Grungle

When I got mine back after getting my coilpacks replaced the job sheet said 14psi.

I'm in adelaide and have an M35 ARX if you're interested in checking it out or asking any more questions. I bought mine in NSW and drove it back, but recently took it to Sinergy on Main North Road for some repairs. They were really helpful - diagnosed and fixed the problem and seemed to know what they were talking about. They had a gold ARX in the yard there, but I didn't look very closely at it.

So i woke up saturday morning to find paw prints all over my stagea. Up the bonnet, all over the windscreen and up and down the roof a few times. "Big deal" i hear you say? "How much damage can a little kitten do?" The only thing with paws around my place is our 6-month old, 22kg golden retriever puppy. He has jumped up on the doors a couple of times before and put a few little scratches on it, but nothing like this. He obviously had a couple of tries to get onto the bonnet - there are 4 sets of scratches running down the front of the bonnet and over the headlight, so I guess it was slipperier than he was expecting. So after 6 months, my near-perfect ARX is now looking decidedly family-spec. There's dog fur all through the back, a dent in the door where the missus opened it onto the corner of a wall and the inevitable gutter rash on the rims. Oh well, I was planning on keeping it for a while...it will probably end up as a paddock-basher for the kids to learn to drive in another 10 years or so...

fixed! they replaced the coilpacks and it's all good - no miss and pulls strong all the way to redline. They said they hadn't ever seen it in a VQ engine before...but as most of you probably know it happens frequently (?) in the RBs. Oh well, it's fixed now.

Update: Took the car into Sinergy in Adelaide to get looked at while i was away (getting married ). They took it for a drive, agreed something was wrong and reduced the gap on the spark plugs. Things improved, but not by much. After approval from me, they ordered a new set of coilpacks and installed them today - they say it's all fixed and can be picked up tomorow. I'll leave an update after I've been for a drive and let you you all know how it goes.

ducati02 and pixel8r - Where are you guys in Adelaide? I'm just north of the city (Grand Junction Rd) - I've only ever seen 3 other M35s around...a white one, a blue one and a silver ARX.

I did mine recently. I went into Autobarn and they had the VQ25 listed in the NGK catalogue. They had to order them, but a couple of weeks later they arrived - about $21 or $24 each (i think). My car is at 85,000 now and the plugs i took out were slightly worn - not terrible, but worth replacing. Yep, a lot of intake piping had to come off, but it was only a 2-beer job.

Mine has been like that for as long as I've had it - 15,000km now. Most people that get into it say it sounds like a siren in the distance. I believe they are all pretty noisy.

This certaily sounds possible - i have hit the ignition boost cut in my old cordia, and it's not an enjoyable experience - the stagea is definitely not that violent, and it does get better when you lift slightly. As I said, if you slowly bring the revs/boost up it's not a problem and revs smoothly all the way to redline...it's just when you flatten it that it seems to get a gutful of fuel and goes nowhere. to the dyno...!

thanks for your help guys. yep, i only use BP Ultimate 98, tried a few others and that seemed to work the best/get the best milage. i thought the fuel filter was changed when the car arrived in Oz, but i'll have to look at the paperwork again and change it if it wasn't. I recently changed the oil, oil filter and spark plugs. I think it needs to go on a dyno and get checked out. until i can get a look at A/F ratios and actually find out what's going on i shouldn't just keep randomly changing things... I know my way around a toolbox so i'll do the rest of the work myself i think - and i've got this exhaust set up so i can run one of your dumps Angus (when they're ready). when it comes to imports local mechanics seem to be making most of it up as they go anyway. i'll book it in for a dyno run and see what the deal is.

hmmm... standard filter (not oiled) and it idles perfectly. it's not neccessarily happening at high rpm, but at high boost. if i bring the revs up slowly without boosting too much it's fine. haven't checked boost pressure (no guage) but i would be surprised if it's been changed from stock - nothing else on the car has been. may be a fueling issue...might just have to book it in somewhere and see what "the professionals" can come up with. as for the dump - I told them it was going to be difficult, and i guess they took that as meaning if it's too hard don't do it. I'll just change it when (if?) the turbo goes.

So i got a new exhaust for my M35 today. 3 inch stainless with 2 mufflers. It's not as quiet as i would have liked, but i'll see how i feel once i've done a few km in it. Problem 1: the exhaust shop couldn't get the dump pipe off "without removing the engine" . So they fitted a cat-back, and i'll do the dump later. a pain the arse, but no problem. Problem 2: The car runs TERRIBLY. it has always had problems under high boost (missing, possibly pinging) and after changing the spark plugs it seemed to get a bit better, but after changing the exhaust today it's absolutely terrible. has anyone else experienced this? what could it be? and most importantly, how can i stop it? how much "tuning" can be done with the factory computer? i'm not chasing more power, i'm more interested in getting it to run cleanly. As I said, it has never been quite right, it's just that the problem is more apparent with the exhaust. Fuel economy is ok (i have squeezed 600km+ out of a tank a couple of times), i have good power and i've done about 12,000km in it so far. no other mods. any recommendations for someone to take a look at it in Adelaide (Northern suburbs if possible)? i'm just about stuck. it's fine at low loads and there is no problem getting around town, but get it out on the highway to overtake someone and it coughs and splutters and carrys on... any ideas?

Spotted a white '34 and me (in my M35) holding up 2 lanes of traffic on Main North Rd to let a family of ducks (complete with ducklings) cross. Skyline owners care!

May not be suitable for what you want, but I got one of those cheap(ish) ones that just extends to wedge itself between the floor and the roof from Autobarn. I realise it's not terribly strong (it's aluminium, not plastic), but it's only indended for keeping the dog off the leather. We're always taking it in and out to get the bikes / bed / other stuff in the back, and it's much more convenient than having to break out the spanners every time. Was only $60 or something I think.

I was down in Victor today (picking up our new puppy!) and saw 3 speed camera cars. One at the top of Willunga Hill, one a couple of km's out of Victor on the Adelaide Road and another one at the Western End of the Ring road. All different colored Falcon Wagons. Be careful down there tomorrow and have a great cruise...I've got puppy training to do!

Really just confirming everything everyone else has said, but I've been getting 12-14L/100km since the day I bought mine, no matter how I drive it. Just filled it up (the fuel light had just come on) and got 550km out of 67L...= 12.2L/100km That's a stock '01 ARX with 84,000km.

I'll have one.

spotted my first M35 in adelaide (after owning mine for 4 months now!) Blue one in North Adelaide with "M35" Plates. very nice.

A couple of pics from my sister's wedding recently...

spotted a slightly crumpled black 33 (on the back of a tow truck) on the corner of grand junction and North East Road about 3:30pm. Didn't look *too* bad...but I hope everyone was OK.

I'm in too - providing these are legal. Does anyone know anything about certification of tow bars? I'm guessing the standard they are made under will be pretty similar. Count me in anyway...also in Adelaide.

I got backed into by a land cruiser in my old 3-series a few years ago. Just Car took the highest quote of the three (the one that replaced the bonnet because "it looked bad enough and it's a beautiful looking car") and i didn't hear another word about it. I took it in for the quotes, took it in again for the repair and a week later it was done...new bonnet, new BMW badge, reprayed front bar - they even replaced the indicator lenes that had hairline cracks where the bonnet squashed them. I didn't pay a cent for the repair and kept my rating one. I remain VERY impressed with Just Car, and now have the Stagea insured with them.

Yeah, I could be in that - assuming they're happy to send it to Adelaide.

So I'm looking into replacing the stock exhaust on my M35 ARX. It it worth going the whole way with a turbo-back, or should I save the $$ ($$?) and just get a cat-back? I know there are some serious performance gains to be had by doing the whole thing, but how much more is a dump + cat likely to cost? I'm unlikely to upgrade the turbo etc in the future (even if it fails) so I'm not going to need massive flow down the track. With the aussie dollar the way it is I'm assuming I'll be better off getting something made locally rather than importing something? Also, I'm in Adelaide - does anyone have anything good/bad to say about any exhaust workshops? I have emailed 3 well-known shops today for some quotes, but if there is anyone else around that has worked on M35s it could make the process a bit easier.

+1 for supermoto - more fun than a street bike, quicker through the corners and tops out at a less-deadly 130km/h (less deadly than 300+km/h anyway). here's mine ('03 WR250F): With different colored wheels, stickers holding the plastics together and 18,000km on the poor little 250cc motor it's certainly ghetto, but it's the most fun I've had on the road in a loooong time. I believe you can get some big supermoto bikes that are LAMS approved...?