Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Guessing this nothing to do with badge? So many concept cars out there. Funny thing is some of them do scrub up better than Manufacturers. Not this one tho. B-)

Has Alpina B5 Touring been mentioned?

500 bhp straight off ze bat.

Auto though I thought?

Price would mean it would have to be an E61 B5 Touring. They made 4 in RHD. Apart from that, it's a good option, although I'm not sure it really adds anything to the M5 Touring.

Four. Ha. No M5 Touring post 2010. Not that any relevance.

Yet another box of parts for "the little red car that once could but now sits forlornly on my driveway" has arrived.

What should have started out as a simple head replacement has turned into a "build". My room is pretty small anyway, but at least 25% of floor space is now taken up by parts waiting to go on.

The final spec of all the upgrades will be:

"Better than new" cylinder head built by BLiNK Motorsport (proven wins in multiple MX5 championships)
RX8 440cc injectors
MAF delete
AEM FIC/6 (Fuel Injection Controller - piggyback ECU with inbuilt MAP sensor)
17% reduction supercharger pulley
Innovate MTX-L AFR gauge (to help with tuning)
IAT sensor (to provide temperature readings to the AEM)
D1 Oil temperature gauge
Blitz SUSPower air filter (HUGE)
Silicon hoses (to replace 20 year old perishing rubber hoses)
Allen key cam cover bolts (harder to snap - like I already did)
Magnecor KV85 "race" 8.5mm HT leads
Extended service including timing belt and water pump
Nitrac cryogenically frozen slotted brake discs treated by Frozen Solid
Carbotech XP8 brake pads

The upgraded management, reduced pulley, and bigger injectors should be good for 210-220 bhp which SHOULD be enough for now. I'm never going to make Time Attack in November because I'm broke as hell but hopefully round 1 next year should show how much more power I need to be competitive in RWD class.

The once my bank balance has somehow recovered I might be able to consider:

949Racing 6UL wheels in 15x9
Tein Mono Flex coilovers
Aero

The hard part seems to be the motivation and time to actually go out and start fixing the fucking thing. I might have to book a track day or something so I have a deadline. At this rate I'll be lucky if there's a dry day above 10 degrees left in the year by the time it's finished.

Also, anyone want to help??

Are you going speed density then?
Are you doing the tuning/mapping yourself?

I have a base map for a setup very similar to mine, I'll use that to get me to a mapper. I'd like to learn to tune it myself but too many bad things can happen while I'm learning so I'd rather a professional did it. Romain Levesque from Eurospec has done a really good job on my friend's K20 Civic (Romain maps his own CRX that he uses in Time Attack), but I'm also considering Greg @ Protuner who I believe maps 50%+ of the BDC grid.

I forget, is this intercooled/charge-cooled, or blower-throttle body?

Charge-cooled

Just wondering about the injectors - healthy safety margin at your projected power level?

= Were you going to run Ethanol and rely on that to resist det.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2007-BMW-M5-M5-TOURING-STUNNING-CAR-FANTASTIC-SPECIFICATION-ESTATE-PETROL-/261569177797?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3ce6bce8c5

Nothing like that needed, 440cc should be at less than 75% of duty cycle at projected power level.

or..
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2000-W-BMW-M-COUPE-5-0-V8-MONSTER-/280767412639?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item415f0ab99f

Love those.

I would very much like the M5 Touring.

as well as / instead of your volvo?

It would have to be instead of, and I'd struggle to justify it given that a) I've spent a fortune on the Volvo and b) I leave it undriven for so long the battery goes flat routinely.

only one thing for it, you'll have to move out of london (-_-)

I just applied for a new job today, oddly enough.

in 1999 my then gf wanted out of the capital so I took the first regional contract that came up, never looked back

/csb

and, poss new co car for those long drives up and down the m1

Gotta be Surrey.

Where my filter warning keeps tripping caus I don't go over 30 . B-)

or near silverstone... ;)