Olaf

very cool project! You're nearly there

PS - I'll give her new oil and filter as a birthday present, too.

well, last week I found a crack in the cap (had an old spare, and later found a crack in the reservoir. A few days later I found the Nissens radiator I had replaced 3.5 years ago had let go on the drivers side. drip----drip----drip----drip when I got to work. Read up on the reviews for the rad on FCP - including mine - and found many people finding they crap out. Ordered new reservoir & cap, and genuine Volvo radiator. Drove home that night, the leak had turned into a steady stream drip--drip--drip--drip--drip--drip--drip--drip so stopped driving it. Parts arrived this week; I was too busy with work and visiting family stuff, so turned to Page European for the work. Got a precautionary gas test (in case of HG blow pressurising cooling system; passed. Phew. All sorted, now to see about freight cost RMA for refund of old radiator. This sunday: fitting rebuilt front callipers and bleeding the brakes (she's been pulling badly under braking. (6-8% imbalance noted during WoF test, worsened since... a sticky caliper). I elected to go with rebuilt calipers rather than seal kits and potentially screw around with car off road if pistons too far gone. Summary: I guess despite being well-cared for and constantly fed a diet of OEM and Original parts during 12 years of ownership, she was feeling the need for another parts infusion at 20 years of age and a (comparatively youthful) 194k kms!

hi George, and welcome. Yes, I think there are other X3 owners here. Take a look at the Meetings/Wellington section, we try and get together from time time. You might be interested in the trip we're doing to the Shannon car show in Feb. Tell us about your X3! cheers Olaf

god I would love to buy this.

booooooooooooooost failures.

It's awesome. Thanks for sharing, it must be very exciting to get your vehicle back with a cage in it.

^^ you can lead the horse to water, but you can't make him think. Drew, you'd do well to take Glenn's advice. This is his day job; he provides expert advice here for the benefit of the Bimmersport community.

The link for the one with black wheels is here: http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1244978943.htm the wheels can be repainted, take a little more effort/$ to find the missing springs!

yes, I've downscaled my requirements for this car from my customary wagon to just a saloon (sedan). it's only for 2 years or so, so I'll get by with the e46 where (smallish) wagon is required.

come on man, it's not a fashion show. We wanna see your cage as it is now, fresh back from the fabricators. not when it's all tarted up! #nothouseandgarden

sound as a pound, old son.

We spent a while doing daily commute North London to Reading and beyond, each day. Driving A406 - A40 - M40 - M25 - M4 ... and then my SO took the train further west. providing we hit the North Circular no later than 6.20am, I'd have her at Reading in time for a train just after 0700. Returning home could take 3 hours on a bad day. So we'd rock in at 7pm-ish, get some dinner, watch a little TV, early to bed, up early to rinse and repeat the next day. We realised we were having no life, and as the snow fell and the afternoon traffic worsened, the penny dropped. Long commute: "madness". OTOH another friend (earlier example of living a long way out from London) used his 2.5 hr train commute each way to study and pass his masters degree, so it's not all bad. We're spoilt in NZ generally being able to live close to work and not spending half our lives in traffic (you lot in Auckland excepted, obviously )...

may have a challenge with relative scarcity of e93's in the wreckers, though worth a shot...

welcome, Jonathan! nice looking e46 #8 )

where's the pics of your cage!!

yeah, all that NZ-made quality and welded alu, and yet only a one year guarantee (!?). in contrast, I've just had a Nissens rad fail after 3.5 years in my Volvo, FCP are quite happy to take it back and refund my money. I've purchased a genuine Volvo rad from them instead.

I can't afford the BMW V8 diesel... and good as the Toyota is, won't be going there. the diesel or V8 options for me likely reside in an e60. I certainly work to live.

I can't afford them.

welcome, Bryan!

that had me laughing out loud. the e65 is a bit of a two-bagger, right? I've looked at them many times, and then.... face-on, they're like Lyle Lovett said in that song. "she was ugly from the front, she was ugly from the front, she was ugly from the front..."

mine's 36kms each way. takes about 40-45 mins. Although I'm "going against the traffic", SH2 is pretty congested with plonkers sitting on 90 or 95 in the outside lane. Often congested around petone (north or southbound), and Ngauranga off-ramp (southbound). A good day would be 35 mins, though these are few and far between, and is both traffic volume and traffic-light phasing dependent. I much preffered last year, where I walked to work in 36-39 mins, and walked home (higher pace) with a variety of routes. Or caught the bus. Same home, different workplace** I'm finding the fuel bill surprising, I'm not driving on "economy run" settings, nor am I fanging it... stil go through $80 in what seems like "no time". A diesel or V8 beckons. A number of my friends are saying combine the two and get a diesel V8 landcruiser. ** reminds me of a song by Was not Was... "I was transferred to the moon. Worse pay, better hours. I was transferred to the moon. Worse pay, better fellow workers..."

The Japanese Market BMWs are not made in Japan, as is a common misconception down here. They're made for the Japanese market, in the other manufacturing plants such as Munich, Regensburg, Dingolfing, etc. depending on model. As an example, my '02 e46 Touring is Japanese market, and was made in Regensburg. It's as much an issue with deferred maintenance (or in the case of e36's - the GM transmission rather than the ZF of other markets) that earns the used Japanese market imports a bad rep... and after 15 years here, they're either neglected (continuing the Kiwi tradition of deferred neglect/no maintenance) or resolved (through remedial maintenance) by careful owners. /rant

$310 (at the mo) and look alright... http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/wheels-tyres/alloy-wheels/auction-1245282246.htm

Bernal Dads Racing at Buttonwillow by Todd Lappin, on Flickr Photo Credit to Todd Lappin, 'Telstar Logistics' on Flickr - creative commons license.