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Bit of a hard sell as people only want to buy the cheapest but fail to realise that there are always going to be some major costs to get it up to scratch! Heaps spent on getting this car up to top condition mechanically and cosmetically and its worth every cent in my opinion to the right buyer. Although I do need to sell im not that fussed if it doesnt haha.. still an awesome car and both me and my dad love driving it from time to time so it can just stay there as a spare car

Update #14 Time for a big update! Lots has happened since my last update... Hopefully I don't forget anything as I write this. The weekend after my last update ended we disassembled the front end. Pretty easy and straightforward process, and unfortunately I didn't get any photos of it. We then moved straight on to the rod bearings. Removed the oil pan, associated hardware, etc. Oil pump removed: We then moved on to doing the rod bearings... To begin with it was actually an absolute mission. It just isn't possible for a single person to manage 105 degrees of angle torque when lying under the car (in our experience anyway). We burned through a couple of spare bolts practicing, and trying different approaches, but we just couldn't make it work. 70 degrees would have been fine, so I can understand how this would have worked for the older E46's, but we just couldn't reliably pull 105 degrees in a single stroke. After some trial and error, and a fair amount of frustration on my part we came up with an approach that worked. It takes 3 people, but it's a reliable approach. Basically the tool is as follows: Bit -> Angle gauge -> 12 in extension -> long breaker bar -> breaker bar extension (pipe). Person #1: Holds the bit, gauge, extension assembly in the right place, cradling the angle between the extension and the breaker bar against their shoulder. They're responsible for maintaining the tool on axis as person #3 rotates the assembly. Person #2: Their sole job is to locate the gauge and call out progress to Person #3. Person #3: Rotates the tool through 105 degrees. Person #1 & #2 are underneath the car. Person #3 is near the front left wheel well. It's important before each pull that you check that you have 105 degrees of motion available to you. We found that if we got it wrong we would collide with the front left jack stand. This approach made the tightening procedure fairly straightforward and reproducible. We did run into one further issue. We noticed that the bearings coming off the car had 437/438 stamped into them, and the new ones going on had 439/440 stamped into them. We were immediately concerned that we had different part numbers. A lot of investigation research and measurement later and we concluded that we had the same part, although we can't explain why the number stamped on the bearings is different... Part numbers ending 437/438 don't appear to have ever been BMW bearing parts, so we're a bit uncertain. The real kicker though was that in the process of investigating all of this and measuring bearings, etc. we managed to damage one of the new bearing shells. This meant that we were only able to get 5 of the 6 bearings done while a replacement bearing winged it's way to Auckland... It was a bit annoying to not be able to get it done in a day, but ultimately worthwhile getting a pristine replacement. I was away over Easter volunteering at a large Easter Camp event for high school kids (6500 kids), and then was also away the weekend after Easter with friends. By the time the next weekend came around the replacement bearing shell had arrived, and 20 minutes later we had it in place. Before I move on here's photos of the bearings. Yes, I know, there's only 5 in the photo. I'm a fail photographer, will replace this pic as soon as I get a new one with all 6 :facepalm: Cyl 1 (Cap side) Cyl 1 (Rod side) Cyl 2 (Cap side) Cyl 2 (Rod side) Cyl 3 (Cap side) Cyl 3 (Rod side) Cyl 4 (Cap side) Cyl 4 (Rod side) Cyl 5 (Cap side) Cyl 5 (Rod side) Cyl 6 (Cap side) Cyl 6 (Rod side) For a car with 85,000 miles on them these seem pretty bad. I'm very, very glad that I didn't wait any longer to do them, and I consider myself pretty lucky that the journals are fine and nothing's damaged. Given I don't know the full service history of the car, I can't be sure how it's been looked after, especially in terms of oil changes. But at least going forward I know where things are at. With the rod bearings done we then reinstalled the oil pump, etc. and refitted the oil pan (after a good clean). This took a surprisingly long time to torque everything up, but by the end of the day we had the subframe back on and the steering rack reinstalled. During the week Dad reassembled the front struts ready for reinstallation. All looking good! Also here's a pic of the front hubs painted up. The next weekend we kicked into further reassembly. We started the day with fitting the new oil filter and refilling the motor. And reassembly of the front end: We then kicked into draining the transmission oil. We'd been holding off on doing this for ages as I'd been having real trouble sourcing MTF-LT-2 fluid. I finally managed to track so down so we were good to go. Some family stuff meant that we didn't get anything more done that day, nor the following weekend... This afternoon though Dad refilled the transmission. Custom oil filler ready to go! In it goes... And here's the comparison of the old "lifetime" oil and the new. This weekend we'll get stuck into finishing the reassembly on the front end. Turn the engine over to get some oil around the place and hopefully do a compression/leakdown test as well. Then it'll be on to reinstallation of the driveshaft, exhaust etc. The end is in sight!

I think you're nearly there. This is the flip side of the 330i discussion that earned Colin his new @Young Thrash Driver Moniker. The market will always decide where the value lies, and whether your asking price overcomes their objections. It's the assessment of condition, mileage, options, maintenance against price that is essential, and where the prospective buyer perceives balance or great value, cash comes. Good quality maintenance makes the car more desirable though not always worth much more. If I had spare change I'd buy your 530i, it looks like a great example for me as a daily commuter, and I'd not have any significant maintenance for the next year. Hopefully you'll get some reasonable offers soon! PS - it's a WHOLE LOT OF CAR for the money given people spend twice that on an 8 year old Japanese import Toyota/Nissan/Subaru that has at least as much risk. I'd take a late e39 with the M54 every time! Esp. one that looks this cool.

Actually after driving the e39 I realised I didn't need the set. I decided that the e39 was more of a daily than a garage queen that would give me the fizz and I wouldn't buy such an old car as a daily next, hence will keep the original and the best ? The e39 is the best all rounder without doubt but misses the drama of the v10 or the prestige of the e28. And the e34 has never spoken to me. Hence something new ??

patience, patience.... they're still trying to get from SH16 to the domain! it's still jammed solid, and now there's no light!

Buy new ??

You're very welcome, John. it seems that BELtronics as a brand are disappearing, with Escort being the lead brand for that company. I'm sure there was a long study by management consultants that helped them figure out that the R&D and marketing costs of developing/releasing/maintaining competing products in the market was not efficient despite having greater brand coverage. (No slight on management consultants!). I'd been wondering for some time how they made that pay. When I picked up my 995, it was testing better for long range Ka (main threat in NZ), than the V1 of the time (there have been numerous hardware and firmware updates since then). I was shopping used and on a budget, and the 995 was the best value I could find at the time. Fast forwarding (below the speed limit of course, officer) to last year and a new unit was on the cards. I didn't hesitate to buy BEL again, though had I known they were getting out I'd have scored an Escort Redline instead. Today there are additional options, either built-in GPS, or linking to your cellphone. I'm not sure how effective GPS croudsourced updating is in little ol' NZ, given the tiny market, and the even smaller percentage of detector users buying models with GPS and subscribing or updating live data services. Cool idea though. I'd like to try a V1, though for me the arrows - with my style of use - offer no benefit.

et38 it is which wheel style ? staggered set up ? part number will tell you all the details. edited ah found the issue not genuine bmw alloys bmw ones don't have weight ratings on them also notice the faded bmw badges m bmw ones just fall off http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/wheels-tyres/alloy-wheels/auction-1322745370.htm http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/E46-Compact/Europe/318ti-N42/R-N/feb2003/browse/wheels/bmw_alloy_wheel_m_double_spoke_97/ here some I had recently that sold

Saw this game on another forum.Objective: Take a picture of your car with the criteria of the previous post. List another challenge after the picture. Nothing dangerous or which could be interpreted unlawful. Challenge: Your BMW at a car meet Next Challenge: Your BMW in front of a museumPlease post only if you have completed the challenge. Thanks for playing!

Have you tried fcp euro or schmiedmann? I've found them both cheaper - especially schmiedmann because their shipping costs are much lower.

Dropped by the cafe yesterday, the car looks stunning. GLWS !

Have this Manual 318ti M sport we are about to part out with a set on it.

The E90 rims are probably Style 194. 0.5" wider at the front, but should also fit an E46 without issue. (From BMWStyleWheels.com) (From http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=62216)

Man, that's a result.

congratulations on selling it!

Put a 316 badge with a superscript 2 on it 316Ti²

the vin's on SA cars are always tricky. My e30 vin doesn't even come up as an e30. South African cars are a different breed it seems and this one is no different! very very gorgeous! glws

Congrats to you both!

I had a 530i and it was a very good drive. I drove a 545i and it had more grunt but I thought the 530i felt a little bit better balanced. The only thing I didnt like was that my Wife's Toyota Aurion used to show it up at the traffic light drag strip

You might want to update your car list Apologies for the low light iPhone shot (probably time for a new phone...)

So when It rolls over people still know Its a motorsport!