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After being out of the car scene for some time, I've decided to throw my hat back in the ring and create something fun to build and ultimately fun to drive. A user friendly budget would be a bonus but we'll see how that one pans out !! This will just be a fun street car so the aim is to have a mix of comfort, performance and looks. The car: A NZ new 2000 BMW 318Ci with 4 speed auto. Quite tidy generally with only a handful of the expected BMW "things that don't work no more" to resolve at a later date. Being under powered will hopefully mean no cracking around the subframe and minimal hard driving time etc on the body. The engine: A Nissan VQ37VHR from a 2009 Skyline 370GT automatic. 125k on it give or take so hopefully plenty of life left in it. Factory spec at 243kW which should be a solid upgrade over the cars stock 77 !! No plans for anything engine wise at the moment, must get mobile and legal first. Progress so far: The car is sitting with front end off, engine and driveline are out, rear interior and fuel tank etc removed. Have cleaned the underside to a reasonable standard and have welded in the CMP RACP reinforcement kit. Have cleaned and painted the 330 rear end components ready for reinstallation along with installing Powerflex bushes in most locations. Have created a rig to fire up and run the VQ37 on the ground which was a success and a lot of fun ... had the Nissan anti-theft (NATS) removed via UpRev and an ARC license installed at the same time. This was to validate that I can run the motor prior to install and working out the wiring later on when its more difficult. You can check the video here: Next Steps: REALLY keen to get the rear end back together so something is finished !! Will need to complete the welding in of the RACP to frame rails in the boot before the LVV certifier comes to check out my work. Once that's done I can get ready to stitch weld some other trouble areas then underseal and paint it all real pretty before installing the backend. Once the back end is together and looking slick I can finally turn attention to the pointy end and see if the engine is going to play nice. There will be a lot of work involved and a few options to investigate ... current thinking is it will be a custom oil pan and cross member at least. Steering rack may also be an issue. Some Pics To This Point:

Hello, Im new here, just bought my first bmw. A 2007 325i m sport touring. Its done 81,000km. Loving it so far, so much fun to drive. Heres a few photos i took the other day. Needs a few little things sorted out but i am getting that done next thursday. Cant wait to take this thing on some longer trips and backroads.

Hopped back into the 130i, after driving the 1.5 CVT Ractis for about 3000km.... feels like a f**ken supercar in comparison 100% the best performance upgrade to a 130i is buy something slow. Christmas holiday project is going to be replace rear wheel bearings, ship the diff off to Kayne to do the diff bearings and try to get some of the backlash out of the quaife, and start the birthday freshen up on a N52B30 to swap in.

A couple more happy snaps from today ...

I heard the Munich facility is doubling the floor area to deal with production of new kidney grills.

Latest build update is up. Sounds like the Activision bullshit is finished and the boys are chomping at the bit to refocus the build.

Hey guys Brian here, I’ve lurked around for the past couple months gathering knowledge here & there to further my understanding of this beautiful brand we all love. Back in September I purchased my 1st ever car, a 2013 E92 320i M-Sport with 42,000km’s. Growing up, my family for the past 3-4 generations have only ever been in Mercedes so I’m the first to branch out into something I never understood until meeting a friend back in high school who’s family have been BMW. This is technically the 2nd bmw I’ve owned although the first one I myself purchased. Used to drive an e87 2010 120i. Apologies for some of the shitty iPad camera quality but will share more pics as my ownership progresses! Stoked to be a part of this community, pleasure to meet you all.

I'm feeling left out. I might accidentally buy a 123d for my daily commute on SH2. I am glad you got that black 130i Kyu. I did think about accidentally buying it too. But would have just been bidding against you.

Hey Team Another few busy weekends gone by trying to get the sedan upto this point. So after getting a quote to get the subframe plates welded in i thought at that price i might as well buy a welder and try it myself... so i did. heres my weld job not perfect but i think i did alright. So plates are all done and i managed to bolt the whole rear end back in. So heres the fun part i purchased a n62 oil pump and sump off Glenn who's a member on here a while back thinking one day id like to get the swap to work. Well i thought to myself if the cars already getting certed i should try and make the sump work. The dry sump still works but i quite like the idea of a clean setup, which is where i got the idea to modify the engine cross member to suit the sump. Since i already had the engine mounts ready for the motor and was already in a good position, it was a case of making the other stuff work. Worst case is it doesnt work and i go back to the Drysump setup. N62 sump bolted to a spare m60 block Modified cross member which i will look at boxing up later on. Test Fitted but needed a little shaving off the oil pan hitting the steering rack But other than that looks to be a winner with good clearance for the rack and powersteering lines. Factory Alternator housing just fits too. So also test fitted the v8 420g box and im quite happy with the whole outcome. I swapped the output flange on the v8 420g with a m3 420g and reused the m3 gearbox cross member and m3 driveshaft, it all lined up and bolted together. Also did some test fitting with the Exhaust manifolds, due to the rear sump only number2 primary was fouling on the sump so i will look at making another one and tweaking it slightly to fit. Just need to shave 3-4mm off the oil sump to make it flush with the engine block. So i will test fit the other side next weekend and hopefully that fits with no issues. Only other hiccups i came across was the starter motor on the 4.6is motor is on the drivers side, so will have to relcoate that to the passager side and get a hole drilled into the block. Also a good thing i noticed was that X5 motors have their oil pump sprocket in the far corner like the n62 one. I see some people have had trouble finding the right sprocket and chain to match. Hopefully the X5 one will fit straight on.

Just watched that update, and you can tell the difference in their attitude and enthusiasm compared to the sponsored sh*t

Looks great! Love the E92 shape.

Welcome Brian, nice to have you on board. Lovely car... I wish my first car purchase was that nice! ?

Nice one Kyu, now for some suitable wheels... how long do you think you'll keep this one for? Another $1 reserve: Manual - not running - https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2872154553 If I were closer to Twizel I'd check it out... even a whole new engine is probably viable if you can pick it up for cheap. @gofaster - keen on a project? Know a good mechanic? Good summer road trip from ChCh. And another 2010 for $8500 (but know we know they're worth closer to $7250). https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2872287050

I’m saying ‘swirls’ meaning very light fine scratches. Which I find build up using any technique over time

The E38 750il gets plenty of screentime and an amusing end in Tomorrow Never Dies, not to mention, gadgets!

Straight fine scratches from contaminated washes / sloppy technique (which we are all guilty of sometimes) ....but full on swirls from hand washing? How does that happen? I've only really suffered from swirling when the dailys go to the machine car wash... I will give the rinseless a try though for a quick wash.

The paintwork has a lot of scratches but otherwise mechanically excellent. Drives perfect. new wof, 4 new tyres and alignment, full service history for last 5 years one owner since imported in 2015 and nothing that needs attention urgently. Big bonus is nz nav enabled and has bluetooth for calling and music streaming which isnt normally an option for E chassis CIC idrive so absolutely stoked. pretty damn happy with it and just puts a smile on my face when i drive it. in other news a $1 res popped up today: https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-2872228452.htm Lots of pros and little cons. Would be interesting to see how this auction goes.

Welcome back to the cool kids club, now... keep it for longer than a week

Done deal. Damn it feels good to be back in a NA 6. I missed this sound so much!

Nice Spitty, looks like an early Mk3 with a hard top as well, very nice. I had a white late Mk3, sold it when we moved to NZ, had been the garage for many years and never got the love it deserved.

Yup, have pneumatic one and lil one way valve job. Prefer the little one way valve job to be fair. Welcome to borrow them.

John Frankenheimer's classic, Ronin. Natascha McElhone ? hustling a a 3.6 M5 through Paris being chased by Robert De Niro in a 406. We all know the car that flips at the end isn't really an M5 when it switches from Turbines to Weaves and back to Turbines again, but those magnesium Turbines were never cheap, even in 1997. Always cracks me up when Stellan Skarsgård's character only buckles up in the M5 about 4:30 in when they start going against the flow of traffic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkoFIs0nXcU

Looks like its been in the car about 5 years. Prob time I updated the firmware !! Yes, after installation, Gavin Bellars at Hi Velocity tuned it on his dyno.