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My pair: 1999 S50B32 with only 20,000km on it and 2002 S54B32. Will be sold as a pair when they eventually go up for sale.

I get so much from this forum, that I wanted to give a little something back. So with my 're' introduction due to an extended absence elsewhere in the world, I would like to share a story, a good read, for that's what we do on this forum so I thought it fitting to share a little energy back. I hope you enjoy something a bit different and maybe have a laugh. It’s hard to pin point when my BMW fanatic craze began. Looking back, it feels like it has always been there. Somehow through a sea of other manufactures options, especially other appealing European alternatives, the twin grills with a Bavarian blue and white roundel shone through like a star. I know many on this forum feel the same way. I was already taken by the obsession long before I had one to call my own. Apart from the various video and images I consumed, the first to truly enter my life was when my Father had his company vehicle lease come up for renewal. Traditionally he could only choose from a small range of select manufacturers, namely Holden, Ford or Nissan. This time however, the deal had changed. In place of a choice now stood a wad full of cash and a ‘sort it out yourself’ directive. Despite the obvious increase in admin duties, this new deal was a blessing in disguise where he was now free to pick and choose, tailor and dress himself up in the automotive ‘suit’ that was his fitting of him. Little did he know that I had already contacted the tailor I wanted and had requested a dress rehearsal. I knew the budget wouldn’t stretch to ‘M’ territory, but we could definitely pick up the latest series with M-Sport options. He had already been introduced to the latest Commodore and Falcon of the time, no need to be re-acquainted again. So, with all my teenage persuasiveness, I pleaded my case, presented the numbers and before long we were heading to the dealer for a test drive. On the drive I proceeded to read out the list of options that would be making their way onto the vehicle. I had picked up a brochure from the dealer after school one day and had spent the rest of the week circling, marking and making lists of all the combinations of series and extras that could go together within the budget. I was always torn between a lower powered base model that we could trick out with all the bells and whistles and the option of a huge powerhouse waiting to be unleashed. After careful deliberation with myself, I came to the obvious choice that I was sure my Father would plainly see, a beast of a machine with whirring twin turbos and enough displacement to make him erase any thoughts of the other unsophisticated options - it had to be a 335i. I had now placed my order during the car ride over and with my Father providing a simple nod and grunt, that was all the reassurance I needed that he recognised my meticulous evaluation and it wouldn’t be long until we were getting pushed by three hundred ponies back home. After arriving and what seemed like an eternal discussion with the sales representative my Father and he nodded – finally it was done. The sales representative said I’ll bring the vehicle around for your test drive, my Father turned to me and said, “This is the only one I’m trying”, I was thinking, “this is the only one you’ll need to try…”. The sales representative eventually pulled around in a shiny, white 3-series. But oh-no, he had definitely got something wrong, this was a 320d. I looked earnestly at my Father waiting for him to royally wave off this imposter in place of our rightful chariot. But much to my dismay my Father greeted the man, took the keys and got in. He wound down the window and beckoned me to get in. My dreams. Crushed. Learning later that he had chosen to go with the 2-litre diesel with M-Sport options galore was a smart move (says my now adult with a mortgage brain). He knowingly pocketed the unused cash too. As many of you that have driven a brand-new base line 3-series out of the box know, they are amazing machines, with more than enough get-go for almost all types of daily driving and with the added extras for comfort and tech for play, they can be luxury on wheels. Needless to say, that despite first disappointment, this was the beginning of my infatuation with BMW, especially the 3-series. I enjoyed every moment in that car as a passenger but also when the opportunity of a business trip and therefore vacant home presented itself, an unnecessary trip to the takeaway store and back. I have now owned four 3-series BMW’s, one in each chassis from the E30 through to the E90. After a brief fling with a family Japanese hand-me-down used throughout my last days of schooling and getting me to classes during university, I swiftly moved onto my first, an E36 318i in green. Unfortunately, like all first relationships, it did not last long with it being abused throughout its life by friend’s cousins and others, it was lucky that they had practically given it away as it spent the remainder of its days helping others in the form of parts. Next came my first love, an E30 318i coupe in glorious gun metal grey. Though it may be seen by many as a step backwards, especially in linear age and technology, this was not the case for me. It was the retro poster child, the grandfather of cool and you need to respect your elders. Still in relatively good shape overall, nothing that I couldn’t DIY, I set upon making it my own and it when the mod bug took hold for the first time. New wheels were quickly followed by smoked lenses all around to remove the traces of amber. Rubber was replaced, as were floor mats, then finally wing mirrors prepped, primed and painted black, cured and enamel baked in the oven to guarantee longevity. I had put my stamp on it and enjoyed a couple of summers in what I still believe is one of the best vehicles ever produced. They are balanced, nimble and a blast to drive, while the lack of today’s tech allows for a focus on the experience at hand. Impending long-term international travel was the basis for the E30 be moved on, at times I still wish I kept it. Soon after my return another vehicle was needed. Trawling through the classifieds the options were endless – and boring, that was until I came across a well maintained E46 320i, original sale in the country, with one respectful owner. For the rest of the week still searching it was nagging at me. Nothing else compared with those body lines, nothing else presented my nature, or compelled me the same way I have been since the beginning. It had to be a BMW. The purchase was made and another couple of years passed with utmost enjoyment. Because the condition was so good, with a comfortable leather interior, I was not persuaded so heavily to add excessive modifications. A blacked-out grill created a meaner front end, tinted windows for privacy and an additional AUX audio port created the ideal conditions for long term use. Life and finances changed, and although the E46 was delightful most days, my original crush returned to my thoughts. After a brief consultation with myself, there was no obvious reason holding me back. She had to come home. Her name was Three-three Five and she is now mine. Fin. …continued below. I have acquired a 2007 e90 335i in Alpine White as a direct import from Japan, with 70K on the odometer. Although I probably would prefer an LCI for a couple of niceties, the price coupled with the exact specs were far too good to pass on. Upon typing the VIN into the search engine during my search, I was very happy to see that literally ever single option was ticked. Full M-tech trimmings (body kit, steering wheel, door sills, suspension etc), full black leather interior in exceptional condition, black interior headliner, heated seats etc plus many other appointments that are well known so I will avoid a list. But that is to say I was very happy with the aesthetics and condition. Almost immaculate. I really enjoyed the car for what it was, but I knew all along that the mod bug was already in full swing. I am doing one thing at a time, enjoying the journey and the DIY aspect that many here I know do. I plan on keeping her for a long while, with lowish km’s she’s got plenty of legs left. Along with the already instated mods below that I have completed over the past year, I plan to tune to at least stage 1+ MHD, but maintenance first, choosing to get the best result. I also want to improve the suspension with the increase in power. Here’s a final sign off with a list of mods and a couple of questions below, hope to be part of some events esp. in Auckland and chat with you all more here on the forum. Mod list (so far…) – I’ll be adding some of my experiences to the appropriate channels on the forum in more detail with pics etc. 1. Black kidney grills 2. Plasti-dip 335i emblem 3. DIY painted shadowline trim 4. CF spoiler 5. 3D Studie rep lip 6. LED angel eyes 7. LED licence plate lights 8. Replaced M-tech door sills with new ones 9. BMS 15mm spacers rear, 12mm front 10. AFE Magnum Force DCI 11. Forge Motorsport DV’s 12. Secondary oil cooler 13. New battery To must do list includes, coils and plugs, interior LEDs, MHD + xHP. Then a long list of nice to haves. *First main bug bear is squeaky front brakes at low speed braking. Rotors definitely not OEM, pads new from dealer but are rubbish semi metallics with no chamfer or rubber backing. Because the pads were new, I decided to take apart the callipers, super clean and sand them, silicone the guide pins, copper lube the callipers, clip and back of pads. Sanded the rotors and pads, then bedded them in. Quieter for a month, then back to bad again. Read lots of forums, should I just replace the rotors and pads with quality? *The biggest annoyance I have is that the front left channel cover clip broke (near where the door opens. This holds the trim and rubber channel down and is now popping up on that side. A new complete gloss black channel cover is $400+, which even for OEM parts is very expensive for a thin piece of rubber and plastic. If anyone has a clip spare or old channel cover (even chrome) I’d be interested.

Whether it's the dealer or not, someone is making a killing before the parts hit the end user in Nz. It shouldn't be significantly cheaper to import genuine parts, including freight and gst, than to buy locally. I expect a higher price in nz, but not that much. This is a convo that's been flogged to death in other threads though.

I feel your pain Logan, esp re lack of time with kids running round... Changed the spark plugs on the Mazda yesterday while I ignored the BMW, see BMW's can be very reliable if you just don't drive them ? Although that is about the beginning and end of easy service items to do on that car...

Ordered strut mounts, dust sleeves, bump stops and lower spring pads from fcp euro, its going on a car with 50k kms on it so other bits should be ok.

The self-employed (in all senses of the word) route might work in the field I've been investigating... In a few years' time. At present, it's simply not sufficiently profitable to make sense. A shame, as it has been an interesting journey (and could be one I continue). Most recently I've been working with a local surveying firm, investigating ways to deploy survey markers (Ground Control Points) without actually going to the areas where they are required. It can be done with GPS (and 4/5G or wireless communications between a drone and base station, aka Ground Control Station) but there are benefits in 'walking' the land to see exactly what the terrain is like. That'll be coming to an end shortly, as I have been offered a role in Central Hawkes Bay. Exciting times down there, too... Which means another headache for us. Rent, or buy? How do we relocate all our 'stuff' economically? Oh well... No-one said life was easy!

Hey Guys, It's time to let my pride and joy go to another home. Me and the wife are cutting back on costs and are dropping down to one car, I now e-bike into work and this just sits in the garage and only gets used occasionally on the weekends. I've loved every minute of ownership, and I hope to find another home on here for it rather than have to put it up on Trademe. I have full service history for it in my ownership, prior to me there was one other NZ owner, and originally from Japan. Recently done the brakes/rotors (all around) 60,000km's left in them Near new front tyres Rear tyres have plenty of life left in them No modifications apart from blacking out the kindey grille, and white angel eyes Recently serviced 102,000km Always garaged and washed meticulously every fortnight! There are no issues that i know of with the car except that it could do with a transmission fluid change as it very occasionally hesitates in 6th gear at around 2k RPM. I had it checked at Auckland City BMW who had it on their computers, checked all the gear ratios, torque converter etc etc and said it was perfect, just needs a fluid change, this would be at a cost to the new owner of around $1000 Due to the above, i will let it go for $14000 If you would like to discuss further please get me on mobile (Zero 2 1 Two three Zero 3 0 7 7 ) Or, email me - adam @ mada . co . nz

After an e46 convertible boot, ideally in Cosmos Schwartz black and semi-dressed (Don't need lights, but would like the interior)

nice write up, wish there were pics of the old cars but its ok. you made up for it with plenty of the 335. only thing i dont like is the black mirrors looks a bit odd to me but the front lip looks nice colour matched white!

having just had the exprience oh helping my sister move she found a trailer place that lets you hire a furniture trailer one way...https://utow.co.nz/k/one-way-trailer-hire

Three roadsters wasn't it? Black, yellow and one on Facebook? Record numbers

What is going on here? 2 Z3M roadsters and a Z3M coupe all for sale within a week?!

aha, eek is right! All the best for your new car ownership. saw it on GP and looks slick as hell.

Learn to build a relationship with your local bmw parts department. I buy virtually 90% of the parts through them and they have never failed me in terms of pricing, service and sometimes speed (although I agree sometimes it is faster to get stuff shipped from the UK) Wait till one day you come across the need to return a $4xxx part because of defects to some overseas vendor and they don’t want to know about it (been there with a $2000 part and never again) ... I had to do this once with the local dealership ... no questions asked when defect shown and new replacement ordered straight away and faulty part returned.

i've always had this opinion since my first and only experience with mechanical warranty on the mercedes e class I used to have. it cost somewhere around $3000 for 3 years, had 1 issue with the fuel pump that would have cost me $2000 out of pocket but instead a $500 excess. BUT, I had to get my oil services done professionally $3-400 instead of $100-150 it costs me to DIY at home, and as part of the mechanical warranty they require you to do a trans service which cost me $600 or so. so after all that, i was actually probably worse off or about the same as if I had just kept the money for the warranty in a spare bank account and used it as required. Of course, if something even more major happened then I would have been better off but the car had only done 50,000kms at the time so what could possibly go wrong? I didnt buy mech warranty for my M135 but in the end had to fork out over 3k in repairs for water pump and valvetronic etc so maybe I should have gotten the warranty but still, the higher servicing costs and headaches associated with it steers me towards the road of not going for the warranty despite all thats happened.

to be fair you could say that about just about any car in those ranges tho nowdays, Honda seem to be the only ones going their own way slightly by adding on sharp angles and its not surprising when you see the koreans have pinched the same designers who worked on the euros

Ahhhh so you bought it ! - I was just about to book my flight to see Paul this weekend That vehicle has a lot of history on this forum, its been owned by Dan (DRFTIT) and also owned by Shelly (MSB0ND) Nice purchase and look forward to watching your progress.

To be fair, it was a tongue-in-cheek comment. Great kit, no doubt, but yes - not everyone will want to spend that sort of money, or have that sort of power. The stock turbos are Mitsubishis, I think. Either TD03 or TD04. You could try talking to Turbo Bits in Chch - they do rebuild kits for Legnums, Evos, and the like. They may have a suitable kit, and might be able to recommend a rebuilder. Bear in mind that it's not just seals that can fail. Probably worth getting the unit(s) looked over by a specialist before splashing out on rebuild kits.

Some pics of the new M135 ? .

I like yellow! But I'd prefer a white Z4 coupe...

Why does everyone hate yellow? I like it, along with Phoenix gold

Gavin is a good guy. Very helpful. I've used Paul many times. Excellent service, good prices.

X5 is back from Auto38... work done: Replaced due to faults: Water pump Radiator fan blade (it was chipped) LF height sensor (for self-leveling suspension, as I started getting a 'SL Susp inactive' warning recently) Fuse for SLS compressor Rear number plate bulb Replaced because it was a good idea: Water pump pulley Tensioner roller assembly Deflection pulley Main belt AC belt Other stuff Radiator shroud refitted (hadn't been installed correctly previously) General vehicle check over. Things for later: Guibo RF CV boot Vehicle needed battery removed for 30 min to properly clear and reset the SLS error code. Thanks to Jon at Auto 38 and Autosure (helped with the waterpump fault). As much as I don't like spending lots of money on repairs (and it looks like a hobby of mine) I value Jon's thoroughness and proactive approach. It's great to have the X5 back - and it is just as well that I enjoy driving it.

Gave it a clean at 260k on the odo. Another 40k and it'll be broken in.

Ive developed a number of UAVs running high end L1/L2 RTK, depending on what you need (and budget) you can get away without GCPs at all. uBlox keeping announcing cheaper and cheaper RTK units, it wont be long until you cant get 5mm accuracy for $100...

Aaaaand they are gone. Looks, smells and feels way better, feels like I'm in the seats now, not on them.

I'd rock it, as long as it's honda reliable and not BMW reliable

At least Grandma will love the 2020 Honda Jazz!

How about silver? Now the z4m coupes are also coming out https://www.trademe.co.nz/2166328305

Replaced voltage regulator last night in the M5. Cleared all the spaz codes it was throwing and the car started up all good. Got 50 metres down the road this morning and up comes 5DF0 ABS pump failure, reset codes a few times but it comes straight back. BMW parts are such a bastard, it would be fine if they died and didn't cost the moon, but the ABS pump retails for $3000 US, it's not just an M5 thing either, the 130i had the same issue. FML.