Michael.

Far out. What a bureaucratic headache!

What was the outcome of the onwership issue?

Ohh of course, I remember now you got this 540i and the Touring 523i that had been left outside & neglected for a while. Will be nice to see this up running again like the touring - have you had any luck starting the V8 up?

Yeah, this would have to be the dumbest thing I've seen all week.

Yeah bit of an unfair comparison.

How many kms approx? any chance of a picture?

Sorry, off topic - whats the convertible shell next to the 540i doing?

I guess proof again it's all about condition than the mileage. I've seen some < 7 year old BMWs with less than 100,000kms with rather worn abused interiors - especially on the more budget models.

Nice Jamie - looks like there were a few quirky moments along on the way! Was the frog alive & well? Haha Got much planed for the 540i?

I wish TG was like this. Good watching!

God damn that poor M3 has had a brutal life! Poor machine. I can only imagine the sort of wankers that would treat a car like that & ruin it further by fitting those god awful lights. Fix 'er up Brent - your the bloke to do it!

I quite like this shape of E class - glad it's your dads though, I thought it was going to be yours initially! Some how in my mind any Mercedes unless it's an V8 AMG doesn't it doesn't suit a younger person.

If it is as good it sounds prob somewhere in that 15-20k range?

I'd be inclined to just sand it down, go finer in paper grades once you get to the lacquer coat and go over it all evenly, then polish it up again. (trick is not to sand too much and go through it to the wood veneer) Takes a bit of effort but it would come up like new - chances are even if you got the paint off the original lacquer would be somewhat discolored etc.

It seems day to day social conventions go out the window when it comes to the internet.

I think property prices are like fuel prices - it's clear they are here to stay & historically have only ever continued to climb..

Looks stunning. I would agree with the sellers comment 'This is the best German engineering at a time I believe BMW was designing its greatest looking cars.' Might need a bit of TLC up close as pictures tend to hide things. Could be a good base for a project if it's a straight car structurally etc.

To be honest I think Ron has been pretty fair with his comments here.

Found out HP coating for the headers will be $392 (for the coating) and $74 for a chemical strip of the carbon inside etc with a 1.5-2 week turn around time. Yey... the costs continue!

!! Very well priced indeed.

LOL at the rust one. Looks like it's been left on an container ship! Totally true, M52 would be the most easy choice. I'm no expert with turbocharging these but as far as I know, you might want to change to the M50 iron block as they are stronger, better suited to boost but it all depends how far you want to go I guess. A solid 350hp M52B28 with supporting modifications on ~10psi shouldn't be unrealistic I'd imagine. Member by the name of 'Crunchy' would be the one the most knowledgeable turbo guys here on the forum so have a look for some of his posts.

+1 on the SR20 option, I don't think you could go wrong there, compact too so you could get it pretty far back for good balance. Thanks - I'm pretty happy with the way it's turned out. It's does make a good sound (I removed the rear tire well to fit two rear mufflers rather than just one run in the small stock space avaliable), I've just taken the headers off to get HPC coated as we speak too! Definitely, the 2JZ can sound equally as good with a nice exhaust setup, especially with a bit of turbo whistle! Same again for the M50/M52 really, it really depends on the header, muffler combination and whether or not they are dual or single systems. Yeah, I replaced my front suspension entirely to M3 3.2 EVO parts, working on the rear at the moment, going to 3.0L M3 stuff so I can keep the 188mm diff which has shorter stock ratios in the 4.XX range rather than the 210mm types down in the lower 3.XXs. I wont be running big power so the medium case is ideal for my purposes. Yeah just stock brake booster - so far it seems more than capable, I've done some emergency brake stop tests with the M3 OEM brakes up front with Hawk street pads - noticeable improvement on the stock ones for sure - I know M3 brake master cylinders are slightly bigger so these calipers might not be at 100% performance but they seem fit for my road use / light future track work. Yeah manual is the way to go, I've used a 5 speed modified auto as experiment, good and bad results, it's sweet at speed with quick changes up and down with a manual tiptronic feature using a retro fitted cruise control stalk, but it is a little iffy without a clutch as I don't feel as involved. Yeah definitely - I think the E36 Ti's need some upgrades and they can look quite cool - such as this:

Haha yeah pretty much! Makes you wonder what goes on for an appreciating classic to be left like that.. perhaps the owner died and his next of kin were unaware of the car, or unaware of it's market value so left it there & never bothered to sort it out. Either way, it's a sad state to see an M3 in!

Hi Nick, An engine conversion is good fun, expensive too, 15k+ is a good bench mark if you're to do a quality job, I've spend well over that for my Lexus V8 conversion. 2JZ is an attractive option, for such reason as ease of installation - far less complicated header work - I'd just run the stock turbos personally and do a custom dump pipe etc - an easy 250kw / 500nm engine. I thought about that motor for my E36, but I just wanted the V8 sound rather than the power & outright performance (yes.. really) The LSX swaps look like a good idea, Vorshlag has a nice kit - but buying a LS engine in NZ seems to be really expensive, they really hold their value. Curious on why a 318Ti though? Keep in mind you will have to upgrade the drive terrain diff, axles, brakes, hubs and suspension so it's more cost effective to get mid case E36 325i or 328i, sedan, wagon or coupe that already has the stronger parts that can handle 400hp or so easily enough.

(somewhere in USA) thought it was interesting regardless