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Took some pics of the old girl tonight with @adro

After a couple of years, I've decided i should try my hand at writing up a build thread. This will be part member intro, part way to capture images but also to try and give back to the forum since it has helped me with my project a lot! Some history about how I came to fall in love with BMWs. I had recently sold a MK4 Golf and didn't have a huge budget which made trying to find a respectable car pretty tough. I had only really dealt with Japanese cars before the Golf (Toyota Surf>Mitsi Mirage>Nissan Skyline 300GT>EG civic>Mk4 Golf) and was always told to stay away from euros for their price of parts and unreliability. My girlfriend however had an E46 and I couldn't believe how much car she got for so little money. I thought I'd risk it and venture out into the realm of old BMWs and see what $4k was able to get me on TradeMe. The 3 series was were I started to look as the 5s, 7s etc were out of my budget or if cheap enough would require a lot of work that my limited knowledge wouldn't cater for. I wasn't keen on E36s as i thought they were too "bogan" or "hori" due to the examples I had seen (completely different story now). E46s were ok, coupes were expensive, sedans were a bit boring but super comfy. I then decided to go older and came across the E30. Holy carp. Those quad headlights. That boxy '80s shape. I researched and researched. Compiled a list of common faults and went out and viewed a couple. My checklist (so I thought) was fairly basic. Coupe, no sunroof due to the potential rust, manual, 4 cyl due to them being cheaper, white, <200kms, but most importantly a straight rust free body. I searched for a couple of months and was starting to get desperate. I had only come across rusty bodies, fiddled wiring, or cars that were just generally pretty badly beaten up. I then saw a post on facebook and headed out that night to view at a mall carpark. The misses and i saw it roll into the carpark and we couldn't help but to grin at the wee car. A quick look over showed that it was in good knick apart from the noisy lifters, ripped seats and gross wheels. I took it for a drive and then decided I wanted this car (June 2016). Some history of the car. Built in June '90 and then sold in NZ by Team McMillan BMW in '91 as a NZ new 316i. Its a Bronzit Beige coupe that was about as poverty spec as it got. Manual, wind up windows, M40B16 engine, no sunroof, unpainted bumpers/mirrors etc, no spoiler, tan cloth interior. "Mr Black" the original owner, took good care of it by the looks with regular servicing carried out at the dealership. It was then sold through the family to his daughter where it most likely served as the boring daily driver. Somewhere along the line it had been purchased by the guy i was buying it off. The car became my daily and I was absolutely in love. It was completely stock but people still stared at it. Then this weird thing happened... strangers were waving to me who happened to be sporting the same old german car. I started looking up club pages and found all the perfect examples for sale I had been looking for! Oh well, I was stuck with my beige four banger and couldn't have been happier. The noisy lifters started to be a bit of pain in the neck and was starting to get so noisy that people were no longer turning to look at the car, but were turning to look for the ticking time bomb. I researched into replacing the lifters but that soon became too expensive for what it was. I saw a build with a M52 but that was going to be WAY too hard and out of my league. Meanwhile the old M40 is starting to get REALLY loud. No amount of oil changes/additives were fixing it. I then looked into doing a M20 swap which seemed like a good idea, so i started down that track. Finding a good example however became quite hard and parts availability was also a concern with the ageing motor. Back to the M52 swap it was and many a night was spent seeing how hard it actually was. Thanks to the help of the forums and facebook I slowly started to accumulate the parts needed for the 24 valve swap. Now I can start talking about the interesting stuff. Stage one was the donor car. I wanted a donor car as that would be the safest way to see the motor running plus i knew I'd be able to cannibalise parts off of it. I came across a cheap E36 328i that had went into limp mode. After some poking around I found that the cause for the limp mode was low transmission fluid due to a trans cooler leak that hadn't been looked at "after it stopped leaking" aka no more ATF. This would be the perfect car to pull apart and I didn't feel bad at all due to the poor interior/exterior condition (November 2016).

Collecting the E36 was the first drama in this project. We made the drive from West Auckland to Tauranga one Sunday morning to drive the car back. I figured if I could somehow get some fluid into the transmission, that it'd spring back to life and i'd be driving back to Auckland under its own steam, much to the horror of the people i bought it off. No cigar. Stuffed around for ages driving the car up onto a curb to get under and try and force feed it the ATF fluid. It wasn't going in. About 5 hours had gone by and my GF and our friend who had come along for a "quick" roadie was starting to get over it. Pressure was on. I still had 1st, 2nd & 3rd gear available in the blue E36. Traffic was light so i thought I'd try and limp it home. Again, no cigar in sight. Car was revving higher than i was happy with and i could see the temp gauge was more inclined to lean to the right. We made the decision to leave it at a random gas station and head home. The following day I drove to work, put in leave, picked up a ute and trailer and headed back down to Tauranga with the ever patient GF. All loaded up we headed back to Auckland. CIGAR. I quickly started to pull the E36 apart to see the condition of the cams as an indication of oil changes. The engine showed some varnishing and the coolant system seemed to have been topped up with a lot of hard water in its time. At this stage I still had an ear to the ground to see if a better motor would pop up but there wasn't really anything available. Being a running car, I was able to check the compression of all the cylinders. It was all even and within factory specs so I was happy. Work began on pulling it all apart, selling bits I didn't need to fund the project whilst still tinkering away on the E30 that was still my DD. My search for rust on the old girl had luckily been coming up empty apart from a little bit around the trunk seal. That only required a wire brush, some rust converter, paint and a new seal. I continued to remove the grime that had built up over the past 26ish years. Parts started to pour in from Pelican Parts and FCP Euro. I purchased any seal that was a worry on the M52 as I wasn't keen on pulling it out of the E30 in the future. Crank seals, oil filter housing seals, vanos hose, cooler thermostat from factory, metal impeller water pump, new radiator, electric fan, valve cover seals, filters etc. The E36s engine and ancillaries were all disconnected from the body and was ready to be pulled out. This was made much easier by the fact that the radiator support can be removed (a few bolts and two spot welds from memory). The engine lifter was able to slot in and take the weight of the motor with ease. Seals fitted and motor tidied up. Was starting to look like a tidy package suitable for the E30.

Been a productive day. Fitted the Billy’s. Had to loosen off the strut mounts to feed the shock through and to get the right angle for lower bolt (making sure to use the washer provided with the bolt). I’ve read good things about the Koni’s but having Bilstein struts up front and having them on the E30 I enjoy the handling they provide although one part of a bigger equation I know. I’m driving to the Hawke’s Bay tomorrow so will be interesting to feel the difference as I noticed a wallowing in the rear with old original shocks. Given the mileage I have also ordered some springs, pads and sway bar links. Researched H&R vs Eibach vs Kings. I wanted to keep a similar OE ride height and suspension compliance because I love our back roads so went with the H&R OE Sport Springs over the Eibach as I don’t believe there’s a lot in it. Found this link really helpful http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=261562 Also the H&R were substantially cheaper than Eibach plus FCP Euro shipping costs was half the others. Tried 4 different locally suppliers but both H&R nor Eibach are OOS! Finished the day with a wash, clay bar, polish and detailing. i think the polished style 24’s are growing on me ??

Got the front bumper sorted with black msport trims to match but i do need to sort a rear one to re-enable rear PDC. Also fitted clear celis tail lights and fender indicators to match the replacement front Hella xenons, i did prefer the orange but it was easier to go with clears. Thought about doing shadowline door trim also but decided i like the chrome which compliments the wheels and grille, and its a bastard now so may as well continue with it. Going into Tuesday to do most of the manual driveline conversion with a hoist (thanks to Kerry at Mosens). After that i'll finally get around to lowering it once i decide on struts and sport seats when i find a good set.

-E46 320i M Sport 2.2 litre straight 6 offering Practicality, Style and Economy --5 speed auto with steptronic and manual tip tonic mode. Trans is all good, very smooth. -I am the only NZ Owner so far -153xxxkms -Warrant runs out June 2019 -Registered until August 2019 -18” VMR CSL style wheels with Nexen N-Fera SU1 tires, R 18x9.5 et45 18x8.5 f et35 ( Wheels will not be sold seperatly) -Koni Yellow, Damper Adjustable Sports shocks -H&R Adjustable sway bars front and rear -Bav-sound Speaker upgrade --Alpine Bluetooth head unit with hand free calling and factory steering wheel controls -BMW sports interior – cloth / alcantara seats -Sunroof -Professionally tinted windows -Paint and interior regularly looked after with top shelf products to keep it looking good -Fully Serviced every 12 months, last service in September 2018 at Automotive Solutions Hamilton -Small scratches and chips on front bumper and bonnet, typical given the age of the car This car has performed extremely well for me over the last 6+ years. Drives great no rubbing from being lowered and has comfortable but sporty feel on the road. Speaker system upgraded, much better than standard . Used mainly on weekends and longer open road trips Plenty of boot space with tie down points for car seats and larger items 6 airbags to keep you and your passengers safe. BMW Optional ski / snowboard bag in center of split fold down rear seat refurbished rear parcel shelf, with new genuine car seat anchors for the kids Test drives to serious buyers, only with proof of funds Fastidiously maintained and cared for, you will not see a cleaner example. call 0212896316 $4700ono

They are...?

The thing is, the seller has no intention of "finding out the hard way". They're sticking to their guns. All their listings are significantly over priced. I dont know what the game is, but they aint selling. I even love that the previous owner said its worth about 25k, and the seller claims their "valuer" has told them its price has gone up. For that sort of money i would want the steering wheel retrimmed so its not worn and shiney, same with the gear knob, a glovebox that isnt sagging, and an exhaust that isnt hanging down. The front LH bumper rub strip looks like its marked as well. And thats what i can see from the photos, let alone what i'd point out in person.

I like how they keep saying 'come and see the car' to see the value yet won't tell anybody what amazing sh*t you're going to see. Seeing it in person isn't going to up your value perception by 15 or 20k... Still dreaming.

@Admin can you move this to the for sale section please?

Main thing that get's me is they say they had it valued at 38k but won't divulge which company/individual did the valuation....

Lubly chubly just in time for Easter

I was quoted $600-$900 plus GST for the labour alone by a BMW specialist for my e82 n55. Not sure if the F chassis cars would mean an easier install but certainly not cheap.

Down pipes will throw a light with no tune but it won't matter. With any MHD tune regardless of stage, you won't have that issue. Downpipes don't do a huge amount for performance unless you are planning on going to 2 upwards. Make sure to get a quote before install. My shop ended up taking hours longer than they anticipated

149,400 kms. After hearing the horror story of another member's E39 overheating, I couldn't drive Jane without staring at the coolant temp gauge. After realising that I would get the same utility from staring at my left thumb, I decided it was best to do something about the ridiculously buffered temp gauge that comes in these cars. With the advice of @Allanw, I bought a cheap OBD2 scanning tool, and set about adjusting the temp gauge ranges. This was actually a lot harder than I anticipated. It took me about an hour to get all of the software downloaded onto my laptop (user error), and a lot of the forums that have discussed re-coding these gauges were written from an E46 perspective. In my naivety, I assumed that since my E39 shares the same M54 as the E46, the process would be identical. It turns out that the coding side of things is completely different. This took another long while of internet trawling before I was finally able to get it done. As a result, instead of my temp gauge telling me I'm at 'normal operating temperature' from about 75C to 115C, it is now reduced to roughly 85C to 95C. One of the best mods I've done for my mental stability (and for the engine's sake of course), and highly recommend it for anyone with this era of BMW (E38, E39, E46 etc.). If anyone wants any help with this I am more than happy to help. Increased accuracy of our temp gauges is objectively a good thing; it gives the driver more notice when their car may be overheating or running too cold, AND hopefully prevents people booting their cars before they're actually at 'normal operating temperature'. More accuracy = greater chance of survival of these engines/cars and I am all for that! I also checked for error messages, and was pleasantly surprised by the lack of any current fault codes! She treats me well, this old girl does.

Olaf The new springs have completely transformed the car, I didnt realise how bad the car had become over time and the Turner motorsport write up is basically bang on and couldnt have put it better myself "H&R OE sport springs provide a minimal lowering and still maintain ride comfort. Only from H&R, OE Sport Springs are for those who desire a slight increase in handling and control. You can expect reduced body roll and superb ride comfort with better driving convenience. OE Sport Springs provide a subtle upgrade"