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Today's update, Well there's two things I'm not going to attempt myself after the last few days efforts... One is painting the wheels, I'm bowing to the experts and have taken the wheels in to be top and clear coated. They have the (good) equipment and the skill, which I haven't... Another is pixel repair... just about stuffed my fuel gauge trying to get the needle off (with all the right tools etc), but managed to safely exit that attempt and put some chrome rings on the gauges on the way out... A new 90 degree thermostat is fitted (as opposed to 105 std) and system drained and filled with BMW coolant (car is running 5 to 10 degrees cooler in general). Also all the rubber grommets under the valve cover fasteners have been replaced as they were leaking. Not without it's drama as well, broke a stud, and had to remove valve cover to extract remains. Managed to fashion up a replacement and saved the day... a fair bit of oil was in the driver side spark plug wells (from the hardened grommets) - compressed air , degreaser and rags got rid of that. All the spark plugs were checked and cleaned, the valve cover gaskets themselves were good as obviously recent, so it was all buttoned up OK. The drivers side valve cover is a bit poorly with a missing mount for top cover, so on the hunt for another... So on to it's first real drive, went very well, car has a bit of poke for sure... broke an exhaust mount at some point so bodged up a temp fix and will have to order another one... no leaks The transmission may need a tweak as it can have a bit of a jolt downshifting 5-4 off throttle, but shop said to drive it for a while first before they look to do something. All together a good few days, although it has put me to the test, finished it off with a new handle on the centre console and a red wine...

I got as far as "Hi guys, I'm Schmee"

hey guys, just wanted to make a post about being new to all this and happy that there's such a big community devoted to BMW and there amazing cars they have made. I myself have recently purchased a 2001 BMW e46 318ci with 181xxxkms on the clock for $4,800 from a guy up in Auckland. spent two days driving her down from Auckland to nelson and she handles like a dream, sticks to the road like glue and has decent power to accelerate and overtake while still having sweet fuel mileage. I'm over the moon with her and still cant believe I now own a e46 coupe, a car I've been wanting for over a year now after falling in love with them. feel free to send me a message or reply with any tips and helpful information about my specific model that will help me out, anythings appreciated

this stuff really is sh*t-hot.

Definitely a little more than I wanted to get it for but still cheap enough

Best thing about the video is the E30 M3 😊

Who spotted the M3 Touring?

Im tempted to grab a spare set of lenses to tint black and have a backup.. but too poor haha

These aren't OE but the price is right and Schniedmann don't normally sell rubbish stuff... https://www.schmiedmann.com/en/bmw-e87/1940535-new?product=1280093 https://www.schmiedmann.com/en/bmw-e87/1940536-new?product=1280092 Or you could retrofit my complete set for the updated LED look of course! 😉

You have the patience Audi looks for in its customers.

Trying my luck, anyone got one or seen one at a wrecker?

The insane Christmas rush that happens every year without fail. Everyone wants their car's done yesterday and there's only so much one can accommodate. Also road-works in dome valley at all hours of the night. lol

She’s classy! Was the only place to squeeze it in. Had to remove the headlight adjuster motor to make it fit in

Also I've got some E87/E90 bits that will be free to a good home. Will make up a proper post soon but off the top of my head: - gloss black grills, the rounded version. Brand new - "leather" gear shift gaiter but it's LHD, may just be throwaway. Brand new - manual shifter bushing, the one the shifter sits in. Its brand new - 130i undertray, non official one. Was fitted to my e81. Other things that I need to check on.

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.

https://www.colourlockleathercare.co.nz/

Today's update, Started off with a mate dropping by in his M5. Three things to sort; Airbag light on, fault was in drivers side airbag, disconnected and cleaned contacts, reset the fault and the light goes out... sorted... hopefully... Next up the HVAC control panel was rather secondhand with missing buttons etc... Fitted a replacement I had and all good... Then upgraded the cabin air filter boxes and tubes to the later type as the rubber securing straps had perished. Then spent the afternoon sanding back the filler in the style 66's. Then applied a layer of etch primer as plenty of alloy had been exposed. They are looking good. A coat of primer, and light sand back then colour (Reflexsilver metallic) and clear they should be back to as new. Also sanded and primed the left wing mirror cover as that was looking rather sad. The aftermarket towbar came off and boot floor holes bogged up. I have the proper fitting BMW type bar to go on when I address the rear bumper. Engine wise I've fitted @adro's spare MAF (cheers) and engine is now running smooth and as it should... just waiting on the arrival of coolant hoses etc before getting into that and gaskets etc...

Bastards putting boxes on it my bonnet and watching them slide off....

Hey guys, sorry for not writing anything in a long time. This Tuesday, I finally got the car roadworthy! The week before I had the certification done but got delayed with the WOF. Currently, it is running the 4.44 auto differential, hence the max speed will be 166 at 6200 rpms.. that is short! If anyone has a small case LSD 3.23 or 3.45 diff to sell, I am happy to hear your price. Back to the time line and some pictures, Last yeas I was lucky enough to go visit my family twice (September and October) and then there was some construction, so the tear down of the E36 started in December 8th 2019... with the summer around, it was a nice moment to get some sunburns working on the car. December 22nd I've managed to remove the old M44 engine and by January 25th I was presenting the M54B30 into the chassis. Remember that I kept working 9 to 5 in a completely non-related industry, so, working only after hours, weekends, but also enjoying the wonderful landscapes NZ has to offer, so although the project didn't have the speed I wanted, I wasn't going to burn myself on it. Jan 26th with the engine mounted I started the measurements for the driveshaft, and the modification of the joint, driveshaft hoops installations, etc. The guys at ADL did an excellent work Meanwhile I had to ship the DME to the US to have it re-programmed and the harness sent to connect the OBDI chassis withthe OBDII engine, and by March 25th, the engine was "running", and thatwas already under lockdown... so my birthday (March 29th) I spent it working on the car, as well as that endless month of march, in which I decided to go with a set of XYZ coilovers and the next day, it was June 20th (Where did all these days went?), so, took it to a proper workshop (Pit Stop Albany, with Nathan, another crack who helped me a lot on this), and did the bits and bobs that I was not able as it was winter, wouldn't be working on the floor, or didn't have the proper tools..so, they purged the brakes, aligned the wheels, did the exhaust and put a very nice sounding Adrenalin-R Muffler (see the instagram video) and then, off to the certifier... failed but just for a couple of details, nothing major, which I had the guys at pit stop working on it again, the freaking airbag light decided to make an appearance but given it was a custom work, a trip to the electrician (Gareth from GT Electric in Glenfield, another superstar) and then, August 26th the LVVTA plate was issued, and then, back to the warrant this tuesday... I don't know who will read this of them but like I said, Gareth from GT electric, managed to get the cabling fixed in less than a week, and charged me next to nothing, Pit Stop Albany, Nathan did a really good work, Brent from BM World gave me a good guidance the times I went (would love to get the compressor but not in my budget now haha). and will probably be forgetting somebody else, so, sorry for that. I wanted to get more details but don't have pictures of everything, or they would need too much explanation. If anybody has a question on how I fixed this or that, I am more than happy to reply below to keep track. By the way, I designed an LED circuit to replace the silly 12v lamp for the heater lights... I'll be testing that out and let you know how it goes if anyone wants to try it out. I'll be uploading more stuff into my instagram https://www.instagram.com/bmwupgradeproject/ Next Sunday, will try Hampton Downs in the caffeine and gasoline run with (hopefully) some telemetry from Track Addict. cd5f88fc-9930-4e92-b19a-ff47ea7383dc.mov