Jacko

You're looking for the exact opposite of this, use a torch and look along the length where the head meets the rocker cover. Its the lowest point, so it collects on the ledge before dripping over onto the exhaust manifolds. If rocker gasket has just been done, it could be residual oil/degreaser from them cleaning up, or it could be another leak (first thing to check if does has fresh oil along the ledge is bolt torques, if its a silver top could also be broken bolt/s)

Decided to follow the manufacturers suggested bump stop install, may work slightly better... Sump on, for some reason this one was a bitch to get on. Fourth n52 sump I've done but first auto 130, dunno if was the transmission cooler line location or my torn shoulder tendons (still recovering from bike crash) but there was a few more four letter words than "sump" and "auto" used in installation. Front subframe can now go on and will get some real progress.

So not like this then? Great condition, great first car... its neither of those thing https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/130i/listing/5466999213

I made a clean spot, then the rest of it looked terrible, so made another one... then had to stop myself... that'll do Donkey Despite the stupidity, call it period correctness, of the 4 tips its a actually really well made exhaust.

Way off topic but agreed, social safety nets 100% needed (drive around the average US city to see why!), but that shouldn't be funding european performance cars.. winz rep should be like nope, sell it, buy a vitz then we can talk. On topic - After finding new exhaust parts - I've only just realised that the exhaust on 130s is different diameters before the stock center resonator, 50 and 55mm, monday morning mind blown.

Apparently the bill to WINZ (I assume with this one) was $1500 to fix it up for the last WOF. I guess WINZ aren't going to come after them for sh*t work, so they just DGAF? Need to actually have a look who did the WOF, might have been same shop. Blows my mind, this thing would have been nearly a $100,000 car new, gets imported to NZ as presumably a nice car still, then ends up funded by the tax payer before nearly ending up in a wreckers yard. Winz needs a fleet of toyota vitz.

Sunday afternoons lemonade stand. Rear shocks out, the hilarity of the shonky workmanship is next level. Cut the strut cover, cut the bump stop, slap it together and then clock it so you cant see the BS Exhaust out, all the hardware is pretty toasted, one of the clamps has claimed my 10mm socket. Decided to see how well it'll shine up with some autosol, the answer is really well, after all its not really an exhaust if you cant use it as a mirror.

Clean car in clean workshop is awesome, one day my project wont dribble sh*t everywhere

Another arvo on The Lemon (eventually it will need a new name!) New tensioner, idler and serpentine belt. Along with a fresh set of plugs (the old ones looked fine, which is lucky!). Engine starting to get nicer to work on now that its no longer caked in 1cm of oil scunge. Started stripping the front struts, the shocks are original (18 years and 200,000km+). They are completely toasted and have been for a long time, top hats are absolutely shagged as well. The bump stop install still has me in awe, 3 cable ties is the secret if you want to replicate Tony's tyres in Takanini. Subframe degreased and looking much better.

This one looks OK, https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/596906706810032 looks clean and obviously looked after/unthrashed from pics, and ZF trans. Has an averagely done aliexpress steering wheel cover on it and the DME tune numbers are just nonsense Might be a members? https://www.carjam.co.nz/car/?plate=013BMW

Silver Lemon will be up for sale in few months, when I get it sorted. At the moment its a pile of parts with potential! I wont sell it until its sorted (id be the worst used car dealer on planet...), am only working on it when I have quiet times during actual work. Once the front ends all buttoned back up will be sorting out the paint etc etc... it'll be a solid straight and sorted 130 whenever it is done though. Ill probably list it for like 9k and cross fingers, which will be what it owes me by that point!

Its been listed many times from that same dealer (it was 16k or something which was just dreaming), looks like an OK car from the pics and manuals are worth a premium, but its probably too high a price for the market unless they find just the right buyer. If you or the wife haven't driven a manual 130, go drive one first, very different and much more engaging to drive... just not nice to sit in traffic with!

Anyone seen a titan silver msport front bar lying around wreckers etc? Im 100% convinced I can save the lemons one (its been yanked backwards on a kerb and torn/bent)

Spareto?

Todays Lemon Aid. New water pump and thermostat, new engine mounts in, start putting the oil cooler/filter assembly back together. Had to break out the degreaser again with water pump off, the amount of oil sludge on bottom of ac compressor was amazeballs and I couldn't leave it. As im an idiot I ordered manual bolts for the auto sump, so waiting on courier to put its underpants back on. Figured out why there is power steering fluid everywhere as well, no o ring on the cap... that combined with the butchered o ring on the transmission cooler is what made all the mess (aside from the oil leaks that were ignored for years)

120's have horrid little engines (that includes any of the 4 pot BMWs F series as well), cross them off the list, they are actual garbage all of the usual and more BMW problems but with none of the fun. If its an petrol E87, 130s are the only ones worth owning. 123d's are good little cars as well, if a diesel fits the use case. $12.5k will get you an stunning auto 130, if one exists, or use the remainder of the budget to make a mint one from one with a few issues. Unfortunately you may have to travel to get one, that just means a fun road trip home though.

If they do it right, will be a good idea, Im not optimistic they can do right however.... eroads etc is slippery path, pay it with rego and add a "i am going to do this many k's" similar to how tax is paid.. rego costs will go up but maybe make it payable monthly like insurance etc - just another bill. Every annual WOF odo gets checked... check it against the system, if you do more or less get a bill or a refund to balance the books. Easy and no nannys watching just an API and some software. Weighting it (good pun) it on GVM is the way, need for force people to drive more appropriate vehicles and not penis extension land yachts (Sorry not sorry X7 owners)... lower emissions, funds to fix roads, more pressure to move freight onto trains and not f**ken trucks and push the market to smaller more efficient cars no matter what powers them.

Sorry, sold!

Salesyard shenanigans with the 125s is classic, couldn't make it a 130i coupe as stock performance numbers and pricing Vs 135i performance and pricing would cannibalize 135 sales... so they gave it a digital nerf and left the 130 hatch to compete to compete with R32 golf.

For those who dont have the stomach for facebook Id be talking him down, not because its not worth 8-9k (you will struggle to find a more fun/capable car for 8k than a 130) but because the market is stupidly flat at the moment, NZ has the cheapest 130s in the world. The real selling point for that one is the ZF gearbox and nice tyres! and it looks fairly unmolested, otherwise its pretty "common" for an uncommon car. 130s with the same issues, just in worse states of disrepair, can be had for sub 5k pretty easily and sometimes solid cars are around the same price point! If you are paying a workshop to fix the issues above, the bill will be in the many thousands unfortunately. They are honestly pretty cheap to maintain for the most part if you are clever with parts sourcing and either find a local independent BMW specialist who is happy if you supply parts, or learn to swing a spanner, if not things can get a bit silly. I got a full set of B4 bilsteins for $650 couple of weeks ago for instance, sourcing locally would probably pay that per shock. That one does have "low" km, but honestly the engines and car itself last forever, IF they are looked after and all the stuff bolted to them is replaced when it wears out... they turn to crap when that doesnt happen. Plenty of N52s are still going strong with 300,000+km on the clock. The plus side is they really cant depreciate any further!

Yeah thats capacity, whole thing takes 6.5 liters, so its maybe a couple of hundred mls down.. nothing to worry about (they arent hugely accurate anyway and will vary every time started) Thats the options on it - https://www.mdecoder.com/decode/wbauf92040ps90457 - Pretty generic Japanese market 130, xenons and heated seats with black boston interior etc, not that that is a bad thing. Its PreLCI, which is really neither here nor there either, silver top engine with magnesium valve cover and lower rent interior (biggest difference is the door cards, LCIs are a nicer place to sit because of it). Pre LCI rocker covers can corrode badly (look around the coil packs), LCI rocker covers (plastic) crack

Seen this on facebook, looks OK, price is fairly high though, maybe depends on how well its maintained. K's are fairly irrelevant with them if looked after. The wet around the transmission will be the sump gasket, they all do it. Parts are cheap (couple of hundred max) but to do it requires dropping the subframe which is pretty labour intensive (6-8 hours in a shop would be standard charge, its DIYable if handy with a spanner though). Subframe out is also a great time to replace the engine mounts, which will be shagged if they are still factory ones, as well the waterpump and thermostat. (Doing this at the moment in the projects thread on the Silver Lemon, did my nice 130 few years ago as well) The rocker cover gasket is also going, which again they all do, parts again are pretty cheap (couple of hundred again) and it'll take the average home gamer a few hours.. Neither leak look particularly bad yet though, but they will escalate quick. Oil light - Which one? The oil capacity on these is electronic, so if its low the light will be on (scale on it only covers 1 liter though, half way means add 500ml) ... or it could be oil pressure... which is very bad and best bet is to walk away! Leaking tail light gaskets is common, which fills the corners of the boot up, if you lift the floor in boot up there will be pools in the corners behind the lights. It normally causes chaos with the parking distance controller which sits in the RH side, but that car doesnt have it. Fixing is normally just a clean and tighten of the bolts (few pages back in this thread covers it) I dont recall the car being a bimmersport members, but who knows. I would suggest getting someone who knows BMW / N52s to have a look, they are great cars and can be really reliable but they definitely have their quirks!

On tardme, closing tomorrow with no reserve and $600 starting... couldnt even replace the tyres for that... would rather sell them cheap to a bimmersporter https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/car-parts-accessories/wheels-tyres/alloy-wheels/listing/5449937348

I think my silver 130 has been to the same garage, if it cant be fixed with a cable tie, it isnt worth fixing.

You can replace the whole rocker cover, or there are chinese aftermarket replacements for the diaphragm and housing for cheap (amazon/aliexpress etc), which are a bit hacky to do but do work. You could do it in situ but it would likely not be too fun, need to break the original diaphragm housing off using chisels etc.