Kees

Ok so its been a week with my 130i. Gave it a much needed clean a few days ago prior to going on holiday and will be doing a paint correction once I get back. This is what I've noticed about the car so far: 1) I'm guessing its probably one of the thirstiest stock hatches you can buy... because I have minimal self control once its warmed up, I'm averaging between 13-15L/100km LOL. 2) The sound system is awesome! 3) The car is very well balanced, handles great. Steering has a nice weight to it, aside from the fuel economy I understand why so many of you daily these! 4) Seats are very comfortable, and the lumbar is great - can have it tight for spirited driving and relaxed on the motorway. 5) I think its been enthusiast owned - found some Poly suspension bushings in the boot. The wheels have grown on me a decent bit, and I think the Le Mans blue looks awesome. Just need to find a front bumper, its a pretty tidy car aside from that bumper! Still undecided on what to do with it - will probably end up selling it in a couple months as I can tick the 130i box so if anyone could be interested in a cheap 130i, let me know!

I had a dream last night that someone on Bimmersport was selling me their supercharged Z3M Coupe for $11,000. Was rather bitter after I woke up and realised that certainly isn't happening. 🤣

Hahaha it’s an absolute mess. My E34 and W8 are stashed in a shed at a family member’s life style property, Boxster is squeezed in my parents garage, my Peugeot and the 130i are currently living on the road but will hopefully migrate into the driveway soon 🤣

Bought this tonight, will post some better pics tomorrow. Was always curious about 130s so thought might as well buy this one seeing as it seemed to be a pretty decent deal (cheap), hopefully it’s not too unreliable. Not sure what I’ll do with it yet, might drive for a bit and fix the major cosmetic things (front bumper is rooted) and then hopefully sell on for a little profit, which I’ll use to tidy a few things on my E34. Was also thinking of using it as a track/novice competition type car but wondering if that’s a rabbit hole I should avoid going down haha Has Style 216 wheels which are neat. Otherwise just regular 130i things. LCI, M Sport, Le Mans blue, Auto, etc

Far out what's amazing with this is they show the before and after pictures of cleaning it up. Just shows how a completely flooded car can look normal, thus the risk of buying flood damaged cars. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/m5/listing/3992303914?rsqid=9c27dca5372c475d9df90f35fe22d6dd-002

Couple more wet ones: BMW 435D & Audi S3

Not yet, but no doubt there will be a couple!

Spotted this yesterday. Never seen one in person before. Cool looking thing

Thought I would make a thread to display some of the more interesting flooded cars that have/will be coming through the insurance auctions over the next few weeks. Pretty devastating how badly some of them got flooded. NZ New, Z4 Coupe: GTE Mk7 Golf:

Not sure if anyone else has seen this. Bit of a bugger since its NZ New and MANUAL!! Guess there's only 12 now.... https://www.turners.co.nz/Damaged-Vehicles/Damaged-Cars-for-Sale/bmw/130i/23369537

Fully sick E60 M5 at Countdown Albany

I would get this: https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/porsche/cayman/listing/3895845085 I know it has the "cheap 911" reputation but go drive one, TRUST ME. My 987 Boxster is the best car I have driven to date. Steering feel, shift throw, flat 6 howl, weight balance etc, its just all bang on point. 987 Cayman would be even better because convertible roof is annoying when it isn't a perfect day AND its just that bit more rigid. To be fair though, roadster on a sunny day is absolutely awesome. Plus that Cayman is poised for value gains being 1) MANUAL and 2) Uncommon colour. If you can deal with having two seats because they are mid engined you get a front boot and a rear boot so there's tons of storage space, and it would also kick ass on a track day, and still be comfy and reliable for daily driver duties. Bonus: they're good on fuel, I get 11s per 100 around town when I boot it places, and in the 7s on long trips. I drove an E90 M3 the other day, and the steering, driving position, interior quality etc is just sub par to the Porsche. I'm sure a few forum members with M3s may contest this but honestly its really hard to beat some of the mid 2000s Porsche products with hydraulic steering, and the goldilocks levels of driving aids (not too much, not too little), and 3 pedals... p.s: I am selling my manual Boxster if you do fancy a Roadster. $20K and its yours.

I bought my square set for $1.5K but they are in original condition so will need refurbishment at some point. Also needed two tyres so were around $2K all up which wasn't too bad I thought. Problem I see with throwing stars: 1) Most E34 owners don't have $7K to spend on wheels. If they can afford the wheels, they probably own an M5 which have them on there already. 2) Because throwing stars are a rare wheel they inherently have some solid BUT its a small market as they only really suit E34s/E31s. HOWEVER, if you do want a set, they are so rare that they are rarely available in NZ which mean you do indeed have to pay up for them and get them from the US. Will be interested to see what these ones go for.

Lol my V10 S8 would do a similar 450km (500 if you were lucky) out of 90L. To be fair, that was probably due to my large lack of self control with the accelerator pedal. I'm sure long distance the torque from a V10 would make economy a bit more reasonable if you were sensible. Can confirm this statement is extremely accurate.

Welcome, awesome spec on the Z3!

Might be the one discussed here? It's a shame Trademe won't load the auction photos but I remember it being a black E61 M5, surely it would be the only black one?

Shocking news. Absolute legend, he will be missed!

You’re the second person in 24 hours who have recommended their stuff. Will have to do shopping!

Awesome, will do, thanks for the help!

The few people I have spoken to all seem to think an E34 540i exhaust is a bit more challenging to perfect than an E39. I think its largely because of the weird shape the E34 exhaust takes, particularly the rear muffler - it's quite tall and thin. I'm an exhaust noob so I have attached some photos of my original factory system next to my cut up factory system which is missing the rear muffler. Have put a WD40 can next to the rear muffler to put into perspective just how big and tall the rear muffler is - weighs a tonne too! I believe the setup on an E34 is first a set of resonators (these are cats on non NZ New cars), then there is a flange to the rest of the exhaust (the big system pictured). It then has some form of mid muffler (I think there might be resonators in there) and then the big rear muffler. I drove @Simca 's E39 540i when he was in Auckland, that car sounded superb with its ACS rear muffler. I just think the ACS muffler won't fit in the limited space width wise the E34 has which is pretty annoying. Attached is also a YouTube video of my car with no muffler. Rasp on decel sounds terrible, and its significantly lacking classy refinement.

So last week I was lucky enough to come across an E34 540i that had JUST gone into the pick-a-part yard so I pillaged a bunch of parts off of it (including a factory 2.93 LSD which I'm stoked about). Anyway, amongst the pile of bits I got was a full exhaust from behind the resonators (mid muffler and rear muffler). I am mildly OCD so had made a pledge with myself that the only time I would do the exhaust on my 540i is when I have another stock system that I can hack up and muck around with, whilst maintaining my original system un cut in the garage (just in case I want to back to stock). So anyway, with the new exhaust I now need exhaust suggestions! I don't want to do the obligatory "muffler delete" as I find the M60 can make some unpleasant noises this way, and I am also not much of a fan of rasp. Am looking for a more refined noise, similar to an Eisenmann muffler (but without spending $3K+ on a muffler HAHA) that can capture the M60 howl. Here are some examples: This is my favourite one I have basically never done anything exhaust in my life so need some suggestions on what you guys think would be best. X Pipe to replace the mid muffler and then smaller stainless rear muffler? P.S: if any of you have a stainless rear muffler that would fit the E34 let me know!

Oh cool, good memory you have! Honestly I am pretty tempted by it, may or may not find myself looking at it later this week...

Guessing it must be the same one judging by the sticker on the rear window. Anyone know when it was last for sale?

I’m surprised no one has nabbed this: https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-3835547289.htm Sure its not particularly powerful for a V8, but it’s still a V8 MANUAL for $5.5K. Doesn’t get much cheaper than that! Aside from the hideous wheels and the lowered suspension it looks fairly tidy and I think it would tidy up well with some M Sport salt sprinkled on it. Plus I’m guessing it would be quite easy to swap a bigger M62 in such as out of a 540i to give it some decent power. Surely the manual conversion alone would be worth more than half the asking price? If I didn’t already have way too many cars I would probably buy this.

I would definitely advocate for learning in a manual. I got my learners in 2018 and learnt in a manual. While it is harder, I think the additional skills learnt are very valuable. Not only is it a useful skill that comes in handy occasionally; (its shocking how many people cannot drive manual) whether its moving a work car, or sober driving a mate's car, I think learning in a manual gives you a better understanding of driving dynamics such as; braking and shifting before a corner, anticipating whats ahead of you etc. My experience with insurance is that for "regular" cars AMI Young Drivers' Insurance is generally the cheapest. I somehow managed to get my 540i insured by them back in 2020 for a reasonable amount (although I think they have changed their insurance matrix since then as they would not cover my W8s, Boxster, Legacy, S8, S6 etc). I also had a cheap Mazda 6 and Mercedes A170 which they insured for a minimal amount. Otherwise, AA insurance usually ensure the more powerful/niche cars but that does come at a bit of a premium.