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It's definitely firmer than a standard M3, but not uncomfortably so; no excess driveline noise in the cabin or anything of that nature. I've been meaning to update this thread for a while - recent (well, around a year ago now) additions include a CSL airbox (Karbonius). Some photos after a wash a while back:

Quite curious to see how high this goes - over 300,000km, well used, does not seem too neglected for the kms but definitely in need for some TLC. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/3044036194?bof=p4iKHilQ

Ordered replacement glass from Ali on 30 Jan... it arrived today. 😮. Pre-COVID stuff was taking 10 days... Anyway, I got L+R heated glass for $15 including shipping and, believe it or not, it's actually good quality (or so it seems). No distortion in the reflection and proper wide-angle extremities. Not sure on the heating elements but they only kick in at 3*C so irrelevant for Auckland.

OMG it's ^ so BIG! 🤣

https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/1981-bmw-e12-m535i

Every time I go over the hill to Wellington. Is great. Changes fast. I don't let it do it's own thing though. I just the paddles.

Frequently. Whenever I want or need more aggressive shifting, rev hold to redline or manual mode that doesn't automatically revert to Drive. The standard mode on the box does none of those things. My trans has been flashed though and is very aggressive in Sport mode, your experience may be different.

Pretty good. Certainly far better on slippery surfaces than 2wd. The system is pretty robust. It uses the same engines and auto trans as the 2wd cars, but that's where similarities end. There's a gear/chain transfer case from which a propshaft runs forward and back (to viscous diffs - a potential weak point). The bodyshell is wider and almost completely different forward of the windscreen: front suspension towers are further forward, arches are wider, trans tunnel is much wider (you'll not 'stretch' a stock one that far). The steering rack is behind the front crossmember and mounted inside the subframe. The front driveshafts can strip the splines at the transfer case. They're great for daily driving, especially in Europe where snow is common, but not so good for tuning. The rallycross cars used Xtrac gearboxes and different axles to contain the extra power used.

What happened to the post from Autoport themselves? It seemed genuine and helpful.

This is how you make big grilles and sharp angles look good. Also a good lesson in not making your wheels look tiny.

A few pics of the latest addition for those that are interested. Carjam tells me it's done around 137k, was originally NZ New and has had a few owners over the years. I picked it up off a guy after it had been sitting in his shed for 10 years or so, it came with another parts car that may or may not be too far gone to restore, but we will see. I haven't confirmed numbers yet but believed to be the matching numbers original motor. Body is straight with one small dent in the front right guard, and one small patch of rust in the boot - not a hard fix. The rest is just surface rust. Drives seat definitely need recovered but everything else appears in good condition. It has no brakes or exhaust as yet, again not hard to sort these out. And will need tyres, some lights replaced etc. But all in all hoping this won't take long to sort out and be another classic to be enjoyed on the weekends. Now just need to build my f$%#*@g workshop to store all these toys in hahaha

I too have a 3.0S that has been in my possession for 15 years without moving. The previous owner stored it for 10 years too. It's an NZ new 1974 car with a tidy, near rust free body and tidy interior. Engine was cooked prior to my ownership. It continues to wait patiently while other projects jump the queue . . . .

Jeez, went from $8500 to $15,000 since I posted this

Saw this on Reddit. This guy's description was dead on. First off, fantastic color choice. Thank you for the pictures. Enough has been said about the face. That said this makes the rear door problem really apparent. It's just so lazy that they didn't more smoothly blend the rear wheel arch with the rear door. And I didn't know the "prolapsed anus" rear bumper came on the M3 too, thought it was just the M4...I'll bet it drives really nice though! At least you can't see the outside when you're sitting in it!

This is the way.

I just looked, man I need to weed my driveway!! Ha Ha

Well, interesting reading, I now own Ray’s LSB M3, picked it up last week, love the car & had to have that colour

One of those LSB met its demise when it went from Wgtn to Auckland a few years back . Owner of the time struggled to get miid $30s. But it was another immaculate example . Yesterday’s price is what I paid for my M3 in 2011 when it had 48,000 km on the clock. Great to see the value coming back on theses and hopefully the same happens with the boring colours like mine.

Same reason as new break pads I guess. I am guilty of typing brought instead of bought.

Here are 2 of them. Mine and a customers we converted to manual.

Smurf blue

My original M3 that I bought back in 2001. I’ve wondered where this was. Good to see it’s still alive and well.

As per forum rules - Advertising their business on Bimmersport. They have their own web-site, it’s linked at the start of this thread.

They are simply “agents” that take the adverts from Japanese and U.K. dealers, run them through a currency converter and add on their cut. Risk free for them as they don’t even own the stock and only buy it on your behalf when you commit. With the exchange rate the way it is at the moment the BMW pricing is way above what you could buy a better car for in NZ. Not sure about the JDM stuff, even with the exchange rate I would imagine the pricing is still reasonable.