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These tools have now been sold to a fellow member and his son and I know they will get a lot of use from them👍

Would you consider an E-class estate @Willem? Selection is a little better than the 5er, CLS shooting brake also looks good but maybe not as practical https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/mercedes-benz/e-350/listing/4317218526 https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/mercedes-benz/e-350/listing/4429267980 if the clean car rebate is rolled back I imagine the used importers will start to look at bigger displacement cars again in the new year (if they aren’t already)

The best driving E34 is the second facelift model code named "E39". They fitted rack and pinion steering, a aluminum McPherson strut front end and great multi link rear, they then stiffened the body rigidity by 50% and massively improved driver ergonomics.... Then they went away and the accountants said they had to make the rest of the car out of blue-tac and Whitakers dairy 33% milk chocolate. After three hours in the sun they had the styling and durability done and the cake was baked. The E39 chassis was so good Holden used it to build the last Commodore on a decade or so later and it remains an all time great. But don't let that distract us from rear seat belts in an E34 and the Ronan chase scene. In and ideal world you would slide a E39 Chassis under an E34 and call it the best BMW ever made or something really pretentious like "the ultimate driving machine".

Shesh, lucky to have no injuries from that, would be scary rolling a convertible let alone a 80's one.

Got 20L of it in the garage now. Cheers.

Date: 20 Nov 2023 Distance: 208,853 kms 1. WoF She sailed through a WoF with one exception - a torn RH steering rack boot. Fortunately I have rack boots in my parts stash for the e30, ready for when it gets a purple-tag rack. I've picked up a 20 litre pack of Penrite HPR 5 5W40 synthetic, may as well do an oil change while it's in the air, and give it a wash afterwards.

Balance rider you suggest an E -class? Thanks for your suggestion.Well we do have to have an open mind don't we? I read an assessment of drivers of different brands (done in Europe). Mercedes drivers were identified as people with a lot of money but not a lot of brains/education, who buy Mercedes to show off mainly. Wearing Rolex watches, in my opinion also hideous. Dressed to impress. BMW was as a group of speed freaks who pay a lot of taxes through having the highest rate of speeding tickets. (and other traffic offenses such as driving through red lights and not keeping enough distance from cars in front of them. And with a higher risk to crash too. Well I have to confess: I've paid a lot of what I call "recreation tax". Driving too fast on great roads especially through great curves. And I do not like showing off a car for wanting to impress as having a lot of money at all. I like d my bumper sticker "BMW freude am fahren" (Joy of driving) But never say never, Mercedes has employed a few good designers the last decade and some of their cars are very good looking. How are their engines? I honestly do not know. Do you have positive experiences driving them. Like the sharpness of a 535i hanging in a curve on the gas? Then I might have to reconsider. Kind regards Willem

Well-used assortment of quality 3/8” drive extensions filling a gap in my 3/8 set. 1970’s Stahlwille, Koken, Snap-On. Estate sale.

Id wager the vast majority of cars on the road need new struts\shocks

It was a beautiful car the last time I had a quick drive and look at it, previous owner was a member on here and the car was/is amazing. Would be a great cruiser for someone, they are far from sporty, nothing like a E30 in terms of "fun" but can be driven by a 40+ yo without looking like as much a saddo.

After much swearing and cursing eventually got it tight without taking the strut back out ! To anyone who has an E39 with worn suspension/struts man what a difference, just feels so good now. Just ordered the rear rebuild kit !

Very very capable motor. Tourings will have the airbags and compressor gubbins for rear self-leveling. The bags can and do wear, replacing both is perhaps $1k? The bags aren't expensive but the labour might be depending on other equipment, like active anti-roll, etc. Someone more tech than me can help here. N55's generally pretty reliable but they do need to be maintained like any BMW this age. Regularly servicing, oil changes, engine plastics, etc. Charge pipe worth replacing/upgrading for piece of mind. You're had an e61 and the f11 isn't too different, depending on spec. If someone can suggest a good BMW independant in Auckland I would suggest getting them to look at it before committing.

Two paragraphs of I hate BMW they are no good. As an Auto electrician and someone who has tuned and built engines, I dont really see where you are coming from. Yes the N46 is a troublesome engine, but I repeat if you had done your research and bought an N52 car you wouldn't have these problems, that said you probably got the car dirt cheap. You keep saying how poor BMWs are, but you give no examples, I worked on cars for years, where's the lack of basic engineering? Go and buy a Toyota, lots of hard grey plastic, questionable styling and no driver involvement. Oh and throw in a lack of safety features, slow engines and abominable auto gearbox's, as well. That sounds like your happy place. Honestly coming to a BMW enthusiasts site and then slagging off BMW's as a whole, what the hell are you even doing here, apart from being a Troll. We all know the ins and outs, the risks and the rewards, you go and buy that old Legnum, sleep happy and dont think about nasty BMW's.

Oh and if it's not been mentioned, get a decent set of flare spanners for brake pipes and the likes.

NZ New 2-Door BMW E30 325i 180,433km. WOF expired 3 August 2022. Rego expired 1 June 2022, and is on hold. Interior in excellent condition. Getrag 260 gearbox, fitted with short shifter. 3.64 ratio diff. Tinted windows. Alpine stereo with Sherwood speakers. Comes with additional wiring supplied but not fitted for hands free microphone and auxiliary devices. Manual sunroof. Electric front windows. Pop-out rear windows. Air conditioning fitted but not operational. I have not investigated what is required to get it going. Textured plastic dash cap is fitted on top of cracked dash. No rust. No diff, gearbox, engine, steering oil leaks. The pictures don't show it but the paint is starting to fade. No clear coat pealing. Engine 2.8 litre, managed by MegaSquirt fuel injection. Ported aftermarket head. 288 Shrick camshaft. Quite a lumpy idle. 12:1 compression ratio which means car has been tuned on BP 98 octane fuel. I would not use lower octane fuel if you want this engine to last. Engine revs incredibly quickly, has incredible torque, and is a lot quicker than the standard M20B25. Engine professionally built. I do not know by who. Unsure of km on new engine as previous owner had it built, at a reported cost of $12,000. Extractors. Large twin exhaust. Not obnoxiously loud. Electric radiator fan replaces mechanical fan. Newly machined flywheel, and new heavy-duty clutch fitted. Suspension Bilstein B8 shock absorbers. Jamex springs. Solid rubber lower control arm bushes. Factory fitted rear sway bar. Adjustable rear castor. Replaced: diff oil, gearbox oil, engine oil and filter at 179,426km, rocker cover gasket and camshaft plugs, coolant, cam belt at 179,426km, front engine oil seals/o-rings and gaskets, thermostat, radiator expansion tank and level sensor, wiper blades, fuel filter, bonnet insulation, clutch master cylinder reservoir, brake fluid, brake booster, oil return tube o-rings and intake/cylinder heads gaskets, rear sway bar drop links, 8x seat gas struts, clutch master and slave cylinders, driver seat belt with new one. Wheel alignment. Car does not come with the basketweave wheels pictured. Car will come with refurbished bottle cap wheels fitted with warrantable tyres (the wheels and tyres it got its warrant of fitness with). The fuel economy gauge does not work because it’s no longer running the factory ECU. The engine no longer is fitted with an oil level sensor. Not sure why, perhaps the engine has a windage tray or crank scraper which interfered with this. Have to go old school and use the engine dip stick if you want to know the engine oil level. Hasn’t used oil since I have been driving the car. I stopped using the car when the clutch started slipping, which has now been replaced. The car has been sitting about a year. I think the brake calipers need servicing because the brakes are pretty weak now. I can’t see any reason why the car won’t get a WOF when this is addressed. The last WOF was from Coombes and Johnston BMW. I don’t have time for it at the moment. $16,000 takes it away. No trades or deals. Test pilots will not be tolerated. Car is in Whatawhata/Hamilton.

Every manufacture has a dud engine or two, ask Mazda how their Skyactive engines are going? They are worse than the n46 motors. You can't compare a 33 year old car to a 10year old car, built it different eras to meet different regulations. Problem with BMWs is they become cheap enough for the average Joe to buy but not maintain which leaves to failures. Plenty of 33 year old BMWs running with big kms and getting thrashed around tracks