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"We have owned this BMW 325i for about 3 years now" "I promised myself that we would never sell it but our loss and someone's gain" Is the loss attempting to make 300% profit on it

My order from EMIAuto arrived earlier in the week after a bit of a delay at Customs (turns out if you read the invoice properly and pay the correct amount it tends to speed things along). The most exciting thing in this package is the sound insulation for under the rear seat. As I mentioned previously this is a newer item that at some point BMW has used to replace the original butyl item that came from the factory. I've been looking forward to receiving this to see what it's like and to check fitment. It does not disappoint! It's a nicely made piece, it's a soft felt on the outside with firmer layers inside to hold the shape, with the sound material in the core. I haven't got the scales out yet but its weight feels to align with what RealOEM quote. As you can see in the photo it comes with cutout flaps for accessing the fuel pumps. Nicely the cutouts aren't quite complete so there's some little tabs that hold it all in one piece, that you can easily cut with a knife if you need to access the fuel pumps. I haven't done a full fitting yet, but I did have time the other day to do a quick check, and it looks to fit well. The only thing I wasn't able to completely validate without removing the rear seats completely was whether the isofix fittings fit through the existing cutouts. I'll check this when I have some time to get everything out of the rear bench. The other exciting parts of the package were the bits and pieces that I needed to install the CSL centre console that picked up a couple of months ago. I had some time yesterday in between renovations and plastering and got to work removing the existing centre console. Step 1 being to remove the driver's seat. Removing the centre console is straightforward, you just have to remove enough of the trim pieces and inserts to get to the screws holding the rear of the console down. My console had, at some point, been leather wrapped, and whoever did it actually did a nice job of it, it looks and feels good and is much better that what I imagine the soft-touch plastic would look like by now. The flip side to this is that some of the inserts were a bit difficult to remove due to the extra thickness of the leather. On the inside of the console there is also a fair amount of over-spray of the adhesive that they used to affix the leather (not that this affects the end result). Once the gear selector trim is lifted and unscrewed as well, lifting up the handbrake boot means you can then remove the trim at the back of the console and then lift the whole thing up and over the arm rest. This then means you can access the bolts for the arm rest. Once the three bolts are removed (being careful not to lose the metal collars which are loose) the arm rest can be removed. I took this opportunity to then give the whole thing a good vacuum. The module resting on the carpet is the "genuine bluetooth module" which, given I don't use it, I took the opportunity to remove it and wrap up it, and the connector for the rear ashtray light in the soft wrap that the phone wiring is wrapped in. At the same time I installed the new bracket for the CSL/arm rest delete console. With this done I was able to get on to the exciting bit of fitting the console! Prior to this, and not photographed, I took the mirror control and hazard light switch units and spent some time going over them with some wet cotton buds to clean them up and get all the dust and grime out of them that tends to accumulate over time. The other thing that I needed to do as part of fitting the console was make some space for the depth of the hazard light switch by depressing the carpet underneath it. If you don't do this the carpet will offer too much resistance and pop the hazard light switch back out again. With the console in place the next thing was to replace the gear selector trim with the new titan shadow trim I ordered. The car was originally spec'd with this, and at some point it has been replaced with silver trim, which is in excellent condition and very nice, but I wanted to go back to the original colour. While I was doing this I gave the window controls the same cotton bud treatment. It was at this juncture that I discovered that what I thought was a spec of cola on one of the buttons does in fact appear to be collateral damage from when the contents of the rear view mirror leaked out (prior to my ownership). This is a shame as it is corrosive and can't be cleaned off the switch, so I'll need to order a replacement. Fortunately it has only affected one of the two switch units. Once that was done I was able to reinstall the trim. Almost done! Last thing for the console was the installation of the new boot. This is straightforward, just use the factory procedure of cable tying it on and then fit it in place! The last work for the day was to replace the 3 other dash trim pieces. This is easy if you have a set of trim removal tools and in no time I was done and had the driver's seat back in. I'm very happy with the end result. The CSL console very much suits the seats. I have a couple of things left to do to finish that particular project entirely. 1: The mirror control switch currently isn't wired in. With everything that I do with this car I want to make it easily reversible (why I don't know as I intend to keep the car for a long time) so rather than just hacking the existing wiring I'm working on building an extension harness to extend the wiring from it's current location in the driver's door back to the centre console. I wanted to actually move the console and check the mirror control switch before I ordered the parts for this side quest. 2: I need to order some foam-backed 9002 Alcantara to manufacture a copy of the OE tray-insert in the centre console (since these are NLA). Speaking of NLA, the titan shadow trim I ordered was manufactured in late 2004! Which is interesting and really highlights that with these cars now being 20 years old, when the spare parts run out a lot of these sorts of projects are going to become astronomically more difficult. Anyway, a good little project for a Saturday. When I get the time, Christmas probably, I'll get into the next steps on sorting out the rear seat!

Just picked up a 2008 4.8i X5 in need of some TLC. We (with two babies) really don't like the volume out of these aftermarket mufflers. Does sound ok at higher speed but at lower speeds, just not a fan. The previous owner described it as a "real proper V8 sound", which is true depending on your tolerance. Stock X5 V8 mufflers would be ideal, a direct swap more so.

Spotted this out for a Sunday cruise yesterday. Looked in awesome condition! Also spotted Julian's immaculate E21 by the airport.

Hmm there is the whiff of a "desperate" seller here

Now up on Marketplace. Didn't realise it was Chch based until now. Not in a position to buy myself but happy to go have a look for whoever is interested.

Indeed. By my rough calculations you are looking around $700 incl shipping for front struts, rear shocks with bump stops\boots and mounts. Not too bad if you can do the work yourself. If you start adding suspension arms, links, bushings etc then it usually ramps up cost to varying degrees depending on the vehicle.

Makes for cheap 2-3 year leases then BMW can sell you a new one when something goes bang

Sachs are €51 each and Bilstein are €37 each excl shipping from Spareto. You really need to replace the fronts at the same time if they havent been done before otherwise its going to feel real sloppy.

Looking stunning! You and Harper (and Sammo!) have really lifted the E46 interior game in NZ.

The E46 I've found is (according to Carjam) NZ new, first registered in NZ in late January 2004 but has an August 2002 build date. Hmm. Low mileage though. (I can change that. ) It has the usual M57 engine. The E90 is ex-SA, first registered in NZ late February 2020 (originally registered in SA November 2005. This has the more powerful M57S engine. Higher but by no means silly mileage, and (as might be expected) slightly higher price. Still under $7k. Both look good in pics (both are in Auckland), both are automatics, both are well-specced, both have good history and long current ownership, neither have any Motorsport options. My feeling is that the E46 is the better bet for my purposes, is simpler to work on and will be cheaper to keep on the road. The E90 may have a removable towbar but that's not a deciding factor; the E46 has through-loading which may be useful. No idea if either would be more economical at a constant 100km/h; Carjam suggests they would be the same, another site suggests perhaps a 0.1 l per 100km difference. If we get that far, perhaps have a chat with Pramod to optimise what is there.

from memory it cost me roughly $800 (hutt automatics @95 an hour) to drop and reinstall the same box on my 540 which i assume will have gone up since that was 3 years ago. I remember as I was quite insensed by it. I think AAAutomtive quoted $650 for labour for Lyall Bay service center to drop/reinstall but then additional cost to freight it to Auckland and back to be repaired. With such a problomatic box unless you are planning to sell the car ASAP for the sake of your own anxiety surely it's worth getting Zane to drop it and take a look, knowing it's had a tonne of stuff replaced already. Real sh*t/expensive scenario though either way. Sorry to hear man.

No one bid on this! I need more time of figure out if I need/should/can buy it! 😀

My camera still works as normal when the sensors detect I am close. Maybe check if there is something you can tweak with coding? I was able to directly compare towing with this vs my father's V8 diesel 70 series landcruiser (2017) which has been chipped. In nearly every way I prefer the BMW. The torque converter makes up for what it lacks in low range gearing. It handles better, brakes better and performs better. Both have the same redarc braking system installed. The landcruiser is 1000 times better off road and will outlast the BMW by a long way no doubt but it's such an agricultural and unrefined beast I couldn't have done 3,000kms in it like we did on holiday.

Bugger it’s not a manuel.

The rarest of rare - 333i with a Tech 2 kit 🙃 https://www.rosecitycars.co.nz/vehicle/1986-BMW-Other/11955?s=1&fbclid=IwAR3mR2oKEOI-vQHROlVxoGZ7w0JioNjTcpk1EinucF2-tlxqjo1ePixvsHI Not sure why you would not return to stock and present as an original car if you had all the bits with it.