Mad_Max

Check the basics first. As @M3AN said, these things suffer from the sealant on the top of the coil packs failing, something that won't be picked up from a scanner. I have also seen a friend's rally car occasionally drop a cylinder at revs, only when turning left - turned out to be the hose from the intake boot to the ICV and manifold that caused that issue - again, something that wouldn't be picked up from a scanner. Check your spark plugs, not just the condition but make sure they are done up right. If you can identify which cylinder is dropping out, switch coils and see if the misfire follows the cylinder. Also do a compression test, both dry and wet. Check for gasses in the coolant etc. Is there any rattles or ticks coming from the top end? Is the condition just at idle, at WOT or POT? If you want basic diagnostic stuff, a cable and adapter with INPA (BMW specific software) is reasonably cheap, think I paid around $40 a few years ago. Start with the basic stuff first, these things can throw fault codes that don't always point to the exact solution so you may end up throwing a lot of money at sensors and start costing you more than you think only to realise it's a simple solution.

If this is still up for grabs in a couple of months I'm definitely keen, right now funds are quite stretched..... otherwise GLWS, I think it's quite well priced and well turned out for the right buyer.

Yep, 4cyl ones are longer. From memory, you can cut *I think* 32mm from the linkages and reweld back together to make them work if you're doing it on an extreme budget. It may be 35mm, it's around that though. Na auto and manual are the same for the water hoses. Some of the older 36's had trans cooler lines go into the side of the radiator, others have a separate cooler at the front. Either way, you don't need to change the radiator, it won't leak if the trans lines aren't hooked up.

Yeah my bad, sorry ?

Glenn is right on the money there, little turn to loosen, little turn to tighten. Helps stop it binding up. Lots of patience will be needed to get it out, take your time with it.

Hahaha yeah...... Doesn't help when the instructions jump all over the place....... Na you're all good man, no problems ?

Managed to get ISTA/D up and running, turns out I missed a crucial step during installation ?. Now just need to get the IP settings right for ISTA/P and I should be all sorted.

I'd actually be more tempted to keep it in the family with a 3.5l or 4l V8 Beamer swap lol...... won't be that hard to do if you get a cheap donor car. If you still wanna go the M50/52 swap I can sort out a motor, box, looms, DME etc for you for a decent price for a kit, engine and gearbox mounts may have to be custom made etc. but should be able to throw you mostly everything. And again, the offer is there if you're willing to be patient - I'd be happy to actually do a motor swap for you. Set out what you want to achieve, sort a motor, box etc and physically do the work ?

Excellent, thanks man, much appreciated

Yeah unfortunately that's what they seem to go for. Can always upgrade to a G250 box, it's stronger and will drop straight in, so you don't need to mess around with linkages or pilot bearings or anything. Just a thought ?

So I've been trying to install ISTA/D and ISTA/P on a laptop with no luck. Laptop is a Toshiba with a clean, fresh Windows 10 32bit OS, no other software on it. I've followed every guide I can find, tried every trick online and spent days trying to sort this out with no luck. Frustration is getting the better of me and I'm near on ready to defenstate this laptop ???. Searching leaves me confused and overwhelmed with the number of possible solutions, none of which seem to work for me. Is there anyone around that has done these installs before that could give me a hand, or point me to installation instructions that actually work? Or would be willing to do the install for me if I courier the laptop?

No, that's about what ZF boxes go for. Expect to pay $1500-$1800 for a complete conversion kit for a ZF box, that includes the flywheel, clutch, pedals, linkages etc. or at least $700 - $800 for the box on it's own, that's about where the market price is. Getrag boxes are cheaper but not as strong. Having said that, I had a Getrag 220 box in my E36 328i that I punished severely, and it never failed on me. So if you want to save $$$ now, you'll have to go Getrag. If you want to potentially save bigger $$$ later on, spend more now on a ZF setup.

@MikeHancox just sold a motor to him, easy to deal with, friendly guy and great communication. Would trade with him again.

Depending on what motor, I'd even suggest that maybe the previous owner didn't replace the tty head bolts and they've been stretched past their limits. Have seen this happen with a friends 4AGE powered Suzuki. Had it "repaired" at a local shop, mechanic advised it would need doing again. I got the phone call, told him what to order, including new bolts. Stripped it down, head and block were fine so put it back together and AFAIK it's still going to this day. So could be the same thing here, and you may get away with it.

Sounds to me like something rubbing on the disc. Check the obvious before panicking: check the brake pads (see if anything is caught in them or they are extremely low), dust shields, check for stones etc. before anything else as it may just be that simple.

If no one else can sort ya out, I'll have a look and check the parts car and see if it's any good. Will be a day or so before I can get to it if you're not in a rush?

Thanks man, yeah I'm not worried about the misfire, it's a lot better than when it first started so I don't think it's hard to fix. No worries, flick me a list of everything else you need and want and I'll sort you out.

Na the misfire is only at idle. It was far worse when I first got it running, so I'm picking it's old plugs, dirty injectors, stale fuel or just cause the ICV has been sitting, don't think it's anything that serious. It's also got a flat spot/delay when going from idle to accelerating, which I'd also say is buildup in the intake system from being parked up for a year. I'm thinking it's actually the IHKA, one side not sending a signal. Even with both sides turned to hot I can only get voltage on one terminal of the heater valve connection, not two. I know the plug at the valve is toast, pretty much fell apart when I breathed on it...... so may even be a broken wire. I'll start with the valve, will pull that after Christmas and disassemble and check it to confirm it's working. Luckily got a 525i here with the same valve, so fingers crossed one of the two is good. Then work my way back to the IHKA to check it's sending a signal out. It needs work anyway, I need to replace the passenger side vent control switch so, once everything else has been eliminated, I'll just have to spend more time resoldering and checking everything. Thanks for the info though, gives me something to watch out for with the misfire ?

Yeah I'm doing that trip 3 times a fortnight atm on average. Roads getting a bit average in places but better in others. Be better once the Edendale bypass is finished. I'm going Christmas Day so not expecting too much traffic, should be a nice cruise. Currently sitting at the beach, so far the needle has moved about 1mm either side of halfway so I'd say she's better now. Alternator is charging at 13.8v which is just on the bottom end of the service manuals limits. And I think I've found the power drain causing the flat batteries too ?. Think that might be enough for one day though, time for a beer in the sun before heading home.

Stripped the cooling system today. Water pump looks like it was replaced recently, thermostat has been checked and works. Flushed the radiator out, ran it to temp and now there's not a problem - seems like a lot more water went in than what came out of it originally. So hopefully, just a huge air lock in the system. Just waiting for it to cool so I can drain and refill with coolant and bleed the system again. Next is bleeding the brakes, then take it for a run. Decent temp down here today so a good check for the system, if it all passes Christmas Day cruise will be on ????. I'll hopefully be leaving Invercargill around 9 - 9:30am, bound for Dunedin's North East Valley, so if anyone sees me along the way and wants to have a quick look, feel free to grab my attention.

Finally got around to checking the thermostat, it's working fine, so not the cause of the heat issue. So will check water pump and flush the radiator next, to eliminate them. Have also found the IHKA is playing up (apparently a common problem), where I can't turn the heater off on the passenger side, so will need to look at that at some stage too. Tightened the fan belt as well, as that was way too loose. Alternator charging at a steady 13.8-13.9V even with headlights on, less than perfect but should survive for now. However, the battery is still going dead flat overnight. Took it for a run yesterday afternoon, where I stopped and started it a few times while ducking in and out of places, and it started fine. This morning, not even an attempt to turn over. So I've got my spare battery on charge, will throw that in as that battery may not be holding charge. And to top it all off, I can't remove the radio to fit a band expander, seeing as how some muppet has tried to drill the security screws out - not sure if I'll get the radio out without damaging it now ???? Starting to get frustrating - fix one thing, and another 3 turn up - and all I wanna do right now is a Christmas Day cruise - after that, it can take me the whole year to fix the rest of the niggly things, that won't worry me ?

I should be able to hook you up with one if no one else closer comes through. Can have it off tonight or tomorrow, ready to leave Monday morning - freight delays may be the only hassle. Let me know if you're stuck and I'll get it sorted for ya.

Yeah, hopefully I have time Friday, I want to drain the cooling system and flush it, and check the thermostat, water pump, heater tap, fan, hoses etc while I'm at it. Did also check and the belt is a little loose, so there may be a few things working together to create this problem - it doesn't appear to be a major issue which is good. It was driven around, temp gauge sat on halfway. I pulled up and let it idle for about 5 minutes, when I got in to move it again the temp gauge was still halfway. Gauge only went over halfway after it had been sitting with the engine shut off for about half an hour. I kinda also suspect there may be air trapped in the system too.

A bit of good news before the bad. Put another 20l of fresh fuel in it, and, since being driven Saturday, it seems like the misfire at idle is getting better, so I'm thinking that's just a combination of stale fuel, and an engine that's sat for ages, so could probably benefit from plugs, and at the least checking the dizzy cap, leads, rotor, cleaning the throttle body etc. as a minimum. Now a couple of issues have developed that need looked at before I go on any decent trip. Aircon doesn't seem to work at all - not a big deal in the grand scheme of things at the moment and way down the priority list. Battery was flat today when I went to start it, alternator is only charging at 13.5v, oddly enough it stays the same even with the headlights on. It jump started fine so I think the battery is all good, just not charging. So will swap the alternator out with the 525i one and hope that fixes that issue. This could also be causing the misfire at idle if the ignition system isn't quite getting the right voltage. However, the motor seems to be getting way too hot. Ran it through town and back tonight, and left it parked up idling away for 5 while moving some other sh*t out of the way. Popped it into it's place, then went back half an hour later to see if it would start. First thing I noticed is the temp gauge went up over halfway, first time it's done that. Coolant level is good (and looks fresh). And the really odd thing is that the heater seems like it's perpetually stuck on high - not so cool in summer. Will try draining the coolant, flushing the radiator and bleeding the system first and see if that fixes the issue, though am completely open to any other suggestions - this thing was parked up for 12 months or so, so it could be any of a number of things causing an air lock - thermostat, heater tap, blockage etc etc. If anyone has any other ideas, or items to check/test, throw them at me.

Na no stress, it's all good ?. I got my wiring issue sorted but in two minds about replacing the whole loom just in case, if you need it for your project then that's no worries.