Herbmiester

I dont normally get excited over e36 4 doors but that looks very nice indeed.

How much for the steering wheel?

When it comes to brakes there are a lot of decent artermarket options that are significantly less expensive than oem. I bought stoptech pads and DBA rotors forthe 335i and they work really well. Litterally half the price of M.

Nice clean 335i, I would highly recommend the MHD tunes as they can be tailored to your car depending on how modified your car is. yes to a new charge pipe and an intercooler upgrade is highly recommended as the stock intercooler is borderline. As to shops in Wellington I haven't had a lot of luck to be fair. Most of the Euro shops are good with the older stuff but not many seem up with the play on the N54 issues. Mike Paige in Kapiti has a good rep.

As a 335i owner I will also say manuals are hard to find and manual wagons are harder again, 1 series manuals seem to be a bit more common. The Auto works well and with a xHP flash you can have full manual control over it. NZ is not a great place to buy aftermarket parts for 335i's, I use Extreme Powerhouse in USA or Demon Tweeks in the UK, shipping is quite a bit cheaper from the UK. A single turbo conversion is a lot of money and labour costs could be horrendous, and some won't fit in RHD cars due to the steering column. A good intercooler, catless downpipes and an MHD tune will see you between 380 and 450 HP with big torque numbers and at that stage you will need to sort out an LSD and probably stiffer bushings in subframe. You will also want a new charge pipe and possibly new diverter valves.

I went through the hunt for a manual E46 to find my perfect E46 which was a 330ci manual in Silver with leather no sunroof and silver or cubic trim. I waited a year and came close once but I could never find a manual under 10k even excluding the options I preferred. In the end I bought a auto 330ci for 4k and spent a few dollars on maintenance and suspension. The car was a great drive and handling was superb. But if you just have to have a manual then be patient and get ready to pay around a 1/3 more than a similarly specced auto.

Thats 335i money.

Looks good. So tempted to get an E36 Coupe again.

Look at Koni that way you can adjust the rebound to suit the spring rate. If the bilsteins suit your spring rate then they will be fine. Shocks in NZ can be pricy. Try Demon Tweeks in the UK even with shipping and GST they can be quite a bit cheaper.

Nice car, any more photos? Not sure it would be that easy to get into the US.

I have heard good things about Mike Page but he's just too far away.

Any recommendations for a service in Welly or preferably the Hutt? Yes I can do an oil change but I like someone else to go over the car and pick up what I have missed. I would include in that servicing the auto trans, new filter etc. Also any recommendations for brake fluid?

Wow that E9 is gorgeous.

Just finished one side of the car, springs are Tein, Koni shocks and M3 arms. Pretty straight forward but torquing the rear arms at the chassi point is a pain in the arse, no room to work. Tein springs have a 595 lb/inch rate which is higher than standard Msport 460 and M3 560. I used a 9mm spacer to raise the ride height a bit as I dont like it too low. I will post up a full review when I get the font done as well.

Nice car, I do love a well presented e36. Not sure about 420 crank hp, my calcs sat 375 ish, still not doubt a quick car.

Saw one of the new Kia Stingers in Lower Hutt last week. Korea can make a nice looking car after all.

Don't stretch fit the correct width tyre!

My experience is that engines are fine but a lot of what is bolted to the engine has a limited life. I include seals and gaskets in that group.

My 335i always had a shimmy under braking and it bugged the hell out of me. The rotors and pads looked pretty new when I bought it so I soldiered on, new wheels, tyres, balance and an alignment never quite made it go away. I bought some RDA rotors and went for some Stoptech street performance pads. So far so good. Pedal pressure is a bit higher when cold as you would expect but the feel is very linear (the old brakes were a bit grabby as well and this always lessened my confidence to really press on) but when warm they feel very good indeed. I will report back after I have some real mileage on them.

Before I got my E60 530i I had an Forester STI, It was a lot of fun but I sold it because at 1.97m it was just to tight up front. The 530i was very nicely balanced and although my wife's 3.5l Aurion was faster in a straight line the balance in the corners was wonderful. My mate Boytie has a 550i and its quite quick and again very nicely balanced in the corners but perhaps not quite as nice as my 530 because of the extra weight up front. I was tempted by a 550i and the touring models always float my boat. I now have a 335i with a tune and its quick compared to both the aforementioned 5 series. Its got massive torque and can rev out cleanly as well. I do a lot of work myself and looking at my notes the 530 cost less to maintain than the STI. The 335i has cost a bit of time but the parts themselves have been reasonable. Up Whitemans valley hill my STI might shade the 335i but only just, an LSD added to the 335i would see it pretty even. Both would be quicker than the 550i but again not by much.

In the end the market will dictate, if someone pays that price then its worth it. As always we buy on emotion and justify with logic.

The Rx4 was a cool car and was quick in the day. Engine was bridge ported and she was noisey.

I had an Aveger Tiger, mine had twin Webbers, pop up pistons, ported head a cam and long tube headers. Supposedly made well over 100 hp. I sold it in 85 to buy a yellow Mazda RX4 coupe.

How many Kms has she done now?

Glad shes up and running again