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Exciting morning for me yesterday - new wheels and tyres went on finally. Maxilite Alpina wheels in 16x7 ET28 and 16x8 ET28 with Yokohama AD08R's in 205/50 and 225/45. Absolutely stoked - wheels look fantastic and fitment is great, probably pushing it about as far as practical without rubbing / rolling. I am probably going to raise it 5-10mm all-round over Easter - it looks great but is a wee bit impractical at this height. The tyres look super aggressive as well and the car is feeling significantly more planted and turns much sharper without an obvious NVH impact (the 205/55/15's were old RE002's). Car has not been aligned but tracks much straighter, will be aligning once new control arms, CAB's and tie-rods go in soon - should be handling far better than I could ever exploit by then. Obligatory photoshoot.

Since I got my Manual W8 Passat, the rooted wheels have really annoyed me. Went to wheel-fix it to see how much it would be to give them a refurb. The polished lips were oxidised and decently curbed, and the painted centres were bubbling. To have the wheels properly sorted they would need to be chemically stripped and painted which would cost around $3K.... Plus I was still on the hunt for new tyres. Came across an NZ New, Auto W8 Passat, with much tidier wheels, wrapped in RE003s, and in the same colour as the manual! So I made the unique decision to buy it just for the wheels. Is actually quite a well kept car with a service book which is completely full. Was dealer serviced until around 2015 and judging by the RE003s (which are now on the manual one), it had been pampered more than most W8s. Got quite a few looks on the drive home. Not sure how many times in human history, two silver W8s have been cruising together! Driving the pair back to back is very interesting. The auto is nice enough on the motorway but feels pretty sluggish around town. Manual transmission really transforms the car in my opinion. Also, driving them both home from Hamilton, the 6-speed manual got 9.1L/100km whereas the 5-speed Auto said it got 10.4L/100km. But anyway, having owned it approximately 24 hours and having swapped the wheels, the auto is up for sale! Would make a great tow car, long distance cruiser or winter beater. Has the rare leather and alcantara Recaro bucket seats which are electric and heated. Also has a factory VW tow bar and probably is one of the tidiest W8s left. Have no use for the car so its now on trademe if anyone wants it. Can do a decent deal for Bimmersporters, although I doubt anyone would want it 🤣 Depending on how long it takes to sell I will probably get bored and start taking more bits off it to swap with the manual one. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/volkswagen/listing/3556110221?bof=6Myl2HdR

@Sammo WOW! Looks absolutely sensational. Love the wheels.

This will serve as a diary of my love-hate relationship with this wonderful menace of a machine. HISTORY - Imported from Japan in 2010. - Came into my ownership in February 2021 at 214,XXXkm. ENGINE - M54B30 (161,XXXkm) full rebuild & conversion (January 2023 - 227,488km) - M52-style piston rings - New main & rod bearings - Drilled and safety wired oil pump nut - New timing chains & guides - Oil pump resealed - New crank sprocket - Brand new genuine & OE sensors throughout - New ignition coils & spark plugs - Brand new belts & tensioners - Aluminium water pump & power steering pulleys - New engine mounts - New radiator & associated hoses (May 2021 - 216,6XXkm) - New water pump & thermostat (January 2023 - 227,5XXkm) - New lifters (April 2023 - 228,XXXkm) - New PCV & associated hoses, intake boots (September 2023) - M3 chain tensioner (October 2023) - VANOS rebuild (November 2023) - OFH metal oil non-return valve (March 2024) - Compression tested, 200PSI on all cylinders (March 2024) - New starter (June 2024) TRANSMISSION - 5-speed manual ZF S5D 320Z swap - Brand new detents, shifter pins, reverse sensor - Replaced input shaft seal, selector rod seal, throwout bearing guide tube, brass clutch fork pivot pin - Brand new LUK dual mass flywheel & clutch, new throwout bearing & clutch fork - New clutch master & slave cylinders - New transmission mounts - E60 shift lever & ZHP shift knob - New shifter linkage bushes throughout - BM Speedshop DSSR - Clutch switch, reverse switch wired in and EGS coded out - Removed gas pedal kick-down clicker DRIVETRAIN - New guibo, CSB (January 2023) - Fitted manual 2.93 differential with brand new input & output seals, rust treated & repainted - 330i manual driveshaft given a fresh coat of paint BRAKES - 330i brake retrofit - calipers & carrier brackets vapour blasted, painted & resealed (October 2023) - New OE rubber brake hoses, Akebono ceramic pads, new park brake shoes - New brake booster & master cylinder (May 2024) - Brake fluid flush (May 2024) FRONT AXLE - OE sway bar end links (November 2021 - 221,XXXkm) - 25mm Z4 sway bar - Whiteline strut brace - Bilstein B4 shocks - Eibach springs - E90xi strut mounts - E36 M3 bump stops - OE wheel bearings (October 2023) REAR AXLE - CMP Auto Engineering bottom side reinforcement plates & topside brace bar welded in - Stitch welded trailing arm pockets and wheel arch panels - CMP Auto Engineering solid subframe bushes & monoball trailing arm bushes - OE rubber diff bushes - 330i axles - 19mm Msport sway bar - Eibach adjustable rear camber arms - Bilstein B4 shocks - Stock Msport springs - E36 M3 bump stops - OE wheel bearings (October 2023) STEERING - LF-30 reseal & retrofit - New power steering reservoir and lines - High pressure line rebuilt by Enzed - New Lemforder inner & outer tie rods - CMP Auto Engineering solid steering coupler INTERIOR - Full interior-out deep clean, shampooed carpets, most interior plastic trims replaced with good condition ones, worn soft touch rubberized coatings peeled back to bare plastic & treated - Headliner & pilar trims professionally reupholstered (April 2021 - 216,XXXkm) - Steering wheel wrap and multifunction button retrofit - Android headunit - Leather door cards fitted - Cluster backing plate switched out and recoded from km/L to L/100km - Temperature buffer mod - Replaced dash with a tidy example - Armrest delete, because manual EXTERIOR - Roof rail delete - Shadowline trim professionally repainted (June 2024) OTHER - Rolled rear fenders - Installed towbar - Reverse camera - New fuel pump, seals & lock rings (October 2023) - New AC compressor, condenser, drier, expansion valve (October 2023) - BMW Style 193 rims with Dunlop SP Sport Maxx 050+ (225/40R18 front, 255/35R18 rear) fitted (October 2023) - Fully certified for engine swap, transmission swap and others (January 2024) IN PROGRESS - Full paint correction (cut & polish, paint touchup, protective coating) throughout - Installing door sound deadening, resealing vapour barriers FUTURE PLANS - Towing module retrofit - Heated seat retrofit - Auto lights & wipers / rain-light sensor retrofit - Redo window tints - Refurbish and install X5 leather front seats, E46 leather rear seats

Hello all, I have experienced the flooded ecu (dme) on my E91 325i. This wouldn't be such a problem if I lived close to a BMW dealer but I would need to tow the car over an hour away. I'm looking to swap the ecu, cas, ignition slot and key. Has anyone done this successfully? Does anyone have a set? I have already sent the ecu off to be fixed but was unsuccessful. My ecu is Siemens VDO 7 576 297. Thanks

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/3555911173 Reads - lack of info and wording used - like someone who has picked up a E30 cheaply and is flipping it. Of course, I could have massively misinterpreted that! Decent car, in what looks like decent condition. $25k decent...? No idea. There have been several $25-30k cars listed recently but most appear to be being relisted.

i can help, you just need a secondhand ecu., if you send used ecu and your cas i can pair it together. done plenty. no need to buy a set. and fyi, if you do buy a set the cas depending on the ks will automatically sync the highest value. plus you'll have a tamper dot on cluster as vin mismatch.

Damn, those wheels look even better than I thought. Whole package has gone to another level, and it was up there to start with!!

Fantastic, you should be very proud @Sammo

Heart emojis all round, looks sweet as Sam @Sammo. Beautiful car

Looks great! Did you get in trouble for taking photos at that location? I know that the shop owners are never happy with people coming into their private carpark for photoshoots haha

Hah so awesome Kees @Kees, hope someone snaps it up

More good progress on the electrical side: Getting the cable made for the starter / alternator and power feed to my PDM at MSEL which should be ready tomorrow Cabin power / earth distribution complete along with the Arduino mounting Arduino is plugged into both the BMW and Nissan CAN buses and validated it can diddle with the gauge cluster New fuel pump relay changed to actually work (ECU grounds the coil instead of powering it as I had wired it) 🙄 So electrically speaking it should be possible to start it at this point !! 😲 Did a few other bits for fun: Installed the front bumper temporarily to start thinking about a radiator ... might try and get the Chase Bays tucked item as the E46 items all seem to have freaky end tanks which won't allow easy moving of the inlet / outlets. Completed most of the fuel system plumbing bar the return line So I think I'm looking to take care of the dry sump plumbing now !!! I'd better start a GoFundMe to get that ball rolling a bit faster 😅 Oh also still need to get a clutch line made up so it stops pissing fluid on the floor ... and finish the trans mount / cross member ... oh and the header secondaries and springs / loops ... and probably a bunch of other stuff !!

Great, good sized BMW meet at Smales farm today, great cross section of cars from E34 wagons, V8 E36, M4 CS, a gang of tuff 135i's and a couple of E30's. New wheels and tyres will be going on Thursday, so one last photo with the Basketweaves on a perfect Sunday afternoon.

Wow, more than two years since my last post… *trigger warning - children/babies & medical stuff* A few weeks after my last post my son fell extremely ill. After several long hospital stays he was diagnosed with post transplant lymphoproliferative disorder, in his case caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. At his sickest there were 16 million copies of the virus per millilitre of his blood. He thankfully completed a course of Rituximab (kinda like a chemo drug that wipes out all the T cells in your immune system). By August he was home, and after a couple of blips he has been largely okay since. If things stay good for another few years his doctors will declare victory over the PTLD. In September of 2020 we found out my wife was pregnant with #2! Our second son was born in April 2021 at 32 weeks, following a rough pregnancy. He spent 5 weeks in NICU before joining us at home. 4 days later he was rushed to Starship with respiratory issues. He got a tracheostomy about a week later (which has been amazing) and then spent 47 long days in PICU battling infections and myriad issues that couldn’t all be tied back together. He finally made it up to the ward, and then a few days later started having seizures. Over the course of a few days we watched our little man lose all ability to move, turn his head, hear, and interact with us. Since then it’s been a long slow journey of improvement for him. After a couple of weeks he started looking at things, and us, again, another few weeks later he started responding to sound again, by the time we got him home at the end of September he could turn, but not support, his head. Another 8 weeks later and he could fairly well hold his head up, and today I took a photo of him sitting, propped up, in his hospital cot (he’s been in this week fighting a nasty virus) playing with a toy. The teams at Starship have been incredible. The head consultants from a bunch of different teams have been heavily involved in my son’s care, and their skill and the wonders of modern medicine have been life-saving for both of my children. I’m forever indebted to them, our public healthcare system, and, by extension, taxpayers of New Zealand. Wow. That was cathartic to write out. Not very on-topic, but cathartic. Thus concludes the explanation of why it’s been two years since my last post… I only drove the M3 a couple of times in 2021. For most of the year I wasn’t even sure if I was going to keep it (hard to make plans or think about what’s fun when you’re constantly in crisis mode). But the last few months as things have trended towards our “new normality” I’ve been enjoying driving the car on occasion and making some more plans for it. A couple of days ago I ordered a new OE steering wheel. The current wheel is quite badly cracked along the top, and the paddles and trim are in very poor condition. I looked at options like getting my current wheel rewrapped and buying new trim, etc. but for what that was going to cost it made more sense to order a brand new wheel. I found one for a good price, and, importantly, cheap shipping and pulled the trigger. It’s coming snail mail (hence the cheapness) so, given the current state of global logistics it should arrive sometime between the beginning of April and the end of time. I have a bunch of other items I want to get as well, but they’re all significantly cheaper, so I figured it was best to buy the expensive thing first, so I don’t keep putting it off! I also have a couple of little projects in mind to keep me busy as well so will hopefully be posting those up here soon! Matt

Still here ... still doing headers pretty much, will be half way through the finish welding tonight and completed the most difficult side of the engine. Did something fun today also and added the elusive 337 Ci boot badges Other pic shows what I've been doing to bridge some of the gap left in the donut sections ... those things have been such a nightmare 😕 Really could use some thin strip stainless ... could make some but yeeaaaa. Also had a hose fitting burst in the garage, super lucky is just blasted straight down from the roof and just splashed over everything.

Yawn. It's a grey Z4 with a black interior. Yawn. I don't care for the wheels. It's a non-M motor (1 throttle body). Yawn. I guess someone somewhere will love it... I suppose it is 'unique'. For the record... "The engine is a handbuilt 3.4-litre E5/2 inline-6 The engine is an enlarged version of the S52B32 engine[3] first installed in the North American M3 (E36)."