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Quick wash before the weekend.

Yeah, nothing wrong with a 20 year old BMW... lol.... who is the seller trying to fool ? Some common statements in car ads and what I think they translate to. "gOeZ hArd 4 wAT it iZ" (Not only is it a basket case, it's a thrashed basket case) "timing chain, no cambelt" (Engine is lucky to have had an oil change in the last 20,000kms) "new tyres" (Yep new tyres from China... are they even made of rubber) ? "cheap on gas" (runs it on 91 when it should be 95 minimum)

Found this to be informative and interesting...

I was thinking that, I need a few $10 gaskets. But then I imagined how easy it would be to service low value orders then fleece somebody on something of high value later on. I hope the admins reached out to the OP rather than just killing the thread, an invite to "please read the rules and engage with the community to help us understand" would help Bimmersporters much more than just shutting it down. To be honest, it looks like a one man band (or at least very few people) who have (trade?) accounts with various German suppliers which might allow for some sharp pricing. I think the cost of shipping will be the biggest factor because the only thing that can influence that is volume.

maybe buy mine for $25k

Fantastic weather we've been having lately has meant a lot of aviating. Test is coming up and I'm feeling good about it!

Same, Paypal generally just sides with the buyer right away so I can't see it being a problem for you.

Refund process can vary in length depending on the situation, but Paypal and Ebay are buyer bias in general. Ive never had a issue in the couple ive done in over a few hundred transactions.

Having worked at dealers in the past, I sure as hell wouldn't get them to clean my car if I cared about it.

Thanks to these car detailing posts I'm going down to repco/supercheap and buying the meguiars ceramic wax/detail spray/clay kit and autoglym polish. Plus some Mag Monster.

@promo is this something you could help with? Pramod recently fixed my FRM module which controls the lights in my E87. If he doesn't reply here send him a PM.

thigh support Switch replaced with a pick a part item (thanks @BreakMyWindow) now both seats are fully operational and like new. next up...... wheel refurbishment

Given that the car is so tidy inside and out with a fully documented history I was hoping for around $10500. Any feedback on pricing would be appreciated for when I go to list it next month. Cheers

After a week away with the family we're seeing some solid progress ... more cleaning of parts to go back into the rear end. Installed more of the rear now with just the guard liners, shocks, brakes and sensors to go .... YAY.

Just added a few that I have handy

The astonishing amount of incompetent sellers on TradeMe. Appalled at the amount of morons, time-wasters, and straight LIARS. Twice in the space of two days I've been in contact with people who claimed that their cars were in perfect working order. Upon receiving the latest invoices from their mechanics they each needed $1500+ spent. Like, it literally says it. You told me it didn't need anything, then you gave me the paperwork to prove yourself wrong. What is wrong with these people?

18 years on, and the facelift E39 is still one of the best looking sedans ever made, too (imo).

Compared to previous progress things are happening fast now ... final bit of seam welding done in the rear seat, only showing the welds painted with epoxy primer as they don't look great naked Made a custom socket for the subframe mounting studs so I could avoid trying to locate a cheap 30mm crows foot. Worked a treat !! Fuel filler neck, fuel tank and subframe now installed ... will clean the factory wax off the tank which I missed, don't worry

Cheers, still a long road ahead to get mobile !! Maybe some Nissan emblem bars sticking out of the side of the BMW one Big milestone today, getting the first item reinstalled on the car !!! (even if it was just fuel and brake lines hah)

Such a wicked build - need to slap on a Nismo sticker somewhere once done and blow some minds 🤣

Prepped and painted the underside now ... can finally start to get some lines reinstalled and the fuel tank / subframe etc in !!

Got it from storage and bought it home. Now to clean it up, guards rolled and a wheel alignment

Starting to make some visible progress again !! Got the seam sealer on (3M polyurethane) all of the welded areas along with some aerosol rubberised underseal ... should have gone with a more hard core 2k product or just used more seam sealer but oh well. Next up I decided I wanted to water blast the under body and wheel arches before cleaning and painting. I made a dam around the car with some left over PEF rod, timber and a bunch of heavy things so water would be contained and eventually flow out the door. Also adapted the water blaster lance to be a 'sawn off' so it shot straight from the trigger Worked well enough all things considered. FINALLY could get some paint on the underbody and make things look a little tidier !! Two coats of 2k grey for the under body and black for the arches. Its basically full gloss and not satin as it should have been due to rolling it instead of spraying, easy to clean I guess 👍 The 2k paint was a solvent for the rubberised undercoat so didn't roll over it too much ... time will tell if its ultimately a good combination.

Gave it a Christmas clean and thrash.

Xmas makeover Gate to Hellbm.

The intervals on my Mini are insane. I reset it after a service and now its counting down from 25,000km!

@Jacko i was actually about to make a mention on something about exactly this, I used to run edge 5w40, by 3500km i chewed through 1l, so 1l top up, and then in 2000km that 1l was chewed up, top up -> then lucky if i got another 1000km out of it before top up. I switched to Penrite HPR, it's been 5400km since the fill and have just chewed through my first litre, which is substantially better than 3500km on the edge, hard to say 100% for sure right now, but if i make it to my 7,000km oil interval without having to top up, this pretty much would suggest that Castrol Edge oil integrity breaks down quicker than penrite HPR in a substantial way. No real leaks either to add to usage, sump is relatively dry, oil cooler gasket is dry, block is dry,. Just the od "seepage" here and there in common places.

Two batteries installed and coded, and 13 litres of HPR5 dumped in. What I have noticed in moving from Castol 5W30 LL01 to Penrite HPR5W40+10 is that oil consumption seems to be reduced a lot, dumping a litre into the 330 and 500ml into the 130 in a 7000km oil change cycle used to be normal.. and I havent had to top up between the last 3 oil changes. Found the 330 is dribbling from the oilcooler gasket, at near identical km to when the 130 did it, so new gaskets, belts, idlers ordered.. ..