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I'm prepared for that. If I'd listened to everything I'd read on the internet I wouldn't have driven (and enjoyed) half the cars I've owned.

A/C is uncommon on 316i (could you even option it on the 103hp poverty-spec model?), some 318i have it. You'd want to go to disc rear end (most 316 and 318 are drum rear and solid fronts) and 6cyl vented front brakes (rotors, calipers), with new hoses, caliper rebuilds, pads, rotors. Anything less will be under-braked for your 170hp powertrain. You'll need 6 cyl springs for the extra weight, so might as well do your shocks while you're at it and don't cheap-out (so factor H&R+Koni, or Eibach+Bilstein), and you'll want the 6 cyl ARB. In fact it's thirty years old so do a full suspension bushing refresh front and rear incl rear subframe & trailing arm bushes, lollipops and LCA bushes (or just replace the LCAs as they're not expensive) at the front, along with strut mounts, bump stops, booties. You'll want to replace the diff mount on the medium case diff your 6 cyl conversion came with, unless it's looking fresh. Auto to manual, do all your shifter bushings and a Z3 1.9 short shift, easier to do it now. You'll need a 6 cyl plug for your cluster if converting from 4 cyl, so the tacho reads right. As you're certing, might as well do a purple tag rack conversion. If it came on steel wheels, you'll need bottle caps as a minimum for the fatter calipers - as the pads wear the'll end up contacting the steel rims. Avoid cheap tyres when you go to get it on the road after spending all that money, the wreckers are littered with e30's where a damp road has been encountered and the tyres &/or driver experience isn't up to it. Doing cooling system refresh as part of your M20 install? You'll need the bigger radiator (if it didn't come with your M20 conversion) as the 4 cyl is a lot smaller. Maybe change all those old hoses and waterpump whie it's out as precautionary maintenance? Or defer till later and keep a watchful eye on it. OE/OEM parts are reasonably inexpensive but the prices mount. If you're doing it yourself you're saving labour at least. If you've bought a $4-5k M20B25 full drivetrain (rad to diff), and pay $12-15k for a clean 4cyl coupe, then add the costs above, you're around $20-25k certed and on the road with a clean tidy sorted car with no maintenance headaches. And people think e30's are cheap!

Oh I don't disagree. I just blew 11 grand on a clutch. The biggest cost on my E60 M5 was the depreciation when I sold it, followed closely by the fuel bill. Only had to spend a few grand on in during my ownership.

Finally back on the ground after replacing the fuel system, many thanks to @Toast for a set of blue top injectors, much appreciated. Also threw in a new set of plugs, 3 new coils and oil/filter change. Put some fresher rubber on a spare set of ds2 wheels and uploaded them. With that all done i was able to actually drive the car to get a feel for it. verdict? It has potential 😂. Immediately the factory diff ratio felt far too tall for me, the drivers seat is offset, the steering wheel far to big and it lacked the response of the s54, which i expected but thought it would still impress me on the top end. Shame. So whats next? First i need my motorsport license then we go for a wof. Ive spied a couple of oil leaks (oil cooler and ps hp line) which i need to tackle, i have a purple tag rack to go in (original was worn and thus replaced) and i need to sort this seat and steering wheel situation. Looking forward to getting this car performing how i want it to. Kayne Barry made a good start and it deserves to have some more love. If anyone has some cams for an S50b32 they arent using let me know 😅

I had it on Facebook market place recently, got sick of all the time wasters. Have just listed on trademe tonight. So hopefully a genuine buyer comes along

Straight through a VTNZ WOF with no advisories - what I had hoped, but always disconcerting watch men in overalls prod and poke your car for 30 minutes muttering to each other.

@Olaf is on the money, if you do plan on swapping in a b25 then the chassis doesnt really matter as youll be upgrading most things. Also as mentioned they aren't cheap, nor is it a cheap way to do it. Sometimes if the end goal is desired to be a factory car its cheaper and easier in the long run to do that from the start. I done a quick talley up a few months ago on what i could remember spending on my project and nearly fell off my chair, its not a cheap process but done correctly is worth it in the long run, I started off with the 318 and converted to m52, basically i just went looking for a chassis as i had the motor before the car so ended up with a 318 as generally speaking this are cheaper than the 6cyl

*cough* supercharger *cough*

I've just jumped from a 3.23 to 3.64 in my Evo and the difference makes up for everything the S54 gives you, it's quite the experience. And I assume you have these guys on your radar if you want cams: http://www.catcams.com/welcome.aspx - their shitty site tech prevents deep links but just look up the (Euro) S50B32, they have numerous options.

The fb post I posted up on here. Bit of a gamble but probably gonna need to rebuild any engine that I end up buying anyway.

I have a real weird criteria in my head haha. If I’m going full resto, I’d rather it be a coupe. But if interior/exterior is relatively tidy already and just need to repower then open to sedans for the right price.

Looked very well maintained though, so all I’d need really is a powertrain, which I’m picking up this weekend in Tauranga. Actually if anyone has a Ute and not using it this Saturday, would be great if I could borrow it - will compensate of course. Otherwise it’s going in the back of my hatchback 😅 That is quite literally what I did last night 😂. Hoping something right turns up.

I’m baffled as to why this has not sold yet at 25k?! There was a rundown one that sold for 20k not too long ago, surely this is a way better deal.

August 2017, Makara.

that is really well presented! and reasonably priced in current market..

Wut? 🤔 They want you to pay the rest of a year's insurance on a vehicle that they no longer need to insure? That's BS, don't accept it at all.

So true, that's what they do! Lived there for 6 years- there are very few opportunities to enjoy high powered cars in Singapore (yet it has a ridiculous amount of people who own luxury cars). So they go over the border to Malaysia where they enjoy beautiful highways which lend themselves to high speeds. So lots of Singaporeans head out around midnight on the weekends to enjoy high speed driving in Malaysia (where they apparently try bribing the cops). The only other risk ? Car-jacking! Singaporeans with luxury cars get targeted!

"Baby sh*t Yellow"

While I like keeping things original, this vehicle looks fantastic.

F10 M5. Ive done just over 25000kms and it’s the best combo of a daily driver cruiser and back road hooligan. There isn’t much noise compared to the V10 and that IMO is the biggest downside to the F10…. And wet roundabouts. 😂

btw, ill freely admit the convertible version is not the drivers E30. its a lot heavier, and flexes a lot more too. as Jon says, it is a cruiser

Sort of. all facelift E30 cabbys are 1990 built or later. This means in NZ they are usually registered as 1991 or 1992. early prefacelift cabbies all have lower rear arches than thier coupe and sedan brothers of the same age. the lower arches were then carried through to all facelift E30s. and that tech2 kit is fiberglass. it is not possible to fit tech2 kit onto a prefacelift car. re my manual conversion. yes it is converted because thats my preference, but everything is all OE parts, and i have all of the automatic stuff here to convert the car back if i want to. it can be back to original in 6 hours and noone would ever know. And i have just sold a M20B25 for more than the asking price in that add.

I am the owner of this M3. I have updated the trademe listing with details. Yes, it is a Singapore car but I would have thought any issues associated with this would have manifested and been resolved in the last 13 years? It was Phoneix yellow but has been resprayed (not wrapped) in Santorini Blue. Was SMG but has been converted to manual. Further details in advert.

I can't fault your logic there, Harm. Though isn't it odd, the rarist of all is the Baur, with fewer produced than even the M3. You'd think they'd be more desirable than a Cab based on increased rigidity resulting in better driving dynamics? The MT1 Cabrio sale you mention needs a 'when'.

I think the main clue with @_ethrty-Andy_'s vert is 125k kms, never had paint, all original - or with parts to put it back to all original. This in contrast to cars with moon-and-back distances. It's around collector quality, and is likely the best in NZ. In my opinion, as a good tidy SE 4 dr is now at ~$30k, how can a primo cabrio be worth less? Of course, anything's only what someone's prepared to pay. How much to replace? I'd be expecting a valuation of circa $35k on this car. For someone who must have a cabrio, and wants the best, the one (linked above) on FB marketplace is not going to cut it. There are a few particularly tidy examples around, but they're not for sale. If you were that person, and this car was presented at $39,780k ($10-25k below a *good* M325i coupe), would you hesitate?

@_ethrty-Andy_ for the marginal if any cost in premium go for $30k. You won’t be able to replace it easily anyway but having more money in your hand if the worst happened might help you feel better? Who do you insure with and who did the pin dent paintless dent repairs out of interest? Calypso Red is suuch a nice colour on an E30

Was on trademe, and prior to that, trademe and the E30 FB Classifieds 18 months ago for $40K. Been through a couple of owners since a friend did a full rebuild @313km. $15K spent on the motor alone, over $45K was spent from top to tail, new leather, new seat foam, custom hidden bluetooth stereo with sub box along with period correct headunit, full koni suspension + bushing refresh, new steering rack etc etc. Was probably put to market about a year too soon initially, and the buy now later was far far far too cheap. It's level above the $64K red one.

And it sold within 4 hours. Gone!