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Update #18 Just a quick update. We got the car back on the ground last Saturday, and on Sunday we fired it up and did a systems check. The car started first turn of the key and was running fine. Power steering needed the air flushed out of the lines which we did, but apart from that everything was looking good. Got a couple of codes on the first run to do with throttle body position sensors, etc. but haven't had a return of anything like that. We did a short test drive (after warming the engine up) and everything seemed good. Car feels good, we got the alignment good enough to mean we can drive the car (slowly) to the shop for its suspension alignment, and everything seems to be working fine. Checked the car for codes after the first run and all seems fine. We're getting a couple of dash lights appearing under braking and reading the codes it appears that it's probably to do with the fact that the wheel alignment is off and the steering wheel/rack isn't currently centred when travelling in a straight line, so expecting that steering/acceleration sensors are getting conflicting readings - expecting this to stop being an issue after the wheel alignment. If it's still an issue we'll investigate further. Car's off for it's alignment on Monday - in the mean time here's a pic of it parked outside :-)

You need to reset the steering angle sensor with the factory tool and also reset the longitudinal acceleration sensor. And possibly the dsc unit also.

Picked up the donor car today from Brent..... 740iL in for the win Will be swapping some interior bits and possibly flick the whole car on again

Hey CRUNCHY yeah i figured if people have put v10 into the e46 a narrower v12 shouldn't be an issue. as for the discussion about the DOHC head on the v12 the Mclaren F1 engine was basicly two m3 motors bolted to one crank. The m5X head swap is doable but at what cost, here's a guy that has done it.

Hi Team So i'm a new member myself and thought i'd kill two birds with one stone and introduce myself. Names Richard and i'm here to share my journey with my dream car build. Yes you read it right i am going to drop a v12 into the best shape ( my opinion ) bmw ever made. So i had purchased the v12 motor and auto box off trade me late 2015. Have also managed to find a rare 6 speed box that come out of the 850csi bmw that i had to get shipped from Britain. Treated myself to a nice New Zealand new 2000 manual 232i for my birthday earlier this year. Very nice looking with the factory 18inch mags and msport half leather seats and factory spoiler kit too. So here the build begins. over the 3day weekend i disassembled the engine to start cleaning parts for the rebuild. Had already took the heads off and sent to an engineering place to price up getting some custom cams and an ITB set up made. I also have a full new gasket set, head bolts and piston rings that will be replacing all the old stuff, a custom dry sump set up from the states as the oil pan had to be modified to fit the factory cross member. Here are a few picture of the motor in bits. feel free to pass on feed back or any advice team happy to share this build with you guys.

H h h h hi all . . . . my name is Wessel. I have a serious Beamer problem, not an addiction. Its only an addiction if you want to stop but can't AND I DON"T WANT TO STOP!!!! Just wanted to introduce my self. Buying my first BMW in New Zealand tomorrow (2003 e46 330Ci) will give it a clean and post some proper pics tomorrow. My wish list would be e60 M5 (got to love that 10) and e46 m3. Cheers.

Edit: ****SOLD**** thanks for the interest Hi Guys, I have a new car on the way so looking to sell my e46 M3. Some of you may already know the car from the previous owner. All details are in the trademe link below, I've had nothing but time wasters from trademe so thought I'd try this forum. Has been a really cool car to own, never let me down and I've never spared a cent on it. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1315371922 Price $34,000 pm me if interested.

So, I've been looking at and researching various different cars for some time. I wanted something "oldish" (but still quick) so that I could learn about doing general maintenance things myself, and maybe some upgrades in future. I always liked BMWs, and the more I read about the much loved e46, the more I wanted one. I was quite keen on coupes for awhile, but figured 4 doors would be more practical as I plan on owning it for some time. So I bought this: She's a NZ new, 2003 330i M Sport, barely run in with 181 kms. Came with all the BMW booklets (about 7 different ones) and a pretty comprehensive service history since new, mostly from BMW Dealers and European Specialists. There were even some receipts and inspection doc.s from a couple of owners previous, showing it's been around the country a bit. Unfortunately it was a $1 dollar reserve auction as a trade-in from a dealer, so I didn't have much time to organise a proper PPI myself. Regardless, I took it for a good test drive and there was only a window regulator and a slight steering creak (only at start) that I noticed as things needing attention. It does need a little cleaning up in some areas, but for the most part it's surprisingly clean and straight, and drives like it's done a lot less travel. Everything seems to be stock standard instead of the shoes, which I think are style 127s? Anyway, I'll have it looked at by a specialist in the near future to identify any big problem areas. For now though, I'm really stoked with my purchase, and am looking forward to begin practicing some DIY here and there. Most importantly, I really am impressed with the way it drives and handles... it's alot of fun!

BMW have - and they put it in the i8

What alignment specs are you going for? The stock bmw ones are not very good.

Thanks guys!! it's been awesome to get stuck in and get a whole heap done, and it's great to be able to share the process here. Great to have a record as well of everything we've done!!

I've gotten more than 25,000kms out of RE003's on my e46 Touring, which is pretty awesome given previously I was getting around 10,000kms out of Proxes4 etc. Are your shocks in sound condition? You might want to try Michelins at a similar performance level, see if they can give you the grip/wet weather performance you desire, with greater longevity.

There are still quite a few nice American cars that are N/A. And now they go around corners better than most. Models of the Corvette and Camaro have great engines. The top models are supercharged though.

its human nature....i want an s62 but i dont want to pay the fuel bill.Please build me an engine that will be a 1.8 econo miser during ghe week but act like a 5 litre v8 whenever i want

Turn it around 180 degrees and modify the cams to drive from the other end i guess.

Yup. every single BMW car model with a petrol engine now has a snail attached, no more NA engines in the range. Not for performance reasons, but again due to the restrictive emissions and fuel consumption regulations.

Sound like you need to try an BMW s1000rr.

Sold!

if you view that as an acceptable way to do business/acceptable risk... more power to you. You're talking about taking on multinational corporates. A stain on your insurance record for insurance fraud isn't like demerit points on your driver's license.

Thanks Allan, I knew I remembered something like that. As it was the X5 was returned today after only three days away. I'll have to take care of it another time and will just leave it on the driveway whilst the cluster is away.

Christ... that picture reminds me of the rabbit I shot this morning with the magnum....intestines everywhere

After a buisy weekend cutting and shutting i got my e30 on the ground. Pretty damn happy with how it worked out, slightly more castor then stock, wider track width but with the camber braket in the 0 position the car looks to have no more camber then i originaly ran. The spindle has got a pretty decent amount of angle in it which pitches the steering arm up rather high but not high enough to cause any bind or clashing issues. But yeah pretty damn happy, working on what steering to use now (rack ends tie rods ect) as the wider track has set me with a large amount of toe in naturaly. Few people have said to clear coat the arms but will probly just paint them!. Will add more photos as i go, drifting in a weeks time so straight into testing. Cheers