Eagle

Wet grip is where good rubber shines and is where you want\need it especially if you can't actually correct a slide. Traction control cannot defy the laws of physics either as some fools who fit 'whatever is the cheapest' have found out. Mid range wise using Hyper website - Ive used Achilles Atr Sport 2, Toyo Proxy C1 and Pirelli Dragon Sport, all which would be suitable for your requirements and have proven credentials.

OEM pads are Jurid but ATE, Textar, Mintex, Pagid etc will do the job just the same for normal use, assuming you can handle the brake dust. Plenty of higher performance pad options but unless you are tracking the car they are probably not worth it.

Original plan always an E34 manual but i never saw any good candidates. I found this E39 528i factory manual and thought id turn my existing wannabe 530i motorsport into eventually an improved version of the actual one. Benefits of this are fairly obvious - M54B30 power. I can retain much of the work and $ spent ive done on my existing car and don't have to do it all again on another unknown car. I like my car colour and don't want to own another silver BMW especially one which has a grey interior (528i has both). Buying the extra motorsport bits shouldn't be hard or expensive given these cars are plentiful and worth jack so it should help keep costs down. The swap seems fairly straight forward. The coding side of it appears relatively easy with my MS43 DME. May be some small pedal issues as they appear to have changed things around in Sept '97. Possibly a little wiring and\or a few plug changes to get the drive by wire working etc with pedals for cruise control etc. Will deal with the issues when i come to them as using early M52 manual setup is a little different to the M54 auto and not properly documented as far as ive looked. Plan is sort of a 3 stage deal given i don't want the car off the road for long periods at a time. 1. Remove 528i gearbox etc and my 530i engine and transmission to fix up some small oil leaks. Fit M-suspension bigger swaybars whilst its out. Fit manual box with all new shifter bushings with E60 shorter shifter and ZHP knob. Replace all driveline and clutch components (apparently the PO has a new clutch with single mass flywheel installed not long ago so i shouldn't have to worry about that part). 2. Sort some upgraded springs and dampeners. Will look into rebuilding my KW coilovers i have here with Koni adjustable inserts but will look at other options if too expensive with the added cert. 3. Black motorsport interior to replace my beige one as most sports seats seem to be black on these. Then lastly put back in what BMW accountants took out - the LSD experience. I will start dismantling the 528i tomorrow to find out what parts i need and will commence work once they arrive. In the mean time im happy enough driving an old 5 series manual again.

I know from experience the cost of having to import every part gets adds up real quick.

Spend the savings on a proper diff

That Maserati interior hasn't aged well at all. Nice car to look at no way id want to own and run one.

Yeah try a few places. I just got a verbal quote thru AA classic ca for my S600 - $~170 p.a agreed value which is very cheap compared to others. Still need to find out if it covers a few things like glass though.

I see where people are coming from and i wasn't playing on buying it myself but viewing is still the only way to truly condemn it Seats seems to be one of those things that an average person neglects for reason i can only speculate on

+1 Lithium but wouldn't use the aerosol versions

You looked the owner up on facebook?

All that stuff is still available and you probably would fit new components your current one worn. Center tie rod, pitman arm and steering box would be the only things possibly worth keeping on the front. Those early front strut bearing assemblies are another thing to keep as they are expensive or even NLA for OEM and expensive for Meyle aftermarket ones. Probably easier just keep the whole strut assembly with the bearing etc. Wiper linkage\motor maybe worth keeping also if you can be bothered removing it.

Sent it to Youshop USA. $20NZD max and probably even less for economy postage.

Its clear you'd be able to get it for less than 6k Personally i don't mind the wheels at all and love manual seats, electrics are heavy and pointless unless you got multiple people using the car. Its got no sun roof also so its about as light as E39 6 cyl can get. K's dont hold much weight at this age. Guessing the 25k would be covering manual conversion, wheels, headers, coilovers etc and if you paying someone to do the work then its easy to rack bills. Someone in Auckland should go look at it

General E34 stuff isnt worth much and doesn't normally sell. BMW generally used durable electronic parts those days and you can also repair most things without replacing. Window regs, motors and switches rarely fail themselves but guess easily enough to store. Doors and panels are always good if you got the space. All exterior lights, heater valve, fuel pump\sender, instrument cluster, LKM and CCM module (if its digital), door cards maybe is all i can think of Guessing its just got the basic manual vent control HVAC system?

Not ideal but wouldn't say its a deal breaker, seeing it in person is the only true judgement. Id usually take a look but voluntarily driving to Auckland these days is the definition of insanity.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1951987246.htm?rsqid=32b8cd07f6a643b48c3bbf57f8fc203d Rare spec with a number of goodies on it. Looks a little neglected but still could be a decent buy provided it not excessively worn. Real shame that interior colour really shows up the wear, looks like leather center console also courtesy of BMW individual.

No i dont know where to get it from a tap. Ive used rainwater which comes out a tap here for every car ive owned or worked on. Tap water quality has a huge variance, NZ's soft water would be nothing like China's for example. There is an actual specification for water quality to be used in cooling systems. If you want to use demineralised water for whatever reason then knock your self out, im not saying not to use it. Ive pulled apart enough of my own cars and seen enough pulled apart that having proper coolant and changing it when required is far more critical here. Be surprised if the average garage is charging out customers for demineralised water.

Im sure its been looked after. I was more meaning whats been replaced to get it to those those k's.

Be interesting to see the service history. I think age is more the cruel mistress when it comes to cars, its the true measure of quality and reliability.

Should be 2x sensors off the same connector, 1 for each bank of cylinders ie 1-3, 4-6. Im assuming 3 relates to this without having seen it.

Doesn't say what brand it is but aftermarket sensors are well known to cause many issues in BMW's Forgot to say it but euro spec E36's never had check engine lights as far as i know The OBD plug can access all the systems. Unless you are asking where the physical TCU module is located? You don't have the second scan printout im guessing?

Sounds ok on the scanner front then. Is the car a jap import? They did fit a OEM or genuine sensor? The cam sensor fault may of been masking the current one or caused the current one, maybe something else malfunctioning but not throwing a code but causing the transmission to act up, maybe someone the disturbed sensor wiring etc when working on it. Are you saying the knock fault code appears in engine computer but triggers the transmission light,limp mode etc but with no fault code in the transmission computer?. Your description of what its doing and when is hard for me to follow but internet diagnosis with problems like these isn't very good i'm afraid Either way make id sure all the ignition system is functioning properly first, check the sensors, wiring and plugs for components etc

Depends on source of said tap water.

What are you scanning it with?

General rule - Unless an old BMW its been owned by a true enthusiast (typically one that can do work themselves) its going have lots of issues present.