Greetings

Drove the new M5 today. What a boring and absolutely massive car. Not much more to say really haha. I really don't get the hype around all these M's or for that matter modern super saloons or whatever they're called. I really think BMW hit the nail on the head with the E39 M5 - as much as I found that a bit daft a few months ago, I've learned to appreciate it. Cheers Yep, I think you're right that the music is too loud. Definitely a lot of fun but with hindsight, some rounds can be dangerous. Need to get a HANS, next thing on the list.

Considering it's such a bargain and could be dodgey, why not just go and collect it in person? It's not like you're going on an epic journey across the whole continent. He actually mentions local pickup only... so he'd have to be pretty dumb if this was to be a scam.

With the first round of BMW Challenge coming up in 6 days I've compiled an edit from the last season to get me motivated. Current mood is - meh, it's expensive and some rounds are really dangerous. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_Zs4c0waFU Enjoy (hopefully)

Couldn't be arsed with a tripod so put a GoPro on. Haven't done a tap or ridden since august 2013, this is the 3rd tap attempt since then Was quite surprised to have got up those pallets to be honest. Hope so much that I don't get bored with riding too quickly. Every year it takes me less and less time to give up riding. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rofZHCoxbQ

This is genius. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKOaF7esBFY

Definitely! To determine the correct ride height I need to drive it fast on a narrow bumpy road. That's where the wonky geometry becomes dangerous

I haven't got a single road tyre, only racing/rally tyres. The car is incredibly nervous on those

Yep, thought of that. But considering the angles are really small and the rear is almost vertical I don't think they need to be taken into account like you say. Edit: Car is on the new springs, still needs a lot of adjustment. Annoyingly the geometry is so badly off that I can't drive the car to test the ride height. But when I set the geometry up and start fiddling with the ride height, I'll mess up the geometry. Not sure what to do. Haven't been able to fix the Vanos so it's going back on. Been calling a company in the UK for the last 3 weeks and every week they say they'll have the seals in stock next week.

Sorry if I'm rather thick but can anyone answer these two questions: If a spring and shock absorber (coilover) is mounted to the steering knuckle the suspension leverage is 1:1 right? Regardless of the amount of wheel spacers and ET? The same would therefore apply to the rear.

I want to see a picture from the graduation ceremony.

We've already finished discussing that, you're a bit late

Might work in China, not necessarily in Europe. Difficult to compete with brands like Dartmoor or NS. Tis very clean build though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4lnVx2BAYk

Part of being a good driver is thinking for other road users. Makes traffic flow a lot easier

Definitely not easy and definitely not expensive if you want to have it done properly considering the amount of work that goes into preparation. I've saved all your notes for future reference, they've proven invaluable. Also found some brilliant DIY websites in English after I'd finished Not sure why I didn't consider searching for tips in this language earlier, there's tonnes more info. This one has an epic amount of information: http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/spray-painting.htm. They do however talk about 2pack being incredibly toxic, I hope using a simple mask is good enough to keep my lungs safe.

I think a 10mm cam is going to be a challenge, make sure it's flaccid before you try.

Boo, noticed this after putting the first coat of clear on But to answer your question, 4bar (tried lower but the gun didn't atomize the paint too well and I ended up with it just spitting blobs). Tip is 1.5mm. I managed to get the finish up to a reasonably satisfactory level. Bearing in mind how the rest of the car looks and that I literally wash it twice a year tops, it might be good enough. I was just fed up with a blue bumper, navy blue bonnet and rear bumper which looked like a collinder. Anyway, bonnet is done, used your advice regarding the clear coat and it's worked like a charm. Got a very nice orange peel which shouldn't take too long to get rid of. Kind of wish I knew as much when I was doing the first panels as I do now. Sadly I'll forget it all by the time i have to paint something again Really enjoyed this endeavor, painting is so much fun. Shame it's spoiled by fluff flying around and low quality tools. Can't wait to do the M3 bumper, I buy them new for 20 quid already primed. That's going to be a fun and easy job! To add to this "post a picture of your bonnet thread":

Got one! I've finished putting 4 coats of base paint onto the bonnet. Fighting with a patchy finish. See pics below. The very dark spots are a dirty lens. It's not that visible on these pics but if you're a painter you'll no doubt spot them. I put the last coat on from about 40cm away using around 70% overlap (4th pass clears the 1st one). Any suggestions? I've got enough paint to do around 3-4 more thin coats so can still fix this. Edit: on second thought, I think the limiting factor is that I'm using a gun which cost 12 quid.

Ribos are ok, I used Nike Cortez shoes for at least 5 years (the same pair!) back in the days when I was riding a lot. I'd highly recommend them to everyone, some of my mates bought them and found the quality went down the drain though. Not sure whether this still applies. I bought my pair for 30 quid around 2005 and changed over to Ribos in 2010.

Woo, oldschool! I wonder if you can still get 25" rear tyres. To be honest this was a great idea but poorly implemented because the tyre sidewalls were not that much higher than an average tyre used nowadays on the rear wheel. Imagine if they actually added that 1/2" to the height of modern trials tyres like the Rubber Queen 2.4". That would be epic and I'm pretty sure if Monty executed it correctly back in the days, many of us would be riding 25" wheels now. Edit: regarding the hubs, they used to be the most popular solution in trials over here. Only problem was that the drive shells would eventually crack. An aftermarket fix was designed, a sort of beefy clamp that went around the drive shell to make it stronger.

Will be painting the bonnet in half an hour. Fingers crossed...

Yeah, the Pure is fantastic. Been riding the Control/Pure SL for 3 years now, I like it that much.

Ok got it Makes perfect sense.

No real reason for 1000 but it does say 800-1000 on the tin. I'll give it a miss then and continue with 600 like you say and maybe go over with 800 once or twice just to be on the safe side It was suggested by a friend that I use very thinned primer as a guidecoat, is this ok? He's an amateur painter so I'd like to double check I'm not familiar with the term but assume a guidecoat will tell me whether the finish is good for a base coat? I recall from doing a bumper that as soon as I put the first thin coat of base paint on, I could immediately see the imperfections in primer. Thanks again for all your help man.

The colour and finish look absolutely astounding.