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Back up for sale (decided to keep it a little longer last time) One of the tidiest in the country. Runs perfectly, enquire with confidence it’s been a dream. Specs: 2002 UK Import (no rust etc) Full service history since brand new with all manuals, two keys 160,000km Factory 6 Speed Manual (Not SMG, not a manual conversion) Reinforced Subframe Recently replaced clutch Recently replaced brakes and rotors LED Headlights / Taillights Extras: 18x9.5" Sportline Wheels BC Gold Coilovers ($1,600) Recaro SR7 Alcantara Seats ($4500 NZD landed for the pair) Alcantara wrapped steering wheel Alcantara handbrake and shifter boot Samsona heavy duty short shifter with reverse lockout (over $1000 worth) Agency Power Exhaust Setup ex USA ($2,500) Carbon Fibre CSL Style Boot ex USA ($3,000, colour matched) Carbon Fibre Rear Splitter ex USA ($600 colour matched) Stage 2 AFe Air Intake Kit ex USA ($600) Tinted Headlight / Side Indicators Blackened Side and Front Grill Gloss Black Mirror Casings 20% Rear Tints, 35% Front Duraseal Paint Protection Approximately $18,000+ in extras Vehicle is certified Recently updated WOF and rego. Recent service. Showroom condition. Comes with original seats and a bunch of spare parts. $40k ONO

Wouldn't it be better to just replace the unit with an Android based unit?

The rise in asking/sales prices for this is relative to other hero models from the same era (including E34&E39 M5s and E30 m325i). Look at the asking prices of any turbo charged Jap car, 993 and 996 Porsche or 1990s HSVs in good original condition. $40k or so for this M3 doesn’t seem unrealistic after all.

Looking a hell of alot better Can see a few tiny grooves with the primer on. Not long to sign off on this side

It's missing the rear spoiler which just makes it look weird to me for some reason

Absolutely mint example, looks to be priced at the very high end of the E36 M3 market but you wont find one that looks this tidy probably. Its good news for some of the E36 M3 owners on here

At the end of the day it is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it - if it sold, it sold for market value.

I wouldn’t touch ECS (and sadly now Turner) with a barge pole.

ahhh! I've read the supercharged (R53) has more reliable (stronger?) gearbox and may be considered 'the one to get'.

Definitely want delphi coils. Fcpeuro has them. The valvetronic reset is ignition on(not engine on) and leave for 30 secs then turn off for 30 secs. You will hear a slight whirr noise a second or two after ignition on then a click as it finds the end point and then gain as it comes back. It's a pretty quick motion. Don't need to touch accelerator etc while doing it.

Never got time to post a pic of these before I had to head off for a long weekend. Total PITA install but I like the result.

If they were for a manual I'd be in...

BMW genuine Wiring and connectors for the paddle shift loom today. All going to plan Friday, the paddles and MFW will be going in. my new aircon tub also arrived today looking forward to having that sorted.

Very cool, but I couldn't live with that old airbag wheel.

You learn something new everyday. Now they give read the ad fully, I can't help but feel that if you are going to be the most expensive M3 on the market you have all the little stuff sorted. Maybe that's just me

The rear spoiler was optional, and didn’t actually produce any downforce. $38k is bloody strong money.

oh, the Purity!

This. The I drive of that generation was pretty crap, and the maps are way behind Google maps or waze.

Ive owned two with N14, one auto and one manual JCW, and two N18 in auto and manual. The N18 is definitely better but I wouldnt rule out a nice example of one with the N14. Trying to find one in good condition is another story.

Don't get one with the earlier N14 engine though, they are dogs. The R56 also feels like quite a big car. The interiors are much nicer than the R53 mini. In regards to the mk5 gti, here is what I said recently on another forum with the same question. Mk5s are nice cars to drive, just try and get the latest model year you can as the early ones are known for eating camshafts since the cam follower for the fuel pump is made of cheese. You would also want to make sure the DSG has been well serviced and doesnt do weird sh*t. The MK6s are known for timing chain tensioner issues and its a a**hole to get to them to replace (or even check). Parts for both are reasonably cheap out of US/UK and power gains are pretty easy with basic mods and a tune. I liked my mk5, it was a nice place to be and snappy around town, although in standard tune I'd never call it fast. The dsg was useless in start/stop traffic though, so keep that in mind.

Progress! engine mounts being made today!

A supercharger, and a better 6spd gearbox are the main differences (depending on spec), but there are cosmetic changes too.

Originality is key to resale value.

It's been like Christmas around here, with all my individually boxed RockAuto parts arriving for the Mini. The good thing about common cars like these, that were basically the same in all markets, is that parts can be had for cheap. RockAuto stocks heaps of R53 parts at really good prices, so I went to town ordering a bunch of things I knew the car needed. The obvious things I needed was a replacement hydraulic engine mount, as the old one had dumped its guts, a torque mount as I noticed it was a bit thumpy when I picked the car up, and a full ignition system refresh due to misfires. I started with the ignition system refresh first, as this was easy and should have a pretty noticeable difference. Started with a pretty OK looking system Don't be fooled though, there be horrors lurking beneath. Two cylinders had their leads wrapped in insulation tape (and rusty, despite being dry). The spark plugs were well worn too. These are weird ones with a tiny little center electrode that is basically flush with the ceramic. Well, should be flush... a couple of mine were recessed, but all were looking very end of life. The coil wasn't doing much better either. These are well known for the terminals corroding, and mine was no different. One of the first things I did when I got the car home was to clean the corrosion of the terminals, and I noticed a big reduction in misfires, but the terminals still didn't look good. I decided to go with NGK BKR6E plugs gapped to 0.8mm as they are easy to get, easy to get to, and are cheap, so replacement in 10,000km isn't too much of an issue. 27NM is the correct torque for the plugs. The new leads and coil were fitted, and a quick test start showed everything was working as it should A short test drive, in the rain, showed that I had oodles more torque than before, and the misfire/shuddering was gone. The engine was very punchy in the mid-range. Traction was now suddenly an issue. Next on the list was the thumpy old engine mounts. This is all pretty straight forward, with the only small catch being the need to support the engine when the RH engine mount is removed. The car was jacked up and supported on an axle stand. it still amuses me that these are so rigid and short that both wheels are off the ground on this side Off came the wheel, and the jack was repositioned under the engine, using a block of rubber to spread the load. There are a few bolts to undo up the top. Obviously the big main nut on the top, but there is also a little nut and bolt holding the ground strap to the mount (this is not a captive bolt, once the nut is off the bolt will fall out too). I didn't do anything with the black valve next to the ground strap bolt, this comes off once the mount bolt holding it on is removed. There are two bolts at the front of the head And two around the back The last one up top is holding the mount to the body Once they are all loose, the engine will no longer be supported, it will float around freely on the jack. Now, move into the front RH wheel well, and remove a couple of clips from the liner. You don't need to remove the whole thing, just free it up so you can get your arm behind it The bolt you need to access is behind the liner, on the underside of the chassis rail. It's an E12 E-Torx bolt, and located about here, going vertically up into the underside of the mount. I found cracking it with a bar and then using a cordless ratchet was the easiest, as its a very long bolt and quite tight. They can rust in place, and are torque to yield, so have a replacement ready. Be aware that if the mount is leaking, a bunch of smelly oil is going to decide it wants to pour out of the hole where the bolt is coming out of and all down you tools/arm. With all the bolts out, the top mount bracket can be removed, as can the mount, leaving a whole bunch of mess to clean up. Installing the new mount is basically the reverse of removal. Just leave everything finger tight until all the bolts are in place, and then torque them up together. The four bolts that hold the bracket to the head are 74 ft-lbs And the engine mount bracket to engine mount nut is 50 ft-lbs Next was the lower engine torque mount. Apparently you can get away with just undoing the two main bolts holding the mount in, but I couldn't seem to slip it out, so had to also remove the 4 smaller bolts holding the bracket to the sump. With it out it was easy to replace the mount, and bolt it all back together. A quick and easy job. The two large bolts are 74 ft-lbs, whilst the little ones are about 28 ft-lbs. It's clear to see why the old mount was due for replacement With the major work done, I carried on with a couple of smaller things. I wanted to check the air filter since I wasn't too confident on the rest of the servicing, and sure enough, it was absolutely packed with dirt. The good thing though, is its a reusable K&N filter, and I happen to have a cleaning kit, so that got a thorough clean and oil before refitting. Score. I also fit a boot light with LED, since for some reason that was completely missing, as well as the storage tray that should live in front of the cup holders in the center console. No photos, they aren't exciting, but are very useful. The last thing I tinkered with was the headlights. They were yellow and cloudy, which ruined the projector beam and made the terrible blue bulbs work even worse. Using a foam ball on my drill, and some PlastX polish, I went from this To this BIG difference. The other side got a polish too. They look almost new. A great result from this little guy After all this work I took the car for a good drive over some twisty roads. The thumping and banging is 90% gone, I suspect the only way to completely remove it is with poly bushes, but I'm not going down that track. The misfire is also completely gone, and the engine pulls smoothly, and strongly no matter the RPM. It's now a fight with DSC when driving hard, trying to keep the wheels from spinning. All in all, some good maintenance. I suspect it's been a while since it last had anything more than an oil and filter change.

Update... The E46 has left home with my eldest lad who is of course now in the military! Our Mazda's leak was the repaired trans seal not being in place properly - Driscolls re-seated it and all good F30 was brilliant on the winter run to Castlepoint - just love the turbo 6!!! Finally got around to cleaning it today... Jon at Auto38 is making great progress on the M5 and I look forward to having it back soon... "it's an awesome engine to work on! Thoroughly enjoying it!" I've just ordered some extra bits from TurnerMotorsport - both accessory belt tensioner pulleys and belt, a new bonnet badge with grommets and a set of 10 NGK plugs. The old vanos line wasn't holding pressure - so the new one should make a decent difference new bearings are in and clearances are spot on (phew)

Figured it out... MHD changed a bunch of stuff to do with shifting registration/buying from Google Play Store to their own servers. At the same time there were some upgrades and new features released, so now I have a MHD V8 Stage 1 tune instead of a V7, and managed to get the monitoring and logging stuff working. One of the new options is a tune that is stated to be for "Manual (MT) or xHP flashed AT" and that is the tune I am running. Seems like they have tweaked the throttle response to be a bit more linear than the stock "comes in early" response. Feels nice anyways Graphed a couple of logs and pretty easy to see why I am getting that 2C7E o2 sensor CEL. The LTFT1 sensor has flat lined I'll have to get under the car just in case a wire or plug came loose, and see how the logs look with a working sensor. Other stuff doesn't look too bad... rail pressure drops quite low when I'm off the gas but it gets up to good numbers when there is a bit of load on the engine. LPFP seems solid also but I'm no expert, so feel free to point out my mistakes. Cheers...

They are worse than you can possibly imagine. Cool though. Yeah and they are pretty nice. I would personally rather have a 330i e46 though, (+ drop a few grand into BT solution, and mechanical refresh)

I see a lot of praise for Eurosurgeon on here, but I have to say I am having a nightmare dealing with Joe. I sent a CIC unit up to be coded in early May, I didn't hear anything from them so I phoned them a few times and left messages, no reply. In early June I got hold of Joe by phone and he said to email him so I did. No reply. I few days latter I got hold of him and I got told yes it's done, it just hadn't ben sent back, after waiting another 10 days it still didn't arrive, so several more phone calls and messages, still no reply, I finally get hold of Joe, the excuse was "I thought you would have had it by now' my reply was "No, what is the tracking number"? They finally sent it back the following day and when I opened the parcel the face plate with the buttons was missing, I made several more phone calls again left messages with no reply, finally I got hold of Joe and asked about the faceplate, he said he would look into it. A week went by no reply so a few more phone calls and I again get hold of Joe, this time I get told it was found on the bench and he would send it to me. Well that was two weeks ago and I'm still waiting on it, a few more phone calls with no answer and no returned message, I finally get hold of him and he hangs up on me then immediately txts me (from the same number) to say his phone is rebooting as it's playing up and he will return my call, well no surprise no returned call From this experience it doesn't seem like this business is very good at customer service, have any others experienced service like this from Eurosurgeon?