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165,820 kms. After getting sick of being hit in the head everytime I had the bonnet up, I installed new bonnet struts over the weekend. What a difference! Such a cheap upgrade. I also got time to do the annual detail of the E36. Wash, clay bar, wash again, polish and sealant using Autoglym products. Montreal Blue really is stunning when clean. It always surprises me how different it looks in different lights too:

Provided you can get it cheap enough (sub $1.5k) it could be a good contender for a project car. I would be ripping the 4-pot out and looking into putting either a 335i or 335d motor in there with a few goodies on, with a decent set for rims and some paint would be awesome. love a Bimmer touring me, and a manual touring is a good place to start.

Hi all, I have been reading a few threads about your E46's, so thought I would post a few pics of my daily. Its a 2003 330d M-sport Touring. Originally a UK Car, very high spec with factory sat nav, Harmon Kardon, Glass sunroof and heated seats. I really love the torque and power from these engines, and they even sound good! I have had no issues with it since my ownership apart from a new air con compressor last year. Its just been routine maintenance using genuine parts supplied from the BM Workshop here in ChCh. Thanks for looking.

Firstly, apologies if I have posted this in the wrong place, but perhaps some fun for a Sunday afternoon. In the near future, I would like to buy a road car, budget up to $35k max. Need to live with it daily, (work only 6km away all city driving) plus occasional track event such as autocross and circuit sprints. Must be manual, in the small to medium size and reliable (is there such a thing?). Budget could extend to allow for an extra set of rims, semi-slicks and tune (circa $3k) or buy over time. My shortlist below, interested in what others would choose given the criteria above. * Ford Fiesta Mk8 ST (or Mk7) * Audi S1 (need to consider clutch upgrade if tuning) * Hyundai i30N Not a fan of the current Mini Was considering a GR Yaris but it's a lot of $s tied up in 1 car and would involve selling my Nissan GTi-R. (I know which one I would prefer in the garage in 5 years time, but both would cater for my grass events) edit: i should note my N54 130i wont be in the garage in the near future, for those thinking why not use that.

Having watched a LOT of M539 restorations on youtube lately I'm finding myself unexplainably drawn to this - downsides are the fact that its' ass is dragging on the ground (presume cheap lowering springs), it's cosmetically pretty rough and most of all it's powered by the shitty N46. But it's a well specced manual 3 series touring so possibly worth saving despite that. Reckon you could probably triple / quadruple your purchase price to get it going well though. WOF history suggests it hasn't had much love for a while https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/320i/listing/3958250879

I was planning on it but have since organised a holiday to Europe! Looks like a fun trip though - hopefully I can tag along next time.

looking great man, Are you attending the South Island BMW CCNZ trip in May?

Lol yeah you'd have to bank on a different engine, you KNOW its at turners for a reason and its probably to do with the N46. Turners is the dumping ground for cars you cant sell anywhere else. Its also clever, because i believe being sold at auction like it is means its not subject to certain CGA clauses.

I wonder what people aren't seeing? 😂

WTB E30 headlight switch - not sure if anyone has one in their spare parts bin/unused parts pile.

Gah! Even with the plastic covers removed? (Assuming @M3AN doesn't already have it bolted to a 130i 😂 )

Yeah it looks like a dog. Anything with the N42\46 isn't worth saving in my book, the majority of them seem to be in poor running states due to understandable neglect. Such a massive degrade compared to the M44, probably cheaper to swap one those in.

Don't think M539 would touch something like this with a 10 foot pole 😄 Personally, I would avoid due to the shoddy state of the paint (on the rear bumper at minimum) and the electrical troubles - two types of issues I least enjoy dealing with. Could be a good project if you're that way inclined, although at the end of the day, you'd still be left with a 4-pot nightmare driving it. Would be a keen subscriber to your build thread if you do take it on though.

Still jealous of the Draggy !! I'll have to change my code for 0-60 for comparison, but then i might need to pop a gear change in there hah I quite enjoyed trying to launch it, few tyre roasting experiences 🚭 Just realised i never did a 80-120 using 2nd gear to start !! Classic, will have to give it a go.

I'll take it, collected from Meadowbank (Auckland I assume?), for $400 as long as it's structurally sound and not too aesthetically damaged. Don't really need it but it looks purdy.

It's January ya crazy capitalist supermarket cartel !!! Did I buy some ... why yes I did

Bit the bullet and bought the Turner spherical bearing kit, decided it was worth a punt since they have the lifetime warranty. Kit arrived yesterday and I spent this morning putting them in, out with the arms and pressed the old bushes out, new bushes ready to go in, first one went in no problem, second one took a couple of tries to get it started square but went in fine, arms go back in as per usual, but hardware can be torqued up with suspension droop as the mono ball just pivots when the weight comes back on, so nice and easy, will book for wheel alignment and WOF re-check next week. Now, to see how long they last....

Update: Landed on the following setup: Birds' B1 Dynamics Package Solution. (Customer Supplied) New Complete Quaife ATB Limited-Slip Differential New Complete QUAIFE LSD Differentials, which are new differentials ordered from BMW and converted with QUAIFE LSD. Birds B1 Anti-roll bar Birds B1 Sport Suspension For rear subframe bushes I used the Turner Motorsport but order them through ECS Tuning. Make sure you pay the extra for DHL! https://www.ecstuning.com/b-turner-motorsport-parts/solid-rear-subframe-bushing-set/tdr9080ss3/ M3 front control arms (4) (BMWorkshop Supplied) M3 rear upper control arms (4) (BMWorkshop Supplied) Front subframe collars (this does the same thing for the front subframe as the solid rear subframe bushes, gets rid of the variable wheel alignment!) (Customer Supplied) https://rzcrewgarage.com/collections/collar-kits/bmw+1-series-e82-2007-2013-tc-i6 Stiffer rear toe links (BMWorkshop Supplied)

I wonder if - in the spirit of BMW LEGO - the e46 item might easily retrofit? I'm not able to visualise, but hey - perhaps worth nutting out?

Not really any serious power gains to be had, nothing of serious consequence anyway. New map, few more hp (some claim 200kw doable, I think thats likely BS) Decent headers, pickings are slim for RHD, brintech in aussie seem to have the best option but its not cheap, however dyno proven 13-15kw https://www.brintechcustoms.com.au/all-products/n52-custom-exhaust-headers MILVs, modifying the intake lift of the valvetronic system, gives a solid bump throughout rev range but requires a custom dyno tune. There is also a custom exhaust camshaft out there, but its currently vapourware. https://www.bimmermilvs.com/ Thats about it, at least sanely. Lower spec N52s benefit from bolting the HO N52B30 bits too them, but the 130s come out of the box in the highest state of factory N52 tune. There are some epic N52B30s out there in racecars, Kevin from Birds has/had a 380bhp N52B30 that runs S54 ITBs and custom cams with locked valvetronic... but ya talking $20-30k. There is also BPC who have played with multiple silly power turbo N52s, but they're hand grenades so are not available to purchase as kits. As Dave says, best option with 130s is fixing the suspension and putting an LSD in... Ive done some very spirited B road blitzes and Ive never thought afterwards "I need more power ".. near 190kw in a little hatch is pretty solid out of the box. If your 130 is feeling slow, likely something needs some love. A service, new airfilter, new plugs, cleaning out any intake manifold slime and then resetting the DME adaptations with 98 in the tank is probably a good first step.