TonyT

The GTS software for the DCT makes a significant improvement to the way the DCT shifts - they become faster and smoother. Well worth getting.

Properly maintained you won't loose money on a E9x M3 in the near future. Nor probably the far future. Very few cars are good investments but the E9X does return many grins per mile, even when not being "thrashed".

There is no significant mechanical difference between pre and post lci. In fact I don't think there is any mechanical difference at all. The reason they might feel different is probably down to age/mileage. A newer car and/or with lower kms will feel tighter than an older or higher kms vehicle. Remember these are 10-15 year old cars, and many of them are in the zone where wear in bushings and joints (especially rubber ones) starts to become noticeable. Rod bearings and throttle actuators aside these are pretty bullet proof. TAs can be done when they fail but best to have the cash available for whenever that might be. Delaying RBs is a form of Russian roulette in my opinion, and you will have more peace of mind if you just get them done, along with the motor mounts. Do your own reading and form your own opinion. The rest is up to you as to how much you want to tighten an older car up - its only money and time. Refreshing the front end is relatively easy, the rear end is harder. Trans and diff mounts are a pita. Good luck, nows a good time to be in the market.

Yes. They will give you the best combination of performance, feel, ride comfort, noise, wear. Other brands may better them in specific areas, but not overall.

Have a play around and find out! https://individual.bmw-m.com/en

Technoviolet is still available as an individual colour on some model builds. Thundernight was a similar launch colour on the M240i and there are a few in NZ.

If I were in the market the colour would be a plus for me. I wish we got more brightly coloured BMWs sold new here, BMW NZ seem intent on flooding the market for black, white and 50 shades of grey.

Codes will be logged in the engine's electronic memory. You need to get these codes read and they will help you pinpoint what the car thinks is going wrong. If you can borrow a code reader you can do this yourself, or any good mechanic who works on European cars could do it for you. Maybe someone local to you on this forum will have a code reader you can borrow.

At that mileage there are too many potential causes - fuel pump, injectors, coils, turbo, the list is long. Read the codes and see what is triggering limp mode, then you can work out what to check first. Without the codes as a guide you are in the dark.

Plenty of E9x M3 owners use them and report no NVH increase. Its on my list, but haven't had first hand experience yet.

I've used monoballs on the front of my E92 M3 with no issues. No increase in NVH, but steering response is sharper and quicker (a good thing IMO). Would definitely recommend.

Toronto red with cognac leather would be my choice...

Um, no. I'm with Imran on the M kit, looks tacky IMO. There are going to be more cohesive ways to dress up this car (which I quite like in base form). And the Zandvort Blue is definitely blue, not white... https://g42.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1961566

I'm sure you know that the "BMW tax" is very high on OEM parts, and that non-OEM are often considerably cheaper. But if you do want the real thing, the cheapest way I have found is to use realoem to get the correct part numbers, then see if https://www.emiauto.eu/en/ has them. They have been consistently the cheapest source I have found for OEM parts (but they are a little slow, and there is the mental hurdle of having parts shipped from Latvia to overcome!).

Basil at Autopassion (in Christchurch) knows these well. He can give you some advice on a tune and bolt ons.

You really shouldn't have timing chain problems with that mileage. Just budget to replace it at some future point, say 60k km, or whatever distance you feel comfortable with.

Its a great looker. If you are coming from a GTI you might find the performance a little underwhelming. Timing chain issues with the early N20 can happen, but at this mileage you would think that should be unlikely.

https://blackforestindustries.com/collections/bmw-automatic-knobs/products/bfi-gs2-air-leather-shift-knob-and-boot-combo-e90-dct-fitment-1

If its any help, Basil tuned my B47 about 3-4 years ago and I've put about 40,000km on it since. Full economy is better post-tune than prior. The biggest improvement is drivability - the engine revs build more quickly and more smoothly, it feels like an engine which loves to rev now. I dont know what the peak numbers changed to (and dont care), but the day to day experience has been worth every cent. I can imagine that for a 130/135 the question of useable traction might be more significant.

Bear in mind that the Pilot sport5 is a replacement for the Pilotsport 4, not the Pilot sport 4S (Michelin does not make acronyms easy!) The 4S is still their top performance tyre for now. Thats not to say that the PS5 would be a bad choice, just make sure you compare apples with apples. I hear a lot of good things about Continental Sport Contact and Extreme Contact as well, if you can find those at a good price in the size you need.

Runflats are only rated for 50 miles (80km) driving when not inflated. More than that and they break up. The foam tyre inflators are also rated for 50-100 miles. Either way, you have 80km from getting a flat tyre to get to somewhere you can find a new one.

Yup, definitely on the Lotto-win list. 335bhp/700nm standard.

Make sure you drive it first. My guess is you will instantly miss the low and mid range torque of your 335d. The cost of a high speed 45 min run once a fortnight to keep the DPF in the 335d clear is the price you pay for the instant and substantial shove in the back each time you drive it around town. Even a well tuned 335i isn't going to give you that at low-mid rpms.

I've never been a fan of the Alpina Classic wheel - too busy looking. But the Alpina Dynamic wheel is damn sexy. I would suggest you steer away from bright chrome and black. That green colour is one of very few colours which would work well with a bronze finish wheel, similar to the halo colour on the M5CS.

Use it a lot and it works well. Getting flashed (!!!) indicates imperfect alignment. I also had this issue early on in my ownership, and I got the dealer to align and calibrate the headlights for me. SInce then, no flashing! I'm pretty sure there are guides to do the alignment yourself if you want to, but you need a reasonably long space which you can make dark.