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H Shantelle, Andrew and Ollie are pretty much hands off these days. i`ve been giving thought to reviving some of our events, namely the Dyno Day`s we used to have. Would be great to amp up the Bimmersport site and facebook Page. Give us a call sometime to discuss. Thanks Ray Hellbm

Got a message from the panelbeater tonight that the cad was done. Went and fetched it after work, wasted no time as I was quite excited to have it back. Hired a trailer and jumped in the touareg to collect it. overall very happy with how it looks, yes there are some minor imperfections if you’re being very picky but for the money I paid you absolutely cannot complain. Rust hole is fixed (they chopped a piece of the cowl out to access it, then welded it back in and painted it blending up the a pillar), rust holes in firewall fixed, rust around boot seal lip fixed and painted, as well as entire engine bay/front structure painted. All of that cost half of what another shop had quoted for just the engine bay paintwork. next up I need to waterblast the underside of the car, strip out all the suspension and under seal the whole underside. If anyone has any reccomendations for a good underseal product that can be applied via brush/roller that would be much appreciated, unfortunately don’t have anywhere where I can spray.

Hahahah I thought I'd be clever but someone already beat me to it. Inevitable https://www.carjam.co.nz/car/?plate=nnl573

Ahhh, memories. Back in 1990 I needed a stereo for my Datsun wagon. Paul Money Car Stereo advertised in the Herald, I think I bought with a couple of phone calls, a fax and a cheque, and they sent to Wellington. Purchasing is so much easier these days with the web! I chose a Sanyo compact digital radio cassette that fit into the dasboard (twin spindles - volume and tuning) and something like 25 watts per channel, along with two way Alpine 6 inch speakers that were destined for the front doors. When it all arrived they'd sent me Alpine 6x9" 3-ways, so the plan changed and they went into the tailgate on a 10mm particle board baffle that I knocked-up. I ran decent power and earth cables to the unit, it sounded really good for what it was. I couldn't find anything to fit my constraints (the dashboard moulding) in Wellington (other than low-fi models), and nobody down here was doing the stack it high, sell it cheap model like Paul Money did.

"I want to see that one" -- ok............here you go. You're welcome.

1987 BMW M325i S1 M-Tech 1 - Rare Aero Silver Project! This isn't just any E30 – it's an original 1987 M325i S1 M-Tech 1 coupe in the incredibly rare Shadow-line 'Aero Silver' (exclusive to the SA 333i). Purchased 7 years ago as a road-legal track car from Wellington, my original vision for club events and weekend drives never fully materialized. The plan was to build a 2.8L stroked M20B25, paint the interior and cage, and add some unique 3-piece wheels. While the full build didn't happen, the roll cage is now beautifully painted to complement the Aero Silver. What makes this M325i special: Original M-Tech 1 coupe – few left in this condition. Rare Shadow-line 'Aero Silver' – truly stands out. Working electric sunroof LSD Diff. M20 BTB Performance Headers – widely considered the best on the market. Yellow Speed Racing Adjustable Suspension. Iconic leather Italvolanti steering wheel. Exceptional condition – no leaks or rust. Logbook. Current state: Rego was on hold and has now lapsed. (In dry storage for past 5 yrs) Will require an MS license to comply with W.O.F requirements. M20b25 & Getrag 260 gearbox have been removed (included with sale) F & R window screens and 2 doors removed to assist with paintwork This is a fantastic opportunity for a serious E30 enthusiast to finish what I started or build their dream machine. It's a solid, rust-free base with some highly desirable factory and aftermarket components. Price: $20,000 or nearest offer. Location: Pukekohe, Auckland. Please note: Car will not be sold on the wheels pictured. Serious buyers, please call/text 0225490061 to arrange a viewing or if you have any further questions. Happy to discuss further! will update the post with more pictures

Least desirable E30 to me. I guess there are some fans out there though. Way more cabs produced than baur convertibles. So they have the rarity thing going for them.

Loving the content James is making since leaving Donut - quirky, weirdly informative, a tad cringe at times but always funny and entertaining. Find myself craving an X3M40i all of a sudden.

Have racked up about 1500kms since the camshaft surgery and all is well. Great car to drive, rewards smoothness especially with the clutch. Penrite synthetic in the gbox has significantly reduced the notchy shifting. Wof and rbf next week then Hampton Downs on one of 2 dates end of month that isn’t expecting rain.

Yeah I get people spend a lot on their project car but unsure how much of that cost you can tack on to the sale price... Might be just getting old and grumpy though 🙂

Lots of black grill hate around here. Im definitely not in that club. I like them.

Do it, I’ll buy the diff off you

I have the new 2025 release of the evo AU/NZ maps of any one needs it.. ( map only. - you will need lifetime FSC. ) PM me.

^ Nice! Later on I got a Sony CDX-M9900 (shown in the article I linked above).Bought it from a place in Mt Smart road that had a mocked up car interior in the showroom. Big english guy ran it - had gym equipment in the workshop. Installed in my white 1995 Celica gt4. Had rca inputs on the back and you could take screen grabs from movies etc.

Well, I motored down to Christchurch last week and had two business days there to get some things done. Before leaving Nelson I sent messages to every locksmith in Christchurch who looked like they could cut & code a new key. I only got about 4 replies; one couldn't do it, one could for $220 plus the key itself, one from Dan (https://lockncode.co.nz/) for $380 total, and one referring to Dan. Dan it was. I called him late on the first day & he said come to his lockup at 4:45. It took a while through the rush-hour traffic, and on the way the Engine Management Light came on... Once reaching Dan I said I'm not sure whether to go ahead with the spend now, the EML has come on. He said no problem, I'm plugging in the computer anyway, let's see what it is. Turns out it was a transient VANEOS error, may or may not be serious. Cleared it anyway. Then he said that the FRM module had a different VIN on it, and showed as being out of an E90. Maybe that's why the rear wiper & glass hatch don't work... Dan said he knows a guy who can reflash the module for about $250, I said I'll wait & see. So he went ahead & coded then cut a new key, tested it ok, then tried it in the door lock... That's funny, he said, there's no resistance. Then he realised he could turn the lock without fully inserting the key! I don't think there's any wafers in the barrel, he said. Maybe that's why the central locking doesn't lock this door... Another big discussion, Dan explained how to get the door handle & lock barrel out with one allen key, could probably get it dealt with in Nelson. The next day while I was waiting for the radio to be recoded (see https://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/69603-e91-ccc-fm-frequency-change-in-christchurch/), I called Dan & asked him for the contact of the guy who could reprogram the FRM module. He checked first then texted me back 'Chris at Vantage Auto Diagnostics' (https://www.vantageauto.co.nz/). I went along to Vantage & spoke to Chris; very helpful & confident it could be done without risk, but in the end I decided not to spend the $250 just yet. Anyway, job done, lots & lots of extra advice from Dan (free, he wouldn't take a tip). Super helpful and highly recommended! P.S. I spotted a superbike in the loft while he was cutting the key. Turns out his business partner is an NZ champion & that was his winning bike. They'd initially met through bike racing including sidecarting. Dan is the one who gets to hang out. Nutter.

A valve cover gasket set (there are two gaskets) isn't going to break the bank regardless of where it comes from. Try BMW? Bear in mind that there are two possible gasket sets - one has a 2-hole fitting centre gasket, the other has a 5-hole fitting centre gasket. They are not interchangeable.

I’ll try, the aim is to keep it below m235i money but make it just as fun

Just try not to spend E30 M3 money on your E30 😂

Yea he's definitely dreaming.

Until someone hits buynow and you get hit with 499 in fees. It could be a genuine mistake as trademe often autopopulates categories based on the title

@Twistee see a couple of posts up. Feels like a big car when you are in it due to interior space, doesn’t feel like it in terms of the driving agility.

Assuming you going to cert it then doing adjustable toe\camber brackets could be a good idea while everything is out,. Bit of a hassle but could well pay off if the arms arent perfect and you are lowering it.

I'm now accepting offers on Trademe for this one, Bimmersporters should still contact me here first to express interest.

With that $2500 saving, I almost could've bought the $3000 blue manual 130i in CHCH that popped up on TM for half a day a few weeks back. 😢 apparently only needed the srs light sorted for a WOF.

Epic cars, it's an interesting proposition. A garage queen with low miles will hold value but, if you're going to drive it, like this one is intended, then you surely have to consider an OG M2 for ~$20k less, or a M2C for similar money (or less) right? And as driver's cars that's going to be a tight, and probably subjective, call. None came up (that I could afford) whilst looking for my M2C so unfortunately I didn't have the option. Had this been available I would have 100% considered it. But also, I agree with @Neil McCauley, these are not rare, the e46 CSL is my benchmark for "obtainable" "rare", BMW's. I can't see the 1M reaching those levels.

That thing is classy AF. What's the general feeing on 1M resale / purchasing... there's not a huge amount of recent history to go on.

Have watched both episodes - love the nonchalant, no BS approach. Keep them coming.

Welcome. Looks like your well prepared to handle it.

An anonymous post in the E34 NZ page was about this car the other day... "Hey guys just as a warning I would recommend staying far away from the diesel wagon currently for sale on TradeMe: https://www.trademe.co.nz/.../cars/bmw/listing/5313690264... I've seen the car in person. It is not like the seller is advertising at all. He is being very deceitful about large parts of the car. He touts it as tidy and straight while almost every single panel has either missing paint down to primer, or is completely the wrong colour. It seems like it was attacked with brake fluid or paint stripper. It would need a full respray at the minimum. Further he claims the interior is in great condition - this is also untrue. He tries to hide these things with the photos. No photos of the car dry, no photos of the car from the side, or the mismatched white rear bumper. No photos of the boot interior which is definitely not in great condition. I have attached some pictures that show the true state of the car. He is also being deceitful about the legality of the car. He claims the car will be sold with fresh wof upon sale, which might be true depending on when he sells it. But the listing claims the wof expires this month, which is untrue, it expired in August last year. Further in the comments he claims that he "spent money on [the car] and got it legal" - this is untrue as the car still currently does not have a warrant of fitness according to the NZTA. It should be noted too that the car is not certified for the manual conversion, which is required in this case, another thing not disclosed on the listing. The car is notorious for its idle issue that has persisted through its big list of owners of the past couple years. Another thing conveniently left off the listing. I cannot prove it has been fixed in this case, but it is likely that considering all the other big feats he mentions in the listing about the value of the car he would have mentioned this. I have attached a video of the idle issue posted by the seller only 10 days ago. I would seriously avoid the car at all costs. Do not even bother viewing the car in person, it is a waste of time and you will be disappointed. The car is simply too far gone and taking any effort to go see it will be wasted. In the comments someone jokingly asks the seller if he would take 5k. If this was you I would be afraid that the seller would take you up on this offer. The car in its current state is worth nowhere near 5k. I would say avoid going anywhere near this car for more than $1500. I was going to ask the seller why he was being deceitful about the listing. Unfortunately I have been blacklisted from posting more questions on the listing. I simply want people to be aware of the reality of the car."

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/car-parts-accessories/bmw/gear-boxes/listing/5316250885 cheap custom front half, does the rear bolt up on an E30? If you need an E36 rear half to match I've got one for a box of piss if you pick it up

@Sammo what did you use the dye the rear parcel shelf? Have mine out currently and badly needs the same treatment.

Sharp price these days

Given I am selling the same car (on behalf) I will collude on price for the time being haha

Lol, the UN offers, sadly I know what you mean!

Mine is now listed on Trademe also, the free listings today gave me the necessary kick in the arse (and rewarded my procrastination). Bimmersport members should contact me here first if they're interested. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/5313134381

The past few months have been real hectic, we've been too busy developing a new human for me to spend any real time in the garage so haven't made enough progress to warrant an update. Should finally have a bit of time this weekend though so will see if I manage to get anywhere with it. Coincidentally, yesterday marked 1 year since we bought it but it's no closer to being back on the road. The co-owner mate had lost interest in it and being parked up in another mate's paddock on the opposite end of town I've just had too much going on to take on an hour long round trip every time I wanted to work on it. So about a month ago the mate loaded it onto a trailer and dropped it into my driveway so now I can slowly tinker away at it whenever I have a bit of time. All I've done so far is disconnect the DME and inspect it. What I found was some oil on the main engine harness plug that had migrated along the wiring from one of the sensors/solenoids all the way to the DME, which is apparently a thing that happens... In our case it's just a tiny amount that I could see but the car hasn't run in a good 4 years now so it might have had more there and it's just dried out over time. In any case, I sprayed both ends down with contact cleaner spray, then took the DME out of its casing to inspect for any other damage that might stand out but all looked fine to my unscrupulous eye. That's about as far as I've gotten with it so far, am yet to reinstall the DME back into the car to see if that did anything. I want to again remove the intake manifold and give everything a going over before attempting another start, will then check/clean the ignition switch and try resync the DME to the EWS and eliminate that as a possible culprit. This car would make a nice base for an M54 swap but with a barely 3-month old daughter keeping us on our toes and being down to one income I won't have the time nor the finances to turn it into a proper project any time soon. So my hopes are to get this thing running well enough that I can daily drive it for a few years, then see how I feel about it further down the line. If I don't manage to bring it back to life soon then I'll unfortunately be forced to put it out of its misery.

Decided to revisit this issue since the frequency of it happening seems to have increased of late. I had previously installed new HID bulbs, which made no difference. Next up was the ballast, which I managed to grab a spare of. Fun fact - the E46 shares the same part number with the first gen (BMW-era) Mini, of which there was plenty of at Pick-A-Part so I nabbed a newer 2006 production date one. Seemed to work at first but a few drives later the issue resurfaced. I then dug a bit deeper and took the lid off the housing where the ballast connects to only to discover this: The insulation on the wiring had gone real brittle and was cracked throughout and one of the brown ground wires seemed to be crushed by the seal, leaving the metal completely exposed. Not even sure how to remedy this properly, rewiring seems like a mammoth task to get right looking at the way all the wires are intertwined. For the time being I just cleaned up the most obviously damaged part and wrapped it in electrical tape to at least somewhat isolate it. At one point I also scored a spare xenon headlight from Pick-A-Part when one eventually turned up. Testing it out it fired up straight away without any issues so I'm hoping the internals on that are in better state than my current one. Unfortunately, the casing on it is pretty rough and has several clips and tabs broken off so it's not a straight swap in its current state. I will need to dissect the light and hopefully make one good one out of the two I have. As of a few weeks ago, poor Barbara got kicked out of her cosy garage to make room for this ol' nugget that I'm still trying to resurrect. Ever since sitting outside I started noticing the problematic driver's side headlight also suffering from moisture buildup inside the housing and the issue of it failing to fire up has become noticeably more frequent, failing to light up at all on several occasions in the past week, no matter how many times I cycled the switch. I'll need to order a strip of butyl and reseal both headlights properly, and will combine that with swapping out the internals on the driver's side light. This project has all of a sudden bumped itself to the top of the priorities list, although it's not without competition. So as things stand, I've got a broken 316ti occupying the garage, a broken X5 occupying the driveway and a touring with a broken headlight relegated to street parking. BMW life in a nutshell.

thanks @elias Looking forward to seeing how you progress once you get your car back from the shop!

The M340i wagon is a superb bit of kit but there are better examples around for much less asking. And what’s with the plastic wrapping on the steering wheel..??

116's are unreliable. If it were a 6 cylinder if it would of made it.

Well, I motored down to Christchurch last week and had two business days there to get some things done. An online search led me first to https://soundworks.net.nz/. Greg was very helpful, although his guy was away for the week, he knew someone else and would check for me. In the meantime a further search turned up this promising result: https://protechsolutions.co.nz/products/bmw-ccc-radio-conversion-from-japan-to-new-zealand?_pos=2&_sid=64a66e6ba&_ss=r Exactly what I want, so I booked them first thing next morning. On arrival they stated 'No play, no pay!', so I said go ahead! After half an hour Greg phoned back & said he'd found someone who could do it that day - I said thanks, but it's being done right now... Well, turns out that while they could extend the FM band from JP to NZ, they couldn't get any reception - apparently some of the code had already been messed with, so the usual fix didn't work. While they were undoing their attempt, I called Greg back & said 'Help!' He said come & see him after lunch. In the meantime I headed to Vantage Auto Diagnostics (https://www.vantageauto.co.nz/) for another issue (see https://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/69604-e91-key-fob-required/), and quickly figured out this was where Greg was going to send me after lunch. When I saw Greg later, sure enough he said go straight to Vantage - since I'd been mucked about already, he didn't want to clip the ticket as well. So back to Vantage, where young Christopher seems to know the BMW computers inside out, and he got stuck in straight away - with a quote only 2/3 of the first attempt! 40 odd minutes later he was done, only one issue - everything worked as desired, station names and reception perfect, except the manual tuning mode didn't show the full NZ frequency range. Apparently some of the code had already been messed with, so the usual fix didn't work fully! I departed happily for the city, wandered around & had a coffee. Went back to the car about 3:30, started the car, and - no AM or FM functionality at all. Bugger. Long weekend about to start... I drove straight back to Vantage & luckily Christopher was still there. I explained the issue and he wasn't too happy, but he hooked up his diagnostics & went to work. Half an hour later he said it was all done, even better than before. Because apparently some of the code had already been messed with, he'd bitten the bullet & done a full reflash of the 5 CCC modules. Now it all worked perfectly, even giving me SW and LW alongside MW. I was so pleased with his work I paid him the extra 1/3, and headed for the hills with local stations blasting! Honestly I can't recommend these companies highly enough for there willingness to help out at short notice. Top guys!

Whilst this is true, 70% isn't enough to lift the labels so you gotta start high. Now, having said that, I didn't need to soak them for long enough to actually worry too much about evap, the towels were still moist as I lifted the labels. I went in unsure, some internet "facts" say you need to leave it soaking for 15 mins, I didn't have to wait that long.

New neighbour has some toys

Come on guys. back in the mid-80's when an Alpine Cassette head unit was king, they were running around NZD750 before you added a graphic and an amp or two. A Nakamichi was more like a grand or $1200 - and god did they sound good. Here's a 7273 from 1985 - if you had this, some amps and decent speakers you were - worried every time you parked your car! (stolen without permission - tried to link. Thanks to http://magnitola.org/attachments/golovnye-ustroistva/1272233d1553761180-Magnitola-Avtozvuk-img_0086.jpg ... And in '89/90 and a good CD deck was a grand - yes A Thousand Dollars with an amp, installed... and it skipped on bumps on the way to the mountain, needed an external amp just like yer Nak tape deck did. The TD1200 - OMG. $900 for a Blaupunkt in today's dollars? Not a lot, really. The phone in your pocket is probably worth more than two grand. Then there's the KMM-BT408. The Kenwood mechless decks actually sounds good if you feed em WAV files. Cost buttons, really, to boot. Just a thought @deedub - those guys doing bluetooth conversions on old gear probably charge more than you're expecting because they need to make sure it works for you for a good while.

VDO\Continental make a few different ones, not as cheap as they used to be though.I put a TR7412UB in my old Mercedes which matched quite well.

Drivers seat all done. Welded lower base as per previous post, welded one of the tabs that the backrest screws into and recovered the seat in brand new fabric. Still need to put in the new seat shocks but the seat feels fantastic. Hopefully the passengers seat doesn't involve too much welding!

Jeebus.