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Since my last post I've had little time to show her any love. We completed a heap of reno work on the house and sold at auction in May. We did really well out of it but I'm just happy to have my life back! We're in a rental until around Christmas which is a townhouse so parking is limited. The garage is jammed full of stuff so luckily, because we're at the back of the block, I can park it in this little extra area. The new parking spot now requires moving two cars out of the way to get to it so chances of driving it are even slimmer. I'm still on the same tank of fuel from my earlier post 😏 I've had it out once since we shifted so of course when I went to start it the battery was dead. It's a new battery as well so hopefully I haven't shortened it's life too much. My charger wasn't big enough for it so got a new one that will also take care of maintenance. Just got to figure out a non intrusive way to run an extension lead. Today I finally got around to swapping in the new chain tensioner. Easy job and it has quietened the engine a tiny bit so I feel pretty good about it. Here's the one that came out. It's in good shape but at least now I know. Went for a spirited drive around the back of the airport and all is well. I really need to drive it more. She might not be particular quick but with windows down and sunroof open it's easy to forget all of lifes problems.

Wife is out of town so went for a 'blast' out to Piha today - typically, got stuck behind a line of soft roaders and people movers heading out but got space to stretch the legs on the way back.

Some thicc boy must have been the first owner of my car, 'cause he really wore the bolsters and leather. In the 8 years I have owned it, the wear hasn't really changed! I bought this Ali-express leather fixer - and gotta say I am very impressed. These are night time photos so it looks more shiny than IRL - and i have no before's sorry. But before there was crazy cracks, and white line/cracks. Pretty fcked. It needed a filler style fix, and this was literally rub on / dry. Worth a punt...

Some really fun work lately with basic assembly of some major pieces to get things looking like a car again. Installed the flywheel and clutch, funnily enough these were one of the first things purchased almost a year ago now !! Pulled the front struts apart to give everything a good clean and install new bump stops / dust boots. Unfortunately the left side is completely rooted but will get the car mobile for the time being, will not go through certification and WOF however so will likely have to do something suspension wise later on. Lower control arms with new Powerflex bushes installed, 330 knuckles and guard liners cleaned / painted along with the wheel wells. Just a fun shot of the under body with new oil pan installed. The next and probably most involved part of the build has slowly begun ... making the headers !! Designed up the flanges and had them laser cut however will probably change approach here and go with completely individual tubes / mini flanges to allow them to be 'threaded' into position into the car and fixed into a slip joint collector ... or something Got some pool vacuum hose I will be using to mock things up roughly, will probably get a bunch of profiles laser cut at the proposed mandrel bend radius to support the pool hose in place then fill with some sort of expanding rigid foam. Looking pretty cool now, side skirts back on ... FINALLY installed the front EBC rotors !!! Could not help myself mocking up the interior a little bit and I'm loving the low key look it should have !!

Sorry Olaf, I understand what you mean - but I still still think that statement - " you have been searching for the best E34 in NZ" possibly could be interpreted that that this car is in fact the best E34 in NZ. Either way, I didn't mean to upset anyone - I have known about this car for nigh on 20 years, and have been a huge advocate of the vehicle whenever it has appeared for sale over the last several years (and it has been discussed many times on this forum). Sorry if people took umbrage to my comment - however I will say that there are some other wonderful E34's in NZ too.

Success... Desoldered eeprom from OG cluster, swapped it into LCI cluster, and bingo LCI cluster thinks its original and all works. Now to fix the needle positions up as I must have moved the shafts when removing needles

Theres no need to pay through the nose - a little Janola mixed with aloe and a dab a day

What's in the water in Wellington? You're all constantly at each others throats.

@martyyyn we are not selling ours, I have spent already 50% of the purchase price in replacing a lot of major parts. However since you are just in Kapiti if you want to have a look one up close as a reference when you look at other M5. We can meet somewhere, or organize a mini-meet of M5 E60 (there are 3 of us in Wellington from what I know). Before we purchased ours, I was lucky enough an M5 was being sold in our suburb that had a new clutch. So looked at that really well, and drove it for a short distance. After that is was much easier to justifying flying to Christchurch picking 1 of 4 M5 on sale on the same dealer. I test driven 2 of them in the dealer, our wasn't the best in term of clutch feel but I picked ours because of it's condition and options it had. I had a feeling at that time 53+k kms it had the original clutch, which eventually was right (replaced clutch + most thing in the drive train at 61k kms). Getting the right options and best condition is pretty hard, some luck involved. Also a lot of helpful people around here, helped me a lot in our hunt. Here is my thread when I was looking for one. Maybe some of the post there is still useful, estimated cost of parts/service in NZ (add about 25% for todays prices). If you can get yours from a dealer, try your best a MBI deal. That was useful for me, as the MBI paid 2/3 of our rod bearing repair bill. Hope this helps.

Just read the actual copy of the advert. Pretty bold statement -'best E34 in NZ.' What about the 3.8 E34 M5 in violet that sold 6-12 months ago on trademe, or the 60,000km 3.6 M5 in Sterling grey, now owned by Boris Radich, not to mention the Hell red 540is 6-speed that lives in Auckland with anecdotally only 20,000 kms on the clock (or some of the lovely examples of 540is's still lurking about)? I agree this is a very special car and is arguably the best E34 535is in NZ by virtue of its condition and provenance. I actually like the way the advert reads. However, not sure I would write 'best E34 in NZ.'

put the finishing touches on my 2 car carport today, it has taken about 3 years to get to this point but I finally have some protection for the cars and me when I need to work on them!!

Another big shout out to @promo - legend! quick 2min phone call and boom, cluster swap working.

You should be able to pick up a G220 for around 4-500 all day long M20 bellhousing is the same, but as you say mounting angle is on the wees D/shaft won't work either. Clutch will be okay unless you have a 240mm one due to internal clearance, I think, but don't quote me on that Your shifter will sit on the piss too

Seems quite a few of you are getting Inbox spam. If you do please just report it. It seems they have created the accounts and went through the user list sending private messages.

Super job Michael.

X

dramatic morning light

Busy weekend working on the M5. The car now has new brake disc's/pads/sensors all round, aside from having to drill out the set screws on the front disc's the job was fairly easy. Completed a brake fluid flush with some Motul DOT4 LV. Replaced the cabin air filters which were dated 2016. Replaced all 9.3L of oil with BMW supplied 10w60. Was happy to see no leaks of any kind under the engine/trans/diff, BM Workshop has done a fantastic job of making the car look like it's never had the engine out.

Hah! I can easily get 290km out of a tank and its only $160 to fill!! But 10k for maintenance is not going to go far......

Might want to edit the title. I was concerned for a minute haha.