Life is choice bro thread.

[Allanw 1071]

8 hours ago, dirtydoogle said:

Suspension flies apart, they eat brakes and they rust like crazy. Have seen several break seat backs off without being crashed 

Not a particularly well built car but they drive okay. Love the Barra though, beauty of an motor with some boost up it 

The rust on them is crazy! A mate was looking at them (and it was a long time ago - they're weren't old then!), until he discovered how many were rotted out under the back window in the boot.

[Palazzo 477]

Diff bushes (not big/strong enough esp on a turbo), rear suspension bushes, front brakes (undersized), rear tyres (just destroys them), interior is touch wood, perfect so far.

All is forgiven on boost, from about 1200-5000rpm.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

I had a BA Falcon as a company car when I first came to NZ... Had been in my possession for about 3 days before it had it's first trip back to the dealership.

Only thing it was good for was seeing how high I could get the reading on the fuel consumption screen.

Having been to the factories in Aussie where they screwed them together, and the engine plant would rather walk everywhere than spend my own hard earned money on one!

[sweetm3 180]

Went to the airport to pick up number 1 son, after an hour looking at the departure gate. My eyes wandered around the waiting area and I spied another BM member (Andy).

My son didn't arrive hope Andy's folks made it.

I'm heading out there tomorrow ?

[aja540i 1906]

6 minutes ago, sweetm3 said:

Went to the airport to pick up number 1 son, after an hour looking at the departure gate. My eyes wandered around the waiting area and I spied another BM member (Andy).

My son didn't arrive hope Andy's folks made it.

I'm heading out there tomorrow ?

Yep, found my lot about 15 minutes after you left!

[Karter16 404]

Just bought a second hand E46 M3 muffler for $8. ?

I don't really need another one, but for $8 I couldn't come up with a reason to not get it!

[Palazzo 477]

On 7/27/2018 at 1:06 PM, E30 325i Rag-Top said:

I had a BA Falcon as a company car when I first came to NZ... Had been in my possession for about 3 days before it had it's first trip back to the dealership.

Only thing it was good for was seeing how high I could get the reading on the fuel consumption screen.

Having been to the factories in Aussie where they screwed them together, and the engine plant would rather walk everywhere than spend my own hard earned money on one!

You remind me more and more of Ron.

“I drove one in the 90s and it was terrible and they therefore all are”. And forever will be.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

Ok, fair point.

Let me counter my own statement, it was slightly better than the AU Falcon I had to drive before it.

Some of the FPVs I've driven have been impressive in terms of power and even handling has been good, however they were let down by the brakes (tended to fade badly after about 4 or 5 hard track laps) and again by the build quality. A lot of money to pay for body panels that didn't line up.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

On ‎7‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 10:08 PM, Palazzo said:

“I drove one in the 90s and it was terrible and they therefore all are”. And forever will be.

The original post was not intended as bagging on the car design across the generations, only the BA XT (even the XR6 was a much better car in terms of the drive). My main issue was with the factories they were produced in, which counteracted any good work the engineers did in developing the newer models. Indeed, for their price some of the later FPV models were very good bang for buck. The I6 Barra engine with the turbo on it was really much greater than the sum of it's parts and I would suspect capable of much more with a bit more boost applied.

The whole quality process for FMCA was "get it out of here now and fix it later" from the design process, through development and into production. There was no change in this mentality from the early 2000s when I started working with them, through to when the plants eventually closed. This mentality, and the resultant quality of the finished product, may have been acceptable in the Aussie and NZ market place but coming from a European background this was a real throw back to the dark ages for me. Serious, or even minor, faults immediately obvious in a brand new vehicle are no longer accepted by customers. "Bring it back and we will have a look at it" should not be the approach to managing quality problems.

Whilst it is impossible to be "perfect" and have zero issues amongst millions of cars produced, even for BMW, Toyota or anyone else, you can work towards that and get pretty close. However, the whole culture at both the Ford engine plant and assembly plant did not even acknowledge quality as being a factor in what is was doing.

[Olaf 3317]

On 7/26/2018 at 1:55 PM, Young Thrash Driver said:

Had a very narrow escape from this guy on Saturday. Just managed to avoid being hit head on about 3 seconds before he went through a raised roundabout and performed some kind of spinning somersault. Trying to do a runner from the po-po, I estimated his speed at above 130.

very pleased you avoided, mate.

[Olaf 3317]

happy days.  I've found there's a movie adaptation of Initial-D on Netflix NZ.  Instead of being awful, it's AWESOME!

Finished an interesting week in the office, enjoyed a glass of pinot watching this.  Recommended.  Very funny.

[M3AN 4016]

1 hour ago, Olaf said:

...a movie adaptation of Initial-D...

Sounds bad-arse actually... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_D_(film)#Plot

 

[Olaf 3317]

the way they've cast Bunta is great fun.

[Olaf 3317]

I'm watching Luke Cage, with my Son.  Life is good.

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

On 7/26/2018 at 1:55 PM, Young Thrash Driver said:

 

So this just got a bit surreal, received a few messages yesterday from the site manager who looks after the construction zone this POS landed in saying "Hi Colin, got your contact details from the police, when will you be along to pick up your car? Also there will be extra costs involved. Thanks!"

[B.M.W Ltd 950]

Do you get all the drugs & alcohol with it when you pick it up ?

[aja540i 1906]

Pop round and pick it up, tell the guy that whoever was driving it is liable for the extra costs and they can get his info from the Police.....

Then set fire to it?

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

I am a little concerned about the breach of privacy aspect... but yes I did consider picking it up to retrieve the engine for someone

[Palazzo 477]

18 minutes ago, Young Thrash Driver said:

I am a little concerned about the breach of privacy aspect... but yes I did consider picking it up to retrieve the engine for someone

It was in fine form when it went past?! The rest should buff out.

[Spudooli 18]

The smallest daughter (still on L plates) just got back from driving the wife's new (to us) E87 130i for the first time. As she came down the driveway she had a huge stupid grin on her face, only to tell me that she waaaay prefers the E87 over the E90 320i she has been learning to drive in. So proud of her.

[dirtydoogle 383]

7 hours ago, Young Thrash Driver said:

I am a little concerned about the breach of privacy aspect... but yes I did consider picking it up to retrieve the engine for someone

If that happened I'll barra swap one of our work X5's. 

Or the e39

[Jacko 2154]

After driving a 2016 6.7l 3600kg Ram 2500 for 3 weeks in Georgia, the 130i feels like an absolute razor blade weapon of a thing. So much steering feel!

100% the best upgrade to any car, is to compare it to something way less dynamic  

[Jacko 2154]

Shout out to Tonys Tyre Service in Takanini, first time ive ever used em. Decided to try some RE003s out.

Really clean workshop, really good customer service, and I watched the guy use a real torque wrench to tighten the wheels back up, and then another guy came around and checked the torques! 

Edited October 17, 2018 by Jacko

[SmithyInWelly 212]

It's been a good couple of weeks... new fixed term role started; current house in Whitby sold; new(old) house in the Hutt purchased.

If only I could find a buyer for my e91... I s'pose it's true about things happening in threes huh?

Edited October 26, 2018 by SmithyInWelly

[eliongater 718]

Took the valve cover off my E12 M535i engine that had been sitting outside for months before I purchased it, still looked like it had been loved previously, attempted to turn it over and got some movement out of the crank (valves didn't seem too happy though). Happily it looks completely salvageable