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This is Graham we are talking about. When I helped him shift house I'm sure he had full service kits for the last 98 cars he has owned ?

The very early N52 engines had an issue with a cam ledge seal, which chewed up the cam carrier, and required a replacement head, many got fixed under warranty. Not really "rings and oiling" thing, it shows as goofy vanos behaviour due to the high oil flow and clever pump design that supplys oil based on load. Waterpumps do fail, they fail between 20,000 and 250,000km Its just one of those things, replacing them at xx km isnt really a thing, you might be replacing at 250,000km "rated" waterpump with a 20,000km one. Using genuine coolant is key to keeping them alive and happy, the pump is a brushless motor, the rotor is cooled/lubed/suspended in the coolant. Biggest difference between all the N52s is blacktop/silver tops. Blacktops are later engines, have a plastic rocker cover with built in CCV, silver tops are earlier and have magnesium rocker cover and external CCV. The magnesium ones corrode, the plastic ones crack . There is an old wives tail about silver tops having more power, they dont, the standards changed on BHP measurement and resulted in different numbers for the same thing. They all dont like idling around, and tappet noise is common with engines stuck to auto boxes that idle around in traffic. Lifters collapse and require bleeding - AKA as an italian tune up. All will develop oil leaks. Rocker covers and sumps are common, they just all do it. All in all, really reliable and clever engines.

My AA Insurance didn't come with AA... So I said I was going to someone else and they gave it to me for free for both roadworthy cars.

Try this https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/950724362106934/

Aa is useful because it doesn't cover the car, it covers the driver. I have three cars, plus drive other cars from time to time, and it's good to know no matter what I'm driving I can be recovered without having to pay for it per car, or worry if the car I'm in that day has it.

Waterpumps will start throwing codes when they are on their way out so not usually a surprise moment. Lifters just need 3 mins at 3000rpm to bleed. Valvetronic motors and the seal need doing at some stage (cheap and easy) Rocket cover gaskets weep Coil packs will die (cheap and easy) But yeah get the 3ltr if you have the option. Purely because the 2.5 saves you nothing bar maybe some cash up front. I also feel you need to be pedantic with servicing. But that should be a BMW ownership thing anway.

Miss Ms car, 2001 E46 318i (M43), has one front strut which isn't doing much. Jack the front nearside (left, as viewed from the drivers seat) corner of the car, grasp the wheel rim, and it moves up and down far more easily than would be desired. There's signs it has been leaking. Strut top mounts look OK. Does anyone have any struts they're not using? Complete strut would be easier to swap into the car, of course. I'm very aware that using s/h ones is probably just delaying purchase of new kit, but budgets are ridiculously tight at the moment.

As the title states, I'd like to get in on a 3.0 before the end of the year. Daytona violet / Mugello red / Bright red are the preferences, cloth interior is a bonus. No to black exterior or grey interiors. Dakar is right out. Polaris to match my E30 would be amazing, but the colour was SA only and I believe there's only one of them in the country (last seen near Ponsonby)? Please get in touch if you're thinking about a change.

Rather interesting - best budget for a new EGR system with 13k km in 6 years but a rare beast nonetheless... https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2750607415?bof=sG1mAAhU

Hi all, I’m after a power steering pump & pulley off an M42. Like this: https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=CG52-EUR-04-1994-E36-BMW-318ti&diagId=32_0889 Thanks, Leighton

Hello all, first post. In the process of restoring my E34 540i Touring. Wanting to get panel and paint done, but would ideally like motorsport bumpers to complete the whole package. Hoping someone has something... Don't mind if a little cracked or untidy paint etc. Thanks in advance!

Aftering a set of M3 bodykit and side mirror for E36 two door coupe. Must be genuine. Thank you.

Can you link me? FB is painfully hard to navigate at the best of times...

If you can't afford to pay, you can't afford to play. In reality, the E60 Alpina on trademe is 2x the price of my old E60 M5 and my car was well sorted and had less mileage. There's no rational reason for it to be priced at 40 grand. The V10, and to a degree the gearbox is a game changer in the E60. There's very little like it out there. The V8 is just a boring old V8.

Similar price to a slightly newer X3 35d. Much rather have the alpina personally...

if you ordered right now, FCP would have it with you before Friday.

For those moments I would recommend an AA membership. It's worth the extra handful of takeaway coffees a year.

Replacing the pair is the plan. Aside from making for a balanced setup, if one has failed the other is likely to. Sadly no time to wait for an overseas delivery. Miss M is with us in HB and needs to head back to Hamilton before next weekend. But I have found somewhere local to talk to.

NZ has no appreciation for Alpina, would be an expensive indulgence, I have no doubt the drive would be damn good against the stand X3 though

A car only has one left hand side Graham, just like a person, it doesn't matter which way you're look at it/them. ? But I implore you, please replace both at the same time. They're US$45 each new at Schmiedmann although I'm not sure about shipping as their prices have crept up over the last 18 months.

Pig, meet lipstick.

Not always Dan

Sorted kind of but still has typical bmw engine issues. In saying that the n52 is a great engine regardless, I have the N52Nb25 in my 325i coupe nz new and its all good. a bit thirsty at around 10.5L/100km mainly open road driving which is not too different from a 3L version in terms of economy but you are well down on power. if it has the right spec for the right price i say go for it. Typical common bmw issues such as cooling system coils spark plugs etc which im sure you are well used to by now

Hi Guys, below on when I started dismantling the E46 Started in August 2019, with a hard deadline as the driveway was to be removed, started pulling parts out when I came back from work, in the carport, hence, night time, cold, but anyways, had to do it so, off we go. While on it, did the maintenance you can such as gaskets, fluids, injectors, hoses, etc.

A quick trip today at lunchtime. Prepped my Covid Tracer app, and hand sanitiser. Packed my work gloves, steel-capped boots, shackles and chains. The invite said whips were optional. Just as well, I didn't have them anyway. Hoped I wasn't taking a knife to a gunfight. We quickly discovered that - despite me trial-fitting other 10mm shackles to my 8mm chain in the store, my 10mm 1 tonne-rated shackles were too big. Super-Barry and bench grinder to the rescue, the the shackles were adjusted (just barely) to fit. Before long we had the M42 chained up.. M42B18 in bondage gear And before you could say 'where's the blindfold', the M42B18 was up on the hoist... And then securely pinned to the engine stand. We all breathed a sigh of relief when we’d completed that task. Many thanks to Barry, and to Aaron for laughing politely at my bad jokes ?

I sold it for 11.5k and it owed 3.5k so I’m happy regardless hahah I did all the hard yards and got it going