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With the recent purchase of a 130i I got a spare set of wheels. Was bought about 6 months ago for 2700 from hyperdrive. They are rotary forged, black and no scratches. Apparently 19lbs per wheel - see specs https://www.tsw.com/alloy_wheels_nurburgring.php#wheel-specs Only took them off as I preferred the ACS type 3s. They are mint They still retail for around 700 each new, you probably won't pay that if you negotiate but still... 1600, Pick up in the Mount, or I could drive them up to Auckland. funds will be appropriately used to upgrade the 130...

Well there you go I am now educated, and what a lot of interesting banter to get there. I will pay much more attention to the 130i in the future especially when I see one in my rear view mirror.

Restored the headlights on the X5 yesterday, using a RainX kit... Took a fair while - allow 1-2 hours for doing this Initial polish phase quickly got rid of the yellow oxidised later polish 2 and 3 - certainly improved things but certainly not clear Headlight restorer with microfibre cloth - again improved things, but still not clear despite spending a lot of time on this. Applying the sealant at the end made a significant difference - much happier with the results after doing this Before... After... Well worth it I'd say...

I think that’s just the difference between different drivers preferences. I tend to love torque, others like to rev and work for it. Having owned the n52 and n54 together for the last few years, they both have their merits and the n52 is great, but to me it’s always just lacking something. Sadly my n52 has been the most unreliable engine I’ve ever owned from BMW and it has less mileage than my n54. N54 has been nothing but brilliant constantly. It’s hugely capable, giggle all the time fun, sounds so much better and more economical every day. Okay okay, I think I’ll start a n54 fanboy thread.

i am sure i moved a washing machine in my 120d. I laugh at E36 owners saying E87 are ugly

I had a 55" TV in it's box in the back of my 130i. Laying flat. And I think it has had a washing machine in the back at some stage too. I love my one because it does everything I ask of it well. I can park it anywhere. Take it to track days. Do high speed runs at Ohakia. Cheap insurance. Comfortable. Allows me to bully RS3 Audi's over the Remutaka hill. But most of all. It cost far less than what I would consider the next comparable vehicle.

Im back in a BMW now after a long stint in a mini.

Despite the excessive trolling, this seems to have concluded amicably, with no rage quitting. The internet must be broken.

Imo the biggest appeal of the n52 vs N54 is that on the road you can drive the pants off the n52 and have fun, whilst the N54 is generally over powered for the road and not as fun to drive hard.

You're more than welcome to drive mine if you're ever in my area, genuine and open-ended offer. ? I'm not sure anyone's advocating it as an "everyday engine" or a "performance BMW"... I think we're saying it's a great little car that leverages and demonstrates BMW's credibility in six-pot, rear wheel drive, reasonably small and light cars. They really are a joy to drive with the suspension sorted. Even the shitist ones I drove had great feeling engines.

Reputable magazine with no agenda.

I feel like this says a lot more about you than it does about the cars.

I laugh at you laughing. I dont mind the E87 but they are certainly an acquired taste. E36 Coupes are of course one of the prettier BMWs ever made.

Sharkfin antennas are tacky, so over done, every 1993 golf has one, and now it just looks like everyone with a 7 series tarted their car up on ebay... throw some fake chrome shark grills on the doors/front wings and your at full stage 2 ebay tune. The long antenna is where its at. Radio controlled cars are class.

Well, the consensus opinion of owners, observers and journos alike is that they're quite underrated. Doesn't mean everyone has to like them though. ?

Can't go wrong with AutoTopNL. Skip to 6 minutes for driving.

Facebook provides a messaging platform that's misused as a discussion platform. Forums are a discussion platform. The primary indicators are separate threads and the chronological order of posts. I despise reverse chronological presentation, it panders to people with short/no attention span and you lose all context.

Another little update for the M3. Took the car out for a drive the other night and when giving it the jandal the radiator decide to give up. Not surprising considering it's 25 years old. I was looking for an OEM replacement but my options were limited so I went with a Mishimoto. Pretty good quality but my only gripe with it is that the fitment was a let down. Had to fabricate some aluminium brackets for the oil cooler as there were no mounting points and had to trim bits of plastic here and there on the fan shroud to get clearance around the viscous fan. Happy to have the car back up on its feet, just needs a really good wash. Also managed to replace the drivers seat quick-fold cable which had broken. This ended up being a little bit painful but got there in the end. The other thing which I've done is put the car on some style 24s for a more period correct/original look. Not related to this thread but I picked up an E39 M5 the other day too.. what an incredible car! Bunch of photos below.

I thought so initially as well but you tend to drive it differently around town and short shift to use the torque. That torque jumps up noticeably with a tune; I am supposedly at 550+ nm All that said it revs to 7k if you want it to. I am a bit of an acceleration junkie and having come from a muscle car background I guess I am not a traditional BMW enthusiast. I like them very much and really do appreciate how good the chassis are but I like to be pinned back in the seat.

Wards 10 best engines - Reputable folks, no agenda , no matter how jaded the forum poster.

Its simple, N52s are for the BMW purists, N54s are for the german RFB fam.

It's probably due to the reasonable performance, of a reasonably reliable BMW engine, in the classic NA straight 6 that BMW is known for. Currently they're in excellent bang for buck cars. (130i, 330i, 530i)

And it's not about tyres, or oil, or Ron, or me! ??

I am out of reactions but yes! Hahaha

OMG - thread explosion! ? Glad I wasn't online. ?

So, the red 130i, can anyone tell if it sold or just 'listing expired' as per tardme? I really liked that one, but seller never answered my questions.

i don't think you can clean disas. N52 got two disas. i bought them from the US (one genuine bmw the other vaico, you can check the prices on FCPEuro) and replaced them myself. i wouldn't do it for anyone for less than $1500...there's no cheap chinese made for disa i believe. BMWs are expensive to fix! vanos solenoid, there're cheap chinese made ones. i first got two which didn't work. then i got another two from a different chinese supplier, which turned off the check engine light but the car still underperformed... until i got two bmw ones for US$150 each..

Ahhhh, go get a walnut blast http://www.zeperfs.com/en/duel1325-1329.htm

Well if a nice E36 Coupe is far from pretty an E87 must be downright Fugly!

“Bully RS3 drivers” Hahahahaha! This has become pointless. They are clearly the record holder at the Nurburgring with more rear seat room than a Maybach. The boot is so capacious Mexican drug cartels have started putting a ton of cocaine in the boot for late night border runs as they can outrun a plane. At the start of this thread, I actually quite liked them. Not anymore. Props to Mean and Jacko though, both of your cars will be better for your ownership and good examples.

And that is why we have a cert system... Looking at the nuts still chilling in the holes for the spacers, i'd say there wasn't sufficient thread engagement to the hub. Although, i am also curious about the two rusty studs that still appear to be attached. Long since broken off, and relying on the other 4 studs?

Err... You have a good sense of humor. E36s can be decent looking cars, but they are far from "pretty" or even on the scale of the prettiest BMW has turned out. And this is coming from someone that was a diehard E36 fan.

Found this beauty in the roadside paddock. Bet that woke them up when it exited stage left...

Very pretty what is the sizing?

The black on black ‘murdered out’ look imo lacks contrast. The bbs wheels in shadow chrome or bronze I reckon would look a lot better.

But this thread is about 130's... ?

We get it, you dont like them, no one is forcing you to buy one, or to post/view this thread. Leave it alone. I have driven a few 130s, and have owned two 3.0 M3s, and the 130i is a more dynamic engine. Doesnt love to rev as much as an S50, but has a lot more down low torque and pulls hard. Its a better engine to live with and more useable power on the back roads without getting too far into trouble. I still want to own a manual 130i. A compact RWD manual hatch with a big engine and decent build quality (far better than any E36/E46) is a nice simple formula for fun.

Load-through is terrible on the e36... can't even get my push bike in. No problems with the 130... and no e36 sedans had folding rear seats did they?

RWD hatch, (pretty much in a class of its own), relatively light, brilliant engine, fun if flawed chassis that can be easily fixed, manual gearboxes can be had and available for peanuts at the moment. N52 is far better engine than N54 in every aspect other than power output, and comparing penis dyno sizes, and how often do you get to use more than 200kw on the road anyway? Got a link to that, if you look at zeperfs, 130 is faster than MPS (and way faster than Mx5) around all the tracks they list. I dont understand why E36s get so much attention... slow, unreliable, uninspired things.... if they werent so unreliable they couldve come out of any of the generic japanese 90s manufacturers

Facebook is a PITA. Always the same questions, over and over... And while the keyboard warriors (living at home with Mum and Dad, all too often) love to say "do a search, noob", Facebook really doesn't lend itself to that. Which is why I like forums. Facebook is 'quick fix' and keep in touch with distant friends and relatives - forums are useful sources for information, reference and discussion.

Me

That would be the M44 engine then not the M42

Get a NA 6 cylinder ?

No one here cares, we're not trying to compete. Start an n54 thread

Which we are doing, how they may be a bit overrated.

Is a 130i bigger than a 118i? Did I compare the performance of the two? The e36 coupe boot with folding seats is miles bigger too. Unless you want to carry a fridge, then get a ute.