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Well it's been quite a while so time for a bit of an update... M5 - driving it when I can and trying to get from A to B as "efficiently" as I can whilst doing so... 540 - going really well. Just done a couple of good trips including the BMW Car Club run to Whangamomona. What a blast. Just recently I've painted the instrument needles again. A PO had painted them red, so I just re-did them in red again, would prefer the white but needle changing is a nightmare, and cluster even worse... Also put on a new steering column leather cover (that was a mission) and a new cluster surround. Got it all back together to discover a backlight bulb had blown.... out it all comes... Still, it all looks great now. I've also decided to fully paint the 540 early next year so preparing for that, new rear MSII shocks whilst the interior is apart as well, rear parcel tray needs a re-cover. 740 - I've done a major gasket etc replacement on the engine and the oil leak has reduced considerably, it was the valve covers mainly, no surprises there. The engine was a real RTV special, why don't people just renew... But it appears there is still a minor weep suspecting the top oil pan gasket. I had thought originally rear main seal... However I happened to scan the transmission one day and a code for slipping lockup clutch is up on the torque converter. So I'm going to get my spare msport TC refurbed and sometime in the next few months I'm thinking an upper gasket, RMS, and TC changeout is coming up... I haven't really noticed any symptoms driving it, but now I know the code is there, my mind is playing silly buggers with me... Other items I've changed on the 740 are the rear door rear rubber trims, transmission mounts, trans fluid and filter (code was up before this), fuel filler hose, centre console rear controls, and a new LCD screen for the Bordmonitor. Being a newer screen it is compatible with polarized sunglasses so that is a great improvement, as well as generally looking heaps better. Will be looking to do a bit of paint on the 740 myself over Summer if I can find the time...

I need to make a proper update at some point but just got my car back from my mechanic who serviced the transmission and installed the genuine M5 springs I managed to get. Pretty happy, car looks great. Just need to figure out how to lower the rear, and then I also need my side skirts on and an exhaust job - I need muffler suggestions if anyone has any. E34 exhausts seem to be a pain because of the odd shape and limited space.

Ohh, and thanks for pulling me up on it! Since you pointed it out it actually started bothering me to the point where I felt motivated enough to do something about it Took the panel off the bumper, moved the license plate further up to line up with the protruding edge in the plastic, chucked in some rivnuts, went with 4 instead of the original pair just to be safe. Then took some hardcore pick tool and scraped away along the bottom of the numberplate creating a deep groove, then just cut my way through the plastic with a box cutter knife, filed the edges smooth and voila! I'd have probably never even given it any thought, but it does look so much cleaner this way. Thanks! Just need to find 4 matching bolts to tidy it up further.

Another long weekend of wrenching and she's back in one piece. So satisfying leaving all the dirty jobs behind and just throwing on fresh new parts one after another. Bilstein B4 shocks, Eibach springs, E36 M3 bump stops and E90xi top hats to replace the old combination of Bilstein B6's, Msport springs, all but crumbled bump stops and what looked like original top hats. New setup looks taller but that's because the B6's sit all the way in the steering knuckle whereas the B4's have a narrower bottom end that sticks down past it. Painted steering knuckle, new dust shields, wheel bearings and refurbished 330i brakes with Akebono pads. The rotors I inherited with the engine donor car looked near new so I just wire wheeled them down from all the rust they'd accumulated from sitting in the shed for a year and a bit and painted the non-contact surfaces to tidy them up. Brand new Lemforder control arms, LCA bushes and tie rods bolted on, and also replaced the Xenon light level sensor that I managed to snap when first removing the engine - forgot to disconnect it when dropping the subframe. Normally I stick with OE for all electronic components, but this being such a trivial and easy to access component that I was happy enough to put some trust in Topran. Better than my bootleg ziptie fix anyway. Rear end got similar treatment. New dust shields, refurbished 330i brakes, brand new parking break hardware etc. Bilstein B4's with whatever the recommended bump stops were according to this thread. Had a bunch of trouble getting the axles to go in properly. Thought I'd cleaned them up quite well way back when so just gave a quick wipe down and went to town. After a whole lot of bashing, only managed to poke them through by a few mm, just short of being able to thread the nuts on. With it getting late, and having managed to bash my thumb blue and bloody with a dead blow hammer, I called it a night on Saturday. Picked up refreshed the next morning, bashed the axles back out, went over each and every spline with a set of fine finger files and a set of wire wheels, both on the axle and in the hubs, greased them up with copper grease and slid them back in. Just a few whacks and through they went, then pulled them all the way through by tightening the nuts. Took a whole heap of time but worked out in the end. Finally bolted the wheels on, dropped the car down on the ground, had a mate jump in the boot (literally, more on that later) to settle the suspension somewhat, then crawled under and torque up the inner ends of the camber arms and spring perches. From there on it was just a matter of throwing the diff, driveshaft and exhaust back on. One thing that I haven't seen mentioned that I was a bit surprised by is that the rear left reinforcement plate covered up one of the holes that the heat shield used to attach to so had to use a self-tapper to fasten it down. After an unsuccessful attempt at a first drive late at night, I gathered up my ideas on Monday morning, went over everything I had touched, double checked everything, tweaked the alignment to be somewhat pointing straight, topped up the fluids and went for a first drive. With the interior still being apart, there was a lot of noise coming through to the cabin but overall, even with the alignment probably being way out of whack, she drove really well. Already noticing the harshness from the rear end from the ball bearing trailing arms when going over potholes but other than that, even the rougher roads seemed way smoother on the new setup. Gave the car a quick rinse at a self-serve and made my way home after a long few weeks away. The suspension seems to have settled quite a bit already, looking that tad more aggressive whilst still being drivable over speed bumps and up driveways. Love it. Will need to quickly throw the interior back together and chuck on the new wheels tonight as I'm booked in for a wheel alignment at BMW tomorrow morning. Can't wait to hear what they think of my solid subframe bushes and camber arms...

Yes - I looked at the car when it was being sold by the prior owner back in 2021. I should have bought it as he was indicating around $90k. It just didn't wow me. It was a good honest car that he had owned for a very long time, but you could tell he wasn't a car enthusiast - wheels were curbed, paint was scuffed and dented and what really put me off was the lack of any real service history over the last 10+ years. I'd love to see the car in its restored condition, but I don't think its a $200k car - the market for this stuff has softened considerably, and the fact its been converted to RHD will put off some of the purists.

Saved the planet, one km at a time for approx 900kms, and sneered at all the farmers in their dirty diesel utes spewing smoke.

You wait ages for a bus to come along etc etc... https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/m3/listing/4379495039 https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/m3/listing/4381295259 https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/m3/listing/4289575679

Blasted 10years of grime and dirt off the new daily

Nice set - original condition, non refurbished. fronts have as-new leufens, rears are borderline warrantable. selling for moon money in ‘Murica Lippier than Beth Heke. happy to drop off at Mainfreight depot locally here in Napier. $2500

Couple of shots of the engine tidy up, the headlights also got a tidy up, including removing the blingy aftermarket halo's, polishing the lens, sorting some wiring, and also new foglights have gone in. I have got new covers for the headlights but I was originally sent two of the same side, so will replace them when I repair and paint front bumper over summer.

Wasn't aware of the B4's reliability issues up until your post a few days ago. I looked at just getting a set of B6's for the rear to match the fronts but price wise I pretty much got a whole set of B4's just for the price of rear B6's at the time. Plus from what I've read the B6's can be a bit too harsh for daily driving, which I've sort of experienced on less smooth roads, although might have had more to do with worn out bushes and control arms. Decided to opt for a more comfort-oriented setup. Also, they're f**king yellow.

Love this - looks OEM for the standard NZ plate (which always looks odd mounted on the euro plinth) and no extra spend required.

Got this done over the weekend, process was pretty straight forward. Very happy with the end result. Some pics..

We are clearing some of our stock for trims, panels and others for BMW models. Please see our list below for such items, if you, or anyone you know requires these: #YZ6563: BMW E38 LHS Lower Engine Compartment Cover: OE no. 5171 8 150 449 $YZ6708: BMW E36 (except compact) RHF Sun-visor (without light) - Grey. OE no. 5116 8 173 472 #YZ7084: BMW X1 Scuttle Cover : OE no. 5171 2 990 143 #YZ6900: BMW E39 Undercarriage / Protection Plate: OE no. 5171 8 191 950 #YZ6760: BMW E36 Seal Strip - front Inner Guard. OE no. 5171 8 119 766 #SZ7954: BMW N54 335i Rocker Cover (complete) OE no. 1112 7 565 284 #YZ7418: BMW E46 Coupe / Convertible Scuttle Cover: OE no. 5171 8 232 896 #YZ7928: BMW E90/E91 (Except coupe!) Front Screen Trim/Cover: OE no. 5131 7 061 967 #YZ6719: BMW E36 Coupe Front Scuttle Vent Cover: OE no. 5171 1 977 678 #YZ6710: BMW E36 4 DOOR/COMPACT/TOURING LHS Scuttle Cover: OE no. 5171 8 122 265 #YZ6711: BMW E36 4 DOOR/COMPACT/TOURING RHS Scuttle Cover: OE no. 5171 8 122 266 #YZ6749: BMW E36 M-TECH Front Lower Spoiler: OE no. 5111 2 251 767 #YZ6949: BMW E39 to 09/2000 Rear Centre Bumper Filler-strip with PDC: OE no. 5112 8 159 376 #YZ7421: BMW E46 Driver's Side Glovebox: OE no. 5145 8 226 538 #YZ6912: BMW E39 Cup holder - does LHS & RHS OE no. 8227 9 405 745

https://www.repco.co.nz/oils-fluids/engine-oils-fluids/engine-oil/penrite-hpr-5-5w-40-engine-oil-5l-hpr05005/p/A1030655 Repco got HPR 5 5W-40 for $48 for 5 litres... ... so I've got 30 litres coming to go with the other 60 or so in the garage 😆

My goodness - the plate history on that car is dizzying Plate Effective Date CKE614 22-Dec-2004 MMMPWR 09-Oct-2004 CDC836 02-Jul-2004 DDGDD 30-Apr-2004 BTT129 30-Jan-2004 E46M3 13-Jan-2004 BSW377 05-Jan-2004

Ahhh, the Phoenix Yellow e46 m3. Was the red headed step child of the BMW world for years. But was also the poster image that BMW used in their marketing material at the time of production. Certainly a polarising colour, but I've always loved it! (but not with a light coloured interior)