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PranK

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Posts posted by PranK

    Newbie from Geelong, Victoria

    in Newbie Introductions

    Posted

    Again, it looks great!

    Its funny, when I bought my Gtst I had 30 min drive straight home (around 5pm) and then straight to bed as I had to drive to the snow around 3am the next morning. So, much like you, I got a very decent "first" drive to familiarise myself and just enjoy it on some good roads. 

    In my GTR I drove it to Lismore once and I had to put some cushions on the seat. Like you I'm a bigger guy and the stock GTR seats killed me on long(er) drives.

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    15 minutes ago, The Bogan said:

    I have found on some of my cars, with plastic lenses, that the sealer has failed where the lens meets the body of the light, or, the rubber O-ring on the globe cover thingie has failed, or fallen off, or I forgot to replace it......

    I have had good success with a thin bead of clear silicone around where the lenses meet the body of the light, the O-rings either need a liberal coating of silicone grease or need to be replaced 

    Best of luck fixing it, foggy headlights, or taillights, makes me sad 

    Thanks for that. I think it might be the bulb cover at the back but these fricken lights are so hard to get any access to without removing the wheel liner / splash guard inside the wheel well and accessing them from the well ... which means removing the damn wheel again.

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    Picked the car up on Saturday and its beautiful! I do feel that even just knowing its fixed makes everything feel better.

    Did a cold start on Sunday and got the tiniest bit of rattle which upset me a bit but it was really hard to hear and made me think it could be something else that has previously gone unnoticed due to the volume of the rattly turbos. 

    I went for a drive and then loaded my tune which caused a LOT of rattle previously and it was silent. The car drove so nicely and now I have a 400HP tune with the front mount which is nice. In terms of engine mods I think I'm done but I also know myself. :D

    Then I fit the $500 rims I got. These are the same as my track wheels because I love them and I dont need to swap spacers when changing them. They're absolutely mint and have 275/35 rear and 245/40 front. The fronts do rub the splash guard and I had to lift the front 5mm to fit them (the track fronts are 245/35).

    20240421_161458.jpg 20240421_161131.jpg

    I really need to work out whats wrong with my drivers headlight. It just keeps filling with water and it killed a 6 month old $150 OSRAM xenon bulb :( - hopefully I dont need a new light, they're fricken expo. 

    • Like 3

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    33 minutes ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

    Going to get 4x Toyota Rav 4 diesel injectors changed at a non dealer mechanic will set you back a bit over $4k.

    So not too far off.

    Dont get me started on the N54 injectors :rofl:

    • Haha 1

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    35 minutes ago, Kinkstaah said:

    This is what, $6k for... fixing some leaks with some OEM quality gaskets/lines, to fix up OEM gasket/lines which were failing/failed?

    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.

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    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. 

    Newbie from Geelong, Victoria

    in Newbie Introductions

    Posted

    3 hours ago, sycotix said:

    Yeah mate completely stock, bar the drivers seat and head unit. One of the main reasons I was so attracted to it. 

    Keen to hear any thoughts on the model and things to watch out for. A lot to learn!

    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. 

    2 hours ago, soviet_merlin said:

    :wave:

    I don't think I have ever seen a stock R33 on the road. It looks very civilised and I quite like it! Please post some more photos when you get it.

    At least around where I am it feels like R33s can't exist without at least some bigass cannon exhaust. Making all the noise and not necessarily any of the power.

    Yeah, AMEN! 

    • Thanks 1

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    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).

    image.jpeg

    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.

    • Like 3

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    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 ... .

     

    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.

    20240415_155555 (1).jpg

    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).

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    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.

     

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    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.

    20240301_122408.jpg

    This is the car today after a big clean yesteday.

    20240415_143614.jpg

     

    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.

     

     

    Should you buy cheap Chinese tyres?

    in General Automotive Discussion

    Posted

    4 hours ago, Duncan said:

     

    For me the issue is the variability. I'll bet there are good tyres being made in china, it's just that I don't know which ones they are through personal experience, credible review or brand recognition (in that order of importance).

    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. 

    Should you buy cheap Chinese tyres?

    in General Automotive Discussion

    Posted

    Just now, silviaz said:

    Nope, I had some ones called "road claw" on a car with no traction control (luckily I never drove it in the rain) because I don't think that would have ended well lol. Tyres I think is one of those things to not cheap out on. I've heard stories of people using cheap Chinese tyres and almost totalling their car, just not worth the risk.

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

    • Haha 1

    Should you buy cheap Chinese tyres?

    in General Automotive Discussion

    Posted

    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?

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