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Finally dusted off the DA Polisher that’s been sitting in the basement for a year since I bought it to prep car for the Brit and Euro show: Wash Clay Wash and dry Spot Carpro Clearcut (heavy cut) Carpro Ceriglass on windows (remove etching / water spots) Carpro Fixer (medium cut) Carpro Essence (Light cut glaze with sealant and fillers) Carpro Elixer (High gloss Si02 spray sealant) Also refinished headlight lenses and detailed all black trim with Carpro Perl. Really, really happy with how it came out - and the car already looked pretty good - took out almost all the minor scratches that would show up in certain light and just looks great now. Also got a new alarm fitted and the install is much tidier now - he removed a crazy amount of crap from under the kick panel - the remote is half the size of the old one which helps too. Still waiting on workshop to book me in for the gearbox / clutch / who knows.... but car probably hasn’t looked this good in 10-15 years.

A wet dream 😁

We still have EuroItalian. Gavin sold to Rodney but the purpose is the same.

Unless you have an absolute hard on for the manual conversion but would rather spend 20k for someone else to do it, then yes! Near half the price and you also get half the mileage (130k less or something!?) and has the newer M60 Alusil (not the better M62 mind you, I checked MDecoder and this is a 1995 build car) engine which doesnt have any of the fuel sulpher problems of the original M60, which admittedly isnt much of an issue outside the US/Russia/India etc. Id be ditching the 19" wagon wheels unless you dont intend driving it but like looking at it. 18" absolute max on that era BMW (ie this is a chassis shared with the BMW E32).

I've heard it called the "mermaids" class on Facebook 🤣

So Christmas just past I dashed off to West Auckland to buy this - e39 535i with 3 pedals from factory.

General Bla I've been researching whats required to do a carbon roof on the E46 coupe and might document here in case others want to follow the same path including the required LVVTA certification etc. One or two might think this is over capitalising somewhat on the ex 318 so will also document my reasoning 🧐 Got sunroof, don't want sunroof Weight savings (mostly in the sunroof delete) Want black interior so would need to do a new head liner anyhoo ... yes, the tail wags the dog It's within the realm of the DIY'er Have the opportunity to help manufacture the roof itself via vacuum infusion Just looks cool !!! On Certification I'm always keen to do things properly so I got in touch with the LVVTA to see if there is any certification interest in replacing the skin. As there is no definitive information for this procedure they took it to their Technical Working Group (TWG) for consideration. After a bit of back and forth the below statement was arrived at which provides the framework for doing the job. "Based on the information provided, assuming that the procedure involves removing only the sunroof cassette and single layer of roof skin, that any spot-welded areas (particularly along the roof seams and apron areas) are either unaltered or restored to OEM specification using a compatible repair process, that the central roof bow is attached in a way that replicates the OE method of attachment, TWG are happy with the principle of this idea. However, the final approval must come from an LVV Certifier, and in addition to the above, they must be satisfied that the structure of the vehicle has not been altered by this modification beyond a safe tolerance of OE. They must also be satisfied that the bonding agents used to reattach the new roof skin are appropriate for the intended use." I've been in touch with my certifier and he has outlined the inspections he would need for this: After the steel skin has been removed and the hood bow fitted After the new roof goes on but before glass installed Once everything is completed The Process There are many videos on YouTube of people doing the procedure, some of the better ones are linked below. Showing the roof skin being a single layer coming off the structural members: https://youtu.be/GhTOA7Cl9fk?t=140 Showing a bit more of the overall process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmC-gooNM0M The official procedure from BMW for replacement of the M3 CSL roof can be found here, which will be the process of installation for me: https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e46-m3-csl-cou/repair-manuals/41-body/41-31-roof/4K9opCv What Next Need final confirmation the mold is indeed to suit the E46 coupe then I need to locate some spare cash. May take a little while until the next update but that's where things are at currently.

Surely if you were going to drop $20K into a manual conversion, you'd cross the rubicon and fit an S62 at the same time?

Guess it depends what you are after and what you are using the car for. I think Koni and higher end Bilstein overpriced these days. IMO B6\B8 Bilsteins are rubbish ride quality on average NZ road without being re-valved. Im pretty happy Eibach Pro-kit (slightly lower and firmer than Msport springs) with and OE spec TRW struts\shocks on my E46. Rides and handles very well without sacrificing ride quality and they are cheap. They have their drawbacks in certain conditions compared to higher end products, but most people arent driving the car like that. H&R's are much firmer spring. https://spareto.com/products/eibach-suspension-kit-coil-springs/e2063-140 https://spareto.com/products/trw-shock-absorber/jgm239t https://spareto.com/products/trw-shock-absorber/jgs160t Yeah you will certainly need new bump stops, strut mounts, dust boots and maybe spring rubbers for the front end. Rears parts dont seem to fail on E39's but id probably buy new rear bump stops and they degrade over time.

Nick van den Berg is selling one on FB market place, believe he's asking $2250

Think this was the thread for it. What do you do with a car that you couldn't shift for $40k? Take shittier photos of it and chuck it up for $100k. Brilliant.

///Mould

Not a major thing, but a major impact when I've been starting the car with a jump pack for the last month !!! Soooooo good having a new battery

Look at this forum, I assume you are from Wellington too. https://bimmersport.co.nz/forum/26-wellington/