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Stunning Sunday for a drive so waxed the car and drove to Maraetai > Clevedon > Kawakawa Bay > Kaiaua and back to Kingsland. First time doing this drive, very scenic and not too much traffic. Anyway, more photo spam as per:

In the eternal competition to find the best mural / graffiti to backdrop your car pic... this guy found the best mural and took the best shot In New Plymouth apparently, and kudos to the artist for making such a great job... that's serious talent right there 👍 Cheers...

Should really have made a build thread for this car, maybe one day I'll get round to writing it all up. Had the CMP topmount subframe kit + front mount extension installed @HELLBM couple weeks back. Pretty beefy unit. Should have some better photos once I get the time to lay some paint down and cut the carpets to size. Got a much needed wash too after being on daily driver duty for the last couple weeks. Then thrashed to Kawakawa and back. Getting sick of black wheels though, pilot sport 4S's on order for the new square set. Backordered until at least mid June, yikes.

I just cried at the beauty of this car

I'm all for e30's - but there is no way that mtech II is a $50k driving experience. I guess that's not what people are paying for, (but they are so...)

@Harper project thread is a great idea!

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/3089902382 Not something you see every day! H/K audio and cloth, great spec.

Wise decision by the owner. Might have to get some popcorn ready for 10:30pm tonight.

Stunning

Calling this mint would be an understatement @ItcheNZ

New thermostat, 4 New radiator hoses, New O rings and crush washers, 2 New radiator drain bungs, ready for new coolant! Tested the old thermostat and it seemed to work fine, but the rubber seal fell to bits as soon as it dried out so seems a good time to replace it!

Finally got around to replacing the ugly blue-lit Sony head unit for the factory one in the m3. Had to track down another factory stereo plug first since it was removed when the previous owner had them swapped. also added a Bluetooth receiver that plugs into the CD stacker input, so brings it into the modern age while still looking factory. Took a while to track one down as most are for the CD43 or newer. was from maakbaas.com if anyone’s interested

Hi All . I have invested in cars and spent lots of time looking at markets an looking for trends . At the moment E30 have been moving the rarer the model the higher the price . E30 M3 have always been sought after but also have considerable range in prices as well. But fully documented low mileage couple of owner car unrestored in good condition will always be king With collectors. Even though these cars have moved in price . They Will become a investment grade Car once they pass there original purchase price in today’s money . E30 still have a bit to go but are still well price get them while you can at these prices as collector have not really moved into E30 yet . Most of the price will have been driven by brand enthusiasm by current BMW owners. The rarer the car the more sought after the current sales reflect how well sought after these cars are and also how well they drive . I would only expect these M Tech 1 and 2 to catchup with lower grade E30 M3 they made a lot more M3 than RHD M Tech 1 cars for example . You might have been able to buy one 10 years ago for 10k and think they are not a 50k cars but the market is telling you something else .

Saw a couple Mtech 2s go for far more than 50k.. that 64k one on trademe and another at 65k

I am starting to feel this way a bit too. $50k = E46 M3/Z4M coupe money. But I feel an E30 M3 is not worth $80k or that houses in Manurewa are not worth $1m but the demand is there and that’s what counts at the end of the day.

@3 SERIES yes that’s the one.

OOooooooo. Well on the bright side, there's no such thing as over paying for a classic car, there is such a thing as selling too early.

Haha hmm may have ended up with an expensive 325i SE in similar circumstances

This one?

Sold my 130i last year and dearly miss it. My partner has given me the OK to pick up another one as long as it's an auto. Been keeping an eye out on trademe & Facebook and came across this wreckers ad. A few of you seem to be in the market for a spoiler....

LED tails next, in case you're running out of ideas to spend money on 😂

If you can take ownership and leave it there with your brother for year you could avoid GST. Probably go up in value too.

Not to mention the M70 puts out 450NM of torque....

The original MINI Cooper was once an inexpenive car. I doubt you could find a decent one for less than today's price of a used SL320 either. Does this say something about Mercedes buyers, or does it speak more to classic car market? What does one pay these days for a 'pagoda' SL? In the late 80's they were insanely expensive, the 'one' to have. Demand is again arm wrestling with supply. Not everyone will chance their arm in the game. Just wondering - did they even sell SL320s here? Usually SL buyers in NZ went straight to the SL500. Even merited a mention in a classic NZ advert.

In 1991 a 5 litre V8 HSV only managed 180kw, so not too shabby for the day!

I swear every e38 has the same story of "the President of BMW used to own this, I just cannot prove it" - like okay fellers, leave some buyers for the rest of our non-BMW-President-Owned cars.

Happy to help. It's always a great feeling when you notice the difference.

Nice example. I would rather this over something new before the price is taken into account. But whats the go with the head of BMW of this era. Bloke must have had the largest garage. It seems every tidy model offered for sale was his car when it was new.

Missed out on a facelift SL500 many years ago for just over 11k. Last one i saw wanted 40k but very tidy. No desire to own another E30 seems to be common with those ive talked to that owned and sold before the market went crazy.

Hmm I'll give your suggestion some thought, it has merit. But, what would I have to chuckle over while having breakfast? The daily post count would be significantly reduced. Just curious is there a prize at the end of each year for the user who has the most posts?

WBAAB320X00858585 NZ new Mtech 1 black enjoying life. A friend of mine is selling his silver one on trademe (30k).

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/3088752676

100 total might be a good ball park figure if you factor attrition in, there's 60+ definitely still on the road, probably not too far from the truth! open source Mt1 data; of the cars not written off: 4 Polaris '86 cars as I've detailed previously (which didn't have the 333 option mtechnic package - just the relevant options individually) 9 085xxxx chassis number cars 5 286xxxx chassis number cars There's also at least 6 UK 325i Sport's here as well, all of which are 085xxxx cars - the crucial difference between them and the kiwi new cars is that they got the 206 option 260/5 close ratio gearbox with 3rd and 4th being different ratios to the standard 260. There's now more E30 M3's in NZ than there are mt1's. The early mt2 cars were also 286xxxx chassis numbers before they shifted to 358xxxx and AE5xxxx. South Africa and Australia didn't get the mt1 as an mtechnic car, and neither did Japan - it was really a New Zealand / Great Britain only car, so 298 RHD mt1 cars might not be too far from the truth. The UK has howmanyleft which lists models still registered or SORNed, but is susceptible to the foibles of how the registration data is entered, but some ballpark figures can be inferred from the below link https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/bmw_325_i_sport

Clean 👌🏼 I rate those seats. What have you replaced the radio with @Sammo?

Armrest delete FTW 😬

What happened here ? Drugs ? Reminds me of that old cowboy song... I've never gone to bed with an ugly woman but I've sure woken up with a few Cheers...

These coatings don't even withstand a basic 3 min Google check... I wish people informed themselves before investing hundreds, let alone thousands. Most even require an annual, user pays, inspection and "if deemed necessary" a (user pays) re-application to maintain the warranty. Ask for a no-conditions, normal use guarantee from the seller and see how they react. Panel and paint work? Full body re-application at retail cost. Use a car wash? Full body application at retail cost. Park your car outside regularly? Full body application at retail cost... the scam goes on. They can't prevent stone chips or scratches (look up their Mohs level) but they can make washing your car easier for a few months, maybe 12 if you hardly drive it. If you park your Ferrari in a dusty garage for 320+ days of the year then perhaps you might get a couple of years of easy(ier) washes? Work out the economies and caveat emptor. Oh, they are shiny though, that's mostly what you're paying for.

Ahhh.... I see. Movie and TV series references are liable to different interpretations if the reader has not seen or followed the original from which the quote is drawn. No problem. I prefer quotes from noteworthy individuals who have put their words of wisdom down in writing. Here is one that caught my eye a few days ago... "Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end." Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) This is as true today as it was on the day it was written. The world needs more clear thinkers like Thoreau, but what we get is a bunch of leaders whose mantra is clearly drawn from the words of W C Fields... If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit !!! Cheers...

@HalfJobHarry it’s because people just buy them anyway so it becomes the norm