup soon...

Will let you know what i think

[Sammy J 1]

how soon is soon mate? Also does anyone have any e46 330i front brakes and calipers? And also e36 front spindle/hub. Definatly WTB

Edited March 23, 2010 by Sammy J

[CamB 48]

S14, S38, S50/S54 or since you've already BTDT (for V8ing) S62. So many options, so difficult to guess what.

Edited March 23, 2010 by CamB

[HELLBM 1530]

how soon is soon mate? Also does anyone have any e46 330i front brakes and calipers? And also e36 front spindle/hub. Definatly WTB

Have 330 brake sets and plenty of e36 stuff.

[Sammy J 1]

Well... Bad news starts here.

On the way down from picking the touring up, it went through two header tanks of water between auck and chch. I put it down to possibly having a slight leak from a hose or something then went through another one and that got me worried as there were no obvious signs of leaks. Looked on the dipstick and hey presto milky yucky oil. You guessed it, it had a blown head gasket, unimpressed.

Anyways on the way down both henry and i noticed a weird noise coming from the diff, so jacked it up only to find that the spider gears in it were really notchy and the diff was a write off. Many thanks to henry for lending me his spare diff! Also the rear subframe bushes are totally shagged (can move subframe with ease with your hands) so im thinking i will leave those till i go 5 stud.

Anyways rant over. Bit gutted with the whole thing really.

[crazyarab 6]

Very sad to hear Sam, just goes to show how important a comprehensive pre-purchase inspection is even if it was from a fellow memeber...

[Gotheschu 1]

Thats a very tidy looking car.

[Apex 693]

That it is.

Sorry Sam, I genuinely didn’t know the gasket was on its way out, It had been driven by a ton of people on test drives as well as me the weeks leading up to the sale with no issues, it was inspected by a chap who works as a mechanic at BMW and he was very keen on it, you barely piped him. Anyone will attest to the time and money I put into that car and will tell you how much I admired it, even when it was broken, I was keen to hold onto the car so had there been no interest I would be stuck with the problem.

It is a 21 year old car with 240,000km on the clock, it’s not a Brand New Toyota Corolla and I stated quite honestly that I was unaware of the engines kilometres, never said that I had replaced the sub frame bushes, actually mentioned on BS that is one thing I would like to do. The diff had only been in the car less than a 1,000km, frustrating it died as it took me an eternity to get in the car. Oh well, that’s what you get with dodgy second hand parts from forum sponsors I guess.

If it makes you feel any better I just landed a $1,200 bill for my E30, seems the small electrical issues were not as simple as thought, you get that on old cars though

Good luck.

Edited April 7, 2010 by Apex

[*Glenn* 854]

Oh well, that’s what you get with dodgy second hand parts from forum sponsors I guess.

I think thats a bit unfair Graham... Its up to the installer to check the parts he is using / installing into a motor vehicle.

[Silver Fox 43]

I also recycle second hand E30 and E28 bits, and always try and impress on buyers that they are from 20 year old cars. Unless you rebuild totally the part, there's always a risk of failure, that's why they usually sell for a fraction of their new cost. When you replace a broken part on your car, it's most likely due to age and wear, and if you replace with a second hand bit it's just as old.

[*Glenn* 854]

I have a very good medium case 3.64:1. I've had the back off and checked it and fitted new side seals. New oil as well. $250 and its yours

[greenday-rulz21 4]

Anyone will attest to the time and money I put into that car and will tell you how much I admired it, even when it was broken, I was keen to hold onto the car so had there been no interest I would be stuck with the problem.

Yes. I was extremely surprised to hear what Sam said about it after he picked it up. I can vouch for how mint the car is because of the time and money Graham has spent on it. Everytime I have seen it I have been impressed.

Hope you get it sorted soon Sam. Bet it stands out amongst the crowd down in Chch though. I don't know about Chch but up here in Auckland there are a sh*tload of Tech II's!

[Apex 693]

Thanks Nick

I think thats a bit unfair Graham... Its up to the installer to check the parts he is using / installing into a motor vehicle.

Fair enough, you get what you pay for. I did expect it to last more than 1000km though

I have a very good medium case 3.64:1. I've had the back off and checked it and fitted new side seals. New oil as well. $250 and its yours

Should have taken this.

[HELLBM 1530]

That it is.

Sorry Sam, I genuinely didn’t know the gasket was on its way out, It had been driven by a ton of people on test drives as well as me the weeks leading up to the sale with no issues, it was inspected by a chap who works as a mechanic at BMW and he was very keen on it, you barely piped him. Anyone will attest to the time and money I put into that car and will tell you how much I admired it, even when it was broken, I was keen to hold onto the car so had there been no interest I would be stuck with the problem.

It is a 21 year old car with 240,000km on the clock, it’s not a Brand New Toyota Corolla and I stated quite honestly that I was unaware of the engines kilometres, never said that I had replaced the sub frame bushes, actually mentioned on BS that is one thing I would like to do. The diff had only been in the car less than a 1,000km, frustrating it died as it took me an eternity to get in the car. Oh well, that’s what you get with dodgy second hand parts from forum sponsors I guess.

If it makes you feel any better I just landed a $1,200 bill for my E30, seems the small electrical issues were not as simple as thought, you get that on old cars though

Good luck.

Who are the sponsors you are referring to?

[Apex Effects 3]

watching closely keen to see a nicely packed engine bay.

as for the unfortunate trip home just think of it like this to help... more inspiration to get the upgrades underway

old cars need love 24/7 i know i got 2 that do but only one getting it at the moment

Oh well, that’s what you get with dodgy second hand parts from forum sponsors I guess.

could be rephrased as

Oh well, that’s what you get some times with AGED second hand parts from forum sponsors I guess.

Edited April 8, 2010 by GASTKR

[OLLIE 26]

pull your head in Graeme.

You buy 2nd hand car parts, you can't expect anything from them, no need to bag whoever supplied it to you. Like you said "you get what you pay for". As Silver Fox says they are a fraction of the price for a reason.

[QuickSilver 0]

pull your head in Graeme.

You buy 2nd hand car parts, you can't expect anything from them, no need to bag whoever supplied it to you. Like you said "you get what you pay for". As Silver Fox says they are a fraction of the price for a reason.

And on top of this, all our forum sponsors are good people going out of their way to support and help us all.

Good luck with it Sammy.

[Nobimmer 694]

Gutted mate, but theres your excuse to hurry with the new motor.

Maybe you should have got the parts from a eurosport member instead... they're way less dodgy.

[Sammy J 1]

Right.

Well you have probability worked out by now that i have bought a 10.2:1 compression ratio ETA motor. I have fully stripped this down and its getting a full rebuild with new rings, bearings, gaskets the works.

I have ordered a 0.120" MLS head gasket and ARP studs from the states... you can all guess this motor is getting boosted. Well i have lined up a brand new Borg Warner turbo with extended tips which is rated to 650HP and he seems to think it will be making full boost around 3000 rpm.

Have got a turbosmart 48mm external wastegate, genuine hks bov all ready to go. Just doing some research into intercooler size for the beast.

Im going to run a link computer and get it properly tuned and dialed in, Im wanting some rather serious power out of it as im using all good quality parts.

Im going to use the 885 head which will be skimmed along with the block which is being acid bathed as we speak. New valve seats and a grind will be taking place along with some flowing.

One thing i am yet to decide on is the cam, thinking i will take it into kelford and see what they recommend.

I also have all the parts now to complete my 5 stud swap minus the bushes which will be ordered from akg soon.

Im using e46 330i front brakes and just a ti rear end. Will be looking into getting some bigger brakes for the back at some stage however its not a priority.

I know you all must be thinking "what about the Sxx engine swap", well all i can say is thats still very much in the pipeline, just this was a perfect time to build up a nice turbo motor and that should give me some more time to save and modify other aspects of the touring.

Once the turbo and 5 stud swaps are complete, ill be moving on to the inside of the beast and doing something similar to my last car however, i think this will be nicer.

Watch this space for photos and updates:D

[crazyarab 6]

Awesome, sounds like you getting on top of it all nicely

Will be keeping a close eye on how you do the 5 lug!

Edited April 21, 2010 by crazyarab

[CamB 48]

Well i have lined up a brand new Borg Warner turbo with extended tips which is rated to 650HP and he seems to think it will be making full boost around 3000 rpm.

Awesome! Is that an S300 of some sort?

http://www.full-race.com/articles/borgwarn...or-housing.html

Assuming it is, make sure you get a "split pulse" manifold as that should improve spooling.

[oscar90 0]

This is going to be awesome, the bar is really being raised with cars in CHCH now, cant wait to see the progress of this

[c.robertson00 11]

What are you doing to the rear end to handle all the power? ie halfshafts?

[crazyarab 6]

What are you doing to the rear end to handle all the power? ie halfshafts?

Haha, and once you find out make sure to inform Linden