Snejki 10 Report post Posted July 16, 2021 Hi guys, Jake here from Slovenia. As I'm quite new to NZ I was really amazed how many Bimmers are around here - and how many fans too! Love all the work you guys do here, from mods to conversions etc. When people here started to warn me not to buy European car due to expensive spares I just couldn't put my head around it as I've been seeing so many of them. Luckily I've been DIY oriented my whole life, so I didn't care too much about the rumours and just went and bought myself a 2002 e46, 325Ci. Car had many owners and will need some work before I'm completely satisfied with it, but it's a great car to drive, except the auto transmission makes me quite sad - as an European, auto is a no go, so hopefully I'll be converting it to manual in about a year or two if budget will allow. Since purchase, I did front brakes & pads, new radiator & water pump, transmission oil & filter change. Next on are rear rotors & pads, pulleys inspection & new belts, fixing 2 tiny spots of rust, front bumper bottom sanding & repaint + slider installation. Was also looking into Mishimoto Performance Intake (anyone has one? thoughts?). Will also do a scan when cable arrives to see if there's any misfires & vacuum leaks. The car has smoked taillights - would be happy to swap for original ones if someone prefers the smoked ones. It also has black emblems on both body & wheels which I'm not a fan of, so if someone has any spare ones let me know. About the auto to manual swap - I've seen posts about HELLBM doing full conversions. Would be great to know the total price for that, but then again would also love to do it myself and learn something + test my nerves Will post some photos - I don't have any good ones as I didn't actually take time to make some yet. Cheers, looking forward to browsing through some awesome projects up here. 5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Driftit 2078 Report post Posted July 16, 2021 Welcome. There is plenty of help available on the forum. BMW's are not too expensive to run in NZ. Most of us import parts from places like FCPeuro or ECMTuning which have excellent prices. There are a number of other great suppliers too. Keep a look out for any group buys to save on shipping. I had a E46 325ci in the US a few years back. Great car. Easy to work on. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snejki 10 Report post Posted July 16, 2021 Thank you, that’s really good to know! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snejki 10 Report post Posted October 7, 2021 Been a while! Some more small work done, recently changed diff oil and also discovered a leak around valve cover gasket - replaced the gasket, but since it was my first time after quite a while doing surgical stuff around the engine bay (my last engine I opened was converting a 50cc scooter to 70cc in high school :D) the leak is still there - I guess I should clean the damn thing properly before putting it back together, silly me! What's the best way to clean VANOS? as you can see it's quite dirty: The rear rotors & pads have also been sitting at home for a couple of weeks, so that's next thing that's getting done. And I finally fitted new tyres at the rear. Then off to changing belts and pulleys which are still sitting in the cart on FCPEuro website :D I am also experiencing a quiet whine when accelerating from say 20-30km/h coming from the rear, it then comes back when cruising 50km/h with small throttle applied. After changing diff oil it got a bit quieter, but still there. What should be the first thing to consider here? Since it only does it when there's torque present. It's about time I post one photo of the car from last summer, maybe someone recognizes it: Hopefully next month we move to a new place with a garage or carport, so I can finally work on the thing at home and not at the workplace warehouse on weekends :D Plus I'm getting a company vehicle as a daily driver, so this one can stay put for a while! 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BMTHUG 1057 Report post Posted October 11, 2021 On 10/8/2021 at 10:08 AM, Snejki said: Been a while! Some more small work done, recently changed diff oil and also discovered a leak around valve cover gasket - replaced the gasket, but since it was my first time after quite a while doing surgical stuff around the engine bay (my last engine I opened was converting a 50cc scooter to 70cc in high school :D) the leak is still there - I guess I should clean the damn thing properly before putting it back together, silly me! What's the best way to clean VANOS? as you can see it's quite dirty: The rear rotors & pads have also been sitting at home for a couple of weeks, so that's next thing that's getting done. And I finally fitted new tyres at the rear. Then off to changing belts and pulleys which are still sitting in the cart on FCPEuro website I am also experiencing a quiet whine when accelerating from say 20-30km/h coming from the rear, it then comes back when cruising 50km/h with small throttle applied. After changing diff oil it got a bit quieter, but still there. What should be the first thing to consider here? Since it only does it when there's torque present. It's about time I post one photo of the car from last summer, maybe someone recognizes it: Hopefully next month we move to a new place with a garage or carport, so I can finally work on the thing at home and not at the workplace warehouse on weekends Plus I'm getting a company vehicle as a daily driver, so this one can stay put for a while! The whine could be your diff bearings, or even wheel bearings. I had the same issue once! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nick496 268 Report post Posted October 11, 2021 If you want to clean your VANOs, the "easiest" way was to boil it up in a pot with some washing powder: https://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/54588-e30-touring-m52-swap/?do=findComment&comment=656871 I was doing my VANOS seals at the time, so it had to come out anyway. But for in-situ, you would probably be best to grab a rag to cover the rest of the head, and get in there with a toothbrush + degreaser to clean most of the black stuff off, and preventing it from flying back into the engine. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snejki 10 Report post Posted October 11, 2021 Thanks Nick, good one with the boiling I do plan to eventually rebuild the VANOS unit, but cleaning it while it's in will have to do for now. This month it's just about passing the WOF, then moving the house ... so car will have to wait on some funds to pour back in. Damn pay cuts ! Will also move this to a project section once some more work gets done. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
