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Hi all, Since I've been browsing here for info I better sign up and introduce myself/my car. It's the second BMW I've owned, my last car was a 2007 e90 325i M-Sport in Le Mans Blue. I looked for a new car for 6 months, wanted a 335i coupe but drove a 130i and was immediately sold, reminded me of my old 3.2 A3 which I loved and funnily enough my old Celica. The handling and power was so much fun I immediately switched to looking for LCI 130i and found this one. It's an e81 130i M-Sport with pretty low kms and a beige leather interior that looks way better in person ;D Super comfy and a hoot to drive. There has been a couple of things done to it, wheels and tyres replaced by what I understand is the newer 1 series models wheels and 245/45 non run flat tyres fitted. Its also got a Supersprint back box, sounds fantastic when you boot it. Got some things I want to do with it so will be a WIP for a bit.

From back in the day when there was a great NZ Touring Car series, that didn't involve V8s and only two manufacturers. https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/specialist-cars/competition-cars/auction-1918862706.htm?rsqid=4f9cb40ba47748879a5a0e4c8bd75de4 This would have to be one of the few E36s I would like to own, this or one of the STW cars. As the seller says, this one is a LOT cheaper and probably a lot cheaper to race and maintain as well tbf.

The dashed lines? They are the carefully designed high-tech force field that keeps pedestians alighting from parked cars - such as your children or your wife or grandmother - from colliding with a head-down-arse-up cyclist doing 50, just 30 cms to your left. It's a f%#king disaster.

funny different for everyone, I thought Matt was excellent after the first season nerves and especially in the last season, his dry humour worked well with Chris and Rory, which for an american was quite unusual. I thought he had the potential to be better than clarkson less ranty and just the dry humour. His absolute joy in doing the stuff showed through better than clarksons as well. His pieces about some combine harvester /tank or whatever were brilliant the bit where he and harris were testing those battery moto-x bikes and the all terrain thing when they were hunting bigfoot was great and showed the potential those two had. Sorry to see he bailed.

so, after 6 years of running a pair of e36's out on the speedway we have decided it is time to expand our knowledge and depart the dirt and build a track car. very shortly after this decision, we picked up a very tidy 323 factory motorsport which has had 1 owner for the last 16 years whilst being looked after increadibly well. it appears to have been garaged for nearly all of its life! (insert "its too good for a racecar" comments here ) the car has only done 120*** km and is very very tight in the suspension the interior is nearly immaculate, half leather motorsport the list of ideas for this project get longer and longer every day, but the amount of cool stuff we are doing is also growing rapidly! so far the list consists of: Manual conversion 8 point cage (basic kit arriving this week) e46 330 brake conversion with braided lines force fed brake cooling setup with fog light mounted intake ducts aluminum rear sub frame bushings along with sub frame reinforcement floor mounted sifter with adjustable throw, also dsgg style sifter linkage adjustable front and rear splitters adjustable sway bar linkages with polyurethane bushes have a set of genuine m3 mirrors to go on engine plans we are not 100% sure what we are doing yet, but there is a distinct possability that one of the s50b32 engines will find its way into the engine bay whilst doing the manual conversion this week, if not we will stick with the m52 and go with a forced induction setup Everything that we are making, is being made in a way which is easy to make a few of, so if there is anything that you see and would like a set made, just sing out! there is probably a lot of stuff i have missed off the list!

Boston, does this mean we can go car shopping?

My niece is getting her full license in a couple of months, and has a VW New Beetle, early 2000's. Her's is a 1.8 Turbo manual... but there are 2.slow ones too. They're a bit of fun, somewhat safe, but not really sporty.

So via my dealer I got a definitive answer from BMW NZ - looks like no PPF's in NZ. Pretty happy with that, means the M Performance Exhaust upgrade is still on the cards!

Someone should buy this and chuck in a S54 manual set up - that would be cool - If i had the space and not so many projects i would be all over this. GLWS

I think the e36 318is in manual is an underrated car, just enough power that you can actually use it all without dying, safe enough for a first car (airbag models) and reliable and cheap enough to keep on the road as a daily driver. Also a great car for someone who wants to learn a bit of DIY. I also really enjoyed my Honda City turbo but i really wouldn't recommend for a first car, complete death trap! and i doubt you can find a decent one anymore. Its been a while since i was looking but the early new minis must have fallen into this price range by now and there are a few manuals around.

I lived in Amsterdam for years and have to wonder why Wellington/Auckland/wherever need to reinvent the 'pedestrian/bike/vehicle' solutions that already exist all over Europe and aren't dumb.

These are cool. I hope to see it and you around!

Welcome Dan, fun car! Do subscribe (follow) the Wellington meetups room, plenty of runs/meetups/BMW Club monthly pub night (Bimmersporters always welcome)... Looking forward to seeing your progress on this, and hope to see you at an event soon.

the wheels are indeed from the F20, our 116i has these wheels. if you feel like changing to some 18" wheels let me know, i got a *few* sets of wheels for sale... haha

I got mine from Birds in the UK, has Kayne Barrie motorsport rebuild the diff with the LSD centre installed. Totally changes the character of the car for the better.

I like this a lot. The other reason there aren't any here is because the E81 wasn't sold in Japan - only the E87 (of which there are now plenty in NZ, generally poorly specced compared to the Singapore versions).

A V10 Mazda?... now that'd go a little better than mine did ?

I actually don't mind them having AWD as long as it's a full time Torsen system with a rear bias set up. But the new 1 is an icky Haldex system like a Golf R or A3. Essentially a front wheel drive until it can't handle being a front wheel drive no mo'.

Well, maybe humanity has lost its way then

Got stuck behind a 2018 320 GT yesterday, after taking Rays S65 130 around the block. BMW have lost their way.

it was beautiful alright. Just had a few days away down there (live in Auckland) decided to take the E30 for a good run as the weather looked good , best decision I made. Left Taupo to see what was around the area and realised very quickly that there was a great road to follow so just kept on going round the lake until I got back to Taupo a few hours later, quality time with the young 'un and the old girl. My lad commented that it was like a scene from a movie, great landscapes in an old car .. loved it

I've never needed $6k more in my life! ?

Cleaned the front end a bit by wrapping the v brace in gloss white vinyl.

Todays effort, Unleash the parts cannon! Slow going getting the Diff back in, Kayne did a nice job with the Quaife innards swap (quick turn around too!) The bush kit has a big ass washer between diff rear mount and the subframe, its a mare to get in and lined up while balancing diff on jack and jiggling it around to get holes to line up. Shocks and springs fall in though, which is a pleasant change! Back ends pretty much done now, other than covers and exhaust... Just the clutch, box, shifter rebuilt, front struts, water pump, thermostat, m3 LCAs, and an oil change to go now!

Also since it’s a 2008 build, if you haven’t already, make sure that you get updated to the latest software (2013 or later) so that you’re not exposed to that OBD bypass that lets people steal your car with a dummy key fob. Mate in the UK had it happen to him