Young Thrash Driver

Never heard of the problems these engines give until reading this thread- I'm gobsmacked. And to see Glenn writing so frankly about them... Don't think I'll ever own a BMW 4cyl.

Some people just shouldn't be allowed to own a nice car...

Manual E39 530. Was always a 3 series guy but after having one E39 I'm a convert

"It is suspected that there is mechanical damage to this vehicle. Vehicle has after-market wheels." These writeups always throw up something entertaining

Very soon the Rolls will be cheaper than an average house in Auckland...

The seats are a bit ripped but the foam is still good- I think the old owners put the sheepskin on because it looked ugly. Rust- the towbar carrier is rusty, some rust in the left rear tail light and some surface rust under the battery- certainly nothing to get worried about re WOFs etc. Car is ready to go, we picked it up sight unseen in Wellys, drove it to BOP, then the next week up to Akl and back down to the Wairarapa, so it certainly has no issues there. Travelling to Akl- couple times per year maybe, but not regularly

I expect the 340i badge to become the newest fad, coupled with 12 ///M badges to show how cool you are...

Still for sale, still wof/reg, is this the only manual E30 that nobody will buy?

Given that some of us are slightly nerdish about these things, it may help to put up your VIN

E36 would be the one, its job is a) protection and getting her from a to b. This means it has the E30 beat Edit- ^^^ oh my... good job!

Nah they're sweet, just rub some Kiwi shoe polish around the inside so the WOF guy doesn't notice

The fact this M3 isn't based on a 318 makes it quite rare and valuable, it could even be a world first

Wasn't this the one whose engine sounded deathly ill? Sounds like it's had a once over lightly and being flicked on

Sweet, thanks for that. Strange spec- it has a passenger airbag but no OBC. It comes without a headunit?

Whats the vin? Plate comes back to a Lexus

Used to be a members car, was sold on a year ago- theres a thread somewhere where it had a ton of work put into it. I was kinda interested but it vanished from TM

Hard to believe this was written off- did it require more than a new bumper and bonnet?

Welcome! Sad to say, it will always eat all the petrol

If it's jump starting fine, it won't be the starter motor. As above, be completely sure it isn't the battery. The next step is to find the gremlin in the gearbox

They probably just want to check the EGR hasn't been blanked off... not applicable in your case. That, or it's just a exhaust gas test. Best you check with a cert issuer!

There was a thread on these a while ago... I think the conclusion was they were just junk and you'd be better off making physical upgrades rather than playing with one or two inputs into the ECU

Saw it on the news and thought it was you! Good to hear otherwise

Keen to hear how the S001's go, I'm due for new rears too

I had a 01 626 liftback for about a month... super practical and great on gas, but good grief it was awful to drive

Before you go replacing things left right and centre- give the brakes a thrash. Find a nice quiet road and do 4 or 5 emergency stops. Then see what happens. My E39 had the symptoms that you are describing, and I cured it with this medicine.