Harper

It's a disease. Currently 5 BMWs polluting the driveway and garage... Fortunately a new deck and lots of new concrete means I'm soon to have plenty of covered parking and work space. Good excuse to get more sh*t boxes.

No M audio, honestly I haven't even tried any of that yet. No need with an S65, rev matches are musical.

Karbonius airbox is some of the best money you can spend on an E46 M

It's even got 3 pedals. It's actually a prefacelift but converted. Updated Idrive and taillights.

Oops, new addition to the fleet

To be honest I would trust the part number on realoem over what's on the pump itself. The part numbers printed on the parts is not always exactly the same as the BMW part number. The part number you gave does not return anything on realoem.

The ABS pump is not specific to the 130i. Go to https://www.realoem.com/ and find what other models share the same part. ABS pumps at pickapart are $65. It will need to be coded to the car if you are swapping the module as well.

Yeah I think it would be between Dave and Clint Field in manukau since they are both out my way. Usually that's just a prerequisite to becoming a mechanic.

Over the weekend I cut a 100mm block of wood and stuck it under the car. It was basically a perfect fit underneath the lowest points of the car, meaning at it's lowest the car was sitting at essentially exactly 100mm off the ground. Definitely shouldn't have been a reason for failure, I'll leave that block of wood in the passenger seat when I take it in next. Hopefully the cert process doesn't take too long. Anyone have any recommendations regarding which certifier to go to? I was planning to go to Dave Page since he's just around the corner from where I work in East Tamaki.

The note on the sheet says "Chassis rail / alloy engine cover", presumably meaning the reinforcement plate. I was in a rush when I picked the car up so wasn't able to chat to the inspector about the details. I'll cut a block of wood to 100mm this weekend and check myself. Hopefully the cert process doesn't prove too painful.

@Eagle That looks ace mate. Makes me want to own an E36 318ti at some point. Mine is also overdue some properly sized michelins which should effectively raise the car a few mm as well, hopefully that is all it needs. Currently running cheapo tyres in 1 series sizes. But yes if all else fails I'll just go somewhere else. I suspect one of the testers at the shop is a ball buster because they have failed me on some dumb sh*t before, while other times they've let things slide.

Unfortunately the 330ti didn't pass the sniff test getting it's WoF, so it looks like I'll have to get it certed. Perhaps more concerning than failing on having the 'incorrect engine', it also failed on being too low. Less than 100mm from the chassis rail to the ground supposedly. Which doesn't seem right since the ride height is actually higher than it was on the standard sport suspension, and higher than the M3 as well which passes no problem so...?

I've been waiting years for a coupe with no cd changer options to come up at the scrap yard so I can get that left side boot carpet for the extra boot space. One came up about a year ago, but it had massive holes cut out of it for adjustable rear struts

I'm actually really satisfied after a few days of driving it around with how it sounds with the stock system and resonator removed. Only slightly louder than stock volume but with a better sound, even burbles and occasionally backfires on overrun.

Super cool, tempted to get it and make it fit but would require a bit of custom work since it's for a 316/318ti. The 325Ti muffler is actually also single inlet but a larger diameter than the 4cyl system. It's twin pipe back to the muffler where it merges to a single 65mm pipe into the rear muffler. 318 system is all 50mm. Just my local shop. I'm hoping they won't even question it.

I'm a big fan of the CMP coupler, have it on both my E46s and painted black as well. It's a no brainer upgrade imo. Cheaper than stock, and with essentially only upsides.

I've done about 5,000km since the motor swap and this thing has been almost perfect. Just visually keeping an eye on the dipstick, I can't really see any drop in level so oil burning so far has been negligible. It has developed a slight weep from the upper radiator hose, I've ordered one to replace asap, along with a bit of a leak from what I think is the selector shaft seal on the gearbox. Other than that it's been behaving pretty much exactly as I wanted out of a daily driver. I ended up taking it to an exhaust shop and had the resonator removed. I just wanted slightly more noise out of it but didn't want to go to an aftermarket setup which is almost always too loud. Not the prettiest thing in the world but it has made the car sound exactly as I wanted it. Still sounds very stock just slightly spicier. Previously it sounded pretty pedestrian with the fully standard 325ti exhaust system. Next up is getting it WOF'd, we'll see if it passes without a cert.

Agree. Jealous of the green coupe my dad's been tinkering on. Not fast but plenty of fun to drive, cheap on gas, would be a great first car. I must say though, getting into an E36 feels like a pretty old car these days even compared to an E46 which feels a lot more modern and safe inside.

Yeah I think it's fairly characteristic of most DMF bmws. My M3 still does it even after replacing the DMF. Interestingly my 330 compact doesn't though.

I turn off the clutch to start in all my cars anyway. Hurts my soul to load the crank thrust bearing on cold start with no oil pressure for literally no reason. Being able to start the car without actually getting in and sitting down is a perk too.

I bought a half converted one for cheap and finished the job. It's pretty easy really. You have to do the mechanical conversion, wire in the clutch and reverse switch. Code the relevant modules and it's done. That era of BMW is pretty modular and easy to swap. Weitz had a 130i manual conversion for sale at $3k for ages. Not sure if it ever sold.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/car-parts-accessories/wheels-tyres/alloy-wheels/listing/4627394142?archive=1 Sold looks like

There was a set on trademe a couple weeks ago for a good price. Almost bought them even though I already have a set. Love them on my compact.

I'll grab the 3 series key ring if it's still up for grabs?

Looks ace, how do they feel?