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Filmed at the RNZAF in Whenuapai one very early morning. Enjoy.

Thread served its purpose fellas. Locking to stop the inevitable.

Nice job, Martin and great kick work at around 3:25!! Music used to be my career... Just never made enough money at it!! haha Here's a couple of oldies of mine that I hadn't thought about for a long time!! And this... though the audio seems totally out of sync now weirdly!

I sold my E36 (328) a few months ago and picked up this 540i. I had never realised the difference in quality and 'feel' between 3 & 5 series but they are miles apart. Everything feels more solid, rigid, comfortable and of course faster Plans for it are tracking down some 18" AC Type II's or maybe M-Pars and lowering it a touch. One question though, the car just came back from having a few bits touched up and now I'm getting tail lights, licence plate light and brake lights pop up on the check panel. All of these work though. Is there some wiring/sensors I should be checking? Common problem? Get's annoying as it takes up all the screen and can't display time/range info.

Very cool videos Jooles!

some nice sport seats here http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/46228-e34-m5-e32-e28-e24-leather-sport-seats-just-recod/ and yes your 540is is nice , have seen it . cheers brent ps the engine cover fits well too

actually, what would Ray say he did? would it have been rebodying the 540is? or converting the 540iA into a manual?

Hmmm yeah I know what you mean. The ABS plastic ones would be the way to go imo. Then again your E39 is really cool as it is so I'm not sure you need to do anything other than drive it!

Um, Does this not mean that if you re-shell, the 'shell' that is used must retain its factory assigned VIN # ? So you can't just plate and tag it to be what the original car was..

Hey Steve, love your Fav. quote on trademe, very appropriate...

I like this. Puts to rest lots of flak people cop for rebodying with something that may well have left the nondiscriminatory steel stamping machine right beside the original anyhow.

This Reminds me of that Dakar yellow e36 "m3" that was here earlier in the year. Was just a 318is shell with everything swapped into it which doesn't make it a genuine m3 which the guy was upfront about and was sold for what it was, a modded 318is, not a genuine m3. Sure it's almost identical to my m3 but that doesn't make it one, and I believe this is the same thing, a modded 540i, but a nice one at that.

+1 to the above. If you were genuine and appreciated the 540is and what it means you would have repaired the original. In my opinion this is dodgy, you are selling a vehicle which has had the vin changed, that is illegal in this country I believe. The car may be very nice, but should be sold as what it is, and not with misleading advertising. It is not a 540is now, it is now a 540ia converted to a 6 speed 540, still very nice maybe. ps, why has it been withdrawn?

Im not sure why anyone wouldnt want sport seats and steering wheel to be fitted, makes quite a difference.

It's a better car than my red one for sure. The red one had a HK stereo but honestly it wasn't an amazing upgrade from standard IMO. This one has a flawless history and looks great in its individual spec. The grey leather has barely aged (unlikely black) too. To each their own but I like this one. Come have a drive

To be honest i think alot of people were being abit harsh as you say. Also as it is i believe an enthusiast or clued up individual will buy it as the average joe bloggs doesnt know how good of a car they are. for that reason I was going to suggest simplifying the auction somewhat but i see you have already done that, as the rare production numbers etc were a little to much, enthusiasts are more interested in maintenance etc I am still a little confused as to what happened with the body swap. i believe you have swapped the body over but this vin number and reg still belong to the drivetrain and interior etc? might be worth clarifying I know a local man with a e39 m5 and he lets his wife drive it as he loves his e34 6spd 540i so much more. good luck with sale, beautiful car

Hi all, yes it is a members car......mine. It is what I have said it is, a 1994 540iS, that has had the body shell replaced with a body from a 1994 540ia . A genuine NZ E34 540iS, not to be confused with an E34 M540i, was a 540ia, that the factory put a manual in, added a body kit, MSport suspension, Seats and Steering Wheel. Nothing too earth shattering...it is what it is. I am a little offended by some of the comments on here...It's not being dodgy, I have been totally upfront about the car. I purchased a 540iS that required body work that was un economical to repair - rather than stripping it for the gearbox as most would have done, being a BMW enthusiast, I chose to get the car back on the road rather than see it die. The method I chose was my own. It's all a matter of opinion in the end, but as I have commented on Trade Me.... People replace the bodies on classic cars all the time, for various reasons. You can buy a new manufactured, aftermarket MG B roadster body to restore your MGB. Using it does not make your car not genuine, the body is just a part of the entire machine. If you replace a part on your car does it make it not genuine?... At the end of the day, you are all entitled to your own opinions, and I expected every idiot to come out of the woodwork on Trade Me, but I do find the negativity here a little disappointing, considering it is coming from people who are supposedly enthusiastic about the marque. At the end of the day, you don't have to buy it, and you can always go and buy one of the other more genuine E34 540IS's that are for sale

well that answers many things your here to troll like on facebook, now run alone and play with the other kids then again it must be past your bed time

I think they're all hiding in Ray's garage up at HellBM!

Don't get too paranoid about things going wrong on the M3 or you will never enjoy the car. As an M3 owner myself I can say I find it ultra reliable but it is a high performance car and I know one day it will cost me. I'm prepared to take that risk on a car like this.

So he says it's a genuine rare car being a 540is when all it is a 540 with the bits swapped into it. That's hardly genuine in my eyes...

Looks to be in great nick! Not to tread on anyone's toes here but can I assume that those are the guts of the banged up manual that went on trademe a short while ago? The 'no test drives without cash' line leaves a sour taste, she ain't a Ferrari; although that may imply no insurance at all if it was done up to sell.

Pulled out front suspension. Replaced top mounts, bump stops, sway bar end links. Pulled out rear suspension. Replaced top mounts, bump stops. Installed ECS strut tower reinforcement plates. Replaced missing exhaust mount bolts. Replaced the crusty old 4" Nokia speakers in the parcel shelf with some new Sony ones. Replaced transmission fluid with Redline MTF. Nearly killed myself getting the fill plug out. ^ what noob left these out?

How does this rate versus your red one Dylan - that (I recall) was a great car

I like you

Made in Germany?