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Do not straight pipe your 335. It is not a cefiro.

Hi All, Thank you for accepting me to this group. Happy to be a part of the BMW family. Looking forward to find some answers to some of my questions about this fantastic car. Bought my first BMW and first car last August. So far so good. However, I've had issues with the aircon gasket cover as it was leaking oil and had to be replaced. Seems like a known issue as per the BMW guy from New Market. Also I find the speakers little weak. Will check the forums for any recommendations, upgrade ootions etc. Also, I have updated my Gracenote to 01/15 in CIC as it is not up to date. Anyone who has updated version, please let me know. I still use CDs. ? Will attach some photos

I picked up an E23 shell, prepped for paint, a couple of years ago along with everything but seats and a front windscreen. It promptly sat in the garage for about a year while I sorted out life! Moved a couple of times, bought our first home and now my attention is really on the project. First on the list was to ship it off to get the interior, underneath and engine bay painted ahead of putting it back together. I've gone for a Calypsorot Metallic colour throughout. It looks quite different in the dark of the shop / garage versus in the direct sunlight: My restoration plan is ground-up - so while it was in the shop I started refurbishing what I could of the suspension and sub-frames (I had a spare rear laying around). My primary goal is to get the car back on the road so while I'm likely to change a bit in future to reduce the ride height, I've stuck with the stock suspension for now, with the exception of new Bilstein B6 shock absorbers - which should handle any future ride drop. I have both a 4-speed and Getrag 5-speed manual gearbox for an M30 to run with. Sadly I just stripped the motor to reveal chronic rust in the block water jackets and around the cylinders. The head is quite 'out of shape' around water holes too. It doesn't look salvageable so I'm now going through the roller coaster question of - what engine do I eventually put in? I don't like the tan interior it came with, and nor do I have seats - so I've found an anthracite interior sitting at a wrecker in Melbourne. The hard part is swallowing the shipping cost ?. I've also ordered some samples from www.stockinteriors.com who do a new carpet set for the car. So - that's where I'm at now.

Hi all, Im currently building an E46 to race in the North Island endurance series and thought it may be a good idea to document it here. My plan is to build a 'replica' of a WTCC car I had a few years ago but with the engine, gearbox and brakes from a V8 Super Tourer creating an unholy love child of two of my old race cars. I'm hoping to have the car weighing around 1,200KG and putting down about 650HP - for reference a standard Super Tourer is around 1,440KG and 550HP. Below are a few pictures of both my WTCC car and Super Tourer as well as a rendering of what the final car could look like (Excuse the poor quality).

*cough*manualconversion*cough*

No worries Pete. I go to him for all my AT servicing (and rebuilds haha). Zane/ATR seem to be the go to place for auto trans advice and work locally. He is the first person who gets mentioned by local garages, so that must be a good thing. He also is/was a X5 owner which should give you extra confidence. That reminds me - need to get the HSV booked in for a trans service before xmas! 1

Did a drain and fill on the trans today. I suspect that its probably never been done (in 159,000km) looking at the state of the "lifetime" fluid that came out. Already driving much better. The trans has always been a sore point for me since getting the car as its shifted really rubbish, but its getting better the more I drive it. I also have a new pan/filter, bolts and a couple of seal things on the way to see if it will help even further. Todays drain and fill was just to help clean out the old fluid, so ill drop and replace that when the parts arrive.

Yep I've kept a pretty close eye on the E46 M3 market over the last few years - definitely going to need to wait for the right car to come along. In terms of lower mileage, fully appreciate that might be desirable from a collectability point of view, but probably worth keeping in mind that at this age even a lot of the lower mileage examples likely need significant maintenance at this point (if they haven't already had it). Sounds like you're probably already aware of that, but thought I'd point it out. Good luck with finding the right car!

My suggestion is remove the plates put a govt issue one on and dollar reserve it on trademe. Will be sold no matter what prob around 6k give or take. Better than waiting endlessly dealing with timewasters

At least you're in good hands Pete. Zane has rebuilt two holden transmission s for me and on both occasions rebuilt them stronger by using upgraded factory parts. Dealt with the MBI coompany which made the process relatively painless. As for the bullet point - I'm feeling your pain on this one ?... hopefully sorted soon ☺️

Based on this, there is probably only 50 6 speed ones in NZ. So there is probably only a handful under 100km now. You'll just have to wait a bit, they do come up, but there are a lot of 'lifers'.

do it!

that's where I got all my parts from. I started to get worried after waiting 6weeks and no package but it turned up after 3 months. How much was your DHL tax. mine was $888 And your kids should be in the garage with you learning.

Yes.

Resurrecting this post from the dead... as there are the shoots of progress starting to come out of the garage. Decided against putting it all back together to race this season, it was really hard watching the 1 Hour Enduro at Hampton Downs on the long track, but there will be a next time I hope. It would have needed quite a bit of tidying and paint etc. even after I had screwed everything back together from the state it was in. Good news was that after months of waiting my shipment of panels for the E30 M3 kit finally arrived from Europe. I was a bit concerned about how well it would travel, being as the panels are fibreglass, so a bit on the delicate side. Thankfully, they were very well packaged, with lots of protection which was just as well as there were signs of some rough treatment on the way as I expected. After finally getting everything unwrapped and un-packed which was a bit of a mission, mainly due to running out of space to put the parts in the garage and space in the wheelie bin to put all the packaging, I had chance to check the parts over for damage and quality. There was only one small impression on one part which should come out with a bit of heat and pressure. Parts are nice and light, which is good for a race car - will see how well the measure up and fit as I go. Couldn't resist a quick tape them up on the car to see what they look like... If only they were that easy to fix on the car properly... now into all the cutting and grinding on the rear end to get the guards and c-pillar extension to fit onto the body. This will be the most complicated part of the whole thing, plus once that's done I can start prepping the shell for painting.

Update … at 235KMs now. Additions: replace hatch handle/catch/light unit - (was unlocking randomly) new unit much better sealed design so shouldn't get full of crud like the other. replace right rear ABS sensor (caused rear wheels to lock) replace damaged dipstick full service And next: it's off to the transmission specialist for a trans oil leak. Yes I expected to have to sort a few things but never this list! I've spent twice the cost of the vehicle on sorting and maintaining it in 2.5yrs and 24,000KMs. And that's with a MBI, noting that genuine parts are being used. Unsurprising advice: always buy the vehicle you really want - be patient. I probably should have waited for a 4.6is or 4.8is for my keeper. service history is a BIG deal - buying a tidy vehicle that hasn't had all the stuff in my list done means you'll probably need to do it if you can, get a MBI!! Autosure has been brilliant. Also work with a garage that is Autosure-approved so you're not passing jobs between repairers. if you can DIY you'll no doubt save a bundle don't buy it, fix it all up and then flog it because you're annoyed. Unless you're just so annoyed you don't enjoy it. Some other reflections... expect plastics and rubber to fail due to age and kms... seriously consider replacing the cooling system if there's no firm evidence it has been done If the engine's being worked on then go ahead and replace the gaskets ; don't wait for them to fail one by one even with an MBI, these have excesses and often most of the cost is labour, so it's likely better to be proactive with replacement of rubber and plastic if there's already some work being done.

So Zane from Auto Transmission Repairs in Plimmerton gave me a call … loads of metal filings in the pan which is a bad sign will require rebuild ; my MBI will cover ~50% of the cost have asked him to email me more details of what he found and what he'll do... he said that my is the older 5HP24 without a bunch of the later improvements ; and he has learned (the hard way) that if he repairs it is best to do it thoroughly and apply the updated components. Apparently these transmissions drive OK even when they very worn - and then bang they crap out. Ouch ?