M3AN

Thanks. ? It's an Avin USA 10.25" system... installation was a bitch, two afternoons... but I sort-of expected that. Disassembling, and then reassembling the dash and glovebox took most of that time. First impressions soon.

With enough notice Kayne will do the whole car on a lift but that's not going to work if you need it done now. Outputs are easy enough to DIY, depends where the leak is really, they rarely all need replacing at the same time but worth doing 3 if you're doing 1.

It's watching you... Not sure, but it isn't factory. Is that a little picture of a sun? Does it turn on some aftermarket daylight running lights? You may need to play with light switches to see. Perhaps some "cool" under car LED strips? Just a guess.

Make sure you use a high-temp clear. ?

The chances of them getting anywhere near 250*C on a street car are about zero. The calipers will get super hot only once the rotors are almost glowing and then you stop the car so the calipers act as a heat sink. It's highly unlikely your rotors will glow before you crash. And if they do, follow proper cool down procedure and your calipers will be fine. I do think that your stickers will peal off though because of heat cycles, road crap and washing. As soon as a corner lifts they'll remove themselves quickly. If you spray a clear coat over the top though they'll last a lot longer. Edit: I must say that the calipers do look good so props on that front.

Nice @gjm, a 3/4" set is a must-have IMHO although I'm amazed you found one with a 46mm socket in it!

Man those 3 doors look good don't they? I very much like those wheels are they 17's or 18's? And are you running 245's all around? Edit: GLWS.

I've ordered some black ones, they'll be here in the new year. I haven't decided what to do with the carbon fibre ones but sure, if I'm going to discard them I'll tap you on the shoulder so-to-speak. ?

No, ensconced at the family house on the North Shore. Very full and very content. ?

This arrived pretty quickly and no GST... although it was marked at US$98 so any GST would have been small. Via DHL. The quality looks fine, the cables and adaptors seem strong and there's lots of them... no installation instructions. ?? Project for after Christmas day whilst listening to the cricket.

Fronts are easy Graham, especially if you're starting with a new hub/bearing assembly. Remove wheel, remove caliper, remove rotor, pull hub, anti-seize the bearing interface on the spindle, wack on new hub (rubber mallet), replace rotor, replace caliper, replace wheel, drink beer. The hardest part will probably be getting the old hub off, it could range from easy through to PITA so be prepared for either or anywhere in between. In the worst case the bearing will separate and leave the inner race stuck on the spindle. The easiest way to get it off in that case is probably with a Dremel.

Cheers Kyu, I'm pretty stoked actually, I didn't expect to like it as much as I do but it's very, very good. I'm stunned at how good the auto box is... and just how rapid the car actually is. The photos don't tell the story of the paint but the price does, it's a long way from perfect upon close inspection. I think I'll get a proper cut and polish and then assess what to do. But I went in knowing this and it doesn't concern me, I can't see the paint when I'm driving it! For a net ~$5k it's a pretty big upgrade from the 328!

I have F1 A5s on the rear of my M3 and like them, always have. I've also found them to be quite a bit less than the equivalent Michellins (in 255/18) but that has required me to shop around. I use the F1 directionals up front for more stable tracking and better aquaplane prevention than assyms.

Yep, PITA. But your case is tax deductible on your income... if you can be bothered... government wins again... :-/

I just paid GST on an eBay.co.uk purchase, collected at source via PayPal... it would be interesting to be able to trace that GST and see if it ever arrives back in NZ.

Probably is standard... ...I was making an incorrect connection between an electrically operated PS pump and active steering, I thought they were one in the same, my bad. I don't have active steering so perhaps that's why I like it! ?

lol this thing is fun, even the auto box is a delight in sport mode. The car is way quicker than I imagined it would be and it has hydraulic rather than electric power steering, bonus. The seats and suspension probably feel better than my M3. ? I played with all the settings that mapped across from my '08 coupe manual and have set it up how I like. Tilt might need some inspection on the driver's seat, it clicks but then does nothing but the current position is okay for now. It has privacy glass too. I'm impressed that the radio preset buttons are capacitive touch buttons as well as proper buttons, that's cool. Not enough pockets and no coin storage, that's a bummer. I could use the cup holder for coins but it's not ideal and there seems to be no OEM solution. I washed it by hand today and exposed all the imperfections and there are many. Looks great from a few metres out but not so good on close inspection. I knew this going in though and I'm not at all concerned with what I see. I'll probably pay for a good cut and polish in due course and see where we go from there. More pics... These must go... These can stay... 100% happy so far.

I've just ordered an Avin unit for my 130, I think they're the generally preferred brand (and it's Android 9.0) - https://avinusa.com/ DHL tells me it'll be delivered on Monday (with no GST), I'll provide a first impressions when I get it, they review well.

Cert...

Orange Wolf 130i exhaust...

Oh, and it has a "BMW Performance" shifter and boot, I didn't notice that on others, is it standard on any spec?

This one's not a project so it lands in the showroom. Although I do have some small projects on the way. For those that don't know I've been casually looking for a 130i for a few months, I say casually but I have put a fair bit of time and effort into checking around 7 out. Including putting 5 up on stands and taking the under-cover off. None were ideal, all were filthy underneath, only a couple were briefly tempting. I was disillusioned tbh. I was one of the first people to view this one (mine now) at a dealership and liked it immediately, interior 8/10, exterior 7/10, mechanical 9/10, extras 10/10 - all based on my scale of needs. Drove it home to look underneath and there was almost no oil so I did a deal for $8.5k including 12 months of AutoSure which I was very happy with. I've looked at $11k cars that are in way worse condition than this one. Been in NZ since mid '16 and has ~$3k NZ receipts in the glovebox. It's been covered by mechanical insurance since arriving in NZ and has had all the top end and vanos gaskets done recently with BMW parts. It's had the oil and filter replaced every year with great synth since it's been in NZ... 😍 It has an aftermarket stainless exhaust and coilover suspension which, amazingly, has been LVV certified in NZ! The springs are Eibach and the exhaust and shocks are from a bespoke Japanese tuning house 'Orange Wolf' - try finding that sh*t on Google! I had to search in Japanese to find them. The suspension and exhaust were installed in Japan, suspension obviously not detected upon import seems to have been cert'd before the first non-dealer NZ owner. Edit: also has an LSD... 🤯 I like both the exhaust and the suspension, it's got a real bark without drone (unless you hold it at revs too low) and handles like it's on rails. Some wouldn't like the exhaust for a daily but I don't mind it. It drives and feels way, way more stable at speed than the stock suspension yet doesn't bang and rattle around at all. Totally stoked. And it does a rev-blip in sport mode on the downshift, lovin' it 😂 (however pointless that might be in an auto). The wheels have been cheaply painted (whilst on the car! 🤨🙄) but that doesn't concern me at all and the body has a few scrapes and proper sun fade on the bonnet and roof but I'm okay with that too. The front bumper has had a poor respray but in the end it was all these (aesthetic) factors that I was looking for to drag the price down. Perfect. It is my new daily (leave anywhere) car after all. I'll have to replace the aftermarket (real) carbon fibre front kidneys because (unfortunately) they look like crap after too much sun. TL;DR - New car, very happy. Picked it up today, hope to wash it and take some proper pics tomorrow. December 2019... June 2020...

Welcome Bill and props for posting a pic. That's a good looking wagon, there will be lots of people around here to help you out.

I'm feeling internet disabled... where on earth can you download owners manuals from BMW? It strikes me as something that should be bleedin' obvious but buggered if I can find them. Where are they? Or does somebody have a e87 130i LCI 5 door manual as a PDF? The only one I can find is for a 2 door and they're quite different.

Email sent @BM WORLD. No rush, nothing urgent. Cheers.