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And here it goes for the first time start. She’s all good and healthy now. No more black smoke out of the exhaust and no leaking at all. I also made a correct decision by replacing timing chain as it runs and sounds so much better, as before it felt like it was jumping to start the engine. Forgot to measure the difference of the old and new chain but must’ve stretched out or tensioner given up. Very happy with it. Now I can get rid of the car and sell it. IMG_3206.mov

Hi all, Here is my daily that I bought recently. All the horror stories online put me off from owning a beemer initially but I know a guy who would own nothing but a beemer, so I did wonder what the fuss is about. After selling my previous daily, mk5 GTI, I looked for a manual 130i and after weeks of waiting, I picked one up in New Plymouth and drove it back to Auckland. My first impression was that it felt a lot more luxurious than the Golf. The golf was a step up from other Japanese cars I previously owned, but 130i was another step up. Although I'm still getting use to heavy steering and very chunky steering wheel, I'm enjoying its powerful 3L engine which pulls at any rev! Being a 15 year old car, there are some things that need to be looked at, so this post will be my journal of keeping my first beemer on the road. Danny

Got onto the 330i brake refurb. All disassembled, I had them vapour blasted by a fellow bimmerhead I'd met, saved a good number of hours on the wire wheel. Gave them an additional scrub and 3 coats of satin black caliper paint. Then threw on new seals, guide pins, rattle clips, OE rubber hoses and a set of speed bleeder valves, as well as Akebono pads (sorry @Olaf, I'll be careful). All tidied up and set aside. Also scrubbed down and major rust off the subframe and control arms, gave it a few coats of rust converter primer and the same satin black paint. Will get onto pressing in the new bushes and bearings next. Front hubs are also now disassembled and awaiting a tidy up.

I remember that little beastie, real fun.

Well done dude, that's a mighty good effort, nice and quick turnaround. Get a lot of hate these engines but should he a good runner for someone for a good while now that the major weak points got addressed.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1704924903360560/ I saw this a few days ago, but this is a 330ti that Ray built, maybe there really is something in the air... Original sale thread here: If it sold for that asking that's a very good deal, if it wasn't in palmy and I didn't already have a donor car and trans on the way I probably would have got it myself just for the parts. Seems like the seller wasn't very clued in on what it was.

You may have damaged or interfered with one of the wheel speed sensors with the water blaster. A generic scanner will not help you with this. You need to monitor live data to determine where the fault is.

Not to mention if you did want to turn it into a 330ti at some point, very easy swap. Drop the engine in and flash the ECU with the 3.0 software and boom. Still left with the smaller brakes, driveshaft, axles and shitty getrag box though 😕 but at $5k it does seem like good buying.

I tried to limit myself on FCP. Should be enough to get the job done I hope. I will check the fuel rail inlet hose whilst I am there and hope it is in good condition. The car still playing up a bit and would love to get it fixed so I can enjoy some trouble free summer cruising. Totally agree Olaf they are a sweet drive. Oil dipstick o-rings Intake and Throttle body gasket Intake manifold nipple cap 3x water pipes Manifold air temp sensor o-ring Air distribution o-rings CCV kit I bought already.

Selling my sisters 325i on her behalf, been a daily driver for the past 8 years. Solid E30 kept pretty close to all factory with good options list, and extensive service history. Details in TradeMe listing, limited by character count there so if you have any additional questions feel free to ask. Located in Wellington Lower price for bimmersport users - $15,000 https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/4318337428?bof=147mkTto

Saturday drives in my neck of the woods

Cheers mate

BMW Touring Coupe concept, best looking thing out of BMW in a longtime.. bit too many wings and sh*t.. and note how they dont show the kidneys...

Meanwhile a Nissan Tiida can drive around with its roof caved in, front guards falling off and bumper held on with masking tape without an issue. Great system, works well.