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Well as most of you know i moved up to Ontario, Canada in Feburary this year. While I instantly found the public transport system very good (many people here hate it... i guess you always want what you cant have), of course i would never be able to live without a car. Before i got here, i had already decided or so i thought that i would get something american with a V8 in the front, it would be my last oppertunity do so, Canada and the USA being the last oasis for the V8 engine, with fuel still at $1.30 CAD (not much in it compared to NZD). I had organised a Ford F150 in Blue, V8 of course, 2016 ex lease that i was going to pickup when i got here. What i didnt realise is that, without a credit history in Canada, i was unable to be approved for the lease, basically because they had no idea who i was. No credit history also caused a few other complications for me too but wont go into all that. Suffice to say, no F150, and indeed no leasing at all. given that i only plan to be here for about 18 months or so, there is little point buying a car, or so i thought. anyway, once arriving, one of my first objectives was to find some friends! i joined a few E30 and BMW pages up here, and within a day or two was invited around to a guys warehouse full of E30s. I told my lady before i went round there that i already knew how today would end. And there it was, a hard top for my E30 cabby back at home. they are onobtanium in NZ, in more than a decade around the traps, i know of only one. made a deal with the guy and had myself a hard top to ship home. Then i saw another wee beastie collecting dust in a corner. Oh that old thing, its an E30 Touring, very rare over here. Indeed. They were never sold anywhere in North America, and command exceptionally high prices over here. Might have got the story wrong but it goes something like , it was brought sight unseen in Poland in advertised good condition, and since the guy had Polish Ancestry it was brought, flew over picked it up, and road tripped it back to Toronto, Canada (crossing the Atlantic between the UK and Halifax). While yes very reliable (havent been able to fault it yet), its never been someones baby so scruffy here and there and needed some significant mechanical work. and the owner, once completing the trip lost interest. Suffice to say i was interested, put it up on the hoist to see what i was buying and did a deal. sure, a wee bit more than you'd pay in NZ for one in the same nick, but there is probably more in New Zealand than there are in the entire Continent here. And so became the saga of registering it in Ontario. While they are very lax on saftey here, being no annual inspection and no border compliance etc like we have in NZ, it is difficult in otherways. Insurance is compulsory here, and as i am a 'new' driver by there standards, rates are high. you also need to take it for a saftey inspection (the only time it will ever get checked), although because i already knew of what was needed, it just got a dodgy safety, which is very common here. no body bothers to actually get the car inspected, have heard that from heaps of people! eventaully all sorted and start driving it. got its first bath up at the family home a week or so later, so i could see what i had actually brought under the 2 years of dust etc. youll notice in those pics the rust in the tailgate, as is always the case on Tourings. what happens is the seal at the lower edge of the glass shrinks being 30 years old now, and water gets in and trapped. Also the front valance a bit bent up as well. interior pic shows various bits of trim missing, fortunately all of the touring specific stuff is present! and the engine bay. yes its ugly needs a serious clean, but yes that is an E36 M42 swap, which gets the car moving very well. Coilover plug conversion using M52 coils. There is a lot of things in here that is pretty hows your father, it pains me to say though that it is actually reliable as anything, starts first crank every time. I will talk more about the engine in a later post when i get to addressing it And that last picture is my first tools here, brought for me for my birthday! Next up, found a job, and while not in the industry i want to be in, it was a real stroke of luck. It is a body shop, part of a chain of 150 or so stores, the biggest in Canada, and owned by an American company which is the biggest auto body chain in the world. what better place to land a job when you have a 30 year old BMW that needs some love! Another wash. yes i did that a bit. money was very tight before i got a job, as i didnt intend to be buying a car! but good to actually be able to detail it in a proper place with all the resources i needed. Put my ETHRTY plate in the back window which came over from NZ with me in my case. was intended to go up on the wall here, as i said, never expected to actually buy an E30 here! and of course a BMWCCNZ sticker added to the rear window! as it turned out, purely by luck, one of the other body guys is actually a BMW guy two, and owns an E30 himself, and also the E39 540i 6 speed you can see in the background there. very cool to be at a workplace and meet someone like that! He actually liked the black kidneys on my car, which i didnt like. i asked him if his were chrome, he said they were, so at one point, he brought in the silver ones from his car and i swapped them over, so all the photos from here on have silver grills. that was the first mod i did, and more of an anti-mod ha. Went to a classic car show, swap meet and second hand collectables show (all in one) absolutely enormous event (as is anything here). spent the day and still didnt see everything, but i did manage to pick up these to add to my collection at home. All 4 are North American spec so diving boards etc but interesting all the same. The guy also had E28 E32 E34 and E36 ones as well, i tried to bargin for the lot but he was a tight old prick and i think he was one of those 'f off we are full' types and didnt like my accent. oh well, whatever. Mid April by now, Finally managed to find a house. unfortunately doesnt have a garage which is a bit of a pain, but Toronto rent is much like any other major city. if you want space and carparks you are out of the city already, and you want a garage to, thats just not in the budget as it turned out. Time to get cracking on the car ! First order made, door handles for three of the four doors. never understood why they break over seas and yet never seen that at home before. it was explained to me here its so common because of the cold, the locks frequently freeze, and so the 30 year old plastic breaks trying to release the frozen metal. of course, we rarely get sub zero temp at home so thats why! drivers door hinge bushings, to get rid of the aweful squeek and slop in the hinge meaning often had to close the door twice or three times. not a job i had done before, but BMW sell a rebuild kit, very straight forward to complete rear brake pads. the hand brake is also totalled as well but will sort that at a later date. various interior bits and pieces pod filter for the engine so it actually has a filter.... those dodgy Poles. you'll notice the dent in the right rear door as well. after that photo and while the door card was off i sucessfully heated with the missus hair dryer and pushed it out with plam of my hand from the inside, so very happy about that. also the tool collection as you can see has started to grow.... Took the following photo of what i came back to after i shop at Walmart. lucky no contact to my car, but how the hell do you walk away after parking like that and think boy i really nailed that park. Have look at the X3 to the left, the Volvo in the back ground, and whatever the crossover behing the Pontiac is. also the Pickup and the white car right at the very back. not one of them are parked properly. This is every single day in every car park here. and they are always scratching thier heads why thier insurance is so expencive up here. I thought the standard of driving was shocking in NZ, but its excellent compared to up here. ohhh i do enjoy when the courier comes Mostly that is parts for a 2002ti that i have been doing some work on for a guy i met online up here, though there are bits in there for re hosing my fuel tank as it was leaking abover 3/4 full. It would appear i didnt take any after photos, if i remember right my iPhone died because id been listening to spotify all afternoon, so just imagie the above pics again with all new hoses, pump o rings etc, and also sanded what i could see of the tank and rust covertered it in hopes it wouldnt need a new tank itself. Luckily, i have filled it maybe 3 times since this and its been fine! doesnt leak at all! th biggest leak was coming from an undersized o ring around the pump cradle. also fitted a tech1 wheel i managed to pickup. needs a refurb, but at least it doesnt twist around the rim like the orginal one did. skip forward to Mid May, Right thats enough of nuts and bolts. by now i have been working at the body shop for about 6 weeks and so i asked if i could take some time to paint up some bits and pieces for the car on a Saturday or whatever and pay for the materials. dont be silly they said, call it part of your training! not having to pay for materials and whats more doing it on company time was great! they said they would rather i screw up my own stuff than a customers car anyway. Real priveledge actaully because its a side of the auto industry i know nothing about, and it is totally different to all the other branches. anyways, first up was the front valence. sourced a 6 cylinder and/or A/C type one with the dual slats. i prefer the look, makes the car look a little higher specced than it is. Paid a pretty sum for it. non-rusty parts are exceptionally rare find here in Canada. First step, mix up some paint. Found Diamante Schwarz Metallic on the computer and mixed it up from the base colours. interesting to see what it looks like when un mixed! Didnt take a before pick of the Valance, but basically i sanded it back, and applied rocker gaurd which is a Canadian made product a lot of cars here have applied to them below the lower trim line. not uncommon to see the texture, even on newer cars. basically it is a heavy rubberised coating that semi hardens. think of roughly half way between Plastidip and toughdeck spray on liners for utes. While that was drying, i was trained how to take my valance off LOL yeah right as though i dont know but hey! next step is the sealer. unlike all the other steps, it is highly toxic so must be done in full protective gear. this was the only step that was done for me, just for hygene reasons what with only one face mask. next is three layers of colour (just because i made too much paint, usualy 2 would be fine) ... and then a few coats of clear and bake in the oven for about 20 mins or so. ... and then all installed, with all new hard ware, also clips and iS lip i picked up, and also mounted in the brackets and loom etc for fog lights, not that i have found any yet, but its all there ready to go when i do. just a pic of the 2002Ti i have been doing work on as well lately, just finished it up Thursday last week. Caught up with my buddy with the 540i again (he moved on end of April). his mate came along with that yellow Dodge Dakota R/T Super Bee. pretty rare apparently, it is the size of a early 90s 2wd Hilux etc, but with a 5.9L (360) Magnum V8 in it. about 250hp despite such a massive displacement, BMW was getting more than that out of a 4L at the same time ha. still. not my thing but pretty neat little wagon. Popped by another guy i met onlines place for a yarn. has an E30 and Golf Mk1 in the shed, and also the E21 in the back ground. This 740i possibly the new daily??, not sure yet, all the same thought i would post it up. this is typical of a 90s BMW up here (makes my E30 look great). yep rust just something you have to deal with on a car thats spent 20 years in the snow, and then the other 6 months of the year in the beating down sun (much hotter here than NZ in summer). compare to an E38 in NZ which i have never seen a single one with a spec of rust on it. this isnt even particularly high kms, only 160km or so. Canada weather is very hostile to cars! Which brings us up to today! Local ariport saved my carpark for me, when i dropped the missus off this morning. Then what do you do when you get to work at 4.30am , work on your E30 of course! 3.5 hours to sort out my tailgate in the piece and quiet. You know the process now from the above run through, just this time with a few body filler steps to full in the rust holes. yes technically metal should be welded back in, but my reasoning is that this gate is so rusty already its not worth spending time saving, just make the most of what you can and hope it lasts for a while. so i will just let the pictures do the talking. and finally, since as i said above i dropped the missus off at the airport this morning, i have her car till Friday week, yep a very manly machine lol but she likes it and that means i can drive what i like. its actually quite pleasent to drive, just very very under powered, definatley a city car. Anyway, since i have it, it means i will be getting stuck into replacing some stuff under the car in the coming few weeks since it wont be on daily duty. so jacked the car up when i got home, and decided actually, after getting up so early this morning i am too tired to get under it today. So i came inside to spend two hours posting on bimmersport instead lol. Thanks for reading, and sorry i cant be bothered to go back through an reread/spell check. its just gone 11pm on Tuesday night so im tired, just powered through typing that last 20 mins ha. BTW sorry i havent been as active on here recently either, i am always reading!!

One for each foot, duh.

Single din headunits with those fascias always look out of place on BMW's. The way @qube did it for his E39 was ok though. Id just get a dynavin etc clone and be done with it, they are only a couple of hundred more and have much many more features, even if dont use all of it its surely helps when you sell the car.

I guess that makes the price for '1' $120,000?

Buy one get one free.

Great daily for someone. 138000 km. Excellent mechanically. $3500 Call 0212435526 for more info.

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.

Bloody boy racers. Who puts Powerflex in the missus family wagon, anyway???

would you believe it Jon? I dont have a single wheel, let alone any sets in storage at the moment...

Send the member qube a pm, he usually has a few sets for sale... Oh, wait, what...??

One thing you should know with BMW (and other Euro brands), the local part prices are mostly a rip-off. You can get them cheaper by buying online from overseas. fcpeuro.com is a good one i use often, their shipping costs are among the lowest and parts generally arrive within a week. That's assuming you were looking at local prices. Also have a look on Trademe for E90 parts, there are always ones being parted out, you could find that part dirt cheap that way.

Sorry just saw this now, measurement is 580mm Any offers on this rack ? It has to go!

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.