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Few little bits ticked off over the last few weeks. I finally wrapped my steering wheel. Thanks @Sammo for the heads up on Mewant, and @Vass for sharing his version as this motivated me. Added this German Engineering expansion cap. Some heated debate on the forums about this product but my take on it was it's just going to vent some pressure before the 2 bar stock cap would...maybe saving some cooling pipes....pipes are new so also not too sure I'm too worried either way...was more a magpie purchase of a guy in the bimmer club...shiney engine bay thing for M54....take my money...and yes, I need a new power steering reservoir, or cap or something as it's leaking. This modlite module turned up from Bulgaria yesterday. I had one of these in the E39 to give me key fob folding mirrors and I really like it.They have since come down in price so I got one for the E46. https://modbmw.com I'm in no way affiliated with them, but i do think its a cool product. You can do the functions with a newer LCM but i couldn't find any. This gives you welcome/follow me home lights, 3 click courtesy indicators and fold/unfold electric mirrors (providing you have the powerfold function to begin with). There's some other options but these are the ones i care about. I spliced it into where a cd stacker once lived in the back of the touring (ground, 12V and Kbus). Real easy spot and cable ties neatly to a bracket with some foam so it doesn't rattle. These little features make the car feel a touch more modern...and it’s nicer to use the fob to fold the mirrors than having to karate chop them manually.

Having thoughts of moving the E30 on as it’s not getting much use and we are heading overseas at the end of the year. So figured I should probably cert the manual swap and try sort a few things in case I do end up actioning that train of thought. Ever since iv owned this car it’s had a low idle surge and really bad fuel economy, as it was a weekend warrior most of the time (setup for daily duties if needed; aircon, cup holders) it didn’t really bother me too much, but I did replace a bunch of parts hoping to fix it….a reasonably big list of parts. It always pulled well, just fuel economy and the 650rpm-500rpm surge when hot. With the E39 and the E46 needing love i put the e30 issues on the back burner. i had the throttle body apart last weekend and the ICV was measuring the correct ohms, reset the throttle stop and reset TPS. Tightened the valve cover and things got a bit better for a little while then the surge came back. (Previous to this I had done all the multi metering of ECU pins, changed the coolant temp sensor twice…thermostat twice, gone through every trouble shooting thread on E30 Zone) this week I adjusted the valves, as I’ve now done 15,000km over the 6 years of ownership😢 and iv always wanted to do it, seems like a key part of M20 maintenance. I also bodged up a fairly agricultural intake adapter for the DIY smoke machine, but it turns out it could shove move pressure in, unlike the ghetto glove method previously used and I found smoke teaming out of the valve cover, just under the intake manifold section, it actually looked like it was coming from the injector rail but it was actually rebounding off it. New VCG (elring) and boom. Idle steady….you are kidding me! I did a poor adjustment though and the thing was ticking like a Subaru Leone, so second adjustment and being a lot more careful I believe it’s correct now, still ticks abit but a lot quieter than the first. I did notice the new VCG already looks to be wet, so I’m guessing either I have a slightly warped cover or these Elring gaskets are a one time use thing. iv only done one hot run out to the hut which the idle was steady and the car felt great (I also finally put a tank of 95 in it) but I haven’t managed to smoke test it again since the second valve adjustment and not sure if the fuel economy has changed. ironically on the way home the ABS light started coming on intermittently so that’s next on the list of things to sort. Certs booked for early next month. Since is just a gearbox swap with no re-power it doesn’t require hoops. Pretty happy about that. Some photos… It’s pretty clean in here You can see the new gasket looks like it’s already leaking here My ghetto intake adapter for smoke machine (pod filter adapter that came on a 2nd hand AFM, VC bolt washer from M54 & RTV)

Hello, Thought id start a thread to keep track of the progress on my 2008 bmw 135i. A bit of background, before this car, I had a 2004 e46 330ci m sport that I bought for $1000 with a crash damaged front end. That was my first project car and taught me most of what I know about cars, I fixed the front end, stripped and restored the entire interior after finding water ingress, rebuilt the cooling system and replaced a few gaskets. Once finished, I felt that it was time to sell it as it wasn't a car I felt like should be modified being somewhat of a classic, I sold it to an e46 collector and began the search for my next project, it had to be small, fun and fast, preferably n54 powered for easy performance gains, decided on a 135i. I bought my sapphire black metallic, black leather interior, 135i in late October, 127,000km bone stock leaking oil, overdue a service, cracked 3rd brake light and broken LED in RHS taillight and a dirty interior, and on the drive home it went into limp mode. Great introduction to N54 life. Not really a surprise when you got it at price that makes it the cheapest low(ish) km 135i for sale. However it wasn't all bad, it had extensive service history, used to be under auto sure mechanical insurance, had the water pump and thermostat replaced, and a transmission service done as well as regular oil changes at 10k intervals, that is until the owner I bought it from got it, who only owned it for a few months. Catching up on things ive done so far: First thing I did was address the issues, scanned codes, limp mode was for exhaust Vanos mechanism, most likely just needed a clean from the old oil. Did an oil change, cleaned the Vanos solenoids and that fixed the limp mode. However I found the following issues; leaking sump, valve cover gasket, OFHG, oil cooler gasket, wrong coolant. Time for an FCP euro order, added PCV valve, top radiator hose, expansion tank hose, coolant flange and also a new drive belt to the list. I worked my way through all of the hoses, gaskets one by one, learning as I went and eventually had everything except for sump done. Valve cover took 2 attempts because I couldn't find a tool for the ground lead studs anywhere, eventually I contacted Ray from HellBM who ended up giving me one for free o massive thanks to him. Filled the cooling system with correct bmw coolant and bled it, so easy with the electric water pump. No more leaks. Gave the car a good clean, cleaned the interior, rewired the paddle-shifters for left down right up, and installed silver interior trim in the place of the woodgrain. Now the sump wasn't a job I wanted to do myself, I don't have access to a garage, nor a car lift so dropping the subframe didn't seem like a fun task, decided to let Michael from Euromotive handle this and got him to install catless downpipes and larger high flowing silicone turbo inlets too while he had the subframe out of the way. Next was coils and plugs as it had started to misfire on the way to the workshop, one of the coils in the car was a Chinese one and ripped in half, leaving rubber stuck on the spark plug after removing it, spent an hour in the car park with needle nose pliers puling bits of rubber out. Eventually got the new coils and plugs in and car ran smooth. Next step after fixing all the oil leaks and misfire was replacing the drive belt that had oil all over it from the OFHG leak. Did that, easier than I thought with the inlet in the way. Also installed pcv valve and oil catch can. At this point car was running smooth and no issues, decided it was time to make some more power, bought a bigger intercooler, metal charge pipe and installed them. Angle grinder came in very useful in making room for the intercooler. Flashed MHD stage 2+ and car felt ridiculously quick. And sounded good with the hatless downpipe and inlets. Then installed some dual cone intakes and blanked off inlets so that DV vent to atmosphere for more noise. Decided exhaust wasn't loud enough to match intake noise, so cut off muffler and welded in 2.5inch steel pipe with thin stainless exhaust tips, sounds better now but will go back and change this slightly. Decided that power was more than enough (for now) and time to move on to some handling and aesthetic changes. Bought a set of 18x8 et38 CSL style wheels (in white which is a unique look) from an e46 and they fit rather well. A little bit of rub on the front guards, but nothing a wheel alignment shouldn't fix. Also bought a set of second hand aragosta coilovers with adjustable front camber plates so that I can fit some wider tires and dial in the ride height as well as firm up the suspension. Got 6 well used dunlop direzza 03g 245/40/18 semi slick tires for free so will see if I can get them to fit to gain some traction. White wheels and a nice clean engine bay: That is where the project currently is at, waiting for a new 3rd brake light as it cracked again so I can take it for a WOF and then install my coilovers and try fit the 245 tires and hopefully get the wheels repainted soon, thinking either shadow chrome, gunmetal, or gloss black... More things coming soon

A few weeks of hard slog and we're getting there. Most of the faults in the first post have been rectified. Took both front seats out to really give the car a good clean and now all the seats work electrically. I can't believe these things have electric headrests 😂. Tailgate now opens by using the drivers footwell button, but not the exterior handle/button. The last major thing to tidy up is the roof which in reality isn't the end of the world. BUT it looks as though I have to sell the black beast prematurely. A job offer in the Central Otago region means we'll likely be moving on from Auckland. I'm not keen on driving 4 cars and a house removal truck, so something has to go. New job has free electric car charging so I'll be converting to the dark side once down there. Big question is, what to list for? Hard to find a comparison. If I was a gambling man I could go $1 reserve 🤔

IIRC you dont need hoops if there isnt a power increase, and you can prove all OEM parts were used in the conversion (not a custom drive shaft). Car looks amazing.Sort of thing i'd love to own, but know its way out of any realistic price range i'd pay.

M539 Restorations on YouTube - must watch!

Yeah that’s what the cert guy has said on the phone. I was holding off thinking I would do a steering rack swap to Z3 or purple tag but don’t see me getting that done anytime soon, or getting any value out of it if I did get it done. The 370mm steering wheel actually makes the rack feel a tad faster anyway. Having it running properly does give me cold feet on the sale front but iv got abit of time up my sleeve to make that decision, might be one of those situations where if I get my asking price it goes and if i don’t then I’ll store it…as opposed to fire selling it. I’ll be keeping an eye on what that white 4 door goes for though. 🧐

I wondered if there was suppose to be a gasket in there as I cleaned it up, no sign of an o ring and then it was leaking straight away. Thanks

Congrats on the job - sounds exciting! Where did you do the pics? Looks a great spot. And that interior looks like a fantastic place to be on a winters morning.

Yeah i think 5k tops. 3.5k-4k region probably more realistic given most E39 have rooted suspension.

On TM right now...

4 or 5 grand would be my wild stab in the dark. You don't see that interior too often, she's looking good.

I’m really hoping it’s a wheel speed sensor and not the module 😬

both headlights work now, old ballast was shot. Cheers

Hi all, Bought this ballast to fix my headlight but turned out to be a bulb. Has been plugged in to test but other than that pretty much brand new. Photo from the website I got it from. I'm guessing it will fit all 1 series xenon headlights but best to check for yourself. BMW part number: 63117180050 This is NOT an oem part. Paid $170 shipped, just looking to move it on so will take anything above $130. Located Auckland Central but happy to ship. Thanks.

Ok sure will. We need to do a photo shoot regardless. Good luck with the R53 sale, looks like a fun car!

Project Binky. That is all.

I have really enjoyed Frank Stephensons channel on YouTube, more of a design perspective than just a practical car review. https://youtube.com/c/FrankStephensondesign

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-power-steering-reservoir-cap-seal-32411128333

Bmw sell a 'repair kit' which consists of two outer tail lights for less then the price of one new one

If you're going to flash your car ild strongly recommend you either buy an OBD2 cable or MHD wifi adaptor. Just gives that level of security to scan if any faults do come up. Plus running a log to check how your car is performing compared to the tune targets

First update after a week or so of ownership and a few 100kms... First few goodies arrived - A Condor 'Shorty' Shift knob and my new Euro Plates - went with silver 'wings' and really happy with the look at the front, although against the black rear plate frame the lack of contrast on certain angles just looks a bit white - we will see - looks better IRL than in the pictures - its just a lighter silver than I had hoped. Took her out this morning for a proper country drive out Helensville / Makarau way - it was drizzling and the suspension is tired and tires old so I didn't go nuts but had loads of fun. Observations: LOVE this exhaust / engine note - Loud raspy wail above 4K / great undulating burble at idle, blipping downshifts sounds fantastic and pops on upshifts and deceleration if you provoke it - so good. Unknown short shifter is nice, got a new shifter cup on way but no need to fiddle here Love the feedback through the wheel and happy with the slower rack (for now at least?) coming from a purple tag E46 100% need to do a suspension refresh - ride is quite hard and bouncy - happy with how flat it is through bends however, so will keep the sways and just change the bushes, maybe add a strut brace given the age More civilised than I expected on the motorway, aside from aforementioned bouncy ride - presumably due to dampers being past it Fixed a bad rattle in drivers door (was worn door hinge pads - a bit of electrical tape and it feels like a bank vault now) - flappy glove box is only other rattle of note now - not bad for such high kms Will also get drivers seat re-foamed when I get it the interior reupholstered and change the seat shocks - too much movement. Stupid easy to get the rear to step out on greasy roads - need a driver upgrade now - almost made a fool of myself in an intersection giving a touch of throttle mid corner - need to learn how an LSD feels? Will leave the old Potenza's on through summer and take it easy in wet - they don't seem bad otherwise, but will leave them for now as need to decide if I'm going to go to 16" or not after I do the suspension. Stoked with my decision even though the car needs plenty of improvement - feels somewhere between an NA MX5 and the E46 which is exactly what I had hoped.