Leaderboard

About 6 months ago, on the way up the reallyfarawyfromanybloodywhere side of the Lewis Pass, my E28's camshaft seized, then almost immediately snapped. Valves met pistons in a dishearteningly non-convivial setting. sh*t got bent. 'p-Ping!' it went. This is a 'hey all, thanks for the support' post sorted it review. The encouragement made a difference. After chats here, I grabbed my uncle, hired a trailer and went and collected it the next weekend (a 1300km round trip). It's a been a long time coming but I finally got everything in and running again. I replaced the engine in the end with a 105km plug and play replacement from a one owner 525ee auto - the low kms appealed and I figured I could just put it in and assuming it was as good as it said on the box, relax after that rather than grabbing something cheap but very probably worn to hell. It was a big job for me, with some experience but nothing quite on that scale but I learned a heap along the way and the garage got a bit of a make-over too. After some faffing about getting it started it cranked right up and purred like a kitten. For interest, while in there I replaced: - cam belt - tensioner - water pump - front seals - cam cover gasket - sump gasket - rear main seal - cutch slave cylinder - exedy clutch plate - exedy pressure plate and the dual-mass flywheel was thankfully in good nic (they're eye-wateringly expensive) so I left it well alone. So, it's back to it's silky smooth self. I've of course spent more than the car is probably worth (though, actually still less than 3k including recovery...) but I'm really glad I did it. It's going to get some more love in the next year so it looks as good as it drives. Thought I'd share the good feels.

Call in and I can top it up tomorrow and check a few things...will just charge you for the oil

To Niven the OP.... be careful what you listen to & read on here. Let's just keep with the program ... see you tomorrow

Sold my e36 last week, spontaneously flicked Ray a text and drove off with this beast. Deleted roof racks this morning, looks much more staunch. 6 Speed manual, Motorsport M54b30 Touring. BBS CH (reps it seems) 18x8 square Potenza RE002's and Dunlop Direzza D101 tyres. Heated leather seats Moonroof Harmon kardon Rear blind etc, every option ticked. 330i E46 shocks with Eibach lowering springs M3 Control arms with Poly bushes EIbach adjustable M3 sway bar with Poly sway bar bushings Decatted exhaust To do: Roof rail Delete New wheels with some amount of dish, BBS LM, mpars etc. Cooling system refresh Besian vanos seals, anti-ratte kit (Will do valve cover and vanos gaskets at same time) Service, inspection II at some stage. Dynavin double DIN Hardwire radar detector Lower, probably shocks and springs New stiffer sway bars, strut bracing etc to stiffen it up a bit.

5w30 Euro 4 minimum full synthetic is the correct oil

Small update. Have since enjoyed the sh*t out of driving this thing a hell of alot. It sure does turn heads! Some positive, some negative - people roll up their windows when I pull up beside them in town! Cosmetically all Ive done since cert is have the windows tinted to 35% by Protint in New Plymouth. Craig did an amazingly good job! Mechanically its had a bit of a tickle up.. Ive fitted an aluminium gilmer drive pulley setup, admittedly theres no need for this but I love the way it looks and sounds! Also, the open diff was not cutting the mustard and the new found power tore the old subframe bushes to pieces. I commissioned a LSD build from a forum member and ordered a Powerflex bush set from Darren at NZAD and then got to work! The car now drives so much better, particularly at speed and under acceleration. The diff is SUPER tight and will take some getting used to, but at least its predictable. I had a ball this weekend driving around, even got out at night to light up the country side with some big old flames from the exhaust! Cant wait for another sunny weekend to get out and drive this beast! Ive added some photos and a very small video that someone got today - not long, but better than nothing! More to come hopefully - https://vimeo.com/166683745

Finally found the diffuser setup I'm after. Will get this custom made soon. Also another wheel update: Swapping my RC303's (wheels only) for Daniel's RG-R's as they have the offset I'm wanting (mine are 18x8.5 +38 with 20mm spacers, RG-R is 18x8.5 +13)

Looking forward to seeing this come along Dion; looks like a fun project!

Yayyy. I remember your misfortune and was one of the folk who encouraged you to retrieve it. So glad to hear it's up and running again. The sense of satisfaction you get from starting and driving a car that you've done the work on yourself cant be beat. Keep us updated as you improve the looks and happy motoring.

Embrace the stone chips! They're badges of honour.

I've got a pair of 235 RE002's, just came off the E39 Probably doesn't help though.... and we're still not very close to each other, though I can probably arrange to get them to your Auckland lockup at some stage

Sorted. Cheers guys

Other way round mate.

I have four of them, 225/45/17 RE002. Got about 5mm tread left. But they are sitting on some 17inch bbs.

i would definitely do a full oil and filter change with the correct oil grade and genuine filter. doesnt cost THAT much and would make a huge difference. it may be using oil because its the wrong grade or just been too long since the last change. no harm to do it sooner and you know you will be good for another 8000-10000kms

Those rear tyres look suspiciously undersized for those rims. Who lists a car with only two photos of the same side as well, where are all the other exterior shots, interior and engine bay? Some of the worst mistakes sellers make is poorly representing what they are trying to sell. They instantly make it harder for themselves.

dude ... I sometimes see your FB posts and saw this one pop up the other day... youve done everything just right aye. Must be a hoot to squeeze the loud pedal on a nice clear day on the twisties.

Why can't some people do the basic math on the milaege when they put up the ad? Stupid to put in miles when it displays km next to the figure. I also reckon it's not going to sell at that price. More like 20k.

Sounds so awesome!!!! Definitely wouldn't expect it to be a little old e30 haha

Awesome

Thats a hell of a first Bimmer. Congats on your purchase. Welcome to the forum and the addiction. Some of the members up in Auckland have a monthly meet. I'm sure you'd be welcomed.

$6k for this 2001 735i with 245kms with beige interior in pretty good nick. Quite rare to see these in black - I think it looks good - especially with the right wheels on it

Scored some nice mint condition limited edition door sills.... I had some second thoughts if I should put them on as my car is not factory individual but then again I liked them compared to the standard boring ones so here we go....

Finally an E60 with a decent color.... Good on you Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

Nothing really to add, but if you want to sell your m3 setup lets talk

got the car back today looks cool very happy with the cage and set out extras that I got as well were peddle box installed and seat done Pics

While the car is not going I figured it would be a good time to replace the heater core and redo the foam flaps in the heater box. Removed the heater box yesterday. Only took about 2 hours. Not sure why so many people make this out to be such a big deal. And I've never done it before on one of these. There's nothing I hate more than messy wiring, so that's all getting tidied up too. The inside of the heater box as it came out: New foam flaps and heater core: I put it all back together and back in the car this morning. No photo as I'm sure most of you know what a complete interior looks like. I've also removed the AC part of the heater box and sealed up the AC flap. Because who needs that? Just slows you down. All the rest of the AC system has already been removed. Look at the size of the thing:

And finally... after much delay and procrastination my wheels are done and I'm very happy with the result. I still need new centre cap inserts but they've been ordered from Germany and should be here in the next few weeks. There are no silver inserts available any more so I need to make some more decisions when my black ones arrive. This is a subtle shadow chrome, slightly less shadow and slightly more chrome than the OEM e39 M5 wheels. My photography skills don't really do them justice.

A short shifter obviously.................

It's like a Torana lite. I quite like it, as far as silly body kits on older cars go.

Damn this car is looking mint!!

Yes, but what was the car like?

I've found with Bridgestone tyres they are at their best from roughly 1000kms. Had re001/2s and the ones before. Same for the out going re11 as well. Well priced tyres for the performance .