PranK

Dont get me started on the N54 injectors

The base problem was the turbo actuator arms. I could have just done the turbos but opted to do all supporting hardware at the same time to really future proof the car for me. But yeah, wont be much change from $6k.

Ok, so we've had some (expensive) problems but nothing critical, thankfully. I get parts from FCP Euro in the states and in this instance I got 4 x genuine BMW cooling lines and 4 x OE quality oil lines (because they had no genuine stock). Well, turns out the OE quality didn't fit and the guys wasted a lot of time with them. Thankfully FCP has lifetime returns but the genuine BMW lines locally were $250 each! They also discovered my drivers side engine mount was totally dead and the replacement mount was $350. This sucks as I almost bought new mounts when I did my FCP order and I would have had both the engine mounts for less than this local one. So, I'm assuming at least another $1500 on top of the existing number. They did reassure me that the new (used) turbos looked good which was my main worry. Car will be ready for Monday pickup.

Yeah it looks really clean and as SM says below, its very uncommon to find an unmolested one these days. I had a 96 Series 2 in white about 25 years ago! (holy Jesus thats depressing). Honestly, from my perspective, theres not much to watch out for. If you've already done a decent pre-purchase inspection just keep up with the maintenance but the RB25 is a tough bugger. Yeah, AMEN!

Nice series 2! Looks clean! And stock?

Damn that looks awesome. The colour is incredible!

Argh! That sucks!

Hey mate, I've updated those links. Reach out if there are any other issues. 👍 Any pics of the new Gtst?

Hey sycotix and welcome! We changed domain names a while back, some of the old links still go to the old domain. If you can click the report button on these posts I can fix them up. I try to attack them as I find them. Thanks! Christian

And now for the big one. Tomorrow the car goes in to Bimmertech to get the replacement turbo's put on. This is, hands down, the most money I think I've ever spent on a car in one go and I'm only fixing and future proofing 😭 This is what $2450 in BMW parts looks like (including the dang $350 in taxes I had to pay as I got them from the US). Its not much. Main things are; New oil pan gasket and replacement bolts All new exhaust manifold studs and nuts New exhaust gaskets and brackets 4 x new oil lines 4 x new coolant lines All new O Rings and seals Would have been double going through AU BMW I reckon. Then we have the turbos which were $750 and I'm hoping labour is under $1500. But, then I'll have a car that doesn't rattle, whose wastegate closes cleanly and who can hold boost (this could very well be the cause of my boost leak as the rattle gets worse it can change the shape of the flapper.) I'll finally be able to run my MHD tune! I'm so excited but so nervous they'll find some other disaster in there. If all goes well, I've bought myself another 100k's free of turbo-related problems.

When my car started leaking boost the first thing I did was to order some cheap diverter valves. I didn't know if this was the cause of the leak so I wasn't prepared to spend $400 on some nice aftermarket ones. Well ... You know . .... Cheap and Chinese ... . 20240211_172751.mov Thankfully right after this I found a guy in Perth selling some used Forge DV's for about the same as I got back on the ones above. Havent had another leak yet but also haven't been back to the track. The leak was only present when the car was super hot (which is why I thought the plastic OEM valves).

The next update is my brakes. When I test drove the car it had a major shake when braking. The dealer fixed this with brand new discs and pads all round which I was impressed with, but I'm fairly certain they got the brakes from the drawer below the bottom shelf. I mean, the car stopped, so its good for rego. Late last year I swapped the front pads out for EBC Red Stuff and it was like I was in a different car. A few months ago I swapped the discs out for DBA T2 and it got better again. The brakes are awesome, despite being single piston. They're the same calipers as the M3 I believe.

I have a few updates. The first is my wheels. I bought a set of BMW MSport style 403M last year. Because they were from an F30 the offset was low but even with chunky tyres and 20mm spacers, I couldn't get them looking right. I did plastidip them to see if it'd be worth respraying them and it looked ok for a bit, but one thing NOBODY mentioned in their Youtube videos of plastidipping is that brake dust quite literally STICKS to the plastidip, It becomes embedded in the rubber and its super hard to clean. So, I took the plastidip off and now the wheels are the OEM diamond cut face appearance and given the offset issues I'm just not loving them at all. So I bought a second set of BMW 351M wheels (same as my track wheels) to use on the road. The 403' are now for sale. This is with the plastidip. Looks great until you get close. I think respraying them properly in this colour would be pretty nice. This is the car today after a big clean yesteday. I got some Sailun 255's for the rear hoping it would fill it out a bit but its still quite tucked. A bigger sidewall would help. But, incase you missed the poll, dont buy Chinese tyres.

Yeah I've noticed that too. The more expensive the car the cheaper the tyres. Except in my case...

This is what got me @Duncan. Surely not all of them are terrible so I did my research and found a lot of good things said about the ones I got.

Seriously? How can anything be terrible when it has "claw" in the name? What a let down.

Some super cool cars in those pics. I love the 90s spec white R33. What became of the $400 s13 shell?

Period correct wheels. 👌🏻

I have been religiously anti the cheap Chinese tyre brands. I like good middle-teir tyres and I like knowing I have decent rubber. I bought a set of wheels that came with Black Diamond tyres. They were noisy but not terrible with grip. When it came time to replace them I did some reading and watched a bit of YouTube about cheap Chinese rubber and if it is actually terrible. So, I went against my better judgement, listened to a few reviews and bought a pair of Sailun tyres for the rear of the 335i. Two tyres, fitted for a twenty less than a single front-matched Kumho! And let me tell you.... They're f**king horrible. They are so noisy even at low speeds and even moderate take offs from the lights cause TCS flashing. And these were the GOOD cheap Chinese tyres. What is your opinion or experiences with Chinese tyres?

https://www.drive.com.au/news/police-nab-racing-harnesses-in-kia-cerato/ They're probably knock offs too.

My wife says stuff like that too, it becomes my sole motivation to do it.

Welcome back! The site is seeing a strong improvement in visitors lately and several old(er) members have returned. I think the poor historical content on social media means that all the info on SAU is still valuable and so users are returning. A lot of what you said resonates with me. While I wasn't mechanically minded to do what you were doing I was definitely in the thick of it with other people on here. Had 3 x R33's myself and still can't believe I sold any of them. My Stagea was awesome and my 180 was a hoot (even if I did over steer it into a no parking sign post as I left work one night ).

Sounds good. Will amend soon.

I can already imagine the insurance on this. Likely a K powered CRV if I get my way. She wants a soft roader so she can do some road trips and camping with friends. 1000HP K24 build coming soon!