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Thanks to Stuart for doing most of the hard work

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Gave it a good clean and a coat of paint sealant.

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/12373354

And today I replaced the black wheels with the rubbish tyres with a set I've had stripped, straightened, painted and wrapped in PS4's. I think this is the best cosmetic change I've made.

Wowsers. I don't so much care for the wide body but the rest is sweet. https://www.sundaydrive.co.nz/vehicle/1989-BMW-3/6605?s=1

For anyone that's interested, here's probably the only way (with the tools and environment i have) to get this kink right due to the curves on that arch and if its off by a little bit the shadow really does look warped in reflections When its 90% there the rest has to be done nearly in the dark sanding out where the shadows show high or low points. It gets a bit tricky because a dip in the shadow can represent either a high spot say below the line or a low spot on the kink. I found this very challenging on the other side because it was so rippled to begin with, so some very careful sanding

After an E46 instrument cluster simply for CAN bus / engine swap development ... so not looking to spend a fortune, can have a smashed face or pixel defects etc. Would also need to have the connectors with a usable length of wire I'm thinking.

Hi all! New owner here, super happy with this beauty of a car! Would love to get to know the forum and resources on this site. Cheers.

For the temp, you can just get on the motorway regularly for a clean out. Adaptive LEDs are awesome.

The leak in the video does look like condensation, it should be easy to tell if that’s the source of the petrol fumes from the smell of the liquid dripping. If that leak isn’t petrol, then I wouldn’t be too worried about that, but as Brent says you should get someone to look for what is causing the petrol smell as that is a much bigger problem.

If you’re after an E70 X5 then the 30d Performance Edition is worth looking out for, it was a local NZ developed offering including increased options and 20” rims, added Performance Bodykit and Edition badging. Was a very good seller as new vehicles, and have very good re-sale values.

We have a 2010 35d which we bought new in Perth. Been the best vehicle and amazing economy on open road. 110 - 120 kph from Perth to Esperance (700k) in 40 degree temp on less than a tank and under 9l/100km. Not sure over here but in Oz the 30d was a single turbo whereas the 35d is a twin turbo and I think the 40d which came out mid 2010 was twin turbo and as mentioned above, had the 8 speed transmission. Ours has the sport pack with sport seats etc and we optioned it with Style 214 20' wheels. We have towed a horse float with ours since we bought it. Touch wood, it has never missed a beat. It's my wife's car and she loves it.

Keeping the ball rolling with the car and getting everything just a little bit tidier, the new shifter knob and boot arrived today, and I think it looks a hell of a lot better. The major issue though is that the actual gear lever is twisted, so the gear knob is also twisted. Ive got no idea how to remedy this and its going to annoy me every time I look at it. In terms of getting the car back in shape, a large swath of parts are on their way from germany. - Brake gasket and slide pin rebuild kits -Tail-light gaskets -intake and throttle body gasket -Hood insulation -Boot seal -Fog lights And now I think Im going to pull the trigger on a fibreglass MT2 front bumper because it is almost the same price as trying to replace the broken plastic bumper thats on the car now. Feels wasteful, but will ultimately make the car look nice. Before After

I do the same driving as you, down to the trips away. It doesn’t heat up for 9-10km. Facelift, and as highly optioned as you can find. Heads up and 360 cameras were on the e70, as were adaptive headlights (?). 20” wheels now have reasonably priced run flat options if you’re not too fussy on brand, 21” are still orphans. Some nz new fl seem to be well equipped, just check the car. As above, after 3 months of searching, I ended up with an f15, a 30d has pretty much identical performance as an e70 40d. I get 9.3l/100 as my long term average.

Facelift is definitely the way to go, but imo ,with the newest ones being 2013, the prices may not differ so much with F15s.

Facelift is definitely the way to go (ZF 8 speed vs a 6 speed in the PFL). How short would your round town journeys be? Might start to run into difficulties with never getting up to temp/carbon build up and the economy isn't going to be amazing either. The diesels are nicer to drive due to the torque though. My N57-engined car (same as 40d) takes 13-18km to get to temp (mix of round town and motorway running)

@Chanderpaul yeah the main hurdles were -1k primer reactions, cost me Huge time on re work, maybe even as much as 80% - learning how to sand that curve, the right blocks the right softness shape etc I realized it just can't be done without specific shapes. - shadows and lighting, due to the feathered contour both x and y it makes it some what challenging to sand even with a good arsnel of sanding blocks, have to do it in the dark with a torch and sand / build as you go It's definitely trial by fire If I had to do it all again I'd probably be 1000% quicker and do it slightly different, I don't think I'd move to primer runs until sufficient shaping was done in this case using shadows. In saying that this panel has made my panel & paint points 1000x Better, had a few other projects on the go that I ate up for breakfast with mint finishes. Home stretch now anyway, just doing a few last guide coats, it's not forensically perfect I'm approaching the limit wih my current setup but it's definitely sharp

Yep, be hard if it was the only car in the household. Do like these 190E ‘S, great seeing them race in the DTM classic races

seems like its gone to a good home

bmw underbody rust inhibitors aka fluid leaks are pretty common. If you smell raw fuel that is not good and shouldn’t be driven. Best take it to a mechanic.

I think 300hp would be enough to have a balanced drive. Any more would start to become too fast for a fun NZ countryside outing.

^ i think you should be expecting close to 20k. Aka not enough to change to an e30 so no point?

Sort of like yours - https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/291680492536893/?media_id=1&ref=share_attachment Better deal i reckon if you going modified route

Sold for $7.5k. Think both parties left feeling happy. Good on them.

TRW Ultras, never used them before so will find out. 130 has Brembo NAO ceramic pads and they seem really good.

New ATE rotors, ceramic pads and fluid change.... after having to break out a 4 foot powerbar to get the wheelnuts undone (f**ken apes...)

I would be interested to see your performance differences with your modified muffler

x

Thanks, all I'm doing is returning it to stock. I think the E60 M5 is classy enough as it is, so why change it. Maybe I'm getting old !

For the price of $2-3K for an Eisenmann exhaust box I'd rather do this because its considerably cheaper and more fun, it also preserves the stock look of the car, I want zero aftermarket parts on it. But of course it depends how it sounds, I am confident it will sound quite good, but if not back to the drawing board!

x

Biggest difference will be increased front tyre wear. And likely clearance issue

4.6is x5 dont have that type

My one.😉