NZ_InFerno

I need a couple of bits of trim. The bit around the idrive and the steering wheel insert. If you have any of those

No 🤣 I'd read guides from fcp and pelican parts and even though I've never done this before it didn't look too complicated. I was a bit out of my depth once I got to the manifold. Everything under the manifold was an absolute pita to disconnect even with two people. Especially the other plastic breather. That block, junction box with all the wires? Took me an hour to do the two screws holding it on. Definitely the worst part, used a flexi socket to finally get them off. Someone had been there before so there was some unusual wiring to disconnect too. The starter power cable was run through the manifold so had to be removed to take it out. There was also a couple of things not in the guides, an unexpected bracket on the manifold(rhd car feature?) and taking the strut braces off helped a lot. Glad it's over now 😅

I was looking at my list of parts replaced (it's big) and the starter was the first thing to actually fail on the car in my ownership. I did buy it with known problems. I had a lot of issues at the start that could have been solved with more knowledge of the car by myself and also a correct diagnosis of the valvetronic motor issue by the mechanic. That alone got thousands of dollars wasted on parts/labour that probably weren't required. But yeah I was thinking while I was in there that if I do the belt and the front pulleys(if needed) that pretty much every ancillary from factory would have been replaced. Wild. I've never really got wrenching on cars before(as they never needed it!) so owning bmws has helped me learn a lot, it's quite satisfying at times. DIY compared to a mechanic also makes it seem cheap(plus fcp euro) so I go overboard in ordering new parts and joining bimmersport has me being proactive in replacing them. Car still has a couple niggles from when I purchased it, oil leak/brakes, so once those parts are on it should be more maintenance bits than big ticket parts. I got the car cheap with the problems it had at purchase, and compared to the going rate for a manual 130i today I'd get what I've put in back if I sold up. Only way I justify it haha.

Put a new starter motor in today, heck of a job that needed a 2nd person to get the manifold off. Cars been sitting for a month as it didn't start at all just before lockdown, pulled a starter code so ordered a new one through fcp euro and all the associated bits. Or so I thought. Starter got delayed on shipping through lockdown, and detoured through Australia as well, so only started pulling everything plastic off on Thursday. Got down to throttle body on the manifold so left it. Friday I discovered that I should have ordered a breather hose from the back of the valve cover, as they break all the time being removed :S, so I spent an hour carefully getting it loose. The PCV system was done a year or so ago so all hoses were new. I then got the throttle body off and all other connectors, there is a few, and finally it was time to tackle the manifold. And yeah not a one man job 😅 Got my bro in law over today(well yesterday) and we got it out no sweat, 5 or 6 connectors underneath that would have been a nightmare doing it myself. Got it all back together in much less time with: - new starter and bolts - new intake manifold gaskets - new(to me) Turner Motorsports intake boot - nice clean throttle body - confirmed both DISAs have been replaced - cleaned up power steering reservoir to check where its leaking Car started immediately, much improved. Didn't take a photo of the shiny starter but it looked good. Ended up doing some troubleshooting after starting as car ran rough and was throwing misfire codes. Checked all coils/plugs and found when we put the manifold back on that the oxygen sensor wire had got pinched, luckily could release it from the manifold and the wire insulation was torn but the wire was undamaged . Quick repair and fired up again, no codes and runs mint.

Think the recommended upgrade is e46 M3 gearbox mounts. Which I found out after replacing mine 😅 Supposedly a bit stiffer than stock with no NVH increase.

They have the E60 M5 V10 on there for 10k, surely that fits in the E87 engine bay 🤣

What does the vin say? I went to check it but the sites I've used before are dead 😑

Singapore import with the Cruise Control?

100%, bit like @Sammos interior would look mint

You'll be able to get a gauge on tightness when you take out the 6 current plugs too. Will give you a rough idea of how tight they need to be in.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/3245333146? Great paint colour, not too big a fan of the interior colour though

+1 for do them up tight. Not RFT. No torque wrench needed. I ended up duct taping two extensions together to get enough length to get to the spark plugs. My plug socket was too grippy and it pulled the extension off on the first one I did lol.

RE003 crew reporting in

Yeah I thought those 130i total numbers were very low. There's 600 odd in the nzta database, would have thought the world wide total would be much higher. Do you know where else the 130i was available worldwide? Obviously there's the UK, Europe and Japan.

Fault code from scanning, seems like it is the starter. Guess I'm ordering one in ASAP. @M3AN I'll check the DISAs while I'm in there but they've been done by the previous owner. Not sure if they did both though. I've had other people borrow the car in the last week and they had trouble starting it which I put down to them not being familiar with the car, but guess that wasn't the case.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-starter-motor-kit-sr0492nkt

That's already been done. O rings in the kit!

Yeah I've read it's a process. What timing lol. There's a starter kit on fcp euro so I'll grab that for it. Is there anything else I should be doing while I'm there?

Anyone replaced their starter motor? Looking for a good guide on it. Car wouldn't start today and pretty sure it's the starter. Wouldn't turn over at all and completely dead even though there's power 😑 Will give it a scan tomorrow to confirm.

Can do. When I was looking for my replacements I discovered there are some dirt cheap pads on rockauto(probably terrible quality) if you need a temporary fix.

How urgently do you need them? I'll have some when I do my brakes but that will likely be a month or so away. You could get a set off rockauto for like $30 new.

Cheers for the offer man. Might have to take you up on it if all falls through 😅. Yeah it's me and the bro in law having the time, and then lining it up with the lift space and engine brace being free and available. More of a priority and willingness now so it should happen.

Car finally got a wof yesterday, tints had to be removed on all windows which was a pain. There's factory tint on the rear glass and windows so it's pretty similar tint in the rear as before now but the front is much lighter. I'll drive around for a while and see what it's like and if I want to retint it to 35% at the front. Wof place noted the sump oil leak was pretty bad, so that's the next priority. Still haven't got it done as been difficult to find the time and lift space/free engine brace to do it. Have had all the parts for some time now. The Wof also noticed some weeping from the power steering hose pipe so will have a look at that when we do the sump gasket/engine mounts. All brake rotors /pads and sensors turned up so have a lot of parts to put on the car. This will finally have all the mechanical bits sorted that have been outstanding on the car since I bought it. Next things will be sorting various minor cosmetic stuff on the car.

I've got a prelci but yeah there's a nice hollow under the vtronic motor for oil to sit in.

Nice from ECS, great service indeed! Replaced my valvetronic motor, or rather @KwS did and new gasket a year? ago but haven't checked on the gasket itself. Only trouble was that I'd ordered the wrong gasket so ended up with two of them. I probably need to have a look and check on it now that it's run in.