Harper

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/m3/listing/3353717177?bof=wv9CbNEb One of the new mtexture jap imports. I'm guessing he doesn't have the original drivers seat. "It has the CSL competition partial leather and cloth option" lol

Yours will be an exciting auction. Not many 05's in NZ.

Saw this, nice honest stock example. I like topaz but yeah typically not sought after. The spec is meh, sunroof, prefacelift, headlight washers etc. The problem with stock M3s like this is that none of the major issues will have been addressed. Nice car but 80k is getting into 997 C2S money...

^ They are very popular wheels. Lightweight, even their non-forged line are strong and popular for track use. I would probably buy directly from apex if I was getting a set though. https://www.apexraceparts.com/

Depends what you mean by okay haha. Needs to have the rear seat removed to get a cert because rear seat access is probably too difficult to pass. Although imo it's not that bad. A previous owner had an aftermarket stereo in it and it was ugly. I pulled it out but the loom had been hacked up. It's fixable and I have a clean oem headunit but I don't often listen to anything when I'm driving so for now there's a factory delete panel.

Today was a good day... Seat brackets showed up unexpectedly despite it looking pretty grim yesterday. No tracking updates and they were meant to hold them aside for me when they found them so I could pick them up. Except I noticed a box at my door at about 12 and sure enough... Everything needs a good clean and a wipe down after installing them but I was too excited and was running out of daylight. Thinking I might build out a small plate to cover the ugly parts of the exposed slider on the side, could help make it look a bit nicer. Have the rear seats and remaining trim pieces all ready to go in tomorrow followed by a good vacuum and clean. Driving impressions are unbelievable. By far the biggest improvement so far. The stock seats are horrendous. I found them uncomfortable and not supportive at all. The recaros couldn't be further on the opposite side of the spectrum. Way more comfortable, like I'm bolted to the car. Rear seat is still accessible but definitely not quite as easy as a folding seat.

Been waiting on my seat brackets for months. Finally available and get shipped, only to get lost by nzcourier on arrival in NZ. Got told over the phone this morning that as of right now, no one knows where the package is... Nice one

Tirerack can ship internationally. Email them for a quote. From memory for my PS4S's their shipping was pretty fair, about ~200USD for the set.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/3290841497?bof=8JeSyhFD Kickass car. Don't see many E36 wagons around, especially not with the bigger motor. Any guesses on what it will sell for?

Love that interior

There is a big build thread for this car on one of the M5 forums. He's been working on it for a couple years I believe.

@paulo bunch of m texture cars being imported recently. Seem to be a few of them showing up for sale on the Japanese auction sites. I imagine more and more M3s will start to get imported as more of them pass the 20 year mark. Hopefully some nicely specced ones. Get any photos of the interior?

The sunglass tray is about 85NZD plus shipping. It's the bottom section that runs at a higher price. Anywhere between 160 - 290NZD. Going off prices from schmiedmann as they seem to be the cheapest for RHD specific parts.

I'm sure it would sell pretty quick if listed on trademe

I refinished my centre console rather than replacing because they are a little pricey. Depends on if you have an armrest or not as well, different part#. The sunglass tray and switch centre piece are also pretty expensive. I had forever put it off because I couldn't imagine it would be worth the $300 or so it costs. It took pulling mine out and seeing it had been destroyed anyway to convince me I had to buy new ones. However, after buying them I have to say it was well worth. Freshens up the interior a lot if yours are worn considering they are front and centre. Be careful ordering for the switch centre though, there are a few different part#'s depending on how your car was specced. Nav/smoker package/cd changer etc. Very similar to what I'm doing. The angel eyes are a little too hotboy 2000's look for me they will be coming out. Window trims are a common failing point on these. Most of them I've seen have just been cooked and start to crack and turn to dust. I have all the parts for mine to replace them, but the job itself is a huge ballache so I'm just waiting for a dull weekend to tackle it.

Mmm new parts.. New center console switch compartment and sunglass tray, new door sills (clips on mine were 90% broken), new headlight lenses, and a bunch of other service bits and clips. Unfortunately the seat brackets were further delayed. Now pushed back to early October. The finish on the center console stuff is so soft that if you breathe on it, it will scratch. But admittedly, it does look great when it's brand new. My old piece for reference, you can see where someone has previously hacked it in half and had siliconed the sunglass tray on.. Yikes Really looking forward to level 3. Will finally be able to pick up the remainder of the interior and get it off to go get retrimmed. Getting tired of the throwaway leather front seats that are in it. By the time that's done I hope to have the seat brackets and everything can go in. The interior will be more or less 'completed' and I'll have a swap out set of OEM Mtexture front seats to clingwrap and leave in storage... Car got a much needed wash today as well.

E46. Carry over the flared arches, front end conversion. S54 with carbon airbox. Screw an M3 touring, that's what I want.

I'm still waiting for someone to build an M3 compact.

https://www.repco.co.nz/en/oils-fluids/engine-oils-fluids/engine-oil/castrol-edge-synthetic-10w-60-engine-oil-5l-3412396/p/A1304624 This and only this pretty much. Occasionally goes on sale every now and then so I just grab a few bottles each time.

I had a silver 4 door 325i msport with the same alcantara interior seen in this red one. That thing was the tits for a daily rag about, I miss it. Wish they did an M3 version of that interior.

I want one.

Thanks Tom, good to know. With what seats? and how upright did you have them set in the BK mounts? I can imagine the look you'd get from the certifier as the seat very slowly creeps forward on the power sliders would be quite comical. Can't imagine that would pass given the requirement is intended to make exit easy for rear passengers in case of emergency. A little bit unrelated, but do you know if the sedan sliders have a further travel than the coupe sliders? I've seen it suggested that they do (for more rear passenger leg space?) but haven't seen it shown anywhere. I did ask this over the phone this morning and the person I spoke to did not mention this. I asked if I could modify the existing release mechanism to have another lever at the back which was accessible and he said yes. Like you say, could be up to the interpretation of the certifier (much like the seat belt obstruction clause). Again, in all likelihood it's probably all a bit beside the point because the cert likely wouldn't pass due to the seat belt routing anyway. Maybe if I'd got cobra nogaros instead there would be a chance 🙄

Ha yep, such is the price for not checking all the rules before jumping in. Though I'm not sure knowing in advance would have stopped me anyway 😁

Called LVVTA and they were more helpful than I expected. It does not matter whether the seat slides or tilts. As long as the seat can move forward far enough to allow for 300mm space. As Dave said earlier, there does need to be a lever that is accessable to the rear passenger. This would be easy to make. However, what will more likely cause my setup to need the rear seat 'removed' is the seatbelt routing. Because the seat belt will be running diagonally across the aisle, and that is not allowed if it unreasonably hinders access. The guy I spoke to on the phone said it will basically come down to the certifier whether it's too much of a pain to get in and out or not.

Yep it will be close if it doesn't clear. Photo below is of someone with a similar setup (same sliders, but Cobra Nogaros which have similar dimensions to my recaros). By eye, and rough measurements using the door sill as a reference I would say that is 30cm but time will tell... Like I say, worst case, I won't lose sleep over having illegal backseats. For reference as well, here is a clip of the CSL tilt function. Would be disappointing if the latter is allowed and the above isn't.