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Front looks like an E90 with some M6 cabrio influence. I don't like the rear end, too boxy. The bottom of the rear end is from the M5. Photochop?

Nice job mate, thanks for sharing, will it be the displayed at JC from now onwards? I might want to pop down for a look sometime next week. Haha, that was exactly what I thought. Small world!

Probably more OE BMW looking?

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=844023

Those rims don't look too bad to be honest. I wouldn't go bigger than 17"s, they are a good compromise in terms of handling, ride quality and looks, and tyre prices are still pretty decent. Also remember 17" is what they put on the E36 m3. 18" look better but will feel harsher, tyres are pricier. 19"s, just say no. And try to go with lighter wheels if you can.

LOL @ school work! I think you'll be the only one with that in your boot...

1 bottle of pre-mixed coolant, jumper leads, beach mat, umbrella.

Hey that's the M3 Josh posted the other day. How does the white look in person, is it bland? From the pics the Melbourne Red looks much nicer. If the 130i is good, the 135i is going to be a hoot. Thanks for the taking the time to share your experience.

I too think the shovel bit was OTT but I definitely cannot blame you - that was your mother and you have every right to be pissed off. People like this deserved to be smashed. Good on you man. I just hope it won't impact too much on your future job opportunities but it sounds like it shouldn't be too bad. Did the guy know that she's your mother? Just wondering because being the ass he is I'd watch out for your mum in case he comes back.

Sounds awesome too!

Front passenger: Remove the panel under the glovebox, slide the plastic doorsill bit off its clips (if you can get the kickpanel off without removing this bit, by all means do so, it's a bit of a pain to put back), then use a flathead screwdriver to turn the plastic clip so it releases the kickpanel. IIRC, the kickpanel has to be slid out a bit, then pulled off. Front driver: Remove panel under steering column, pop the plastic cap off the bonnet lever, and remove the screw. The bonnet lever handle will come off. If there's a plastic clip, turn it just as you would on the passenger side panel. Same thing goes for the doorsill. Then it'll come off. You do not need to remove the dash. The unit at the bottom of the centre console is called the OBC, how did you try changing the time and date? On mine you just hold Set/Res and Date together to change date, and Set/Res and Time together to change time. You need to hold both down for a few seconds.

Thanks, hmm I guess the Japanese 328's do come with the Jatco as 1 of the 2 listed in RealOEM when I look for 328.

LOL You need a camera phone Allan.

Looking at E36 328's, so have a few questions. Do the Japanese E36 328's have the Jatco A5S300J Gearbox? What automatic transmission did the NZ New 328's come with? Any known problems? Will a manual transmission be the most reliable compared to the above? Cheers.

Welcome to the club Scotty. Good choice with a 328i. How many Ks has it done? As for lights, the best would be original BMW (OE) ones, but price is pretty ridiculous - so if you were to go aftermarket, Depo would be the best quality and look pretty close to OE. The ones on TradeMe sold by 'eurolights' are Depo. As for painting the bumpers and side rocker panels (you don't have any sideskirts atm), if you know you'll be modding her sometime in the future I wouldn't bother right now. Save the money and paint the new bumpers instead.

She's looking good Grant (or is it a he?). I like the drop, just right, and very drivable on our roads. Any further plans for it?

What Brent said. If Repco doesn't have it, try Supercheap. I bought mine from Repco, had to buy 2 parts - one is a specific one to suit your particular headunit, and the other is a specific one to suit your car. IIRC, cost me $20 for both.

Wish I was there. Wondering if it's a customer's car or the dealer's?

Hmm... did a google, came up with this: http://www.exhaustcenter.com/headers.shtml So I guess headers = extractors and exhaust manifold would be the stock stuff. I guess if you wanted to get more power you could go with headers but that won't come cheap. As for suspension, yup yours sounds like its on stock springs, I went with M-Tech springs and they improved handling significantly while not making it too low, perfect height as a daily IMO. Funny thing about the M-Tech is that although the M-Tech rear springs were a little shorter than the stock rears, the car did not sit any lower. The front was definitely noticeable though.

Great choice Andrew... how's the handling compared to an E39 sedan, and do you feel the extra weight?

$600 excess is great for your age and the car. Braeden, AMI can do agreed value as well.

That's extremely good. If you don't mind, what's the excess? Personally haven't had a super good quote like this from Pioneer... they were pretty pricey for me. Probably because your car is rare?

323i/320i have the two header pipes merging into 1 pipe before they enter the cat, and also only 1 pipe from cat-back. 328i has two pipes. Not sure if diameters are different. 3pedals may know. You can have a look at the diagrams for the respective systems on www.realoem.com. You could also do a de-cat and put cobys in place. Lidistick has done it. I always thought extractors were the same thing as headers/exhaust manifold. Do you mean aftermarket headers? The 323 and 328 headers are the same, they are M52 headers unlike the older cast iron M50 ones. K&N looks better... I'm sure you can import it if you wanted. Have you considered a K&N panel filter? I am pretty sure they make one which will slot into your airbox. But that shouldn't make any difference in sound. IMO you shouldn't go for an intake if you're looking to gain BHP. The money is probably better spent on suspension. Is the car completely stock at the moment? Is it an M-Sport?

And by the way... 323i will benefit from exhaust mods. It has the same exhaust system from header-back as the 320i. If you can get a 328 exhaust system fitted it would be good.

Don't get too happy replacing your stock airbox with a filter that flows better. Flow comes at the expense of filtration. Unless you are doing it for the noise, I'd keep the stock filter - just replace it with a new stock one. Read some tests awhile back, the stock paper filter is a good combination of flow and filtration capability. K&N should be ok, but when it comes time to re-oil it make sure you don't over-oil it or you could mess up your MAF sensor. If you're going for a pod filter that sits in the engine bay, best you get a heatshield. And I would think mechanical warranties would be affected by mods like that which could potentially let more junk in hence harm your engine.