Leaderboard

Painful getting pics up here off phone @gofaster but heres a run down on it and pic dump (have more and a couple of vids (tick before and after) if you want anything specific) Its a straight car, no obvious accident damage or evidence of a respray. The front bumper and the gaps are due to the previous owner trying to rip the bumper off on kerbs... Paint looks like its been washed with a steelo, but its not deep. Few minor stone chips but nothing bad, its just every panel is dull with scratches. With a solid cut and polish it'd come up shiney. Lots of evidence of UV damage - headlights, rubbers, rear badge etc... but nothing end of world or not fixable. Bonnet release cable feels stretched, really got to yank on it. Interior is OK condition, bit battered, it needs a massive clean and tidy up but it'd tidy up OK. Headlining is falling down at the back. Looks different (and is pretty rare) in this spec. Front end feels very loose (it might just be stock vs mine though as it was back to back test), I suspect a flogged bush or two, and there are tell tale signs of dicky alignment. Tyres are bridgestone RFTs, the same ones all the jap imports have and all look old (probably came from japan with em). Front right wouldnt pass a warrant due to inner camber wear Brakes look old, but work fine and feel good, lots of rotor life left. Steering reservoir is leaking bad. Shocks look original, but all the suspension parts look clean and still have BMW p/n stickers on em. Battery was dead flat when went to start. Engine had the worst lifter tick I've ever ever heard which was a little concerning, however it went away after an italian tune up which is good. I suspect its been sitting for a long time. Engine has all the classic oil leaks, other than the sump (or if it is leaking the sump is minor), rocker cover gasket is toast and so is the oil filter/cooler ones. They have been toast for awhile and its made a mess (and smells oily after above tune up) Has green coolant in it (horror!), and it was a smidge low. Clutch feels good, if a little light (might just be my memory as mine is a SMF etc), DMF and release bearing are silent, and engine feels strong. Shift action is pretty good, no obviously flogged bushes. Engine sound deadening is dead... Engine pulls well and sounds good though. Exhaust sounds nice, not to sure whats done to it, tips arent factory but muffler looks factory. With some love it'd be a nice car, but it'll take some love and coin to get it there. I suspect it was mint in 2014 when it came out of Japan and has been a bit neglected in NZ by the previous owner (its a trade in). It might be worth trying botany BM workshop to see if they have any service history. If it was my project - Waterblast the f**k out of it, lots of pollen and dirt (and spiders) everywhere. Full cut and polish and birthday with new bits (like BMW badge at the back, its sad!) Clean up interior and stick roof lining back up New tyres New front end bushes, shocks and an alignment Every single oil gasket on the engine. New belt/idler/tensioner as they will all be poked due to the oil leak(s) (and the belts like to be ingested by the crank when they go!) New waterpump and thermostat, full coolant flush. Probably new starter (its at the K's where starters fail) and a new battery Sort the O ring on power steering reservoir No warranties given, your mileage may vary, wash rinse and repeat if necessary

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.

What a surprise!

🍿

Stock muffler. No headlight washers = Poverty pack.

Gave it a small run to get rid of the remnant of the low spot Guide coat saving my ass again About to give it a final sand down, big run or primer, another guide coat then block sand to recheck. Those lines and shadows are looking real close, so nearly time to paint !

Interior update number 3: 1m style gauge cluster plus alcantara covered gauge pod. I wanted the gauge pod to have the orange stitching, and asked for it, but just got sent this plain one. No matter, I ordered another one from a different supplier and this one did come with the proper orange stitching but they sent me a LHD version, despite assuring me they’d send me a RHD version. So the plain one stays for now. Oh well, it actually looks pretty good I reckon. More alcantara goodness coming soon...

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:

Check out the supra at around the 8m mark, absurd -

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.

Welcome Brian and congrats on the new vehicle! Looks great

The E92 m3 was a dream for the 16 year old me. Just owning a regular e92 itself still baffles me!

Here's a rare one, Sparkling Graphite and loaded with options... BMWP Pedals Sunroof Rear PDC Active Steering Adaptive Headlights Comfort Access Hi-Fi Stereo ? https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2872814155 Shipped with wood trim, has been replaced with Glacier Silver. Are they stock exhaust tips? Maybe a Japanese dealer demo? I've never seen one like that in NZ, $8,300.

Nice - some clear lights and wheels and would look really good in that colour. Sounds like pretty cheap fixes and new tie-rods and LCAs will make it drive even better.

Honestly, it suits the character of the car and seeing as the rest of it is so modern eg zf8 not 6speed auto. Its a bit lighter for normal day to day driving and feels fine for that. Once you want a bit more control put it in sport mode and it tightens up and makes it heavier. This sports mode for steering was not my personal favorite in most cases, comfort setting was fine for 95% of the driving i did and i did a lot of driving around north island in mine including a lot of rural backroads it’s definitely not the same as the old hydraulic steering where you can feel every bump on the road which is both a good and bad thing depending on the situation.

Headliner diy isnt too hard. All up $150 or less in parts and your time. I think price is high for non desirable spec and those kms and if it needs work.

Some cool photos from round 1.

E36 M3 interior for sale, check the listing $1800 pick up pukekohe, good condition apart from a bit of peeling on door cards seats just need a good clean no rips or tears https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/car-parts-accessories/bmw/interior/listing/2872064188

It's lovely to drive, panel and paint is great, everything works. Only work needed that I could see was half the headliner is gone and the FCABs were both pretty loose (tie rods too maybe, hard to tell if all the movement is from the bushings). There's also a decent oil leak which I think is the oil filter housing gasket, the vcg looked like it had been done. The interior has some wear but some leather reconditioner would probably freshen it up nicely. Seems like its been well looked after, had a bunch of receipts at the dealer going back to 2008. How hard is a headliner to diy? I've heard it's usually 5-600 to get it done properly, is that right? My wife found the msport seats a bit hard, and it seems like all the msports in our price range have probably been thrashed or have issues. So I think I'm happy with this, just need to factor in work needed to the price.

Price and photo required. Not a trade me link.... Forum Rules in the For Sales

Grandad spec may mean less likely to have fallen into the wrong hands. No mention of preventative maintenance but just budget on a cooling system refresh and sorted.

I feel like I have barely had the chance to enjoy them properly since I got them installed, to be honest! But in saying that, I am still really happy with them, the difference isn't huge, but definitely noticeable. There's just a little bit more, right across the whole rev range. I don't think I'd recommend doing it before any of the other suspension stuff I've done in terms of transforming the car. But if you've got that stuff sorted (like you have) and if you need to change the VCG, then I'd definitely say "While you're in there..." ?

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.

Looks like an extremely well sorted E30 - that interior ? I do feel it being a sedan and the colour may limit its value ceiling though?

Hey again Karun! On a related note to your swap ideas, I finally settled on an M54B30 swap. Just didnt think the M30 (of any type) was worth the effort. Got close a couple of times on going the M30 route though. Engine and gearbox are at Auto38 now, just awaiting some space for him to start the swap!

Managed to run a 14.48 on Friday. Not as fast as I was hoping for but still the fastest so far. As the night went on and the air got colder I started facing grip issues, which was surprising since I upgraded to better tyres for this round. Got another drag day next month so will see if I can push for 14.3. Also here's a video of the previous round where on my first run a Dodge Demon lost it, crossed my lane and narrowly missed me. Dodge-demon-vs-me-crash.mp4 Drag-wars-my-run-14,48.mp4

Put my ST XA coilovers on today... went well - really stoked, so much flatter and more responsive through corners and WAY happier changing direction, no rubbing and rides pretty good too - firm but well damped (in middle of adjustable damping range at the moment). Might do a little more fine tuning in the next week then its alignment and cert time. Is about 325-330mmmm hub to arch all-round which is a good balance between looks and (relative) practicality I think. Was thinking of rolling rear gaurds and getting a 10mm spacer on there for a little more thicc before cert but given its not rubbing may just leave it. Bonus pic - new Piano black trims installed - loving them.

Decided to try something new, figured it might make it faster for Friday + a couple of updated photos of the interior.

Yes, I have an , E28 M535i, more than happy to help

I got a new e46 wagon to replace Babara. I'm super excited about it, she drives great, and I have some upgrade plans. I bought it from Jon @E30 325i Rag-Top, he was great to deal with, and has looking after the car really well - I'm still going through the stacks of service history paperwork. The car is a 2004 e46 330D msport touring with six speed manual - here are some photos I took just a few minutes after I bought it; It has a bunch of options like headlight washers, parking distance control, cruise control, factory bluetooth, rain sensing wipers, steering wheel controls, auto headlights etc. Its awesome to drive and has heaps of power, but I have lots of plans for upgrades; 1. Electric fan mod 2. Change interior to black, or dye the existing grey one 3. Refurb the wheels and get 245/40/18 tyres on the back 4. Replace shocks for bilsteins 5. Chip tune 6. Black grills 7. Full detail and clean when the Auckland water restrictions are over 8. Upgrade speakers 9. Paintless dent removal on the little supermarket carpark dings 10. Fix broken fuel filler door 11. Upgrade towbar wiring 12. Polish all the lights 13. Strengthen the subframe mounts 14. Switch out the mph cluster for a kmph cluster

Jon has looked after the car religiously, and I plan on doing the same. Jon was excellent to deal with, and I will be making a project thread for this car soon.

Thanks Jon. I'm so excited for my new daily. I already have ideas for improvements.

Yea mate. It's time for babara to join an internet dating site for old overweight singles

@Autoglym @Aaron Muir and Ronnie (forgot your username sorry). As well as me, but my M30 isn’t in the car yet hah

Managed to get my hands on some OEM blackline tail lights so just fitted them this afternoon. Subtle difference but I love it!! Before and after below:

Feckin' roads. Y'know - the slippy slidey loose gravel bit that's laid around the potholes. A little bit of rain and there's a hole where my left front wheel would run. Dark, rain, can't see the hole and ***CRASH***. One lightweight forged alloy with a split in it. ? Of course, they're rare (isn't everything when you need it?) and because it's forged, it's apparently more difficult to repair.