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With a title like that you know this is just going to be a shambles. Me and a few of my mates, just looking for a cheap E36 6 cyl which i have got the manual bits for to run in some hill climbs, track days etc. Always wanted to get stuck into events and this is the best way considering i have a manual box laying around. No looking to be competitive at all. Needs to have live plates, WOF issues we can deal with unless its chronic rust. Idea is to drive to and from events Closer to Auckland the better but can travel. Thanks!

do the wheels use the same mounting style lug bolts (cone seat) as the bolts youre using?

^almost straight fit but the rear bolt holes need to be "ovaled" slightly then it will slot in. also wiring isnt quite the same so needs a bit of work but otherwise it does fit fairly easy!

Well, it's out now.

So, as some of you saw today at the monthly meet, I just picked up a nice NZ 2001 530i E39 Motorsport Sedan to replace my E46 as my daily driver. Very stoked with it, came up really nice after a good clean and wax on saturday, will be ordering a bunch of parts etc soon so stay tuned for progress pics Heres a couple snaps from the after the wash: To do list Maintenance: - Engine oil and filter - Oil filter housing gasket - Trans fluid service - Power steering reservoir & hoses replacement with new fluid - Cooling system overhaul (Radiator, Expansion tank, Waterpump, Thermostat) - Air filter and cabin filters - Drive belt and AC belt - Tensioner pulleys - Windshield washer pump Cosmetic: - New bonnet badge - Headlight lens restoration - Taillight upgrade to facelift (one side is odd) - Black out kidney grills - Tints - Front windshield sunstrike tint - Windshield glass seal front replacement - Interior trim replace to silver - Retrofit a newer stereo - Dye the faded rear parcel tray to black - Rear windshield roof spoiler - Twin/Quad Exhaust tips - Upgrade to 18" wheels More to come...

16" Mesh Meshies with decent tread, approx. 90%. Tyres are Ling-Long Crosswinds Not sure of the offset, but they have been fitted to the following, possibly 20p? E28 E30 (Apparently) E34 E36 I bought them off Ben earlier this year for the Rusta, but have since purchased new wheels for the project. Wanting $550, Pick up Meadowbank

Took a bolt off this morning before work to test the theory and am 95% sure the paint was causing the loose bolts. The bolt had a thin layer around the cone which flaked off like sun burnt skin. Will very lightly sand down the cone areas and wheel inners and it should solve the issue. Looks good though

Hey Mitchell, I've just done the same as you a month ago. Driving John Herbmiester's well-sorted 330Ci ruined me! It drove like I expected a BMW to, and was fun and rewarding, and well beyond the level of enjoyment my stock-box was providing! My biases (well published here previously): I don't beleive in cheap-ass tyres. The improved braking performance that a good tyre brings can translate to the absence of scraped paint and dented panels, or worse, blood and broken bones, in an emergency stop. False economy! Wet weather performance for me is paramount; I like to drive in the wet. Grip is more important than fuel economy to me. I choose not to drive a Prius. Yes I've driven a few, and riden in many. Right then, having declared my biases, on to my current (recent) experience, and it's relevance to yours. e46 Touring, 325i previously updated from a couple of different Bridgestrone JDM tyres that were on the car when I bought it. Stock size, 205/55/16 on 7J's. was running Toyo Proxes4 (Toyo's equivalent to Bridgestone's Sporty MY-02) have run Toyo T1-R established my thinking on directional tyres was hopelessly outdated! Refreshed the suspension on my e46 - totally stock - Sachs Shocks, strut bearings, ARB bushings, tie rods, boots, bump stops, fasteners, shock reinforcement plates front and rear, rear meyle HD mounts. Result: much improved, no more dive, much better ride. But when later compared with John's 330 or pushed through tight twisty corners, like a well behaved German saloon - but not a sportscar. It was like it was on Pogo Sticks. Next step was good advice (thanks again, John Herbmeister!) and research, which brings my ride closer to yours: the staggered setup, and MSport ARBs (24mm/20mm). Springs may still be on the cards. Tyre Choices - 225/45/17 & 245/40/17. I'm running Style 194's, wich provide the same track as the 7J's, but wider track than the Style 68's (staggered) due to the different offsets. Pricing and choices - broadly the same as you've mentioned above Also included Proxes4's Was wondering about GT's as well Hyper direct turned out more expensive than getting pricing from local real businesses in my local community The choices, summarised: the lower-mid to mid-ground which includes Proxes4, MY-02, Hankooks, most Dunlops will run you around $800-1100 fitted. the bottom end are not considered. Anyone who tells you "HiFly or Nexen or Nangkangs are "fine if you're just pootling around town" probably haven't put a price on crippling someone in an accident. It came down to a choice of two for me, I think of them as 'Entry Level Serious'. Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE003, or Michelin Pilot Sport 3 My choice: I chose with my wallet in conjunction with my head. The PS3 would be a bit better riding, and a bit better gripping, and a bit better wearing, but for about $350 more. I was also factoring in the rim updates - at least the 17" choices were cheaper than the last set of 16" tyres (Toyo Proxes4) I put on! RE003's were under $900 on my car. So, how are they, Olaf? quiiiiiiet. shhhhhh! they're oh so quiet. compared with the Toyos (that get noisier as they wear), the 003's were much quieter than new Toyo Proxes4 or T1-R. No, I didn't get out my dB meter! Yes, I do have a dB meter - not just a phone app! sticky. grippy. Oh man, it's grippy. And not just because of the wider rims; I tried the car for half a day on HiFly 805's (in the dry). The RE003's offer way more grip in the dry than the HiFlys, or T1-R's. They seem great in the wet; though it's been so dry in Wellington lately, I've hardly had a chance to assess them. My first impression is they're well beyond Toyo T1-R's in the wet. Sidewall stiffness works much, much better with my e46's suspension; I can run lower pressures than before. I'm still experimenting, round town seems ok at 35 front, 40 rear. But now I start again as I've just added the ARB's and had the trailing arm bushes done. Subjective warning: I had them off on Saturday; even when they're cold, (ambient 16c) the face of the tread feels slightly tacky. Surprising for a road tyre. I drove 320kms yesterday (on a fresh alignment), and marvelled at how the 003's are on the open road. Grip, communication, progressiveness. They're without doubt the best tyre I've ever owned. Yes there are better tyres, no doubt. But for under a grand, in the staggered 17" setup on an e46? They're excellent. Summary: RE003's FTW. Great performance, work well on the e46. And great value to boot! What's not to love? PS: did I mention they're oh so quiet?

Couple more problems solved. As with all M30 loom swapped e30s, HVAC wasn't working and windows wouldn't go down while the doors were closed. Solved by grounding pin15 in the c101 on the body side. Solved the temp gauge not working by swapping in a brown m20 sensor.

Sent you a pm

This sounds like such a good idea. Better yet get a ti and engine swap it

Straight fit into an e36 as well I believe?

you should use a e28 528i 525i 535i type large one

Pump and thermostat must be changed and only BMW coolant used at the right mix ratio. There is a special venting procedure to bleed the system and sometimes a scanner has to be used to carry out this procedure to activate the water pump. If not done properly you will be doing it again

SOLD!

Nice car Kyu. Let me know if you need help with the quad tips, ive already build the set up for the ute :-)

This came out of a 4 cylinder one, not sure what the difference is size is. I just went with a tape measure to Upick and found one that fit.

Yep, e36. Fits like it was made for this car.

Have you accidentally pushed the circuit breaker on the dash that disables all windows / sunroof? Looks like the second button from left in this photo.

Wheels fully refurbed and repainted in Matty B, new tyres to be fitted today.

I like the look of the new wheels gives a very cool circuit look, feel the rear tyres could be a little bigger in profile and a 10mm spacer to properly fill out the rear gaurd.

I first tried a blow torch. The welder thing was just as a "if the blow torch didn't do it, this should have" remark. Interesting point though. Update for the thread. All I have to say about last night is this:

Well, I went and bought it. I intend to replace/repair the engine and use it for myself. It's a nice tidy car. It's been in the guys garage for 2 or 3 years. The upholstery doesn't look worn to me, in fact the car is very straight and well looked after. It appears to have boiled so i will make damn sure that the radiator/water pump are sound. Engine may be rescuable at a very very long shot but will provide good parts if not. I'm actually seriously thinking of selling my 318i E30 manual coupe and the missuses corolla and just having this e46 as her drive around with the young lad car and my "go to a track day" car. Not as cool as the E30 but plenty quicker! I have another project in the garage which needs my attention too. Anyone know of an M54b30 engine for sale? I see bmworld has one for 1700 or so

For those of you that have not seen this its well worth watching. Such wanton destruction of bmw's and others of course. Worth watching in full screen.

and I'd buy it when you were done! I was sorely tempted last time, but had no cash. hmmm, I still have no cash, but more available OD #; )

I think they look great with your e46 M3, Christian. The colour combination really works too. Kudos.

Menu wont change radio, you need a coding cable, easy job ive got one live in Tauranga PM me, Nav is more complicated.

cheap on trademe too. $30.00 delivered for 3T pairs. awesome! buy two pair, you'll easily need 'em.

I was seriously considering these wheels on a recent TM auction. I'm a fan. Is this a modified ride height?

That was the first thing I tried, but it didn't work. So I hoped that the heat from the welder would be enough but even that wasn't. Feel free to ask me anything you need, I'm happy to help but I am not the most knowledgeable here by any means. Thanks. I decided to put my Sunday off to good use and do some work on my new cluster. Pulled it apart and removed the batteries. I don't care if the SI lights don't work if it means the cluster lasts longer. Unfortunately the batteries have already leaked a bit so I'm hoping this cluster works fully, I haven't tested it. Painted the needles red and polished the clear cover on the front. I wanted to remove the red lense for the lights that light up the cluster to get a white light, however I found out that it's moulded into the top of the cluster so it's going to take some work to do. I'll work on that once my other cluster is out so I have a spare to mess with.

Bit more driving and trouble-shooting. Had the driveshaft out multiple times trying to work out the driveline vibration issue. Rebalanced (was pretty much fine). Turns out the angle of the engine->guibo was a little too severe. Down to compression of the new OEM rubber mounts I suspect. Shimmed the transmission mounts slightly, worked a treat. Shimmed the engine mounts slightly too as the sump was resting on the steering rack. Better again. Just been driving it around a bit. Awesome thing - so much torque immediately on hand. Diff might be a tiny bit short, but not as bad as I thought it would be. It is pretty fond of the one wheel peel though with an open diff. Gratuitous engine bay photo: Still to do: Windscreen washers Some electrical stuff Thermostat controlled electric fan Cert (& driveshaft loops) New sporty muffler Battery relocation

what, like the guy with the M5 tuned 545i?

Went in on Friday afternoon to do some more work and things were going well, on track to have the engine in the car this weekend. Until I went to swap the exhaust manifold to the e28 one. This is where things came to a halt, much like a stance car that has hit an unforseen bump. So 9 of the studs came out nicely, either stud and nut or nuts came off. But 3 didn't want to play along, snapping under the nut. There was some stud protruding so I thought it was in luck. However this was not the case. I tried doing the double nut trick, welding the nuts to the studs, vice grips etc. Either the stud would not budge, or it just snapped, leaving me nothing to work with. Still, not the end of the world, time for the drill. So I went about trying to drill them out, which went well on 2 of them, however on the third, the drill bit snapped inside the hole. If my emotions at the time could be expressed in an image, I think this would be fitting: The offending obstruction that will need extraction: If this wasn't enough to set me off, I went to try and buy some tools I thought might work to try and resolve this sinkhole of a situation, such as carbine tungsten drill bits to hopefully drill through the drill bit, every shop I went to was either closed or had nothing. So not only do I now have extra expenses and the awaiting of a very unpleasant task, but my weekend is also wasted as I couldn't do anything further. Which has also delayed my driveshaft as I can't drop it off to be modified until I am sure how long it needs to be, which I need the motor in for. So there you have it. Here I was hoping I could show you all how to do an M30 conversion in a week. Might be 2 weeks now.

This needs a GTR widebody and NFS Most Wanted stripes.

Thats what she said. Sorry. Ill see myself out.

Mine could possibly be forsale if the price is right, 96, NZ new 328i, 200kms, manuel converted with getrag 220 with m3 clutch and pressure plate, new lines and master cylinder, Msport kit, side moulds, m3 mirrors, lowered with volgard springs and bilsteins, full 18 button obc, black leather, centre arm rest, have an lsd centre for it as well

Made a few small changes to the car (mtech I wing, smilies etc) and finally got some new pictures thanks to Daniel Kim. More pictures on my instagram (sean_e30).