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Car is sold.

I can see why you'd want to debadge this 'War & Peace' sized label. We don't need your life story....

I ended up getting a Sony XSP-N1BT unit which behaves like a regular single din unit but you can mount your phone on the front to become a screen for navigation etc (too bad the app isn;t working for me at all). Spent all day today pulling out all of the Jap stuff and wiring. What a F*ckin' nightmare that was! Had to remove all of the lower dash panels, kick panels, sill plates and more just to removed the cables and units associated with the Eclipse. On each side of the car there were five cables which ran from the back of the car, along the sill wiring, up behind the kick panels and through the dash to various units such as TV receiver, toll card reader etc. Wouldn't have been so bad but the whole lot was zip-tied to the factory loom every 20cm, including under the dash. I managed to reuse the double din mounting bracket and fascia with a little modification, but it's in and working. I will eventually buy a Janus or similar mounting kit as this one doesn't really have the finish I'd like. Mounted the mic on the rear view mirror base and routed the cable in the headliner and down through the dash for a clean install. Pictures up tonight if anyone cares lol.

Is it a n42 motor? If you give us the last 7 digits of your vin, or your license plate number I can look it up. If it is a n42 they have many well documented problems -some terminal. If an exhaust valve spring is broken then chances are the head is badly damaged. When a valve spring broke on mine the valve fell into the cylinder and you can guess what happened next. If you are fixing the n42 there are several things that should be done at the same time; # valve stem seals: the material bmw used fails and will start giving you problems at this many kms which will require an upper engine rebuild. # timing chain and guides: the plastic guides break and once you jump a tooth or three its bye bye motor. # timing chain tensioner: not strong enough and sometimes causes the chain to jump teeth. And all that aside the pcv system should be done as you will have the head off. As you can see its not cheap, and not worth it. You could buy a second hand motor but it will just have the same problems. If it were me I'd swap in the cheapest n42 engine I could find and sell the car straight away, then use the money to buy an e46 with either the earlier 4 cylinder motor or the 6 cylinder. In my case my e46 is getting a m62b44, after going through the heartache of rebuilding the engine and have it fail just 150 km later. My engine woes can be found here;

Hi Alan from palmy E61 motor sport 2008

I I am sure it will become clear soon enough.

The hero we all want, and need.

1997 328i touring, auto and shifts perfect NZ new 170,000km Dove grey leather Located in Taupo Will have new rack ends and WOF. Selling as need a bigger car for towing. $5,000 on stock wheels

My observations, for what they are worth, is that it seems Autos are worth about half a factory manual, and conversions seem to sit in the middle. Depending how much work you do yourself, it's possible you could recover at least the parts value of your conversion when it comes time to sell. If you really like to drive, manuals provide a much more engaging driver experience, especially in a 325, IMO, that adds an intangible value greater than any resale value for you.

Been lurking for a while, but since I've just posted my first comment I thought I'd better do the 'intro' thing as well. I've had this UK import Z4 since 2013 and have had a lot of fun with it, along with a few jobs that needed doing (soft top motor sitting in a pool of water - most common fault on these cars). I've done all of the jobs myself so far including the oil changes, new discs/pads, replacement roof motor (can almost take roof off blindfolded now...), brake fluid, ABS pump replacement and so on. Also using NCS and Carly to do coding. It's been a great learning experience, and fun to drive (that's the point after all, isn't it?) And since I've been around long enough to know these threads are useless without pics...

I have a complete Getrag 220 its out of a 4 cyl but will fit a 6 by shortening the shift linkage. Has 4cyl clutch, pedals and clutch master cylinder as well. $700

Yea pics would be good

Good news John. Awaiting the successful purchaser to reveal himself/herself soon. ?

Just realised I've had this car 2 months already. I've clocked up 4,500km during this time, and am certainly enjoying them. At home I have a set of new coils ready to install, as well as new trans oil pan/filter etc ready for a trans service. Just need to suss out which fluid meets the 6HP26 trans specs. Also due an oil change soon. I must get around to installing those door seals I got from Brent last month. Happy days.

Welcome to the forum Alan. +1 for pics. Theres a day trip being organised for the 27th. You'd be more then welcome to come along and show off your car.

With my E46, the 27/21 eibach setup reduces roll noticeably. Combined with the excellent Ohlins setup it makes for a very predictable car in the corners. I found having a square setup (RE003) did reduce understeer but to be fair I have never rated the Pirelli P zero Rosso's that came with the car, I suspect they may be past their best and in comparison with the RE003's they were vague and had less grip. The square setup really allowed you to just tuck the front in even without having power down to rotate; there was oversteer if you wanted it although the ASC caught it pretty quickly. In all fairness if I had better front tyres I suspect the smaller front (staggered setup) would work well and probably be neutral. With a manual I suspect you would need less front tyre as you would be more easily able to control the rear. That said ts and auto and by manually selecting you do get some rear control.

From when I did my research: Factory parts: Front: 23mm front bar (325i Touring standard) 23.5mm front bar (31356757168), and a 24mm front bar (Bar: 31351094542, Bushing 31351094556). Cabrio MSport Rear: 18mm is 33551095758 (325i Touring standard) 19mm is 33551094545 (Touring with Msport) 20mm is 33556751267 (Bushing 33551096669) - Cabrio For comparison, Eibach set is 27mm/21mm, Racing Dynamics 27mm/24mm. M3 runs 21mm or 21.5mm rear. I ended up running 24/20 as I wanted more bar given I didn't want to change springs and already had new shocks. Hope that helps.

Hi Alan, welcome to the forum. I entrust my cars (e46, e60, and a Volvo 855-T5) to Bridgestone Torrens Tce, Wellington. Kelvin does an excellent job and knows his stuff, 4 Wheel Alignment on a Hunter machine. Active Steering doesn't need specific calibration, though it is more sensitive to alignment issues. If you search e60 and Active Steering you should find Mark's @Boytie account of eliminating active steering errors. I was getting the odd active steering error on my e60 when first acquired, since alignment (I replaced shocks and tyres first), no issues whatsoever. Hope that helps. Do put an entry into the "new members" page, and if you're interested keep an eye on the "meetings" page.

Hi all, just joined and thought I'd make a brief intro. Have always loved BMWs and a real soft spot for the e28 model. Over the years, have really grown on the e24's and in more recent years e30 M3s, but to be fair, nearly the whole range from BMW! ? I've had my 87 535i for nearly 7 years, drive it frequently - some weeks, all week! Have done trips all over the South Island, a few times and a fair bit of the lower north island - for a 30 year old car, it really does hum, rarely has it let me down! Anyways, keen to see your cars out and about, mine is - frequently I'll be parking in and around the Wgtn CBD near Midland park - if you see me, always keen to meet other BM owners - say g'day (I will), maybe grab a coffee sometime. Cheers, Aaron.

I find them quite effective for discouraging tailgaters They must be punished.

I can tell you that trademe wont be much help, they have generic replies like "talk to the seller" etc but they dont have any means to enforce a seller's decision nor do they care. my suggestion is try and strike a deal with the seller (maybe offer more than the bidding price to match or better the other buyer) but otherwise there isnt a whole lot you can do.

+1, yes it's the odd exception where I've not munged out the rego. I also like the posting of trip photos in the trip room, at least only logged-in members get access. Thankfully there are some checks and balances, 10 points for NZTA having some business rules/processes in place, and for NZP following up. Seems odd that one can actually change ownership without notifications from both parties (the notification of purchase, and the notification of disposal).

I should put an M4 badge on my Mercedes Motor Home- Mercedes 4 cylinder