madandy

I know! And that's with them sanding the strips, using proper primer/undercoat for that type of plastic, masking and blending. They garantee the colour match and that the paint will remain stuck where it belongs for years. We just got our GT-R lower lip back from them and its as good as new Our family has sent a bit of business thier way with Sharons dad dealing in the odd used car exchange but not to a great economic value so that price is hardly what you'd call 'mates rates'. I think some places have a rediculous hourly rate for such a simple job, hence the high prices some quote They're panel beaters & spray painters not investment bankers, doctors or I.T. wizards

Looks good alright. Same wheel style as mine but 17" instead of ghey 15's and the Front bar I'm after as well for my new 328i sedan. lol. how much you pay for that if ya don't mind? Also, from an earlier post: M52TUB28 142 kW (190 hp) @ 5500 280 N·m (207 ft·lbf) @ 3500 6500 1998. That cannot be correct. The power peaking at 5500rpm yet max torque is held to 6500rpm?! that would imply that peak HP must in fact be at or above 6500rpm. torquexrpm/5252 & all that clever maths stuff Maybe peak toque is 3500 - 5500rpm with peak power at 6500rpm ?

Thanks mate that's exactly what I'm after. This outfit is in Christchurch too so even at a slightly higher price than the last shortshifter at least my money isn't going to a bleedin Austraaarlian!

I'm interested in the suspension geometry mods you've made to your E36 to gain some M3 handling advantages! Looking at wheel/tyre combos at the moment I'm very glad I searched & found the link between susprenion geometry & staggered wheels. Please ellaborate if you will. Andy

Just got quoted $180 for the front, sides, rear bumper & lower 'diffuser' bit. Guaranteed for life of the paint. Think we'll get them to spray us an M3 front bumper too

We paid $250 to have this exact same job done on a Primera about 3 years ago. Was a perfect colour match by professional painter. Has lasted 3 years with no sign of peeling - saw her just this afternoon. Will be getting quotes to do the same on our new 328i sedan this week here in Tauranga from shop that's touched up the front bar on our GT-R...

I hope he lists another one cause I bloody well missed that one!

Have always done it when appropriate and possible (some cars pedals just don't let me in). Around town I find it's unnecessary as I'm not racing around but ouy on a quiet back road when I have the road to myself or on a track then certainly. having just bought a Bimmer I have to learn a new technique as the pedal layout is quite different to my GT-R.

at $75!? really? I thought that was very cheap

As title says. 17" wheels for E36 328i sedan wanted. Must be in very good nick, prefer genuine BMW / Msport wheels. Andy

I'm after a short shifter for our new 328i man. & found THIS on trade me. Any one used/using one of these or offer an opinion about the quality or any alternatives? cheers Andy

Well we bought the 328i! Arctic Silver Metallic. Light grey leather interior. Trip computer, rear blind Rockford Fosgate CD player and a proper gearbox Beautiful ride & cabin ambience. Perhaps not as quick as I'd have liked but stepping out of an STi Impreza and comparing to our modified GT-R are hardly fair benchmarks to compare with. The factory 15" wheels will have to go so already looking for a set of 17" genuine wheels, preferable Msport items. Factor wheel/tyre size option is 235/40R17. Thinking about the stagger concept so will investigate the appropriate tyre size for the front end. Will post some pics when this atrocious weather goes away.

Gidday Darren, sounds like a very nice motorcar! The Dinan Supercharged weapon sounds very tempting...

I just 'done' it now...

Gidday mate, How you like your Beemer after the 'Mera? Be interesting to hear yuor thoughts. Don't worry about the M3. I've decided to be a bit sensible for a while so 328i it is. Thanks for the offer though! Thanks dude I should have searched harder. I have a '98 328i man. sedan to check over this weekend. Sth. Efrica import brought in in 2000 with 23kms on it. Now has 76kms, full Team Mcmillan service history (plus records from Africa). 1 mature owner who now has a 330i leather interior. Not a Motorsport model unfortunatly but it is a very good example. Be interesting to see how she drives.

Cheers guys. Plenty of 5 series fans I see We are after a relativly uncomplicated machine with as few flash bits to go wrong as possible & one that's easy to work on and rather sporty to drive. When the traction control is de-activated I expect to be able to get up to no good and not have massive rear tyres to worry about wearing down:D I probably should have said that our budget has been lowered since I first introduced myself...$12-15k We still have the GT-R and I'm gonna put together a race hack to flog on weekends at local car club events & track days so I don't throw untold wads of hard earnt into a perfectly good road car & kill it. Cheers for the e-mails & words of encouragment. Would someone confirm for me that the 2.8L is the M52 and that the 323i 2.5L M50 engine has the plastic water pump impellor, the M52 a better water pump and is generally a stronger engine? cheers Andy

Hello again Bimmersport fans! Following on from my June introduction I foolishly went and bought a Subaru WRX STi. Quick car but poor on fuel and frustrating to drive below 4000rpm where it lacks any real tractability. We didn't wish to modify the thing to improve its driveability so have put it up for sale. The good news is we have decided to go with our original plan & buy a late '90s E36 323/328i. We've driven a couple of 3 series recently. Both E46 with one a 328i steptronic with Msport suspension and the other a 323i manual with normal suspension but msport 18" wheels. I definately prefered the ride of the Msport suspension with 17" wheels and both my partner Sharon & are adament a manual is required! I have found a couple of E36 examples that read pretty well and will be taking a closer look at them once I have a deal sown up on the WRX. One is a Msport 323i manual. and two are 328i one a genuine Msport both manual and all with leather and 1998 models. A question that springs to mind after plenty of researching is this: How much emphasis should I put on service records and country of origin? I'm pretty keen to hear peoples experiences and opinions on M50/M52 engine reliability and the suspension quality on the late E36 and anything else I should pay close attention to when choosing one in the near future. cheers in advance & gidday again Andy

Indeed! Is that dark piping a normal E36 option or a UK kinda extra option? Almost looks aftermarket leather upgrade? Beautiful all the same

As requested: KAIJU And HERE is the trade me auction for the beast. Sharon has suggested we consider an EVO 7 as well as it's kinda a cross between a GT-R and a BMW! I guess she doesn't care much for fuel consumption!!!! I'd consider a 540is. Not one for auto trans & the 2.8L would be a little lacking in the 5 series body wouldn't it?

Hi guys, I always loved BMW's right through my teenage years and early twenties...had a few Japanese flings through the years and have wound up driving a modified R33 GT-R. It's damn fast with nealry 500hp and lethal to most others on the road but quite uncompromising - my partner, Sharon & I have been talking lately and with a baby on the way it's time to get real and move into a sedan....We looked at E36 M3 evo's but want 4 doors & I can't think of a better sports sedan than a late E36 328i...although the fuel costs of a 320d are tempting...I dont expect even an M3 to meet what we've come accostomed to so really just wanna find a good low mileage 328i sedan, manual of course & leather is an absolute must with a food smearing, vomit ejecting menace on the way! I'm Andy by the way, Cheers all, great site you've built here!