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mechaet posted:I've handed 15K in cash to someone before for an M3. As long as proper precautions are taken, it's every bit as no-hassle as the $1500 transaction. I'd be ok with doing this, but I'm not showing up for a test drive with that money in hand.
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Mar 27, 2016 13:44
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Looking to spend around $10k on a DD in the next 6 months, doing some research quickly lead to a bunch of articles about why the e39 540i is the one true king of sub $10k drivers cars.....about 5 years ago. Did I miss the boat? If every gear head and teenager knew this was THE sub $10k car to buy and beat to death that leaves either tired/worn down or beautifully maintained perfect examples, the former being much more prevalent. It seems exceptionally difficult to find clean examples that aren't horrendously overpriced or well under book but sitting on the market for months (I'm not an expert but for a car as seemingly popular as this that screams NOPE) My criterea in order of importance: 1. Not a boring rear end econobox or a mustang.....or a corvette 2. Manual 3. Handling/nimbleness is more important than raw power, my daily commute will involve a lot of windy new England back roads 3. ....but still no loving miatas, at least 200hp, I'm god drat 6'3" and almost 30 4. FR....but I know this cuts out a lot of decent jap mobiles so it's flexible, AWD is okay on newer vehicles b/c winter sucks, but I am wary of the added components/failure points on older models. 5. Reliability with proper maintenance ( I'm eager and willing to pull wrench, I've always done my own oil/brakes and have done head a head gasket and valve timing in my day.) 6. Fuel economy is irrelevant 7. Creature comforts, if I have to go with a computer mobile I want it to at least have some modern amenities, but this isn't that important, aftermarket AUX input at minimum. So where does that leave me as far as BMWs and any other cars go?
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Mar 27, 2016 16:13
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GTDr. Zoidberg posted:Looking to spend around $10k on a DD in the next 6 months, doing some research quickly lead to a bunch of articles about why the e39 540i is the one true king of sub $10k drivers cars.....about 5 years ago. I don't understand what you are asking. Plug all those criteria into autotrader and see what pops up. Also 'jap' is not the preferred nomenclature, man.
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Mar 27, 2016 16:34
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Pr0kjayhawk posted:
I haven't exactly been looking at E46's very long, but since it would seem that EAG has the non-molested manual market locked the gently caress up, the E9x is looking better and better. It looks like $30-35k can get you cars with similar mileage in similar condition.
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Mar 27, 2016 16:49
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So yesterday me and a friend went 150 miles to check out a 1995 M3 that he ended up buying:    He paid $6250 for it, six for the car and the rest for a set of spare wheels and tires. The pros: Long list of tasteful upgrades, including a Dinan exhaust and chip. Long list of receipts and records Came with new front control arms uninstalled, all rear bushings already done, very well kept mechanically The cons: Some small areas of rust, mostly on the trunk lid. 200,000 miles The interior was kind of ratty (loose door card on one side, no fabric on underside of sunroof) Needs front swaybar and endlink bushings I think it was a fair price given what I've seen, especially since it's a nice year (OBD1) and color. It's going to be primarily an autocrossing / track car. He's been feeling the itch for some time, autocrossing his E90 330xi which is his daily. I'm kind of biased since I had a white E36 and I think they're beautiful. I got to drive it most of the way home, and it's an amazing machine. Brought back a lot of fond memories even though mine wasn't an M3. Sounds incredible, handles incredibly, has a wonderful amount of power at all RPMs. It was the first legitimate M3 I'd ever driven, and I'm pretty jealous. There was a bit of a scare though, we were about to leave and he'd signed over the title for his 318ti instead. Turns out it was a mistake but we had to go all the way back to his bank (since in Ohio a notary has to be involved in the title transfer) and we got it sorted in the end, but the adrenaline was going there for a little bit. Of course we'd already handed over the cash at that point too (which was given back until we got the title sorted out).
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Mar 27, 2016 17:12
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fknlo posted:I haven't exactly been looking at E46's very long, but since it would seem that EAG has the non-molested manual market locked the gently caress up, the E9x is looking better and better. It looks like $30-35k can get you cars with similar mileage in similar condition. I have a buddy that bought an e46 M3 with 32k miles for $26k last year. At the time I thought he was insane paying that much but now it's looking like a bargain. Honestly if I didn't need to fit a rear-facing car set in the back I'd probably be looking at an e46. I think the E90 is just big enough to handle one without forcing the front seat too far forward but I don't get the impression the e46 can accommodate. But a manual E90 with less than 50k miles is looking to be in the 35-40 range now. Which is fine really... I haven't found anything else on the market that can do what it does. It's worth a few bucks to find a good example and I feel like they've done a majority of the depreciating that they're going to do. It also opens up my budget for a track car next year.
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Mar 27, 2016 17:14
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Zoom Zoom, motherfuckers
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Dislike button posted:I don't understand what you are asking. Plug all those criteria into autotrader and see what pops up. Also 'jap' is not the preferred nomenclature, man. There's plenty of hits for those specs, what I'm asking, in the parlance of our time, is there any newer gems like the 540i WAS 5 years ago, that aren't that loving old and sketchy. Or would I be better off waiting for a unicorn cause there's just nothing like it anymore. ....and that's just like, your opinion man GTDr. Zoidberg fucked around with this message at 17:27 on Mar 27, 2016 |
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Mar 27, 2016 17:23
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Pr0kjayhawk posted:I have a buddy that bought an e46 M3 with 32k miles for $26k last year. At the time I thought he was insane paying that much but now it's looking like a bargain. For reference, this and this seem to be the bottom end of the clean, stock manuals offered by EAG. $5k or so less and I'd be pretty drat interested. Which is probably still more than what they paid for them. Any time a clean car gets posted on any of the forums there's inevitably an "In before EAG" post. So you have to be on top of listings and get lucky to snatch up something before they get to it. Might be able to get stuff that's only locally listed on smaller craigslist cities? There are a decent number of E9x M3's within a couple thousand dollars of those 2 cars with similar mileage. Hell, a good number of the E9x cars EAG has are listed lower than their E46's. Probably just another car I should have started looking for a couple years ago 
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Mar 27, 2016 20:33
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e34 540's were Nikasil in '95, weren't they? I would mandate a leakdown test. Beautiful car otherwise. 96-97 are my favorite bmw v8 years - after nikasil, before VANOS. Very little to gently caress up.
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Mar 27, 2016 20:42
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Jonny 290 posted:96-97 are my favorite bmw v8 years - after nikasil, before VANOS. Very little to gently caress up. I don't believe the V8s were ever known for VANOS problems. Timing chain guides and valve cover gaskets, sure, but never VANOS issues.
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Mar 27, 2016 21:05
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True, it's not particularly fragile but it's just not there in those years. I'll take the tiny hit on torks to just take them out of the equation.
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Mar 27, 2016 21:08
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blk posted:Which convertible has more interior and rear seat space? E46 or E92? E92. The cars have grown every generation, so the new ones are always gonna be larger than the old ones. Pr0kjayhawk posted:I think the E90 is just big enough to handle one without forcing the front seat too far forward but I don't get the impression the e46 can accommodate. Can confirm that the front passenger seat is basically unusable with a rear-facing infant seat behind it on the E46 platform.
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Mar 27, 2016 22:25
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If a nikasil motor is still running it's probably not going to fail at this point. The non-vanos M62s are great because they seem to be really strong for some reason. Dynos show them making really good power stock.
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Mar 27, 2016 22:27
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 http://tucson.craigslist.org/cto/5474493588.html Mother of god. Yes, I'm looking for another E30.
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Mar 27, 2016 22:40
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Diggin those wheels. Do it. Don't loving sell it this time!
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Mar 27, 2016 23:38
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BlackMK4 posted:
drat, buy that car. Once you go E30 you always come back.
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Mar 27, 2016 23:57
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BraveUlysses posted:Don't loving sell it this time!
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Mar 28, 2016 01:03
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Does anyone know a good way to pull the RTABs on an '06 325i? The only guides I can find online are for E46s, and I don't know if they're set up the same.
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Mar 28, 2016 20:23
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Funzo posted:Does anyone know a good way to pull the RTABs on an '06 325i? The only guides I can find online are for E46s, and I don't know if they're set up the same. http://www.pelicanparts.com/BMW/tec...Replacement.htm ?
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Mar 28, 2016 20:32
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How the hell did I not see that? Thanks. I suppose now I have to try and get my hands on a bushing removal tool somewhere.
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Mar 28, 2016 22:00
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Funzo posted:How the hell did I not see that? Thanks. On my E36, I used an air chisel. That one looks a bit smaller, but it might be able to work if you have access to one. It isn't like you care if the bushing is in a hundred pieces, right?
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Mar 28, 2016 22:03
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Buy the tool, it makes life so much easier.
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Mar 28, 2016 22:05
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Funzo posted:How the hell did I not see that? Thanks. I had an 06 325 previously, and definitely ran into E46 vs E90 a bunch of times. Tischer sent me the wrong rotors once (they were good about correcting that). The split refresh was a pain in the rear end. Now I have an 09 that's a early LCI. Woo. If something keeps giving you weird results, just pretend it's an 07, the engine tune is the only difference.
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Mar 28, 2016 22:09
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BlackMK4 posted:Buy the tool, it makes life so much easier. Any recommendations? I'd much rather use the right tool then hack the old one out.
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Mar 28, 2016 22:33
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Pr0kjayhawk posted:I have a buddy that bought an e46 M3 with 32k miles for $26k last year. At the time I thought he was insane paying that much but now it's looking like a bargain. Honestly if I didn't need to fit a rear-facing car set in the back I'd probably be looking at an e46. I think the E90 is just big enough to handle one without forcing the front seat too far forward but I don't get the impression the e46 can accommodate. I'm looking to pick something up within the next year or so and can't decide between an E92 (or possibly an M4) and a Cayman GTS. That V8 is calling to me, but the E92s aren't getting any younger and the fact that Porsche's moving to Turbo-4s is making me lean towards the Cayman.
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Mar 28, 2016 22:35
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E30 front end is so good I could watch an entire music video featuring it... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVUyyHYkBHk sorry, im 
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Mar 29, 2016 05:05
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My 2005 E46 330ci automatic rolled over 80,000 a few months ago and I am knuckling down to rebuild the cooling system. Both belts as well as the acc. idler and tension pulleys were done at 61,000. The expansion tank, lower rad. hose and aux fan switch were replaced at 70,000. That was all done over the last ~ 4.5 years at a great local BMW shop, as I didn't have the knowledge/tools/confidence to do any of it myself. I'm sick of paying labor and have been collecting tools over the last few years while rebuilding my Jeep, as well as maintaining various motorcycles and friend/family cars. All of that included several cooling system overhauls so it's time to do this right myself. I'm the second owner; previous owner had all work done at the dealer. It's a California car and I generally drive it about 5,000 or less a year. Going by the guide on E46 Fanatics and skipping parts that have already been done (aside from the lower rad hose because meh), I'm looking at the following: Radiator - Behr 17119071519 Water Pump - Saleri 11517509985 Water Pump Pulley Bolts - 07119904524 Radiator Hose Upper - Rein OEM 17127510952 Radiator Hose Lower - Rein OEM 11531436408 Thermostat - Wahler 11537509227 Coolant Temp Sensor - OEM 13621433077 Water Pump Pulley - OEM 11511436590 Coolant Drain Crush Washer - 07119963200 Expansion Tank Mounting Plate - BMW 17111436251 Expansion Tank Thermostat - BMW 17111437362 Fan Blade - BMW 11521712058 Fan Clutch - Behr 11527505302 I think that about covers it. Questions:
I also need to order one of those ECU cooling fan blower motors - it sits up against the firewall near the driver footwell and when the bearings dry out it causes cricket noises. Mine sounds like a whole plague of crickets, so it needs replacing. I'm getting conflicting searches for the part number on a 2005 330CI auto (production date 9/2004). I punched my VIN into RealOEM and according to this diagram it looks like I need part 12907571019. Anyone else who has replaced the part and can confirm? My girlfriend has an upcoming surgery that will keep her recovering in bed for a week or so, during which I will be Mr. Nurse and therefore required to be within yelling distance when not at work. I was afraid of going stir-crazy, so this should keep me occupied in the gaps between making cups of tea. I'm a big fan of while you're in there so other suggestions are welcome 
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Mar 29, 2016 05:28
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I dont think you need the Expansion Tank Mounting Plate, just be careful removing the old one. At least that's my plan. I bought all the poo poo for this last summer and still haven't done it. I'm at 108k miles on original cooling system.
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Mar 29, 2016 06:37
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Residency Evil posted:I'm looking to pick something up within the next year or so and can't decide between an E92 (or possibly an M4) and a Cayman GTS. That V8 is calling to me, but the E92s aren't getting any younger and the fact that Porsche's moving to Turbo-4s is making me lean towards the Cayman. A friend of mine talked me out of getting a new M3 by saying it would depreciate enough in two years to buy a nice S2000. If you're trying to decide between the E92 or a 981 GTS I'd get the Porsche every single time. If I didn't need functional back seats I'd be searching for a 997.2 C2S. Four years ago I bought a Boxster Spyder and it was simply phenomenal. Brilliant on the track and compliant on the street. It was my daily driver for two years. The 981 GTS would be very similar. Personally I couldn't bring myself to spend the 70-80k most of them are going for but I tend to shy away from newer cars unless they're going to hold their value (which the Spyder did). Staying with the Cayman family I'd pick up an R with LWB for low 60s if I had to spend that much. Low 50s gets you a manual Spyder with buckets. If I had 75-80 to spend on a Porsche right now I'd hand it to the first 997.1 GT3 I saw in that range that passed PPI.
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Mar 29, 2016 06:43
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Are 997.1 GT3's really that affordable now?
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Mar 29, 2016 07:26
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I'm almost ready to start the 6 speed swap on my e34 540. I have a trans from e39, IE lightweight flywheel, sachs clutch, mounts, shifter etc. The only part that is giving me trouble is the manual pedal box, given I need it LHD  Is anyone familiar with modifying the auto pedal box to accept a clutch? I've heard everything from 'it takes 5 minutes' to 'don't bother ever'. I can get a box shipped from the UK for about $150 which is fine, but if I can avoid the delay & pain I'd prefer that. I can't wait until its ready - there were very few 540/6's brought here so they go for a pretty penny if the swap is done well. Once I'm using it as a daily I'll pull the e30 off the road and slam the 885 head onto the eta block I've been building, then look at an ECU (Haltech?) & add some boost! One project at a time though.
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Mar 29, 2016 11:10
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Pr0kjayhawk posted:A friend of mine talked me out of getting a new M3 by saying it would depreciate enough in two years to buy a nice S2000. Any chance you have PMs or an e-mail? Don't want to clutter the BMW thread up with Porsche talk.
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Mar 29, 2016 14:52
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im da bes
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Mar 29, 2016 15:27
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Actual 5 lug conversion? 
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Mar 29, 2016 16:40
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BlackMK4 posted:Actual 5 lug conversion? 4 lug running on Ronal LS. I want to go 5 lug but I'm nervous. The max wheel size I want is 16'', and I don't know if thats doable with E36 M3 parts.
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Mar 29, 2016 16:44
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It is but you're limited to a very small list of wheels that will fit.
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Mar 29, 2016 17:04
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BlackMK4 posted:
This post was two days ago so I'm assuming you bought this by now. You should. You need this. If it was closer to me I would consider this - look how immaculately clean that interior and engine bay are! Not just enthusiast owned but not lazy enthusiast (like me)
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Mar 29, 2016 21:29
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The Royal Nonesuch posted:
I don't know if the expansion tank mounting bracket is 100% necessary or not, but a good rule of thumb is that anything in a BMW engine compartment that carries coolant and is made of plastic should be replaced every 60k. I'd replace it just because. On that note - absolutely replace the fan. It's also made of BMW plastic and, while it doesn't follow the "carries coolant" rule, has spent its entire life spinning at high speed in a hot engine compartment. I don't know about the E36, but on the E31 and others they've been known to get brittle with age and finally fail. When they go, they throw high speed blade shrapnel through everything. At a minimum, your fan shroud gets destroyed and you get nice dimples in your hood, if you're lucky. I've heard tales of flying blades puncturing radiators and tearing through hoses too. That said, I was able to find a fan from a reputable manufacturer for my car for a lot less than $70, but again I'm not familiar with the E36 at all so YMMV.
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Mar 30, 2016 00:36
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The Royal Nonesuch posted:Tools - anything special I need? I have a full kit of 3/8 and 1/2 metric in regular and deep, plenty of extensions/adapters, a 150-piece driver bit set, in-lbs and ft-lbs torque wrenches, regular and stubby metric Gearwrench ratchets and assorted other basics. You're going to need a long, thin 32mm wrench to remove the fan clutch.
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Mar 30, 2016 02:27
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I recommend the bavauto fan wrench because it can do the m20 and the m5x.
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Mar 30, 2016 03:32
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