M3AN

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?

I don't need it simplified. By my reckoning your explanation would depend on the definition of "failure" in this case. Would you expect the dealer to cover the cost of new wiper blades if yours started to squeal after 3 days of ownership? Or to replace an indicator bulb if it failed after 3 days of ownership? Just trying to get a feel for your threshold for "failure" and dealer responsibility, I personally wouldn't expect either of those things to be covered by the dealer for a used vehicle, perhaps I'm wrong? You may well be right, as I say I'm "not sure", but I know the law doesn't make a used car dealer responsible for every imaginable wear and tear item on every car they sell. Sometimes you simply end up dealing with bad luck, as sucky as that might be.

Only questions, no answers I'm afraid... Has it always done this in your ownership, or did it just pop up one day? Does it have a N54 DME, or some hacked up N52 version (not sure if that's even possible)? Have you tried another DME? That's not a straight forward exercise but might tell you something. Have you tried to view live data whilst reproducing the problem? Requires a passenger plus at least INPA, and lot's of time (and patience) but it might tell you something, e.g. momentary massive overboost, fuel pressure drop etc.

It didn't break down did it? If it did then sure, dealer is responsible.

As I said, I'm not so sure, it's my understanding that you'd have to demonstrate that the dealer should have reasonably anticipated the failure and, if it's a pulley, that wasn't complaining at the time of purchase, I'm not sure how you'd do that. The law does not require every component of a vehicle to be indemnified from fault by a dealer. No harm in asking, I'm suggesting expectations are managed. A negotiated outcome might be the most cost (and time) effective way of resolving it, sometimes standing on principle is pointless.

I'm not so sure. I'd certainly try and negotiate a favourable outcome but I wouldn't expect one, a 50:50 split might be fair. A pulley is a wear item, it can be fine one day, broke the next, through normal use. No dealer can be expected to anticipate such a failure and if they can't anticipate it they can't be held responsible for it. Unless of course you can prove they should have known. Unlikely to be an expensive fix, see if you can do a deal but starting with an expectation that they're 100% responsible might lead to a defensive dead end.

I'm not sure about the I-beam rear bumper but at least the front end looks a lot better than the other rubbish they're putting out, if not a bit 90's JDM (maybe that's why I like it?). It give me a bit of a R34 GTR mixed with something else feeling.

I want to say we've seen it or discussed it before but I can't be certain. I don't recognise it as a member's car. It looks tidy though, if it's not clunky or dripping with oil I think "your friend" should probably take a very close look at it.

That's what I do when I fail a WoF by a pip on the tyres. Still using the heirloom re-groover passed down from my Viking ancestors. 100% foolproof.

Have you seen this James? https://www.babybmw.net/threads/cruise-control-retrofit.23933/ Make sure you read the third post of this thread before you start coding: https://www.babybmw.net/threads/cruise-control-retrofit-pre-lci-e87.137228/#post-1681902

I didn't expect you to, don't worry, it's not public yet but nothing to do with a tunnel, much cooler than that. I'll post back in this thread when I can make what I know public. I agree with @Eagle, pistons look fine for reuse as long as they weren't previously leaking or binding, I've seen much, much worse that were still perfectly functional.

Barbara is set to take on new significance as a name soon, perhaps more so in Tāmaki Makaurau than Ōtautahi, but it will be pretty awesome wherever you live in Aotearoa. 😉

I would have gone for standard or Euro on the rear, the small one is a bit lost in the space but otherwise the black plates are a great look, and well done on "THE135". I agree with removing the silver 135i, or perhaps replacing it with matt black.

I'm not sure BMW ever made a ///M gear knob during that era in that horrible plastic did they?