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Newest acquisition: Recaro Pole Position ABE's de-badged and trimmed in M texture to match. These will do nicely... Breykrause brackets on their way to mount to a set of OEM manual sliders.

I'm selling my trusty and much loved 550i M-Sport E61 Touring. I needed to get a 4wd for our lifestyle block and I sadly don't have space for my wagon. This is an excellent sport/family wagon that does pretty much everything well. This is a great tow car with self levelling suspension and Westfalia tow bar with both 50mm and 1-7/8 removable tongues. Serviced and maintained well under warranty for my 6 years of ownership. Asking $9900, some price flexibility for Bimmersport members. Viewing in Warkworth or North Shore by arrangement. More info here: https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/3203314996?bof=7U5jme8e

Bit more fiddling with vanos stuff. Adjusted the cam timing so that the alignment marks are perfect. The efforts paid off as the vanos tests now consistently pass. Below are pics of how making the slightest adjustments affect the test results. Also fitted a new radiator and renewed all the front coolant hoses.

IMO you can't just buy these sorts of BMW models and expect them to keep going reliably at almost 15 years old, they were iffy new and waaay iffier as they got older. Evidence of what you'd be up for maintenance & repair wise is all over the internet. Not to say you wouldn't enjoy having one but to me there are more cons than pros. There is a big difference in buying a 20-40 year old E24, E28, E30, E32, E34, E36, E39 given the way they were built at the time, a lot of those models keep soldiering on with typical maintenance only. Peak of design simplicity, quality of manufacture and ease of servicing meant they will keep going too. These newer generation models are not the same.

Interior shots

Had one... in DelphinGrau (similar to our Baur). Very nice car - given the asking on this, I wish I'd kept it! Same story with other cars, of course. Very nice, although (tbh) I preferred the Mercedes W126 SEC.

ECS is shipping me a coil pack and a new valvetronic motor gasket for free. With an RMA to ship the old parts back to them. I really didn't expect that as the shipping will be more than the replacements. One way. Great service. Has anyone had trouble with Valvetronic motor gaskets. Mine has a very slow leak. Like 20ml over 2 months. It all gets captured in one of the wells below the valvetronic motor which is nice. Easy to clean up. But I want no leaks!

This car represents the epitome of British sports car design. It has a purity that cannot be matched by anything leaving the factory today. A true classic that has endured for sixty years and will still look good in another sixty years !!! Video here... https://youtu.be/ze6MTz0fkmY Cheers...

https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-3211852888.htm Someone please buy this, make it even more mint and take it to an Auckland meet so I can froth over it. Cheers

Looks like it is number 356 out of 524 made in RHD. EX UK; I remember this car being for sale at Clarks in Parnell - circa early 2000. Sold to a BMW car club member from Tauranga who replaced it with the stunning 89 Highline M635csi in Misano red that popped up at BMW events over the years. I heard it remained in the WBOP for many years and was owned by a doctor. Havent seen it for years and didnt know it was now in Auckland. Alpine Weiss was not so popular in the day - very popular now, and nice cream leather. Great cars - and quite different to the standard 635csi!

Correct, going to have them sandblasted and heated. Then powder coated. No chemical cleaning as that tends to wreck them.

Got this much done tonight. Intake, exhaust and head bolts and she should be out. Bloody good to get wrenching again.

Idle the car for 5-10 minutes, as long as you can, when its warm and then give it some revs. If it doesnt smoke, its probably got no oil. Theyre also well known for the coolant pipe in the valley leaking and being a real prick to fix. There is a LONG list of issues that can and likely will happen with these cars. Having owned one, and had a hell of a time trying to sell it before it broke again, i'd second Matts advice to avoid them.

I am new here and looking to share and learn. First bmw was e46 318i msport. Learnt a lot from it after overheating needing all new cooling parts and head gasket etc. I have a 120i e87, which I got from auctions, with lots of issues. Have fixed the engine ones and almost all the computer issues, where I learnt the basics of ista and repated software. More recently got an e83 3 2.5si - n52. Sadly this has a few issues so currently working through them which led me to come here. Know a bit about what I am doing, but not mechanically trained, have done engine transmission swaps etc in Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi and from owing a Ford territory I became an expert in suspension bush changes! Really enjoying the bmw and beautiful to drive - previously drove a new 7 series with work, which lured me to bmws.

Valve stem seals - blue smoke if you hit the loud pedal with cold engine. Would steer clear. Ironically the M-engined V8's (S62 / S63) seem to be more reliable than the cooking versions.

Similar to housing market I guess. Supply, demand, hype, FOMO and cheap money. Add a bit of nostalgia into the mix, and that these people have a bit of coin (or equity) now. I do get it for a mint Tech1/2, but ridiculous when every man and his dog think their scruffy, neglected 318i sedan is now a gold mine. It’s happening to any other desirable jap performance car from the 90s as bad or worse. $40k for a 1JZGTE chaser, anyone?

All Castrol, all the time!

New rear brake discs and pads today. Tried to adjust the handbrake by making 3 clicks on the lever fully lock the wheels but made no improvement over before. Bloody mission of a job fighting the friction of the lsd with wheels off the ground, so had to keep fitting the wheels back on to test how much brake the shoes are applying. Conclusion drawn is that the cables are stretched and that’s something i’m not keen on getting into so a bit of man handle on the lever for the shoes to fully brake will have to do.