Michael.

Most interesting. Even though there's plenty of reasoning behind such it's still unfortunate to see nice stock exhaust parts being thrown into scrap bins. I could use some of those exhaust bits!

Yeah, get 17s or 18s 20s look too big, and are a terrible choice for NZ roads, unless you wish to crack rims / have a harsh ride. You also pay a lot more for tyres.

That's one really nice E31 4.0 M60, as its a 840i 4.4 M62s were in the 840Ci versions. It's actually a 840i, with a changed badge, cheeky. I don't think it matters which engine they have really, E31 should have come with an S62 as a factory option, and a rack & pinion front steering setup.

You hoon brent!

Haha bugger. Ah well, it will still make a good noise

CSL boot lid?

Hmm.......

Any interior pictures? That's a pretty relative price for the details listed

Certainly potential with that. Good find.

With some tweaks here and there that would work nicely.

E39 M5 > E55 / E60 M5 I think the E39 is a no brainer E60 M5 doesn't strike me as a good investment. Nor the E55, while I like them, their a bit iffy inside and do suffer from some of MB quality issues of the period. The E39 offers a proper manual gearbox and has a V8 engine sound that soothes the ear, rather than that headache inducing racket the M5 V10 makes. I suspect the E39 M5 will hold value, if not increase from this point on in, high teens is as low as I've seen them go on average, but most are well into the 20s.

Yeah its a tricky one. My Toyota with its old 4 speed had a radiator leak so coolant got into the trans cooler line, meant the trans was buggered and needed a rebuild Old owner had it done in 2005 at a cost of $3000 In my mind that was a crazy expendature as lazy toyota rwd autos can be had used for a couple of hundred bucks, and are 90% of the time in perfectly fine condition The main issue I had with the car was the auto felt bad, didn't shift right and was clunky, to the extend I found it had damaged the diff crown gear teeth, something I'd never seen on such. Even after a replacement diff it still felt bad. So it showed me even gearboxes with work done, don't necessarily mean they are going to be like new again, varying component spec and work standards must have a lot to do with it.

I would find a second hand unit, once complicated automatics in 4wds go bad they are often never the same. In all fairness if I saw a 2004 high torque diesel BMW with over 200k on the clock, the transmission would be the main thing I'd be worried about going wrong. The issue with finding a second hand one is if that would be any good or not, and they wont be cheap. I'd almost be inclined to find a manual conversion kit to suit such, it would probably cost about the same!

Hmmm.... I think both can look good, E34 or E39 in Touring form is a tricky choice, both can be very nice. Probably getting a better chassis with the E39 but a lot of that can be subjective depending on suspension condition and setup, wheel and tyre combinations etc.. I would go for an E34 540i with the 4.0 M60, I think its a better engine than the M62 specifically because of the better dual chain setup, and idler sprocket, rather than that questionable plastic U guide in the valley the 4.4 uses. However, if that timing / vanos work has been done it's a non issue (for a while at least) I'd go with the car that has the best service history available. Often higher km cars have had the 'bad' stuff done so can end up being really good buys.

Yeah doesn't look particularly viable as a project, big money to be spent. Underside picture suggest there would be a lot of rust too.

Agreed ^ Haha

Boxer WRX sound from a V8 usually indicates it's running like a V4 or similar. 1UZ V8 Toyota engines I deal with do that when one of the two coil packs fail (each does 4 cylinders) However in your case it sounds like something else has failed that controls half the cylinder firing, likey the DME Yours has 8 individual coil packs and igniters on each cylinder so its unlikely those are the issue (they just don't fail all at once!)

Id be inclined to pay less for that one than a factory similar example. The dull wrap choice and ubiquitous tinted lights would take some time and money to revert back to stock, there's also no guarantee of what the paints actual condition is. Pity as its quite rare in manual convertible spec.

At least now you can focus more attention on the other E38. I find it gets too hard when you have multiple same model cars.

Sold for 14,000,000 Yen, or ~$185,000 NZD.

Big figures, do the engine bearings need replacing / upgrading before running the supercharger? A lot of those kits I've seen suggest changing them, and headgasket / stud replacement.

Nice that they have over 400hp, as they always should have been. That hood doesn't do anything for the style though, bit ricey!

That does look mint! Those wheels!! <3

Whos car is that?? Looks mint. Those wheels too, look perfect for some reason, 17" over the 18 ones?

RESULTS?