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of course, I'm not biased, but I think you should buy for your sister a beautiful 1997 Volvo 855-T5 Wagon. With a stunning black leather interior. a mere 198k kms, a fresh VTNZ WoF, a new AA premium battery, and a full tank of gas. She can woody it up a-la family truckster, but she'll have the last laugh when she can travel with her mates and camp in the back of it, shift flats and do it all in one load, not be concerned about safety or traction alongside an e36, and never be concerned about theft. Comfort, great stereo, great braking, acceleration to surprise any XR8 or SS commode owner, and the cred of the only wagon entered in the BTCC, and it won races to boot! it's the anti-cool, and you know she wants it. Under $5k to boot.

Sold! And even better to a fellow member ?

Have had some interest in my '332i' project, so will post up the details here on Bimmersport. This car started life as a 2003 330i m-sport sedan in black sapphire metallic and is being built into an 'M3 sedan'. While the car existed as a standard 330i, I replaced the seats and door cards with black leather units, and retrofitted an NBT from an F30: HellBM then removed the M54B30 and replaced it with an S54B32 & 6-speed manual gearbox: The VANOS was then 'bulletproofed' using the full Beisan kit, uprated cam gear bolts & S62 diaphragm springs, and the valves adjusted: I then rebuilt the donor M3 brake calipers; the front caliper pistons weren't in great shape and were replaced: Caliper carriers media blasted & painted: Calipers prepped & painted (Duplicolor gloss black): Next up was preparing the remaining M3 suspension and driveline components. New Bilstein PSS10 coilovers: Donor M3 subframe bushes removed: CMP Auto Engineering solid subframe bushes were chosen for this car, even though it's intended for street use. The reasoning is two-fold; no movement of the subframe against the RACP should help prevent any future cracking, and the bushes are designed to move the subframe closer to the body to account for reinforcement plates & the vehicle being lowered. The M3 LSD was cleaned, drained and the rear cover replaced: And reinstalled back into the subframe: Trailing arms disassembled, wheel bearings, balljoints replaced & Syncro Design Works monoball RTAB installed: Handbrake shoes & new springs installed: For the front, new CSL kingpins and wheel bearings were used: The old rear suspension & fuel tank were removed from the sedan: And the boot floor removed: No turning back now . A brand-new E46 M3 floor pan was purchased and the centre panel extracted: CMP Auto Engineering reinforcement kit installed: The decision was made to go the 'full way': Donor rear arches extracted & prepared: Test-fitting with M3 rear bumper: Tacked on & then welded fully: View from behind: M3 rear muffler brackets installed (pre-arches): The rear suspension & fuel system were then mostly reinstalled: ECS Tuning Monoball RSMs & reinforcement plates installed: And some more parts removed: A genuine M3 bonnet was then fitted. The guards will be created by joining both sedan and M3 guards: And that's it for now - more to come soon

Hey guys I have landed here a few times looking for info so I thought I would sign up. I'm currently restoring a 1969 manual E3 2500. This is my first BMW and I am quite fond of it. Cheers!

If you can find one - Renault Clio RS. 2 litre NA, 172bhp Bought one for $4500 3 years ago, it is brilliant.

If she pushes the budget to 6k you can get a Swift Sport for that, and they are a hell of a lot of fun to drive, easy to drive, and brutally reliable. So many of these other cars recommended are terrible options unless you're a sucket for punishment.

you guys might enjoy this article I discovered yesterday... ?

My car dealer bring it to bmw and they update the transmission software. Now it is smooth. I still don't understand how this is related to software. I hope this might help other people who have the problem which i think it's quite common. Thanks all for your help.

Is this where I mention it's had - in my ownership of some 11 or 12 years & just 54,000kms it's had plenty of care lavished on it: cam belt/waterpump/tensioner/rollers, total & complete cooling system replacement including heater core and turbo cooling hoses & genuine volvo radiator, shocks & all associated bushes, H&R sport springs, lower control arms, endlinks, drilled & slotted rotors, braided lines, IACV, cam position sensor, crank position sensor, fuel pump relay, front factory rebuilt brake callipers, coil, leads, plugs, cap, rotor, trans flush, mounts, fuel filter, air flow meter, PCV system, CV boots... and a fuel injection relay is on its way from the US of eh. It's not perfect as any 21 year old will remind you; it's well-dressed and well-behaved until you activate the party switch and then it likes to dance. It does like a drink. Show it a trip and you can nudge it under 9.9l/100, though blatting around the urban village teasing XR8/SS/STi and it'll chug 15-16/100. In serious leather, yesterday. (yes, it's a Frank Zappa reference). PS: and for trumps, it has FIVE cylinders. Yes, FIVE. They sound so cool.

The long search is over... you probably know this set already but come and get yourself the real deal. Don't drive on dangerous, shoddy replica wheels. Be the true snob you've always dreamed of. 15x7.5 front and 15x8.5 rear is the perfect staggered fitment for E30. These wheels are rare enough but they even come with proper BBS BMW waffle caps (Only 3 however ?) According to previous owner, inner barrel of one wheel was repaired by Arrow Wheels many years ago. Located North Shore, Auckland $1800 ONO

Seeing as this is my 2000th post I thought there was no better way to celebrate than to introduce my latest BMW and project..a 2500 E3 aka project paper weight. So the story goes, my hawkeye brother spotted this and a e12 525 for sale on trademe as a combo deal so ended up nabbing them for a bargain. A few months later he messaged me asking if I knew anyone who might want to buy them as he had too much going woth starting his own business. So sold the e12 and a $1000 later the e3 is mine. Where does project 'paper weight' come from? Well it hasn't been run in 10years, rego is still on hold somehow and is mostly complete. It's likely to not do much for the next 6 months while I finish off a few things on the convertible. First step is to get it running and give it a thorough going over. There is rust but so far have only found it in the body panels and then slowly restore it. I got the car 2 weeks after the birth of my first born so hes a good gauge of how long the restore takes.. hopefully it's done by the time he is old enough to drive ?

WTB: M54 cam cover and plastic trim piece My M54 came without it (for some random reason) so looking to locate Thanks

I can relate ?

they are not any worse than BMWs the biggest problem is underservicing, same as any other car owned by the majority of NZ. oil starvation leading to premature engine damage, water pump failure leading to overheating, typical things like that that we (bmw owners) are well used to are considered "high maintenance" because its no toyota that happily will run without oil and water for 200,000 kms.

Yep, I'm like that. Had 4 sets for the e36 at one point, now down to 3 and 2 sets for the e30. Just need to find something for the e3 now

Corolla RUNX Followed by a cheapish NB MX5 The Runx will leave most above cars behind happily

Mikes got a good memory as I haven't been there for a while ? The plan is to eventually get another 8 series and an E39 M5. Hopefully I'll be able to get one of the two in the next 1-2 years and then work towards the other after that, before prices go crazier. Both will be keepers for me! An Eisenmann exhaust will provide a nice note. I preferred the sound (roar!) of the V10 when you hit the higher rev range - nothing could beat it haha. And yip - you've got my name right

Congrats! New car time ?

@Jun - Yip that's me. Hope you've got a better idea of 'next steps' after having Mike and his crew look over it. I can't recommend Mike Page European enough so I think you (and the M5) are in the right hands. Replacement springs explains why your M5 sits lower at the rear than the other two. At least you've got the option to revert back to original if you want or keep as is. Now you know more about whats going on with the clutch and preparing for replacement isn't a bad thing either. I reckon just keep enjoying it! Oh and that 8 series! Its 'Vespa1'! I used to see this occasionally in Wellington. Haven't seen it in a while and always wondered where it got to. Hoping it wasn't 'off the road'. When I get my 8 I know where mine will be going to be 'pampered' ☺️

No not reslly my thing. Just rnjoy reading others.lol

and hey, it's your new Swedish boyfriend/girlfriend. You know, the Swedes are known for their permissive views, sense of humour, and generally well-adjusted place in the world. No parent is going to be concerned about you showing up in a Volvo wagon to take their offspring out. Strange isn't it, Rover had the viking symbol on their cars, though they were someone staid and rather pipe-and-slippers. Volvo has quite the opposite, beneath the surface: https://jalopnik.com/volvos-850-wagon-racer-was-all-sorts-of-two-wheeling-aw-1567506405 Image from Amazon.com image from Pistonheads

Seriously cool.

Can i change my vote? Definitely get this!!

If she's a "very competent" driver and the primary consideration is "fun under 5k" then hands-down it's the MX-5, you're unlikely to have as much fun unless you have an Evo. They really are that good, and at such low speeds.

Cool car, see you around Wellington.

Went to visit Mike Page today (thanks to Greg for the info - unsure if I recall correctly, previous owner of Pete's E60 M5), Page European in the city was already sold a few years back. Mike has a shop at Kapiti, Mike Page European. He checked out the M5, also test driven it. Error code was shift selector, that was the error I encountered about 1,000+ kms before. He has reset and checked it, it looks to be no issues. Mike also said our M5 actually drives well compared to most E60 M5 he has serviced. He also said it is clean as a whistle, no signs of fluid leaks, very clean underneath the car. The clutch shudder I encountered when it was a hot day and was really shifting on the high revs is a probably sign of clutch wear. Mike said it is an unusual circumstance he recommends to leave it for now, there is very little shudder on normal conditions. So I guess for now until I change the clutch, no hard driving on hot days and then using the car on slow speed immediately after. Greg (sorry if I didn't recall your name correctly) also measured my M5 to be 10 cm lower on the rear compared to 2 M5 at Southward museum meetup. Mike had a look at the shocks and springs. He said they are definitely BMW shocks, springs may have been changed though. As we can see the bolt on the shocks have some marks on it, so the shocks had definitely been worked on, Mike said it is too early for the any shock work to be done on the car with my milage so it might be the springs where changed and the springs had paint markings. I do like the look of the lower rear, wheel arch is nice and flush on the wheel. So keeping it as is. Oh there is a 850i on Mike's shop, V12. I guess only a few people can repair these old cars, Mike will be one of them. Cleaned up the interior this weekend, finally got some time to actually detail the interior. We also drove out the south coast to enjoy the sunset. 3,000+ kms now and so far it has been ok. Need to prepare for those repairs, I hope it would be just preventive maintenance bills.

colt ralliart turbo manual

the wheels are indeed from the F20, our 116i has these wheels. if you feel like changing to some 18" wheels let me know, i got a *few* sets of wheels for sale... haha

Sacrificed?? You mean chosen for special blessings!

Cheers guys, Thanks Olaf have sub'd to the Auckland room. Would be nice to meet a few community members. Yeah Michael, I think after seeing some nasty photos and reading too many internet opinions it will give me piece of mind to do the work. Have spoken to BM workshop already and they sound reasonably confident (perhaps more-so than CC BMW in Takapuna). I saw aja540i mention doing this on his S85 last year at Turners but could not get hold of them this week.