E30 325i Rag-Top

Very, very nice build. Wish mine was moving this fast!!

E70 X5 can have 3.5tonne towing rating if it has the factory fitted tow-bar option (3AC) plus the Increased Towing Capacity option (233), local fit tow-bars are only 2.5t. I would say that the E70 3-ltr diesel is a great tow wagon, lots of grunt, still drives nice and enough weight up-front that it doesn't get pushed about by the load. Still pretty economical when towing (and not slowly either..). Look for those options, were very popular for NZ New vehicles to be fitted with them.

What would a pair of rear discs for an X5 weigh? That would be a huge chunk of your baggage allowance surely?

With those kms things will start to be getting a bit worn and clagged up so the power will start to drop off a bit and consumption increase. Not a huge difference if servicing has been done regularly and using proper parts and fluids. Not much remedial action you can take apart from replacing parts (=$$$), I don't think the injectors can be re-built even. Should still be good for a few 0000kms yet though and will still be heaps better than a 320i.

Nice base for a race car... save replacing all those air-bags and belt tensioners, etc.

The number would probably be in GBP, not NZD. Well over 1/2 million $$$ I understand. Still a better looking SUV than that Bentley Bentayga thing.

Gave back the X2 and got a F36 430i Gran Coupe M-Sport in it's place. Much more my cup of tea.

Having had a real close look at your pics on a big screen I would be 99.9% sure it's not a protection vehicle. The window glass is standard, not three inches thick and the doors are not deep enough for the thicker steel. wheels and tyres are not the high load / bullet proof style (which could have explained the lack of Alpina rims if they were). would have been an odd choice of base car for an Alpina if it were armoured - not much performance from a M30B35 trying to move 3,500kg+ along. still a great find, a good groom and polish, fix any gremlins and would be a great cruiser. i would be tempted to find a set of Alpina style rims and keep all the badges if it were mine...

That is Farking cool. Can only be improved very slightly by painting it black and putting JPS decals on it.

Very, very hard to put a price on a car like this, as you say very few similar vehicles in the country to compare against, especially if it is the BMW NZ imported one. Also, there is a very small pool of potential buyers that would be interested in such a car plus with it being RHD then the international market is limited as well. Like most cars it also depends on how much you need to get rid of it, if you're in no rush to sell put it up for what it's worth to you, plus a bit of wriggle room and see if you get any interest then go from there. More info and pictures would help to put a round figure on it!!

Your link doesn't seem to be working, is it this one? 2015 Ex-UK Import.. https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1867211445.htm?rsqid=b3638725188046658a5e88e59ab464f9 3 crap photos and an advert full of rhetoric. No it's not the only one in NZ. Rare, yes but not the only one. And as for not making manual M3s for long... so (at least) 7 years isn't a long time then..

It's back up on TradeMe.. https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1857967673.htm?rsqid=83e03c1015d94b4585ddfeb973bb6fcf Now only $190k asking price, but still no time tickers!

Sorry to bring up the actual cars we are talking about, namely the F82 M4 and the F80 M3. This time with numbers... Total NZ New sales from launch (both launched at the same time, so apples with apples...) F80 M3 Sedan - 118 cars F82 M4 Coupe - 71 cars. May well be an anomally for NZ, I will see if I can find other market / worldwide production sales and production figures but as we live in NZ and are talking about the NZ market I would say these are the pertinent numbers. Your witness m'lud.

Would you need to change the fuel pump in the tank, and possibly the tank as well? Not sure if the engine you are looking at putting in has common-rail injection (i'm guessing it is..) which could require a more beefy lift pump to get the required pressures up to the start of the CR system, especially with diesel viscosity v petrol. Plus the fuel return tends to be at a reasonable pressure so could over-pressurise the tank - German engineers would normally make one part number for both so it's over-engineered for the petrol system, the tank venting could be slightly different though?

Hard to judge when there was no M3 Sedan for the E30, only limited time for E36, not for E46 at all. Plus also not for all markets, M3 is outselling M4 by a long way in NZ over recent years. I think this is down to the old school ideas of 2 door being a sports car for week-ends and 4 door a family car for the week being blurred by the fact that the M3 is now such a great all-rounder, it can do the school run, drive in daily traffic and also give you goose-bumps on a back road on sundays.