bradgalbraith

Fairly convinced my intermittent issue is the TPS. Even though I'm not 100% sure, I've bought one anyway since its a service item.

I know of one in Auckland

55 minutes ago, sweetm3 said:

No codes or limp mode with the E36.

I sure I read when deleting mine, that to get the plate on you needed to remove the headers.

I see if I can find the link I followed

Looks like the SAP delete has just moved to the top of my to do list!

1 hour ago, zero said:

The secondary air pump is something that you want to delete anyway.

Definitely. I'll probably go for the VAC delete plate (looks cool). I'm struggling to find information on deleting it on an S50B32. Seems that removing it from an E46 throws a CEL and you need to code it out or it will be in limp mode. Not 100% sure if I need to do the same or not. 

Had a pretty successful weekend- pulled the motor and gearbox out of my cousins 535i E28 (HEAVY) and pulled the plenum off the M3. I was expecting to find some perished vacuum lines but after have a pretty good look around everything seems ok. The one thing I did spot is that the small diameter line running to the bottom of the plenum was not connected (see picture). I cleaned out the ICV , throttle bodies and oil separator and not much crud came out. After putting it all back together I think that car runs slightly better but still seems rough on idle when cold. Seems to be related to the secondary air pump but not sure how. Its very loud and 'boomy' when first started and once its out of the blue on the water temp it settles down. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I've found that giving it a rev stops the problem too but I'm not keen on doing that on the regular. 

If you can avoid it, don't sell!

16 hours ago, M3AN said:

5w-40 as specified by BMW when the car was new, 10w-60 has never been officially recommended for the S50 by BMW (unlike the S54).

If you thrash it or track it some prefer to use 10w-60 but if your oil temps never get above ~110*C (on 5w-40) you're wasting money and horsepower by using 10w-60.

During street use my car runs ~5*C cooler using 5w-40 than it does when using 10w-60, that's a clear indication it's not working as hard which is a good thing.

Does your motor sound happy on 5w-40? I think that's what I've got currently in mine currently and thought it sounded a tad louder than it should be. Still have slight vanos noise after a comprehensive rebuild.

I don't but I can check. Don't want to necessarily use what the previous owner used though, want to make sure it's right.

41 minutes ago, B.M.W Ltd said:

Guys in Christchurch were using a High Zinc product from Elf (Lubricants NZ) in their race cars. I've forgotten the name of the company down there. How's the car being used and what oil have you been using in it up until now ?

Its a road car that gets driven in a spirited manner.. might see a track day or two in a year. I've only recently bought it so I haven't done an oil change yet.

Looking to see what oil others are using in their S50B32s. With all due respect, if you don't own one, haven't owned one or are not an oil expert, please don't speculate. There's so much back and forth on the whole 5W-40 vs 10W-60 debate and I'm looking for a more definitive answer. Thanks in advance! @M3AN @sweetm3 what do you use?

Finally got some foglights to complete the front end. Also have another little addition in the pipework courtesy of Jake Simpson.

The sellers reason for not certifying the car is because it would 'devalue it'. Don't see the logic in that but anyways..

On 9/25/2019 at 9:10 AM, JohnM575 said:

The rear tail lights are an interesting modification, seems odd to 'downgrade' to an E46 M tail light set...

Otherwise at that mileage and price point (subject to service history, PPI etc...) it could be quite a good option for someone wanting an M3 as a daily or for regular use.

The owner has the original tail lights just FYI. 

You spend too much time on these forums Dave! ? I deleted my post within .5 of a second... THAT was embarrassing. I think I add a whole new page to the thread lol. 

Nice rotors Mark. Where did you get them from? 

There must be a fair few more NZ new 3.0 coupes than 3.2s I take it?

Interesting! So its likely that there are around 100 or less E36 M3s in the country. More rare than I would have thought.

Such an epic car!

Cheers for that. Bit strange as its running really well 95% of the time. Seems most likely for it to be a temperamental sensor.

36 minutes ago, Gaz said:

@bradgalbraith was/is selling some I saw of the book of face

Selling a set of 5 DS2s if that tickles your fancy. Non staggered though.

Took the car for a drive yesterday and much to my annoyance, the intermittent stalling and erratic idle issue is still there.. will try take it for a scan next week. ICV/ CPS? Might whip the plenum off and have a look around at all the vacuum lines too.

45 minutes ago, gtstarped said:

Car looks good Brad. I'm pretty sure the owner after me didn't treat it as I had. Damn I loved the wheels that were on it. Take the contours off though, not right, not right at all??

No, unfortunately he didn't. He only did about 5000km in it though. I still need to give the engine bay a thorough clean. Lets agreed to disagree haha. I was not a fan of the Breytons if I'm honest.. The Contours may get replaced with some style 24s or DS2s at some stage, not sure yet. Wanting to go for an 'OEM +' kind of look.

The vanos had been getting progressively worse over the past few weeks so I had to do something about it quickly. I considered doing the job as I had done it previously but decided against it as I don't have the time to do it myself. Kayne Barrie did a wonderful job of rebuilding the unit doing both the seals and rattle kit and it's now running pretty mint. Not sure why but my unit (like some others) was filled with orange silicone.. I've read that this was BMW's approved method of keeping the solenoids from popping out at the time? Anyways, all running smooth now!

1 hour ago, KwS said:

Lol, I would if I hadn't already sold it. Gotta get on that price train! 

How much did you sell it for? It was looking good!

How's this coming along Kelvin? Any updates?