What'd you do to your BMW today?

[hunter 408]

suspension malarkey month for me;

each winter for the past 3 winters the car had been making an intermittent groan when turning the wheel at either low speed or stationary. this year it became more persistent, and after much investigation and checking of bushings control arms etc, it was found that the H&R front springs i had, had sagged / compressed past the point of being useful and the car was effectively sitting on the bumps stops (although compression under driving didn't provide any noise the bumps were under constant stress) and that is what the groaning was. 

This was disappointing as i loved the set up and "stance" of the car and the springs  weren't that old, 5 years, and cost a bit.

So i agreed with the local suspension shop to swap my OG M Sport springs back in, this worked but the rears were on the piss with different heights from left to right (see post in suspension section) this would not do - front were great and car felt much better when turning.

( i also noted that the shop and put a huge gouge in one of my wheels when it was with them - grrr they did agree to put it right and have since done so )

That was all 2 weeks ago, so this week we swapped the H&R rears back in, the car is now level left to right and has a slight rake front to rear as factory. the spring rates although different springs front to rear are very complimentary and the car driving feel is better than it's felt in a long time.

 

So now all sorted, no odd noises, no crooked looks, no bung mags. 

Now she just needs a solid clean one my garage project is done and she can be parked inside again

[hugo_nz 166]

Had a bit of bad luck with the 6-er lol. First an old dude drove into me last month (minor damage and repaired exceptionally well by German Kollision) and then on Thursday I find out the inner edge of my front tyres are shredded. Two new front tyres fitted yesterday. I went with the newer Dunlop SP Sport Maxx 050 rather than the older Sport Maxx GT ROF. 

[kiwi535 538]

is it a square setup?Maybe they are actually recently off the rear?Fronts normally scrub the outsides

[hugo_nz 166]

Nope they are narrow and wide setup. Fronts are 245/35/20 and rears are 275/30/20.

[sobanoodle 45]

1 hour ago, hugo_nz said:

Dunlop SP Sport Maxx 050

Non-runflats? My rears will be dew soon and thinking of 050s too, where did you get yours from?

[hugo_nz 166]

Yep, went for non ROF. I keep a spare in the garage but also took hazard cover on the new ones. Bought them from Beaurepairs on a buy one get one half price offer. $700 for both and $90 for fitting and the hazard cover. Also considering the 050s for my rears. They are $605 each which is still way better then the Maxx GTs at over $800. 

[sobanoodle 45]

22 minutes ago, hugo_nz said:

Yep, went for non ROF.

Have you noticed much difference? 

[hugo_nz 166]

Yep. The ride comfort is much improved and the steering actually feels lighter. Road noise level is also reduced. 

[sobanoodle 45]

Sweet, contemplating whether to swap the whole set all at once or do the rears now and wait for the fronts to wear off. 

Found SP Sport Maxx 050 in 275/30/20 for $399 a corner. 

Edit:  and 245/35/20 @ $350 a corner.

[hugo_nz 166]

Where???

[GorGasm 563]

Just got my wheels back from refurb, cost a pretty penny.  They're ment to be black shadow chrome but came out mostly black.

[qazwsx 11]

Indulging in my ocd by making custom pork chops and wheel spoilers for the ACS bumper.

[qazwsx 11]

It's not attached at the front and just resting on the bumper lip. Let's see if it holds on the motorway ?

[qazwsx 11]

On 11/22/2018 at 9:40 AM, gjm said:

 

I was lucky enough to catch up with Elijah where we discussed his latest purchase.
I'm not sure, but saying "When will you ever get a chance like this again?" may have swayed him.

It's gonna be great. 

Never seen flares like that before. Will be beastly for sure with wide wheels

[BozzaFC 300]

20 hours ago, GorGasm said:

Just got my wheels back from refurb, cost a pretty penny.  They're ment to be black shadow chrome but came out mostly black.

That is stunning

[gjm 3258]

Replaced the headlining in Miss M's E46.

More of a PITA job than actually difficult.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

On ‎12‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 1:55 PM, sobanoodle said:

Sweet, contemplating whether to swap the whole set all at once or do the rears now and wait for the fronts to wear off. 

Found SP Sport Maxx 050 in 275/30/20 for $399 a corner. 

Edit:  and 245/35/20 @ $350 a corner.

Might want to check the VIRM or with a WoF inspector, but isn't it a failure if you mix and match run-flats and non-runflats on the same car? Thought it was an all or nothing thing - all four have to be one type or the other?

[gjm 3258]

16 minutes ago, E30 325i Rag-Top said:

Might want to check the VIRM or with a WoF inspector, but isn't it a failure if you mix and match run-flats and non-runflats on the same car? Thought it was an all or nothing thing - all four have to be one type or the other?

I think it is same axle: same rule as radials/cross-plies applies. No mixing on the axle.

It's certainly recommended that they're not mixed on the car, but maybe not a defined requirement?

Edit: https://vehicleinspection.nzta.govt.nz/virms/in-service-wof-and-cof/general/tyres,-wheels-and-hubs/tyres-and-wheels

Edited December 3, 2018 by gjm
VIRMs link added

[M3AN 4016]

That ^ link is interesting... no tread depth requirement for tyres that can be identified as "winter" tyres... embossing a snowflake on the sidewall of your slicks would qualify them as a winter tyre... letter of the law and all.

 

Edited December 3, 2018 by M3AN

[Mad_Max 231]

1 hour ago, M3AN said:

That ^ link is interesting... no tread depth requirement for tyres that can be identified as "winter" tyres... embossing a snowflake on the sidewall of your slicks would qualify them as a winter tyre... letter of the law and all.

 

Tread depth requirement for "winter tyres" is 4mm, noted in that link. 

As @gjm stated, the ruling is that, technically, you can mix any combination of tyres to a car, as long as the same brand, size and tread pattern is on the same axle.

All the info is in the link he provided

[KwS 2425]

1 hour ago, M3AN said:

That ^ link is interesting... no tread depth requirement for tyres that can be identified as "winter" tyres... embossing a snowflake on the sidewall of your slicks would qualify them as a winter tyre... letter of the law and all.

 

15. A winter tyre (Note 3) does not have a tread depth of at least 4mm (excluding any tie-bar or tread-depth indicator strip) within all principal grooves that normally contain moulded tread-depth indicators and around the whole circumference of the tyre.

[M3AN 4016]

12 minutes ago, Mad_Max said:

Tread depth requirement for "winter tyres" is 4mm, noted in that link. 

As @gjm stated, the ruling is that, technically, you can mix any combination of tyres to a car, as long as the same brand, size and tread pattern is on the same axle.

All the info is in the link he provided

I see the note now, cheers.

And yep, I understood what Graham was saying.

[BreakMyWindow 1874]

Time for another diff seal. Must’ve been a 1000km running-in seal. Ffs.

That’ll teach me for replacing them (old wern’t leaking) while having the diff out.

 

[wrs 120]

Replaced all hoses in my 26 year old cooling system.

On Friday I got a check coolant level warning. Topped it up when cold, started and got it up to temp. Just as the thermostat opened there was a big gush of steam from under the inlet manifold. When doing a check, two of the hoses just ripped off leaving the hose-clamp and a bit of hose stuck on the outlets... Hoses totally rotten.

Sourced replacement hose, fittings and new clamps and made up a replacement hose set. Did a throttle body delete too since the thermostat in the airbox broke a long time ago and it's been linked ever since to always on. I replace all hoses.

Also decided to replace all the fuel hoses too.

The result ended up fairly tidy for an E36...

Fullsize

http://i68.tinypic.com/16gfrwy.jpg

[adro 1083]

New WOF for the E30. 

1990’s car shot on a Hasselblad from the 80’s