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Collected this today.. was advertised on here with a failing transmission. 2000 540i pre facelift motorsport, ex Japan. Drove it 25km home from Cambridge. Transmission gave me no trouble at all, although I was gently cruising... Generally a well looked after car with plenty of maintenance including chain guides and all the usual suspects. There are a few things going on with it however, and I'll document its progress here as we go...

So... today the 330ci got some overdue love and attention. I've been getting gloss withdrawals due to the Auckland water shortage but decided to buy some rinse-less wash and give it all ago. So gave the car a wash, dry, light hand polish, IPA wipe down, trim restorer then a fresh coat of sealant. Went to town on the interior glass too and got rid of the last hardest to reach glue remains from tint I removed as well. Had to take a few snaps of course to justify the effort

The Turtlewax headlight kit I used across both headlights and the side indicators. Headlights had a lot of scratches and glue residue from removing "eyelashes" pre-lockdown. Side indicators were looking aged and yellowed a bit. Using the Turtle Wax kit was mainly for my own interest as wanted to see how effective it actually was, plus being on clearance for $20 it was good deal. First up I masked everything off to protect the rest of the car. As you can see the cars got some road dirt/dust on it which I'll clean off when I give it a good wash over the weekend. Right indicator at the top isn't too bad, left is more yellowed. You can see some of the glue residue on the top of both headlights from the "eyelashes" that were previously on the car. Right headlight above is also a bit more cloudy than the right one. Both indicators are looking nice and much clearer now. I only used the rubbing compund/polish on them, and not the sandpaper because they came up nicely. Mold(yellowing) around the edge is under the indicator. I know they remove easily, just double sided tape and they slide in and out for removal, but I'm not inclined to remove them. Replacements are pretty cheap so will see how long they last after the treatment. Big result here, I've included the before of the worst headlight for comparison. Followed the steps in the kit which were rubbing compound first, then if not clear 4 different grades of wet sanding(little pads all provided) then rubbing compound again. Headlights definitely needed the sanding stage unlike the indicators. I also did the rubbing compound twice at the end as the first time they were still a little hazy, second time I used a lot of compound and force and they really shined up. Last stage was a wipe down on indicators and headlights then the uv protectant. Whole process only took 40 mins, pretty impressed with it. Later I put the car out on the street in the fading light and the headlights looked even better with sunlight on them. Probably the wet look of the drying UV protectant. Front now looks very different from when I bought it with new plates and surrounds, no eyelashes, clear headlights and front bumper damage tidied up. The clear indicators and headlights also de-aged the car a bit. Makes it look a bit more cared for.

Did a few minor cosmetic things to the car today, squeaky hinge and door handles all round with a bit of WD40. Front door card was also slightly loose, so popped it back on properly. I also gave it a vacuum inside and cleaned the headlights. Then went after them with a turtle wax kit that included sanding and hand polish. They came out well, much clearer. $20 and time well spent. Took a few photos of various custom/changed parts on the car since the sun was out, also one of the stubby aerial I fitted earlier in the week for @Olaf. Alcantara(might be faux-cantara) mirror cover, this mirror is also tinted and panoramic. Its a bit larger than usual but I actually like the wide view you get from it. Rear wiper delete Pretty sure these are stock sills but since I was taking a photo leaning on them I'll include them What I believe are BMWP pedal covers, well used ones too. ///M Car mats as well, drivers side is quite worn, gave it a good clean when I bought the car and it deteriorated a bit.

Front bumper painted and fitted. Have got new govt issue replacement number plates on order to complete the refresh.

I also have a Turtle Wax kit which I got for cheap, your post has encouraged me to haul it out. I hate cheap plastic headlights, bring back glass.

Thanks for keeping this updated. Motivating.

I would have thought it would be well nigh impossible to get a gash in the side of a run-flat as they are bloody solid through their design. Chopping and changing cars often I have driven on a variety of ultra-low profile high performance (Pirelli / PSS4) and similar run flat (Bridgestione, Continental) tyres a number of times, over some pretty awful road surfaces - SH2, SH27, SH5, etc. Whilst I have never done a full-on back-to-back test with different tyres on exactly the same car, I would suggest that they are comparable enough to draw some viewpoints... For road-noise, the noisiest tyres would have to be the PSS4 on the M3. Noticeably louder than the run-flats, especially on the coarse-chip stuff that apparently passes as an acceptable road-surface these days. Even with the louder exhaust and engine note the tyres were almost to the point of being a nuisance, especially on a long drive where long sections were on the coarse chip. In terms of the ride quality, very little to choose between them to be honest. Trying to make a correction between the "comfort" M setting and the "Comfort" M Sport settings, it would have to be pretty close. The fact that the wheels would be 19s or 20s with very narrow side walls would be a big reason for that, with such little effective sidewall to make a difference in the overall movement of the whole suspension system. However, I briefly drove a 3-Series on non-RFT 18s the other week and it wasn't immediately obvious to me what tyres it was running, only the mobility kit in the boot notified me of the difference. Admittedly this was only pootling around town on the daily commute and errands and no spirited drive around the back roads was involved. Handling and performance, to be honest I have run out of ability and bravery well before any of the tyres have run out of grip or started protesting too much and this is in a variety of weather conditions and temperatures. Whilst I possibly don't drive as fast as some on the public roads, the tyres do get a fairly reasonable work out on the twisty bits of SH5. So overall, hmm, yes, there probably a difference between the two types. Is it as bad as people say? To my not overly sensitive arse-ometer, probably not. Like all tyres, there are some runflats that are better than others. If it were my choice of tyres, would I go for RFT, yes I would primarily due to the amount of open road and longer distance driving I do and the increased peace of mind. These factors change for all of us, so the answer probably also changes as to what is "best" for us.

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!

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?

Nothing tooooo much to report yet. waiting on some gearboxes to arrive from Aussie. And also waiting on some turbos to arrive. have pulled the engine down ready to be rebuilt aswell! bit had some shiny bits arrive for it yesterday ??‍♂️ not sure if it’s going to be e36 or e46 based yet, we have both sitting here. Might just be a matter of how we feel on the day of making engine mounts will be a street legal track weapon, aiming for a solid 600whp

Technically its a BMW, so I guess it still works here. Also not sure if anyone is interested, but its something different from the usual 130/e30 etc posts here. Ah yes, nothing like buying a car sight unseen, and then choosing to fly across the country and drive said car back again. Yup, I've done it again. Much like the BMW E91, I found a car on Trademe that I liked, but it happened to be a few hundred KM away from home. This even came from basically the same place as the E91. The details of the purchase are on the cars page, but this is the story of the adventure. The Plan Having put a deposit on the car, it was time to book flights. I thought since last time I picked the car up and then just made a straight shot home again the same day, it might be nice to take my Wife with me and make a weekend of it. Flights were sorted for the both of us, at what I consider a very reasonable price for a short notice flight post-Covid. The plan was to drive the daily to the airport, fly to Hamilton, have the seller meet us at the airport, buy the car, drive it down to Taupo and stay there the night. The next day, continue on back to Wellington, pick the daily up from the airport, drive both home and bask in the glow to a trip well done. The plan quickly changed. Why not go somewhere different, somewhere we haven't been yet, like Napier? Hmmm. Saturday Ugh, 5:30am on a Saturday should be illegal. It's still dark. It's also foggy outside, which doesn't bode well for flying. We get ready and head to the airport. Flights are still coming in and out, and the fog isn't too bad. Ours is delayed by about 10 minutes. We then proceed to get onto a narrow tin can packed with other people. If we get Covid, at least we know where it came from. Not the greatest social distancing. On the plus side, once we shot up and above the low cloud it was quite a nice morning out After an hour and a bit in the air, we arrive at Hamilton airport. We meet the seller outside and agree to follow him 10-15 minutes to his place. Jump in the Mini, take off, and the Tyre Pressure Monitoring System light comes on within seconds of leaving the airport. Not this again. We make it to his place OK, shoot the sh*t for a bit, do the deal and head off. The tyres look OK, but the warning is still there. A quick stop at a petrol station on the way out confirms its a false trigger, as all the pressures are fine. Nothing to see here. I gas up and reset the TPMS. The light stays off for the rest of the trip. At the petrol station we also do one other thing. Change the wipers. The seller had a copy of a PPI done by a local BMW dealer, which advised the wipers were less than effective. This was proven on the drive to the sellers house, where although they cleared the glass, they also made an almighty racket. We had been having a fair bit of rain recently and the forecast for the country was to bucket down all weekend (something like a months rain in one weekend). With this in mind I purchased some replacement wipers from work before I left on Friday, and packed them in the carry on ready for the trip. My Wife looked at me weird, but I had the last laugh because it was a life saver. Even with the new wipers, visibility was low (or so I thought at the time, it got much worse later on) The rear was even worse. I didn't bring a spare for that, and every time you wiped it would clear for about 30 seconds, and then be useless again As seems to be my tradition now, we stopped at Tirau BP for an early lunch. This was the first chance I got to actually look around the car. It looked quite nice. The colour suits it. Much nicer than a black or grey. We continued on, towards Taupo. Although we were going to Napier now, we were going via Taupo as this was meant to be our lunch stop, but we were running behind so had the early lunch at Tirau instead. Going via Taupo gives us proper roads to Napier too, not small backroads. It wasn't all rosy though. Other than seeing this sweet, surreal, super bright and sharp rainbow that touched the ground next to the road, issues were starting to appear. The worst issue was that the car was starting to shudder when the engine was put under load, like going up hills, or passing. This started (or I started to notice it) about 100km into the trip. The car was still running and driving fine otherwise and cruised OK. We made it to Taupo OK, and had a quick rest break there before heading on through the Napier-Taupo State Highway to Napier. We took it fairly easy over here due to the constant rain, and I'm glad we did, that road has claimed a few lives recently. There was one surprise though. Somewhere in the middle, we almost shot right on by a nondescript sign that just said "Scenic Lookout". Instead, we jammed on the brakes and went for a look. Little did we know this was the Waipunga Falls, a hidden gem in the middle of nowhere. NZ can be quite stunning. If only people would stop dumping rubbish there, you scummy bastards. This stop also gave me a chance to take some more photos of the car. The sky was looking pretty moody. It was here that I noticed just how much carbon was building up on the back of the car. Obviously the misfire was throwing some unburnt fuel around. The shudder from the misfire was slowly getting worse, but wasn't otherwise impacting the ability of the car to continue. We got into Napier late afternoon. Still in one piece, with a slightly unhappy car, but still chugging along. After finding, and checking in to our AirBNB we went out for dinner. This was about three shades of frustrating chaos for various reasons, but we eventually had a lovely dinner at a Mexican restaurant near the harbour. Part of the frustration was trying to use Google Maps to navigate in the pouring rain, in the dark, with some of the worst headlights I have ever had the pleasure of using. These are JDM As Fk Bellof HID bulbs, which must be about 9000k temperature as they are almost solid blue, and project little to no light more than a foot in front of the car. If I didn't have fog lights, I would've been out of luck. It's hard to capture just how blue they are. After a lovely dinner of some tasty, hot, Mexican food we settled in for the night. Sunday Not a bad view from our AirBNB But now was time for the hard yards. 4 hours of driving to get to Wellington, plus another hour or so to get back to the airport. Not many places in the middle to stop until you get about half way. We pushed on, choosing (for better or worse) to leave Napier via State Highway 50, instead of following SH2 through Hastings. This road was an adventure. The rain was so hard the wipers could barely keep up on full speed, and the surface water was quite deep at times. Thankfully that only kept up for a few KM, but the rest was still in heavy mist and periods of rain. SH50 is a long, twisty, winding road that is a fairly decent drive as long as you get a straight shot. Its when you get slow "brake for every bend" drivers in front of you that its starts to drag on a bit, until there is a safe space to chop a couple of gears and listen to the whine of the supercharger as you fly on by them. The Mini took all the corners in its stride without so much as a second look. Passing was starting to cause more and more concern though as the shuddering was getting worse, to the point I was wondering if it were a stuffed axle or CV. Eventually, we met back up with SH2, and kept heading on towards Woodville. Woodville is where we had a bit of a whoopsie. Instead of turning off towards Masterton to continue down SH2, we missed that turn off and didn't realise until we were already on Saddle Road, a very narrow, steep and twisty road that goes over the hill to Palmerston North. This is now the main road since the Manawatu Gorge has been closed due to risk of landslides (what a shame, it was a great road). Oh well, we're here now! Once again, the Mini handled all the turns like a champ, and the torquey little motor hauled us up the hills with no issue, other than the annoying shudder under load. About halfway over Saddle Road we came across the Te Apiti Wind Farm. Quite a stunning place, with a 230 foot wind turbine right in the middle of the car park. Not easy to look at if you get vertigo, but a very cool place. Just over the other side of Saddle Road we traded the rain for high winds instead. I said to my Wife earlier in the trip that I would take the rain over high winds any day, well, looks like we get both. During one particularly windy section, which the Mini handled very well, much better than the Honda would, we came across an accident which I can only presume was due to the truck being pushed off the road by the wind. Emergency services were already in attendance (unlike the accident I came across driving the E91 back). That's really the end of the excitement. We more or less had a straight shot through from Palmy to the Airport in Wellington, except for the usual congestion around Otaki (which showed the Mini starting to idle a bit lumpy at times). We finally made it home, 780km after picking the car up, and the only casualty appears to be RH hydraulic engine mount, which in the last few KM had decided it was done, and dumped all its fluid onto the frame rail. So, what do I think of the Mini? Well, after checking the coil and finding the terminals corroded, cleaning them, resetting the ECU and driving it, I'm impressed with the power. I thought it was rapid before, but now it's even sharper off the line. Its a shame I didn't have this power and response for the rest of the trip, but oh well. The shudder is also 90% gone, proving it was a misfire all along. The handling is a little strange. The car kinda pivots on its axis when you turn, which I remember from the R50 Cooper, but there is a little more body roll than I expected. Might be the difference between the 16s on this and the 17s on the Cooper. The condition isn't quite what I was expecting. It's nice from the outside, but the inside has seen some sh*t. A couple of the boot lining trims are held in with wood screws, the boot light is missing, some screws are missing in things like the door cards, and various other things aren't quite right. Obviously there are mechanical issues too, like the misfire, the engine mount, and the control arm bushes are stuffed too. All common Mini stuff, but annoying none the less. The control arm bushes were mentioned in the PPI as "cracked", but they are ruined. The misfire also shouldn't be a surprise, the plugs look old as hell, as do the coil and leads. New parts for all these items are en route now. Despite the misfire, we somehow still managed to average 8.5L/100KM (27.5MPG) on the trip. Im very impressed by that. I'm undecided about this car. I was so disappointed by its condition last night that I was ready to just fix the mechanical issues, give it a clean and sell it on, but I'm thinking I should make the most of what I have and give the car the love it deserves. Its low KM (128,000KM), a good colour, facelift, and it's a good solid car under it all, I hope.

Looking for an e28 right front fender. rust free example preferred. in tauranga but will buy anywhere north island

@qube Me vs the guy she told me not to worry about ?

Mint. I also bought some 'ONR' due to the water restrictions. But haven't had a chance to use it. Now i've gone so deep I'm worried it's too dirty. But just watched a video claiming it's all good on a really dirty car. FYI I see washworld in Greenlane is open. But the one on Quay St has been looted and it closed/trashed [sad]. My idea was to blast everything off and then ONR. What is your review on the rinse-less wash? Comfortable that it's 'safe'? PS - yellow 'city lights' - I've tried, not sure about it ??!?!?

it really did happen!! awesome pics man, and the stubby looks the part.

by the way, I meant to say: loved your earier post. "need an exhaust. bought a tig welder. taught myself to weld. made this." looks rather bloody excellent. well done!

@Sammo wouldn't it be funny if it was factory?? haha

bbs stays on the e46 for sure, the 172 reps can stay on the e91.

I like the bbs on the e46, but then im biased

I think one of the major appeals of the golfs is the DSG popping gearbox. One of it's major downfalls too is the DSG that can literally go pop if neglected and not serviced regularly.

Also picked up another set of 18" BMW rims style 172 (I think they might be replicas), but not sure which one I like best on the e46. The 172s are 8.5" x 18" and will be going gun metal. Was planning to swap the BBS from my wagon and put on the e46. Difficult to decide which will go on the e91 and which on the e46.

Made a bit more progress today. Got the car partially airborne, and extracted the differential once again. Then got it booked in at the diff shop. So now I've just got to wait until they get a chance to look at it. I've also ordered a few new trim pieces to refresh the front-end, as well some more LED bulbs to complete the exterior LED conversion. I'm also going to attempt to convert the interior lights to led, but I still need to figure out how to modify the dimmer switch to use PWM for dimming.

We should screw up the market. All advertise our cars at once for $15k+ and see what happens.

The fiery pits of hell have more virtue than FB marketplace.

It's not fb marketplace we're talking about here. That place is pure cancer.

Nah didn't get a go before it got crushed. He had a Mk5 and seemed to like it, got a tune and everything. I think they are fun car to hoon around town in due to boost and a snappy gearbox.

This one was a manual 6 speed. I wouldn't mind having a go in another one tbh. Wondering if the one I had was a dud. It was well loved though and not neglected. Did you drive your brothers @GorGasm? His was a Mk6 right? I need to learn my Golfs.

That merc in the background - cooool!

"That's a NO, from me"

https://www.trademe.co.nz/2685788274

That’ll be an extra $100 and I’ll happily oblige.

Had a surprise package arrive, featuring a super short aerial I ordered a while back. Fitted it up and looks much better than the stock aerial I'd recently acquired. I'd gotten used to the no aerial look, so having the massive stock one was suddenly not desirable lol. 3rd aerial I've fitted and finally something that looks good and works! Car is still running ?

After spending a few hours on wiring and fixings connections, I have rear lights. It sounds trivial, but on the way back I only had a right indicator and a right hand brake light, and trunk lid wasnt opening, so wanted to get to the bottom of it before I begun body work. Left hand bulb holder had a prong half snapped and lodged into the plug, so got innovate for the time being (yes I will be replacing it later) but it did the trick. Made female number 3 connector into a quazi male prong to extend into the broken off one in the bulb holder ??? works fine I've unplugged / replugged several times and it just like factory, but not.... Both reverse lights were ancient and decayed, replaced. Both license plate bulbs weren't going because of corrosion on the terminals either side. Some one had a 12v10w bulb in the left holder of right tail light ??? And also had fitted duct tape to the base of the bulb holder ! A few broken wires in the boot I'm assuming all of this happened after it's last wof in January ? or this vehicle has been getting some chur bro warrants by the bros in Massey Auckland.

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 ?

Finished tidying up, the wiring on the driver seat. Hopefully that stops the strange rail twist going on. Stabbed my self many times trying to de pin the connector with a small screw driver. Also an added benefit of not worrying about the car not sparking a fire under my ?

Drive this till it dies or gets to 500,000km, whichever happens first https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-2669279541.htm

What are the chances? Parked around the corner from my office today... has black Vader interior now.

Vote for an E46 touring

I had a MK6 GTI before my E46 and loved it. Granted I had it between 40k and 60k over 2.5 years so was low miles but aside from coilpacks, it was flawless. The 2.0 TSI is a robust engine capable of making good power with a remap and even stock performs really well with torque from almost idle. Loved the DSG, and as I understand the wet clutch 6speed DSG on the GTI's is pretty tough too, just service it every 60k. Pretty smooth (not as smooth as a slush box at low speed) but with lightning shifts, rev matching and blips / farts - good times. 1.4TSI and 7 speed dry clutch DSG's are nowhere near as good. We might buy another for the wife's next car TBH, the GTI's are a fantastic all-rounder. Tartan seats FTW ?