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Hi guys. I'm new to this forum but thought I'd add a pic of my 540is. 1996 e34 6 speed manual. I purchased it end of 2019. It's full M kit with black Bison leather. Love this car it's been my bucket list car forever.

225,245 km Oil and Filter change Penrite 5W-40 and BMW filter (had to order from Auckland...guess my car IS old) Been chasing a coolant leak which turned out was the elbow that connects the expansion tank to the radiator. Ended up having to silicon the new elbow in as it was still leaking despite the new part ? anyway, all is fixed and no more coolant low light. That second O-ring at the bottom of the new elbow turns out is a spare as there's no way it stays there when pushing it in. Since that was a $3 part and BMW couldn't find it in their system I got it from FCP and got a new fan shroud while I was at it to make the shipping worth it. Old: New: Since I bought the car the toolkit screw had been partially snapped off meaning the tool kit would randomly fall down, recently this started being a full time thing and everytime you opened the boot there would be a tool kit hanging down...pretty annoying when you are trying to wrangle a baby buggy in and out. I went out to pick apart and got a new one...albeit it's not black it functions as it needs to. another $2 well spent.

? https://www.trademe.co.nz/2514872103

After looking at a million options and different replacements for the Merc, we’ve settled on our first M car. Taking into account we wanted a rapid tourer that could do light daily easy driving it seemed a later car with adaptive suspension/ steering etc would best suit. My wife is not that tall and finds any 3 series too low in the seat, she likes to see the end the bonnet and the F series is just to low for her to be happy, interestingly the latest 3 is ok in this regard but really for the spec we want out of price range. Getting another 7 is just two big in F01 range and the F10 is about right considering we are moving from an E class. Next issue was engine, N63 V8 seemed like it would hand grenade at the look of a late oil change. And even if you got a good one, resale would be utter garbage. Wife didn’t want a diesel, couldn’t change that. 535i option, good balance of power,price, poise, however vehicle specs are generally pretty piss poor and not at same 550 level we really want. Probably get bored with it. Looked Audi S6 which are very nice but decided when the right F10 car came along we might get really interested. E class was more of what we had and that is a good car but we’re selling the E550 because it lacks a really driving connection so anything but a E63 was out and they are too similar to the 550 for me. E60 M5 was an option, yes they have problems but so do all M/ performance cars one way or another. Find the right one it would be an awesome car. Ultimately the lack of adaptive suspension, it’s transmission change and overall tech age made the extra cost of the F10 worthwhile to us. Had ‘our’ M5 come up late last week at Auckland BMW, just traded. Promising look of spec, and mileage (80k), looked black in the pics but is metallic Blue (Imperial-Blau brilliant metallic (A89)). On first seeing we where happy to see the colour of the car outside in sunlight. Lovely metallic fleck. Its a one owner NZ New, BMW full service history car. Less then 80k would have been nice but the provenance to me was more important overall. Previous owner had a E39 M5 prior to this and traded up to a new M5, condition is extremely good, clearly looked after. Here’s some pics from the ad, more to come at pickup tomorrow ?. Let the fun begin. Some of the options: soft close doors, electric boot, heated and cooled front seats with full comfort and bolster adjustment, surround view cameras, big arse engine ? with 560 odd horses

Hi all, I found this gem and could not resist. 2010 and it's near show room mint with only 47,000kms. It drives like a dream. The engine bay is also spotless, looks literally brand new. Whole car seems lightly used and garaged. So, my only concerns now are preventative maintenance. I don't want anything to bite me in the arse. At 47,000 kms is there anything to worry about much yet? The dealer gave me a 12 month warranty as well. I picked it up for just under 14k which considering the new like condition felt a good deal. The ragtop is also flawless and looks new, and I am heading to supercheap auto today to investigate some ragtop treatments to keep it UV and water protected. I notice the car has a clear wrap around the bottom edges and 1/3 front bonnet (what is that wrap called?), one spot is slightly bubbled so curious who does these wraps and where I can get it mended in Dunedin. For the most part it's a daily driver, my work is only 7mins drive + the odd errands. I doubt I'll put more than 5-8,000kms a year. I'm thinking to be safe, I should have a full service done on it at the dealer? Cheers!

I thought the shortening was a 4 cyl to 6 cyl thing?

Thanks for members who contributed to this request. Now have found one and it fits perfectly from a 1996 e36Ti I believe.

one of the reasons for this type of failure is due to long oil change intervals. i wouldnt go past 10k kms at most and make sure to use good quality oil and filter everytime.

Spoke to the guy working on it, motor is back together and running and now is actually showing a code for vanos/valvetronic. Hurray for Internet sleuthing ? Cam chain and everything else looked good so no worries on that part. Reset lifter/cans as engine was showing poor compression and oil pressure which both came back. He suspects eccentric cam sensor as valvetronic motor has been done recently.

Beauty! Bringing it along on Sunday?

Good point @M3AN. Privacy and confidentiality often do get confused and used interchangeably. Although I'm not completely sold on the 'confidentiality' aspect in this context. I like this summation of the two: We often use the terms "confidentiality" and"privacy" interchangeably in our everyday lives. ... On the other hand, privacy refers to the freedom from intrusion into one's personal matters, and personal information. While confidentiality is an ethical duty,privacy is a right rooted in common law. Trying to relate it back to the OP - if someone was seriously interested in this M3 then I would hope that they conduct due diligence that satisfies them. This may, or may not include comments and information made here. And lets all be honest here, most of us are not serious buyers, but would like to know all the 'dirty detail' on it ?. IMO $15k + $7-8k to sort and you have a pretty reasonably priced appreciating classic - there you go I said it ? (yes I have an ulterior motive haha)

Bit of progress. Front strut brace. + 3.3459521 KW Subframe bushes replaced with solid rubber units. This has made such a massive difference. 2 of the old bushes were starting to crack but still had fluid in them. The other 2 had ruptured. Pics of one of the ruptured ones:

Privacy also relates to information. You pay for information, then you own it and can do with it whatever you like

Yes, thanks for the reminder... I put a few things in my 130 thread so dig in there also. Delivery was DHL, tracked, txt updates and web tracking, it arrived faster than I expected it to, less than a week. There aren't any instructions but most of it is self-explanatory, disassembling and cutting the dash and routing the wiring to your liking will take the most time. They incorrectly sent me a 2GB unit but my 4GB replacement is expected on Friday. The touch screen is WAY better than I expected it to be, it's bright, clear and responsive, I'm very happy with this aspect, you don't need glare guards even in direct sunlight. Away from the main interface you have all Google Play services so you can log into the store and download apps and offline maps really easily (assuming you have an internet connection, BT or WiFi). You can't load these as a start/home screen though (e.g. boot to Torque) The various audio interfaces are less than ideal; OEM audio + Android music + nav (separate speaker) + BT all gets a bit confused most of the time... now, that could be me but I'm not sure I'm that incompetent. I'm going to try to set it all up again from fresh with the 4GB unit. The real added value for me is widescreen nav at the moment because I don't listen to a lot of music. The music player supports local, AUX, USB and BT and is pretty elegant and can show album art and tags. But the rest? I hardly use. I've added no cameras or extra sensors so can't talk to them. Support was prompt but I ran into a 'policy roadblock' at the 2GB -> 4GB exchange and that took some time (and a brief escalation to PayPal) to sort out. They're exactly the same unit as sold across Alibaba and eBay but with some assurance of support. They do not ship or provide support from the US despite the "USA" in their name. I don't think that's made a difference though. If you want specific other info ask away, happy to try and answer.