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A complaint to TradeMe is in order. There's no legal redress that I'm aware of, but the seller will receive a stern ticking off from TradeMe. And you can, of course leave negative feedback. Nothing that'll make any difference of course, and the seller probably won't care. Look at it this way. If the seller is that much of an arse that they'll stiff you on a perfectly good sale, what have they done (or not done) to the car? You could have had a very lucky escape.

One side mostly done

Under the Trademe terms and conditions you have a legally binding contract. Find it and read it. If Trademe is not going to try and enforce it, you can. Communicate clearly to the seller that you have a binding contract and want to complete it. Do it in writing and keep all correspondence. Take the person to the Disputes Tribunal if the matter is up to $15,000. Doesn't cost much. No lawyers needed. https://www.disputestribunal.govt.nz/ If its not a Disputes Tribunal matter, Lay a complaint with the Police.

If it was an auction, you have a dispute with trademe and you might win. They might then take punitive action against the seller. It is very unlikely the seller will sell to you regardless though, so it's up to you... If it was a classified ad, you have nothing I expect.

I've always been surprised why these are worth so much? Going by asking prices anyhow... Like it's more than E36 M3 money and in the same ball park as E39 M5s and cheap E46 M3s, three cars that offer a true BMW driving experience & thrill.

badly fitting exhaust, strange v12 badge and wrong offset wheels...

if you lie down in the road, you get steamrollered. If you stand up and fight it, sure you may not get the car, but at least you can bring the guy a bit of an organisational or legal spanking. agree also with Graham's point, you may have made a lucky escape. dealing with folks lacking integrity is a chore. Purchasing from people on TradeMe with more than 500 positive feedbacks is worthwhile as they have more to lose, and are less likely to put their hard-won feedback at risk. "TradeMe: where we match irrational buyers with willing sellers (or vice-versa)".

^ really? is this an assumption or do you recently get a job from trademe? cuz last time I checked tm really dont give a sh*t about anything except collecting their success fees and banning accounts that are owing money.

bit of a stupid argument but *IF* the car was priced lower say 10-12k rather than what it currently is (around the 20-30k mark) then every joe blow on the block will have one sacked to the ground sitting on 20" rims and feeling damn cool and us purists wont like it anymore no matter how good the driving experience is/can be. so in a way we can be thankful that it has held the price/value well over time and thus prevents every other person from tarnishing the 'image' of a classic e31. 2c

If I were you, I'd definitely complain to Trademe, or consult Citizens Advice Bureau. I believe that if yours is the highest bid in an auction (where the reserve has been met) the current owner is legally obliged to sell to you for the price of that bid. As far as I'm aware you definitely have a leg to stand on, although I'd be unsure what specific recourse is available to you. Just my 2 cents

Nah it's been offered to me for $950 so debating it with the wife....

Updated pics of progress today

go drive an e87 130i you might be suprised

I know of a black e36 m3 3.0l turbo that should be up for sale soon. Its not an evo but if your names anything to go by you might been keen?

What he said, also, if in doubt use real OEM for all sorts of useful comparisons, or in my case, working out what my frankenbeamers need (Late model E30 320i with an Early E21 M20B23 was always a bastard) http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=1548-ZA-03-1991-E30-BMW-325i&diagId=11_4365 http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=1448-ZA-05-1991-E30-BMW-320i&diagId=11_4365

no

I've wanted one of these for a while. I'd pay the extra 4 g's and buy Julians.

Hey Dan and welcome to the Welly crew! We've got a road trip on the 27th if you want to tag along - either driving a non-BMW or as a passenger There are some beaut 330s around - and Herb's has had a bunch of work done.

replaced water pump, tstat, a few gaskets, air and oil filter, all the fluids obviously, replaced vanos seals, replaced CCV setup, new battery. Don't worry, i'll replace a couple of hoses and the reservoir soon. anyhoo i'm down around $4500 so pretty stoked.

well, I finally got this thing going after a fair bit of arsing around and avoidance. It goes really well straight out of the box. flew through a warrant and then i took it to the West Coast the next day. 500km round trip without an issue. Everything about it is functional and pleasingly tight. Very nice engine the m54b30 - surprisingly it's a bit gruntier than my E30 M40B18. Even the suspension feels tight as. I'd quite like some style 68 wheels. What is this staggered thing people talk about? and does anyone know how to connect to the bluetooth on it. i have a small TV screen and tape inside and a nav cd unit and 6 cd stacker in boot. have tried googling but nothing works. The missus will use this car quite a lot when I'm not taking it to a track day or stealing it off her and making her drive my work RAV4. Her main comment is that she doesn't like white - no amount of "But VANOS, twin cam, alloy block, manual 5 speed, renowned driver's car babe" convinces her otherwise. I'll punish her with a cool coloured 1300cc auto nissan Micra one day but she'll have to slum it for now. I have 4 cars - all white - it didn't happen on purpose but I genuinely like white. The E46 looks crisp in this colour. I'm taking it to a local Ruapuna track day as soon as I can - within the next couple of months. is the blown gasket bottom end/head without sensors or ancillaries of any use to anyone? cams got surface rust from sitting in guys garage without cover on but everything looks good from the bottom

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.

Price dropped to 6.5k, come on guys, car has gotta go~

I was going to say M10s are awesome, but it looks to be a facelift so it'll have a M42. This. It'll need work. However, at 2.5k for a WoF'd and rego'd manual E30 it's priced pretty well provided it'll not fold in half from rust. You could very, very easily spend $5-6k and more on something that looks and sounds nice, but still needs everything doing. Go into it with eyes open, expect the worst, and you could be pleasantly surprised. Rust is the big issue. Anything else can be sorted.