KwS

6 hours ago, leonf said:

I have maybe 30ltr I bought 6-7 years ago.     Can we confirm that this stuff does NOT have a use-by date on it??

https://www.repco.co.nz/know-how/engine-oil-go-off

 For instance, Castrol’s engine oils last for 5-6 years, but this timeframe is specifically for oil stored in the original packaging in an ambient temperature environment.

16 hours ago, deedub said:

 But I also meticulously research parts and wouldn't expect warranty on my own mistakes. 

That's what every customer that supplied wrong or crap parts said to a workshop

1 hour ago, M3AN said:

Main reasons for not supporting this are discussed above in this thread but, let's be honest, the bottom line is they make no margin off customer supplied parts and, for better or worse, that's their choice.

Having worked alongside workshops for years, profit margins are certainly a factor, but in my experience the biggest factor for workshops not wanting to deal with customer supplied parts is as mentioned, the risk of wrong parts, inferior parts, time wasted, tied up hoists, angry customers etc. Never underestimate the cost to business and reputation from customers buggering things up.

It's all well and good saying "i got the parts from FCP, they're good and the right ones" but unless the workshop is going to check each and every part, how're they to know they are the right ones for your car before the car is in bits on a hoist? It makes it really hard to warranty the work too, when they didn't supply the parts. Do you expect them to get the car back in, diagnose the failed bush you supplied, and tie up a hoist/parking spot waiting for you to order a new bush from FCP?

I had similar with my last B30, tried a bunch of things, but never sorted it before selling the car. In my travels I came across a couple of others that had similar issues and at the time there seemed to be no answer.

Among other things, I rebuilt my vanos, replaced the FPR, vacuum leaks, replaced idle valve, checked DME and VNC for solder issues. Everything in INPA checked out fine, it ran and drove fine, it just had that idle stumble.

Already sold? It was a lot cheaper than they usually are, but you'd still need to de-ugly it

worth getting some clear PPF or something on the new lenses to protect them?

My E91 used to do that, maybe its just a BMW thing from that era, Could even be FL/PFL difference?

9 hours ago, deedub said:

That was done to my in-laws car when they visited last year. They actually got away with the car though. We found it ditched. Luckily it was still in good condition. Needed a new ignition barrel and that rear quarter fixed. The kids these days can't drive manual so maybe that's why they left yours alone.

Doesn't stop them breaking into them, and vandalising the interior when they can't drive off with it. Happens a lot with NZ New cars that have immobilisers, they tear the ignition to bits, find they can't hotwire it, and start smashing headunits, gauges, cutting seats and headlinings, dumb stuff thats a real pain to replace. Little shits need a damn good smack.

Thats the latest method of breaking the glass to gain entry, using a screwdriver in the frame/seal to break the glass where its weakest, on the edge. It really pisses me off because it usually causes damage to the seal and/or frame, particularly when they do it to front door windows. This method sort of popped up out of nowhere about 2 years ago, so i suspect it was shared on tiktok or something and its what the kiddies are using.

4 hours ago, Neil McCauley said:

Driftit is no longer invited to the bimmersport pipe and slippers monthly meet. Hard agree on brightly coloured E39's looking still modernish, but try find one. Any colour you like sir, as long as it's black or silver.

On the other hand though, the alcantara interior in so many m-sport 530i's make them look like a seventies Mercedes, one of the worst interiors BMW has ever done.

I cannot f**king stand painted belt-lines when they shouldn't be, for some reason the E36 was a particularly bad offender for this crime. If it was facelift body colour like Sreten's on the green it would modernise the look a bit?

 

 

lol, i love the sport alcantara interior on the E39. If i got another it would have to either have it already, or i'd swap it in. So much nicer than leather.

17 hours ago, Driftit said:

TBH my initial comment was based on three things I don't like.
Old Man Green BMW's
Old Man tan interiors
Simmons wheels

Sounds like a lot of work has been done though.
Most of us would prefer to spend that money on OEM+ restoration like Sreten these days.

Oh man, hard disagree there. Old man green with a tan interior (caramel would be better though) is a great combo on the E39. The wheels can get in the bin though, they belong on a commy.

4 hours ago, deedub said:

Yea Sulco. I can't remember how much they were (but can check the invoice if you wanna know). What did you do for the caster mod? I found a youtube clip where the guy just zip tied + 3M'd some to the bottom of the frame... 

Yeah i reached out to sulco for a quote a while back and remember they werent cheap for two bent bits of steel (compared to the USD MSRP anyway). I just zip tied the casters on, they've held fine so far.

Yeah i really should get around to ordering some of those. Did you get them through Sulco?

9 hours ago, Harper said:

My manual swapped 130i had no trouble getting a warrant without a cert fwiw

Cool story, but it's also technically not legal either 🤷‍♂️ Even if you pass a WOF, you could fall foul of your insurer if something goes wrong.

Keep in mind that the moment you change the brake pedal to a manual one, you will trigger the threshold for needing a cert. It's probably the worst thing about converting cars to manual these days, since it'll lock you into the state the car is in when it goes for a cert, and you cannot change anything about it unless you cert it again.

2 hours ago, balancerider said:

Would imagine a decent proportion of E30 buyers now would know that plate’s backstory and run a mile! (Just waiting for the seller to put it back on a standard rego…)

also, E36 M rain Vaders in an E30 are…not good.

They aren't vaders, just m rain E36 sport seats (possibly from a TI). Either way, still don't really suit it.

$31,000. How long until we see it given a clean and flipped for $40k+?

8 hours ago, Kodachrome said:

$11k, all those mods and cant spend $8.96 to replace that outside temp sensor, unless it is infact -40c in the showroom. 

Just showing how cool it is

I've had wheels sent to me before via normal couriers, sent individually and I can't remember how much it was but it was very reasonable at the time. They were 16s though, 19s are a fair bit bigger.

12 hours ago, deedub said:

The cream/biscuit/black interior with oxford green is nice. Don't like the wheels. 19" BBS LMs would completer the look. Looking at what bad condition M5s are going for at the moment it doesn't look too bad a deal (has an interesting history).

I think those wheels are some of the worst i've seen on an E39 recently. Eww.

I feel like it'll be a hard sell for anyone wanting an M5. Its not numbers matching original, and a pieced together bitsa of dubious origin. The colour combo is one of the best offered, but the standard bumpers really let the whole look down.

If you bought it privately and didn't inspect it first, you'll need to suck it up and fix the issues and move on. If you got it from a dealer, you could try having them fix it. You'll be hard pressed to just "get my money back".

Regarding the issues, E61 wagons are known for sunroof issues, do some research and you should be able to find how to manually close it and then never touch it again as IIRC there is a piece in them that breaks and is a pain to fix. Lots of them leak (I think both of the ones i looked at buying were leaking, and one had mouldy carpet).

Tailgate struts can be replaced, do some research on that too.

I hate to point it out, but you should also look into N62 V8 engine issues too. If it doesn't have valve stem seal issues now, it will at some point.

They're a very nice car when they're in good shape and working well. If you like it, its worth fixing it and enjoying it.

4 hours ago, MD13 said:

I feel sorry for it 😞

Username is interesting... He's also selling another "m5" front bumper...

Rear bumper is missing its lower valance, makes the "custom exhaust" look even weirder

Thats the same car in those photos too

I'd buy that for $20k in a heartbeat, but no way is it worth $35k in that state. Poor thing.

Love the look of your wagon. So good

I also appreciate the effort you went to to both make the headers work, and document the shambles they are out of the box

Probably looked at it and mistook the shitty body lines to be accident damage related...

3 hours ago, Goose said:

Good looking wagon in all the right spec, however the bonnet / front bumper / right headlight panel joins look a bit odd, or do I need to go to spec savers? 

Bent front plate probably tells a story too.

Is it just me, or is the interior wearing pretty badly for 100,000km? All the touch points around the driver are worn, shiny or scuffed