Auzeras

Sounds like I'll be giving Doug's Engineering & Franklins a call to scope out what the prices will look like. Biggest barrier to me doing it is not having a space to work, anyone renting a garage and engine stand for a month? I'll get a quote from a few shops incl Taylors just to see if it's worth just paying up for someone to do the whole job or if I should get my hands dirty. Hopefully this will be the start of a very nice rebuild, if previous assessments are right when I pull the oil pan the bottom end will be in good nick and she'll go back together for another 200k.

Cheers Glenn I'll PM you.

Wishful thinking is my favorite game, have no idea what the current going rate for anything is.

I've had my E32 sitting for a few months since I had a motorbike which was more fun and at the time couldn't afford the cost of rebuild the M30's head. I've since moved to Auckland with a new job and now have a bit of extra money for the fun stuff like fuel guzzling BMW's. So begs the question, where is a good place it get the head rebuilt? I would LOVE to do it myself but I'm a little thin on the experience and I have no access to a workshop or garage meaning it's not really a realistic option Cam needs replacement + new eccentrics and maybe new rockers in addition to all the usual head stuff (leveling, regrind valve seats etc etc) and any other little electrical/fuel things that should or might need replacement (I suspect one or two of the injectors aren't working quite right, hard to tell). Head was done maybe 5 years ago so I think timing chain etc should be fine again a more experienced tech will know once they take a peek. Anyone recommend a shop to look at? Based on past experience whats a ballpark for a head rebuild? Quoted about $300 from franklin cams to get a refurbished cam. Guessing labour $700 + another $500 for parts - Call it $2k? Also I have to drive it up from Wellington so any North Island shop will work, can drop it off on my way up Cheers for any input!

Not your typical parts scavenge though, it's not digging through rotten bimmers for that last original part. I'm looking for places like scrap metal yards that let people buy bits of scrap. Started a few projects again and I'm looking for random little bits and pieces I can stick together as well as some sections of angled steel for a bed I'm making next year (amongst other things). Also need food for the lathe, trying to get better at that by just practising cuts of various angles, curves and perfecting my thread cutting etc. If I knew what I was after I'd just look at trademe/china etc but part of the fun of a scavenge is all the random inspiration you get along the way. Anyone know of places like that around Wellington? I imagine most scrap yards wouldn't want your common idiot picking through their scrap heaps.

Does the aux fan come on? Might have to change out the temp sensor for the DME. It's normal for the temp to rise a bit when idling with low airflow (eg parked). If the fans don't come on: Test: On the side of the radiator there's a thermostat for the aux fan, unplug it and Jump the centre pin (brown/black wire) to the each of the two outer pins one at a time. The fan should run Hi and Lo. If it doesn't run check - Fuses, Relays, Ballast Resistor If it does run when jumped replace the thermostat/temp guage on the rad. See here for detail of aux fan troubleshooting http://www.nmia.com/~dgnrg/page_20.htm Replace the viscous clutch though, I'm living with mine being a little off at the moment as with the colder weather it barely even triggers the aux fan.

My E32 needs some big jobs, thus I'm on the hunt for M30B35 parts. Head needs rebuilding so if I can find a nice one to swap in or rebuild a less damaged one than the current I'd be very interested. Also open to swapping in a new engine so if you've got an M30B35 sitting around why not give it a loving home?

If you're ever in Wellington feel free to borrow my coil to test, not sure when I'll be up north otherwise I'd offer to bring it with me next time work throws me on the road. Easiest way to test is by trying to find a local one to borrow. If you get really stuck try asking on the US BMW forums - there are a lot of guys there with a heck of a lot of knowledge on the M30 there. Crank position sensor only affects the fuel delivery if I recall correctly, when were the coil/leads/plugs last replaced? In my E32 they're OEM (eg 27 years old) so if yours are the same I'd say replacing them can't hurt at the very least. You've probably been told but with an M30 I *highly* recommend pulling the valve cover and checking the oil spray bar bolts and if possibly safety wiring them in. Also a good time to pull the plugs and see if you can see any difference in condition of them & adjust the valves. The M30 is pretty particular about some things. It won't clear up a misfire but I've heard countless discussions on the US E32 forums about how little tweaks make huge differences to the smooth running of the M30. Also check for oil leaks from the valve cover, often oil runs down into the plug wells and causes misfires. If you replace the plugs stick with OEM Bosch coppers, they run a bit rough with the platinum ones so I'm told.

Cheers for the cost up & offers guys, I'll let you know what I need. Matt, where did you get your prices from? I'd find a good head to drop on, the problem is sourcing a head for an M30B35 in NZ, I found one or two but the cars were either suffering from overheating or badly wrecked. Those big aluminium castings are very prone to cracking with heat so I didn't want to run the risk of getting it. Thanks for the offer David, I'll keep you posted. Don't hold them on my behalf though. If they sell they sell.

I'd like to but I'm feeling cost would be prohibitive, Ireland Engineering rockers are only $5 extra over stock ea but a performance cam adds nearly $200 (plus US shipping) and ideally you'd replace the valves and port it out +2mm pairing it with a MAF (to replace the AFM) and a remap + new injectors.. which kinda takes it beyond what I can spend. The sport head package from VAC adds an extra $300 USD to the price vs the stock package ($1100 vs $650 USD)

Time to get some head.. but not in the way you want, 220kms on the engine which has a very worn cam, eccentrics and rockers (oil starvation does that to ya) Solution - Rebuild head (so far quoted around $800 for parts) OR buy a rebuilt new one - so far the only source for that has been from VAC Motorsports in the US which is going to cost me $1k Any places in NZ that would sell valve train components for an M30B35 (or have a reconditioned head/another M30 head?) so far I have sourced a cam from an Auckland shop for $300 but the remaining parts are coming in from overseas. Would like to buy from NZ if possible, makes it easier. What would you do with a 220km engine? Am I better off rebuilding myself or is $1k for a recon head a better deal? Cheers,

Well here's the follow up, walked in today, usual nice service & they said they'd call me back. Wasn't expecting it but four hours later a woman calls me from their Petone branch saying that she's really sorry but because my car's a bit older it's going to take 10 days to get the OE part from Germany! Short story long I'm getting an OEM part fitted, so I'm happy with that! Hopefully it all goes together well. I'm glad they sorted their original mess, at least they can put it right. Will try somewhere else next time but wouldn't completely rule S&S out now.

I guess by those standards I got off lucky then, door clips are easier to replace than dented bonnets! I'll go in and give them a final notice to get it sorted today and get in touch with my broker on Monday. On that note, anyone had experience with Novus (they're the other preferred glass agent by the Insurer) - or in the event I'm able to negotiate a separate company with the insurance is there anyone around Wellington you'd recommend for glass?

Foreword - This isn't supposed to be a bash on S&S, simply my experience with them. So far the issue has not been resolved after 4 weeks. Basically had some dimwitted fool try and break into my car, unfortunately for them they forgot the E32 had special death trap features such as doors you can't unlock from the inside.. even if you've crashed & the car is filling with water. Rear passanger quarter window smashed, nothing taken & the repair is free under insurance. Great! Book car in online with Smith & Smith, they say they can fit the part in less than 3x days. Pretty stocked as the BMW dealer quoted 3x weeks and over $400 for the part to be brought in from Germany. Drop the car off & all is well. They say to pick the car up at 3:30. Arrive at 3:30, sit in waiting room until 4:45, staff are friendly and inform me they are still fitting the glass properly. 4:45 - Technician is very polite and informs me that the car's fixed as best he can but he can't quite get the seal to sit flush, if I have any issues he suggest I bring it back and they'll fix it under warranty. Look at the car.. windows look weird, seal not laying flush, inside the car there's a 8mm gap between the window and the frame (not visible from outside) and the black ceramic is a thick strip, instead of the normal doted "fade" on the other side. Door card not properly installed, still partly hanging off (it's a pain to put on and the clips at the top have come off. I could fix it in 30 mins but I don't want to accept liability for any damage to the door) Technician repeats I should bring the car back if I'm not happy - I'm not happy at all because the job is rubbish and they fitted the wrong part, window is from an E38 not an E32 so of course it doesn't fit properly. Next week Monday I email S&S - No response, Thursday I ring them. Polite and speedy service, they say to go into the Wellington Branch tomorrow. Friday - visit store, staff are very nice as usual, say they'll fix it and call me back soon with a date to come in, I'm okay with it as at least my car is secure for now and not leaking (much) A week later - no call back, ring S&S AGAIN and they say they'll call.. to date. No call. Tomorrow I plan on going in and demaning a few answes TL:DR - Smith & Smith are useless as hell, botch car repair and won't return enquiries. On the plus side, they are friendly. What to do now short of constantly going back and forth? I fell the original tech was left in a tough spot after the wrong glass was supplied he'd have started to put it in and probably only realised too late that it was wrong. The staff have been super helpful when I've talked to them but the lack of communication has *really* annoyed me, it shouldn't take this long to at least inform me of a timeline to get the new part fitted. Overall I don't feel like I'd go back there to be honest as I'm not confident in their service, I made sure I supplied them with the correct 7 series model (E32) and stressed that it was an '89 in the notes. Easy to botch a part for a bimmer if you're not proficient but I'm sick to death of having to call them up every week and get nowhere! Anyone else had a good or bad experience with S&S? Just thought I'd write this as a heads up and to see if anyone had any suggestions for me.

I'll not be working on it. He's decided to take it down to a local euro shop in Newtown as he can't be bothered with the hassle of fixing it himself & I'm busy at work. Fair enough as by the time you go through with getting parts in, finding the broken bit and putting it all back together you might as well have gone to a shop any way. He's flat out at his own work & has the bike & the BB to drive, not like he's out of cars! Tipping a box of parts into the engine bay seems to be a good way to fix most ~90's BMW's! Cheers for the input everyone!

Well that explains the shake at idle, I thought there might be a vacuum leak. M44 is the engine (1.9L '98's use the M44?) I know on the E32 there's no probem plugging the vacuum leak and deleting the charcoal cannister, is this the same with the M44/E36 Z3 or is it best to repair/leave the system in place? I'll look further for the coolant leak. Such a tight engine bay I'm going to try get it onto some flat and lift it up to check the lower hoses. Problem is he lives on a hill, damn Wellington! We topped off the coolant and ran the engine a bit, so far no extra leaking. Possible it only leaks when under pressure once hot?

Came home to my mates place to find his car parked in a puddle of coolant, that's never a good sign! Apparently just as he parked it exploded in a cloud of steam and coolant. It took a while to identify where the coolant had come from, it appears that a plastic elbow has broken off a cylindrical container mounted next to the front left shock. This is the only broken part I can see and its location matches the spray of coolant across the engine bay. Only problem Is I can't see how it's related to the coolant flow & after topping off the coolant it's not currently dripping anything from the broken hose. The hose connected to the elbow runs back towards the rear of the vehicle. Does anyone know what this hose/container are for and what the part numbers are? couldn't find anything on RealOEM. I was a bit worried at first, thought the head might have cracked as we couldn't find the leak location. Hopefully this is it & not a coincidentally broken part.

Just wondering what you folks make of this, recently I started commuting out to Paraparaumu a month or so ago. Spent a lot of time driving there and back each day (company paid miles, so I defiantly enjoyed it!) and the car was running well minus a slight but noticeable valve tap due to worn cam & eccentrics on cyls 1-3. Not a huge issue, and hardly noticeable in the car when driving. New head was in the roadmap for next year (mmm Ireland Engineering HD Rockers) Went overseas for two weeks and got back to find the WoF had expired. I took it to a local shop (not my BMW's usual) who have been very good to our family previously with selling me parts at trade prices and generally looking after our jap cars. It was only a WoF I thought, no problem. Pick up the car later that day and it has a really solid valve tap.. not just a tick/click as the eccentric rides over the cam lobes but it sounds as if it's straight metal slapping metal. Car feels a bit weaker too but not sure if that's me "thinking" its sluggish because the engine doesn't sound right. Fuel consumption is about normal. This doesn't seem right as she was good when she went in and they only did a WoF, so what could possibly go wrong? Does anyone have any theories or suggestions what to do? Somethings clearly screwed but I'm not sure if it's a freak failure or if they did something during the WoF that caused it to end up like that. I only really have one theory aside from freak failure: I noticed when they bought it out from their lot the A/C was on + the fans were running full. so I'm guessing the bloke doing the WoF ran the car to try cool it down in the scorching sun & it overheated badly. Temp does climb in hot weather when in traffic, I've never been stuck long enough for it to go up at all high. Worst it got was 2/3's up the guage when the water pump belt came off one day. I'm going to ring the shop tomorrow and ask If it was idled for any extended period of time and mention that it's come back with a really bad tap, on Thursday I have a day off and plan to pull the valve cover and see what's happened. In my mind, it went into their shop running good and came out running bad but I don't want to jump the gun & have them say it was already damaged and then have to fork out their inspection costs if I throw the ball at them and say "you fix it". Also they're mitsubishi/suzuki mechanics.. not at all familiar with an old tech E32, although one of them used to own an E34) Any suggestions as to how to approach it? I'll try post a before/after video of the valve tap.

This wouldn't happen to be the same 260/6 that fits right onto an E32 would it?

Pull it apart and clean it well, what's the worst than can happen? It's already broke, can't get worse! Could just be residual moisture as said before. There's not much circuitry in them to get damaged, even if it was powered up whilst wet. Once you dry and clean it + replace battery it should be fine.

Can't seem to find the spotted rides thread on the mobile app, mods can move if they like. Anyone know a silver 328 M spec heading north out of Wellington on SH1. Bit of a cheeky fella. I think I owe the owner a beersie pretty sure we both got done by a camera van just out of jville (which annoys me because I know he parks there most days, I just forgot to slow today) Dunno the plates, think they started EG

Yeah we're all squared away on that - first thing I covered before we even started talking about the build. Typical us, we're still looking for something else to project at the same time! Since I got it for free the general idea is on sale we split money back towards our investment + extra to me for the base value of the car itself. No need to worry about the LAD or dampers, my E32 package was pretty damn basic, cat-less, larger alternator... and that's the accessory list! No self levelling or anything. The build won't be wild, there's no point in making the worlds fastest E32 as the Dinan ones are generally regarded as the best, also there's no point "restoring" because who the hell buys a 26 year old luxury car? The general idea is to make a very nice cruiser with power, interior mainly stock but any upgrades will be "nice" not performance rally ricer "bolt on and oil press sensor for teh horsepowers" style. . so although I want to bring the ride height down I don't want to go so low that I put new gouges in every speedbump across the CBD. How low do theH&R's go? As far as the new shocks go - I'm not too worried about price as much as avaliablility. The stock ones when functioning are apparently fairly good so any of the respected BMW aftermarkets should go in fine - just depends on availability. Gotta buy oil today to change out, no much really happening other than planning & preparing the workshop until I get money together and get this bike (and free time) - Probably more done once I get back to uni and can take a weekend or two off instead of trying to get as many hours together as possible at work, right now they're paying me to drive to paraparaumu every day. Hours drive each way sucks for the early reports but I'm getting free petrol! Too many coppers on the road this time of year, one moment of inattention to the speedo going down one of those hills and you'll go past a camera at 106 - I don't like the way they set up at places like that. I've seen a few good ones at the top of hills, fair enough if you're going over at the crest of a hill but at the bottom, that's just mean. Driving every day I'm pretty sure I've picked up at least two. Think my speedo is out though (reading faster than actual speed) so no idea if I was actually over.

I also wrote out that reply on my phone and it makes no sense.. I can't edit it. Ignore the badly phrased sentences, incorrect info etc.

Me and a friend had been considering buying a project car - chop top morris with blown small block 350.. we've decided the bimmer is a better project. Between the two of us we'll split cost and the end will be a bit of a sleeper. An angry looking e32 with a fairly comfy ride but the power to eat Subarus for lunch at 120kph in 2nd gear Final build will involve bringing the nose out of the sky, lower slightly all round (don't want it slammed though) fully rebuilt head + engine accessories + upgraded DME for injection/timing, 5spd manual conversion finishing with a turbo - nothing insane just a few pounds to give it a kick. Project will run over a few years, will make a new thread to keep those interested updated. First up is suspension/steering rebuild + fluids. Next rebuild head, if the cylinders look in good shape we'll swap in a getrag 260/6 Final touch ups will be getting a good tune with upgraded engine accessories, notably programmable ecu & injectors Interior will be done along the way. This is a very long term project which is ambitious and will be updated and adapted as time, finances and experience increase. We're starting slow and will tick off each milestone as we go before planning the next. Still a few months off starting as I need to get my class 6 first because the cars got to in the shed for most of the project. The E32 is staying! Ps, any crazy ideas for a stanced e32 will be considered

That looks tidy as hell and if it works then you're onto a winner