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After having a few low ballers and time wasters during the sale process of my first M5 I decided to make a few improvements to improve the appearance for any new interested buyers. Wet sanded, polished and waxed the headlights. Pretty straight forward.. 600,800,1000,1200,1500,2000 grits followed by some Meguiars full strength cut compound and a final coat of Mothers caranuba wax. Pics don't quite do it justice but you get the idea. Before : After : Next up was to replace an exterior door trim piece that had suffered some corrosion.. chemical reaction I believe as this part is made of aluminium. Old : New : Finally I completed the trunk tool kit with the missing tools :

They leak oil & water..... now they are starting to make icecream

Swedish drivers are strictly advised to not drive with any alcohol in their bloodstream. You can be imprisoned for up to 6 months for having up to 0.02% alcohol in your blood; over 0.02% and up to 0.10% can see a 3 year sentence. Repeat offenders (who typically, worldwide, make up the majority of drink-drivers) are treated more harshly. Less than 0.25% of drivers breathalysed in Sweden return a positive result. Sweden has a population more than double that of NZ, yet has around the same number of road deaths. In 2012, just one person under the age of 7 died in road traffic accidents. The Swedish toll is dropping. Take into account the weather over there, and this becomes even more remarkable. However, driving standards are immeasurably higher than in NZ, and road construction carries a safety first, convenience second approach. Speed limits in Sweden are determined by a number of (sensible) factors. Main arterial multi-carriageway roads are 110 or 120km/h, and speed limits for other roads are assigned on a case by case basis, not arbitrarily as over here, and can be as low as 30km/h in populated areas. That said, there's not much attention to speed limits on motorways and police turn a blind eye provided you're not being dangerous, so you're unlikely to be stopped for 126 at 3 in the morning, for example. However, exceed a 30km/h limit and you will be stopped and fined. The speed limit and punishment fit the circumstances.

Bought a dead m50 off Andy. Finished de looming it today. The crank timing wheel off the m50 had the wrong belt pattern, so I've sorted one off an m20 and a crank position sensor bracket as well. I can reuse the existing HT leads for coil near plug as they plug straight onto the coils. I've also been messing around with the interior a bit, so it's a mess (testing different seats and doing wiring). And a picture of the car, because I haven't really posted many of them

Should try find a way shorter diff. I run a 3.73 and a zf and have 1000 odd Rpm left in fifth at the front straight at Hampton downs. Think it hits around 200 on a very good day. Also like Troy said, get an LSD.

My car is just a dumb n46 with a broken mirror and dirty wheels but I love this car - its my baby. And I don't have $5k to drop on another car. When I had this car only a short time Glenn said to me to not get emotionally attached to it but it was too late, even then.

Not a hell of a lot of B30 wagons around, but you're dead right on the cost scale. If he can do the B25 conversion for minimal outlay it'd be a damn sight better than another N46 thats only going to grenade itself in short order

imo unless youre really attached to the car, it would be best to grab a replacement auto from hellbm or brent, install that and either run the car as is, or sell it and get something M54B30 powered. It just wouldnt be worth the cost, effort and work to convert it.

X440i done.

yeah, its actually not a great idea and they fail regularly on most makes. We just finished a customers Merc E500 that needed a trans rebuild because coolant contaminated the trans oil. Ended up running an external cooler instead of in the rad so it didnt happen again. It wasnt a disgustingly spectacular looking milkshake though.

if it is the trans cooler built into radiator like some earlier cars then can happen to any automatic BMW, not necessarily caused by being an N46 engine....

Trans cooler on most cars is just a pipe running inside the bottom/side tank of the radiator with trans fluid running through it. If it leaks, trans oil and coolant will make babies. Im guessing the trans doesnt have a dipstick? stupid lifetime oil.

At what age can I expect mine to start doing this?

We bought an earlier model pre-facelift e53 X5 for towing the boat a while back. We previously had a Discovery and Pajero and the X5 is leaps and bounds ahead. Ours has the sport package so it's firm, but once it's loaded up it rides nicely. It's not the best of build quality compared to other BMW models, but it still looks good for a 14 year old car. We decided on the V8 because the diesel's had a higher price and for the amount of mileage we do in it, it simply wasn't worth it. Agreed, it looks like a "Remuera tractor" but it tows effortlessly, it's big and safe, even has sway control when the trailer is hooked up. Boat weighs about 1.8 ton, I got 15L per 100kms on a recent trip Wellington to Taupo and back and it did not slow down on any of the hills :-). Not too shabby when I compare that to the Discovery and Pajero which were gutless.

Swedes start 'practicing' driving at 16, with a full license available from 18. Median salaries are comparable - NZ ~$51000, Sweden ~$53000 (equivalent). Swedish income tax is 29%, but taxation is a combination of local and national taxes, so this is an approximation based on median salary. Even alcohol consumption isn't that different: NZ 10.9l per year, Sweden 9.2l per year. (Pure alcohol, aged 15+. Source: Wikipedia.) Let's face it. We're pretty crap over here.

Use a brush. Serious.

Unfortunately I have to work I'll keep an eye out in case you guys cruise by lyall bay though!

check the main ground strap for the engine also.

my 190E 2.0 i had 3 or 4 years back was a more comfortable car to drive in than an E30, but every other way it was worse. Build your 5.0 190E so you can convince me otherwise.

In the UK, I owned a Carlsson converted W201 with a 4.2 V8, the all-alloy M116. It predated the Subaru use of blue bodywork and gold wheels by a number of years. Bling! That was an automatic.

A little on the bottom side of the oil cap is normal if the car dosent get its oil up to temp regularly enough, small amounts of water in the oil evaporate and accumulate up around the cap.

True, but a W201 variant would be tits!

AMG Hammer 6.0

i think you would need to replace the radiator if the trans cooler has failed, as its integrated into it. Better off buying a cheap oil cooler and plumbing it separately.

Well that will make it easier then. Im accustomed to E36s where theres a difference between the diff carriers. You don't already have the trans? Need to factor that into the budget, plus the cost of the TCM and any required wiring. Pretty confident that the looms will not be interchangeable. Whats the car worth as a parts mule? Might yet be more cost effective to cut your losses and get something less inclined to commit suicide on your drive home from work?

Thanks. Cant go manual as wife can only drive an auto. I would love to go m54b30 but just cant afford to buy another engine. The brakes are identical on both cars, as is the rear axle carrier. I think the diffs are the same except for the ratio? Here is the realoem on both cars; My 2004 318i black wagon; http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/select?vin=PR00173 2001 325i parts wagon; http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/select?vin=eg15996

Have done two 2.8s. One, a red NZ New 320i SE 4 door is running standard 325i cam and exhaust with a 240 box and a 4,1 open diff. The other, a black LHD 320i auto 2 door with full Mtech kit now has a 272 cam, SS headers, a K&N, 260 box, 3.73 open diff (soon to be LSD) The red car is a real cruiser and does every thing really well whereas the black car is a riot and a hell of a lot of fun. I definitely recommend the 272 cam if you are going to do this conversion, the difference over the standard 325i cam is well worth the investment. Scot from GER supplied the cam. Both engines were set up the same with the standard 325i pistons, M20B20 rods and an M50 2.8 crank. I also used the 325i ECU and AFM on both cars. Good luck, it is well worth the effort.

Valve adjustment + Oil & filter change. Would you believe I followed the factory oil chart and used Mineral Castrol 20w50 (So thick!) and even added a bottle of Rislone zinc additive. If my maths is right that's now 1833ppm of zinc in there Happy days

All that love and care an it still goes and does the dirty is this any help http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/E46-Touring/Europe/318i-N46/apr2004/browse/radiator/oil_cooling_automatic_gearbox_a5s_r/ this is going to hurt $$$ wise no matter what. Depending on what is found maybe a manual conversion and engine transplant could be a thought to compare dollar wise.

You can prolong the interval between this happening with regular coolant changes. Sadly it is possibly one of those "it'll happen eventually" problems. Nathan - I did pop 'round this arvo but I think you were out.

Keep us posted on what BMW charge for the parts - I need to replace the weather seal & wiper cowling on the wifes wagon too

I disagree with the impact many say on the media on the effects to hospitality. My best mate runs a pub and worked at many over the years and agrees with me. Gone are the days of two or three beers after work, I agree. But those people havent stopped drinking and gone home at 5pm, but have stayed at work or gone to the pub up the road till 8pm or more and had 7 or 8 beers instead of the two or three hey if you going to pay for a taxi might as well let your hair down a little more

Looks just that extra bit better! Good stuff Jooles.

I'm with glenn, trans cooler.

Head gasket was my first guess, too, but the consistency of the leaked fluid is just too good. Even emulsified oil tends to be a bit lumpy - mayo, as Nathan says - and not like paint. I could have a quick look in a half hour or so, if that would help?

Well, you need to listen to Glenn before me! But if there's mayo on the cap and mayo in the radiator, if I hadn't seen Glenn's comment, my guess would be head gasket gone in a big, big way to cause that.

Whoa, sorry to see that dude. Can transmission fluid actually leak into the coolant Glenn? Of course I don't know how these systems work but didn't think these systems were in any way linked. My first guess was emulsified oil, it could be that colour but I wouldn't think that consistency. What does it look like under the oil cap and on dipstick? Hopefully not that colour!

The figures I saw previously were misleading - a careful selection of statistics conveniently excluding the figures for last year (2014-15) so as to make the figures for this year look like an increase. (A propaganda-type publication.) The reality is that figures dropped this year (from last year). The police will no doubt hail this as a resounding success, quoting a 25% reduction in fatal accidents. In perspective - that's 4 less. And the weather has been pretty rubbish so a lot of people will have stayed home, a detail that will no doubt be forgotten. Regardless, the stats are lying - again. The selections here are small enough that any variation is within anomaly value. Edited to do battle with the image of a table!

Sad to see your selling this Ash, its a neat car with loads of potential and its basically free!! cant believe it hasn't sold already !! GLWS.

Also managed to get the Track Car driving. Was a little sceptic at first, seeing that it was my first manual conversion ive done without direct help from a family mechanic etc. But started after I dicked around with the started wiring etc. Ive got a couple of videos starting and driving, just need to get it online somehow Replaced the fuel lines and fuel filters, got the injectors cleaned out and also replaced the rocker cover and exhaust gaskets. Ive also done 99% of the oil system, including breather and cooling. Just need to get the tanks mounted properly. Ill get some photos of these soon. Also have to weld up the impact bar mount as it seems to have stripped itself off its bolt. Then I can get the front bumper mounted. Need a few more small things done before I dens it off for its cage, but overall im a happy with how it handles and looks so far, I may have taken it around the block a few times for testing purposes, and it may be very loud due to the exhaust not having any cats or mufflers etc. I had to add a couple of extra bends in to get it to fit 100%. Its been coated and wrapped it heat paint and wrap, but I may need to add a muffler or something to get those DBs down..

So got the V8 on Friday, and wiring loom. I must admit, this was a little tricky to remove as there was always one more cable, pipe or bracket still connecting the engine to the car, but it came out in the end. Still busy with the wiring, will be removing at least half of this mess and then make it all pretty again to stick into Rusta. Hoping to get the car in the garage this weekend and have the engine in place for the custom engine mounts to be made up and also take measurements for the drive shaft etc

and the steering rack bolts

Ron has spoken in the past about some costly service items, namely brakes having a short and expensive life span iirc. Its actually something he seems to have some legit knowledge on.

looking sharp. And good on you for taking care of your old boy, it's what every good son should do. #8 )

E30 320 stanced as with stretched tyres and mad camber. Threw up a lil, poor car.

it's interesting, in the 60's and 70's it was pretty much 'mind how you go'. Nobody will argue that alcohol - in increasing quantities - does impair judgement and performance behind the wheel. Until just over a year ago, our limit allowed a certain amount of impairment. There was no reporting or evidence to suggest that many accidents were caused by people driving in the region of the old limit - that is, above our new limit, and below our old limit. There was certainly much coverage of recidivist offenders driving at multiple times the (old) limit. And many accidents indicating a major contributing factor was impairment well over the (old) limit. What they have done, is used an elephant gun to kill a mouse. They've legislated to make you and I - or your neighbour, or your workmate - criminals. We used to enjoy two - perhaps three - glasses after work, perhaps with some food, and drive carefully home. Or not! Now, in the same circumstances, we're all criminals driving at that level of 'impairment'. What has changed? Has this reduced the number of recidivist offenders, or the road toll? The f#cking idiots who were driving pissed before, are still over the limit. Me? I take an Uber, or walk. I didn't have accidents as a result of responsibly driving with three beers after work. How great was the risk that this law change was designed to manage?

There are a bunch of you that really need to get a life.. You sit around like a bunch of old menopausal spinster women in a retirement home desperately seeking things/people to criticise despite knowing NOTHING of the circumstances. One starts it off (like in this topic) and the rest are in like a pack of dogs. Is it that you are not getting it at home??? Maybe you all should invest in an inflatable lady/man which you can pass around to remove the source of your frustration???

Have contacted that eBay seller to find out if they can do more I have this front lip on the way

^ Sounds like you do this a bit...

Have done so Ripped a diff bushing Sick.