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Tan interior or not that is a crazy (good) price.

If the shifters were level in this photo, I've just taken the lines from the right gearbox, and matched at the upper starter bolt. Rotated 10 degrees, and she's pretty close to matching up on the holes. What you really want to look at is how level the top of the starter is in comparison.

15XXXX km, Orient Blue (LOVE the colour), Msport, ZF manual converted with 3.38 diff, Full M3 interior (with inflating side bolsters), drilled rotors , front and rear strut braces and M3 mirrors. I researched getting an E46 for months as I wanted something with an older school feel but still modern enough and reasonably reliable that I could keep for a while. The 330ci seemed perfect, as I've always loved the timeless look and the M54B30 has a great reputation and enough power for our twisty roads. Manual, RWD, NA straight six, great steering and 50/50 weight distribution - can't complain! My goal is to go for an OEM+ build and hopefully end up with one of the nicest Non Ms around. I've spent a lot of time and money getting it to a high standard with OE / OEM parts: Maintenance / Performance Oil and filter / Plugs / Diff and Tranny fluid New intake boots, DISA O ring and MAF clean New waterpump / thermostat / radiator hoses / expansion tank / belts and pulleys Short ram air intake, fully heat shielded and ducted from kidney grilles Valve cover gasket & oil filter housing gasket Vanos seals & Oil line Fuel filter All new tensioners and pulleys Poly steering coupler Supersprint axle back and secondary cat delete CABs / new shock and strut mounts with front reinforcement plates Front and rear tower braces (ARC) E46 M3 front 26mm sway bar / E46 Msport Vert 20mm rear bar, new bushings and adjustable end links (upgrade from 23mm/18mm bars) ST XA Coilovers (Same spec as KW V2) - height and damping adjustable New Lemforder Tierods and boots Remap - throttle response / power (probably not) / subtle burble Fully certed for manual swap, coilovers and all mods (inc driveshaft hoops) Exterior Paintless dent removal Bonnet, side skirts and door respray Stage 2 paint correction and regular waxing M3 mirrors Euro personalised plates - 'NZ E46' ESR SR01 18x8.5 ET30 and Hankook Ventus V12 235/40/18 New headlight lenses / New clear corners / rear LCI boot lights / Dual slat front grille Boot and mirrors resprayed for cosmetic reasons New OEM front bumper colour matched Interior Fully refurbed and re-coloured M3 Nappa leather to BMW Caramel Piano black trims Armrest delete and refinished interior plastics Re-wrapped steering wheel and refinished trim - highly recommended! Billetworkz shift knob (450grams!) and clutch stop, matching handbrake handle Alcantara custom stitch shift and handbrake boots Factory style touchscreen with wireless Apple Carplay - looks OEM but with 2021 functionality Front JBL components, Pioneer amplifier and 12" sub Both front Airbag recalls done To do list $$$ IR to RF key conversion Engine mounts? Diff bushings?

Just finished installing an MHD stage 1 tune on Boyties M135i. MHD tunes never cease to impress me with the performance improvement. First efforts resulted in a blown charge pipe but we fitted a CTS pipe which looked quite well made and we were rewarded with a very noticeable increase in power. For those that have done this (including myself) the torque increase is really noticeable but on Boyties car the hing that got me was how good that ZF8 speed box is. The close ratios keep it at near max power for each change and the little blue hatch just keeps accelerating. Very impressed by that gearbox.

As some of you will know I bought a really tidy E36 328i recently and I have managed to clock up a few miles in it now and have thoroughly enjoyed going back a few generations. Firstly I have to say the car is one of the tidiest E36s I have seen for a long time but under the skin what really makes it special is the service history and attention to detail that previous owners have lavished on it. This is my 5th E36 and the only one where everything works and nothing needs attention, they are no squeaks, rattles or untoward noises and it comes as a bit of a revelation as all my others need work. The car does have a Jatco but the dreaded flaring and Jatco jerk are absent, perhaps because its a 98 and has the later TCU and again because it has been serviced. The steering is the first thing you notice, compared to my E92 its slow and slower again than my old E46 330ci. The feel however is pretty good and at highway speeds its far less noticeable and pretty accurate. The engine is a sweetie, with only 142kw its a long way behind the modded N54 in my E92 but the lack of turbo lag is pleasantly noticeable in comparison. Having spent a long time behind the wheel of a 330ci I can see why the M54 rotating assembly swaps are so popular and extra 30 odd kws and more torque would really make it come alive, I guess that's why the M3 was created. Chassis wise its all pretty stock M Sport on 16's so it can be steered with the throttle when the ASC is turned off as the rear does not have an abundance of traction. The brakes are another area where the difference is noticeable, stopping power is quite good but initial feel is very soft, but I suspect some different pads and a brake bleed might improve things. Interior wise I always liked the E36 and with everything working its actually a nice place to be even though at 196cm I only just fit. My daughters like it as they think these is a bit more leg room in the back that the e92. My decision going forward revolves around leaving it as it is or doing what I see are useful modifications. If this were a NZ new car with a ZF Auto this would be a more difficult decision, that said the car was imported ex Japan by BMW NZ so leaving it as is and enjoying it as it was made is certainly an option. Firstly I am keen to manually convert it, the Jatco is a good one but a nice ZF manual would transform it I'm sure. Secondly the 16 inch wheels, while nice to look at would be retired from some style 24's or 32's if a nice set came up. A purple tag steering rack would seem to be a good investment as well. Whether I would fit an M54 rotating assembly is the hard one, very much in two minds over this one.

Hi all, Here are some recent photos taken of Bluewater during twilight over the Northern Californian winter. Apologies again for the amateurish photos. I however think the colour looked nice... hopefully I will be able to present some nice photos someday.

Thanks for that Nick! I see what you mean. The G240 stays in then. As @polley said, it should be strong enough. @polley was this turbo M50 in an e30? Either way, do you have a thread on the build?

yep that 8 speed is to die for.. miss it a lot..

read these two threads and decide for yourself regarding the 120i

Taken from the BMWblog Instagram feed, production front end has been leaked..

Ran a 240 behind a m50 for about 4 years no issue. Turbod said m50 400~hp and it lasted about another 2 years before it let go and stripped third gear (after taking it to night wars and thrashing it on the strip) I think on a standard m50 the 240 should not give any issues unless you are exceptionally brutal on it. Have had the 240 next to the the 260.. the 260 is physically larger and heavier.

It is still sagging at the edges, but I'll probably just give it a clean up and reglue it back together. Found out why the key doesn't work in the boot. It's the Valet key. So my assumption is that the drivers door has been replaced, and the lock wasn't swapped over. (If any of the previous owners could confirm that would be handy) Which would mean I just need a new full key cut off the passenger door code, and a drivers door lock rebuild kit. And hopefully the boot lock hasn't been swapped also. The boot lock decided it wanted to no longer work with the central locking. Fortunately the rear seats fold down, so was just a case of crawling in there and manually opening it. The solenoid still works when 12 volts is applied, and the rest of the system works when you move the arm back and forward. I'm assuming it will be the boot loom which looked ok at the parts where it exits the body and enters the trunk, so that will be some fun. Tidied the garage, and gave the gearbox a clean.

If this your m52 swapped e30, your getrag 260 is not going to be a bolt on replacement for your m40 getrag 240, as it will sit on an angle and require a little fab work for the transmission mount. That may or may not factor into your question.

There’s an e36 being wrecked onFB that looks to have the same or very similar colour. I think yours is a fantastic job by the way.

Finally, after letting it all dry / cure for 5-6 days, I reinstalled the interior (not much fun), gave her a good groom and a photo shoot. I'm stoked with the colour and quality, there are a few tiny areas where I would have liked to do a better job but you would only notice by having it specifically pointed out and eyeballing from 6 inches - for day to day use it perfect and my wife thinks I'm crazy to think otherwise. The colour is a great, classic navy / tan combo with the orient blue and IMHO has enough wow factor without getting into 'marmite' territory. Only issue I've run into is my airbag light is now on, I believe due to switching the passenger and driver seat bases with the passenger occupancy sensor no longer in play. Hoping I can clear that and get the sensor delete thing from Ebay / TradeMe. I'm a little anxious to see how this wears - supposedly should be good for years (we can but hope) - at least this car rarely see's passengers and I now have the perfect colour match for any driver seat touch ups that may or may not be needed in the future. Its been finished 3 weeks with daily driving and several beach trips (i.e. wet, salty bums) and looks perfect. Final pics once completed - looks and feels better than most new cars inside now.

Cheers for the tips @M M My first thought was to just grease the rails, but the door switch is something I'll look into. I've done literally nothing on the car, and it's already falling apart on me. That's just from the heat with it parked up on the street. I've finished tidying up my E36 Ti, so once that's sold, will be able to manual swap this and drive it. Will order some seals for the intake and a new tube for the ICV, which is normally a failure point, along with some bushings for the manual conversion.