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I'm stunned and shattered. Sanjay was the ultimate enthusiast. Yes his knowledge of local BMW's, particularly e24, e34, e31, e39 M5, was truly next level. But his ability to recall particular cars, their owners and locations, and time period they owned them was mind boggling. And he would rattle off local build and import numbers like you wouldn't believe. For those that didn't know, Sanjay was an ex-pat living in the States. I connected with him several years ago when I cheekily PM'd him enquiring about his 840ci (he had mentioned in a post that it was still here). Within minutes of passing on contact details he gave me the first call of what would become many. Although conversations where mainly talking cars, there were many times of just chatting about life. Sanjay was a ball of excitement and enthusiasm, always freely passing on his knowledge and advice. We looked forward to one day meeting kanohi ki te kanohi, tangata ki te tangata (in person) to talk about and drool over cars. Alas, this was not meant to be. Our connection was over the e31 - I was constantly picking his brain! "My 840ci was a keeper" he would always say (he was fastidious about it and it was one of the better, if not best, examples) until... he acquired his e39 M5 Dinan. Not that long ago, he did let his 840ci go so in his honour, I share with you 'his 8' ... Rest In Paradise my brother and until we meet...

Hi All Starting this thread to keep track of this project. My introduction to BMWs started while looking for a daily that would tick all the boxes. The important ones for me were: must be a wagon, must be auto (after driving a manual for the last 7 years and having recently joined the rat race of commuting, this point is very important), RWD or AWD, have a little bit of towing capacity for some light trailer/small tinny towing, must look good, and must perform reasonably well (decent power with nice handling). Initially I was looking for something Japanese but there really isn't a lot that ticks all these boxes, a gen 4 Subaru Legacy would be the only one I can really think of but I wasn't super keen in getting involved with boxer engines. So my attention turned to Euros, specifically BMW. I started looking at e46 wagons but quickly moved towards an e91 just with them being slightly more modern. I bought an msport alpine white 2007 325i e91 in August 2024. It had a few bits and pieces I appreciated, style 193 wheels with some newish dunlops, 35% tints all round, msport exterior and interior(silver interior trim is a must) and I fitted a westfalia towbar. This definitely ticked a lot of the boxes for me in terms of the chassis, I love the e91, it handles great, its comfortable, I can throw everything in the back, go camping and sleep in it, the interior is so quiet and rattle free (for the most part, wayyy better than anything japanese). But... I wasn't happy with the power, especially given the fuel consumption. After driving the car for 4 months I decided life is too short to drive a car that is both very thirsty and underpowered. So I bought an artic metallic 2007 335d e91 in January 2025. This car came with quite a few bits and pieces that will definitely save some time in the future. It has hybrid turbos, upgraded intercooler, upgraded aluminium intercooler pipe (from turbo outlet to intercooler, this one usually causes issues), tuned to make 300hp and 660Nm at the wheels, has mca procomfort coilovers and lvvta cert for all the mods. There aren't that many of these on the market so I had to scoop this one up from Christchurch and drive it back. I would've had it transported but I had never done the drive from christchurch to auckland so I figured it was a great way to get to know the car. What a good car! It averaged 7.3L/100km on the drive up and its fair to say I wasn't going easy on it. First thing on the agenda after a good wash was switching out the interior trims. Unfortunately it is not an m sport car so it came with wood grain interior, not my favourite. I switched this out with the door still and interior trims from the other car and it immediately changed the feel on the inside. I also switched the door speakers out from the other car, I upgraded the door speakers to aftermarkets in the 325i do I figured I would swap those across. There are a few more things I've done since getting this car and the time if this post but I'll save those for the next post.

Yep have messaged him, will likely pick it up on the weekend if it has had the rust repaired properly/is as rust free as he claims.

Oh no, that is terrible news, I am very sorry for your loss. Sanjay was an absolute font of knowledge, we enjoyed many conversations over the years going far too deep on various bmw related topics. He will be greatly missed.

Sorry to hear that Adrian. Quite active of late with lots of facts and stories to share. Thoughts to his family and friends from all of us here I am sure. We are all closer than we think sharing this hobby/obsession.

M54s are cheap. Almost everything is the same swap wise, it's just slightly more wiring involved in the adapter harness and having drive by wire. It's relatively easy and considering the amount of effort of doing a swap and cert etc, a better overall option for a more modern engine and power/torque is more than enough for an e30.

Hi all, I have no idea how to check the wheels I want for my car. All I know is that I require staggered 5x120 wheels. How do I check the dimensions/ width of the wheel that suits my car? I currently have Niche wheels but they are slightly bent... The wheel setup I am running is: 225/40/18/92/Y front 245/35/18/92/Y rear Pilot sport 4 if that matters. And also, if you have any wheel brand recommendations that would be great. Thank you!

That's pretty good for a coupe on the road. What are your plans to build if your after rolling body?

Aside from lots of blue, the first thing I saw was "Voted NZ’s most trusted used vehicle dealership." Who voted for them?

I’m extremely saddened to say a dear friend of mine and great contributor to bimmersport suddenly passed last week. To me he was Sanjay but you will know him as ssbmw. He had a wealth of knowledge on bmw stats in nz. He would eat, drink and sleep the brand and love to talk with anyone who shared the passion. Bimmersport was a great outlet for him to share his knowledge for which he was regular contributor. A huge loss to all.