Harper

Laughable asking price. A low mileage 740i no reserve auction sold for $3500 a few months back. The asking price on these is super inflated at the moment compared to what I think most people would actually pay. 

3 hours ago, turboray82 said:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/5344489391?utm_source=tmm-savedsearch&utm_medium=email&bof=8QgjtlEM

 

Man i love a 7 series. Though a manual swapped SWB 740i seems to be my unicorn.

On my bucket list of cars to build at some point.

On 5/14/2025 at 8:21 AM, turboray82 said:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/740i/listing/5313473956

 

Is this guy dreaming, because I'm talking myself into the price. Its lovely.

I've been waiting for the right spec 740i to come up to manual convert.

This one is so close, so rare to see a slicktop 740. I think no sunroof is a perk. If it was newer than 2000 I'd probably buy it.

17 hours ago, Vass said:

Ohh I just noticed you got those door & fender inserts painted white at some point. I remember you mentioned wanting to do that at the beginning but don't think you went into specifics on it. Minor detail but would be keen to hear about the process. Those strips feel like a weird material to paint since the plastic looks a bit porous, they're also real flimsy so wondering how best to make the paint stick and retain a nice finish. What sort of prep did you undertake, sand them down somewhat or just clean up and spray? Did you paint them masked up on the car or removed them? 

Honestly it was sort of a rush job that came out way better than I expected. Had a couple aerosol cans of 300/0 BMW Alpine White III mixed by Smits Group, paint match turned out to be really good. Not much prep, didn't even want to sand them because they had a slight surface texture to them that I didn't want to disturb. Just gave them a decent clean and primer, paint, clear coat. I figured trim pieces are pretty forgiving in terms of needing perfect paint, but by blind luck they ended up basically perfect. Way prefer the colour matched look over the strange silvery grey colour that was original.

11 hours ago, Vass said:

Still not overly impressed with the soundtrack the car produces, sounds too muffled even when giving it the beans

I've got no regrets after chopping the centre muffler resonator section out of the compact. Made the car maybe 10% louder and just sounds a bit throatier and more low speed burbles. I'm not sure how different the 325ti rear section is though, totally different shape and smaller than the 330 muffler so maybe that contributes.

Think I saw this when it was for sale, seemed like a bargain. I was tempted by it

Hughes Race Engines did my M42/44 motor machining. High end setup in a small shop and pretty quick turn around considering how long machine shops often take. Would go to them again and would recommend. 

Yeah the cost of all those gearbox detent parts jumped up significantly not long after I did them on my compact. Worth doing imo, the ZF in my compact has probably the best feeling gear change of any car I've owned. 

I also have a set of the detent punches if you need them. Based in Beachlands.

Getting rare to see a set like this. Tempted to grab them just to have another set of style 67s in stock

4 hours ago, Vass said:

No no nooo don't do that on alcantara, do not get it wet, it'll dry to a crispy finish and will never be the same. You need to be real gentle with it, heaps of detailing videos on the topic on YouTube. Basically just spray conservative amounts of APC on a brush, agitate and wipe off with a microfible cloth. Pretty much as with suede. Real easy to ruin. 

Honestly my experience is that it's more durable than people make it out to be. I basically give my alcantara wheel in my M3 a scrub with a damp microfibre cloth and some soap every so often and it still looks like new.

On 3/10/2025 at 10:39 AM, Vass said:

How good does this thing look! Seeing it gives me serious second thoughts about parting out our little ugly duckling of a ti I've still got sitting in a mate's paddock every time. Would be cool to chuck an M54 in it, if only I had the time... 

Have you thought about getting some nice chrome exhaust tips for it? Part no. 18107500194 (different to 330i ones). Only real thing that sticks out to my eye. 

Compact is so underrated man. It's gotten so bad they even turn my head any time I see one driving around.

Interesting point about the exhaust tips. I debated it when I had the donor 330 because it had chrome tips, maybe I should get a set from pickapart and see how they look. 

11 minutes ago, balancerider said:

All the JDM M-sports have it (which is probably 50% of the remaining E39's in NZ) - that along with the lack of cruise control and PDC puts me off.

I don't have any production numbers so I really have no idea.

Anecdotally though I've been watching E39s on FB marketplace and trademe for years. Maybe 15-20% of them have that interior, and only half of those have a surviving driver side bolster. 

12 minutes ago, Eagle said:

The half leather\half M-texture is what id take given a choice, i think M5 only or custom in E39 but in my E36 compact its great, best of both worlds.

Yep M5 only and hens teeth. I don't even think there are any M5s in NZ with mtex.

1 hour ago, KwS said:

lol, i love the sport alcantara interior on the E39. If i got another it would have to either have it already, or i'd swap it in. So much nicer than leather.

100% agree. That interior would be one of the primary things I'd be looking for purchasing an E39. Same when I was looking for my compact.

28 minutes ago, balancerider said:

Alcantara is nasty, too many poverty spec JDM Bimmers with it to want a car like that, let alone swapping it out. Cognac leather with green paint is the dream spec for me, was playing around on the M3 touring configurator last night

It's actually quite rare in the E39. Almost all of them came with some variation of leather.

I've had dreams of putting a 4.6is motor into an E38 740i short wheelbase and 6 speed manual conversion. 740shortysporty.

@exextatic would be the guy to ask for a swap like this. Probably would be some wiring and coding required for full functionality. 

Mint M3 Evo on the morning commute

50 minutes ago, Eligebbie said:

ah okay that makes sense, I heard that if u don't wanna take the dash or ac system out u have to get a soft hose or something for the clutch is this true? 

No you can feed the factory hardline through. It sucks... But you can. 

33 minutes ago, KwS said:

Cool story, but it's also technically not legal either 🤷‍♂️ Even if you pass a WOF, you could fall foul of your insurer if something goes wrong.

I guess so, I like to live dangerously. I have never heard of a claim being denied for something like that though. Especially since like you say, for NZ cert it's not even the manual swap that is certified, it's just the manual brake pedal.

At least in my experience the car is not looked at that closely beyond is it economical to repair and was it warranted but maybe I just haven't had an expensive enough crash yet.

1 hour ago, balancerider said:

Someone needs to snaffle that for the recaros

Hope it gets put back on the road. That looks 100% fixable.

https://www.manheim.co.nz/damaged-vehicles/000000000007109464/1988-bmw-320i-sedan?referringPage=SearchResults

Anyone know the story with this? Looks kinda mint... Even the interior

3 hours ago, KwS said:

Keep in mind that the moment you change the brake pedal to a manual one, you will trigger the threshold for needing a cert. It's probably the worst thing about converting cars to manual these days, since it'll lock you into the state the car is in when it goes for a cert, and you cannot change anything about it unless you cert it again.

My manual swapped 130i had no trouble getting a warrant without a cert fwiw

Relatively easy mechanical swap, it's just nuts and bolts at the end of the day. RealOEM is a good reference for finding all the manual specific parts that you need or grab a kit like linked above. Pricey but Roland makes sure everything is clean, complete and good working condition. My next swap I'll get the bits from him. Wiring and coding required though, it's all pretty straight forward and well documented but there is a learning curve.

If you're not DIY'ing you're better off buying a factory manual.

Might as well do an update on this thing. Not much has changed with it really, I've just been using it as a daily hack and it hasn't missed a beat aside from a couple bulbs going out.

Cert process all went through pretty painlessly to be honest. Also got a custom plate while you could still get the black plates with silver lettering. Finally got some real tyres on it and scored some lightly used Michelin pilot sports, $350 for the full set!

The fitment looks a lot better with meatier tyres.

Most of my recent tinkering has been on my E36 318is project. Building an M42/44 engine for it with the hopes of it being a lightweight street car that I can do the odd track day in.

4 hours ago, BlackAngel said:

And ^^^THAT^^^ is why they never released the compact with a B30 in it - performance too close to other cars further up the price range, a little embarrasing.

325Ti Compacts got all the best bits. The only non B30 E46 that got the 6 speed ZF, shorter ratio diff, purple tag steering rack, It's the only E46 (Other than the CSL) that came with a hollow front sway bar, no subframe issues, better designed interior parts, I could go on. 

Massively underrated car.