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Looks like a well sorted 535i that could be turned into a stunner. Just like an E30 but better and cheaper. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/4324187882?tm=email&et=45&mt=79F4475F-6C8D-4859-8EC2-79132A4FA124&bof=qQMhrgaC

Think id rather pony up some more and get an tidier iS model for a base. Cosmetic stuff and 'AC regas' wont be that cheap to fix whereas mechanicals are especially if you DIY'ing Good compared to an E30 but what isnt at this point.

Just your average tow vehicle….

Picked up the new.sunroof for the M5, finally.

Seen at least a couple for sale this year around 12-15k mark iirc. I think they are kept more than sold theses days so maybe harder to find tidy ones.

There is that, I've received genuine BMW parts that were utter sh*t. Had an E46 windshield cowl that didn't survive a single install before all the clips snapped off, every single one. My original 20 year old one came off with all clips intact...

Hi all, bit of a thread jacking going on here 😅 much appreciated if you could remove posts/comments from the tiguan one, onwards ❤️❤️❤️

Nah couldn't justify coughing up that much for a pile of rubber either. At the time I couldn't find ATE ones anywhere at all so that's one thing I cheaper out on. Got 2 sets each of Topran and A.B.S. brand for around $5 USD each from either RockAuto or Spareto. That would have been well over a year ago now, haven't checked what the prices and availability are at the moment. Topran ones looked dogshit with the outer seal not even having a solid metal backing at the base of it. The A.B.S. ones felt alright so threw those on. Will see how they hold up. Not ideal not being OE but will monitor them and reseal with some better quality parts if they end up causing trouble.

I prefer it on the Style 5s, which the seller advises it will come on.

I miss this thing

OK - more E30. We'd 'received' a stone through the driver side (off side) main beam glass. Couldn't find one anywhere so fitted a near side lens rotated through 90 degrees. Pattern is wrong (but actually worked really well on the road!) and actually passed several WoFs. For this WoF - changed the light unit. (Having finally found one that suits. Only 300 different fittings, wirings, etc to work through. (Very slight exaggeration ). The nearside headlight unit then threw an issue that needed to be sorted. The vacuum adjuster had finally decided to call it a day (not at all uncommon, and not rebuildable). Sorted that. Then the offside headlight unit (never, ever touched this!) showed a beam pattern rotated through about 10 degrees, and there's not enough adjustment to correct it. So let's pull that apart and sort it, too. Three front light units. All showing issues, but only one which I'd actually ever touched! In three days!

You need to start bringing this back to me lol

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.

Threw in a crank belt shield, then crank bolt capture to contain any bolt movement causing crank hub movement. I wont put in a splined crank hub for now. Ill take my chances. Hard to match the OEM coral red leather so will take the closest better quality leather and dye it. Seat dropped to Waikumete Upholsterers

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

I shortened the pull-rod from the pedal to the booster and admittedly the brakes are night and day better. Less travel to engage the brakes. Pedal distance can't be adjusted due to the position of the brake light micro switch (unless you modified the steel assembly). After a closer inspection, the clamp onto the shaft on the steering rack was loose! This is hopefully the play they mentioned. I'm bloody glad he found it, although it wouldn't have come apart due to the recess on the shaft for the bolt to go through. New 8.8 bolt and STEEL self-locking nut installed. The nylon must not have appreciated the heat from the manifold. My cert plate is under the trunk carpet as I didn't want it in an obvious location like engine bay or door jam.

I can read it...ergo he won't be entering medical practice anytime soon

Seriously that inspector should be hand writing scripts for the local GP.

Long time, no update! Not a Heck of alot to tell on the E30 front. Had a dyno day Aug '21 that was great fun. Was interesting to see what power the M52 put out with 200,000kms on the clock. 122rwkw or 163hp at the wheels. We've recently moved south, so in the mean time the E30 has been put on the back burner (modification wise at least). Recently bought an E87 120d and it's turned out to be a lemon. So the e30 has come to the rescue! Happily carrying out the daily commute around Central Otago. Making some friends at work. And some more E30 goodness (or maybe sadness?) at a museum down here. Cars look to be in a pretty bad way. I don't think the owners realise the fairly recent rise in value of these cars over the last couple of years. Bought a replica Mtech1 spoiler from Mr Bodykits as I have always like the shape. Technically not correct being on a FL E30, but I like it! Only mocked up in the pictures. Need to colour code the forward portion and find a rubber like paint for the rear portion. And then mount it. Probably this weekends job.

I've recently done the valve stem seals on my E61 and must have looked at this thread at least ten times over the last year or so while deciding whether to send it somewhere or do it myself. There was a lot of umming and ahhing over the outlay of tools vs the cost for a garage to do the work. In the end I went DIY so I thought I'd just put it out there for anyone else that's thinking about it, I got the job done for somewhere around the $1700 mark plus a week of my time, which is a big discount assuming you have the time to spare of course. Parts were around $650, shipping and exchange rate dependent of course. I got my parts for this project from FCP. On top of the valve stem seals that also included all the gaskets & o-rings etc for the valve covers, upper timing covers, spark plug tubes (I used Febi as they were much cheaper but I think I'd use BMW original next time), and spark plugs because it's so much easier to do them with the spark plug tubes out that I think every time you have the valve cover off you should change them. Tools ~$1k I had a tool up a little. Its a bit of an outlay but relative to the spend to get someone else to do it I thought it was worth it. I already had an air compressor and decided to go the air method (vs rope method). I ended up getting A N62 valve spring compression tool kit from Aus (not the AGA one) A really long (650mm I think) 1/2" drive ratchet to turn the engine over with - long enough it poked out the top of the engine bay. A cheap leak down tester to hold the air pressure in the cylinders. And I splashed out on some AGA Valve Stem Seal plyers It's worth noting that Tony's AGA Tool Rental Service delivers worldwide now, but I don't know what the cost would be for rental + return shipping but may be worth a look into too. In terms of difficulty, I agree with other peoples opinions I've seen that if you can do the valve covers you can do the valve stem seals. And I guess the final test is - would I do it again if I had to? Yes I would, especially now I have the tools.