Marty's memory is correct. 3/16 with metric unions.
A crows foot spanner will make life easier if you need to get to the top unions on the little pipes.
Allow lots of fluid for bleeding. I used over 5L when I did a full system bleed/ flush recently and as you don't know when your fluid was last changed then a full bleed/ flush would be a good idea. Follow the RAVE bleeding instructions- the P38 has its own special way of doing things and is easiest done with a willing assistant!

Thanks for taking the time to take the pics Sloth.
I've got a huge amount of respect for the work that Marty's done, producing pin-out tables for the whole Alpine system and his understanding of the system generally, so I'm going with the blue plug.
One important question though. Why are you wearing a condom on your finger? I think we need to have a man-to-man chat about what can, and can't, get women pregnant :)

I've been studying your Alpine wiring spreadsheet for a while now and that's how it appears to me as well!
Well, as I've been told I'd have a 30 day no quibble money back guarantee there'd be an opportunity to try plugging it into the head unit first!
If that didn't work I'd just have to swap the blue Rover cable for the BMW one.
I'd certainly prefer the dash end location for the unit. It'd be a PITA to run the aux/ usb input and mic cables the entire length of the car.

That's what I thought Marty! But if you've got Nav the Grom cable replaces the blue plug at the head unit which, apparently the nav uses as well.
Solution is to fit Grom at rear into CD input to wherever.
Comms with Grom as follows:
_ If you have a sat nav head unit then a connection into the back of the radio is not possible (this is what we mean by "no navigation"), therefore connecting to the CD changer location is the only option. If you have a CD changer can you check to see what connectors it has. We would usually expect to see two separate connectors, one with 3 pins and another with 6 pins, however on some very rare vehicles you may find a 10 pin rectangular connector.
If you don’t have a CD changer or a sat nav head unit then the ROVER harness should connect into the back of the radio.
The BT3 kit is simply acting as a BMW CD changer so it's just a question of making sure you have the correct harness/connectors but as you have the DSP option this suggest you have a CD changer near the DSP module of which you would need our DSP conversion kit:
http://carputer-shop.co.uk/products/grom-accessories/bmw-dsp-conversion-kit.html
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Doesn't surprise me as the P38 Vogue SE was a production run of only 300 and shares the HK 17 speaker system (extra speakers in rear doors, boot and centre dash compared to the normal "High End" system) with the equally rare Westminster model
Looks like I have the 10 pin connector
Pic here:
http://i1040.photobucket.com/albums/b407/waxdolphin/RR%20P38/Vogue%20SE%20A/20170321_110126_zpslo7nutqm.jpg
another here:
http://i1040.photobucket.com/albums/b407/waxdolphin/RR%20P38/Vogue%20SE%20A/20170321_110040_zpscjy480hs.jpg
and lastly here- shows that only 8 out of 10 pins are actually used
http://i1040.photobucket.com/albums/b407/waxdolphin/RR%20P38/Vogue%20SE%20A/20170321_105953_zpsplrfb4vp.jpg
So what will I need to make the BT-3 talk to my system?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It is definitely an unusual one, in theory if that’s a BMW CD changer which it must be then the attached harness modification should allow any of our kits with the BMWT harness to fit (including the BT3 CDC kit).
Typically the BMW DSP system uses a co-ax cable that requires our DSP conversion kit, yet that 10 pin connector also carries sound suggesting that it’s not the kind of DSP module I was expecting._

That's cos your steering wheel has accidentally been fitted on the wrong side :)

Ferryman wrote:

Mine is passenger ☺

It's all down to the spec of your system. If you have DSP and no nav you can connect into blue plug on back of head unit.
If you have nav and DSP you need to identify the connectors from CD changer to amp. If it's coax, you need the £63 BMW box of tricks. It might be 6 and 3 pin connectors or, if you're REALLY special and very rare (like mine) you'll have a 10 pin connector and need the BMW cable and have to change the pin assignments in the P38 connector.
They have said that the'll give me my money back if it doesn't work, so that's good.

_Morat wrote:

Ouch! Let me know how you go, it's something I've got on my Maybe if I Get a Payrise list...._

Drivers!

Bears out what I said about Sub speakers sounding good. No water damage and intact foam. Result!
Now to continue my dialogue with Grom, who are being very helpful about exactly how I can connect the BT-3. Unfortunately it looks like it might involve another £63 for a special DSP interface.

I've also found East Coast 4x4 Interiors http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/east-coast-4x4-interiors/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from= good for plastics and trim.
The guy there is really helpful.

They don't show an email address on invoices etc, but they have a Facebook site https://www.facebook.com/furnesscarco/ so you could try messaging through there. I find they respond very rapidly to eBay "contact us" requests and of course phone 01603 721903.

I think, like Marty says above, you only get 3 hits in the axles life with the balljoints so Lemforder for those. You can afford to go slightly downmarket on the complete drag link assembly as it's infinitely replaceable, so probably Allmakes or Bearmach for that
EDIT- Chris beat me to the button!
+1 to what he suggests on hub seals. His suggestion re the old disc is a goodun. I've witnessed him deploying it at first hand- impressive :)

In theory you can inject oil or something similar using a hydraulic cable oiler, but they're nylon lined and when the lining wears all the lube in the world will make little difference.
Bought mine used from Furness for £23.00 inc N/D delivery.
Compared to £133 for a new part it seemed like a sensible choice as you can easily test it as soon as you open the box!
They're my supplier of choice for most things used. Parts are always clean, 90 days no quibble warranty (never had to use it though) and good quality.

You can pick up a heavy duty ball-joint press kit for between £30 (good enough, probably, to do the job once then throw away!) and £70 (should be able to do quite a few sets of ball joints).
The friend with the serious press would be needed for wheel bearings and hard to fit bushes. Fortunately none of those raised their head in the MOT.
EDIT- missed Marty's reply re loan of the kit above, so no need to buy the press then!

Morat wrote:

You'll need a friend with a serious press for the balljoints.

So many balls...
Balls :)
As Ferry says though, at least none of it's hugely expensive. Roll of Kunifer for the brake pipes and a ball joint press.

I'm sure we can work something out!
Like I said- no rush as I won't be hitting the rear door cards for a while yet.

From my experience with this gear selector cable so far, it's well worth checking it out if you've ever got the centre console out. The one I've just removed was gummed almost solid. It's going to make for a lovely light gearchange when I've got the new one in. It also explains why the gearchange knob was virtually twisted off due to the amount of force needed to change gear.

Well, there may be a deal to be done if you have some late lightstone rear door cards with unsplit vinyl :)
Don't care much about "wood" insert colour 'cos I'd be fitting my black trims and chrome doohickeys anyway :)
Good advice on the DSP. I've got to dig behind the boot panels anyway, and a bit of preventative maintenance is what I love, especially as the DSP amp was new from LR around 2010 ish. If every connector I've opened so far is an indication, the rear ones are bound to be green as well!

Result!
Spare head unit works. Sound system now fully functioning again...
Back to the "Do I buy a Grom" dilemma again :)
EDIT- sheeet that sound system sounds good. Even the sub punches when cranked up with no farting noises.
OK time to stop playing and get back to the oily stuff. Gear selector mech and cable...

The external flap drive segments or the blend motor internals?
External- I marked them all before I took them apart!
From memory though there are a couple of little bosses that lined up at one end or other of the arc.
Internal- pics here

mace wrote:

Sorry to hijack, but have a quick question about hevac reassembly. How do you align the distribution cogs correctly?

Haven't really got into the head unit yet Marty. At the moment all I know is that it shows no sign of life- used to work until first time I disconnected the battery. After that, no display, no noise, nothing.
I have a working spare which I'll stick in and see what happens. Electrics on that car are bugging me constantly. Spent an amusing hour today standing on my head in the passenger footwell sorting out green connectors. Couple of pins were so corroded that they fell apart when I tried cleaning them. Even more amusing was cutting the cables back more and more until the conductors were clean enough to take solder for the spliced hardwire.
Need to get on with the stiff gear selector problem so I can get the centre box back in.
If you've got any cards lying around that would be good, but there's no rush. Plenty of other stuff to do in the meantime!

Thought I'd give an update on how the resurrection is going.
Car now has the Audi heater matrix conversion. Took the opportunity to change the coolant T's to metal. Now running 19mm hose all the way through.
Refurbed the HEVAC panel with new bulbs and Marty's ribbon repair kit, which worked a treat. Nice and bright, no missing segments. Thanks Marty!
Stripped and refurbed the heater box, freeing up all flaps, replacing nasty foam and fitting new Distribution motor.
Replaced the 8 (!) blown bulbs in the instrument panel
Replaced OS door latch, handle, ignition lock.
Fitted original BECM (today). Slight glitch as got the expected Keycode Lockout but couldn't clear with Nano or traditional key-in-the-lock code EKA entry. BECM info was garbled, French so feared the worst. Fired off email to Marty to arrange for a BECM unlock. Eureka moment (accidental). Had a cuppa, went back to car. Message Centre now black. Tried EKA via Nano again. Hit Disarm, locks went clunk, all good!
Front carpet cleaned- not great, but OK
Now have to finish repairing/ cleaning front seats and change the gear selector cable to try and solve the stiff lever problem.
After that I might just drive it around for a while.
Need to source some late Lightstone rear door cards. No chance of finding the ones with the extra speaker holes so will have to do some mods to whatever I get. Mind you, until I sort out the unresponsive head unit, the speakers aren't much use anyway!