gjm

<sigh>

Thanks Brent.

This one would need to stay auto. Presumably fluid and a filter would help - I suspect that's typically overlooked. After that I only have theoretical experience with autoboxes. No idea if it is an issue with this car or not, yet.

JA91136 ex-Japan, so I expect it's a Jatco 'box. Possibly a 300? The reason for asking is that I've heard not-so-good things about the Jatco boxes. I'm sure it doesn't invariably apply bit something to make me cautious.

Is there a definitive way to tell, from a VIN, which auto gearbox would have been fitted to an E36 or E46? Looking to be able to tell if it would have been a Jatco or a ZF.

ZF LifeGuard Fluid 6 is (as far as I can determine) the BMW-recommended fluid. Penrite don't list a fluid from their range to suit your car and specify this.

https://www.facebook.com/Kayne-Barrie-Motorsport-Ltd-381083371919997/

Entirely reasonable. Your car - you're more than entitled to be picky!

The E90 rims are probably Style 194. 0.5" wider at the front, but should also fit an E46 without issue. (From BMWStyleWheels.com) (From http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=62216)

The rims Brent has sold ^ are really nice, and look superb on an E46. They come up fairly often so perhaps worth waiting for.

You are assured of my vote.

Nothing usual about that, these days!

Permanent. Salaried, paid hols, pension contribution. Usual stuff.

Nothing at all to do with BMWs, or even cars. The company who fund my car-related expenditure is looking for a couple of people to join the team in Wellington: a technical consultant, and a project manager. There's scope for some crossover, and also some business analysis involvement. The company provide EDRMS solutions and services and work with government (national and local), health, and similar areas. There may be scope to work from Palmerston as we have an office there, too. That would up to the individual to discuss. If you might be interested, please drop me a line and I'll forward a link to the role description and suchlike.

There's a guy on Facebook looking for an 'as near to 1997 E36 Touring'. I've PM'd him the highlights from you listing - I'll send you his name.

@zero is familiar with the N42. I suspect he'll suggest using something different.

It's certainly been for sale for a while. I think it was discussed on here some months ago - opinions were divided on the colour then, too.

Could be, may be, perhaps something like this:

You could. (I had one of them, too. ) The C36 was quoted at 276hp against the E36's 272 due to slightly different intake and exhaust configuration. With throttle bodies and little else these engines made a little over 300hp. The M104 was made by Mercedes in 2.8, 3.0 and 3.2 sizes. AMG and Brabus did conversions for 3.4 and 3.6 litres. They are a popular swap into the older W201 body. Several turbo conversions around too, going beyond 800hp.

Not sure if it's still listed? It could be a genuine E36, but I think there were 12 of these, not 6. I had an E36 estate in Malachite Green - great car. Does potentially suffer from the biodegradable engine wiring loom, but other than that, these things go well, stop well, handle well and are very comfortable. 272hp. However, there are some things which aren't original. The rear lights have been changed (Mercedes/AMG only used orange indicators at the time) and that bootlip spoiler doesn't look original. The rims look like they could be 18s - these cars came on 17s. It'd be interesting to see the gearknob - it should have 'E36' embossed into it. Parts for these can be interesting. None were ex-factory AMG: all were built by Mercedes as cars, then shipped to AMG for work. This means that the main dealer databases typically show these cars as being a 320, and not a E36.

Could 'hide' it here if you need to. I'm good at keeping secrets. Might have to insist you tell Mrs M it really (really, really!) isn't mine, though!

I saw you'd asked about having a WoF done, and received no answer. I'm really keen on the idea of the car, but managed to keep my sensible head on. Besides, I didn't want to bid against someone else and just cost them more.

Based on my experience (and there are more engines in the 8-series than I've driven) the 840 was more sporty, while the 850 was more cruiser but still ultimately faster. I felt the same was true of the 500 and 560SEC Mercedes. The slightly smaller engined car was a more sporting drive, and while both were grand tourers, the bigger-engined car was more so.

My head keeps saying Giallo Yellow, but that was the Integrale. Bros 850 was (iirc) Black Mica Metallic, a rare colour (we were told). His was also a Ci, 1994MY.

Highline E24 in Dolphingrau, 840Ci in yellow. My brother had an 850: we sort of swapped - I'd previously had a Merc 560SEC, while he had a 500SEC. We'd swap cars pretty often.