cleanish_e46

I wanted to buy something more suitable, than a convertible E36, for our growing family.

I started looking at E46, E90, E91, E39, E60, E61, E53, E83 but it became obvious I had an itch to scratch with the X5. 

After viewing potentially every E53 for sale in and around Auckland, I managed to pick this up for a sharp price. Thank you @Palazzo for the heads up.

New Zealand New, Facelift X5 in Black Sapphire Metallic; even with 381,825KM on the clock, this was the most well presented and best driving example in my budget.

M57D30TÜ (cast iron block, large-beam forged rods, forged crank, single Garrett turbo etc) with the 6-Speed ZF Transmission, Brucie Bonus of a factory Swirl Flap-less Intake Manifold.

Well spec'd with: Sports Package, Black 'Dakota' Leather Upholstery, 19" Style 132 Wheels, Panoramic Glass Roof, Xenon Lights...), the works.

Picked the car up on a Sunday and my wife went into labour on the Wednesday, so I dropped it off to the brother @BMTHUG at Apex Automotive on the way to the hospital for an inspection and a bit of a birthday:

Serviced the Engine, Transmission, Differential, Transfer Case; everything flushed, new gaskets, fluids and filters. Fresh WoF to boot. 

Cleaned up quite nicely too once we got home from the hospital. I can live with the minor cosmetic things I'd usually fix, the reason for purchasing this in the first place was to have something the dog and two young kids can enjoy, there is literally no use crying over spilled milk at this stage!

Provided they're not total dicks, I like to name a car after the previous owner. < Boris and Rüdi > sitting pretty. 

On 9/9/2024 at 11:35 PM, Olaf said:

this.  is what you need.

Good buying if you’re in that neck of the woods. I viewed one locally and was pleasantly surprised after taking it for a spin. 

Good thing I picked up the X5 at the weekend, the baby showed up last night! 

Fresh WoF and an oil filter housing leak delete by @BMTHUG at Apex. I can’t recommend enough, great service. 

1 hour ago, Herbmiester said:

E83 X3 2.5, M sport. Just had a WOF, no codes, M54, had a recent oil change and trans service. New rear tyres. Leather interior, runs well. 

Sorted now, but thanks. They go alright these. 

4 hours ago, Olaf said:

$5k and reliable for family service.  Surely a Camry. Or a good well-maintained better-than-average e39 530i with bad paint.

Viewed and test drove a E39 530i Touring, paint was bad too! 

He had quite the collection, and the condition of everything spoke volumes. Notably, a Boston Green E36 M3 and a 911. German, and an engineer by profession for what it’s worth! 

On 9/6/2024 at 5:37 PM, Palazzo said:

If you can find a decent diesel, I’d by far recommend that over the M54 in an X5.

Theres a (350km) one for $4650 on FB and a 240km one for an optimistic $7k as well.

Thanks for the heads-up Scott, I actually ended up buying the higher mileage one. It was in better condition, drove nicer and had more history with it than anything else I'd looked at. Plus the previous owner was great to deal with.

Performance not great but reasonably economical to fix and run. I drove a E39 530i wagon last week, they do go better in those for sure!

Budget: $5k cash give or take and...

... Boris could potentially be negotiated for the right car / deal. Family first and all that.

1995 New Zealand new Hellrot 328i. 167***KMs, known ownership trail and service history.

Expectations are realistic, but something that can be relied upon daily, and capable and safe enough for the family.

Facelift, M57 and 6-speed ideally if Boris has to go. I would be particularly keen to see service history on anything else.

I missed out on a low spec, but low KMs and tidy pre-facelift M54 one this morning for $4500, someting like that would be fine. 

Thank you for any advice or leads,

Josh

E46, E90, E91, E39, E60, E61, E53, E83, or what have you got for a family of four plus the dog?

Budget: $5k give or take.

Expectations are realistic, but something that can be relied upon daily, and capable and safe enough to chauffeur the family when needed.

Pic for attention:

New job and commute is much further than the previous five minutes down the road, but thankfully against the traffic.

Still daily driving this, and it’s still great. Not sure I’ve had a car that handles better…

2 hours ago, gjm said:

What is this? 😍

Does anyone local (North Shore, Auckland) have this trim piece going spare? I’ve ordered one but keen to keep it covered in the meantime.

Cheers.

Let’s fix the window, it’ll only take a couple of hours…

Easy enough, let’s replace the door lock actuator while we’re at it… everything working on the test fit. Closed and locked my door, unlocked it and the mechanism jammed. Door wouldn’t unlatch. 

All of the above work is less fun to do crouched in the drivers footwell, but I did become somewhat of an expert on E36 door locks, sing out if you’re ever in the same situation! 

I ended up having to punch through the case and pick the lock.

Shout out to @HELLBM for sourcing a replacement door lock, great to deal with as always. 

Good to have everything working as it should again!

The answer was… air hammer. 

14 hours ago, Eagle said:

E36 are easy compared to anything that came after. I only removed the glass, window rail and door handle.

Even easier if your door’s not locked shut. Can’t remove the door handle without removing the window rail and can’t remove the window rail if the door is locked shut. Actually at a loss here, need to break into my own car 😂

$3k! I’ve got one in a drawer. 

Really looking forward to taking everything apart again! 

I did get it to release once, stuck again now and have ran out of daylight unfortunately. 

I replaced the door lock actuator not the door lock mechanism, did you have to replace both together @Eagle?

Replaced window motor, bushing and lubed up regulator and everything else that should be. Replaced the door lock actuator, and now everything works. Windows go up and down at the push of a button, they drop a little bit when you open the doors, they drop halfway when you put the roof up and down. Central locking works on the key… it works so well on the drivers door that I can’t open the f***ing thing now! Door locks and unlocks but neither handle, interior or exterior will open the door. 

Option 1: Climb over from passenger side

Option 2: Put roof down from passenger side and jump in

Option 3: Have a BMW bonfire, and a beer

Replaced bonnet badge, bonnet and boot struts, some trim pieces. Car’s looking great, just can’t get in it which is sub-optimal. 

Shout out to @BM WORLD for sourcing the correct window motor, easy to trade with and reasonable price!

The one issue that came with this car is the drivers window does not work. It worked once during a WoF, but I have not been able to roll it up or down since. It hasn’t bothered me, but I have to go to North Shore Hospital regularly and it is a pain because I have to open my door and get out for a parking ticket each time I go. 

All I get when I press the button is a *click* noise. All the other windows work so I have swapped the switches to check it’s not just a bad switch, same result.

It doesn’t seem as though you can replace the motor without removing the regulator, which is riveted in. Is that correct? 

If I have to drill this out, what else should I be doing while I’m in there? 

There is something connected to the yellow socket (above), but nothing to the white, does anyone know what the white socket is for? 

Thank you in advance for any advice. 

I miss wind up windows!

21 hours ago, kwhelan said:

not sure its planned obsolescence but strict laws causing compromises. Would they really use all that recycled plastic in water tanks and fittings if they didn't have to. plastic water pumps and fans, wtf is that bullshit, Fuel economies have caused lightening of every part in a vehicle which funnily because of all the new tech added the car ends up heavier than it ever was anyway. I remember reading a Porsche 928 ad when I was a young fan and they were boasting 41 electric motors back then, more weight,more speed means more hp required which means more stresses on everything, my old rx2 didn't need bigger tyres than 195 because it was light,e60 v8 sure needs bigger so thats more stresses all around constantly.

safety has added complexity, abs , cameras for lane detection etc, led lights sure they look cool but they arn't a case of unplugging a simple plug and changing a bulb

costs here as well, I think germans do a lot more maintenance on their bmws because parts are cheaper, only people doing suspension bushes here are ones that fail warrants but over there its just maintenance along with shocks etc. I think they expect owners to do that,eg  when you look at the new service schedules it includes things like full brake fluid changes, How many kiwis ever do that to their ride. At least bmws do supply parts for older models, you don't get that with alot of japanese brands

your stating the obvious really and thats the arguement of every v8 loving american muscle car lover

“She’ll be right”, has never been uttered by a German. 

10 hours ago, nick496 said:

I don't think today's modern cars will still be around as much in 30 years as say the e30.

Mostly in part due to all the electronics that are in modern cars.
It's difficult to get replacement control modules for cars over 10 years old from the dealer, and with NZ having such an old fleet, you'd struggle to get something for your 14+ year old. 
I think if you're looking to hold onto a modern car you'd best start learning how to repair electronic boards.

I don’t think people are as inclined to keep them around.

Our inclination, mine at least, is nostalgic. The E30 is a good example, there were lots of them in the UK where I grew up. They were between sixteen and twenty-six years old when I was finishing school, more ‘old car’ than ‘classic car.’ 

They were well loved due to their BTCC pedigree and popularity on the nations roads, Frank Sytner had one, your grandad had one, and you wanted one.

Well, you could have one and they didn’t cost an arm and a leg, they were fun to drive and you could fix them with a knife and fork on your dads driveway.

That’s harder to do now so people aren’t getting the same experience, and it’s hard to get nostalgic about something you can’t remember because it didn’t happen. 

Successful trip to the WoF man. 

There was an E30 in for some / quite a lot of rust repairs, hard not to want them even when you can see all the issues isn’t it ha