Jacko

Bump stops and dust boots, they're always dead, lucky if the bumpstops last half the life of the shocks. Top hats while you're there (and they're always dead as well )

Dicky plug/wiring?

Thats sh*t... Id be flicking them an email with a "please explain"

+1 whole 130 is on superpro bushes, no issues and they obviously put some thought into the design of them (compared to others ive seen/used)

How have they failed? torn? any voids in the PU? Weird.

Pre 07 are N52B25

Yikes, thats way worse than the 330!?

Madness. Impressive, but mad.

Depends on state I guess. Some of them drive around in things that wouldnt be road legal in the Chathams Different markets as well, way higher rates of leasing cars etc in US etc. You can get a few year old jap import audi etc for peanuts here, or you can buy 4 tyres to fit it for the same price...

Why 325? Get a 330. More chooch, same amount of fuel (same engine in some cases) . In regards to buying. Real service history is king, k's dont mean all that much if looked after. The basic car is solid, complex multilink rear ends with lots of bushes, which translates to lots of bushes to flog out. Cabin fans die, and get noisey, not expensive or difficult to fix. Cup holders get stuck... minor stuff. N52s are pretty bulletproof for the most part. Early ones can have a cam ledge seal that dies, many were fixed under recall. Noisey lifters can be a symptom, but they can also be a symptom of one that spends too much time at idle. Electric waterpumps crap emselves, no where near as bad as the internet says, nor as expensive/hard to do as the internet says either. Check the coolant reservoir for blue (bmw spec) coolant, green stuff pretty much translates to poor maintenance. Oil filter housings, sump gaskets, rocker gaskets leak Vanos solenoids die occasionally, or just get dirty. DISA flaps die and rattle around CCV systems are complex and die sometimes (lots of oil in intake) Coils can die, but no more common than any other coil on plug engine. Good cars though, nothing too scary.

Anyone got an M7 rockercover bolt off an alloy rockered N52? I realise theyre single use, but have one snapped one and need a temporary fix, while the courier man turns up with a full set of new bolts

Curious... and weeping a bit.

Starters been on the fritz for last week or two, was planning on doing it and rebuilding the DISA valves this weekend. Assumed the DISAs would be well overdue for a rebuild at 1 billion km... Starter decided to drop its lunch outside Mitre 10 today. Lucky was a 2min walk to repco for a hail mary jump start.. Starter motor change got moved from this weekend to this evening Surprisingly DISA valves look absolutely mint, no point fixing them.. No slop at all.

Cars are cheap in NZ, maintenance isnt.

Gave it a clean at 260k on the odo. Another 40k and it'll be broken in.

Throttle Position Sensor or Idle Control Valve? (I know nothing about the engines, and if they even run a TPS or ICV) That would be what I would be looking at. Could even be an vacuum leak. Whats a scan say?

I know the people you contracted too Ive done some contracting for Altus in the past.

Ive developed a number of UAVs running high end L1/L2 RTK, depending on what you need (and budget) you can get away without GCPs at all. uBlox keeping announcing cheaper and cheaper RTK units, it wont be long until you cant get 5mm accuracy for $100...

Saw this on the motorway today, looks realllly nice. Its a pity the driver was blocking up the motorway doing 90 in the right hand lane...

I wouldnt sell my old prelci E87 with a squillion ks on it for less than 15 Prices on these things is going to climb at some point, its only very recently its plummeted, the tide of japanese imports will stop at some point.

Probably good to be honest, E81s are rare. Dont want to sell it to a numpty who isnt prepared for basic maintenance things like changing shocks (which isnt expensive, nor difficult)

Hope still exists in the galaxy.

E87 and E81s have different shocks up front, looks like E81s are shared with E82s in some specs (like the US 128i coupe) http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/partxref?q=31316782857 - The sachs p/n is the "old" p/n for the same shock you listed, and interchangable retrospectively with the 23/24 B4s come in both "Motorsport" valving and stock. Its very likely many of the shocks are all totally physically interchangeable from E8/9x but will have different valving.

Became a trim level for utes.

Just got a full set of bilstein touring shocks from FCP euro for like $200 a corner on the 330. Check p/n but likely - https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-strut-assembly-front-left-128i-135i-313-254 https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-strut-assembly-front-right-128i-135i-313-255