M3AN

it was a few years ago now but I found a great deal on Amazon where it was less expensive to buy the shocks (B6 or B8) and springs (Pro-Plus or Sport-Plus) separately and you get sway bars thrown in whereas the B12 kit doesn't come with bars (IIRC). Admittedly, I missed the initial price drop sale and had to wait about 3 months for another sale so no good if you're in a hurry. Also the shocks and springs/bars didn't go on sale at the same time so it can be a bit of a pain if you need it all together. All up the invoice was less than NZ$1000 (but I ended up paying less than NZ$500 which is another story). I had to drop-ship them via LA to get them to NZ (I used kiwishipping.co.nz). Airfreight on these is expensive and a boat is slow so another compromise required there. If you can find what you're looking for on Amazon you can set up a price watch with https://camelcamelcamel.com/ which is what I did and just waited... If you have 18" wheels or use the car as a daily you might want to consider the B6's over the B8 (which is what comes in the B12 kit) as they're less aggressive. I have the B6 + Pro-Plus combo and am very, very happy - car should have come like this from the factory. A heavy shipment like these is 99.99% assured of getting stopped and pinged for GST (plus admin costs) unfortunately.

IIRC he was prepared to take 120k on the day... lovely early example. The Sport Evo next to it was also exceptional. I also counted 4, which was the rep? The JPS one? If so, very nice job.

Can't remember his name (sorry if you're reading this) but he's turned up to the casual coffee meet once or twice. Nice car.

The one in the trusty 328 seems to be 'pre-jerk', I've not had problems with jerky cold starts or gear changes although I understand that's inevitable... the "top-up" (4l - but that includes the ~1.5 litres that I spilled out the filler hole at the beginning) did however completely eliminate the slip, even when cold so well worth the effort. ?

Exactly @allan! I was getting sick of the blisters from all the uphill work... ?

:yesterday: I filled/topped up the AT fluid in the 328... some (much?) had drained out when I disconnected the cooler to replace the radiator some time back and it was slipping and really didn't enjoy the kickdown. PRO TIP: Make sure the car is running when you undo the filler plug! I knew the fluid temp needed to be 35 - 50 *C and the car running when filling but thought I'd poke the transfer tube in before I stared it up. No David, no. At rest most of the fluid drains back into the sump and submerges the filler tube... ergo, if you undo the bung with the car off then AT fluid will pour out. Messy. Ultimately of little concern, just meant I had to pump more clean stuff in (that doesn't hurt) and had to spend a little more time cleaning up. PRO TIP #2: exhausts get really hot really quickly, filler bung is only inches away from exhaust. Avoid contact with hot exhaust at all costs. Good news - my amazing Jatco is now harnessing all the ponies my venerable M52 is throwing at it.

Do they have electricity? BMW swapped to Shell in 14/15... Maybe they're using old stock... ?

I think it depends on what type of M3... generally speaking they get better as DD's the later the model you get... early manuals are terrible DD's compared to later autos. What type of M3 are you considering for a DD?

Or a rodent on a treadmill...

The article I read this morning said it's larger than an e39 "in almost every dimension".

I think you'll find the 'HALFPRICE' deal is better than GST off... not sure how it will get calculated if you can only add one tyre to the cart though.

Good stuff. Put the T1's on the rear.

You don't need to use a crap brand to get (relatively) inexpensive tyres (FWIW I consider "Goodride" a crap brand). And if you don't need a high performance tyre don't pay for something you won't use. Toyo Proxy C1 (245/40/18) - $185** Pirelli Dragon Sport (245/40/18) - $239 Both of which are pretty-much bottom of the range (for the respective brands) but still way, way better than an off-brand tyre. I have the Pirelli's on my 328 and they're fit-for-purpose but I would not put them on my M3. I don't know if the Toyo's existed when I got the Pirelli's but now knowing they exist I would consider them in the future (for the 328). Prices above are from Hyperdrive** although I'm not recommending that franchise in particular... and I'm also sure there are other tyre options that people will suggest you consider. **1. They appear to have 20% off for today only - Pirelli's are excluded, Toyo's seem to be included (https://www.hyperdrive.co.nz/pages/terms-conditions) **2. Buy one get one half price on Toyo's apparently (https://www.hyperdrive.co.nz/pages/terms-conditions) Many places will price match.

@Michael. Far from perfect but $15 - https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/bmw/interior/listing-1964520970.htm

No photos necessary, I believe you and that's interesting info. Headroom isn't such a consideration because the battery itself is a reservoir, it's only if that reservoir gets dangerously low that you'd need to fill it up faster that you're draining it. As we've already established people have been successful with no support, 10A support and 12A support so I actually think the duration of the exercise (flash) and the condition of the battery are the two most important factors to consider. Assuming you have a good 800 CCA or higher battery it would take a couple of hours for 17A to have it drop below 13.8 volts (+/- depends on actual Ah rating of the battery). Edit: to avoid any confusion about my position on this, I'm NOT advocating people do this without battery support and a device such as the one Glenn had would be the best tool for the job. The reality is that most of us don't have a $2000 device so need to consider other, viable methods.

Wasn't there a change a few years ago? https://www.shell.com/business-customers/lubricants-for-business/news-and-media-releases/2014/shell-to-be-bmw-recommended-oil-supplier.html Ratified (at least for EMEA) in late 2018: https://www.shell.com/business-customers/lubricants-for-business/news-and-media-releases/2018/shell-remains-as-bmw-recommended-oil-supplier.html Either way, it makes a mockery of the whole "approved oil" regime which is just a marketing exercise that far too many otherwise sensible people believe in. Edit: Ninja'd by Glenn...

I thought BMW used Shell lubricants these days? Surely anything else will blow up your engines?

I can't help with your questions Phil but welcome. But you get no points without pics!

Yep, I know what it is, just hadn't heard it referred to as M Drive before. Nevertheless, marine and space propulsion sounded like a good upgrade to me!

Great car but yeah, as suggested in the other thread you'll need to be patient. And now that summer has an expiry date on it a vert may need to wait even longer. If you want a quick sale you'll need to bottom out the price I'm afraid. And it would pain me to see that.

I had to look up "M Drive" but I was very impressed! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M_Drive That would be awesome! ?

That's a really difficult question to answer... I certainly don't think you'd need to do it all at once as soon as you purchase. You pre-purchase inspection (PPI) may throw up a few things you need to do but it's not likely to identify all (any?) of the preventative items. So I'd save some dollars for what comes out of the PPI (if anything) and then create a list of items you consider preventative and perhaps post that list on the forum here and see what people think about the relative priorities. So essentially, save some money but don't expect to have to spend it all at once.

lol, no Glenn of course not. Your Dexter episode (if that's what you're referring to) couldn't have been further from my mind. I'd never make fun of serious misadventure, clearly "red mist" doesn't mean what you think it means. And any disagreement is a figment of your imagination, I'm not a participant.

Yes... let's see how that goes!

New tax law is coming into effect, GST should be charged/collected on all imported goods, not just lots over $400. How that pans out in practice remains to be seen of course...