Eagle

When pulling the head you want to get a gasket set like this: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-cylinder-head-gasket-set-elring-11129059238 Head bolts: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-engine-cylinder-head-bolt-11120621144

Headgasket? Im confused. Are you saying you think the valve cover gasket is leaking into no1 spark plug well\hole causing a misfire?. Did you take the valve cover gasket off?

Probably been neglected\abused if its broken.If so a replacement head would be the best bet but may not be worth fixing.

I wouldn't say they are value for money either but on the plus side they aren't going loose any either. As above E60's need to be cheap because you need the rest of your change in case something major fails.

MyUS are ok if you get the VISA promo deal but even with that they their pricing is average. Service wise they are pretty swift though. Youshop seems way slower in processing than they used to and paying less for the 7-14 day option seems arrive just as fast as the 5-9 day one.

First basic checks do id are make sure no vacuum leaks from split intake boots then check plugs, distrubutor cap and rotor.

Yeah i remember having 3rd party on my first E34 i bought. A drunk driver hit it in the rear with a bullbar fitted ute and drove off, got his details and the police paid him a visit but they couldnt do sh*t. Car was a write off with bend chassis rail but at least i found another body with a stuffed motor and swapped the engine\trans over. Never got 3rd party again after that

Will be interesting to see how well they hold up in the years to come,, no doubt flogged and damaged will start to appearing on tardme at some point in the near future esp with the prices

Not saying its not possible but your probably going to have to sacrifice reliability somewhere along the line to improve on others. That list makes the E39's look like a corolla in costs and reliability stakes. Good example and mechanical warranty help greatly im sure

Pretty sure they already know going by some of the examples and owners ive seen. Can't see either having Supra, Skyline etc valve given BMW production numbers these days and so many other similar chassis using the engines.

Yeah they charge GST if its over the limit but as you know they don't charge it on freight costs. If it goes thru NZ customs\NZ Post they will happily charge you GST on you 200 USD freight cost as well as them item which is pretty bs Had the same issue once expect i paid youshop the postage for 2 separate parcels. Once the were in NZ customs lumped them together as once as tried charging me GST. I complained and they forwarded them to me. Otherwise they are been fine for me. UK you shop took 6 days to see a delivery but im giving them another shot.

That title belongs to the Century

Fedex never charged gst on the freight either the 2x i used them.

Yep they gotta try and capture all those market segments in this day and age. They will ride on their coattails for as long as they can.

Yeah probably just a placeholder light for it or something else

That 130i would be way more fun the drive on a decent road with those upgrades and it being overly powerful. At 15k id take the reliability and the upgrades over the extra power .

I will say styling looks much better than the BMW equivalents esp the interior.

So the rear self leveling suspension setup has been removed? Lowering springs would be the best bet for these and they are available new. E34 springs fit and probably lower it somewhat but obviously springs specs vary a lot on E34\E32's as they had many different engine configurations, options etc. You'd definitely want to replace the shocks if you did the springs, id image they are tired like most and its not a job you'd want to do twice.

They are a solid car and 290,000 is nothing for one of these, much more reliable than anything that came after. Fuel economy is their weak point but typically offset by low purchase price.

As above but id check the wheel balance and tyres first. You can swap the front wheels to the rear vise versa and see if there is any difference.

Sounds like a clutch issue to me. Nothing to loose by changing the fluid given its cheap but so are 2nd hand gearboxes

Id you were in Hamilton id lend you mine but personally id pay someone to press them in with the arm removed, it would cost next to nothing and much time and effort

Thinking outside your city pays off after all

Interior looks like it has some mold+worn seats combo going on or something

My father has had his 1997 Range Rover DSE since new which has 220,000km on the intercooled M51 with automatic. Engine and transmission have always serviced and both been near flawless. It has a bit of turbo lag combined with a 2 ton chassis makes it sluggish off the mark till boost comes in a 3000rpm. I know they sell ecu chips which up the power a fair wack but probably with increased stress. I think the M51 was perfectly adequate engine for its time and designed car but wouldn't think it would be worth it in an engine swap situation. Lance (melopuf) had a E36 manual with the same engine fitted and he loved it till it was written off (was doing 15s 1\4 mile iirc)