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Any one else looked at this X5 4.8is at U-Sell? It’s toast, needs valve stem seals done, smoke a lot, has faulty transfer case with 7k quote to repair, self levelling suspension isn’t working, throwing a bunch of codes, oil leaks etc, sunroof stuck open, rats have been living in the engine bay, paint work is quite rough, only really good for parts or DIY project as the cost to fix would be huge. But the owner won’t go bellow 9k! They are only worth around 13-15k in good condition. It’s the only 4.8is for sale in NZ at the moment so maybe he thinks he can get top dollar. https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-2772748692.htm

Nice car, good luck. I'm just really here to say how much I appreciate that firewood stacking in the shed in the background

I've received 2 letters about airbags and one about the heater line over 18 months. This is the third booking I've made for the recall/s, first one was cancelled as they didn't have the airbag in stock. Second one I never got notified that the booking was confirmed, they were supposed to let me know the parts were available and never got back to me. So I left it for 6 months or so. This time I rang and spoke to the parts guy and service guy to confirm they had it in stock and they got me in within a couple weeks of calling. New ownership at the dealer now too since I was last there, they all were pretty good to deal with.

Gl with the sale, the TM photos are far more flattering than the original ones here. And just to be that guy, be very careful claiming it doesnt need a cert for the manual conversion, because it does. Someone can pull you up on that claim if they buy it and fail a wof for not having a cert.

Yeah have seen a couple 3 liters sh*t the bed from it. You can kinda feel it when you rev them high it doesn't feel right, they don't like it.

one is not nz new, imported in 2015 @ 63k kms

Current head, no work done that I know of, not even match-ported... The original M50B30 stroker came from Sam at HellBM - was built as a drift car engine but there was really no way it would have enough power as it was. I suspect it was just put together without any special work done to it. I originally went with the nv head because of the double valve springs and an old-school Ford background where double valve springs when using high lift were the only option + it's what was on the engine when I purchased it from Sam. If there's a better option I'll certainly entertain looking at it. To date I've only been considering just over stock RPM for M50 based engines. The nv head means a 7k limit. On my current engine I've set the Link to limit at 6750RPM and I almost never hit it. With peak torque at 5500RPM there's little benefit going over 6.5k anyway. If there's options to reliably increase peak RPM a little and move peak torque up accordingly then why not. I've always liked big RPM but now prefer reliability over RPM. Maybe new cams to move peak torque up 500RPM + some head work to get the flow required + maybe ITB's. Maybe better to buy a S50/S52 and rebuild that... What head would you recommend - M52B28?

if you have EUR195,000 this car could be yours.

Oh another shop that I used is Powerhaus, are associated with Porsche brand however they do a lot of euro cars. However their rates are close to dealership, but I can say they are very good. Their wait times is in the months though. I had one long term weird problem with our Cayenne, Reuben had easily diagnosed it just a broken hose. While most shops turned down to diagnose it or assumed it to be a bigger repair bill. $70 fix. While they were at it, they also noticed somethings wasn't right with oil pressure. Unfortunately when I had the AOS replaced as preventative maintenance, the procedure was so easy that it was overlooked being incorrectly assembled by another mechanic. It's good to have a 2nd opinion also that mechanics are not 100% always correct then they can make mistakes. Highly recommend Powerhaus if you can wait for a long time as well as afford the above average rates... I certainly can't that is why I do some of the simple repairs myself.

just looked on bmw.co.uk, M340i (and M340d) touring aren't currently available on the new car configurator - but the 540i Xdrive Touring is up (57k GBP - 111k NZD) value proposition a bit better on that. I note the only private seller has his M340i Touring (Nardo Grey, 5 owners!) up for 10k more than the dealer had it listed for 3 months ago. 🤨

Plastic flares are temporary until I decide to either build or buy some m3 style flares.. Dont really like the tablet style dash anymore, so will revert back to standard E30 style, and try find some interior parts to put back in.. Kind of regret stripping it out so much and cutting it up so much.

Long time, no update. A lot has changed on the car how ever. I see tinypic has conveniently disposed of most the photos. Pulled the M50 out as it dropped compression in cyl 6, down to about 90 psi due to corrosion of the bore, must of been sitting with coolant in it after been parked up for a long time. I suspect it might of got a bit hot during a drunken hamilton style burnout then parked up and the cylinder filled up with coolant potentially, that was the last time it was driven for maybe a year so would of been sitting like that for awhile. Replaced it with an M52B28, tidied it up with new gaskets and ARP head studs. 6 point roll cage, tig welded, and rear strut towers reinforced. Left it NA for a bit and drifted it like that... Reinstalled the old turbo setup the from the M50 on to the M52. New intake manifold. Made a new wiring loom, quick disconnect firewall connector, DR25 etc etc. New fuel setup, removed the stock fuel tank to make room for side exit exhaust. Fuel cell and surge tank in the boot, had terrible fuel starvation problems when approaching half tank with the standard setup. Still running the DTA S80 ECU. Have been running it on E85. But have also installed a water meth kit for when E85 is unavailable so can run regular pump gas or ethanol, mix it with castor oil for extra smell factor. Extended control arms in the front and SLR lock kit. In the rear have converted to true coil over setup, trailing arm bushings removed and changed to monoball bearings along with camber and toe adjusters. Trailing arms reinforced. Front and rear converted to 5 stud. Exhaust is 3", basically straight through with the longest resonator I could fit. 17x8 and 17x9 BBS wheels. Still a lot to do. Photos in no particular order, including some older ones that have gone missing from tiny pic. Will get some proper updated pics once I get back out to the car.

I thought that too, but no, his is different and won't be a bargain that's for sure

I wouldn't be so quick to write off a low KM auto either. With a stage 1 or 2 Xhp flash it makes it a very responsive transmission. Just make sure it does get serviced.

Just goes to show eh, a lot of people thought that this was over priced at $15K, but it shows the usual rarity, plus low kms, and tidy vehicle equals valuable car! Also shows that whomever bought it, really wanted it and will be super stoked to have one of only 40 cars left in the country. I’d say there’s someone out there with the biggest smile on their dial, just like the one I have when I drive mine😊!

These up spec late term E36 Sedans are really cool, such a contrast to the hideous base models in rough condition that are often floating around.

perfect car to buy and wrap Fiji Green...

Didn't move at $39k, won't move at $59k. What do they think it is - a 1988 325i? 🤣

I've got some s50 itbs and an adapter to fit it to an m50/2 head. If you wanted to go down that route pm me Bummer about the current motor.