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Lavished some bits and care on the car today, now that it is back in my possession from the mechanics. For the record it was the variable cam shaft sensor that caused the issue, so that was replaced and the rocker cover gasket as well. Since the car wouldn't start when it was towed to the mechanics they suspected timing chain so checked that out, timing was out so was reset back to stock and all the guides/chain were checked and no issues. Had a lot of labour time spent on the car, diagnosing/testing and fixing. Was charged a fair bit, but could have been a lot more. First thing I tried out was @M3ANs old aerial, car didn't have one when purchased. Fitted on perfectly but looked very odd with the existing aerial base so started unscrewing it off and the screw thread from the aerial broke off inside the base. Managed to remove it from the aerial base on the car with some pliers. So will have a look online for another aerial, currently looks a bit weird ? Also had a good look at the missing tab where I took the roof racks off, think I'll leave it on the backburner for a while as its not doing any harm and I have to purchase the whole strip anyway as you can't buy the tabs for some reason. Next up was something I expected to cost a whole lot more than it did, new plates. Previous ones had damage on the front from being reversed into, and no idea what happened to the rear plate. Anyway cost me $23 for a replacement set, looks much better and nearly hides the front bumper damage from being reversed into. I also had a new set of the euro surrounds lying around so put them on at the same time. Damaged Front Bumper plate above and the fresh plate below Rear plate replacement below also looks much better Next task was something I'd wanted ever since I saw the car, can you spot the difference? ? Luckily I got the colour match spot on, decided to go with the raised centre cap and they look really good. They're also *cough* replicas at 1/5th of the price as genuine Work centre caps are ridiculously expensive. Lastly my Bluetooth USB to 3.5mm receiver was plugged in, connected straight away with my phone and works a treat. Had some assistance for this very difficult install. Also discovered that there has been some headlight upgrades from previous owner, both the daytime running lights aka "Angel Eyes" and the normal beams. She's looking much better now with a lot of the cosmetic stuff taken care of: - roof rack removed - eyebrows removed - new plates - Wheel caps installed - a couple of small missing plastic pieces in the engine bay I still have some things planned out to do to the car. Unfortunately the unexpected mechanical repairs have blown out the car budget, which had a pretty generous allowance for things to go wrong, so will be curtailing future car spending in the mean time while my credit card recovers ? Next step is removing the SuperSprint Exhaust off my black "parts" car, and getting that fitted. Will also be getting an alignment and the wheels touched up, will make a big difference too as it looks like the wheels have curbing on them atm but its stone chips from rocks as the wheels stick out slightly from the guards. These will be happening shortly and dependent on others free time. Two things that were on the car when I purchased it in Dec that I wanted to fix will be on hold. The front bumper, impact damage is much less noticeable with the new plates on and is a relatively minor crack that isn't structural. The head lining is something I want to do but isn't bothering me yet. Its only over the boot space and is not in the way at present. Both can wait. Looking forward to spending a lot more time driving this round, puts a smile on my face. And please no more tows to the mechanic ?

Finally got the car back today from the mechanics, been 6 weeks since it was towed to them. Was a cam sensor that was the culprit, driving home car was running mint. I'd been driving my auto 130i in the meantime and it was surprising how different this is. So much better. Have a few things I'd ordered turn up in the meantime so will chuck them at the car tomorrow.

Bargain for quality man jewellery. She is certainly evolving into a celebrity e38! I like it very much.

Timing simply can't be out if the chain is intact unless there's a VANOS problem. That's the only other moving part in the equation. I suspect the root cause is a faulty VANOS solenoid... cam sensor was probably fine (out of range sure, but working fine). Timing was manually reset so of course the symptoms went away. They'll likely come back. Really need to complete a full range VANOS test multiple times with perfect results to rule out the solenoids. Did they do this? I had exactly the same problem with my M3... exhaust solenoid was faulty, eventually car wouldn't start, fixed the solenoid and the first (stored) error that came up was cam sensor "implausible value" which makes sense because the cam was out of expected range.

Sorry guys, I forgot about this... out of sight and all. Thanks for the nudge, I'll check what the status is and report back. Won't be instant but will happen.

Iirc the 323i wasn't a model sold in the states, so probably why it's not on that list despite being similar.

E34s with new suspension front to rear, would be very neat indeed. They all need it now.

Nice! Welcome to Bimmersport

Not an M Sport so doesn’t look externally as good or have the sports seats. The red body colour over white leather with wood trim is not a common (read popular) combination, so unless it’s really hit a spot with you look for other examples. E91s are great all round cars, extremely practical and drive nicely, although as above the mags and lowering will probably have a negative effect on that.

nice facelift sedan with a good 6cyl engine! looks good in grey

Adrian will slash the rate this week or next to half a per cent. This country is a cash cow for the four Aussy banks, the two supermarkets in the duopoly, and the fuel companies. Shell found the pickings a bit lean, BP and Mobil plus the independents were cranking up the discounts, exit stage left, and Infratil with the ownership now are struggling a bit at the moment. Bit different for them cos the shareholders are in NZ, not in Europe UK or US. Most of the Z stations are looking a bit shabby, at least in the South Island. Only just hanging onto the lead in market share. Bit the same for the banks, ANZ are feeling the heat, BNZ is hunting for new owners, Westpac have been told they did it wrong a few years back with offshore loan rates applied to the ag sector, a spanking coming to them soon, moreso cos the Reserve Bank has changed the rules, increasing the working capital / equity ratios they must carry by about $20 billion.So both the depositors (next to nothing for interest rates) and borrowers (the extra percent) for mortgages are paying for it.