Nonsense Thread

[MrBurgundy]

Toast, are you going to rock Ranger instead of the F150?

[roguetoaster]

That would be a good option, but I'm trying to find something that can fit in my garage and close the door. I'm estimating the garage will be around 204" when finished and the internet says your truck is 197 in. So it might fit, but that's super tight.

That's why I was thinking about a small cab short bed mini truck.

I have another 20 inches of depth in my garage and I would say it fits conveiently. However, typical 8ft regular cab trucks either just don't fit or fit with nothing to spare if you tap the rear wall. It's funny since I ended up picking this one because of how it fit in the garage.

LOL oh yea, from 2021 the Year of Trucks on R3V

I think 2024's theme is cheap shitboxes

It would seem so, averaging $1040 per vehicle over five so far this year. The classic buy a cheap car and spend 2x the purchase price on maintenance has pretty much been accurate.

[2mAn]

It even has a build thread on r3v.

LOL oh yea, from 2021 the Year of Trucks on R3V

I think 2024's theme is cheap shitboxes

[Panici]

That said, if I had the money I'd also want to experience at least a year with an E39 M5.
It is funny though, that is an over 20 year old car now. Unless it was a family mover... realistically anything I'd consider is still around 20 years old at newest.

IMO the average newer car doesn't have the "fizz" of older stuff.
I don't care about the latest tech, so all the various screens and voice commands are actually negatives for me.

20+ years old sounds about right for me as well. My newest vehicle is 19 years old this year, oldest is 38.

[McGyver]

You should just buy my 95 F150 short bed, regular cab, RWD, manual transmission since I'm only down in MD. It even has a build thread on r3v. I've only put close to 6k in parts on a 1k truck that I intend to sell for 3k, so it seems normal.

That would be a good option, but I'm trying to find something that can fit in my garage and close the door. I'm estimating the garage will be around 204" when finished and the internet says your truck is 197 in. So it might fit, but that's super tight.

That's why I was thinking about a small cab short bed mini truck.

[MrBurgundy]

It was one of these....

I will always stand on this hill... E39 530i 5spd is the best sedan ever made

[roguetoaster]

Huh, that's a good idea. I really want a cheap manual small pickup for hauling dirty stuff. Prices on the 80s-90s s10/ragnger/sonoma/dakota are all stupid high for such a bare bones car. Maybe an auction would get something decent!

You should just buy my 95 F150 short bed, regular cab, RWD, manual transmission since I'm only down in MD. It even has a build thread on r3v. I've only put close to 6k in parts on a 1k truck that I intend to sell for 3k, so it seems normal.

[McGyver]

You guys might try your local public auction for some adventure. Ended up with two on cheeky low bids today, another SVT Contour (my 4th one), and a manual 2.3l 2003 Ranger. Even with fees and shipping they're cheap.

Huh, that's a good idea. I really want a cheap manual small pickup for hauling dirty stuff. Prices on the 80s-90s s10/ragnger/sonoma/dakota are all stupid high for such a bare bones car. Maybe an auction would get something decent!

[Northern]

To cap the day off a friend offered their high mileage E39 530i sport M/T for a very low price, so I had to say yes to that too.

Best spec. Would love one of these, but I'm also looking at E34 tourings more and more as well thanks to Varg and some other internet builds.
Carsandbids prices are high vs historical values, but still very cheap vs anything else I am interested in, short of an LR3 claptrap for offroading shenanigans with friends

[2mAn]

What kind of Alfa?

[DEV0 E30]

N52s, does anyone make a viable standalone so you don't have to dick around with all of the integrated systems BS that OEM EMS comes with? I'm so spoiled by having had megasquirt in my long term cars that I almost can't imagine any project without fully tunable aftermarket EMS. As for the fit, I have a friend who likes his as a "don't care about it" daily/beater. Also in his stable are 2 classic BMWs I like and an FD, so I trust his judgement that it's fun on the twisty roads up in his neck of the woods and very useful.


This forum software sucks major ass, multi-quote used to be much easier.

Unfortunately, OEM only to my knowledge and there aren't many out there that can deal with the OEM DME stuff.
It's why I have multiple DMEs and two were modified and "jail broken" so I have a backup.
I think somewhere in my endless bins of parts I have an unbroken as another spare.

But yes, the 128i keeps getting recommended and they are going up. Already seen some rather overpriced examples recently.
I think under 10k, that would be a solid attempt to have modern E30 feels.

Agreed, multi-quote hasn't worked for me for many years now, have to manually copy paste.

I'd like to own an E39 manual, preferably with the V8.
Wouldn't be a long term car, but I'd like to see what all the hype is about!

Same. As others have said, steering is better in the 6 cylinder cars, and I knew someone who's dad had 3 528i's.
He considered it the BEST BMW of all time, and didn't want it always in the shop.
He had money to own newer BMWs, but didn't want anything but the E39.
I think 2 were manual and one was auto for his wife.

That said, if I had the money I'd also want to experience at least a year with an E39 M5.
It is funny though, that is an over 20 year old car now. Unless it was a family mover... realistically anything I'd consider is still around 20 years old at newest.

[roguetoaster]

I'd like to own an E39 manual, preferably with the V8.
Wouldn't be a long term car, but I'd like to see what all the hype is about!

The only thing that lets an E39 V8 model down is the steering, it's just a bit vague, and I'd argue that the rack equipped cars are superior.

On the plus side, the steering makes it feel more like a classic muscle car when you're shredding the rear tire(s).

[Panici]

I'd like to own an E39 manual, preferably with the V8.
Wouldn't be a long term car, but I'd like to see what all the hype is about!

[roguetoaster]

You guys might try your local public auction for some adventure. Ended up with two on cheeky low bids today, another SVT Contour (my 4th one), and a manual 2.3l 2003 Ranger. Even with fees and shipping they're cheap.

To cap the day off a friend offered their high mileage E39 530i sport M/T for a very low price, so I had to say yes to that too.

Three potentially fun vehicles for $2900, which becomes just over 4k after fees/shipping/titling.

That's less than the price of one scrappy E30.

[varg]

It's an interesting concept and I can see how the equal length makes it sounds better. I'm wondering if BMW didn't use them because of the added cost to manufacture, or the added back-pressure/decreased flow impacts performance. There's no way those squiggles are doing anything good for flow.

There's probably some measurable (with sufficiently precise instrumentation) pressure difference at the turbine outlets, but there's no chance it makes a noticeable difference in performance until you're making too much power to use stock sized pipes anyway. Changes like that don't tend to produce any appreciable result until you're pushing the limits of the flow area of the pipe.

Yay N52 talk! Someday, the N52 in my e30 will run, sigh. Looking forward to it, it is an amazing engine, and the engine isn't too much money, just everything else is to make it work in a car it didn't come in.
(snip)
2. Honda Fit, Manual - (again used, probably GE gen) Slippery fun slope to a slow but fun car, no engine swap, but suspension? Sure. It echoes back to the golden era Hondas but unlike those, not too much concern of it getting stolen.

N52s, does anyone make a viable standalone so you don't have to dick around with all of the integrated systems BS that OEM EMS comes with? I'm so spoiled by having had megasquirt in my long term cars that I almost can't imagine any project without fully tunable aftermarket EMS. As for the fit, I have a friend who likes his as a "don't care about it" daily/beater. Also in his stable are 2 classic BMWs I like and an FD, so I trust his judgement that it's fun on the twisty roads up in his neck of the woods and very useful.

I think almost everything I've been interested in for the past few years has priced itself out of contention (at least north of the border here)

Yeah it's hard to not get that feeling anywhere right now. Crappy E30s are several thousand dollars... I can't think of anything good and fun that's cheap. Just cheap and (maybe) fun but definitely crap i.e. 350Zs. With the prices consistently going up I'm angling for buying an FD, one of my all time favorite cars, before I'm just no longer able to afford one anymore. I keep hoping for something that will hurt the used car market in my favor, but instead we get stuff like losing a major port and disrupting the supply chain, again. Yay more scarcity pressure.

This forum software sucks major ass, multi-quote used to be much easier.