Kit

If I can get the price dramatically down on the donor and find someone to swap the engines over (Phil at CPC?) I may be tempted just to do it. But for now I will just keep high in the rev range and enjoy the drive of my trusty b20tu.

Today I drove the Applecross costal route and then the mountain pass back to our cottage in the Highlands. What. A. Drive.

Only considered m50/s50 due to making it as easy possible!

I guess if a good donor pops it’s head up I’d think about it, how often do they pop up? The s50’s seem expensive to start with unless I’m looking in all the wrong places.

Yes. I think you are totally right. Was looking at S50’s but not worth the hassle and cost. Luckily I own a few other cars with a bit more get up and go like my late g50 3.2 911 coupe. But oddly the touring is the car I lavish most attention on, something about it is just right (apart from the power!).

Having fully serviced it and driven 660 miles to the highlands in comfort I know my B20tu unit is as good as I’ll get it, however as you all know it’s underpowered. I spotted a possible B25tu in a donor car but wonder if it will really make a big enough difference for all the hassle and expense. Would I be better off either doing nothing or going a bit more extravagant - bigger / newer engine - understand that creates more headaches but could be more of a transformation as far as power and the general driving feel goes. Any thoughts from your own experiences would be welcome.

Luckily mine’s a manual and runs well (touch wood) so I’m going to be kind and say it’s sufficient for what I need it for most of the time, if however it one day goes bang the very least I would get is a 525i lump put in. If only that box was ticked at the dealer in 1995 I’d arrive in Scotland next week a few minutes earlier.

Made the Touring taller.

Hello. I have a super annoying whining sound when I depress the brake pedal after the car has warmed up and been used for a while, Phil at CPC said it was the carpet under the dash rubbing on a part of the mechanism. Has anyone else had this issue and what’s the best solution that doesn’t involve taking the dash out! Would love to be able to fix at home myself having just spent a load on it in preparation for a drive to Scotland. Thanks Kit

I like that oem stereo Richard. I ended up having the nob surround on this Continental painted black so it looks more oem. Looks good and performs well.

Fitted some oem roof bars. Worry a little bit about the rust on the retaining screws but it all seems solid enough now it’s in. Any idea where to get replacement nuts let me know!

Guessing you know it has its own water reservoir, easy fix if that’s empty! I have cut a strand off a sweeping brush before and used that to clean washer nozzles, can work a treat (as long as the brush is clean too!).

I do wonder how many of these things still work for other owners, I find I spend a bit of money getting stuff like this sorted but it’s very satisfying. Comes up and down thanks to water pressure, got to love German engineering.

Fitted a new rear Bosch wiper (which I had to modify slightly) and had the spray mechanism fixed. Wondered what that little circle on the boot was for... FullSizeRender.mov

A little something from BMW Australia... https://youtu.be/iAs7bre6aSo