SpidersWeb

Moving up north in 4 weeks so I have to get the 535i moving again, have a spare auto here that I was going to chuck in it. But since we're moving money is on the tighter side. Now I thought, well if it cost me $600 in labour to have my old Mitsubishi converted from auto to manual, then simply swapping a dead auto with a good auto would be ..... what? ... all of $200? I mean jesus christ no modifications, just a seal and some fluid. Two companies, claiming it takes 8 hours. If I had a hoist I could do it in less time and I'm retarded. I know some of you guys could probably do this blindfolded, so if anyone can recommend somebody in the Upper Hutt area or if you want to earn a couple of hundy cash, please let me know. Its a direct swap, 4HP22 for 4HP22 in an E34 535i (M30). Also interested in opinnions on the $450/480 + expenses. Seems like BS to me.

I know many folk strike good luck, but lets say I dont, what should I budget for an auto-swap excluding labour? I've seen gearboxes etc for sale, but no actual kits. Labour set me back $600 last time but that wasn't a BMW, and they had to do some welding work. Just want to know if I should bother with it, or just fit the spare auto box I already have here.

I recently purchased a 535i with less kms, and granted not maintained as nicely as your example, but the transmission died within a week. After doing some reading I found that many folk have problems with the 4H22 4 speed in these cars at around the 200-250,000km mark, front clutch pack blows, mine only works in reverse now. I've purchased another 2nd hand gearbox for mine but we went out and got a loan to buy a newer 325i which has been a great purchase. The 5 speed gearbox is a lot nicer than the 4 speed which has a very long 1st gear. I'm not a mechanic, but I wouldn't buy another 535i unless it was manual, you'd be a lot better off with a slightly later 530i which has the 5 speed transmission, same power and better economy + wood trim!

Wii would be a good replacement for those SkyTV games hehe Need for Speed Carbon was the only upcoming car racing title, so I was excited as a little girl at candyland, however was really disappointed. I still play it, still enjoy it, just wanted a touch more realism, not much just a little, but I understand the arcade vs sim thing. I had a hard time picking which console, Xbox (no online) vs PS2 (poo graphics) vs PC (poo controller) vs Xbox360 (dont have one ). I'm good with the Xbox and PS2 controllers so I just bought one of those new Xbox360 controllers, has USB and goes straight in to the PC, mint as. I played Tuner first time around, then on the last few races the computer corrupted my save game *joy* So I'm redoing it as Euro, but I Just replaced my SLR McLaren with an EVO9 because the tuners are a better choice for this game IMO, its mostly city streets and canyon (almost rally). Drift mode was more about rythm than drifting But I did love the addition of the clutch key Also notice if you're hard in a corner in automatic mode the computer can't change gear and it'll rev bounce, that was one little realistic addition I loved, not many drivers change gear while drifting through an apex.

Thanks for the replies Definately not the air intake, the noise comes from under the intake manifold and the other day it was doing at audibly at idle (as shown in vid). Yesterday it wasnt making the noise at all My 535i does make an audible air suction noise on accel though, I like that Oh well thanks for the help guys, I'll just see what happens, its running fine now so fingers crossed!

Other things to watch for is to make sure the amp has a good ground connection, and dont run the + power lead and RCA cable on the same side of the car as this has in some situations been known to cause interference (which can cause a hum noise).

What I meant about the volume, is that when you stand in front of the vehicle, the hiss heard in that video is louder than the exhaust noise. When driving you can hear both the exhaust and the hiss at equal volumes. Its quieter at cruise, and louder under full throttle. The tone or volume doesn't changed based on engine revs, and we've poked around and I can't see any major signs of fluid leaks. On the way home today I noticed its a LOT quieter once the car has actually warmed up. The car is running slightly worse than it did when we got it (about a month ago), and it has been fed 95 at 98 octane fuel the whole time. As for the water leak, we haven't owned the car long enough to know, but we do know the coolant warning was not on when we bought it, and it came on about 600km since then. Car has done about 205,000km, so likely something has worn out, but would like to know or have a fair idea about what I"m in for if I take it to a mechanic. With christmas on the way I dont have a lot of spare cash, but have almost two and a half thousand kilometers to cover before then so kind of itching to know what its likely cause is as I can't afford it to break down over the break.

Hey guys, Car starting mis-firing a few days ago, losing 1 and sometimes 2 cylinders, then it just came right and now its perfectly fine. Also recently the check coolant warning came up, and it took about 750ml of water to get up to the cold line, the water was clean and green. So not sure whats going on but it got me interested in the motor and I found this noise. Its a loud hiss and sounds to be coming from near the center of the intake manifold and is loud (louder than the fan and engine itself). Not sure if all of this is related, but thought I'd ask to get your guys thoughts. It had a BMW Inspection I less than 2 months ago, and has a history of good servicing. Anyway here is the video of the noise: http://s83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/DrR...gine_noise5.flv Thoughts?

Already sold sorry. Only got the welder left.

150 sound alright? It's a genuine Telwin, 160A. Wheels and engine crane gone Welder is the only bit left.

Engine crane has sold, first offer got it. Still got the welder and wheels to go.

All bits are in Upper Hutt, Wellington. Would like to have something sold before this weekend because I literally don't have any money. First up yellow engine crane, rated at 1250kg its on wheels and collapses to save space, only actually used it once, about 2 years old. SOLD Second up, Telwin Moderna 3.160 arc welder. Also comes with two welding masks, a brush/chipper, the leads, possibly the original box, and some welding sticks. Guaranteed to work first time. Only used 2-3 times for short periods. Bought it thinking I could weld, turns out I can't weld for crud, so my loss your gain, about 6 months old. Click to Enlarge Last but not least, my E36 325i came with M5 rims, so I have the original wheels with near new tyres. Tyres are 205/60/15 Uniroyal 540 Traction: AA Temperature: A and all look brand new, wheels are lightweight but being standard I'm sure you knew that. SOLD All up for offers. Serious offers though, what you think is fair. I wont take offense if you offer less than I think they're worth, as I expect them to go cheaply due to the urgency of sale. I would put them on trademe but I dont have $20 to credit my trademe account argh

So you can take drinks home for the poor buggers who couldn't get a lift. We have an older MX5, has a single cup holder, and its right below the gear shifter (pain in the arse). If Mazda have found a way to fit 4 cups in there, then the MX5 is certainly putting on a lot of weight (ours is only 940kg). I'm picking up my new E36 325i this weekend, and I'd love one of those OEM cup holders too. I remember when my parents got their 325, I was quite suprised to find they didn't have one, perfectly smooth ride, good power, nice boot room, but nowhere to put my bloody cup Still have the 535i here, think I might butcher a cup holder in to that, maybe use that for the McDonalds run (or Subway).

Yeah thats one of two options. This box wasnt 'abused' though (its not like I was doing skids or anything), and fitting a replacement 2nd hand box that hasn't already been rebuilt, is just procrastinating a rebuild. So if I was going to sell the car, I'd probably take this option, sell the car for 3K and be done with it. Also everyone I've talked to with a 4HP22 M30 box currently available seems to think its worth $500-800, and I'm not paying that for a quick fix. Other option is convert to manujal and keep it. There is the third option of doing an auto rebuild and keeping it but I'd just sell it, so might as well choose option 1 in that case. If its manual, it makes a nice hack car, and the mrs hates automatics (and I cant afford a 540 manual), so it'd work out well, plus one day down the line I could hang a turbo off it or something. I paid 3K for it and it died a few weeks later, so would like to make some use of it. Budget would be parts + $1000, and I'd just be dropping off both cars at the mechanic saying 'enjoy' and getting the hell out of there. I figure a 5spd 535 would sell for 5k anyway, so 3K + 2K, nothing lost if I did decide to sell. If anybody has any information to share, please do, I'd like to know what I'd be getting myself/mechanic in to, and before I convince the mrs to let me buy another broken BMW I'd like to know if its worth while or if I'm barking up the wrong tree.

Yeah was looking at just buying a manual 525 parts car, so I'd have all those bits. I was hoping the only real problem would be interfacing the engine and gearbox? And yeah I haven't seen anything for the M30 over the last month Hence this idea.

I'm sure we're getting bored of my transmission topics, but I've got another question. I'm getting a 540i soon, however I still need to fix the 535i which is just sitting in my driveway looking pretty (auto dead and leaks fluid like a seive, am told its the front clutch pack which coincides with the 151,000 miles). I've never been fond of having money spent on auto transmission rebuids, and think I've found a way to convert it to manual for similar money. Previously I have had one of my cars converted to manual by my mechanic for $600 + clutch etc, but the only complications were widening the transmission tunnel and the hole for the clutch master. So if I had a manual E34 525 with a SOHC M20i parts car, and an automatic E34 535i with SOHC M30, how much trouble would I be looking at paying for to get the 5spd gearbox in the 535? I've been told the M20 and M30 bolt patterns are different, so I know that much, but are there any other complications that make this idea stupid, or is it a viable one?

Ahh nice. Thanks a lot for the response. The dealer got back to me and said the same thing. I have a 535i here I could use as well, but looks like it might be getting out of my leauge.

Hey guys, I spotted the 1993 M5 on trademe a while ago, and today me and the mrs worked out a plan to get it. However she pointed out the obvious fact that the dude driving it in the photo was on the wrong side. Turns out its LHD. They want $13500 Redbook says its worth $24,800 private sale in average condition (had to pay $15 for that) and at a guess 'RHD' Anyway, I'm not keen on LHD and those close to me will respond 'wtf you paid how much?', so any ideas on what a RHD conversion would cost? and would it be worth doing? I have been unable to find any other E34 M5 for sale, or recently sold to compare. Our budget kind of ends at 13.5K, so whatever the conversion costs, we'd need to neg. off the dealer. Would LOVE an M5 (dream car for me), but if its too far out of my leauge I'll need to look at a 540i or 540iS. Just after some opinions, cheers Jono

'Cheap Doesn't Work' Ah damn it! Thanks heaps for the reply, guess I am best to just have it towed to a auto specialist and have it rebuilt.

Basically just wondering where it is on the 3.5L M30 engine. I have a Haynes book here but its useless sometimes. I've found a manual gearbox that might solve my transmission problems, but it doesn't have engine speed or position sensors, as required by the newer M20/M50 engines (I beleive), but the M30 is kind of a relic in comparison, and has a big fat distributor cap hanging off the front of it, so I figure it might be worth a try? Going in to an E34 535i, came from an E28 520i, is a Getrag ZF 5 speed. Its local and price is good, and would like to get back to him ASAP, so any help at all would be much appreciated. Also any thoughts on using an E30 320 manual in the 535?? Thanks everyone, Jono (Oh and yeah I know it wont bolt in, but I'm guessing if I hack up the bellhousing on my auto, my mechanic can assemble something, failing that I'll just have a cry lol)

My 1989 535i has no drive and I'm in need of a new 4 speed auto. I'll also be keen on a manual gearbox if available I'm in Upper Hutt, Wellington but happy to pay all freight costs. Please leave me a message and I'll be in contact ASAP. Cheers, Jono

This is for an E34 5 series, but its a good read and might possibly be of help to you. http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/trouble/TransProgram.asp Good Luck with your 318

Sounds perfect. If filling it with ATF doesn't help this weekend, I'll give you a call. Cheers, Jono

Just for giggles, here is the text from the original advert: I signed an AIWI agreement, so not moaning, just thought it was worth a laugh to quote that.

Cheers for the reply. She's up on an axle stand at the moment, no obvious leaks but I did find a droplet of ATF on one of the lines. I'll get under it properly this weekend and give it a proper inspection, new filter and fluid, hopefully the rain gives me a break. It has me worried, as its able to select Reverse fine, and it reverses perfectly, but drive just wont even grab at all. There is a 520i auto tranny on trademe for $400, and a 535 auto with a starting bid of $750 Not keen on spending that much on a 2nd hand auto box. 400 I can handle, any higher in price and 5spd will definately be in the works instead. It'll be in the garage as the 'project car' though and I already have one of those :( just dont have the money to just run out and buy a BMW manual gearbox etc probably take a few months even. Does anyone know what the options are for me regarding the gearbox? Which autos and manuals will fit in the E34, which ones will require modified bellhousings and what will likely just bolt straight on to the M30? As far as parts go, I know what I need, but I just dont know what bits actually fit my car I'm guessing a 535 manual transmission for the E34 will be almost impossible to find. I read somewhere only 5% were manual?