Labor of love from Australia - Malachtgrun convertible running restoration

[AusScare]

Love this! The paint is great. If I ever did a full in/out respray I'd be going with this colour.

[Tzantushka]

Love this! The paint is great. If I ever did a full in/out respray I'd be going with this colour.

Thank you.
You don't see many in this color combo.
In fact on the weekend I saw a current model M4 in Malachite green - and it looked great!

[Tzantushka]

Well, apart from driving the hell out of the car over summer - only small things to report.
Small but fun things.

Like the wheel brace in the trunk.
I was never happy with the wheel brace because it flopped around in only one of the locating holes.



So ended up getting this:



Part # 72601916260 (Clamp)
Honestly, for a small plastic part that came all the way from Lithuania to Australia - it's a perfect opportunity for 3D printing to help out the E30 community.
Shame I don't have a 3D scanner or 3D printer.



No more '...clunk in the trunk...'

[Vincenze]

Part # 72601916260 (Clamp)
Honestly, for a small plastic part that came all the way from Lithuania to Australia - it's a perfect opportunity for 3D printing to help out the E30 community.
Shame I don't have a 3D scanner or 3D printer.

Aren't there BMW dealerships in Australia?
I believe you can order most E30 parts from any US dealership.

72601916260 costs $8 new.

This part requires a better 3D printer because some parts of it are fragile and some parts don't start from the bottom to the top (thus, supports are necessary).
There are services that will print 3D parts for you. I guess it'll cost $30 to print it on https://www.sculpteo.com

[Tzantushka]

Aren't there BMW dealerships in Australia?
I believe you can order most E30 parts from any US dealership.

72601916260 costs $8 new.
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Yep, we have BMW dealerships over here, many of them very good.
But a few things:

1) Price
For many reasons Australia is colloquially known as 'treasure island' as we frustratingly pay higher prices for the same item.
Distance & logistic costs, high overhead costs, low volumes, lack of competition and even consumers' appetite to pay nudges the cost of goods upwards.
This item is not USD$8.00 (=AUD$11.50).
Yes, it shows on a few local online providers for A$20 (=USD$14.00) but actually getting one is a mixed result

2) Availability
Even though it's showing as available to order, a few local dealers weren't interested as it was a PITA for them - and they must have applied a PITA surcharge, which forced the price much higher.
And the one who did try and order it, they received an unfavourable response from BMW Australia.
Turning to Western Europe, when I added it to my parts order from an O/S supplier they cancelled the back order citing NLA.

Buying a new one from Lithuania via eBay worked out cheaper than buying a new one locally (which I can't get).
And still cheaper than finding a 35 y.o. second hand part.

I guess as certain E30 parts become harder to find - using obscure sourcing methods becomes the norm.

[Northern]

I don't think it's just Aus. I ordered a few OE parts for my mini/e30 through random Lithuanian Ebay sellers because it was considerably cheaper than buying at the dealer or from the US.

[Tzantushka]

Well, after 35 years the hood cable finally gave up the ghost.

Thinking it was going to be a major pain and expensive exercise it wasn't too bad.

Firstly, the part is still available from BMW (51231884281 Engine hood mechanism).
And comes with a new interior handle & bracket...
And at a very reasonable price (less than A$75 / US$48) from a local BMW dealer in Melbourne....
No overseas freight - brilliant



Installation was easy thanks to the E30Zone guide on replacing the bonnet cable and the Classic Bimmer Bits E30 Hood Release Replacement article.

The emergency hood release location worked a treat.



Hardest part was seating the rubber grommet in the firewall.
Few tips:
- Removing the headlight gives you plenty of working room
- Best to clean and lubricate the hood latch mechanism
- unbolting the fuse box and hood catch also gives you plenty of room
- check for rust while the fuse box is loose

Thankfully no rust for me.

[hozzziii]

Went through the whole thread, just lovely.
Great work mate.

Also I read the whole thing with a Danny Ric aussie accent it was much more fun that way.

[Tzantushka]

Went through the whole thread, just lovely.
Also I read the whole thing with a Danny Ric aussie accent it was much more fun that way.

Thanks for the compliments :)

If it's easier, I can add translated subtitles - for example:



G'day, it was a bonza of a day out today - I hit the frog & toad for a kidney punch - bloody rippa!

(Hello, it was a very pleasant day and I went for a drive down the road for some lunch - it was very good)

[hozzziii]

Thanks for the compliments :)

If it's easier, I can add translated subtitles - for example:

G'day, it was a bonza of a day out today - I hit the frog & toad for a kidney punch - bloody rippa!

(Hello, it was a very pleasant day and I went for a drive down the road for some lunch - it was very good)

Why is it kidney punch xD lunch is so much fun.

Alright I've been practicing my aussie accent, watch this:

Rise Up Lights!
.
(Razer blades!)

How am I doing?

[Tzantushka]

How am I doing?

Noice
(Nice)

[Tzantushka]

Well not much to report.
Happy to say I am driving the hell out of the car.
Road trips and weekends away this car is great.

Only major maintenance was getting the inner & outer CV boots changed. After 34+ years they were tired.
Thankfully I outsourced that to a workshop...

[Tzantushka]

Turning left into the hardware store driveway last weekend there was this almighty metallic THUNK noise.
Have had that noise before when the rear anti-roll bar (swaybar) came loose from the endlink / drop link on the LH side.
Sure enough, same problem.



Decided to put a stop to this once and for all.
- Jacked up the back of the car from the diff
- Removed the LH road wheel
- Pressed the swaybar link back on (with a clamp & socket + extension through the coil spring)







Then picked up a 12mm shaft ring to keep it on there (for our Australian readers = Bunnings)



Pressed that on with an 18mm socket & extension.
Perfect.



That should keep the sway bar link from popping off the the drop link / endlink.