Eagle

Yeah i drove the box before and after so felt like it was worth it at the time, paid in upper 300's NZD iirc. Probably depends on the box too, some maybe better than others. Just doing the 5th is with new shifter\shifter bushings is still going get most of the way to peak OE setup.

Yeah @Vass would likely lend them out for cheap. Not sure what the part prices are like these days, but Schmeidmann was much cheaper than all the US places when i did mine.

Detents done? Worth doing imo for improved shift quality

I think we all knew it was something along those lines. Still dont agree with the deleting on the thread though.

Indeed. Only so much a 530i is worth regardless of how good it is, may get 20k, but probably closer to 15k in reality. Id say he will be keeping it at that price especially with those wheels.

The half leather\half M-texture is what id take given a choice, i think M5 only or custom in E39 but in my E36 compact its great, best of both worlds.

Still probably the best value E46 330 currently for sale, even if you add the $700? to de-cert it.

Wants to sell for reasons given but says he will keep it and supercharge it if no buyers. Maybe he's trying out his luck in slim hope someone will relieve him of his big money waster.

You can cheap out and not buy a clutch module\wiring so no cruise control. Unlikely on a car like this though.

Bling wheels, mismatched suspension and flywheel\clutch is going to make it even harder to move at the asking.

CCV diaphragm or plastics pipes have failed. Smoke machines can be had for less than $200 on aliexpress etc if you cant diy one, no reason not to own one.

Yeah need right tools for sure. Worst case it may have to all cut out and a patch welded in.

"Sold on behalf of the original owner" sums it up. It's had one owner since imported (excl dealer) so the guy probably paid some dealer plenty for it back in the day. Maybe has no clue what they are actually worth now, or he just thinks he worth top dollar because "low k's'. They are open to offers so he will soon realize the reality its all the gets all the 5k offers, maybe he gets lucky and it sells for half his buy now.

Flap disc take it back to clean metal, probably need a die grinder, dremel and\or a finger sander for the blower motor area. If its too thin or gone through in areas then get someone to weld some patches in. Brush on 2k epoxy primer, seam sealer where needed. 1k base coat matched to body colour if you dont want to spend on a 2k base coat, probably get away with it since that area is not subject to much wear and UV. Cavity wax back sides of any areas you cant paint if especially if welding. Should be around a few hundred in paint and supplies then whatever welding costs are if needed (maybe a local member etc can do it for cheap).

8-10k sounds about the right for a decent one, they are maintenance money pits. Top one sold recently so someone is flipping it after fixing it. "It's the main thing that really causes concern with this model..."

Installed a Gauge S by Sorek (as seen on M539 restorations awhile back). Originally for the E30 and E36 instrument cluster but he progressed to E46\E39 and now E9X chassis. Pretty handy device which is quite capable of many things like data logging and is very customizable. Best of all it still has the OEM look, doesn't get it the way of anything and is reasonably priced. Pretty quick and easy to install as it just taps into instrument cluster wiring, only complaint was the supplied wires were too short which was a bit annoying and i had to lengthen them (RHD thing maybe). Also Installed and wired in Bosch PST oil pressure\temperature sensor using a modified M14x1.5 banjo bolt. This was much more involved as i had to have factory looking install into existing looms, no wiring cut using home made tee adaptors and all crimped OE terminals\plugs. Wasted a bit time\money finding out how i wanted to do it. but shouldnt even have to touch it again. Sorek has the tables\coded done for this sensor using the extra analog connector so its just a matter of copy pasting some code into the memory. Very cheap way to get this data compared to analog gauges. Thanks to @Vass for sending me a OBD port cover which is required to display K-line data when closed. Im sure he will do a proper write up one day as forgot to take detailed photos of most of it. Pretty straight forward regardless.

Redid the M52>M54 exhaust joins with some E36 M52B28 pipes i spotted at pick a part. E36's pipe uses sightly different bends for one bank and is 1.6mm thick vs 1.2mm cost cutted E46 piping, not ideal again with some filler rod needed in spots but much cleaner and higher quality so than before.

Assuming they would even know (which they very likely would not), I doubt they could deny the claim unless it was caused by something directly related to the swap, much the no WOF situation. Most inspectors wouldn't have a clue if its converted or not and the ones who do dont care as long as everything is OE parts. Stupid technicality which 99% of people dont care about. If you plan on doing other modifications that need a cert then it makes more sense to include it.

If you can remove all the rust down to shiny clean metal then a 2k epoxy and top coat(brush on) is going to give the best long term results. You'd probably need a die grinder etc for those tight spots though.

Not worth 7.5k imo, id say it would have to be priced in the 5-6k region to sell location dependent.

Likely the 228mm. The DMF flywheels are all 240mm so you can go bigger in the unlikely event you need to. Bit hard to tell from the photos but has gone right thru?

Interesting. BMW sure created confusion making multiple different configurations, not sure why they switched they spline count etc for the 5 speeds. Are you going for a 228mm or 240mm clutch? Appears you could have to use a 6 speed 22 spline clutch kit on a 5 speed flywheel to if you want a 240mm.

If thats right then yeah it should work. Not sure how great the clutch flywheel setup is though, not a fan of 'HD' stuff for normal usage.

Hella brand. Probably not as good as Varta, but tend to last longer than your typical Century battery etc.

You can get adaptors to allow you to use a 5 speed flywheel, but 22 spline clutch options are quite limited last time i looked. Probably cheaper to buy another box than a flywheel\clutch combo?, they were about $~500-700 not along ago. The M20 flywheel is going to better and cheaper than most aftermarket options imo. I had mine lightened and balanced with the crank when i rebuilt my old M20B25, it was great with no noticeable added noise.