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Lots of miles on this one, but it just looks so clean. I really like that paint colour. On the face of it someone has looked after it. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/530i/listing/3309124308?bof=0V09Hj0Q $5k ONO

Man I dont know what happened to this post I just wanted some basic information on a good direction for my build but its turned political like some reddit post... on a side note anyone selling an SC14 supercharger I ended up buying the HMW kit. If you dont have anything good to say just keep it to yourself please

I've got a sparco seat that I drive down to Taupo with in my e30. I actually find it pretty comfortable for the 2 and a bit hours, as I fit in there nice and snuggly. It's just the getting out at the end of the trip haha. Maybe take advantage of the lack of traffic and go for a drive to see if they really are uncomfortable after a couple of hours?

The company that shipped my car was Auto Logistics and upon checking I was wrong about the amount. It was in fact $705 Palmerston North to Christchurch depot!! I picked it up from there. Hope this helps. By the way, I love that colour. When we ordered my wife's e70 back in 2010, we saw one on US owners forum in a similar colour and couldn't find a similar colour in the ordering info. So I contacted the guy and he told me it was Mineral Green, so that's what we ordered with Saddle leather. Best car (along with the e38) that we have ever bought and still in as new condition in our garage almost 12 years on. Good luck with your purchase.

The biggest cost is the ferry. You could do an instant quote on PTSL site and see what they would charge.

E46 coupes are already worth more than the equivalent 6 cylinder E39, being more popular they have already won that race. Maybe they will surpass 4 door E46's.

I bought a set direct from apex, shipped them to kiwi shipping in the states (mainfreight) who shipped them here. Very happy with wheels but took an age to get here.

Nice looking car

There are 156 registered 540i models in NZ so still a fair few to add on. Some might be on hold But at least the vast majority will be used, but a number will be garaged and rarely come out, owner not on forums or facebook, makes tracking them down hard.

Xo1234 on the list? 540 Spotted today on Barbadoes st in Christchurch.

Jay Emm is OK (most of the time), he's a lot better than a lot of car influencer types on YouTube. And that video is actually what made go window shopping for a 530. Looks like it will be next year before the WuFlu learns how to read the new traffic light system and anyone will be able to go car shopping outside Auckland.

In spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to… getting the ‘vert ready for summer. A few little jobs to do for the warrant, plus a bit of a tidy up underneath and a refresh where needed. First up, exhaust off to fix the two spots where it’s blowing..

BMW handbook lists the automatic sedan at just over 1600kg with full tank of gas, driver but no options so unlikely much more than 1700kg with a\c, towbar, sunroof etc. They do have full alloy suspension and subframes after all and aren't a large car by today standards. Manual is better but too rare. Still adequate power for most driving even with 230hp and the auto. Excellent chassis and looks is what makes them better than anything else in the same class and era.

Bump

That link (if you get it to work) won’t show you how many 4.6is were built for NZ, it will only show how many 4.6is are still registered in NZ and the owners have their information details set to public.

Today was a good day... Seat brackets showed up unexpectedly despite it looking pretty grim yesterday. No tracking updates and they were meant to hold them aside for me when they found them so I could pick them up. Except I noticed a box at my door at about 12 and sure enough... Everything needs a good clean and a wipe down after installing them but I was too excited and was running out of daylight. Thinking I might build out a small plate to cover the ugly parts of the exposed slider on the side, could help make it look a bit nicer. Have the rear seats and remaining trim pieces all ready to go in tomorrow followed by a good vacuum and clean. Driving impressions are unbelievable. By far the biggest improvement so far. The stock seats are horrendous. I found them uncomfortable and not supportive at all. The recaros couldn't be further on the opposite side of the spectrum. Way more comfortable, like I'm bolted to the car. Rear seat is still accessible but definitely not quite as easy as a folding seat.

Sorry I'm late to the party. I'm Keith of KC design concept - Hyde Motor Works. Nobody's saying that superchargers are the best option for everybody. But they are an option. All of the Hyde Motorworks Supercharger kits have been proven thousands of times over. Adding to that, the superchargers that have failed were used units that most likely had extremely high mileage and or were not properly maintained. The sc14 in question, has proven itself in the American Endurance Championship Series. In many cases involved a 24 hour race. With zero failure, running 9 PSI on a m52b28. But once again this was with proper maintenance, on a strictly track prepped race car. Now if you are just looking to add a little more power to your street car, without modifying everything else , the sc14 would be ideal. You can literally bolt it on and tune it in a weekend. But once again this is offered as an option, to build something different, do something different. Personally I prefer 600 + horsepower.

Hi Doug, I wouldn't be too dismissive. Having seen a few hundread installations that typically are setup to make 8PSi or more...and these having run on 3.2L Engines that have been in enough races. The M54B30 is nothing special apart from having 15mm longer headbolts. The M90 is the same size as the SC14? A lot of factors come into play, and a M122H that produces 600+ HP on a 5.8L Ford modular engine is 2L. A lot of factors come into play and for a mesely 300HP at the crank, I would not invest my money on anything but a M62 (1L) or SC14. The M90's would cost and arm and a leg. An SC14 with a 80mm pulley will be all you need for 8PSI +. Here are some maths, you can input your values as you go. Hope that helps and do whatever works best for you. ====================================== Calculating Engine Liters/min @ 0 Psi Formula: Liters x RPM / 2 = Liter of Air/Min at 0 psi (N/A Motor) Multiply engine capacity (in liters) times maximum engine Rpm. 2.8 liters x 7000 rpm = 19600 liters/minute. Divide this figure by 2 as engine only fills every second stroke. So, 19600 / 2 = 9800 liter of air/min on a naturally aspired M52B28. Calculating Boost Ratio Add the boost pressure desired (5 Psi) for the engine to 14.7 Psi (atmospheric pressure). 5 psi +14.7 psi = 19.7 psi Divide this answer by 14.7 and this gives the boost pressure ratio. (21.7/14.7=1.476) This is the boost pressure ratio above atmospheric pressure. 19.7 psi / 14.7 = 1.34 Calculating Actual Air Requirements at Desired Boost Multiply the boost ratio by the liters/minute obtained for 0 Psi and you get the actual air requirements in Liters/min for the engine at that boost. In our example this is 9800 liters/min X 1.34 = 13132 liters/min Often the question arises if the SC14 is adequate for the 2.8L or even 3L M3’s, They flow more air(1.4L) vs the Eaton M62(1L), and we will be doing some calculations to decide on the correct size of supercharger for your car, you need to know:- 1. The swept volume per revolution of the supercharger. (Eaton M62 1 litre/rev, SC14 from a 1G-GZE 1.4 litres/rev) 2. The maximum continuous safe operating speed for the supercharger. (Eaton M62 14000 rpm continuous, Toyota SC14 12000 rpm??) 3. The maximum pressure that can be safely produced by the supercharger continuously. eg. Eaton M62 = 12 psi, Toyota SC14 = 10Psi(? Beyond that Teflon on rotors melts?) Calculating Supercharger Rotor Speed Divide the desired air flow (13132L/min) by the swept volume of the supercharger (SC14 from the 1G-GZE is 1.42 litres per revolution). This will tell you the maximum speed the supercharger rotors must be run at to produce the volume required. 13132 / 1.42 = 9248 Calculating Pulley Size Ratio Divide the rotor Rpm by maximum desired engine rpm to get the drive ratio of the pulleys. For an SC14 on a 2800cc @ 5psi boost the desired supercharger pulley ratio is 9248 / 7000 rpm = 1.32  Pulley Size Ratio With an 4″ (103mm) Pulley on the supercharger the size of the crank pulley for this ratio would be 1.32x 4 = 5.28” Note: M52B28 Crankshaft Pulley is around 6” or 152mm, the SC14 differs between 115mm and 125mm, We are using a 103mm pulley.) Final Calculations Pulley Size Ratio –> 6″ (crank pulley) / 4″ (SC14 pulley) = 1.5 Max SC14 RPM –> 1.5 (Pulley Size Ratio) x 7000 (Max Engine RPM) = 10500 RPM Air output with 6″ Crank Pulley –> 1.42(SC14 Displacement) x 10500(Max SC14 RPM) = 14910cc Boost Ratio –> 14910 / 9800 = 1.52 Max PSI Boost –> 1.52 x 14.7 = 22.34 – 14.7 = 7.6 PSI at 7000RPM or 5PSI at 6000RPM – both using the 4” (103mm) Pulley. ===========================================

Hey, here is some input from experience. All this will depend on your power goals and how much power you start with. In your case, If you are set on the SC14, you can typically get 280-320 HP at the crank with a proper tune at around 8 PSI from most M52B28 engines. The Penguin Pools NZ race car used the M54B30 engine with the HMW V2 SC14 Kit and saw over 330WHP 3 years ago, and the American Endurance race cars saw well over 400rwhp with the S52B32 build engine in 2017. You can get a little bit more with the M90 (they are both the same size, the M90 is tri lobed so 10-15% more efficient) but those units are hard to come by. They are all roots blowers and will give a linear torque curve unlike anything else, But I would not push a stock engine past 300. Go with 36lbs or 42lbs injectors. The ECU you have is likely the MS43 (if you are lucky) otherwise its a MS45, both can be flashed by a good tuner. Its all in the tune. Keep reading through the forced induction section of this forum, you will find enough information, all the best with your project.

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.

The physical antenna simply unscrews (and you can replace it with a stubby one for aesthetic reasons if you wish). The base itself needs to be unbolted from inside the car and you probably need to remove the headliner for that (PITA). It may be possible to unhook the rear of the headliner and reach in there but you'll be working blind I'd imagine.