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Hi everyone, I'm new to the site, and new to BMW ownership. Just bought a 2007 130i (not sure if anyone knows this one?). Seems to be in great condition, and just the usual oil leaks that seem to be pretty common for BMW's! Looking forward to putting some kms on it, and enjoying the banter on here. Cheers Andy

Not an awful lot to report on of late, spent a few weekends fixing up my Swift Sport daily and the missus' Outback so have only tinkered with a few cosmetic bits here and there. Got the AC system degassed, removed the tensioner and cleaned up the mess from the blown up compressor clutch. The AC belt and tensioner didn't look great at first but luckily all the gunk came off by just scraping away at it with a fingernail, the rest just came away mostly in bigger chunks. Will do a refresh on the whole AC system at some point down the line, not before sorting out the subframe and suspension though. Got myself a 3D printed roof rail delete kit from Huggins Racing. Don't see myself putting on a roof box any time soon and just wanted to see what it'd look like without the rails. Does make the car look that wee bit sleeker so will stick with it. Have a spare set of inserts as well that I'm happy to let go if anyone's after one. The state of the paintwork is really starting to eat away at me, the front end being especially horrific. Can't wait to get all the mechanics sorted and start putting money aside for a respray. Noticed a bit of a rarity browsing the interwebs one day - a manual coupe at Pick-A-Part. Not as exciting as it could have been as it came in with the majority of the important bits already stripped off but figured I'd go for a wander anyway, if nothing else then just to see how much more wiring I can cull to get closer to a factory manual. Only manual bits that were left was the hard clutch line running behind the heater core and the pedals - the car had sustained major front end impact and the shell had folded in so much that it basically pinched the pedal box in place. Neither were really worth the hassle of digging them out. What was left behind though was the cluster so I was happy to come away with that. Back when I switched over from a coupe, I did notice the cluster on the sedans and wagons looking a bit dull but took me a while to figure out what the difference was exactly, can really see it side by side. I needed to take the cluster apart again anyway to adjust the needles as mentioned in a previous post so used it as an excuse to switch out the backing plate once again. Meaningless little details but pretty pleased with the new look. Then finally got back to tackling something substantial this week. Ever since the rebuild I've been getting an annoying tick for the first second of a cold start that I couldn't quite pinpoint. Recruited a more knowledgeable mate to have a listen who figured it sounded like lifter tick - likely just a couple not sealing properly, draining out overnight and causing a tick until the oil pressure pumps them back up again. That's one theory anyway. New lifters were already on my to-do list so just bumped it up on the priority list. Actually came out cheaper than what I thought they'd be - a set of 24 OE INA ones came out to under $300 from Spareto. I only remembered them being US$11 on FCP so thought it'd be closer to $600 all up, which put me off at the time. Hoping these fix the issue, otherwise I'll be left with more gremlins to chase. Took the cover off earlier in preparation and it's quite a nice sight to be greeted with.

Little YouTube vid shot yesterday:

I can get 6x landed from Spareto from $160 (12 euro each) so i dont think the pricing is crazy. As for Repco you probably know what it stands for.

Good looking example there Andy, welcome. 👍

Just seen an E30 rolling shell advertised for $5k. No engine, gearbox or diff, no front seats. No close-up pics. I thought maybe the market was coming back a little - recently seen WoF'd and rego'd cars listed for $10k, perhaps a little less. Most were 320i autos.

Fun Easter Weekend so far - did some laps at Hampton Downs in this wee beastie (pretty good birthday present). Absolutely fantastic experience, obviously didn’t even touch the potential of it but the front end grip was mind boggling! Bit of time in my sim rig helped with lines and pedal modulation but nothing could prepare you for the intensity, noise and lack of visibility. Would love to do some proper seat time in one of these things.

Why’s that then..?

No problem. What part of Wellington are you in? We are Newtown based. We considered the iX3 but as you say the iX1 is faster/AWD and I prefer the styling (obviously personal choice). The iX3 has slightly higher range but I don't think this will be an issue for us. Also its ~$20k cheaper

Seats remind me of one Peter Parker

E38 illuminated interior door handles installed today. Couple of hours work with genuine used parts, incl wires thanks @hqstu srivers door was the hardest, other were super easy. Checked all the Vapor barrier seals while I was in there patched a couple of spots with butyl tape and the heat gun. night cruising wil come with added ambiance now. 😎

Picked up a single Recaro SP-JC seat on fb for fairly cheap to replace the SR3. The SR3 is clearly superior for sprinted driving, but with the solid subframe mounts the body roll is much reduced so something a bit more livable makes sense more of the time. Its certainly a nicer and well featured seat compared to the average Recaro whilst still being light. The bolstering\support isn't very aggressive, slightly improved over stock sport seats i reckon with added shoulder support but slightly flatter base bolstering, basically a SR7-F. Feels so much nicer to sit in though, definitely got VW\Audi style Recaro vibe to it. Fits in the E46 better with good clearance for bolsters and airbag tensioner. Unfortunately like the SR3 it still sits about 1 inch to low for me, but its a small issue. Features include - electric recline, cooling and heating function on the remote and a manually inflatable lumber bladder with thigh support on bottom. Manually folds forward too which is a must for me in a coupe and you dont have to hold it forward like the SR3. Also matches the passenger seat better than i expected despite the Recaro branding and red stitiching

Energy Motorsport is a Japanese dress up tuner. http://www.energy-ms.jp/e90.html http://www.energy-ms.jp/e90_91.html

Hi team. Recently got a very tidy E30 LHD 2 door sedan 325i Mtech2 (m20b25). Of couse it comes with issues and here goes haha... When starting the engine, it starts on the first go fine whether it is cold or hot, but dies within 5 - 10 seconds after. Key off again and switches back on, starts fine and doesn't die from there. Things I've already done on this car... New fuel pump, fuel filter and fuel hoses around the pump and fuel filter. New fuel pressure regulator. New idle control valve. New spark plugs. (Coils/HT leads/Distributor/Rotors are less than 2 years old and checked fine) I also put the total system cleaner through fuel tank and did make better and so far starts and runs fine on the first go. I'm thinking maybe the injectors are leaking as I can smell bit of fuel around the engine bay (not all the time). Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.