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Is that for a recon or service?Yeah, I'm hoping I won't need a new box as the car still drives good, still a good kick back, just the odd time has to think for a second when its getting a good lead foot. I'm just weighing up wether its worth spending the money on the service, or if its too late for that, may as well put the money toward a new/recon box. Same day would be pretty good as I'd have to take a day off to get it anywhere.

Hi guys I have an E39 530 NZ new ZF transmission. Have noticed in the last few thousand k's the gearbox isnt quite as nice as it used to be, can sometimes be harsh when cold and sometimes flare for half a second from 4th to fifth when im flooring it. Is this a sign of the box giving up? Or would it be wise to get it serviced (oil filter etc) and see what happens. It's done 242,000kms and doesn't have gearbox service in the history book. How much roughly is a gearbox service, and also how long does one take? (hopefully not piece of string questions). Cheers

HI there Does anyone have, or know a good place to get the foam (protective) door seal thats commonly worn out on the E39. I am after the drivers side. Cheers

Welcome =) Love the E36's, looks like you got a real nice tidy one there too. I had the same 'Check coolant level' issue with my one aswell, coolant was full and never went down, so was an easy fix with replacing that sensor

Yeah that was my thinking, especially when I seen the originals on it, but yea its a matter of what you like I suppose. Cheers =) Oh nice, I quite like white, would look pretty good with the black. Heres the link: http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-...n-564509903.htm The mags themselves are really good straight condition, the only let down with the black, is the one that has the minor curbage on the edge (very left in the pic) has quite a few stone chips and where the lugs go in has chipped off a bit, ideally prob re-paint. Any idea of a good selling price for them?

Cheers =) the car is very tidy, one of the reasons i bought it, kiwi new is always good too haha. It wasn't until I had to put a spare on the car, which was original colour, that I decided that I wanted the original set, made the car look a lot cleaner (not literally as I live on a gravel road). Still have the black set, on trademe at the mo tho, if they don't sell I suppose I'll just hold on to them incase I decide black looks better again . Depends if you like that sort of thing I suppose, the black would look a lot better on a white car I rekon Edit: I'll try get a photo without so much light saturation lol, my photography is pretty bad

Hi Guys This is my daily beast NZ New 530I Msport, admittedly have owned almost a year now, but finally got a set of original Msport wheels put on it as opposed to the old set that had been painted black Thought I'd throw some pics on =). Any opinions on the originals opposed to the black?

Seen your car Sunday heading south on the motorway, just thought I'd say the car looked and sounded amazing!! Always love seeing a car like that on the road =D

Woah thats crazy! good you guys and the stocks ok. Awsome pic for whoever snapped that one

thats a hot looking beast!! You must be itching to get a hold of it

Both my E36's were like that, same engine. So I just assumed thats how they were, running rich when cold really stunk of petrol then lean out as they warmed up. The olds E36 323i does the same thing.

Just thought I'd add closure Almost garuntee it is that ABS unit. Had it checked over again by BM Workshop (Big thanks to them, done a bloody good job on the car), and its all leading to that unit, just coincidental that it happened when it did. Time to bite the bullet. Has anyone else had an issue with a new unit failing in such a short time?

Welcome =) that car sounds like it will be a bit of fun to keep occupied on these nice sunny afternoons xD

Oh right, hmmm thats a bugger, seems the more I spend on this car the more goes wrong lol just stung me $1500 last week, about 6k during the year... the E39 fun =) Can you get 2nd hand units, or is it better to repair? Or even reconditioned swap units? Don't mind doing the work and would be better as can't really get the car anywhere. Cheers Edit: Just had a thought, are talking about the ABS control unit?

Oh bugger, more things to replace lol. Yeah I suppose it would be best to get it properly scanned, I was just using my budget aftermarket bluetooth. If it is this unit, have you any idea what these cost? I do a lot of country driving and the traction control does come on a lot, as well as I like to use cruise when on the motorway, so its a bit of a pain not having it. Don't suppose anyone could do a scan tomorow? would this unit affect the gear PRND sensor? Cheers for the help

Hi guys More E39 issues =) E39 530 2002 Recentlly had a bit of work done on the car (just over a week ago) front brakes pads and discs, rear pads, clean all sensors etc amongst other things. Now, I'm having a real hassle with the traction control light on the dash coming on and staying on randomly (possibly just coinsidental), losing cruise control and manual gear shifting. This happens suddenly when driving, and will not turn off again until I stop the car, turn it off then turn it on again. I scanned the car (though only OBD2 scanner) no codes were present, I have had in the recent past p0705 PRND sensor out of range. Every now and then the car will go into liimp mode when the light comes on. Does anyone have ideas on what could be causing this? I would just take the car back but cannot get the time off (world smallest violin playing ) Also keen to know if anyone has replaced there PRND sensor, and how big of a job is it? Cheers Russ

Have had the car in for a few bits and pieces. Unfortunately the pinging could not be traced to anything, maybe im just being too nit picky with noises? They confirmed that there are no vacuum leaks, VANOS is functioning correctly, sensors etc are all working correctly, they could not get the car to ping and overall the car is running very well. They were very thorough and spent a bit of time looking over the vehicle. All the work carried out was excellent, very happy with how its come up. So will just ignore the noise and see how it goes =)

Sorted =D Cheers for the help. Managed to get a real decent set with good tyres for $800 off trademe, and hopefully will be new member on here.

Thanks for the help guys, really appreciate it. Yeah I suspect it could be possible vacuum leak as I doubt anything has been replaced in the way of hoses etc. I think I might just take it easy, most of the trip will be highway anyway and seems all good cruising. Not enough time now to start ripping it apart and have a look, so will leave it till I take it on the 14th, and hopefully have it sorted amongst other things =), will keep posted though in case someone may find them selves with the same issue

Cheers for that. Yeah I have a scanner with all the live data etc onto my tablet, but I don't quite know what to look for, so need someone who knows what they are doing. I am almost certain it is pinging as all the signs are there, except for flat spots in power, the engine runs well, cruises well but when giving it a bit of load through town in traffic you can hear it. I don't think its chain noise, but possible at that mileage. Wouldn't chain noise happen throughout the revs though?

For me, when looking at bimmers, easy tell tale signs of a bad cooling system were things like tiny little splatters of coolant in the engine bay, or seeping green goo from tiny little cracks or around the radiator/hoses, low coolant levels, brown/discoloured plastics like thermostat housing, hoses and clips etc (should be black), sweet hot coolant smell, as well as the owner not knowing whether it had been done or not. Most people just leave it till it explodes and then think hmmm maybe should get that fixed, which by then usually creates more issues. Suspension, as well as the visual check, like checking the boots etc I just took the car for a drive, made sure I took corners quite harsh, done U-turns, take over bumps make sure theres no knocks, or odd noises like wheel bearing hum etc, but if seems OK, its best to always get it double checked at a BM workshop before buying. If no paper work for service history, a good indication of whether it has had proper oil service intervals is taking the oil cap off and having a look, most of them are really sludged up, giving a good indication of very long intervals if at all between oil changes (jap cars especially, sometimes never get an oil change hahaha). That again bringing KM's into it, 10,000kms between oil changes of town driving could take a few years or stop start driving.

Yeah I got the whole kit done. I hope it was done properly, my car was the guinea pig car. I am almost 100% sure its pinging, theres no ticking or tapping noises like valves or anything like that, just when you put your foot down and load the engine a bit its like a metallic 'Pinking' noise. I notice a lot of bimmers do it when taking off at traffic lights and what not, same sort of thing, sounds like shyt. Of course nobody else notices it, but now I've heard it I keep listening out for it

I had the VANOS done a while ago, which is still a bit rattly, don't think the spacer was sized properly, but work great none the less. The car doesn't run hot the cooling system is working perfect, and the car cruises great (just done another 400kms this weekend), it just makes me cringe around town when I hear that dreaded noise. Yeah I want to take it in ASAP and have it checked properly but I don't know where, I suppose i'd have to book it in anyways and may take a few days. I've tried the simple things like what I had listed but no. I'm hoping that this sort of problem can be traced to something as it seems like it can have a lot of causes and can be hard to trace.

Very hard to find a manual, well from what I seen. But there are a few good guys on here that do manual conversions if you had your heart set on one, reasonable pricing to. In my opinion, don't go for a 320i they lack a bit of... fun I suppose lol, I have owned an E36 320i, and have driven a few E46 320i, but they aren't really anything special, great car none the less. Best thing would probably don't go for anything under a 325, if your looking for a drivers car. Another thing, just an opinion again you may disagree lol, KM's aren't ALWAYS everything. 20min slugging idle around town you may do 3km, 20 min driving on highway you may cover 30 km's but on highway your cruising steady and with oil pressure up and at full operating temp, being a hell of a lot better for the engine. Mainly tired suspension issues with high mileage. I seen quite a few tired low mileage cars when looking for an E46 or E39, which you could tell have just been idling around town in traffic for the most of its life. There are a lot of knowledgable people on here that would know the engine specs for those

Hi mate, welcome =) I had all sorts of little issues like this with my E39, intermittent door locks, windows didn't work on auto, memory functions didn't work. The wiring loom in the drivers door had just worn away apparently, where it goes into the door, so was making contact intermittently. HELLBM replaced that for me while they had the car and problem was solved, easy enough to do yourself though if handy with DIY. But have a look at that first as may (or may not) be the issue. Hope it helps anyways. All cars have there ups and downs, not just BMW's. its amazing how many people have that "don't touch a BMW" mentality, when really, they aint that bad. Got to love the E39 though =D