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With one too many E46's occupying the garage, unfortunately my 325i Motorsport sedan is now up for sale. 165,6XXkm. NZ New (4 private owners before me). BMW Individual Estoril Blue. Facelift (07/2002 build). Full Motorsport spec. Auto. Black leather/black cube aluminium trim. Multi-function steering wheel (cruise control, radio control etc). Parrot Bluetooth handsfree system. 3 keys. Airbag recall done late 2017 by Auckland City BMW. The majority of service history has been with Coombes Johnston BMW and Team McMillian (now Auckland City BMW). The most recent service was in February 2018 (+/- 1,000km ago) at Burgers Motor Works. This service included all the usual filters and fluids plus a new valve cover gasket & bushes, radiator hose/breather hose, water pump (preventative), idler pulley, oil filter housing gasket plus other misc. items - no stone left unturned. Service receipts are provided together with the original stamped service book and manuals. A very original and well looked after example which drives beautifully. Viewings available in Auckland. $7,250. Detailed built sheet: S168 EU2 exhaust emissions standard S204 Drive layout, export S205 Automatic transmission S226 Sports suspension settings S249 Multifunction f steering wheel S302 Alarm system S320 Deleted, model lettering S338 M Sports package II S411 Window lifts,electric,front/rear S431 Interior rear-view mirror with auto dip S441 Smoker package S465 Through-loading system S481 Sports seat S495 3-point belt head restr'nt,rear middle S508 Park Distance Control (PDC) S520 Fog lights S534 Automatic air conditioning S548 Kilometre speedo S550 On-board computer S650 CD player S661 Radio BMW Business (C43) S692 Preparation, BMW 6-CD changer I-bus S710 M sports steering wheel, multifunction S716 Aerodynamics package S760 High gloss shadow line S772 Interior strip strips, Alu Black Cube S775 Headlining anthracite S785 White direction indicator lights S788 BMW LA wheel, Individual S818 Battery master switch S825 Radio control Oceania S832 Battery in luggage compartment S850 Additional Export tank filling S853 Language version, English S864 Dealer List Overseas S880 Operating instructions, English S925 Dispatch protection pack S926 Spare wheel S938 Individual series

I made this one. Copyright is mine. Car is @eliongater's.

I have had several BOC welders over the years and we currently have 3 at work, have never had a single issue with any of them, they are worth the extra money. If you are just learning and doing occasional stuff most chinese machines will be up to it, but the most important thing to look at is the duty cycle, they are based on 10 minutes so a 20% duty cycle means you can weld for 2 minutes in every 10, 40 % means 4 minutes welding etc. MIG welding generally uses an Argon / Co2 mix while TIG requires pure Argon which is a lot more expensive. I personally dislike flux cored wire welding so i recommend sticking with solid wire and shielding gas. flux cored is UGLY and smokey and generally not as strong. A 180 amp welder with a good duty cycle will do almost every job you need it to do.

New grilles have arrived, look good..! Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Also, now certified! Untitled by Christian Taylor, on Flickr

You keep your man card, i will keep my $140 a week!

I dont want to lose my man card.

You all need an electric vehicle as a daily, then drive the gas guzzler for pleasure. Cost of petrol won't be an issue.

gaspy app on mobile is pretty good

I use Gull 98 and find it much cheaper. I tried switching to BP 98 for a few tanks and noticed no difference except a lighter wallet. This site lists the prices with real data. Just need to enter the captcha then select your region. Most expensive for 98 in Auckland is $2.47, and cheapest is $2.08, so quite a difference. http://www.pricewatch.co.nz/pricewatch.aspx

If you can be bothered to fill up in $40 increments at BP then AA smartfuel loyalty points is quite good. I either fill up $40 or fill up twice in one visit, BP me app makes it easy. you accumulate 6c or 10c on some days per $40, so if you spend $300 a week thats approx 60c per litre of points you save up in 1 week. do that for a month and you get approximately $2.40 that can be used towards 50L fill up which is pretty much a full tank depending on how empty you are. that translates to a saving of approx $120 a month based on your usage. Calculating it backwards, you would spend $300x4 = $1200 a month, less $120, which is 10% saving, so if you can fill up constantly at competitive fuel outlets for $2.50 (or whatever the current price is) less 10% then that means its cheaper at the competition. Also, I would only compare BP with Mobil 98, not Gull.

I forgot how good the chrome grilles look on E46 M3s, everyone does them black so it's become cool to do it as stock haha I got my Soarer cert-ed at that same place, went there enough to recognize it.

Err looks like i might have put my reply to Charlie in the wrong place sorry dude! Thanks Jacko for your insight also yes drones are a new thing for me and i am still getting a handle on getting consistent shots. Will continue to practice and every new vid will be an improvement on the last! Yes i had some issues with varying formats which gave a pretty average quality to parts of the video, each thing you do you continue to learn, and yes i will cut out a lot more and keep it sharp, all good comments. Wouldn't mind seeing what you do and get some further insights at some stage! cheers guys

Thanks Charlie for taking the time to critique my vid, hey mate we are all dicks in varying degrees! The fact that you actually took the time to write tells me something, yep agree with this and i will continue to improve, things need to be shorter, better script and rehearsed proper and the large camera was a mistake alas would have re shot but couldn't have the car for any more time so had to use what I had. Its really good to get insight from someone with more experience so thanks again. Your video is very professional cheers!

I do like a Style 32!

E91 325i M sport would the way to go. Plenty of room for the family and looks good especially in M sport. 130i is a great car but a bit small when you pack people in it. If you are keen on a 5 series, I would recommend going E39 530i M sport instead. A fantastic car and probably cheaper to maintain than the E60. There is one for 15k on trademe, I reckon you could offer him a more realistic value of 5k, then save 10k to buy other Bimmers. Kyu knows his cars. Buy him a bottle of Bourbon and he will probably help you with test driving one too.

Got under the 328 today to start taking it apart to replace the sump. What a PITA job getting access, lots has to come out to drop the subframe and even then access to some of the oil pan bolts is difficult. Really very messy too! Got as far as I could without an engine support brace which I'm hoping to pick up on the weekend. Still can't work out if I need to re/move the power steering pump, there are conflicting opinions and some even go so far as to drain the fluid and disconnect the lines. The BMW official procedure doesn't require this but they lift the engine a couple of inches which I can't do. Let me know if you know for a fact what's required.

If there is a random black box under the dash or in the glovebox with a credi card size slot it will have an electronic toll system and it will be for that, pull it all out.

I purchased a near new Boc magmate welder a year or so ago and taught myself. It’s an inverter type and I find it amazing. I got and old large co2 fire extinguisher and got it converted and I fill it for $40 so great for home use. I don’t know any better but I believe co2 welds hotter so not as good on thin steel but all I’ve done is thin steel and it’s no problem. My welder is my favourite toy . You’ll not regret a good welder. I can’t speak for tig

The E30 wasn't stopping very well, so it was time for a brake overhaul. New pads, rotors, rebuilt calipers, braided brake lines, and brand new master cylinder originally fitted to the bigger 7 series of the same era. Oh, and new tyres, Bridgestone RE003. Car stops much better, success! Off for a WoF on Tuesday. Unpainted one is from the E32, noticeably beefier

Yeah take it off and post results here haha. Will take mine off too if it serves no purpose in NZ

A bit of a review on this car now that I've been driving it for a month. The good: 1. This is a stupidly fast car. The 8 speed auto is amazingly quick and responsive, the engine is powerful and doesnt even need to be in sport or manual trans mode, just comfort mode is enough to get it going quick, really quick. 2. It is much more comfortable than the previous 1 series E87 130i or E82 135i chassis. I owned a 130i hatch and driven a few 135i and these ride quite harsh and stiff. This new 1 series is much better and comfortable (in comfort mode). In sport mode the chassis feels a bit stiffer and this is also a nice feature. 3. Definitely feels like a new/modern car. The keyless start/stop, door lock/unlock on the handles, the whole dashboard and display, iDrive features etc makes it really feel like a new car. The late E chassis cars feel dated in comparison. Also the sports seats are comfortable and provide heaps of support with adjustable side bolsters and back support. 4. Depending on your circumstances/needs, this could potentially be the perfect all rounder car providing that you are either single/couple, looking for a great car to do daily duties as well as weekend cruises as well as long holiday trips. It is not a huge car but it is definitely not small. Especially for the front two seats, plenty of space and comfortable. Boot space is also excellent and convenient being a hatchback. The bad or at least not so good: 1. Is it too fast?! With the weather being a bit rainy the past few days, I have noticed that giving it just a tiny bit of extra gas is enough to make the rear slide out in corners or wheel spin going 100km/h on the motorway. Not quite fair because I am using 235 tyres on the rear as a temporary measure while I get my wheels sorted (then I should be going for some 255 wide tyres in the rear) but nevertheless, the car is very very quick and could potentially be quite dangerous if you are careless.. could end up carless. (sorry) 2. The handling is not as great as the previous models. I still really enjoy driving my E46 and miss the handling on the E87 130i because it provided really good feedback from the road and inspired a lot of confidence. This one, even if you put it in sports mode which tightens it up A LOT, it still feels very disconnected and video-game like. 3. Rear seats are really not great. If you have a young kid or a baby seat then its fine but for grown kids or adults, you dont want to put them back there for more than an hour at most. 4. Can be quite a thirsty car if you are heavy footed (and its hard not to be!). Fuel consumption for me is currently about 9.5km/L which is actually really good but I have been mostly driving it weekends only and not too much start stop traffic. 5. Really annoying thing about 1 series in general is wheel fitment. These require around 40-50 offset depending on width of wheels. Mine came originally fitted with a mere 7.5" front and 8" rear and I want to go at least 8" front 8.5" rear so I can run 235/255 tyres. Very difficult to find wheels that fit well. Anyway, thats a bit of a short summary of my initial thoughts on the car incase anyone is looking at these as their next car. By the way, I have also driven 116i 118i and 120i of the F20 chassis in stock and sports models and these are suprisingly good cars if you dont need/want something super powerful. They are a lot of car for the money, safe, relatively reliable, looks better than a golf or audi (subjectively) and is still a RWD BMW at the end of the day.

Do those people even bother with certs? I thought they just try to avoid getting caught...

Mirror dimming sensors are in the front and back of the mirror unit itself, the sensor for the auto-wipers is in the blacked out part of the windscreen behind the mirror, as would be the camera for active cruise etc. So it looks very much like it is an after-market add-on unit, like you say probably a japanese Toll reader system. Take it off and see if anything stops working...

I used Pixelfix and was reasonably satisfied with the results - their kit & instructions were great, my ability to follow them properly - not so much! ? Allow yourself plenty of time & make sure you have all the tools & materials lined up beforehand (I overlooked the acetone).

I dont think it relates to the mirror dim as that has sensors in the mirror mount.

The problem has finally been fixed - by cleaning the vanos solenoids. I recently took the car to Steve at Milford Auto Electrical - who by the way is excellent to deal with. He said in my case there were no codes that related to the solenoids but other codes did steer him towards the solenoids - although I suspect what really happened is he chucked in a couple of working solenoids to confirm it was the problem because when he called mine were already in the sonic cleaner and he was quite confident that cleaning the solenoids would fix the problem. Either way.. if you have a problem like this I suggest you first clean the vanos solenoids. It's cheap to get them cleaned and they are easy to get in and out. For what its worth I replaced the coils, plugs and maf sensor before taking it to Milford Auto electrical. Cheers Callum

Now with CSL wheels, no stripes. Clean and classy. Nostripes4 by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Nostripes6 by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Nostripes3 by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Nostripes2 by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Nostripes1 by Christian Taylor, on Flickr Let's see how long this lasts..!

Discovered that the massive rock or brick I hit on the motorway in the dead of the night in the 328 did indeed do some damage... Sump is split... any tips? Replacement seems like a bitch.