Vass

This fine specimen has popped up again, now through Sunday Drive. I do love me a touring probably more than the average person but this seems a bit bonkers for a 4-cylinder with close to half a mill on the clock. https://www.trademe.co.nz/5023124739

Check out Hyperdrive, seems to be plenty of options for that size. Alternatively, you could go 245/40R17 whilst retaining much of the tyre width. I wouldn't go 225 on a RWD car, not sure if they would work on a wider rim but hey, I'm not gonna tell you off either.

Oh great news! Price drop on the blue one in Chch, now available at a bargain $77k. Let's gooo

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a big fan of E60's and given a straight choice I'll take the E39 any day of the week, but at that price point... I know it's a silly comparison but the reason I mention an E60 (and not an F10 that are also available at around the $40k mark) is that there's a much wider choice of V8's out there, both older and modern, whilst an NA V10 is much more of a unique proposition and likely one of the last mass-market ones ever made. If I had to spend $60k on a super sedan I'd take the best E60 out there at $40k and have $20k left over in a maintenance fund, or hell... throw it at a manual conversion before I spend it all on a lazily presented E39.

Was wondering when a thread about this one would pop up... Pretty disgusting state of affairs when dealers are asking $20+k above market value without even wanting to spend a few hundred on a new shift knob or getting the steering wheel, leather seats properly treated. Close to zero effort and investment yet are asking a premium. Probably looked at that blue one listed at $90k and figured this one is a bargain at 60, not realizing the first one is horrifically overpriced by 2x. Pretty sure there have been much better examples listed for less very much recently. Not sure who would in their right mind would fork out $60k for it when there's a like 5 E60 M5's to choose from all at under $40k.

Old BMW's are a tough proposition unless you're doing all the work yourself. Even a cheap part like an oil pan gasket will cost 10x of the part itself to replace because of the sheer amount of labor involved. Generally, people that have deep enough pockets to pay to have their BMW's worked on move up to newer models anyway, so as the cars age they either end up with enthusiasts or at wreckers. Honestly, unless you plan on getting on the DIY bandwagon, you're probably best to move it on. Upshot is, the E87 platform belonged to one of the last BMW eras that were generally easy to work on and have heaps of documentation online for any type of job you could ever think to take on, so would be a great platform to start on. But yeah, if you're not that way inclined it's unlikely to make economic sense.

Same (apart from the M3 bit). Yeah that's what I'd do. I'm looking to chuck catless headers in mine shortly, currently have a CMP coupler in there but clearance might be tight so got myself one of those slim linkages off @modz just to have on hand. The CMP one got picked up at cert so I'm fine to run that but no idea what would happen at wof if I do end up going with the slim one. No way I'm re-certing it just for that.

To test out the faulty fuel sender unit theory, I did a couple of trips to the servo with a jerry can and poured some 20L of diesel into the tank. Having had the old battery on charge for a few days, I hooked it up and turned on the ignition, to which the car proceeded to have a full on seizure - cluster flashing on and off, relays clicking, alarm beeping etc. Not knowing how old the battery was and the little peep hole staying black even at full charge, I picked up a brand new Century DIN85LHX MF as a replacement. Before I could hook it up, I discovered the clamp on the negative cable had somehow seized so you couldn't tighten it properly. Took some vice grips and an impact wrench set to full blast to break the stubborn stud in half. Luckily I still had a few spare ones on hand. Battery hooked up, you could hear the fuel pump priming as you turned the ignition, although there seemed to be all sorts of modules coming back to life and there was all sorts of sounds coming from all directions all at the same time. Gave it a couple of 10-second cranks, on the third one she fired right up! Happy days. Fuel injection system error still lit up the cluster but seemed to idle fine. Took it for a quick lap around the block, didn't really give it beans but didn't feel like it was in any sort of limp mode. Hooked it up to the scanner, still had the old list as well as a few more errors this time around. It now takes a second or two of cranking but then fires up fine. Cleared all the codes, took it for another quick lap and none of the codes are yet to come back. Great success. Too soon to jump to conclusions but seeing it run and drive really made my day. Heaps of preventative maintenance to do before she goes into full on daily duties but the beginning looks well promising.

Managed to stumble my way into another problem project. With an addition to the family imminent, I started looking at options to upgrade the wife's mode of transportation. Her trusty Subaru Outback is getting rather tired and is not a car I particularly enjoy working on so was keen to lure her over into the wonderful world of German engineering. With her enthusiasm for eventually getting back into riding and owning horses, the criteria was a 4wd with enough ground clearance to at least not get stuck in a paddock, and something capable of towing a horse float. Easy enough. I wanted to keep it in the familiar era of the early 2000's so quickly narrowed the search down to E83 X3's & E53 X5's. The V8 was never an option and despite my love for the M54, I felt that in a big lump of an SUV (SAV?) it might be a bit underpowered and too thirsty, so the legendary M57 became the preference. Not an awful lot of them around as it turns out, and all close to or above 300k on the clock. One 306k example had popped up, went to check it out and although I was impressed with the drive and feel, I decided against it due to the shoddy aesthetics - passenger door handle was missing, a bunch of interior trims were quite worn, the steering wheel was sticky and disgusting and some underbody plastics being held in place with self tappers and wood screws. The condition was reflected in the price but since the car is meant to be for the better half, I'd have wanted it to be a bit nicer. I then went back to a FB Marketplace listing I had saved a while earlier. The ad had been up for a good number of months, the asking price was essentially double that of the car I test drove but was well presented and looked heaps tidier. Before I got around to texting the owner though, the exact same car popped up on a TM $1 reserve auction with a "FUEL INJECT. SYSTEM" error on the dash and a crank no start condition. Despite numerous messages and requests for a viewing, the seller never replied so I was left bidding blind. Not ideal but it is what it is. I figured I'd go low enough that I could recoup the investment through parting it out if need be, and after brief bidding war I emerged victorious at a price I was happy enough to gamble. The next day, I recruited a mate to help out with towing duties, hooked up our rally car trailer that was barely big enough for the job, huffed and puffed pushing the 2 tonne beast onto it and carted the new family member home. And there she is - 2004 E53 X5 3.0d with 288,600 km's on the clock. Overall looks really tidy, the body is straight with a few paint imperfections here and there but still presents really well. I do love the facelift design, doesn't look at all dated even at 20 years old, in my eyes anyway. Interior is in great condition too with the only blemish that stands out is the passenger door arm rest leather coming apart. Even comes with an Android headunit, which is pretty handy. The biggest drawback, for the wife in any case, is the lack of heated seats, although that's something I can try and rectify at a later date. All of that counts for nothing though unless I can get her up and running again. The car had sat since July, the battery had gone completely flat to the point even the gear indicator light wouldn't come on. Took 2 days of charging to get the battery back to full charge but I suspect it might be too far gone anyway and a replacement will be the first item on the shopping list. Ran out of weekend before I could start properly digging into it but did get the battery charged up enough to pull some codes. Definitely something to do with fuel delivery. Whether the code for fuel pressure regulating points to the regulator being faulty I'm not entirely sure. I've learned that these cars have a total of 3 fuel pumps - a low pressure in-tank pump; an inline pump and a high pressure pump - and it could be either one of the 3. Will need to do more research on whether any of the codes might help pinpoint the culprit more accurately. The glow plugs should be easy enough to replace and definitely on the list of preventative maintenance I'm aiming to take care of. Whether the glow control unit is also a common failure point I'll need to also look into. Another suggestion I found was that the fuel sender unit may have gone bad, the gauge would still show there being fuel in the tank but it wouldn't be making its way over to the pump side from the opposite side of the "saddle", causing a fuelling issue. The fuel needle did indicate barely a fifth of a tank so could be plausible. I'll try pour some 20L of diesel in it and see what happens. Would be pretty funny if that's the cause of the issue but I don't dare hope to be so lucky. On the running gear side, a few codes could be a cause for concern, namely the transfer case code for oil abrasion and gearbox shutdown code due to overtemperature. Will see how she feels once she's running and driving but servicing those two will definitely be on the list. Will take some time on the weekend to dig into it proper, see how far I get with the diagnosis and start putting together a shopping list of parts. Pretty excited for my first diesel experience. Time will tell how much of a bargain it turns out to be. Long live the Family Tractor.

From what I gather, it's not ethanol that's problematic. NPD 100 supposedly doesn't include ethanol anyway... The problematic bit is the additive N-Methylaniline. To quote from the report linked below, it “promoted soot formation in cylinders, injection and exhaust valves leading to mechanical abrasion when applied in concentrations above 1.5%.” According to the NPD 100 data sheet it makes up 2-3%. https://www.sustainablefuels.eu/assets/uploads/2018/10/Harmful_Chemicals-2.pdf I don't doubt it will perform better, but it might come at the cost of increased engine wear.

Well, nevermind. Started doing victory laps way too soon. Took a detour on my way home from work along the motorway. All was looking well until all of a sudden... Back to square 1.

Haven't seen an update on the ol' compact in a while. Guessing you've gotten it all certified by now? Ohh damn, I do remember reading that thread a while ago but wasn't considering using it at the time so my brain didn't retain any specifics. N-methyl aniline seems to be the problematic substance, supposedly causing carbon deposits and swelling of rubber seals. There's this disclaimer on the NPD website claiming discoloration of plastics to be the main side effect (if exposed to UV light). Had a skim through the BP 98 datasheet and sure enough it doesn't have it as an ingredient. NPD 100 BP 98 No idea if any of that other stuff is good or not. Would have assumed there's be lawsuits piling up if engines were exploding left and right. Then again that disclaimer is probably enough to shield them from liability. That thread probably deserves a revival. It's been 3 years since its introduction to the NI, assuming there's a good number of people out there using it in BMW's, keen to hear of any actual long term, real world repercussions. FWIW, we've exclusively used NPD 100 in our Subaru rally car for a good few years now without any issues... But then again it only ever sees off road use, has a metal fuel tank and the engine is dyno tuned specifically for use with that fuel so not really applicable to the use case at hand.

Tank was getting empty so thought I'd try out some BP 98. Put in half a tank and have done around 60km on it so far, monitoring the fuel trims throughout. Slowly but surely the LTFT's have now settled on -5.5% for both banks, could possibly go even further with more driving. Quite a decent improvement. It is an extra 20-30c/L but with the limited amount of driving I do in this car it might actually be worth it, especially if it improves fuel consumption as well. Might try some NPD 100 at some point just to see what that does.

Hey, Just checking in, might be too soon to judge the longevity of this fix but wondering how it's holding up so far? Stumbled upon this thread on E46 Fanatics (shouted you out a bit on there too, sorry ) where there seem to be some mixed views on this approach. Did you treat it with any sealant/protectant type product to hopefully prolong the fresh look?

Is that the manual one off Trademe? Looked an awesome unit, love the color. Congrats!

Just the silver text ones being affected, for the time being anyway. No word on white text version but still good supposedly. No idea how. Look way better with the silver text though.

Get yours while you still can fellas. Following email being sent around by Kiwiplates, as well as there now being a disclaimer at checkout. Surprised it lasted this long tbh, the "issue" has been known for a good while.

Don't look at 2005-2012 320's, they've got the same shitty engine. In fact, don't look at any BMW that's not a straight 6.

Pure rage bait. He knows exactly what he's doing.

You see plenty of people ignore the problem and drive around in a cloud of smoke for years on end. Common does not equal normal. There's really nothing normal about it, a well designed, properly operating engine will not be burning anywhere close to that much oil. Those manufacturers claiming it to be "normal" are just trying to cover their ass and not take responsibility for putting poorly designed products into circulation. All those faults are fixable but often not financially viable, hence them trying to normalize it. Not sure where you're getting the $5-9k figure from, might be the case for a V8 or V12 engine, no way it costs that much for a 4-cylinder. I asked the local BM Workshop for a quote for valve stem seals for an N42/N46 earlier this year, got told $1.5k + GST. As a DIY it'll be a weekend of work, $100-200 in parts depending on any extras you want to do at the same time (spark plugs, vacuum pump seals etc) and a few specialized tools (https://bimmerzen.com/store/product/3/BMW-N42N46-VSCT-Full-Kit).

Not that I needed them but got myself a pair of Maxgear bulbs off Spareto, at 9 EUR a piece I just wanted to see what they were like. Couldn't tell you how they compare brightness or longevity wise to premium brands but look good enough to me. Not something I can justify paying 5x for a pair of bulbs. When it comes to ordering from Ledperf, don't expect a quick delivery. Put in my first ever order with them for some chrome indicator bulbs on the 2nd of October, got a shipping notification on the 4th and haven't gotten a single tracking update since. Coming up to 3 weeks now and no idea where the shipment has gotten to or when I'll receive it...

It'll be the valve stem seals... No idea how you're claiming it ain't blowing smoke out the exhaust if it's burning through that much oil either. For comparison, I replaced the valve stem seals on a mate's car ($1,500+ job if you take it to a garage), replaced brake booster (another typical problem on these), replaced some leaking coolant lines, thermostat and coolant plug at the back of the head. Tidy well looked after car overall. Has been up at $5k for 4 months, only message received was a scam, zero interest otherwise. The market is dead. $5.5k for a car with issues is optimistic, if not outright deceitful.

Have been trying to hunt down the cause for the rich running ever since the dyno day. Fuel trims were not a topic I was too familiar with so set out on a bit of an educational journey on the science behind it all. A bunch of Google'ing led me to a number of useful forum threads on the topic, including this priceless guide on reading engine logs by our very own @NZ00Z3. Despite being a Z3 loyalist , he's a bit of a legend over on the E46 Fanatics forums and an absolute treasure trove of information, helping countless people interpret their data logs and get to the bottom of their engine troubles. I've gone into greater detail documenting the logging journey over on E46 Fanatics but so far, even with the help of the hive mind, haven't been able to find the smoking gun - the LTFT's for both banks have anchored themselves at -8.6%. The engine is in great condition, strong compression numbers, fuel pressure within spec, tested for vacuum leaks, no engine codes. O2 sensors & MAF are brand new OE, the Rev Rise Test seems to indicate the MAF operating as expected. Have re-run the logs having swapped out various components without any change, including a throttle body, ICV & MAF that @Eagle kindly lent me. One of the case studies mentioned an instance of rich running being caused by over-oiling a rechargeable K&N filter, which I did run for a while. I swapped it out for a brand new stock filter, cleaned the new MAF as well as re-running logs with a spare MAF without any change. My latest attempts of getting to the bottom of it involved tinkering with the DME. I hacked up a spare body loom I had to make up a bench coding setup. Came out looking pretty crude but does the job well enough. Used a random old 12V, 1.5A charger for a power supply. I had a spare DME from the engine donor car which I used as a coding test rabbit and to eliminate the possibility of the original DME not operating correctly. I updated the DME to the latest MS430069 firmware, checked that it's running the latest EU2 tune, did an EWS delete, cleared all adaptations and threw it in the car. It started up on the first crank, ran fine so I took it for a drive whilst monitoring fuel trims. The signs were promising in the beginning but then slowly but surely the LTFT's started creeping their way down before settling at the familiar -8.6% for both banks after around 20 minutes of driving. With the original DME out on the bench, I flashed that to the latest firmware as well, cleared adaptations, threw it back in and sure enough the fuel trims were back at -8.6% within 5 minutes. One other suggestion was to test the barometric pressure sensor on the DME since that could also cause false readings if faulty. I did the test whilst the DME's were coming in and out. Read 4.95V between pins 2 & 3 and 4.06-4.07V between pins 3 & 4 on both DME's, which checks out, seemingly eliminating the DME as the culprit. Running out of ideas at this point, I should probably just leave it alone really. The car is still running fine, I don't explicitly feel any lack of power but knowing that something is not at 100% is still low-key eating away at me. As was suggested in the other thread, it could just be the type/grade/quality of fuel used in NZ that's behind it but then the dyno results and AFR graphs shouldn't have been as different between the 3 cars as they were. A few weeks back we took @Carbon's E39 for a longer cruise with OBD Fusion hooked up the whole time, his LTFT's never went beyond +/- 0.3% throughout. Few more things I might still try: Will take out the spark plugs and check how sooty they are - would seemingly verify whether the engine is actually running rich or if the DME just thinks it is. Might just throw in a new set regardless. They've only done around 11k km's post engine rebuild but they did go through the whole running-in process, which could have gunked them up somehow I guess? Did read/hear somewhere that it's best to hold off throwing in brand new spark plugs onto a freshly rebuilt engine, advice that I blatantly ignored. So many conflicting opinions on the best running in process that it's really hard to tell what the definitive best practice might be but new ones definitely won't hurt at this point. Might look at getting brand new injectors. Had the original ones professionally cleaned, the fuel pressure test didn't indicate them leaking at all, the trims for both banks are the same so should also eliminate any individual ones being faulty. Only thing that would make sense is all of them injecting too much fuel, equally as much so it quite a big long shot. Blocked cats? Wouldn't mind a set of catless headers but yet to come across a decent RHD set - Malian Exhaust ones are sh*t, as @Eagle has experienced, Gravity Performance don't ship to NZ and Super Sprint are $4k+... LS swap?

A short lesson in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Ordered in a pair of new washer nozzles. Being the fancy heated type they weren't exactly cheap for what they are - around $40 each. With the shipment nearly at my door, only then did I think to look up how common a problem this is and stumbled upon this thread, which immediately made me feel like an utter dumbass. A wee while ago I threw on a new washer reservoir cap, not because of it having anything wrong with it, rather just a visual thing. Didn't think to notice it at the time, but unlike the old one, the replacement was completely solid and didn't come with a vent opening. The fluid would heat up in the engine bay, pressure would build up and without a vent opening the only way out would be for it to push its way out through the nozzles. Physics, duh... Took the cap off, drilled a 1mm hole through the middle of it, problem solved. Threw the new nozzles on too since they were already here. Packed the order out with more unnecessary stuff to justify the shipping costs somehow, anything relatively cheap that I could think of really. Got a new fuel tank vent valve (just because I had an issue with the car stalling that once a while ago), a new expansion tank cap (started weeping occasionally) and a fuel filler cap (seal was starting to crack).

Nah there's no membership fee, it's just a small local group, not affiliated with BMW Car Club NZ, although some people are members of both.