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Nzrooney

What would you buy for 10k?

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I'll throw my vote in for 130i. I foolishly but still happy picked up a low km 120i (130i's were substantially more expensive a couple of years back so no regrets) as my 'daily' (I drove only 3800kms in 18 months!). Looking back, the 120i has never satisfied that itch that my old 330i did, which has led directly to me building and rebuilding a N54 to drop into a 135i...so my 'do the sensible thing and save myself some money' really ultimately cost me more. I suspect the 130i would have more than scratched the itch for me. 

There is certainly hell of a lot less to fix on the 130is vs the N54/N55s...

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1 hour ago, KwS said:

155km on an N54/N55 with no history of turbo, hpfp, injectors, coils or trans service. Lol, good luck.

Fumy on the Us forums they say that 150k miles is when you need to start worrying.

Edited by Herbmiester

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1 hour ago, Herbmiester said:

Fumy on the Us forums they say that 150k miles is when you need to start worrying.

Maybe we just drive the cars 1.6 times harder. 

Edited by lord_jagganath
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Or vastly different climates and driving conditions. I'd be chucking aside a big wad of cash if that work hadnt been done already at those kms.

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On 5/28/2020 at 9:41 PM, m325i said:

 

Sorry to randomly hijack, but is this the same car? Can only make a few letters of the reg out and looks to be the same given the description of the paint etc.

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7 hours ago, displayname said:

 

Sorry to randomly hijack, but is this the same car? Can only make a few letters of the reg out and looks to be the same given the description of the paint etc.

Yeah that's it.

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9 hours ago, displayname said:

 

Sorry to randomly hijack, but is this the same car? Can only make a few letters of the reg out and looks to be the same given the description of the paint etc.

Damn - great spotting - looks like it - I can see MBEXXX, the same chintzy door speakers and its a Wellington car, same spec and colour.

Someone has either done a good job tidying it up or looking to make a few $$$

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Wow, I'm watching that on tardme. Looks like a nice well sorted car in the listing. I wonder if they fixed the rusty sill and cracked chassis?

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3 hours ago, NZ BMW said:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mercedesbenz/auction-2636844968.htm

It’s no M3 but hard to see how you could get more for your money. There’s a lot cheaper than this but with higher kms.

Uhhh, you could just get a C55 instead?

https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mercedesbenz/auction-2582066460.htm?rsqid=fe496c989eae427bb642d23c466d7606-001

 

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I test drove a C55 a while back and despite being reflashed I was left feeling very unimpressed. Not fast, very lazy, but made good noises. Didnt handle that well either, felt too heavy for its size. I wonder if the supercharged V6 is a bit more urgent in its power delivery?

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20 minutes ago, KwS said:

I test drove a C55 a while back and despite being reflashed I was left feeling very unimpressed. Not fast, very lazy, but made good noises. Didnt handle that well either, felt too heavy for its size. I wonder if the supercharged V6 is a bit more urgent in its power delivery?

Yep that's what I thought as well, nice sound but biased toward luxury rather than handling, not really fast either. Plus its a Benz so if maintenance costs on BMWs are scary prepare to be terrified. Doesn't help either that late 90s early Noughties Benz's were a low point for the brand as far as quality went, a fact Benz themselves acknowledged. 

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Thats my 325i SE on Trademe that i purchased off Mikan. Its actually a really solid car now despite the milage and history. There is still a lot that could be done to it to bring it back to its original SE spec and i will slowly chip away on it if it doesnt sell. Getting rid of those terrible door speakers is top of the list.

I only listed it because Trademe had a list your car for free day so thought why not. I dont need to sell it and enjoy driving it even if it is only once a week to pop down to the shops. The price I would i would let it go for is purely what its worth to me.

The odd situation with the chassis damage was quite a quick and easy fix. There was no "cracking" of the chassis as such, just the spot welds on one side of the beam that the back of the diff mounts to had started to come away. Never seen or heard of that before.

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1 hour ago, slideways said:

Thats my 325i SE on Trademe that i purchased off Mikan. Its actually a really solid car now despite the milage and history. There is still a lot that could be done to it to bring it back to its original SE spec and i will slowly chip away on it if it doesnt sell. Getting rid of those terrible door speakers is top of the list.

I only listed it because Trademe had a list your car for free day so thought why not. I dont need to sell it and enjoy driving it even if it is only once a week to pop down to the shops. The price I would i would let it go for is purely what its worth to me.

The odd situation with the chassis damage was quite a quick and easy fix. There was no "cracking" of the chassis as such, just the spot welds on one side of the beam that the back of the diff mounts to had started to come away. Never seen or heard of that before.

Good job on tidying it up, looks almost like a different car from the state it was previously in. $9K is a pretty reasonable ask too considering E30 tax and all. Was going to ask you on TM if it was the same car, but the Q&A warriors of justice would've had a field day.

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Benz is no worse than BMW for costs.  But I certainly wouldn't buy a c32/c55, just not fun.

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3 hours ago, Herbmiester said:

Yep that's what I thought as well, nice sound but biased toward luxury rather than handling, not really fast either. Plus its a Benz so if maintenance costs on BMWs are scary prepare to be terrified. Doesn't help either that late 90s early Noughties Benz's were a low point for the brand as far as quality went, a fact Benz themselves acknowledged. 

I’ve owned a couple of Mercedes. I actually think they are more durable/reliable than BMW. For example none of my Mercedes ever had a cooling system failure at around 100k kms like all my BMWs have. I’ve also had a lot less suspension work on them, I assume owing to being less sporty.  
 

I think fun depends on what you’re looking for.... AMGs in my mind are more muscle cars than sporty. 

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3 hours ago, Herbmiester said:

Yep that's what I thought as well, nice sound but biased toward luxury rather than handling, not really fast either. Plus its a Benz so if maintenance costs on BMWs are scary prepare to be terrified. Doesn't help either that late 90s early Noughties Benz's were a low point for the brand as far as quality went, a fact Benz themselves acknowledged. 

That is true but the M112 and 113 engines are pretty much bullet proof and the 5 speeds aren’t too bad either. 
Despite the myths, with those engine choices they are a pretty solid car. Dull compared to an M3 (price and desirability reflects that), but would likely be a cheaper car to run over all. 
 

As for $10k and not BMW. DC2 or DC5 integra type R. Ford Focus XR5, VW Golf Mk4 R32. 
Or what about a B5 S4 Audi? Kinda cool, probably for nostalgic reasons to us millenials. 

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4 hours ago, GorGasm said:

I would rather own the other and with much lower kms personally, although a wagon appeals to a lot of people. 

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6 hours ago, KwS said:

I test drove a C55 a while back and despite being reflashed I was left feeling very unimpressed. Not fast, very lazy, but made good noises. Didnt handle that well either, felt too heavy for its size. I wonder if the supercharged V6 is a bit more urgent in its power delivery?

They’re chalk and cheese. The C32K is an E36 M3 for grown ups. That wagon down in chch would be my pick, but it’s over priced. They‘ll be considered some of AMG’s finest work in the coming years. 

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