Yuen

Yours only has 7 digits? IE: XX12345? If so, that's really all you need to get parts. Ie: www.realoem.com EDIT: I guess if you really meant digits (no alphabets) then that won't work.

Sorry to hear about the theft, damn thieves, what goes around comes around. Good ideas!

Hey, nice car, it's one of the nicest TIs that I've seen! The AC Type IIIs are 17x8.5" right? They suit the car very well.

5 spoke wheels always look good on E36s. Deep dish shadow chrome 5 spokes, maybe? On another note, I was surprised to see those E46 wheels on your E36, I've always wondered how they'd look, and they actually suit it fine! I remember there was a set or two on TradeMe for not much money a while back. Don't get the 'angel eye' headlamps, unless you want to downgrade.

No worries Alex I just sold a complete set of clears for an E36 coupe 2 weeks ago on TradeMe. Keep your eyes peeled there though, try to get OEM ones and if you are concerned about setting off the tail light failure error, make sure you get the ones with the same number of pins as the ones you have now (this applies to the tails only). You probably have 8 pins on your M3, the ones that have 7 pins will set off an error on your OBC.

Sorry to hear about the crappy service. Sometimes I feel that we know more than the dealer. It should obviously be the other way round. They were insisting that my car (after I gave my chassis number, I have it memorised) did NOT have a microfilter. I insisted it does, it's an E36. They said no, since it's a 1991 build it won't have one. I bought one and found it myself in 5 minutes. Same for the engine coolant drain plug, before I replaced my radiator, I went to the dealer to get the parts. They insisted there was no engine drain plug. That the only drain plug was the one on the radiator. I told the guy at the counter to check, I went to look at his computer, we couldn't find it in the ETK because it was too small. I even got him to ask the senior tech guy and the senior guy said no. Well what do you know, when I get under the car, ready to do the job, there's a drain plug right there on the engine block. I had to postpone the job, got the part number off my fellow experts on Bimmerforums and life is good again. This was all at Team McMillan. I'd be happy to know if others have had better experiences at other dealers in Auckland, because I might just go there if they're more knowledgeable.

??? Something tells me you're talking about the stock bumper when you say 'slat'. The M-sport bumper is the same as the M3 bumper, and has 2 types of inserts. Slats or mesh. The slats seem to come on 'luxury package' M3s, and those didn't come with twisty sideskirts either.

That's a tidy interior you got there!

Open the covers like you've done, then use an allen key to unscrew the screws, there are two. One on the left, one on the right. In actual fact it's not exactly the allen key shape I believe, but allen keys work fine and I believe 99% of people use allen keys I've never stripped them just don't overtorque them.

Dammit, another good BMW magazine gone, now we're left with BMWCar and Performance BMW (which IMO is the lousiest of them all).

AFAIK, there are M50 and M52 320 and 325s, but there are only M52 323 and 328s Changing your engine from 2.0 to 2.5L sounds like a lot of work and money for too small a difference. Perhaps you should bore out the 2.0L and build it?

I saw this car in the city yesterday, it was parked so I spent some time admiring it. It's stunning, the paint is awesome, looks like it got a full repaint. And the Eisenmann exhaust and Rieger kit...

That's certainly useful. Thanks!

That's odd, mine's a 1992 (built August 91) E36 320i, and the entire VIN is on the firewall in the engine bay, under the windshield.

You're pretty much right - only the engine is different. 325 onwards also have twin outlets for their exhaust, so the exhaust system can be slightly different.

Simple, just look at the engine, at the front of the engine (right in front of the engine fan) the valve cover will have an extra bulge, while non-VANOS engines won't have it. That's the VANOS unit.

I actually like the slats better, it makes the E36 look more like a luxury car. But when the mesh goes on it's also nice in a sporty way.

Not sure, but just wanted to say I like your taste in wheels RCs in 18" are hot!

It's the same thing. Motorsport, or ///M ones, have different moulding badges. Also, some have slats instead of the mesh in the front bumper, these came with the M3 luxury package as well.

A clay bar can get the thin layers of tar off, but for the thicker parts that have been there for some time, you need a tar remover. Or maybe just give the laundry solution method a shot first.

Can't wait... it's fast.

Sweet, cheers

Go for 95 at the very least. If you put 91 in you will notice less power, I did!

Keep us updated on the fuel consumption. I expected to see a price higher than the US one converted to NZD.. but whoa... it's cheap! Thinking of getting one now... must.. resist. Hey, did you get the same accessories as the one in the picture? And do you know how to clean it? Is there a kit like the K&N filter cleaner kit? Simota's site has one, I wonder if you use that, and if so, is it available for a decent price in NZ.

I thought I'd get a really high corrupt score You answered "yes" to 36 of 97 questions, making you 62.9% BMW pure (37.1% BMW corrupt). According to the scoring guide, your bmw experience level is: You need to spend much more time with your BMW.