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Afternoon everyone! I'm finally happy enough with my 130i that I want to start showing it off. I had a bit of a saga with the exhaust system that was covered here: http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/63437-130i-exhaust-mods-by-previous-owner/ The jist of that topic was that the previous owner had removed the centre muffler which caused a drone that I absolutely hated. I found an OEM muffler in a wreckers yard and had it welded in this week. Bliss! No more drone or anti-social cruising noise ? Anyway, this is my first BMW and biggest displacement engine I've owned so I'm loving the responsiveness of the engine and the compact size. My previous loves have been turbo japanese wagons so this is a total change! It wasn't until I joined the forum that I realised how lucky I am to have grabbed a car with the BMWP Intake & Muffler. It makes a brilliant noise but I've never sat in a standard 130i so no idea how different it is. I'm determined to never post this car in the 'Project' forum as I'm really happy with it. I have no need for an LSD which seems to be the most common 'serious' upgrade. Once the suspension starts giving up then I imagine I'll be eyeing up the Birds setup but until then I'm delighted with the standard car.

FInally, after sitting on stands for many months, I can put the wheels back on, and drop the car on the ground. Not the best weather in the middle of winter, but I got 'er done. I'm pretty happy how she sits. Although, I might be tempted to drop the front a bit more once I get a sump guard sorted. I even managed to get out for a cheeky test drive. It feels soo good to finally drive it. 11s with ease . But...there is one issue - the differential makes a bad noise on decel. Otherwise, its perfectly quite. I knew this was an issue the last time I drove it, but haven't had a chance to sort it. I believe this means the pinion nut isn't tight enough. I'll have to drop the diff out again. Hopefully this weekend. That's all for now, folks!

You do realise that they only work for 2.5 days each week right? Which 2.5 days is a little more difficult to predict.

So i was wondering why, when my fogs were no there were no instrument lights, and i couldnt use my stalk button either. I checked the fuse box, and sure enough number 10 was missing, so i put it in, then some more lights came on and i could use my stalk. But the airbag light stayed on hmm. So then i realized who ever was in there last had removed several of the essential Air Bag, ASC, and ABS fuses, obviously to hide the faults from the dash, for their chur bro wof? There was also a 20amp fuse in the "Garage door opener" slot haha What a time to be alive

Well, I'm finally a happy man! Sourced an original centre muffler from a wreckers and had it fitted this week. No more drone while under load and a much more respectable cruising note. It's made such a difference to how I feel driving the car around. Delighted! Thanks to everyone that chimed in and offered advice ?

@KwS not sure if youve tried this, but lemon juice plus baking soda. Really does get rid of those insanely difficult oil based stains that normal carpet cleaners won't attack. Sometimes takes a few times, but I've been amazed at how such a simple thing out performs a rug doctor on difficult stains.

I guess the answer is to decide who you want to do the cert and talk to them about the requirements before doing anything. I used a local workshop with a long history of preparing cars for passing first time. They had a good relationship with the guy doing the cert and between us we coordinated the requirements. The hoops didn't cost much to do and they're good piece of mind. Depending on who does the cert and how they interpret the standards will depend what you need to do. In Hawkes Bay we're not spoiled for choice when it comes to getting certs...

Things are moving again. NZpost/Youshop just emailed today to say there are more flights so shipping times and costs are dropping, but its not back to normal. Fedex from Rockauto in the states is pounding through items though. I just had four boxes (they didnt consolidate the order, just shipped one part in each box, lol) show up a week after ordering, and only 1 day late.

Or if the driveshaft has been modified...

sure looks sharp to me.

??? Intake will be staying!

The certification threshold seems to always be changing even different rules from when I did mine but yes currently you technically do.

This! As there is always the exception to the rule! So, if you can find one buy an E61 M5. ? For complete practicality but without the frugality, HSV Avalanche or Holden Adventra LX8 haha! Just kidding on the last suggestion... ?

I beg to differ, my M5 tows regularly and has practicality up the wazoo! ?

Cut some risers from solid aluminium round bar, 16mm I think, shaped to fit rocker cover, welded on, drilled and tapped M6 holes, powder coated wrinkle black. Couldn't be easier!

Looks like a really well specced example and very unique these days a rear wheel drive, manual NA 6cyl hatch. Plenty of 130i pros in here as well for if (when?) the modification bug gets you...

I'm pretty sure the same valve seal material is not in the m54 motor as they don't suffer prematurely from this problem, unlike the N series engines, particularly the N42 and N46.

I just got one of those little green bissells for $200 and its really good. Makes me wonder what the $500 bissell is like.

Since the lifting of the lockdown the workshop has been very busy, booked out between four to six weeks in advance. In a franchise dealership recalls are money for jam, All paid for by the factory, so far from fobbed off.

Been waiting a month to get the 130 to BMW for a recall notice they issued. There is a snow warning on the Remutaka's in effect until midday tomorrow so we rang to re-book. Next appointment. 4th of August. Is Winger BMW really that busy? Or are they just fobbing off recall customers.

watertightness issues like a true yacht. hope you get it sorted

The land yacht popped its cherry and got a proper old car water leak. Leaves and twigs mushed up blocking the e-box drains leads to water getting in through the firewall. The foam insulation underneath carpet was quite soggy in the footwell area. With a wet vac I extracted about 1l. This could have gone on for a while had the exact same symptoms from the last p-bus wire issue had not came back. I opened up the passenger door loom connection which had moisture, and the foam velcro insulator on the wires was wet which made me take a good look. This is under the e-box in the bulkhead under the cabin filters on passenger side. The visible hole is the ebox drain hole, there’s a rubber tube that locates the e-box to the drain. The bulkhead drains are under the leaves. Getting the e-box out is a shitter job and it won’t even fully come out without disconnecting buried in interior connections. Managed to slide it up on its side to be able to clean up. Hoping the dehumidifier will get some more moisture out and maybe a couple of good days outside with a fan to dry them up.

bronze/gold painted wheels do it!!

Gave the interior a good clean, tbh the carpet cleaning was in pretty good condition. And just realised the spare wheel is an OEM style 68 with an eagle f1 245/40/17 on it. Battery is new too. Those two things are probably half the value of the car is when I bought it ?

Not perfect just wanted to get that big rust patch back to bare metal and slap some etch primer over it. While I clean / diseasemble. Will be doing proper panel work on it at a later date as it's not perfect straight, looked to me like a patch repair was done maybe in the past. let the waterblaster loose oh it. Actually cleaned up quite nice, panel not as bad as expecting.

I had shocks from the UK arrive in under 2 weeks (July 19th to 29th) - out for delivery today, though might really be tomorrow, Via Fedex. Leatherhead to Standstead, to Feltham, to Standstead, to Memphis, to Honolulu to Auckland and onto Whangarei today ? Also 2 items from China... one posted April 4th (!), once posted July 16th. Both arrived in the Country June 26th, the April one delivered today, the July one being processed in Auckland. Now, if only the Russian one from April would arrive! It's important distillation parts!

I do 1000-1200km/week. I have a Citroen C5 HDi. Gets 5.5l/100km on a good day and 6l on a bad one. Cheap to run, about $65-70 per 1000km @ $1.15/litre. Peugeot 406 HDi similar car without Citroens hydro suspension, which gives the best ride quality I’ve experienced. I went through the same dilemma as you. Considered spending big $$$ (Run out 1 series at the start of the year for around $42k). I was about to buy a low km V6 VF Holden Calais Wagon for $24k but job uncertainty made me hold onto my money. These are decent on fuel - will return 7-7.5 driven sensibly. I decided to run this Citroen into the ground. If it goes for another year or two, bonus. In your price range I also considered, E39 530i E46 330i E36 318i manual. Mercedes W210 E320. BF Ford Fairmont Ghia or XR6 with the ZF6 speed. FG2 XT Falcon. The Mondeo range is good value for money. But if serious do some research on the powershift gear boxes. ohh, the Citroen’s speedo doesn’t work for some reason.

Fitted some OE tan "leather" rears into the coupe today. It's the small updates that count right? ?. Now to track down something better suited than the tired comfort seats in the front.

Great pics from @Azukamii the other night. Swapped out some of the race stuff for winter.

Now it was time make some progress with the exhaust situation. A few months prior, I purchased a used custom twin pipe exhaust system from a local. The problem was that it built for an E30 with an M20. A friend was looking for an exhaust for an E30 325i, and it was a bolt-on solution, so sold the exhaust to them. The plan at this point was to build my own stainless exhaust system. After many hours of youtube videos about TIG, I picked up a used welder and some equipment to get stuck in. After I'd played around with some simple test pieces, I decided to get started on the exhaust. I chose to do a 2.5" single pipe system. The factory M52 exhaust manifolds would be modified to accept V-band flanges. A 2-into-1 section would be formed to merge both 2" pipes into a single 2.5" pipe with another flange. The rest of the system would be a single piece consisting of a flexible section, a resonator in the middle, and then a muffler at the back. I ordered a Vibrant muffler and resonator. I also picked up some 304 stainless pipes and mandrel bends. With only having weekends and some evening, it was going to take several weeks to complete. I found a semi-permanent spot for the touring to sit while I worked on the exhaust. I didn't get a great deal of photos of this process as I was still a complete amateur at TIG, and I was focusing on learning how to weld. Here is what I did get. Steering joint clearance could be better, but it's not terrible. Complete system mocked up with zip ties for support. Sound check. I'm quite happy with the result Added some mounts to system. Modified factory mounts to bolt onto the muffler. I also added an extra flexi joint in the merge section to allow for differential movement due to thermal expansion. Got it all installed, and finally back on the ground again. And with that, the exhaust is done...mostly. I warped one of the v-band flanges during welding, and this has resulted in a mild leak. I will need to get the mating faces flattened off at some point.