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The throwout bearing on the e36 spat the dummy a good while ago. This has led down a rabbit hole, car on jacks for the last four months. At last it's all ready for new warrant tomorrow. So, while at it I replaced - windshield cowl - rear side window seals - replaced ceiling as the old one was only held in place by staples! - gearshift and parkbrake skirts - new bonnet struts - new clutch, etc - replace rear main seal - oil pan off, clean, new gasket - valve cover off, clean, paint, new gasket - oil filter housing gasket and bushing replaced - new idle pulley - new exhaust mounts - new wipers - replaced radiator and some of the hoses at the rear of the engine - new valve cover breather valve I think that's it. 🤔 Long journey, learned a lot. Thanks to those that answered my occasional questions and have supplied parts.

Finally fixed it, and upgraded. VRSF Intercooler, Catless down-pipe, and charge pipe installed. Flashed to MHD 2+, it's definitely a quick wee car. Enough for me for now! Took it for a drive and met up with some other BMW people, one being this tidy 335i, looked pretty good together.

One of these young Instagram fellows took some pics of this car for his gram, kids got talent! His deets: https://www.instagram.com/jrgcarsnz/?hl=en

Hmmmmm... this or an F31 330d, an E46 M3 and a nice E30 🤔

On the subject of EWS. With a blank key ..going under the dash and programming a new key eith an onchip programmer is a 3 minute process. With the correct equipment it doesn't take that much longer on the newer CAS vehicles. You then break the lock barrel and away you go. For these high value high target vehicles. You need layered protection. An aftermarket GPS tracker with remote fuel kill is essential. Under $500 with fitting. Also a steering wheel lock...it won't slow down a pro for too long but every little helps. This won't have been a random act.

Well it's a long time since I've posted but thought I'd leave quick update for any interested. I ended up getting BE bearings through Turner Motorsport online and used the 'Rod bearing overall kit' option they provide selecting to get some new engine mounts, boots etc while there (also a couple of spare throttle actuators for when they become a problem). Parts took a little while to get in as the bearings were out of stock at the time. Kit seemed pretty well thought out, had clear instructions and an install video. I talked with the team down at Edgell Performance in Wairau valley North Shore Auckland and they fitted them for me over a few days. Their workshop is pretty darn tidy and they were good to deal with. You can definitely see some wear on the old shells, not too bad compared to some I've seen online but glad for the piece of mind to get them done. FWIW had around 170km on the odometer when the job was done but actual engine mileage is closer to 100km (replacement engine). Job was done about a year ago, no issues.

Hey Folks, First time Bimmer owner, just stepped out of a Mk4 Golf shopping tolley and into an '07 320i M Sport a week ago, I know nothing about BMWs, yet, but I'm hoping i'll learn more along the way. Besides a bit of curb rash on the alloys and the odd blemish that's to be expected with its age it appears to be in great condition and it puts a smile on my face, so it's safe to say I'm happy. I was a member of ClubSub back when I had a Subaru and it was a great resource and community to be a part of so I had a Google and found you guys and here I am. Forgive me for the rubbish pic, I haven't had a chance to take a proper pic yet but I'll try get a few in the next couple of days and update here. That's mine on the left, workmates on the right ('11 325i) Cheers!

yes.............I know it's not in NZ and it's lhd. But LOOK at it!!! My kind of awesome. If somebody did this in NZ I would find the $$ from somewhere.

Bought a DA polisher from SCA over the weekend for $100 and had a go with it. So much easier than doing it by hand! Although still need to hand do some of the fiddly bits. Would recommend for anyone wanting to get started with a DA.

Based on the production date from the VIN it should be equipped with iDrive NBT-EVO ID4 (which as the regular text based menu). If yours has the tile based menu then it has been upgraded. Retrofits from ID4 to ID5 could be done on some units without hardware changes but the Hardware suffered as a result since the ID4 units have less RAM than the ID5/6 units, resulting in frequent reboots. You can check which maps database is installed from the Navigation Settings menus. If it's still on the UK maps then a simple map update should do the trick. You should also be able to tell the raw position from one of the Nav settings screens which will tell you if the GPS is functional.

anyone know of anywhere preferably in the south island that is able to turbo a m30b35 in a e30 and if they still offer this service? or if anyone has turbod one them self that might have a parts list that they wouldnt mind sharing, and if theres anything they would of done differently on theres Cheers Alex

The Engine Room - About us – The Engine Room (engine-room.co.nz)

I've had BlackVue in two of the cars over the past few years. Not the cheapest but not the most expensive. Image quality is excellent in HD at night even and more than good enough to read the plate from other vehicles. I fitted both front and rear cameras myself and wired them in with PowerMagic Pros.

The big ones to look out for are misfires but another mode can be a hard start first thing in the morning due to the pressure not building quickly enough in a failing pump. What's often misunderstood is that it's really only the early production run of HPFPs that "die young"...often well below 100k KM. Even below 50k KM. The replacement spec should live a very long life. With BMWs easy access to a scanner tool / inpa or even better some way to take logs is essential to ownership as proper diagnosis is vital to prevent massive unnecessary expenditure. However as with all things automotive..the symptoms above can be nothing to do with the HPFP.

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.

Had a bit of a moment when one of the air spring couplers popped off and dropped the car about 60mm while I was under it! I like to think I shat myself with dignity!! 😀 Replacement clip found in a box of bits, fitted and coupler replaced, seems all good now so back under I go.....

Ride height sensors back in, wheel speed sensors back in, brake calipers bolted up, sway bar back in, next up tighten the driveshaft bolts, put wheels back on, put the car on ramps and tighten all the suspension bolts, then chuck the exhaust back on!! Should be all good for a wheel alignment booked for tomorrow morning, I have to say I am looking forward to driving an E39 touring with mostly refreshed suspension again, its been a while! Then, 1500 km round trip to visit family next week, towing a trailer with a dog kennel on it! Kind of a "what will break next" roulette wheel.🤔

Rain didn't happen so subframe went back in, mostly done, just a few minor details like the brakes to bolt back up!! Then hoping I can get a wheel alignment over the weekend!

Reinforcing Apple's proprietary technology is never the wise long term choice, the privacy sacrifice is immeasurable.

I usually have a laugh whenever going through palmy It looked trashed about 6 years ago

Hadn't planned on it, but bought one today, will pick up next week. Spent a little over budget but it was by far the nicest we saw, condition and driving wise, and kind of spoke to us much more than the others. Looked at a few that were a bit cheaper with higher kms but they felt it. Little clean car rebate won't hurt either. Mainly I am stoked I convinced the wife into a white one (BMW wagon to boot!), she is a black car nut and I'm not a fan of trying to care for them. 2014, 75km but looks and feels much lower km - immaculate inside and out, M Performance front splitter + 19" wheels (guessing replicas of a late model ///M wheel??? with new cheap tyres but fitment is great). Autosure extreme warranty, hopefully won't need it. Will be putting on a Euro plate / Black Grille / Carplay and see how we go. A great partner for the M325i.

If I want to feel good about mine I just go for a drive in it, still makes me smile every time!

Not much to post in here while I'm waiting on parts for the next month. So the seats definitely deserve another few photos on this thread before they go in. I'd be lying if I said they didn't come out every couple of days just to stare at them... Wish I was better with a camera for these. Photos don't do them justice at all. Light effects the way the alcantara top layer looks a lot. Something I did have a go at pre-lockdown was refinishing some trim pieces. Didn't expect it to go as well as it did so unfortunately I didn't take any before shots. My car has a mismatch of interior trim bits, all in various states of awful. The dash trim and front door handles are silver (I think known as titan 2?). These are in bad shape. The handles are peeling and scratched, brings the whole interior down. Annoyingly the finish on these is different to other types. The silver is some kind of aluminum layer on top of the plastic and really difficult to strip off. the rears are even stranger, they are a (very poorly executed) single piece black plastic mold. They are covered in dimples and imperfections in the plastic and are essentially total junk. Probably done by whoever did the leather retrim... I really just wanted a clean set in the OEM titanshadow finish. Unfortunately that proved incredibly difficult to source. Thought I had a couple times but to no avail. Eventually, a wrecked coupe came up at a wrecker yard near me so I went and grabbed the handles. They were in BAD shape. I wish I had taken photos because I really was not hopeful. The finish on the top and bottom of the handles was completely wrecked on all four. But they were $8 each so I grabbed them. Spent a few evenings stripping them down and painting them. They came up way better than I anticipated. Sanding them was a total nightmare and took hours. I found I had to go as low as 180 grit dry sanding to get the bottom sections all the way back to plastic, then slowly stepping up the grit until they were smooth. I think I finished with 600 wet. For the black sections, I just used a basic rustoleum flat black paint and primer. The nozzles on their cans seem pretty good and the colour is a good match for the other blacks in the interior. I did lose the 'soft touch' that is on the OEM pieces. No big loss imo. Just about everywhere that 'soft touch' finish is on the interior has not stood the test of time, it just gets sticky and starts to peel away. The top sections are trickier. No one quite knows what the paint code of the original titanshadow trim is. A friend was able to tell me that GM8573 is a pretty good match, so that's what I went with. It seems to be a pretty good match, but I don't have any new OEM pieces to compare it to atm so I will report back. Really stoked on how well these came out and will be a big upgrade when they replace the old stuff. I didn't get the dash trim out of the wrecked car because someone had replaced it with some fake carbon rubbish, but fortunately all the dash trim pieces and the gear selector surround are all available for super cheap from schmiedmann. They are ordered but probably a few weeks out. I'm just hoping the paint match on the handles is close enough that it won't be too obvious, not sure what plan B will be if they are way off. In the meantime the car is looking better than ever, but the to-do list is ever growing. There is definitely something sexy about an E46 M3 on square 18s...