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Still April '21 Still 216,XXX km With the first bits going back on the car, I compiled a huge wishlist and went off on a scavenger hunt to Pick-A-Part. Pulling the car apart had been like peeling an onion - the deeper I went, the more it made me want to cry. Absolutely no clue how or why someone had felt the need to dismantle some of the bits previously, but the level of care taken was that of a rabid sledgehammer. The absolute majority of the interior plastic bits were either cracked, had clips broken off or were scuffed up to hell. Some of the stuff seemed utterly idiotic. Instead of taking a bit of care to check where the bolts and clips were, or, I don't know, going on YouTube and watching any of the dozens 2-minute videos on how to take every single thing apart without breaking it, it seems that the approach was instead "right, f**k it, brute force it is." So a long list it was. Turned out to be a whole day exercise. Buggered Gone Raped Shagged f**ked Meh Crap A bunch of the bits were touring-specific, and we haven't had many of those being parted out down this way lately, but did get quite a few other things ticked off. Got a new armrest, rear rubbish compartment cover, nabbed a fresher-looking gear knob as the old one was rather crusty, all sorts of clips, bolts, wee sensors, fasteners and rubber bits that were tired or missing. Also found a tidy driver's storage compartment and a tidier looking rear seat center armrest off a local fella. I did pick up some unbroken front wheel arch liners, but upon getting home discovered that the non-Msport ones had different air vent openings, so those were a no-go. Brand new ones are typically silly-money so ended up doing some zip-tie stitching instead. If anyone's got some tidy Msport arch liners laying around, hit me up. The underside of the front bumper was also well shagged and had fastener points ripped out, so again, zip-ties to the rescue. Actually lined up pretty well, and fixed the sagging issue to an acceptable degree. Not perfect but beggars can't be choosers I guess. Also installed the tow bar I had taken off the coupe (who puts a tow bar on a coupe!?). Didn't get round to doing the wiring just yet, but at least I could now lug some pushbikes around. Finally got the car to a point where I could actually drive it. Hallelujah. That's until a couple of trips to work later, the coolant light came on... f**k.

Typical 90s Auckland scene

What about this Citroen C5 with the PSA Land Rover/Jag 3.0 V6 diesel. You'll struggle to get a better riding car. Nearly unbeatable on our sh*t roads. If this was a wagon I'd have bought it. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/citroen/c5/listing/3447643963?bof=JWOZbkQf

May '21 216,6XX km I did notice a wee puddle forming under the front of the car whilst it was parked up for a month and a half, but was too preoccupied with other stuff to think much of it. Now it was in my face. The radiator was leaking from the top side right where the plastic connects into metal. To the seller's credit, upon sharing this with him, he refunded $200 to go towards a replacement, which he absolutely did not have to do. "What a top bloke," I thought. To his discredit though, once I'd received the parts and bought a few jugs of genuine bimmer coolant and started digging into the task... I'm by no means an expert, nor a qualified mechanic, but from what I've gathered, the weakest parts on these engines are the rubber and plastic bits comprising the cooling system, and any piece of advice or best practice guide you will come across will tell you to replace all the cooling system components, if not done so already. So when the sale add started off with the bold claim that "anyone that knows me, knows how OCD I am about maintenance and preventative maintenance, so she has been maintained really well," and stating the cooling system had been overhauled, I was fully confident I'm buying a car where this aspect had been comprehensively addressed. Little did I know that a "cooling system overhaul" apparently means replacing 20-year-old rubber cooling hoses with 20-year-old rubber cooling hoses pulled off from parts cars. Little did I know it would also mean I'd find a rusted up water pump dated 2002, an expansion tank dated 2010 and a thermostat dated 2012. What even is preventative maintenance? What even is the meaning of words, man? At this point, all I could do is just laugh. I'd been had. All well and good getting refunded a couple hundred bucks when it was increasingly becoming clear I'd overpaid by a grand or two in the first place. Looking back, you start understanding why some of the sales photos were taken from slightly funny angles, angles that conveniently left a glaring defect just out of sight. You start noticing things left unsaid or worded a certain way. The funniest thing for me was the bit about oil changes, stating: "regular oil changes with Castrol Edge 5W30 and Hengst (the best) filters". What a random thing to mention a brand of oil filter, I thought. What an even more random thing to lie about. Hilarious. My laughter grew even louder not even a week later, when sitting at a red light this started happening: "At least she's solid mech... f**k." Basically, nearly every time you stood still behind a red light or at an intersection with the car in Drive for longer than 20 seconds, the gearbox would go into limp mode. You'd turn the car off and on and the problem would go away, until you stopped next time. Annoying as hell, but the way I figured out around it is to just switch the car into neutral every time I'm stuck behind a red light. I did read it's sometimes as simple as a sensor cable coming loose from the top of the gearbox. An absolute bastard to get to, as it sits on the upper passenger side of the box in a tight spot between the body. The clip did seem a bit loose. Managed to take it off, clean it as best I could with a brush, clipped it in securely and cleared the codes. No luck. It's been the workaround since then. Having not even driven 3,000 km, the thought of selling up and cutting my losses did cross my mind, but I knew full well that even without those issues I'd be taking a loss of a few grand at least, and I couldn't in clean conscience put it up for sale without disclosing all the issues, which would attract all manner of low-balling opportunists that I didn't have the mental capacity to deal with. I could call myself spoiled I guess. Having had my coupe for a good part of 2 years, and having done all the preventative steps right at the very beginning, I had enjoyed a few years of absolutely trouble free motoring, with the myth of BMW unreliability well and truly purged from my mind. This was a rude awakening. Like it or not, I was stuck with her, for better or for worse. In all honesty though, would have been a bit boring if she didn't have issues. And I had a handy backup for when things inevitably went tits up, at least for the moment. Onwards & upwards.

Easily overlooked the Campbell.

Excellent. It's had the Campbell done... I'll take another look at this tomorrow morning.

I feel like a child and its the night before christmas. Since my last update, many parts have been ordered, I finally got a wheel alignment, the Z3 rack was installed and the car has disappeared into the paint shop for a few weeks. The shop called to tell me that she was all ready to be picked up, but I wasn't around and they all wanted to get out early for the long weekend so I will pick it up on Tuesday. Im positively brimming with excitement. I'll post more photos once I get the car back, but for the m oment. Before After While its a bit hard to tell in this photo, the dents are all gone, the car is a uniform Sterling Silver and all of the stone chips are gone. It should look the part once I get it back and can take photos of it completely reassembled. What blows me away is that this car lived outdoors in a driveway for almost a decade not getting used, and it has no rust, anywhere. I feel that I lucked out with this one.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/467991808238940/ without the crank snapping and lower kms.

Man that sucks esp the transmission part. Reading through your thread it doesn't strike me as a car that had any love for along time. Like any forum there is trash masquerading as legitimate enthusiasts sadly.

Amazing work though.. good on you for keeping on!

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse....

2023 G70 M750 twin-turbo V8.

Amazing work! More pics!

Beast mode! Awesome work.

Yeah.. knew i'd need something to keep me entertained

Dude, you are crushing it! awesome work - I do love an E46 wagon, wouldn't mind picking up one as a daily later in the year but my wife needs something to tow a horse float 😑

So today was the day. My iX build order is in and confirmed as BMW New Zealand order number 32! Currently looking at a May/June delivery. Pretty excited, not going to lie! My order specs are below: * Xdrive 40 MSport * Mineral White Metallic (A96) * 22" Aerodynamic wheels 1020 Bicolour 3D (1LD) * Amido Black Leather Interior (SCHA) * ENHANCEMENT PACKAGE - Sky Lounge Panorama Roof (407) - Soft Close Doors (323) - Laser Lights (5AZ) * Active Ventilated Seats (453) I had the option to forward purchase a dealer demonstrator but that car has the crystal interior appliques which I really don't like and lacks ventilated seats. I figured I'd be better served just ordering the spec I want. A few pics from the configurator are attached.

Central and North Shore, the E30 appeal is universal 🤣

This post reminded me of this.... Cheers...

I concur, 31 years old and everything bloody hurts these days

I haven't driven one, but at 180kw and 450nm I imagine it would make a decent highway cruiser. As for reliability, not too sure, might have to do a search if genuinely interested. I think the Peugeot 407 has the same drivetrain. Have seen several Disco 3 & 4 on TM with the same engine with snapped crankshafts. I stumbled on a YouTube vid of a mechanic in the UK who has some exposure with them.