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Showing content with the highest reputation since 03/29/23 in Posts

  1. 9 points
    Got back from a round trip down south and up the West Coast with the parents last week, clocking up around 2,400km across 6 days. Threw in the old stock rear springs beforehand. Whilst it didn't completely eliminate the rubbing, it isolated it to only the harshest dips in the road when catching them at high speeds, but overall much better and meant I could drive with way less stress and way more confidence. Considering this was the first road trip I've taken the car on with 4 adults and a bootful of luggage on board, I can't really complain about the little rubbing still remaining. This was an outlier of a situation and with 1-2 people on board, I don't think rubbing will be an issue on the stock springs. Some absolutely amazing roads out there and an absolute ideal place to put the car through a proper stress test after the big rebuild. Some small issues aside, the car performed perfectly and effortlessly ate up the km's. Queenstown - Glenorchy is still my favourite bit of road in the country but also enjoyed experiencing the Queenstown - Te Anau and Wanaka - Haast routes for the first time ever. The folks loved their first time in NZ as well, saying it felt like they've been to 5 different countries in the short time here, such was the variety of landscapes behind every new mountain ridge. Good good times.
  2. 9 points
  3. 8 points
  4. 8 points
    Hey team! just wanna say hi! some pics of my ride, pretty standard car except for rear muffler, Susp, rims & tyres haven’t seen much of E21 around! I’m a mechanic down here so if anyone needs help, flick me a message or Insta > Julian.Lombardo Cheers 🤙🏽
  5. 7 points
    Here is my 2018 M3 Comp. It’s my daily driver and I’m impressed with it as an all rounder. Big boot, comfortable in soft modes, 9lt/100 on long trips, (gets very thirsty when boosting though) great seats, sounds. I’ve added CarPlay and the GTS/CS DCT, EDC, steering and diff software, which I would definitely recommend. A boot luggage hook and PSS* tyres…
  6. 7 points
    Fun parts starting to pile up. Manual conversion stuff all ready to go. Brakes stripped down ready for some paint Factory 325ti specific exhaust and have the 6 cylinder compact specific front sway bar as well. Scored a facelift rear hatch in alpine white which looks much sportier than the prefacelift version imo, still need to find some facelift tail lights to go on. Will be doing a factory wiper delete as well convert to a RF key instead of the shitty IR key at the same time since the FZV module is in the hatch on the compacts. Ordered a manual cluster from Greece on ebay for 100NZD shipped, I'll steal the manual blank cluster panel from it and use the 330 cluster rings so the car so the car will essentially have a 330 manual cluster as it should. Haven't had time to pull the motor out of the 330 yet, I'm hoping either over the long weekend or the weekend after I'll get to it. Then I'll do a big parts order, refresh the motor and hopefully have the 330ti ready by Christmas. In the meantime, it's actually nice to have an economical daily for once...
  7. 7 points
  8. 7 points
  9. 6 points
    Took my better half to the airport yesterday in the vert. Also went to butterfly creek beforehand with the little one. We had a whole day of driving with the top down. Had my eldest daughter smiling with glee the whole time. It was absolutely priceless. Two more months and then I'm off to the UK to join the future wife for our wedding there in May.
  10. 6 points
    Or, hear me out, remember that the posted speed limit isn't a hard target you MUST meet, drive to the conditions and bullying people on the road isn't ok.
  11. 5 points
    New power steering pump is in as of last night. Has made a massive difference, the perpetual groaning it was making has vanished and the whole thing feels a lot better. Makes the car far more civilised. I also replaced the ignition coils for some reason. No idea if it made a difference or not probably a waste of money but meh. PrEveNtaTivE mAiNteNanCe. Pretty obvious where the new door is. It honestly is a lot less noticeable in person than photos for some reason. Still, better than the creaky door with the dent. Can always get it repainted if I really wanted. Hopefully someone drives into this door at some point so I can get another respray lol. Still have those glossy window trim things to go on but I can finish that off later if need be. Not the most mint E46 wagon out there but still looking pretty good I reckon.
  12. 5 points
    Bidding has certainly crept past the part car status , even at the time of your post at roughly 11k You'll be surprised what can be repaired , it's all about economical value,skill and parts availability Even as a disclosed write off repaired M325i I'd expect a book value of $35k - $40k It could potentially be a good entry level into M325i ownership, as the ships sailing with good examples fetching 50 to 60k I wouldn't rely too much on the ownership quantity of E30s or a wheel alignment as a skillful judgement , Chassis time, chassis measure and a repair certifier will be the new owners priority. Edit* If anyone would require parts, I've got plentiful available, and Or needing assistance in the lower to central north island with the actual repair . Let me know 😀
  13. 5 points
    Saved the planet, one km at a time for approx 900kms, and sneered at all the farmers in their dirty diesel utes spewing smoke.
  14. 5 points
  15. 5 points
    If you dont like the quote, go somewhere else. Dont whinge about it. You've said it yourself, you cant do the job yourself, so what your buy price and labour is, is irrelevant. The N46 is a dumpster fire of an engine, so you're lucky any mechanic that knows BMWs would touch it.
  16. 5 points
    Rear subframe and trailing arms mostly sorted, bushes & bearings all pressed in. Solid aluminium subframe mounts from CMP Auto Engineering. Lemförder front diff bushes & Meyle HD rear diff bush. CMP trailing arm spherical ball joints. Lemförder ball joint top & bottoms. F.A.G. wheel bearings.
  17. 5 points
    This sounded good with the S62 - don’t think I’ve seen another
  18. 5 points
    Got onto the 330i brake refurb. All disassembled, I had them vapour blasted by a fellow bimmerhead I'd met, saved a good number of hours on the wire wheel. Gave them an additional scrub and 3 coats of satin black caliper paint. Then threw on new seals, guide pins, rattle clips, OE rubber hoses and a set of speed bleeder valves, as well as Akebono pads (sorry @Olaf, I'll be careful). All tidied up and set aside. Also scrubbed down and major rust off the subframe and control arms, gave it a few coats of rust converter primer and the same satin black paint. Will get onto pressing in the new bushes and bearings next. Front hubs are also now disassembled and awaiting a tidy up.
  19. 5 points
    Kudos to whoever specced this https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/m5/listing/4132639869
  20. 4 points
    236,600km Gave the garage a good reshuffle and cleared out enough space to roll the car in for some wrenching. Was nearly due an oil change so used it as a chance to knock out a few bigger and smaller jobs. Last I changed oil was only in October but already managed to clock up 7k km's so figured it was time. Had tried doing some data logging a while ago and noticed the long term fuel trims sitting at 8.5%. Not enough to cause any noticeable rough running or trigger engine codes but did seem a tad high. Followed @Harper's lead and got myself a little smoke tester. Was tossing up getting one of the higher end models with pressure gauges and other bells and whistles but in the end figured it's a tool that would only ever get occasional use so went with the cheapest one. Also got the inflatable bladder adapter to go with the kit that plugs into the intake boot. Nifty little setup, the tin can solution felt almost humorous but works well enough. The device produces a decent amount of smoke but didn't reveal any vacuum leaks so the issue must lie elsewhere. Will clear adaptations and continue keeping an eye on data logs. At some point I was also getting codes claiming the ICV to be stuck open so tried switching that out as well. Picked up a spare one from Pick-A-Part, gave it a good clean with throttle body cleaner spray, compressed air and lubed up the internals with a bit of oil. The unit that came out still seemed to move freely enough but will see if the codes come back. Drained the oil which didn't look too bad but there was quite a bit of metallic sludge stuck to the magnetic drain plug. Still only 9k km since the engine rebuild but already the 4th oil change so not entirely sure at what point it becomes something to be seriously concerned about. Will do another oil change in 4-5k km's time and reassess. Video The biggest mission I decided to tackle this time around was replacing the oil non-return valve that sits in the oil filter housing. First saw it done in one of M539's videos and with the vendor seemingly not shipping to New Zealand, I took the chance to pick up a couple of those valves whilst over in Europe last year. Finally gathered enough motivation to install it after stumbling upon a thread on E46 Fanatics of it supposedly fixing the guy's startup engine tick and low oil pressure issue. Was mentally prepared for oil to start splashing out all over the place when removing the housing but the mess ended up being almost underwhelming. The valve is press fit into the housing and its extraction needed some tedious prying out with a screwdriver. I used an old plastic trim removal tool as a sacrificial layer to protect the surrounding edges. Worked pretty well and managed to get the old valve out with little to no damage. The old valve didn't look too bad, the groove was barely worn into the side but the plug did seem to move quite freely in there. Poured a bit of oil over top and it drained right through. Tested the new one with brake cleaner and none leaked past. One weird thing with the new valve was that it just dropped into the opening without the need to hammer it in. Still snug enough in there that it didn't move around but loose enough that you could lift back out with just your fingers. Measured the diameter of the two with a digital vernier - the old valve was 25.07mm whilst the new one 25.01mm. Not a huge difference but still. Not like it has any space to fall out and I guess it'll properly mate itself to the surrounding housing after a few heat cycles. Jumping forward a bit, unfortunately it wasn't the culprit of my niggling startup rattle and the issue still persists. I'm beginning to think it not to be engine-related entirely but something to do with the gearbox/flywheel. Very hard to tell by the sound alone, near on impossible to capture it on video/audio and the list of potential suspects is ever decreasing. Regardless, still glad I replaced the valve. To finish up under the hood, I did a compression test just to check the general health of the engine. First time doing it since the engine rebuild so was a bit nervous but the results were pretty satisfying with all cylinders sitting at 200-208 PSI. Couldn't be happier with that. Finally, after hitting my head a few too many times on the boot door that wouldn't raise itself all the way up anymore, I got around to replacing the crusty old boot struts that were starting to become audibly annoying as well. Otherwise, she's sitting fairly pretty. The next bigger undertaking will be to finally wire up the reversing camera (thanks to @adro for the motivation), along with the boot elephant trunk repair and fixing all the broken tabs on the boot trims.
  21. 4 points
    Six months of trouble free daily driving. Grabbed a coffee with @nath and his B3 yesterday. Only Alpina I’ve seen in NZ since leaving the UK almost ten years ago, worth the wait.
  22. 4 points
    Is there gonna be a 16-years-later photo-shoot 👀
  23. 4 points
    Ponsonby Road, spiced up SC or 964? I wouldn’t say no!
  24. 4 points
    TBH there was nearly a complaint every time he posted something. And he was doing it on purpose much of the time. The founders Ollie and Andrew drop by every now and then. Ollie has just listed his Bimmersport E30 Series car for sale on the forum. Even comes with keys to the forum. There are still many old members lurking around. But Facebook did harm the forum space. Only now are forums starting to make a come back as people are hunting for info on classic cars. Facebook is a black hole for anything older than about 12 hours. Searching is non existent and near on useless. The only thing it is good for is meet ups. Many of the younger kids (18-25) at work don't even have Facebook. As that is for their parents. Many of my friends and family are quitting it as current social media takes it's toll on their lives. There is so much info on this forum and others that are similar. I do still get angry at the great Photobucket purge. So many lost important images.
  25. 4 points
    Not sure what flavour green this is but just spotted at BMW North Shore.
  26. 4 points
    Today was fresh index 12 injectors
  27. 4 points
    It's been a while since I wrote a post on here - I actually have two cars to introduce, but I'll start with the Brabus.... By now a few of you may be familiar with the fact I am generally drawn towards the whacky, weird and sometimes wonderful European cars…. Or the ones no one else has the balls to buy. This has included; 3x W8 Passats, 2x 5.2L V10 Audis (S8 & S6), high ks 130i, a high ks 987 manual Boxster, and then of course my very high ks E34 540i. Anyway, back at the start of the year I was doing my generic trawling through Trademe and Turners when I came across a Smart ForFour Brabus. Smart as a brand has always intrigued me. I’ve been obsessed with the Smart Roadster since I was about 7, and want one very much. The robotised manual gearbox is just very off putting, and I think they are hard to justify with most sellers wanting 12-15K for them. My Mum’s daily run around is a Smart ForTwo, so I am familiar with the gearbox, and it is everything the reviews say and more. It’s actually not too bad once you get used to it, but to have in a dedicated roadster… no thanks, especially having had the manual 987 which genuinely is driving pleasure in its finest form for under $20K. However, I digress. I had seen the Brabus ForFour that now sits in my driveway at Turners sometime at the start of the year. A very neat car I thought - I should bid on that! I then promptly forgot about the auction, and saw it pop up on Trademe at a dealer for around $12,995. The car sat for a while (as did basically everything on the market at the start of the year), but eventually sold. It then got returned to the dealer as it had an intermittent issue. The dealer decided to $1 reserve the Brabus which is when a friend of mine sent it to me with the tag line "This screams Kees"... As I flogged my 987 and 130i off under the guise I wanted to have just two fun(ish) cars I was desperately trying to resist the urge to buy it. The listing stated it likely had some form of ECU issue where the car would sometimes run, but other times have huge power loss, misfire, or refuse to start. Smart cars are notorious for funky electrics due to their less than ideal placing of the ECU and SAM unit, particularly on the Roadster and ForTwo models, so it seemed a complex fix. However, I did come to a figure of what I would be prepared to pay for the Brabus, if I were to buy it. Because I now identify as an old, wise man who sticks to his own word, on the day of the auction I did not bid, even though the car went for less than what I would have hypothetically paid for it. I even had a mild rant to a mate of mine on how I should have pulled the trigger on it. That night I went to sleep a troubled man, and it sounds ridiculous but I had a dream about the car, and how I should have bought it. When I woke up the next day I was lying in bed pondering my decision when I got a notification on Trademe saying the car was being offered at a fixed price. Clearly the deal had fallen through. 30 seconds later my mate rings me telling me to buy it. 20 minutes of being indecisive followed, before I accepted the fixed price offer, and then went off to collect my Brabus! I pick the car up, and it makes it all of 10 minutes before it decided to be the most undriveable vehicle I have experienced so far. It would cut in and out, stall, flash random warnings for coolant temp, barely accelerate and then refused to run full stop. At this point I was questioning my decision. I decided to abandon it and pick it up later that day. I drove it from Penrose back to the North Shore, with 3 breaks where the car decided to be like a stubborn dog and not move, but eventually I made it home. I then started doing research on what the issue could be. One thing that kept coming up was ignition related issues - particularly coils. So the following day I lift the engine cover off - and sure enough one of the coils is clearly different from the rest. I take it out, run the part number, and it was completely incorrect. So a quick trip to Jap spares for a $40 ignition coil, and by a stroke of luck I now have one of the most fun cars I've ever driven. I should mention at this point, the Brabus ForFour uses the 4G15T from the Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart, and the same 5 speed manual gearbox too. The only difference to the engine aside from the plethora of Brabus and Mercedes branding on the engine cover and boost pipes is the Brabus engine has no blow off valve, as from what I've read too much pressure was lost through the stock Colt Ralliart BOV setup. And of course the boost is turned up a bit to bump power from around 150hp/210nm to 177hp/238nm.... I am unsure how accurate this is - but a friend's OBD reader was indicating my Brabus was making 21psi on full boost which is a fair bit. To say the car is quick for a stock vehicle from 2006 is an understatement. It's undriveable in the rain - spins in 1st, 2nd and 3rd, sometimes 4th. It also understeers like NOTHING I have ever experienced. It's genuinely scary in the wet. An LSD would do it a great deal of good, and something I would like to get. The thing surprises a lot of cars by how quick it is - even my friend who has a tuned Peugeot 207 GTI with $15K in receipts (its meant to be 220hp), got walked in one of those convenient scenarios where we both accelerated at the same time So as a brief summary. It's got a Japanese drivetrain, that's been breathed on by the Germans, and then its put into a four door Smart car. It's of course factory lowered, has awesome deep dish staggered Brabus alloys, a panoramic roof, leather Brabus embossed seats (which are heated!), and it says SMART ARSE on the back. They also only made around 1200 total for the world! Can you see why I have fallen for this thing? It only weighs 1090kg as well so it feels nice and light footed. The best way I can describe it - is its how I imagine an AMG hatchback would be - great in a straight line, slightly above average going around corners in the dry, and absolutely undriveable in the rain! I can also understand why my one might be the only one in NZ - they are the size of a VW Polo, but were Golf GTI money in 2006! I would also love to know who had my car from new as its NZ New, so I'm guessing was some form of special order? So what now? Well after doing over 2000km in the car, I realised that it was most likely on its original cambelt.... and since its done a 183,000km, I thought it best I do not drive it until thats sorted. So its been sitting in my driveaway awaiting a bunch of parts as its going to be getting quite the birthday, and then following its birthday it is likely to have another birthday which addresses the paint fade on the bonnet, stone chips on the front lip, and curbed wheels. So with the cr out of action likely for a while, ignoring the fact I have the 540i and W8, I had to buy another car to drive in the interim.... of course! More on that another time. So as another brief summary - it’s an exclusive and interesting European car with some huge quirks, but has Japanese consistency/reliability? in the way it pulls (reminds me a lot of my mate’s old WRX). And then on top of all that, it feels like a factory modified car - that’s the best way to describe it. It creates a hybrid medium between a factory and an aftermarket feeling… if that makes any sense at all.
  28. 4 points
    Who else clicked on this thinking @Kees had done something stupid again 😂 I got peddled around Brands Hatch in a Radical R400 - nothing else since has come close to being as visceral. I can see why this type of car gets people more hooked than heroin.
  29. 4 points
    Spareto.com have been getting parts to me in just over a week. From Estonia! My recent order from chemist warehouse took 10 days from Auckland. Spareto.com does have various spring and shock options.
  30. 4 points
    Selling my sisters 325i on her behalf, been a daily driver for the past 8 years. Solid E30 kept pretty close to all factory with good options list, and extensive service history. Details in TradeMe listing, limited by character count there so if you have any additional questions feel free to ask. Located in Wellington Lower price for bimmersport users - $15,000 https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/4318337428?bof=147mkTto
  31. 4 points
  32. 4 points
    Mileage is steady and appears to have had decent life being 1 owner and imported in NZ early on. K's mean very little in regards to engine health but you'd do the relevant tests on it anyway. Suspension is stuffed on most old BMW's regardless so you'd likely be replacing most of it if not already done.
  33. 4 points
    Yeah I will be honest and say I am not likely to ever join another series with my car. The change in safety regulations and track cost increases have put an already expensive sport even further out of reach. There are far fewer track days thanks to the closure of Puke and sale of Hampton and Taupo. And Playday On Track has pretty much been killed off due to this. Even silly things like I am not able to go passenger in a car without a roll cage to teach them how to get around the track anymore. But if I did want to take a passenger in a car with a roll cage they are required to have the same safety gear as me including Hans device. Just so you are aware. It is not as easy as it once was.
  34. 4 points
  35. 4 points
    Oil coolers all done and can't spot any leaks as of yet, but has only barely gotten to temp once so far. Replace the fender and front bumper got painted and installed. Very happy with how it all worked out. just need to stick the number plate back on and give it a good clean now
  36. 3 points
    Less than an LHD one. No one is dailying these anymore and the pool of buyers for a 50k + weekend car is pretty small. I'd say 55-60k if you had to sell.
  37. 3 points
  38. 3 points
    230xxxkm New headunit Xtrons IA8246BLHS after consulting with @Karter16 I pulled the trigger on an Xtrons unit. I went for a lower spec as I only intend on running CarPlay and a reverse camera so not sure I need 8gigs of ram…but let’s see. Not sure what the difference is between the IA8246BLHS vs IA8246BLH but it was cheaper so I rolled with it. Landed in a few days and at the same time so did the HVAC relocation bracket from @Vass (along with a couple of other goodies, thanks!) Pretty sweet install, but a bit of a jungle of loom back there, have fabric wrapped the loose connectors for now but will be back into connect up reverse camera and route the USB’s through the Center console maybe. Also as Karter pointed out I need to file down the top of the bracket which is currently making it look a little squeezed. car came with an FM transmitter which worked ok but I found my self trying to change songs etc while I was driving which is naughty. Now I’m left with an adhesive circle which I fear will rip the gray painted dash off if I try remove it so might just leave it, the steering wheel hides it from the drives position anyway.
  39. 3 points
    I remember the listing vividly, it was the same as my house deposit for my first home, and i thought long and hard. dont regret for a second my choice these days tho!
  40. 3 points
    229,xxx km Picked up the car from storage this week (12 months). WOF & Rego and then things went a bit pear shaped. Started with central locking issues, moved into abs, handbrake, battery light trifecta and ended with a dead flat battery in the middle of CBD. New battery, new alternator and I think everything is ok. 2 hours waiting for AA. Old one New one overnight via A1 auto electrical. Looking very clean in a not so clean engine bay. Real sweet DIY replacing one of these...it's been a while since i have done any wrenching but i was quickly reminded how DIY friendly the E46 is. I did locate some GM5 relays from chch via get connected however I think* the battery and alternator have cured the locking issue so have ordered relays from overseas at a lot lower cost and plan to replace those in the future, cause man it's a real pain in the ass when only the drivers door unlocks.
  41. 3 points
  42. 3 points
    Here you go. Significantly better and fresher than it was at 95km
  43. 3 points
    Sold! A bit less than I wanted, but gone none the less.
  44. 3 points
    Is this "news"? Not sure, mods can move as required. Many of you might have one of these, they've been kicking around since 2017. I'm sure the risk is low, and it's only certain models, but it may concern you.
  45. 3 points
    Not really sure I understand the question? Should be fairly black and white - if the spec sheet has option code 333 for an mt1, and 335 for an mt2 it's an m325i. All of the m325i goodies were also a either factory option, or available as dealer retrofit aside from one, which is the black headliner - it wasn't even listed as an option if you run the vin of an m325i, so if it's got the headliner, you can be fairly sure you're looking at the genuine article.
  46. 3 points
    The rattle coming from the driver's side front brake has been resolved. Thanks to @Eagle for the assist. have always been nervous about brake work. The brakes were removed and the pads were checked, all were looking good we added some stop squeal on reinstallation, just to be sure. I also resecured the dust shield, the lower pin and clip were quite loose and the only way to properly tighten is to remove the disc itself to gain access.
  47. 3 points
    But it "started" at a roundabout? That could be telling... Any chance that at the approach, the first driver practically stopped, even though NOBODY is on the roundabout??? My 75 year old father gets pissed at people doing that: "Oh dear, a roundabout with nobody on it, I'll practically stop, and give way, in case there is an invisible car I should give way to..." and he doesn't even drive a ute 🤣 Most people on the road are UNAWARE of what is going on around them.
  48. 3 points
  49. 3 points
    7 hours. How much of that was spent towing the Alfa? 🤣
  50. 3 points
    haha, after many years youll be glad to know the e30 will be getting a total repaint this year.
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