paulo

There seem to be a lot of automatic M3s and M5s that come up for sale. The owners are usually pretty gutted when you gently try to break the news that the $25 "M" badge stuck on the boot does not match up with the 1.8L motor, velour comfort seats and 14 inch wheels...

Hi, I'm after a complete or near complete good running engine. Prefer in Christchurch area as I don't want to pay too much and would like to avoid the cost of freighting. Please PM me or reply on here with price and condition... Will also consider a good , complete cylinder head - no cracks etc or reconditioned Cheers Paul

One guy trying to sell me a 325i said (when I questioned him about the 2500rpm idle) that "they all do that when they're cold" As it was an automatic, it would make for an interesting driving display trying to select gear and discreetly reverse out of the garage in the morning... On another occasion I was questioning a car dealer about the worn out leather on the steering wheel on a Subaru Legacy - he said that "yeah, all the Jap import cars have that - those Asians have funny sweat"

...with or without tyres to fit an e36 must be genuine factory type - eg "radial" (style 32) , Style 44 , Style 65 (M5) Style 67 (M3) or BMW "tuner" type wheels such as AC Schnitzer , Alpina or BBS. Not wanting to spend too much $300 - $600 depending on wheel / tyre condition. Cheers Paul

Thanks Jochen -you are a true legend!

Thanks for the instructions, jochen - I'll give it a try when I get a chance.The radio is BMW BUSINESS 65.12 -6 900 402 PH705011118512 KW 31/01 INDEX: 01 9022 217 05239 03 003 0131 1118512 22DC705/23 WA030131 on the other label it says: KOMMISS RADIOLAGER DAT: 04.08.2001/05-14:50 LFD.NR.S3:0013 AP32 318I RL A TO M43 JP 661 807 6 900 402 BAL: KLEINE JB43601 It was out of a jap import, but with the date of 04.08.2001 I am hoping that it is the world tuner type that can be set to "Oceania" mode. Do you know if it will require a security code? I think there are some web sites that can decode based on serial # , but if you happen to have the software to work out the code then that would save me a bit of research time! PS< it has the small aerial plug on the back - don't know if that is relevent or not - I guess I can obtain an adaptor if I end up putting it into an earlier e46 with the standard size euro socket? Many thanks for your help!

Hi, I've got a 2001 e46 bmw factory head unit that I want to power up and test to see if it picks up nz stations. Problem is I dont have an e46 to try it in. (thinking of getting an e46 further down the track, so want to keep the head-unit 'till then) I've connected it up to my e36, but get a "disabled" message on the display, presumably because it cant see the "i-bus" system that the e46 has. Does anyone know of a work-around for this? My e36 is 1994 pre OBD2 - would it test out OK in a '96 -'97 e36 with OBD2, or is the i-bus specific to e46 models. Cheers Paul

I have the injectors and throttly body , but not the manifold itself.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...n-262513192.htm

Hi, I'm after a pair of white / clear factory style front corner indicator lights. Genuine BMW or Depo aftermarket brand OK, but must look like the factory ones. Only want to pay around $50 for the pair. Cheers Paul

Hi there, I'm after some parts for an e36 sunroof - the parts within the tracks - that slide and lift the roof - they are the bits that apparantly break quite readily, but the car's not really worth paying the $100++ that the dealer charges. Would consider a complete sunroof cassette unit. Also need frontal body parts : grille panel - (the steel panel, not the kidney grilles) front bumper (or just the steel carrier in behind) and bonnet. All in Hell Red, of course! Actually any colour would do, and Christchurch location would be great for the larger parts. Cheers Paul

Hard to tell from the crap photos, but it looks like the only motorsport part is the steering wheel. The bodykit looks aftermarket.

With that sub box thing, there's not much room left in the boot for ya boots and ya 'board!

Hi there, I have a 1995 Compact with a broken passenger side headlight. I'm struggling to find a direct replacement, so was wondering if a sedan light would fit. From what I gather, all of the front end parts on a compact are the same as a sedan, although the headlights have a different part number. I'm guessing that the only difference is that the compact doesn't have the electric adjustment feature, and I think the lens is slightly different (sedan has vertical lines running across lens?) I have an option to buy a cheap PAIR of sedan lights and fit them up to keep LH and RH looking consistent. The question is, will they physically fit the compact? Are the connection plugs the same? Any help apprecieated, or if anyone has a cheap Compact light for sale , please let me know. Cheers Paul

535i NZ NEW 2000 MotorsportWhat about this one - 5-speed manual and the small v8 option...

The same vendor sold a very similar one a week or so ago for about $12,000 Had less Km's though. Still a lot of car for the money even at $12K 2001 728i recently sold http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...n-235924737.htm

Have only witnessed this when the engine was relatively cold. After several attempts over 1/2 hour (running for only about 30- 40 secs each time) the engine was mildly warm and still displaying the same symptoms. Will be making more extensive checks tomorrow...

I have bought a replacement engine for my e36 325i. The previous owner had it runnng nicely about a year ago, but then started to disconnect wiring etc in preparation for pulling out engine + trans for a v8 transplant, but project got put on hold... He reconnected everything back up again a couple of days ago, so that I could hear enging prior to purchasing. On start-up, the engine alternates in speed between about 800rpm and 1200rpm about 6 times (about 1 sec. at each speed), then raises to about 2000rpm, and it will sit at that high speed. Sounds to me like the ecu is compensating for something (air-leak??) or looking for a signal that isnt there, as it definitely sounds like a controlled modulation of idle speed. We have had a quick check of obvious hoses and connections, and have disconnected battery for about 10 min. to try and reset ECU (O2 sensor was discovered off, but didn't make a difference when reconnected) Catalyst light is also on, but from my research on the web, that does not necessarilly mean a catalyst / o2 fault - it may represent another fault. Any help would be appreciated!!

Cheers for that,Just managed to secure a good running motor locally today for a good price...

My current engine has a blown head gasket. Rather than muck around with removing head, dismantling, crack testing, machining etc, it will be easier and cheaper for me to just swap in a complete motor in good condition. I would like a 2.8L motor, but the rest of the car is a bit rough, and probably not worthy of it!

It came out of an auto car (Jatco trans), and will go into my auto car (Jatco, I presume, but haven't looked) both cars are jap imports - I think the ZF boxes were used on later cars? or NZ new cars?, but I may be wrong. Would I run into any issues if the transmissions are different types , even just with swaping the engines only?

Hi, I have the oportunity to replace my non vanos 1992 355i 2.5L motor with a single vanos 1992/93 2.5L M50 motor from a 325i. Thinking that I'll just have to swap the loom and ecu over from the (slightly) newer car and that's all I'll need to get it going. Does anyone else know if it's that straightforward? or are there other things or wiring / connectors to be changed also? Cheers Paul

Requiring an auto trans in good order for an e46 328i. This type of transmission was also used in the later e39 528i and e38 728i from about 1998 onwards. Cheers Paul

Christchurch. Probably not economical to freight from elsewhere...

Preferably dark blue and complete but would consider anything...