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I bought this car! Had a crazy family connection and had to have it. I spotted my dad's car (74 Tii race car) in the background of his last Trademe pic. In the paperwork pile with the car, there was old pictures of my late father at the same meets as his late father with both of their 2002's in the early 2000's. A beautiful coincidence. Very very happy.

It's been sometime since I've had a BMW, the last time was when I sold my E36 coupe with its 1UZ-FE V8 conversion, seven years ago in 2014. The desire for an old project BMW has remained, the only model that tickled my fancy were E34s so meant slim pickings. A particularly nice 540i came up this month so I had to drop everything and make a move on it. It's exactly what I was after, wasn't going to bother with any old thing. This one is exceptionally straight and has only had 2 owners since NZ new, I'm now the third. It's just about to tick over 86,000km I've placed a huge order of service items so that will allow me to get the car back up to scratch, I'm probably going over and beyond but I tend to be like that if I deem the car as being worth it. This one is no exception. Eventually I'll sort some nicer wheels and fit an Eisenmann rear muffler, but those additions can wait.

I have been having a look at this auction, have spoken to the owner and his mechanic, but not actually viewed car. Still not sold.... Suffice to say this car will need a lot of work... intake manifold gaskets, spark plug leads, more injectors alone would cost much more than the car is worth in current state. Also control arm bushes, probably the rest of the suspension, not to mention the potential state of the S-EDC and self levelling systems. The EML light has been disabled quite a while ago, and the minimum was spent on the car last year to get it recertified and on the road for sale... Great for a mad enthusiast like me/us to burn heaps of coin restoring, but you'll need to get it for $min to even have a slim chance.. In last talking to the owner he is adamant he will accept no less than $10k so I'll likely leave it at that... But nonetheless a very interesting car...

Seen a couple of neglected\abused E34 540i's recently, both well over 300,000+ which is a testament to their stoutness under garbage owners.

@GorGasm There was this impressive display of 4 different colour mint, stock B5 RS4s at the Brit and Euro show a few weeks ago. Excuse the crappy wide angle photo trying to fit them in, was quite impressive in person!

While all that was going on, I was slowly getting the car ready for getting a LVVTA certification. Eventually, it was ready, so I booked the date. The battery was fairly old and decided to give up a few days before my cert appointment, so I had to get a replacement. I went with a slightly smaller DIN44 battery to save some weight. The certification check went well, but not perfect. The only thing I had to do was get some lock nuts for the engine mounts - a rule I had no idea about. A few days later, the recheck was done, and the modifications were certified. The car ended up receiving one of the new donut style LVVTA electronic data plates, riveted to the passenger B-pillar. The only thing left to do was get a fresh WoF and some registration, then it was finally road legal for the first time in 4 years. Last weekend, I finally got the chance to take it for decent drive. I am absolutely stoked with how nicely she handles. The poly bushes, coilovers, and purple tag rack produce a very direct and responsive steering feel. The ride is not too firm, but still stays flat in the corners. The brakes are quite effective, certainly lighter to engage than a stock E30, but the larger Audi master cylinder firms up with good feel. Though, I'm yet to push them too hard as the pads are still breaking (braking?) in. The LSD amazing - This is the first RWD car equipped with an LSD that I've owned, and...I don't think I could go back. Although, not everything is working how I want. The exhaust is the lowest point by far, and I have already managed to scrap it a few times on speed bumps. The main V-band clamp has taken a few hits, and is already damaged. So... I'm already planning to make some more changes to the exhaust to gain some much needed ground clearance. I've also got a new clutch and flywheel, as well as some shifter and gearbox bits ready to be installed at some point. And the body is going to need a bit of rust repair, and a respray before too long. The project continues...

The exterior got some love, with the front end getting a much needed refresh with a combination of new and used parts. The foglight blanking covers (one new, one old) got a fresh coat of Alpinweiss II paint. The vent/trim pieces by the base of the windshield were heavily oxidised. I wanted to restore them, so I experimented with a mix of boiled linseed oil and white spirits. It worked fairly well. Here you see the effect, top one is untouched, bottom one has 2 coats of this mix "painted" on. It dries to semi-glossy finish. New front grill pieces. All installed on the car along with a new lip. Much tidier, I'm stoked!

Originally, I wasn't sure how I wanted to finish the backs of the front seats. I was thinking about covering them in a black material, but ended up just using the leather pieces that came with the seat kit that I got earlier. Not perfect, but I'm happy enough with the result. The interior work is almost complete.

I finally got the headlining recovered (after sitting under my bed for 3 years), so now the interior could be reassembled. All back together again. I also had to find a set of black sunvisors to match the black headlining. Very happy with the result.

Who wants an E30 when you could have this? https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/3060937618

Yummy https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/m5/listing/3063132314

Hi guys! i am looking for a E46 M3 SMG(not manual) happy to pay cash or trade my 2013 MEC C63 wrap in Nardo grey. Located in Auckland

http://www.speedhunters.com/2021/04/billet-3-rotor-turbo-bmw-m4/

Thought I would add this one just for the sake of the comments Cheers...

Could be the pics hiding the fine detail, but it certainly looks mint! Great colour combo.

Rob - that's fabulous. Really pleased to hear it's gone to a good home. Please keep us up to date on your ownership!

Not very valid comparisons. If they were, older cars would be dirt cheap because they fall short to newer models across the board. Why would someone drop 6 figures on a Valiant Charger when they can get a 700hp Hellcat with air con and all the latest features. Why would someone spend $100k on a 930 911 when they could get a 996 Turbo for the same price etc. I'd be surprised if even a handful of buyers would genuinely cross shop this with an E60 or F10. When was the last time an E34 (or E39) M5 were publicly listed for sale? Not as if theres an over supply of them. The way I see it is the asking price is consistent with the increase in values of all decent models from various maker up to the early 2000s. Ten years ago you could pick up a Intergra Type R DC2 for $7k. Now the cheapest one on TM is $28k. I could list dozens of vehicles who've seen their prices increase by hundreds of percent over the last decade. Its all relative. The red E30 M325i currently with reserve met is proof of this.

Haha yay. I have the same thing in the Soarer community, people fawn over the black interiors, even spray paint their grey or tan ones black (terrible results to the purist) or pay a fortune for black cloth interiors... I've just never seen the appeal myself. Also imagine taking out the grey/white interior in this E34, the seats and trim are in perfect shape only having 86,000km, if I hunted for the rare e34 parts scattered in NZ the best I could probably find would be a manky old set of 275,000km sad leather seats with broken electric motors, haha, yuck 😂

I could hug you. #nohomo

Haha I'm not really that interested in manuals so not so too bothered there, I did once come into the possession of a manual 5 speed M60 kit that I sold for $3000 a number of years ago but I didnt have an E34 then. Black interior? Haha definitely not, black interiors are generally quite awful imo, just look a bit too generic and show up dust easily, the reason I bought the car was the very clean white / grey interior. My favorite colour combo (Soarer is also grey interior ❤️ )

What will you guys think if i want to trade my 2013 W204 C63 for E46 M3? with 70kms on clock. I am looking for another E46 m3 right now... please let me know if anyone want to sell...

Id say you’re nuts. But then i bought a c63...

I wouldn't trust the CBS past warranty regardless. The CBS pushes my M4 to about 25 000km or 2 year oil change intervals. I wonder how the rod bearings would look if it hits 100 000km and has only had 4 oil changes including the running on one at about 2500km? Supposedly it takes into account how you drive and has a sensor that can measure the oil quality... but this is the same company that says transmission oil should never be changed so I can't comfortably trust it. It bothers me that BMW is so shady with maintenance policies.

Welcome back to the family! You will have to add a 420g and a black interior to your christmas list?

Lol I was watching you on that listing, wondered what you were up to. Looks nice, should be a very good base for a nice solid cruiser. Very jealous, love a good E34!

Forgot to update, dropped the price in line with general E70 X5 prices, asking $30k Ono.

On the basis that there is a lot more in the BMW stable available at $40k. You have E34, E39, E60 and even F10 M5's available at that price point. Personally I would buy an Audi B5 RS4 if I was in that market. I would have a think about that E28 at $20-25k.

Wow, epic work!

I converted the gauge cluster to use LEDs. The alternator wouldn't immediately start charging on engine start, it would seem it needs a bit more current draw from the alternator charging light to self-excite at idle. I bridged in an extra resistor on the alternator light "bulb" which sorted the issue. For now, what I can say is that I'm very impressed with how well the LED conversion worked out. Even the dimmer control works, which I didn't expect. It can be pretty tricky to get a good photo of the LEDs in action, but I'll try update this post with one when I get a chance.

The service indicator lights in just about E30 I’ve ever driven have always been lit up, it’s such a problem I can hardly bring myself to drive them. Explains why they are so cheap to buy now.

Completed the tear down and replacement of the required items. Removal of internal oil pump looks to be incredibly easy and essentially just leaving it out !! Lucky. There was a damaged gasket under one of the notorious VQ oil galleries, so definitely a good decision to do this work now !! Also two of the original screws were loose, so again great to fix while its all opened up. Gave the front cover a nice acid clean and water blast so it looks spanky now. Final re-assembly still to come then can validate the last items before having the oil pan manufactured.

Lil Car porn for you from the Brit and Euro show in Pakuranga today:

$6k is probably all I’d pay for this, not super special but still nice