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Got some sneak peaks from the visit to the painters. Looking good all stripped down

An LSD... drive it before making judgment... an auto 525i will be lucky to get one wheel going in the ice. If its NZ new it probably has an LSD anyway. Happy to be corrected.

Your comments are all very generous fellas but after having seen Boris' cars over the years I can't believe mine is comparable to this. Having said that, it wouldn't take much coin to bring it to close and certainly a lot less than the $16k price difference. However, after having been dicked about by TM tyre-kickers mine is back in the garage. It's just too good a car to let go. I've done nearly 4000 klms in it over the last six weeks. It's been absolutely faultless, is still great fun over the Paekakariki Hill and still turns heads. What could I possibly buy to replace it ? [e] Whether this car is worth $25k or not I don't know. But if I was asking that sort of money I would be taking some decent photos. These are shocking.

Thanks Everyone for their suggestions. Not really want to bother myself with the diff, although now I hope my joke doesn't become a reality. All in all, I'm more concerned with trying to hunt down some cheap tickets at grab a seat this month. Then I'll keep it on the down low, doing the small restorations/repairs/maintain/service, then maybe lowering it and adding a muffler and call it a day. Speaking of which, I need a break and restore some order in my life, these night shifts are killing me.

I did the valve cover gasket today as it was seeping a bit and obviously hadn't been touched in a while. The original gasket was as hard as plastic and was a major bitch to pull out. The inside of the engine looks pretty good for 19 years old though. Minor oil staining and no carbon build up! Took the chance to clean down all the plastic and freshen up the engine bay as well.

Awesome. Good score bro. My thoughts on your thoughts. IN the mean time enjoy driving it and finding its faults etc, strange noises. My thoughts are based on your very conservative budget. You need to triple that is my conservative view. I loved my M50b25, it's a great motor. So far plans for this General Maintenance (Engine & Transmission Oil and Service) -Fully agree! Cosmetic Repairs (Petrol flap, headlight glass) -Agree Volvo Lip and have the sides and lower bumper matching the bodies colour. -No, not for ages, if ever LSD (or might just weld it shut for 100% locking - Flame suit on) -You're joking right? A Ebay Euro Chip Tune -Absolutely freakin not Exhaust modifications -umm not worth it at all, maybe cheaply Some Suspension work, (for now I may just settle with some sports lowering springs) -Spend everything you got Perhaps some better Mags and Tires,(currently has 15" Style 5's) -later later, just have them balanced etc. Maybe followed by a Strut Bar and Custom Xbrace etc. later later later if ever

thats a bloody big shopping list for $1000. dreams are free i guess lol

tbh id keep it as a cruiser rather than throwing money hand over fist at it like you have planned. those mods arent going to do a sh*t load to make it better to drive when its gutless. Better off just maintaining it, maybe lowering it and leaving it.

Around 500-1000ks they settle down.

I can now legally drive my car. WOF and REG today. Wooo Hooo. Interesting that when I went to insure it they didn't have it listed on their books so the person serving me had to ring someone in Auckland. Took a while but they came back with a recommended insurance value of 12-17k and called it a special interest vehicle. My 740i has a recommended value of 2500 to 3500.

Mk4 GPS unit from an e46 ex UK. Bye bye Mk2 the dinosaur.

Collected my new wheels yesterday 2mths after ordering - happy days! VMR 710 in hyper silver with Goodyear Eagle Asymmetric 2's. Will fit them Saturday morning hoping that the sun is shining so I can go for a bit of a cruise afterwards! Is there a break-in period with new tyres that I should be aware of?

The car that the LS400 aspired to be... shots fired. :-P

Beasty was picked up today, kind of an emotional departure. Stopped by the paint suppliers and picked up my sample sheet, colour will be similar but smaller / finer flakes

Next I removed the hot air intake setup by plumbing the miller maf into the original air box. Original air box + afm meter adaptor + silicone reducer + bolts.. I got the 'e30 air flow meter adaptor' off ebay for $15. It is meant to be for connecting a pod filter to the stock afm, however in reverse it works great for plumbing the original air box into the maf. The silicone reducer 3" to 2.75" ID and 3" long. It also has a 5mm 4-ply reinforced thickness which is good considering it is going to be under vacuum. You need to remove the little positioning pins on the air box to allow the adapter to sit flush. I decided to carefully line up the holes and drill through the adapter to help keep it in the right place. Not that it should go anywhere with 4 bolts holding it, just being fussy really. Some adapter plates don't have the square shape, notice how this one matches the outlet on the air box. Nice... The bracket bit for the stock afm on the air box had to be cut off to make room for the maf plug.. It turned out just as clean and tidy as I hoped it would Feels better knowing I'm not sucking air from the middle of the engine bay anymore too.