beeeamer

my e36 has had a really, really bad machine buff at some point and the paint looks a mess in the sun, full of swirls and buff marks i've tried polishing it myself by hand, but it needs more paint correction than i'm able to do, but i am wary of taking it to a detailer in chch and having it come back the same, if not worse. does anyone have any experience with chch detailers and can recommend somewhere decent for me to go? cheers

the fuel flap on my e36 sedan won't stay shut when the car is unlocked. if i hold the flap shut and lock the car, it'll lock shut no worries but as soon as i unlock the car it'll swing open. any ideas? there doesn't appear to be anything for the flap to click into to hold it shut when unlocked.

ah the band button, sweet. nah i had another good play last night and pretty certain there is a fault with the CD shuttle, when inserting the cartridge it goes through all the process of checking whether there are any discs and then once that's done it tries to move the CD over but it just makes a clicking noise every few seconds and you can see the disc through the window going back and forth with the click. have tried different slots and burnt/store bought CD's and makes no difference thanks anyway!

hmm, have tried the mode button but it just cycles through bass/treble etc and holding it down just resets the bass/treble definitely has power as it ejects/makes noises etc but perhaps it is not connected, will have another look

Just bought a 96 323i Motorsport with the factory cassette head unit and has a CD shuttle in the boot, but i'm stumped as to how i get the CD shuttle to work! there are no obvious buttons on the headunit and i've pushed and held everything multiple times and nothing happens besides the cassette and radio. help?

they do now "What shipping options do you offer? We offer a wide variety of both domestic and international shipping options to suit just about any need. For more information, please see our table of available shipping options. " unfortunately cant see a shipping price until the item had been bought. but wouldnt think it would weigh very much

for those interested in cupholders for the center console of your E36, i found this site which sells them. USD63.50 plus shipping for the frame, 2x cupholders, coin box and ashtray. clicky dunno if there would be any difference between LHD and RHD?

i was referring to the 156

the Alfa was a POS, despite being NZ new and looking to be in very good cond. it was not at all rigid over big bumps and had really bad torque steer with the slightest bump in the road. the 528 doors didnt flap like the alfa, over very rough roads that had other cars i took down there banging and crashing through the suspension, the fiver was silent and unfussed with no suspension noise, but there was some noise from the drivers door, like you could hear it rubbing on the door seals slightly or something. i've been in several passats that did a similar thing but worse. but i will definitely look into more before buying it (if i go that way)

cheers ears. it's my backup car in case i dont find anything else for cheaper, so will check it out more when i know what i am buying

aaaah i am glad i checked this thread, i recently drove my uncles 94 325i and wondered if there was something wrong with the auto because of the abrupt 1-2 shift for the first minutes of driving. all other shifts were fine tho.

ah ok then. it was only slight noise from the door. whereas an Alfa 156 i looked, both front doors were pretty much flapping around on big bumps. also, i thought all E39 528s were Steptronic with 5speeds, but this one wasnt Steptronic and seemed to be 4sp? it's shift quadrant was like D-S-2-1 or something to that effect

besides the E36 323 i'm looking at next week, i also looked at a 97 E39 528i which was a really nice car, but a little more than i wanted to spend (but awesome). one thing i noticed was over big road bumps, the drivers door seemed to move around a little in the frame. only a little and very minor, but is this a common thing? the doors feel pretty heavy so guess they would get a bit of play in the hinges over a while?

has anyone monitored and compared fuel use when using 95 and 98? my current car (not a BMW) uses a heap more gas on 98. on 95 i vary 11.5-12.0l per 100k and on 98 i'm now 13.0-13.5l per 100k with exactly the same driving

thanks for the advice guys. i'm glad the gear knob was mentioned, because i'd seem some f/l models on trademe with L shaped knob and getting a bit confused my_e36, i'm based in CHCH and think the sponsor is an AKL company. i agree best to get checked out at a bmw dealer or specialist

g'day all. i'm looking at buying a 1997 323i, unfortunately i havent seen the car yet as it's just arrived in the country. so my question is, it appears 97 models can be either prefacelift or facelift models, so how do i tell them apart and what are the differences? the only thing that i can easily look at to see if it's the f/l model is the smaller, round auto shifter instead of the upside down L shaped shifter. i cant tell any difference between the nose cones... haha. what are the other differences comestically and mechanically? the salesguy reckon it's the double vanos engine if that helps... and last thing, pre-purchase inspection. should i go for AA or something more specialized? this place does p.p.i so could be better as they know what they're looking for? Kevin Burt LTD