NZ_InFerno

It seems like you know most of the the faulty parts, get a bmw dealer quote on them would give you a worst case scenario. Personally unless the car was super cheap I would find another as you've got a couple of rabbit holes there, without getting into stuff like waterpump, coils and other maintenance bits that likely needs doing considering the current state of the car.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/3036855854?tm=email&et=45&mt=F909EDC8-3C14-49CC-9D87-FCE0B397F44E Been posted before but they've dropped the price. Has a few goodies on it. Great candidate for a manual swap.

I've dealt with that guy before, that's who I got my roof strip from(same car I'm pretty sure). Was a good price.

Interested in the M3 lcas, tension arms and adjustment rod. Pretty reasonable price considering the work done, condition and kms. Le Mans Blue is the best colour imo

Low mileage, not a lot of manuals around below 100k kms.

NZ new manual is rare af

Pretty common to see high mileage cars on the 130i Owners page, if it's looked after could be a good pick up.

Is that a wrap? Unusual colour. Also that price 😳

Was having a browse on Japanese auction listings and noticed only a couple of manuals, going for around $12k NZ ( 120k+ kms and shipped here). Autos are still priced where I remember ($6-8k and plentiful) from when I last looked a couple years back. Will keep an eye on it and see if they're becoming more scarce, thus pricier to import.

OE Aero spoilers aren't available anymore from bmw and are pretty sought after. Never heard about them having issues with fitment, all the ones I've seen fitted look good 🤔

Yep, though it's not mine anymore. Sold it to a family member as running 3 130i was a bit overkill. Was hoping to buy it back off them in a couple years and manual swap it but they've decided to sell it now 😢

Any BMW 130i owners coming to the British/Euro car show in Wellington (Upper Hutt) this Sunday? I'll be there with the club, thread on it here:

Anyone thinking of ordering from schmiedmann? I've got a grill and gear knob I want to get but shipping is killer. Alternatively anyone seen some black kidney grills with the pointy corners anywhere?

Quite annoying how little oil seals cause major problems. Sounds like you've got the problem nailed down though, and the right person to be doing the job.

Just re-read it and sounds like he's got the rocker cover gasket off atm, so replace the lot while access is good. Hopefully they unwound the valvetronic motor correctly when removing the rocker cover. Reinstalling it is a little tricky.

I had a quite similar issue (it sounds like the same issue tbh) that caused no end of problems(car would run badly and die, down on power), but with no fault code ever occurring 🙄. The valvetronic range was not correct when checked in inpa, I can't remember the exact numbers but it was off, and the calibration in inpa would reset but then didn't do anything. The power on test, before starting the engine, when the vvt motor should go through a full range(click to click), it didn't do it at all. It was narrowed down to the valvetronic motor, after cleaning the vanos Solenoids, replacing the initially suspected eccentric shaft sensor and having all the wiring checked. The valvetronic motor has been replaced previously so that's why it wasn't suspected. Myself and @KwS(mostly KwS tbh) changed the valvetronic motor. I also changed the valvetronic electrical control module at the same time. Mostly because everything else in the electrical chain had been checked or replaced, and I wasn't 100% sure it was actually the vt motor itself causing problems. After running the inpa calibration, and maybe dme calibration? the car ran mint and has done since then. I did a write up of it in my 130i manual thread, you should have a read of. I would suggest you change the valvetronic electronic module, it's $20 from fcpeuro. If that doesn't work then do the vvt motor, maybe both at the same time but the motor is much more expensive at $150US, plus you need the gasket. Photo below is the module and valvetronic motor gasket for a pre lci! Lci have a different type of gasket for the valvetronic motor(real OEM is your friend). Not sure if the module is different between lci/pre-lci but worth checking realoem anyway. The module lives underneath the fusebox on the passenger side of the engine bay. It's easy to follow the wiring from the vt motor to it. Realoem will also show it. Also you noted that there is oil on the eccentric shaft sensor. From reading online trying to diagnose my problem that is a bad sign, and can cause faulty readings and sensor to fail. So it may be the sensor causing the issue. But if all the readings from it are good, clean it and pray its not the sensor otherwise that's about $250 US from fcpeuro. Hope this helps

Hit a big bump? Or a rock being flicked up.

Pramod in Wellington does key reprogramming, I forgot what his bimmersport handle is but he has a website now https://www.nztuningbay.com/

Nah, yours is probably the best priced one considering condition, has the lowest amount of kms too. When I went through the email again I noticed another one was a re-list so only one new one which is a pretty interesting spec for a dealer car https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/130i/listing/2956631523

That came out awesome! Super lucky to have access to a buffer. Once I worked out I needed one the cost for it, plus pads, compound, headlight finishing stuff, paint touch up etc it was similar to getting a pro to do it. Worked out well as the weather's been so crap here I wouldn't have had the time nor space to do it or to get it done in time. I'm fully stocked to keep it clean now though lol

3 manual 130i listed yesterday on trademe including one very familiar blue one 😜 Jap Imports qualify @gofaster

Have to remove some trim but definitely possible to reach. I'm not sure it'll just push out, its been there a while and it's right on a crease line. I'll go watch some how tos and see what's possible.

Yep I'm booked in for February for airbag and the heater valve recall. Also got my car back from the detailer today 😍

Bit of an update, bought a bunch of detailing supplies after Xmas to give the car a good going over and clean. I've wanted to give the car a good detail since buying it but fixing up the mechanical side was the first priority. Now that has all been done, or I have the parts in the garage, it was time to work on getting it shiny. I've kept it relatively clean since buying but really wanted to clay bar and cut/polish to sort out the multitude of fine scratches and get the headlamps clear. I had previously attacked the headlamps with a turtlewax headlight kit, to remove glue from the previous owners "eyebrow" install. This somewhat helped but they definitely could be better. Last week I started with mag monster on the wheels and then G3 detailers cleaning spray, rinsed off and then washed the car again. Once it was really clean I started with the claying and did most of the car before leaving it for the next day. I came back to it and found I'd managed to scratch up a few areas worse than before 😥 but mostly it felt much smoother and used a tar and bug remover to get everything else off the car. I pulled out the polish to attack the scratched up sections but hand polish wasn't enough to remove the new scratches nor some older scratches. It did take out a lot of fine scratches but not the finish I was optimistically hoping for. I'd also exposed a fair few stone chips and at this point decided to seek professional help 🤣 Booked it in with Final Touch to get a two stage machine polish, headlight polished and their stone chip paint touch up. Went in today and it came out brilliant, exactly what I was after. Car looks absolutely phenomenal even though it was very clean already before going there lol. The dent on the back corner is still there! If anyone knows a dent guy let me know. The front end is a massive improvement with the headlights being crystal clear, de-aging the car. No stone chips on the bonnet looks much better too! It had been bugging me that the car didn't look as well cared for as it was, but now it really reflects how much work/parts have been put into it over the last year. Super happy with how it all turned out, it was what I was initially after(taking it to a detailer) before deciding to have a go myself. With this I did a lot of the groundwork and was able to get the stone chips taken care of too. So a better finish than just getting a standard detail. At least I have all the gear to keep it nice and shiny now Engine mounts and sump gasket hopefully going in within the next month, dependent on time and space on the lift. Will be 100% mechanically buttoned up then 🤪