Leaderboard

Where’s the fun in that? Most of the excitement with classic cars is wondering if you will actually make it to your destination!!

I can't imagine that. I moved my Austin 10 on Sunday and the pinion seal let go from excitement

Used import Leaf, $10k, old British car, $????, then its just labour and compliance costs. The beauty of ev conversions is that the motors are relatively tiny so you don't have to worry about space and the battery can be configured to fit the space available and give the required range to a certain extent. Aside from the dangers associated with a 300+ volt battery pack, it is no more difficult than a mechanical conversion. Imagine having an old classic car in your garage and KNOWING that whenever you want to drive it, it will just work!

Bet this thing screams! Wicked car - was chatting to owner on FB while I was looking a few months back but wasn't for sale then, or I would have been all over it. 217hp without stroking must be pushing the ceiling of the B25? wonder how a 302 cam would be on the street... https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/325i/listing/3422419440?bof=LmldbBpU

oh this is wicked, would probably stick to the ground better than the original.

Car events sure have moved with the times. Hope he got home.

Would be a catcams hot street cam, around 252°@0.040", fairly street able, small vacuum assist loss on the brakes in parking lots and a little bit of bucking if not tuned perfectly. Not a terribly high performance cam, but make a great sound and wake the car up, and only technically require a spring and retainer upgrade to run Realistically it would be around 170-180whp, dyno depending.

I'm thinking back in the 2000s certainly very much before 2010! The gap did close as this shows...but the "Diesel takeover" was well established by 2012. I had the Mark V back in 05? 06? Anyway, even if they were the same price per litre...the MPG was the star...that 48 / 50 MPG could be hit easily.

That'd be the perfect commuter for me. Plenty of range for the round trip even if I gunned it everywhere (as if you wouldn't), damn cool styling and the simplicity of not worrying if it will start. Wonder what it's worth, since 20k isn't reserve.

The E36 definitely hits some good ‘90s nostalgia points! I haven’t needed a mechanic since Auto38 closed, but others @Olaf @TermiPeteNZ @str8_6 @treone may be able to chip in 😁

The 540i was such a fun drive. The V8 roar was addictive. I'll own another V8 one day. I actually have a different BMW now. I did use Auto38 (they were great), but it unfortunately no longer exists. Some other Wellington members will be able to give some good mechanic recommendations. Can't wait to see your thread (and pics)!

to those of us on the lower south island, R and D European can install the parts and do the software updates required. They are located in Dunedin. You just have to supply the parts. you can check part numbers at realoem.com if you want to see the installation video:

There is a 135i Manual coming in from Japan on trademe at an asking price of 30k..... I can only fathom that the premium is being asked because it's MT. I have driven both MT and AT (owner of an AT 135i)...and I had thought/wanted to prefer the MT version...but the truth is I didn't and I grew up with manual cars in the UK. With the XHP flash on the AT gearbox it's a responsive fast shifting thing of beauty...

I’m not even into burnouts but this is so savage from 11:40

My FCP order finally arrived with all my fresh badges etc - installed new M badges / boot Roundel / 325i letters and new front grilles - so much better. Also did my first polish on it with CarPro Fixer - fantastic one stage product - decent cutting power but leaves a glossy finish. Took some decent clear coat scratches out despite being just a hand job 😬 Finished with some CarPro Hydro2 - Plenty of room for improvement but definitely looking ‘good enough’ for now. Drivers door desperately needs some paintless dent removal to tide me over till I get half the car painted post rust work later in 2022. Looking forward to moving back to our house in Feb where I’ll have a dedicated space to really get cracking with this car - will be buying a decent DA polisher and doing a 2 stage paint correction ASAP amongst a million other things 🤣

G'day! Nah, no longer have the 5er. I sold it to a Wellington local after getting a great deal on an E39 540i Motorsport. I still see it floating around town . I had the 530i just over a year and did more than 20,000kms in it. It was ridiculously reliable and a fantastic cruiser. I spent quite a bit on preventative maintenance and regular servicing (Vanos, cooling system, spark plugs, tyres), but nothing failed other than the radiator. The word of the day with BMWs is servicing - if you keep on top of it (fluids, spark plugs, filters etc) it will serve you well. The E39 is very DIY-friendly too. Sounds like you've got yourself a great car. Oxford Green is a beautiful colour and 2003 is the last model year of the E39. You should start a thread for it!

Swapped over the complete toolkit from pick a part, resisted the urge to include the spark plug tool to make it totally complete!!

Replaced left rear window lifter mechanism, the casting that carries the window was twisted and cracked and the cable had lost its little ferrule that keeps it in place! Also gave it a long overdue wash, I keep thinking I should give it a polish, but the paint is so bad I think it would be a wasted effort.

Finally fixed one of the more worrying previous repairs carried out on the old girl, at some stage someone had damaged the section of the drivers door card that covers the airbag, and decided to turn it into a home made Claymore mine by repairing it with a good solid layer of Araldite! I shudder to think what this would have done to me if the airbag had ever deployed!! As you can see there is some silicone in there as well, just in case. Replaced with a good door card from Pick a part, unfortunately it was from an electric seat car so it has the memory buttons which mine has no need for ( manual leather heated seats for the win) so I will keep an eye out for a correct replacement, but in the meantime this one won't cut me in half if the worst happens!

Penrite ATF FS is what you want. I usually buy a 20L which does 4x drain and fills on these. Probably can get you one at trade price if you like. Id recommend doing the filter and fluid, driving around for a week and doing another drain and fill. This gets rid of most of the old fluid and less likely to upset anything. After that a transmission adaption reset in INPA etc should have it shifting noticeably better. PS - Saw you driving pass Repco that other day.

He is advertising it as a 318is. That’s false advertising. No different to someone putting M3 badges on their car and advertising it as one. edit: got changed after I asked the question.

Pretty common on those. Same with PK/PJ rangers, they just have cheap components fitted to them

The original matt black aftermarket (came with the wagon) kidney grills were pretty busted up, missing tabs and just looking average in comparison to everything else. So I ordered a replacement set of aftermarket grills that I think work with the colour of the body - obviously these can be replaced with factory items if I was ever so inclined to fall in line with the anorak brigade. In doing so I found that someone had double sided tapped the remote radar detector to the radiator slam panel behind the bumper pointing towards the ground, - cause that how it works.......... So after much faffing about I used some 3m chewing gum tape and mounted it correctly along with the laser jammers in to the grill. (All of this gear came with the car - it just was incorrectly installed / reinstalled at some point in its life. ) While I was poking around I checked the coolers for any o-ring leaks, all good but the usual birds nest of rubbish between the oil cooler and the radiator. Gave that valley a good vac and cleaned up the excess wiring loom for the radar etc. This was meant to be a 20 minute job, but between starting at midnight on saturday, trawling through install manuals for the radar to find the mounting position recommendations and being distracted by Top Gear Youtube I finally finished and cleaned up at 2:45am. Pretty happy with the look. Off to get the new rear tires in the morning.

Who TF puts Hifly's on a 507hp RWD car. Needs shooting...

Lol, I feel sorry for the neighbor's already. I found what i think is a decent fabricator in Takapuna, "Takapuna mufflers", will go get a quote in the week and if its decent make an appointment. Thanks for all the help. I'll be sure to post a sound clip once done 😬

Hi, Are you just wanting catless downpipes or a full exhaust system? Most exhaust shops would be able to fab something up for you. Catless downpipes and stock exhaust do flow quite well.