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Got sick of the slow return on my E36 coupe driver's seatbelt. Tried to find a replacement - it's BMW supplied only: so I googled a fix. Simple - wash the seatbelt in laundry detergent (in a bucket on the seat) and let dry. It removes all the accumulated human remains that prevent the belt from flexing (Yuck!) It nearly worked, so I went further and removed the rear trim panel, cleaned the guide bar for the the belt (also yucky). Then after re-gluing the trim attachment to the side panel (It's only 22 year old glue, really!), re-gluing the vinyl around the inside of the belt aperture (all to make the gap in the trim bigger) it WORKED. I now have a belt that retracts at the speed of a frightened rabbit.

Do be careful with your oil selection... BMW recommends a 60 weight oil (hot) for most (all?) M cars since the early 2000's for very specific reasons, and they're not only about how you drive the car, some of them relate to how the engine was designed. In this case it was designed to run on 60 weight and I'd recommend sticking with that (unless you have empirical evidence to the contrary) . Now, I hear your reasoning above: 'but I want a 5w oil and i can't get that with a 60 weight' so factor this in: 5w is designed to work (protect) at temps as low as -30*C (yes, that's negative 30) 10w is designed to do the same at temps as low as -18*C Nobody in NZ needs a 5w oil, it simply doesn't get cold enough. People using or advocating 0w are mad (and don't understand oil). It's also preferable to have the smallest gap between the winter and operating viscosity so the engine doesn't have to experience a wide(r) viscosity range. On this basis alone a 20w-60 would be better for your car (no problem with NZ climate, more stable viscosity, manufacturers recommendation for operating temp viscosity). Some people argue that a lower winter weight (the first number) has two benefits: Warms up quicker Spreads through engine parts faster when cold Both are misleading: Both (5w and 10w) provide the required protection at cold start (see temps above), as long as you're not over revving it until it's warm you have all the protection you need. So, whilst it will warm up quicker, you have no practical need for it to do so. It (5w for example) also drains to the sump faster when the car is off (than a 10w for example) so there's less oil coating the surfaces on cold start; that and, the oil system is highly pressurised and oil gets pushed to everywhere it needs to be by the time the idle has settled after starting. IMO, stick to a full synthetic 10w-60 and use any reputable brand you like.

It also boils down to your exposure to risk under the CGA...ie: the person your dealing with, the vehicle your expected to work on (condition) and the quality (brand) of the components your expected to install for labour only with a workmanship warranty . I can give examples but I'm not wanting to get into any argument or debate about what I'm saying. Many workshops will forgo the labour $ because they don't want that exposure and they refuse to do the work. Ask the workshop to fit some small item parts that you supply is not normally an issue, supplying a clutch kit or engine overhaul kit is a different story where the repairer must look at his financial exposure to the risk factor knowing that his supplier would back him up if there was a component failure with parts he might supply.

Up for sale is my wife's 2004 325i M sport Touring. Has the Alcantara interior, HID headlamps etc and a towbar. Has just done 150k with a lot of work done to it. New cooling system parts as soon as we got it at 145 k ( it's literally done 5 k in 1.5 years) including hoses, expansion tank, thermostat, waterpump and radiator. It's not practical for my wife being so low ( she prefers my x5). So up for sale it goes. Comes on staggered Style 66s with Bridgestone Potenza re003s all round. Mechanically it cannot be faulted as I am an enthusiast and mechanic. Looking for $9 k ono. No rush to sell. Has been fully serviced with new air,fuel and cabin filter, new drive belts etc. Has had a lot of preventative maintenance done. Also has a custom subwoofer and amplifier installed which doesn't take up room in the boot and sounds great. Has the rear cargo cover too. Just got back from Custom Coatings getting some love. Contact me to discuss further. Have done a lot of work to it to get it up to my levels of comfort. Personalised plates not included. Viewing in Glenfield. Air Bag Recall done last year at Jerry Clayton 02102916373 $$8500 ono https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1989009015

Gold. Absolute gold! Now, a box of duct tape, call 8 Ubers, and let the magic begin!

I thought everybody who came onto this site was into self harm ?

On a bmw forum I feel it's a bit weird to suggest masochism is a bad thing.

Hey there everyone! My names Logan, I'm from Christchurch. This is my E36 which has been my project ever since I bought it back in November 2017. After reading the forums from time to time thought I'd join the group! Anyway here a few photos of the 22 year old, not everyone's cup of tea but hey it makes me happy! VID_20190215_193318.mp4

Additional to the obvious risk for the workshop, a lot of them are crazy busy and having to deal with BYO parts is just not worth the hassle when you have a full pipeline of work. The shop will already has it's own processes for parts so having to cater for BYO can be quite an inconvenience, and then it turns to sh*t if the parts are wrong or become faulty. Charging a higher hourly rate wouldn't change the situation, as the shop can make just as much doing a run of the mill job and there's no shortage of those jobs with European cars. The last times I have been to AK BMW and BM Workshop they have been very busy and had a couple of weeks lead time.

Yeah mine would always be visibly below 100 unless it was getting hammered, it now seems to snuggle up close to 100. I also hardly ever had the after run fan. On the run this morning it took about 9 mins to get to temp.

Plenums back on, and everything back together. Fired up with all sorts of codes until I realised I had left the idle control return hose off (oops). VANOS bled. No apparent coolant or oil leaks, phew. All codes cleared now and I think the car is running warmer. Time will tell what impact it (the thermostat) has. Next will be a battery I think as it always has a charge fault after being off for an extended period. Seriously contemplating a set of BC adjustable suspension, must resist...

The other issue out there is you can't contract out of the SGA even if you have a verbal or written agreement between two parties it can be a sh*t fight if the repair turns to custard. Both parties are covered under the SGA by law. It then becomes a blame and finger pointing exercise with a third party involved.... the parts supplier / manufacturer

Mine often runs for quite a while after a long run in warm weather or if I have driven in manual mode (it tends to rev a lot higher in manual mode ?) my oil temp also nudges 100 quite regularly but doesn't go above that. Castrol 10w60 always in mine.

I feel the M43 is a brilliant engine! I know it comes in for a lot of flak, but typically only from those who want to go faster. That's not what the M43 is about!

It seems we have a slight problem ? so so we now have identical twins, picked up another car tonight which is set to have the same race car fate

My cousin checked this out last time and no cracking, just too ugly for him.

you're sorted! great result. ?

The oil guage and usage is rather sporadic on mine. Sometimes it will sit around 1.0 for what seems like ages and then over a couple of hundred km it drops to 0.3 and lower. At a guess it would used 1 litre per 2000km. Currently has 10w60. I just replaced my thermostat at it had a stored code in the ECU and on first run it appears to be running warmer already at just under 100C and when I shut it down the after run fan went for quite a long time. I can't remember ever hearing the fan run before. Fingers crossed this has a positive effect on economy.

Agree, I often supply parts but I make sure they are always of good quality (Bosch, OEM etc). That was part of the understanding I reached with my shop, that they wouldn’t install anything they wouldn’t normally recommend. For what it’s worth, I had a belt I supplied be defective from the factory. My mechanic put the old one back on for free, which I thought was incredibly good of them. At least I was reasonable enough to recognise the defective part was now my responsibility. I also took them a box of beers as a thank you...

All for sale items must have a price.

I asked them about the coding prior hand, they said they can do it. I did see them stick into the OBD port and did some coding. The initial on of the car I saw a battery warning on the dash, which was immediately resolved. Aside from that I don't know how else to confirm if the battery registration was done properly. They did seem to know about the battery regulation, etc. Looking to an analysis for a base line, possibly using this NZ local? https://www.oillab.co.nz If statistics is on my side I still have 40-50k kms to go before the rod bearings would show signs of wear. This post is probably that I can relate to me, where I am in the start of his initial purchase https://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60-m5-e61-m5-touring-discussion/511233-my-07-e60-m5-bearing-story-1st-year-ownership.html Like him I have taken the route of using Ceratec, which I currently use on our Cayenne. Cayenne V8 is known for bore scorching, similar to S65/85 engine the manufacturer hasn't come forward with the cause, etc. There are a lot theories, remedies, etc. nothing definitive. There are similar debates to add or not, but with the Cayenne community it has swayed more to the add Ceratec as there is one owner who had a minor bore scorch a Cayenne Turbo was able to save his engine from a block replacement by using it. Initial observations with Cayenne before using Ceratec, it would use oil about 1 liter per 5,000 km. This is on the low side of oil consumption on the Cayenne, 1 liter per 1,000 kms can be expected as per owners manual. After adding Ceratec beside the motor is much more quite on first few mins after cold start, it hasn't consumed much oil after 10,000 km. For the M5, I am just on the first 100 km but so far it significantly reduced the cold start up noise. The M5 now sounds less of a diesel upon startup, more like a noisy gas engine now. Unrelated to the Ceratec but so far the oil consumption is a lot lower than I expected on the M5. So far only 0.7 liter a bit more than 3,000 kms. We got the car from the dealer slightly overfilled at 1.5 liters, now gone down to 0.8 liter and it kinda was staying there for the last 1,000 kms. I have 1 liter of 10-60w on the trunk, so far I haven't used it. It is one of the fun and not so fun part of owning older cars, we are on our own to do our best to take care of the old cars. Kinda fun to also understand them and get our minds off other things.

unless you are a masochist.

It's true... We arrived 6, maybe 7 years ago. Get our citizenship next month. I saw National offfering two tax cuts at the first election we were here, at a time when labour was saying the country couldn't afford them. The first tax cut went through, but the second didn't - National subsequently agreed it was unaffordable. The last election I felt national didn't actually have a manifesto, and trotted out some words when it became apparent Labour were doing better than expected, including the offer of a tax break. I said at the time that I felt National didn't want to win the election, and still wonder if that were the case. There were several things happening which were - and are - going to be difficult to deal with. CGT is paid on profit from gains realised through little or no effort. 33000 houses were empty in Auckland alone in 2017; these are typically owned by investors who bought them with a view to sitting on them, selling them in a couple of years, and gathering a 20%+ profit. (Whether they do get that sort of profit is another matter.) Effort - zero. Other than having the money to begin with, and there are people who do this for a 'living'. Applying CGT to these gains (to me) makes sense. Applying CGT to Kiwisaver, small business gains and so on is a different matter. Scrap the brightline bullshit (which, let's face it, is only a short-term CGT by another name) and do the job properly. It's sad that reying on a government to do someting properly isn't a rewarding passtime.

Thermostat replaced. Old one appeared OK even if the seal was stuffed. Not sure if there will be an improvement but hopefully the code will clear. Last 3 spark plugs replaced since ECS shipped 7 correct and 3 random spark plugs. Vanos solenoid o-rings replaced, mongrel job. Snapped one of the vanos solenoid screws putting it back in, that was an oh sh*t moment, as they mount upside down with very little space to get at them. Purchased all sorts of things from AES to get the screw out, in the end a 2mm left hand drill bit was the winner with the drill on a wacky angle threatening to snap the bit. Getting that screw out was the biggest relief I've had in the last few years. Just need to put the plenums back on, fill it up with coolant and bleed then back on the road. Please no more dumb worn out sh*t Mr M5, baby 2 is due very soon!

Cheers, she's going to be a lot of work, serious doeruper but solidly built. Wouldve been a slick yuppie house back in late 80s though, going to have to get an E24 to match the decor

Not an issue, wasnt taking a dig. Just i remember it on here in the past, and obviously it either didnt sell, or no one has done anything with it since. Couldnt forget the bodykit lol. I think this was it. I see the same discussions as last time have popped up already,

Someone should 2JZ swap it!

You could duct tape 8 of them together, and still be slower than an E60 M5.

Haven't really done much to the car during winter, but finally got a chance to take it out and do some skids. It was a wet day at the Motorkhana held by HCMC at Waikaraka Park, but it sure helped getting around those cones. The LSD really changed the way the car drives - so much more forward momentum than the locked diff, and getting it sideways and keeping it there was very predictable. 10/10 After the first 2 tests I was surprised to find that I was leading, but made a couple of mistakes on the 3rd course, and then the 4th course suited the faster cars, so ended up 7th overall, with 2nd in class (it's an M44, so it puts me in the 1800cc+ class). Very happy with result ?

Sent one for scrap a couple of weeks ago as had for sale for about a year. It was a mint runner too, only removed to go 6. Bad timing. ?