Eagle

Probably looking to get rid of it\didn't want to spend any more on it by that point. I sure wouldn't want to pay someone to do a job the would nearly cost the value of that car haha.

https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/ if you can send them somewhere. Good pricing and big range.

Anti-seize has been my go to for all poly bushings for a long time. Nicer to apply and lasts much longer than anything ive had supplied ie lithium based stuff

Yes im aware of the worst case scenario but the pin is far more likely to come out of the valve upon rough removal or poor install. A loose valve flap gives you plenty of auditory warning.

Indeed. I was thinking failure as in the flap start getting loose\rattles or o-ring leaks when i typed that.

Bought a Rein one from FCP. Currently @ 70,000km and is still ok. If it fails i will just return it as lifetime warranty.

What years are the cars? Are the clusters both in km? Auto? If they are both white back clusters as you say then you should be able to swap the coding plug on the back on the cluster over from the old one to the new one provided it hasnt been damaged somehow. Can't hurt to try and see. I think the E32 probably had a bigger fuel tan so the actual fuel gauge reading its self may be off?

I never compared 18"+ sizes so the difference in price maybe greater the larger you on which may change my view point on whether they are still worth it in the performance vs price category, hence the comment. Still stand by my 17" comment. Yeah everything is subjective in regards to price obviously but $50 a tyre is nothing for anyone semi serious about grip, i don't see why you'd get a lesser tyre to save $~200 given you are already spending $800 to begin with. Ive had both on the exact same car E39 i currently own which is just a daily driver with stock suspension, very noticeable performance increase they are better in every regard, almost feel like semi slick compared to the soft RE003's (which i rate worse than the RE050A and S001 ive had on other cars)

Parents just got a new pair of Re003 in 245/40R17 to match the fronts and they were just over $500. PS4's are like $40 more from Hyper atm and are a far better tyre in all aspects. Re003's maybe better value for $ in the 18"+ sizes but in 17" they are not worth it

Sounds like a vacation leak to me too. Home made smoke machine is some of the best money I've spent. Disa valve o-ring is another common leak area

Bearings (in) Motor Wearing M5

Nothing would ever truly beat those engines given they were overbuilt by Japanese in the golden era of engine manufacturing. No intention of owning one but do respect them and do get the appeal of N54\N55. Its too bad many modern BMW engines like these seemed to be plagued with reoccurring issues or issues that shouldn't exist.

Looks a decent deal and given that these cars are so cheap you start really loosing $ if you want to. What does it ride like? Ive been in many around the 200k mark with what i suspect were bad subframe bushings, very hard riding. Hope they haven't mutilated the wiring too badly given you have factory nav. Can't stand those single din units in E39's, so unbefitting.

Fair enough, we all have our personally preferences. I tend use new stops much of the time but these are on much older. higher mileage cars. Some times getting new stops for the rear will put me over the GST limit so i wont bother as long as they are in reasonable condition. The amount of cars with no bump stops is quite surprising even with new shocks and from my experience many garages don't tend to replace them for whatever reason.

Yep they are not a bad car for their day but have many potential flaws. EAS is great when its working but doesn't seem to last very long before something fails. The HVAC system is pretty troublesome also. Don't have high regards for the rover engines and even though the M51 isnt a bad engine for its time its just a bit under powered in P38 coupled with the turbo lag Only reason i my father never sold his is they generally seemed to be worthless these days (had from new $80,000 in 1998). I can see a good diesel example possibly fetching a reasonable price but im sure the market for them is relativity small.

Yeah the benefits of air suspension are given. My comment was aimed at the butchery of which appears to have distorted the system. Nothing worse than people attempting half ass fixes.

Seen quite a few without certs so it down to the WOF inspector i guess

Haha wtf. Why wouldn't you just convert to coil springs. Only major problems my fathers had was air suspension (gone now) and heater core o-rings leaking (2nd time). BMW engine and transmission are the best parts and still solid at 230,000km

Given the many variables here i personally i wouldn't recommend those kits at all, mainly NZ is not a harsh environment for cars to ever had need of a kit like that. There's is just too much unneeded hardware in it which hit you in the wallet twice - purchase price and added shipping costs (which are going to be high enough as it is) Get Sachs struts\shocks (they are alu) and Lemforder mounts Check condition of your bump stops, dust sleeves and shims and order if worn (most of the time rear will be ok even at high k's, fronts bump stop and sleeves are usually perished or missing depending on k's, shims are usually fine - front bottoms will be the ones that are worn if anything) Everything else on that list simply doesn't wear or can be reused without issue

Yeah id just replace the shocks\springs\mounts for now and not bother about anything else unless its obviously worn (Jon should of picked up that was bad when did the inspection). Once you start doing full suspension overhauls on these its get expensive esp if you cant do the work yourself. Mine would of been 1k-1.5k worth of parts using OEM and Meyle stuff and me doing all the labour. You can google E39 front and rear suspension refresh to get an idea. If you can't locate any Msport springs then id probably just revert get 2nd hand std ones from a wreckers etc. The bigger ARB do compliment the msport shocks\spring setup making it more neutral handling setup but they are not essential and why bother for a daily driver. Never measured my ride height but it appear roughly the same on each axle. Not uncommon for BMW's to sit higher or lower on one side. Having you measured your ride heights on flat surface with the hand brake off?

Cheaper to buy a motorsport version and get the whole package with all the rest of the bits if you really want to start upgrading things Not a simple task to fit front sway bars on E39, not to mention actually finding a set, then you need new bushings, links. Springs are the same really, if you can't motorsport ones and you want to keep ride quality you may as well just get a replace your rear springs, get new shocks all round with mounts etc and replace any worn control arms etc. After that get some decent rubber on and handling wise it will feel like a new car. Id also recommend doing the Vanos seals if they haven't been done already. Money very well spent for the performance increase

Most likely OEM non sport Sachs would be what you currently have given you don't have sport suspension optioned. My car is exactly the same spec as your expect colour and added motorsport kit No issues with Meyle's on standard springs, they ride and handle fine for an OEM replacement but anything is better than worn struts\shocks. They maybe valved a little firmed than OEM standard shocks but ive never felt new Sachs on an E39 so can't say for sure. Also running a set of PS4's make a big difference is handling. Given Sachs aren't generally much more expensive it would be best to go for them instead of Meyle and get new OEM strut\shock mounts and maybe bump stops if needed.

OEM Sport suspension springs and shocks would be the go if you want reasonable ride quality with a a little drop and better handling. Otherwise just get some Bilstein B4 Touring's or OEM Sachs if you going to use standard OEM springs. Mine is pretty much the same spec as yours and is my daily driver, done 280,000. Ive replaced all the shocks(Meyle - very good deal on them at the time), control arms and bushings and it handles much better. Number of things can cause changes to the ride height but you say Auto38 has inspected it and determined it was the spring?

No, you did that one all on your own

Tidy E36 318is with the M44 would have to be the cheapest 4 cylinder to run and maintain Easy to sink $ into M54's to fix all the issues they have with degrading plastics and rubber but they are a nice engine once sorted. Been daily driving mine for bit over 2 years racking up 70,000km, 100km each day on the open road. Average about 10L\100km but that's with shorter 3.46 diff and 120+. Nanna mode is about 8L\100km Mazdas are ok if you can get over the cheap interiors