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Im new here, I will post more photos. My first BMW and loving it.

Hi there, New member here, Christchurch based, first ever BMW and a realization of a dream of sorts. Been on the lookout for a good honest straight-6 3-series for a while and ended up snapping up this tidy 2003 (2002/05 produced) 325ci, full leather M Sport. Have been in love with it since, but definitely needs a decent amount of love to get up to standard. Came with comprehensive service history up to about 4 years ago, but didn't get any records from the previous owner, who'd had it for 3-4 years and having now spent some time under the hood, I see that a lot of preventative maintenance is long overdue, which I will be trying to address in the coming weeks and months. This is the first car that I've owned that I'm in the position to keep long term, and being an unapologetic perfectionist that I am, I really want to take as good a care of it as possible, with close to no expenses spared. I haven't done any major mechanical work on cars up to this point, but am generally good with tools and with the increasing amount of resources widely available on places such as this board and YouTube, I reckon the E46 is a perfect platform to learn, and I'm really keen to start going deeper down the rabbit hole. So far I've replaced the valve cover gasket and both front headlights and indicators, with the old ones being absolutely molested in order to facilitate some cheap sh*t LED "angel eyes", which is a whole catastrophic story for another day. I yesterday received my 3 big packages from FCP Euro with close to $2k worth of maintenance parts and am also waiting on a VANOS rebuild kit to arrive in order to get properly stuck in. The immediate plan: Cooling system refresh (expansion tank, auto trans thermostat, all radiator hoses) Oil filter housing gasket Replace auxiliary and clutch fan with electric fan (as seen on the manual models) Replace all belts, pulleys, tensioners and water pump Rebuild VANOS with new seals, bearing washers, gaskets and give it a good clean (was a bit shocked by the state of it whilst changing the valve cover gasket, but didn't want to take it apart without having the necessary parts on hand) Further down the line: Replace CCV/PCV system DISA valve Whatever other issues will inevitably crop up in the process Lower priority objectives: Get some kind of AUX solution sorted (current CD player is not AUX compatible but don't quite feel like abandoning the original look yet, waiting on a compatible head unit to become available, although patience is wearing thin with the current FM transmitter approach) Re-glue the A, C and possibly B pillars Doing up the paintwork - see how far a decent cut & polish would get me Other aesthetic stuff like getting the banged up front bumper resprayed, black out grilles and replace faded hood emblem Get a set of 18" wheels on to fill the fenders a little better, not a huge fan of the current style 68's That's about it for now. Wasn't sure whether to post it here or in the Projects section, but seeing as I'm mostly going to be addressing maintenance items and not any serious mods or rebuilds, I thought I'd just say hello and have the thread moved later on if need be. But anyway, happy to be part of the Bimmer fam, looking forward to getting stuck in and learning from folks on here! Will try not to repeat problems addressed in older topics, but would definitely welcome all tips, advice, warnings, cautions and criticisms Cheers

Hi folks, just joined as driving & cars are a passion in life. On a road trip now from New Plymouth - Hokitika - Christchurch. Purchased yesterday my 2nd BMW. 2003 325ci. Milliy's a keeper! Be great if a Canterbury or South Island club can be restarted with regular meets and runs for like minded BMW drivers and their families. Thank you for letting me join. Happy driving everyone. Jon

I have a set for sale if you are interested. Staggered fitment. Slightly shadow grey instead of normal silver. Comes with good tyres.

Try sterling brake and clutch AKL.

Free complete rear seat for E36 coupe. In great condition, no rips or anything. Bit of fading on the top of the fabric, it's gone purple. Was just slowing me down so no need for it. Pickup from East Auckland

You saved the day again wheelgod.

BMW 662M Wheels Off the newer G30 5 series (5x112 bolt pattern) Front Wheels: 8Jx18 ET30 (p/n 36118093405)Rear Wheels: 9Jx18 ET44 (p/n 36118093406) I doubt there will be much value to resell them at this stage because the new 5x112 PCD prevents it being used in the older 5x120 PCD bmws. Hope that helps - thewheelgod (@zero haha)

Fitted some old door sill trims to the back of my 530 tonight that is in much better condition to the outgoing ones... forgive me purists...

Picked up new front and rear window seals today from Coombes, plus new under tray hardware. To be fitted as time allows.

Figured out why my windscreen washer stopped working. Soaked in WD40, knocked all the lumps of rot out, and it lives again At least until parts turn up to replace it.