balancerider

different badging for different markets - the 125kw N13 badged as a 118i in NZ and 120i in Japan, the 'real' 120i had the 2L N20 4-cyl. happens all the time, the Japanese 523d is actually a 520d with N47/B47

The 120aH non REX i3 is looking more and more appealing - pick up a second hand one ex-UK, 250ish real world km and pick up a healthy rebate...

@DriftitMe too - Mat Watson is bloody annoying with his 'pretending to be Scouser' accent as well...

Took my lead from @Jacko - dog was no help in my case though

@Contrails much more accurate than the other options

Spec looks amazing. Can't imagine many cars in 2004 had bluetooth phone prep! Not sure about a towbar on a coupe though... https://bimmer.work/vin/p04e66ce8c919e8c683bc0007b7835b03/ Google translate may have slightly missed the point on the wood.

Unpopular opinion coming up but the M340 sounds better to my ears. Still way rather have the M5 though

The Jinyu Ditchfinders did their job...

< 3 months between first NZ registration and write off. suspect that's the demographic a lot of these E90's are going to now...

probably a little low on the pricing. I6 version just popped up here for 22k GBP https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-spottedykywt/alpina-b10-touring-e39-spotted/44347

This sounds absolutely incredible and even with the spectacular borkage potential of the S85 I think i'd consider a manual one. SMG is a no go...

Prepare for face-melting bills (to go with the face-melting torque) when the engine ancillaries are borked. I think if it's anything like the Touareg V10 TDI, pretty much all work is an engine-out job... Pretty awesome bit of engineering nonetheless

Needs @promo’s expertise (assuming it hasn’t had it already)

@Olaf that boot seal is a satisfying job. i need to get to that on Dad's E91 at some point. excited to see this re-engined

Janky AV installations are just the worst. hopefully this is going to be worth it in the end though. wrt your water leak, there wasn't a wiring grommet for towbar electrics was there - have seen water come in through those...

or ask @promo

Please do this - it's my pet peeve with jap imports.

game over. manual though!

Hope @Driftit isn't commuting anywhere far with 80k of range and a wrecked battery in a 6 year old car...

http://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/313378803 Pricing is wildly optimistic but at 35k I'd probably be interested...

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/3133258404 Can't imagine this'll hang around. Leather recaros must be pretty rare

This - would steer clear of anything N53 powered. Coils / plugs / NOX sensors all consumables...

Worth it for the blue velour seat covers alone! No cruise control on that one @qube but it's a fairly easy retrofit. On Michelins all round which suggests it's been looked after.

I'd say yes provided the service history is decent. Drive nicely too.

Welcome @jharry - the price gap between your E91 and an F31 320d will pay for a lot of maintenance / fuel (would guess you'll get 6-7ish for your current car). The N52 in your car is a sound engine - esp once electric water pump has been replaced. You could replace the suspension on yours for $1500ish and will drive like a new one. OTOH the F3x generation is probably a bit safer and the 320d will be very good on fuel (maybe 5.5-6L/100k combined running). The f3x Gran Turismo model looks gash (IMO) so I'd definitely keep your E91 if that were the alternative, the Gran Coupe on the other hand looks OK but possibly out of budget.