Leaderboard

New Year. New Update! After getting the car back home it was time to start fresh and sort out what needed to be done. First off i knew that the sump had a pinhole leak in it that needed to be sorted so the front end, suspension, subframe and cooling system was stripped back again to remove that to be re-welded, while i was at it i replaced the waterpump that was also leaking. A new clutch line was also routed up and over the gearbox, to keep it away from the headers, and the accelerator cable shortened and finished up with all the correct clips and grommets. After a couple of months everything was bolted back up and the car was taken to Sam Smith, of Smith Industries, to get a couple things tided up and fabricated, this included a slight change to the rear exhaust tips, a cold air box, a sump bash plate, heat shielding around the headers and a battery hold down in the boot. His work is amazing and id definitely recommend anyone who needs some fabrication done of any kind, for a good deal, to contact him. Once the car was back home it was time to tidy up the wiring side of things, as this had been worked on by a couple of others over the last few years. Local guru Nigel from Ignition Autosport was enlisted to undertake this job. While this was being done, the cooling system and necessary sensors were also completed and fluids checked before it was fired back up and ready for its first drive under its own power! A crack in the power steering reservoir was discovered, so a new one was ordered before this could happen. Coolant return hose and washer fluid hose from the rear bottle are neatly hidden away inside the front guard. A few parts were starting to accumulate over time, like the fresh bumper trims, thanks to fellow touring owner Dylan HJ, some small goodies from overseas and another set of perfect smileys from a local guy who didn't know the value of them, also thanks to Andy, Lucan, Richard (e46v12), Mike from EuroTurbo for the help over the last 9 Months sourcing small things. With things not going smoothly at times, photos like this just remind me how far things have come, and how it will all be worth it! First drive under its own power! IMG_4022.mp4 IMG_4198.mp4 IMG_4201.mp4 With the car running and no issues so far, panel and paint was on the list to get ticked off. So a few long weekends were spent striping it all and documenting, labelling etc so i knew how to put it all back together! DJI_0007.mov Watch this Space....

Ok I couldnt wait for my parts so i went on a road trip to pick them up from the courier depot, I battled into the night doing a solid 8hrs but it was well worth it to hear her fire into life. I did a video of the first start but cant add videos to this forum? So now im just waiting on the new drive pulleys and shes done, it feels like its been way too long, cant wait to get her back out on the open road!

So after selling the e91 and failing dismally at owning something sensible - common sense prevailed and we flicked the Mazda 6 getting something smaller/newer for Mrs SiW something that would also serve as our commuter car; and leave me a few grand to get something a bit more "me" that I can have a few fun and games with. Come on down a wee NZ new e46 compact that will give me the chance to do a little tinkering (but not a lot), whilst not being completely boring to drive over the hill to Martinborough every month or so. It isn't a minter - but is something I'm confident having a go with doing a few things to (namely some interior trim and stereo updates). I'll get some nicer wheels for it at some stage. But that aside - I'll be refreshing the cooling system and doing something about the (slightly) tired steering. I'll also be getting a dent dude (or dudette) to wave their wand over the roof where someone has been practising their tap dancing. It drives well (for a 200km car), and goes around corners pretty well - but it can of course be better ?

Ugh, no matter how cheap it is, a single cam 318i auto..... ugh. No one should hate themselves that much.

Just wait until it fails and use your mechanical insurance to get it fixed. Not much point it paying for it if someone else will

The photo in the long grass is awesome!!

I suspect it would fail after getting sucked into the manifold and jamming the throttle butterfly open and causing brown-pants syndrome. So yeah, probably not a long term solution. But it is a convenient way to run the engine when working in there... just remember to revert it lol.

So who's taking all the money then? Parts from BMW NZ cost 100% more (or even more) than parts from a Dutch or German official dealer and many American warehouses. Shipping and storage can't account for that and I refuse to accept that BMW AG charge BMW NZ much more than they charge a small Dutch dealer for parts. Somebody in NZ is creaming it off customers so a 10% discount on a 100% markup is no discount at all, it's an insult.

Cant wait to see this finished and go for a roll with you

As an aside, when I first met my wife she had a "reliable Toyota". Within six months it blew a head gasket and I got her onto BMWs since then

So it's just not firing? 1 kilometer from cold? The coolant wouldn't even be a factor over that distance. Heck, you could probably run it with no oil over that distance and not do permanent damage (perhaps - don't try this). And it's a Toyota. Maybe just fill up the washer bottle and give the bumper a kick?

What engine?

Wait, is it actually a 325ti as per the badging, or is someone having a laugh? E: carjam says its a legit 325ti. Good score!

We need an e39 photo shoot

Cheers Jon, always looking for something new and different, the exploded view was shot using a drone.

Niiice!

Realised I've been driving around with my MAF-less induction tuning mod for the last few days after topping up PS fluid... wondered why idle and pull were better that usual.

It came with an extra couple of pots Kyu... and no - but I know the garage that the previous owner (for several years) had it serviced before trading it, so did some digging and it all came up ?

awesome... but then theres this Manual M2 nz new.. https://www.trademe.co.nz/1870888691

@adro was kind enough to show me around and let me have a spin in his 540i today - awesome car! Absolutely beautiful to drive and has a menacing exhaust note to match Cheers!

Who has been scanning it? If it's a proper BMW scanner it should pull old/shadow codes for when the CEL was lit. Those engines are notorious for oil consumption and smoking, so keep that in mind, but I'd also be looking at the crank case ventilation system if it hasn't been done. First step, get it scanned properly.

Yea the reversing guide had completely gone so there was no lip to prevent it rubbing on the case, it also rubbed a little on the vanos solenoids and upper covers, the guide rail has big score marks where the chain de railed and the bank 2 rail had started to chip away also, what freaked me out the most is where it was rubbing was directly behind where the water pump mounts. There is still plenty of material left where it ate the cover so i will be ok with that and im replacing all chains, tensioners and guides so i should be ok for a little while. It serves as a good example of how things can get really bad really fast if the guides explode on these engines.

Exactly. I'll be up front about it. I'll check with my existing company first. I'm in a safe spot in that I haven't done anything yet.

nothing like playing insurance roulette eh? From having your claim denied, insurance cancelled, and even a permanent record with the insurers, due to undisclosed modifications? No thanks. You might enjoy that game; I could not recommend it. "have you ever had insurance cancelled or refused?" An insurance record lasts forever. YMMV.

Had a couple of opportunities to acquire decent-ish cars which turned out to have lapsed rego... And then find that they'd had some sensible mods which strictly require cert. No rego and no cert makes it uneconomic.

VTNZ failed me on my WOF as cert plate for adjustable suspension incorrectly states wheels as 18x8 F and 18x8.5 R when both are 8.5 wide. Think because i run 245 front and 265 rear the cert guy got it wrong but that was two years ago, goodluck to me convincing him that he made a mistake and not that I changed wheels. Also took VTNZ 4 WOF’s to notice....