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My mechanic told me my one is the best one in the world, and he knows everything about cars... No, lets not go there Sounds like we are all agreed then, get it checked for rust? You could pop over on the ferry, Toby. Make a day of it, check it over, and your mate drives it home. So much more interesting than putting it on a truck.

Haha yea it was a lucky find. I'll be concentrating on getting the ute finally finished before I start cutting this E38 up ? but I'll start looking for interior bits for this, hopefully someone is wrecking an iL with black interior

Got them fitted. Smoother ride going from 19 inch to 18s. Think I can up the stiffness on my coilovers a tad now. The rears rub on some bumps and dibs, makes a nasty sound. Seems to be the outer edge touching the inside of the rear fender. Need a touch of camber or ride height increase there I think. Having the old wheels, tyres and new intercooler sitting in the car probably didn't help with that though. Happy with the look, fitment looks how I want it to look And I had them pop in the BMW caps rather than the Apex ones

oh, I get it. I've owned an e30, I've driven many. I understand them and get what they are. However in terms of making a rational purchase of a sub-$3k car where the downside is potentially double the purchase price, we're not talking about someone with a $10k project budget where the start is $2500 and there's plenty for whatever shows up. I get the sense that $2500 is where it's at... so buy the best car you can. A 6 cyl e46 is a much better car than a 4cyl e30 with both cars at $3k. By all means, take the hair-shirt approach, if fashion's more important.

it'll be great to see progress resume in the ute, Francois.

You know its going to need work, save the cost of the inspection and spend it fixing it up. Just my 2 cents.

Hi all. Have just joined this forum due to my purchase yesterday of a 2002 330d auto. Has travelled 185,000 kms and is a New Zealand new example. Colour, I believe, is Steel Grey?. From what i have discovered so far, it was originally sold in Tauranga, and most imprtantly has a well documented service history. I have been exposed to BMW's via my younger brother, he has owned a 1997? 320i and sold that to purchase a 2010? 330d. I also have some experience with BMW electrics.....in my 2 2003 Rover 75 Tourers, a my 2002 MG ZT 190! But I had better not go there on this forum with those cars I guess!! I am looking forward to reading up on many threads and learning as much as I can about this exceptional vehicle. Cheers, Graeme (Worksie)

Welcome - it's the same colour as my E53 X5

on paper? no mate, it's had more than a decade's subsequent development experience from BMW engineers - and their partners - rolled into it. Everything they'd learned from the e21, e30, e36 is in there! They didn't make a worse car. They made one with more grip. More comfort. Better brakes. Better steering. It's heavier, not because they couldn't be arsed making it lighter, but because they needed to make it stronger - and at the price-point couldn't afford to put in more alloy than they already had. They gave it more horsepower, and 24 valves, and more torque, and all the advancements of fuel injection and emmissions and transmission and traction control. Most significantly: although you can't throw the e46 around like an old crisp packet, you arrive in Turangi feeling better for crossing the desert road in an e46 because it's more precise, and because you're worrying less about the previous owner's bodges, and are further away from exceeding the performance envelope of the vehicle. You know that if that eejit coming the other way gets it wrong and you have a 'coming together' you'll be better off in the e46 when the laws of physics have argued it out, than in the e30. The e46 fails on the basics of the Lotus approach (add lightness), and some of the "fun" of the e30 has been engineered out in favour of betterment. There are still some very good examples out there, but their price is climbing well into vaunted classic territory. By all means, buy an e30 emotionally; but accept that the scene tax has inflated their value and appeal somewhat beyond their current capability.

Yup, on paper the E46 is a much better car for the money, totally. But trendiness is more important, right? That will probably be the go next week, provided it doesn't sell this weekend. Will let you all know how things go!

You buy an E30 because it's an E30, while i like the E46 they are nothing like the E30 experience. A good E30 goes up in value, easier to work on and diagnose, parts are cheaper\less of them\more robust.

I had an issue with my daughters 2000 Mercedes Benz SLK230. It had no power. Did some checks and the compressor valve (think waste gate in a turbo) wasnt closing. Many owners have wasted lost of money trying to resolve the issue - there is often several error codes. The fix is rediculously simple. Inside the power distribution case on the left side ubder the bonnet is a black box full of relays. Remove it and take the cover off and check for dry joints. Solder any dry joints, out it back in and your car will be transformed. Btw the compressor valve is over $700. I've read of people replacing it and the ECU, and the relay board costing thousands. The trouble is oeople dont repair anymore - they replace. Jim

nice work Jim. It was a great idea ridding the world of lead. Unfortunately the legacy of dry joints from these lead-free wave soldering manufacturing techniques leaves us with a lot of kit going on the e-waste heap, or worse. We'd never have gotten away with joints like those on distribution frames, eh?

Long shot, but does anyone know of, or can recommend, a building inspector? We're looking at a house. Older, probably 60s, fibre cement clad, on piles. Looks and feels good to our uneducated eyes, but obviously best to get a professional inspection done. It's a small place and we would be looking to extend in about 6 months to a year. This is a part of the attraction (for me) but I really am not letting it be the only reason for buying it!

there ya go. with the blessing of Don Kulgan, it all came together! Looking forward to reading up on your new project.

I forgot to mention - a $3k 6 cylinder 325/328/330 (that seller must be insane™*** ) e46 is massively better value than any e30 at the same price or less. *** @Young Thrash Driver will get the reference

@kulgan I purchases that 750iL. Drove it back to Auckland and it's not too bad. That's for the heads up

Welcome to the forums Graham

Welcome, Graham. Looks like fun! Indeed, your colour is STAHLGRAU METALLIC (400) Plenty of e46 experience around these parts, do sing out if you're wondering or need help. If you want your option details, take the last seven digits of your VIN and go to bmwvin.com cheers

Oh, that's not the garage... That's a playroom. There's also a double garage.

so it's missing a couple of cylinders, then...

hmmm. on... CONCRETE piles? or.... TANALISED piles? or.... original TOTARA piles? more seriously though, you're right not to let that picture overly influence your decision. You can find those palms for a few hundred at any competent nursery. Looks like a great garage. You should buy it, land looks flat enough to park a caravan or couple of shipping containers adjacent.

You would have to be mad not to get an inspection done.

It's actually a bloody good car eh on the highway. It's quite enjoyable to drive. Would keep it but got enough M5's destroying me at the moment. 0275432078

They have arrived! Sure do look pretty in person, Hyper Black was definitely the right choice Will get tyres mounted and fit them on the car on Saturday. Crappy photo attached. Leaning against the new intercooler...