Leaderboard

I did lol. Viewed a few in rapid succession but nothing that fit what I was looking for in terms of condition. then after a post on BMW club nz fb page a local enthusiast here in Hamilton mentioned he had a 530i, 2001. Owed It since 60000kms it's now done 150000kms, full service history and very well looked after. Took it for a drive it was awesome the 3 liter is so nice. While it wasnt the 2003 I was after it was such a nice example with everything else I wanted, plus room for some of my own tasteful mods, I had to snap it up.

NZ New 156000km #SOLD# 6 speed manual M Sport with all options ticked Harmen Karden Sound system Heated seats etc. $9500

Yes! And on the topic of AA fuelcard savings banking, here’s how you play it. Fuel up in $40 chunks. Always “accumulate” (save). Buy your fuel on BP’s 10c promo days. And perhaps even use their app for purchasing fuel (additional discounts I think) Before you know it, you’ll have a $2.00 per litre saving banked - just be sure you’ve space in your tank at the end of each two-month period. I remember gassing up on 98 at BP Drury - 50 litres and I paid only for my NZ Herald. The cashier was astounded.

Thanks Kyu. Honestly brother I'm completely heartbroken and there's a massive void to fill now but in time I shall get there man. Everything does happen for a reason indeed and I'm just hoping to bounce back stronger. I will most likely be building a mtech 1 325i convertible if I can't find a pfl baur again

I'll be back to it next week mate. You can't keep me down for too long. I'm already having withdrawels from work. The day it happened I went back to work and did front shocks and suspension on a clients e46 not knowing I'd sustained the injuries I had until getting properly checked out lol

SJ! sorry to see and read this mate. I know how much this car meant to you when we talked about it as it sat outside your shop before you turned it into what it had become.. such a shame but I am really glad that you are alright and not injured too badly. Everything happens for a reason and I am sure that more good things will come your way for sure!

How does that go for your workshop, mate?

Sorry to read of this SJ, a real bummer. Glad to hear your injuries are ‘minor’ (that is, no breakages). heal well, mate. The metal is replaceable, even though rare.

It would be quite disappointing if they abandon a new model further down the track. Especially with their plug in hybrid models becoming more popular. Bring something revolunary to the segment as all of these Utes are way, way over priced for what we get. i.e. plug in hybrid and four cylinder turbo petrol similar to the E Class at 2.5l/100km. Its not like they don't have the expertise to bring out something class leading - Sprinter, Vito, Actros etc. Mercedes could have differentiated the current X Class by using their own 2.1 and 9 speed out of the ML etc. Something like 150kw and 500nm. With low range and more realistic price tag it could be a decent piece of kit. ATM its just an over priced segment purchased by sheep trying to keep up appearances.

Oh no SJ! Such terrible news. Hope you are unharmed. Wondered why you had put the call out for a baur when you already had this peach. Sorry man.

wow nice, e39 on style 42's is hard to see despite being one of the factory wheel options. very very nice man!

I would rather have a Y62 Patrol than any over those over priced, over rated, wanker attracting fashion statements. It will do everything better too, unless you need to move something like a fridge or motorbike (that’s what trailers are for, and kinda a moot point since most of the flogger driven utes have hard lids or canopy’s anyway). At least the Mercedes has a decent engine, but you pay for it, most of them have sticker price of over $90k. Option up a ranger and you’re looking at $80k. Usually when you spend that sort of money on a vehicle with leaf springs, drum brakes and extremely basic plastic interior, it’s a factory optioned 1960s desirable muscle car from the USA which hold or go up in value, not depreciate like a stone when the latest fashion statement is realeased two years down the track.

For the purposes of this thread, it could be confusing to anyone reading that later, the 1-Series definitely should and does have smaller rear seating than the two SUV's you compared it to. This should not be a surprise. ?

After more research I had settled on the brake booster that'd be suitable. The OEM E30 one is a bit too wide and has been known to contact the M52 intake manifold. Heaps of fixes have been found for this, from denting in the OEM booster and shaving the manifold fins (I wouldn't recommend) to fitting Porsche 924 boosters. I decided to go with the Renault Clio booster. The one you want is from the model that has plastic front quarter guards (~2001). Seen below is the Clio booster on the left with E30 on the right. The Clio clevis pin hole needs to be bored out to 10mm to accept the E30s clevis pin. You will need to also need to add a ~1" extension to the rod that acts on the master cylinders piston as it is shorter on the Clio (can be seen in photo). With the M52 on a stand, I lockwired the oil pump nut (reverse thread) due to it being known to catastrophically rattle loose. Some sweet oil varnishing can be seen. I was worried about the weight of the wire throwing the pump off balance but figured the pump doesn't spin at too higher RPM and the weight is close to the centre of rotation. Also this method is tried and tested An oil pan from a M50 E34 was fitted along with the corresponding oil pick up, dipstick and dipstick tube. If you happen to come across a wrecked E34, grab the throttle cable while you're there as this is also needed for the conversion. Pictures of a bracket I made to support the oil tube as I missed the OEM one from the E34 I sourced parts from. Next on the list was the dreaded wiring. I had the complete M52 loom on the garage floor and basically sat there for nights on end with a multi-meter, trimming away at wires that weren't needed either due to the E30 not having the tech to support or from the auto trans wiring that obviously wouldn't be required. This was probably the bit that took the longest and was the most stressful as the fruits of the butchering wouldn't be seen until it came time to turn the key. At which point there may be a lot of other factors preventing the car from starting. What made the wiring challenging was the difference in wiring diagrams of different generation E30s. Wiring differs from PFL to FL, 4 cyl to 6 cyl and country of origin etc. It basically came down to a lot of trial and error and piecing together different wiring diagrams to make one that suited my E30 body loom. These diagrams helped me so I thought id list them up. At the end of it I had something that looked like this... I cut a engine side of the plug off of an E30 and the body side plug from the E36 to make a bridging harness between the E30 body and M52 engine. While the wiring was being carried out, I also had other sub-projects going on that I could turn to when the wiring was getting too tough. The M52 140 amp alternator got a tidy up... I pulled apart the cluster to replace the odo gears. They were fine but are known to give up when they get close to 200,000kms old. I also had to get a 6 cyl coding plug to fit into my 4 cyl cluster so the RPM would be correct. Also tutu'd with some nail polish and the needles. Bought a set of BBS RSs. Pulled them apart and ordered some new lips that'd make them a bit wider and also sit flush to the guards. 1st step was the strip, then onto some media blasting. I painted the faces a shade of OEM silver from a Honda (cant remember which code). They came up pretty good and with the new lips looked the part. But I started to wonder if the 15" was a bit too small for the offset I was trying to pull off. Bought some suspension off someone on this forum. They had slotted front disks, Koni adjustable dampening shocks, H&R Sport springs, E90 drop hats to lower it an extra 1/2" and reinforced rear strut mounts. Replaced the front seats with the same type of cloth but they were mint. I also managed to track down a SE steering wheel and side skirts. Fitted up an IS front lip. Bought some 15" basketweaves and generally just enjoyed the car for awhile before pulling the heart out and wrecking it. Heres a couple of pics of the car out and about, in-between various stages of wheels before the engine swap. After all the projects I had followed, I soon realised that the actual swap probably wasn't going to be a weekend job. Sharing the E46 was doable, I could car pool other days or... I'd have the perfect excuse to buy a new daily for the "daily".

Collecting the E36 was the first drama in this project. We made the drive from West Auckland to Tauranga one Sunday morning to drive the car back. I figured if I could somehow get some fluid into the transmission, that it'd spring back to life and i'd be driving back to Auckland under its own steam, much to the horror of the people i bought it off. No cigar. Stuffed around for ages driving the car up onto a curb to get under and try and force feed it the ATF fluid. It wasn't going in. About 5 hours had gone by and my GF and our friend who had come along for a "quick" roadie was starting to get over it. Pressure was on. I still had 1st, 2nd & 3rd gear available in the blue E36. Traffic was light so i thought I'd try and limp it home. Again, no cigar in sight. Car was revving higher than i was happy with and i could see the temp gauge was more inclined to lean to the right. We made the decision to leave it at a random gas station and head home. The following day I drove to work, put in leave, picked up a ute and trailer and headed back down to Tauranga with the ever patient GF. All loaded up we headed back to Auckland. CIGAR. I quickly started to pull the E36 apart to see the condition of the cams as an indication of oil changes. The engine showed some varnishing and the coolant system seemed to have been topped up with a lot of hard water in its time. At this stage I still had an ear to the ground to see if a better motor would pop up but there wasn't really anything available. Being a running car, I was able to check the compression of all the cylinders. It was all even and within factory specs so I was happy. Work began on pulling it all apart, selling bits I didn't need to fund the project whilst still tinkering away on the E30 that was still my DD. My search for rust on the old girl had luckily been coming up empty apart from a little bit around the trunk seal. That only required a wire brush, some rust converter, paint and a new seal. I continued to remove the grime that had built up over the past 26ish years. Parts started to pour in from Pelican Parts and FCP Euro. I purchased any seal that was a worry on the M52 as I wasn't keen on pulling it out of the E30 in the future. Crank seals, oil filter housing seals, vanos hose, cooler thermostat from factory, metal impeller water pump, new radiator, electric fan, valve cover seals, filters etc. The E36s engine and ancillaries were all disconnected from the body and was ready to be pulled out. This was made much easier by the fact that the radiator support can be removed (a few bolts and two spot welds from memory). The engine lifter was able to slot in and take the weight of the motor with ease. Seals fitted and motor tidied up. Was starting to look like a tidy package suitable for the E30.

Chinese window regulators and spiders, bulk lots.

S85 crate engine???

oh - and even though I technically still run this site - I barely use it hah! Please ring me or text me (I'm on annual leave also, so not being very computery)

Did you end up selling it?

I got moderate injuries man, both shoulders are screwed, right wrist, neck injury. Right leg injured but I hit the wall 3 times and got thrown around quite a bit. I should be fine in a week or so. I have 20 percent efficiency in my usual movements because of being thrown around so much but I'm alive. My heart is completely obliterated and a part of my soul died with that car but I am grateful I'm alive. Thanks man.

Mentally accepted I have to say goodbye to my boyhood dream car. Last week Wednesday I was cut off by a driver who proceeded to dead brake Infront of me to avoid a speed camera van fine so naturally I dead braked but as I did I veered to the left to avoid impacting him. Long story short my baby is now a write off. Met with a concrete barrier and bent the chassis front and rear without the chance of repairing. Looking for a replacement will be impossible because as far as I know there aren't many 325i baurs in NZ let alone mtech 1 variants. Hoping to buy it back from insurance and possibly buy a vert or another baur to replace and replicate this vehicle. It had every option from the maplight mirror to factory tweeters. No I will not be parting it out to sell.