Wrong gearbox

Well, whadaya know, I actually bought the wrong gearbox! this unit I had would only fit an m20 or m40 block, but mine was the M50. First of all, the engine is mounted slightly more canted by 10% to the right (from the driver's perspective), requiring a mod to the gearbox mount. secondly, the tip of the shaft is of a smaller diameter, requiring another mod to fit.

I thought about for a while, and then decided I didn't like the feeling of modding it, so I put it up for sale...fortunately, I managed to sell it off two days ago.

And I also managed to find the right gearbox, a ZF S5D-320Z taken from a e36 328i. Still need the rear diff though. Once I get that I'll be able to start sometime the third week of Dec. Fingers crossed!

Nothing like Manual

I managed to procure a ZF manual gearbox set from a forumer...seems it came off a M20B25. I tried googling the part number 10484011112 but came up empty.

the set came with pedals, gearshift, flywheel, longshaft, mounting bracket and a couple other items:

Will install this once the fog in my head clears...

Hotbits

Decided to get a set of hotbits adjustables (high low, soft hard) after thinking about the long run cost of shock replacement and car ride height. The Eibachs were good, but the car was still tilted to the right, due to dem zilly jermans explicitly designing the weight distribution for left-hand drive models.

Result? Works like a charm :-). i finally have the ride i want. the units have a 40-click damping adjustment, i'm current on 13 at the rear and 15, 16 at the front.

here's the rear:

and here's the front:

Ultimate Driving Machine

I've finally decided to part with the Rolla, after enjoying the thrills and spills for the past 4 years...I guess age is catching up and I now prefer the peace and quiet of the E34. An E34 did you say? That's a far cry from the Rolla! Well, for starters, the E34 was considered one of the most elegant shapes of its time, and even today, it still commands a loyal throng of devotees.

Well, my particular E34 was purchased in July 2006, and it was literally stock standard. How I got into the E34 is somewhat interesting. It was my fellow colleague, Yoga, who also happened to be the chap who sold me the Rolla, who got me interested. Mr Yoga had a particularly engaging way of sharing his automotive exploits that had one spellbound. Well, ok, spellbound is perhaps too strong a word. However, he related one incident that had me hooked - an E34, the M20B25, kept up with a turbocharged Nissan Skyline to his utter chagrin, all the way to Port Dickson. Of course the Skyline had superior acceleration, but at speeds exceeding 160kmh, the Bimmer tailed the Skyline easily and caused Mr Yoga to salivate at the backseat, wondering what could have been if the Bimmer was turbocharged itself. He went on to relate how the Bimmer sliced through corners like hot knife through butter; how it would draw up agonizingly close to the Skyline on long, sweeping corners, and how turbo lag meant the Skyline driver had to feather the throttle through the apex, allowing the E34 to nudge menacingly up his ASS...

Well, all said and done, I'm now enjoying this ride...well, I really have to, after spending a small fortune on maintenance...LOL. There isn't a whole lot of flashy performance gadgets that can be found for the E34, unlike the Rolla. But I can testify that this car CAN outcorner the Rolla by virtue of its 50:50 front:rear weight balance, and FR layout.

Since it is an auto, i initially missed the manual shifting action of the 6-speeder, but now, I can enjoy some level of serenity inside the car...It is definitely quieter, less NVH, and overall a more stable platform for cruising. Oh, and the driving position is also better suited to my 5'11" frame.

Of course, there are drawbacks, and one of them would be fuel consumption. Compared to the Rolla, the E34 can only muster approximately 8-9km per litre for my daily drive to work. I can't really complain because it weighs 1550kg, and has only about 270NM of torque.

270NM, you say? I thought the manual had it at 250NM. What gives? Aha, this is where I invested in a little bit of tuning in the form of a copper lead frame with a piece of lithographed silicon die, some gold wires and coated with black plastic mould. Well this little lump of thingamajig also contains some nifty ignition timing and fueling maps that allow a 1.5 tonne behemoth to run a little leaner while producing a little more grunt at the same time. How much? Well, I have not actually dyno'ed it yet, but the boast is +22BHP at 6000rpm and 20lb-ft at 4000rpm, 500 rpm lower than before... sweet.

Overengineered German Tank

I have managed to acquire another over-engineered car, this time it is a E34 1995 BMW 525i. Now, the story behind this is a little different from the Rolla. It had never crossed my mind to get this car, until a few colleagues started relating stories of how this car easily touched 200kmh; how it stayed with a certain Jap turbocharged car with ease on the highway; and how it managed to leave the rear passenger sleeping soundly while blasting past unsuspecting drivers at 230kmh.

And so, the story goes, I should consider replacing the rolla with one of these German tanks, a kind of 'upgrade', if you will. After all, resale values of these specimens are nothing much to shout at, and it wont be much of an outlay to get one, assuming I dispose of the Rolla for a fair price.

However, at that time, which is somewhere around June 2006, I was already contemplating selling off my wife's car, a 95 Civic sedan, with a brand new one, the FD1, that was just launched a couple of months prior to June 2006. In fact, I had already placed a booking for one, and was already looking forward to getting it in August.

What got me thinking was this - if I was to get the new car, I'd be paying a tidy sum every month for the next 5 years. Why don't I keep the Rolla, after all, it is already paid up, and then get one of these beemers for less than half the price of the new Civic? That thought struck a chord with the accountant within me, and so, by August 2006, i had already found myself a unit, a dark blue 95 525i single vanos automatic, with a nicely maintained interior and drivetrain. It had a grey interior, 3-spoke steering, and 15"BBS basket weave rims.

Being my first BM, I had done some research as to the likely maintenance costs, especially the major items. It turns out I decided to spend a little more on preventive maintenance, just to avoid any embarrassing breakdowns, particularly when my other half would be using it more frequently.