M3AN

Heck, even if you took it in for a software update and they didn't advise you of the possible consequences and receive your explicit consent, they'd still be 100% responsible. Given they did neither of these things makes them not just culpable but manifestly so. I'm shocked they sent you away like that to be honest, that can't be up to BMW's expected customer service standards (I hope). They fact that's they screwed up their own software and claim to be unable to restore it is mind boggling.

If they don't have the tools, they need to find somebody who does, and pay to have them do it. Take it back to the dealer and patiently explain that you're going to need an equivalent or better loan car whilst they fix their mess, it's 100% their responsibility.

That looks pretty solid and heavy duty, hopefully does the job. Just make sure you pack that thrust bearing and the main threads with lots of grease.

Is that the green one? 😉

Sweet, reserved for you, send me a PM so we can make arrangements. 👌

They should anything other than the compact. If you buy them, and they don't fit, I'll take them back and return the funds.

A bunch of used ducting, in various states of disrepair, from an E36 M3 Evo. Includes draft tray, oil cooler ducting, "pork chops", alternator ducting etc. As is, where is, so I'll take offers over $40 for the whole lot, collected from Epsom, Auckland. Will not split or ship this sorry.

Front and rear mounts for retrofitting a warning triangle for cars that either didn't come with one, or for cars that came with a CD changer that has since been removed. No warning triangle included. $40, collected from Epsom, Auckland.

A set of stock springs from my M3, pink (front) and green (rear) rated (standard coupé set), let's start at $150 collected from Epsom, Auckland.

Heavy duty OEM engine mounts off my M3, have done 40k so heaps of life left, $50 for the pair ONO. Collection from Epsom, Auckland.

Used, $40 collected from Epsom, Auckland.

lol @ those that think the predominant "colour" in the pictures Neil posted is blue. 🙄 Regardless, it's fugly and the original "white" pictures illustrate that well, irrespective of any photographic correction.

No sorry @Neil McCauley no Mini 4WD's but I do have some mini mini 4WD's!

Interesting. If you end up going with aftermarket lens replacements please do post details of your experience, if it's good it would be worth hearing about.

Interesting, any thoughts on how or why they're pitted on the inside? I might be dumb on this one but I assumed any physical damage would be constrained to the exterior surface.

lol - if BMW are calling something that is essentially white, blue then there's no end to the despair. Regardless, the colour allows us to see the rather Frankenstein nature of this beast. I think the rear 3/4 view is actually quite good but it's in total conflict with the front and rear perspectives. In this awkward design it seems even Chris Bangle has been trumped.

For the 130? Assuming so then there's no ex-BMW lens kit although there might be some Taiwanese aftermarket kits but I'd consider that unlikely due to the nature of the assembly. They're pretty thick plastic, you can sand them back a fair way, the key is then to lacquer them with UV resistant clear and they'll stay perfect for pretty-much ever. That's a two stage process though, sanded professionally (and NOT UV coated), then take them to a paint shop for (I think) 2 pack lacquer. You can probably do both stages yourself but I'm not that brave.

Let me have a think about what I might want for the Avante and put some pics together and I'll send you a PM. More... most of them gen vintage, not re-re's.

Are you looking for shelf queens, runners, and/or NIB versions? Not yet, but possibly in the next 12 months or so I might be looking at thinning out my vintage Tamiya collection. Mostly buggies - Egress, Top Force Evo, Dyna-Storm, Avante etc but also some TA-02 Porsches and M-01 Rover Minis. Most I have NIB and shelf queen versions of. I do have a re-re (2011) Avante, built with unpainted shell, never run, that I probably don't need, if that appealed you might be able to temp me to part with it.

These pics, posted by @Neil McCauley in the random pics thread a few weeks back help with seeing the full shape because the car is white... it's very, very boxy at the front and rear and doesn't seem to adhere to any current BMW design language, it's a weird looking car. It has some strange 90's JDM aesthetic, I don't hate it but I can't love it. That I-beam rear end is just fugly, the kidney grills are better than the buck-toothed rabbit grills of late but they look like a child drew them, and what's up with that central frame?

Damn, I should have kept my S50B32 exhaust rather than giving it away 20 years ago!

Well spotted, I didn't pay attention to those door seals. And yes, certainly a passenger car given the wear on that outside bolster. All the bidding happened in the first day, I wouldn't expect much more until the last day now.

It will be interesting to see what the market thinks this low km LCI auto with low/no reserve is worth: https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/130i/listing/3800397016

I think, to preserve your consumer rights, you should follow this advice. I would ask for diagnostic only, and for the results to be shared also with HellBM, and then I would authorise the specialist to discuss the details directly with HellBM (and ensure you're provided with the *complete* dialogue). I'd ask HellBM to cover the cost of the initial diagnosis, it's starting to sound like they may be responsible for the resolution. Edit: Be warned, you might be expected to return it to the tune you received it in to proceed with any such work.

That's a bugger John. Did you buy it direct from HellBM? Have you spoken to them about it? If you did buy it from them, they may well be responsible for fixing it, I imagine they sell enough cars to be considered a dealer. Although given the geographic distance I can see that being problematic for you. Yeah, the ECU swap thing is not a simple exercise I think because of the VIN/EWS/Whatever security but it would help eliminate the "brain is the problem" option. I had to send my M3 ECU away (to Christchurch coincidentally) to be repaired some years back to fix an unfathomable problem that had cost me a lot in replacement parts already. Worth also pointing out that my boost/fuel examples above were examples only, you'd need to look at a lot more live data, possibly with an expert eye, to cover most/all possibilities. On that note, if you needed to throw money at it, it might be worth finding a local N54 dyno tuner (not just a mapper), to actually run the thing to failure on their dyno, whilst logging all of the data so that it can be interrogated. I can't see that costing you much less than $1k though, possibly more. Edit: I'll ask the idiot question: you're running it on 98 exclusively right?