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Bit of an update: My new dash trim arrived today. The paint I used on the handles is pretty much perfect. I don't think you could easily tell my homemade spray painted handles from brand new OEM ones judging by the finish on the new pieces. Honestly much better than I could have hoped for. Got a bit carried away and ended up ordering a brand new centre console switch centre (part that is removed in the third pic). I did pull it out with the intention of refinishing it the same way I did the underside of the door handles. It was in much worse shape though. Really scratched up and sticky. However once getting it out it was clear that a previous owner had hacked it up and it was held together with silicone anyway, probably for an aftermarket head unit or something. $300 later and a brand new one is coming. Ouch. Should make everything feel a bit fresher though. Once the seats are in, all that's really left on the interior is an alcantara wheel and new A and C pillars (sagging), then I'll have a breather for a while. The following all happened prior to the above and is much less interesting but I thought I might as well do a photo dump and that way it's documented. Best thing about lockdown so far has been ticking off all the sh*t jobs I didn't want to touch, nothing very exciting (hopefully that is to come in the next few weeks). Biggest one being painting the CMP subframe reinforcement bar. Was terrified of getting overspray somewhere that mattered or it looking rubbish so my boot was left stripped out for weeks. Finally got to it last week. Basically spent a whole day just turning the interior into a spray booth, paranoid about overspray. I had already previously stripped the spare wheel well down to bare metal as a previous owner at some point, not the person I bought the car from, had fiberglassed a subwoofer in and there was a bunch of leftover fiberglass stuck to the boot floor. Fool. Primer then paint went on. Just used the titanium silver body colour. Goal was never really to make it perfect. Just improve it. The CMP stuff is never going to look super OEM so as long as it looks decent then I can live with it. It is in the boot after all. The paint came up really good. Finish was nice enough given I couldn't clean or sand the surface perfectly. Next was the miserable job of cutting the carpets to size. Climbed in and out of the boot countless times and going back and removing slightly more. Came up with an okay enough fit I think. The board that goes underneath the carpets was a bit trickier because it had to be cut with a jigsaw and fit around the tube sections on the main beam. I managed to get it close enough but not perfect. My jigsaw skills are a 5/10 at best. If I was really smart I would have left the centre section slightly longer and it would have tucked under the beam nicely. I'll know for next time... Didn't like the exposed silver between the bars either so I made some templates out of cardboard and cut some sections to fit from a donor boot floor carpet I had. Everything went back in with brand new clips. Once the carpet was in with my new OEM trunk mat it looks about as close to factory as I'm going to get. Only sign of it is a hump in the floor, and when you pull back the carpets it's not too ugly. Stoked.

The engine is definitely special but in terms of using the car every day I think most people would choose a twin turbo V8 that is more powerful, reliable and economical, especially when its paired with a DCT rather than an SMG and only a 10-15% price difference. V10 all day as a special weekend driver over the F10 though.

The Venn diagram crossover between wagon owners and people who want to work on their car I think is smaller than for other body styles

More parts keep on arriving for this but nothing too exciting. Have been chipping away and currently part way through wiring to mount the ecu up behind the glove box. Lockdown inspired I wired in a E36 business cd headunit to replace the Sony exploder, in the cd input I wired in a Bluetooth receiver so can Bluetooth a phone to it for spotify etc. Will upload a photo once the headunit is fully mounted. Looks factory though! Am currently waiting on a fcp order which is stuck in Aussie which contains nuts and bolts literally to do some final bolt ups Here's a couple photos when I rolled out on a sunny day. Tyres on the style 32s need to be dropped a profile but this got it rolling as such. Also a photo of when I first got it was picking up deck materials

I'm very happy to be in that sub section, it means I tend to prefer more interesting cars, not necessarily better, but more interesting.

I have watched quite a few Videos of people using Colourlock. https://www.colourlock.com/bmw_leather_dye_colour_chart.html The youtube channel M539 uses it on pretty much all his restorations. He is just an armature with no prior knowledge and it comes out great. BTW I am getting a kit myself in a few months once I have somewhere to work on it. But there is a mobile guy people recommend on the forum. Check in the Interior section of the forum.

Ahhhhh yes, well the E30 is in no particular state for photos unfortunately right now! I had an M52B28 set up in it which unfortunately didn't work out. I am thinking of putting an N52 into it and selling off the M52B28 with the 5 speed and M3 clutch kit etc. I'm starting this whole car from scratch, as in respray, pin striping decals, sound deadening, suspension, sport leathers etc etc so stay tuned. Should be a head turner when its finished. And yes those are my M5's and actually my land cruisers as well... Can see I sort of have far too much stuff going on in my life so things kind of sit round for a while.

Previous owners have a lot to answer for!

Anyone in Hawkes Bay keen on these seats? Can have them for free, they are taking up space in my shed otherwise going to the tip.

It was last week but I was still just a bit confused. It was for a non-BMW (VW Phaeton) content but I explicitly checked the rules on the Forsale forum, no mention of exclusively BMW only content. It included photos and price (price via Trade Me link if not in the text too, cant recall now). https://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/66035-non-bmw-vw-phaeton-alternative-to-7-series I also checked the rules on the Trade Me forum and it says if the item is our own item we can put a Trade Me item in the Forsale section instead. Bit aggravating to just delete someones content after I tried follow the rules, with no explanation!

I purchased black Colourlock leather fresh toner/dye for the steering wheel and a small patch on side bolster, and although it 'dried', it never worked and rubbed off with contact or moisture. It had been properly prepped, and so forth.

The work you are going to do on an M5 is not going to be fun work I can tell you that. If it's not bearings or SMG then you are going to be swapping $1000+ modules which shouldn't be failing in the first place. I can think of at least 10 modules off the top of my head. Interesting and capable car for sure, but...

I've used Colourlock before and it works a treat. This is what I've purchased in the past: https://www.colourlockleathercare.co.nz/shop-now/product/10-leather-fresh-repair-kit

Oo those rear chassis braces are nice.

Oh God, that's a lot of nice stuff going on with your car 😍 Keep it going and we'll love to see more updates of your progress here.

Nice work! The only thing I disapprove (😉) of is the Alcantara knob, that's 100% guaranteed to look sh*t soon enough unless you wear driving gloves every time you get in. The rest? Pretty-much perfect, great to see an icon getting the love it deserves.

Do u guys have a e39 540i Heater auxiliary water pump motor available to buy?

I’ve seen this car in person, it’s the real deal but needs ALOT of work to get it back to its former glory and fetch those M325i prices. Hasn't seen the road in 11+yrs, so it’s really a ground up build - surprisingly the body doesn’t have too much rust. With the prices of M20’s, Its more suited for a repower project.

I wouldn't compare the two, the V10 is in it's own league.

poor car

Definitely a unique car for 38.5K. I think the issue is that the vast majority of us would see it as a weekend toy. This is because its getting close in price to an early F10 M5 which I think is largely the issue as an F10 would be a far better daily driver and doesn't have the reputation for astronomical maintenance bills, while still being a full fat M car. And if looking exclusively for a weekend toy the E92 M3 exists... Given the rarity I think the price is fair and I doubt another one will come to the market in NZ for less, its just its a limited market. I definitely think this M5 Touring has good potential for value gains especially when more and more EVs hit the market and people crave one of the most ludicrous wagons to ever come out of Germany (along with the C6 RS6).

Had to go back to November to find the most recent photo.

Great point. Hmm.. see the thing is Im shopping for a fast wagon and trying to convince my self this isnt the BMW Im looking for !

I would say this is good buying at that price, assuming it is as described. BMW only made 222 of these in rhd so its an opportunity that may not come along again for quite some time, and it is not beyond saving ( get rid of that terrible looking towbar and replace the front bumper) Yes it is more expensive than a sedan, it should be, it is a lot rarer, and yes you could get other arguably better cars for the money, but what you can't get is another naturally aspirated 500hp V10 rear wheel drive station wagon!!

The numerous marks and damage to the front bumper is taking thousands off this (which isn't reflected in the price), not only is it stuff to repair right off the bat, it doesn't send a positive message to its quality of life. If it was me I would either run it as an auction starting way lower or fix that bumper. I think the Touring bumps the price by 15-20% if you find a buyer. At the current price, they are looking for nearer 35% premium, at which point one could buy an M5 Sedan and a 550i Touring and just have their cake and eat it.

it's about 10k over what an equivalent nz new sedan goes for and would guess the touring market is pretty small

I’m selling a set of four Style 67 wheels. These are the front wheels off an e46 M3, which runs a staggered setup of 18x8 front and 18x9 rear. I am selling four front wheels, so these will fit on a non-m e46. The wheels have been painted black to a high standard. Two wheels are perfect and two have a few chips on the lips. Asking $800 ono

My one.😉

? What happens when you guys drive a car you're not familiar with? In all honesty it took me an hour or so to get used to the purple tag and about 4 corners for the Z3 rack. I've never even considered an extended adaptation time, in fact this might be the first time I've heard it mentioned.

Trying to deal with a solicitors in the UK about a Trust for my brother. The original practice that set this up was great, but two principals died and the work was passed on, nd passed on... And we weren't told. The latest firm have racked up a £1000 bill which they have sent us, accrued through their efforts 'to contact you [me]' so I can give them instructions. F%^&*g thieving b@st@rds.