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3 Generations E46 M3, E90 M3 and F80.

Car got a mini overhaul this week with @BMTHUG - Timing belt & tensioner / drive belts, water pump / thermostat / coolant / crank seal / rocker cover gasket / rocker shaft seals / spark plugs and Valve adjustment. Car is running great, little smoother, bit less chattery and perhaps even a placebo 2.5whp. Just gotta do my fluids then time to get on with suspension, interior, wheels and cosmetic stuff.

Haha, just came to post this before seeing your post!

I used to run staggered tyres on the 130, tyre guy in manukau was adamant the wide ones went on the front as they will wear fastest. Seriously, wtf.. had to argue to get him to pull the wheels off switch them round. I even explained it was RWD and he looked at me like I was from the moon. Stay in school kids.

Thanks but I should also add I’m after an original car. NZ new also. Would rather have an unmolested standard car than one dressed up to look like a M Sport.

Engine porn from BMW Classic today.

Im sure it is but for an imported, manual converted and engine swapped car the pricing seems optimistic

So many places believe they are the last word in knowledge, and that none of the customers have an understanding of what they do. Obviously it pays well, though. McLaren, eh? Should narrow down who you went to see!

2011 manual, extremely rare to find with only 13 2011(last year) 130i showing on carjam. Might be the only manual? https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/3459180356?tm=email&et=45&mt=F909EDC8-3C14-49CC-9D87-FCE0B397F44E

Hey folks. The name is Oli. Some of you from back in the early days may remember me.. Well i used to be a part of the BMW scene way back when.. But since left to pursue a Motorsport career around the world. Well now we are back. .Back in NZ, Back with BMW's and back making some really cool stuff. Great to be back guys!!!

I've been riding motorbikes for 40 years and my wife wanted to get her motorbike licence. during the test she fell off. after that, she was afraid of even riding on the back of my Harley Softail. Remembering back to my older days when i had a 1971 Corvette, convertible, i saw that as as close as you can come to a motorbike. Hence we started looking for a practical convertible. My wife's friend had a 70's Mer SL350 but when thieves decided to steal (what turned out to be nothing in the car) they sliced the top and it cost $5000 to repair. My first choice for a convertible would have been a 1974 Jensen-Healey or a 70's Fiat 124 Spyder ; wife didn't like either so it came down to a Merc SLK or a E89 Z4 since they are hard top convertibles. comparing the looks and finish along with the top operation, it was a clear choice. Mercedes is less refined and the roof makes noises going up or down like my back makes when i get out of bed in the morning. we ended up buying a 2010 S-drive 2.3 N52 6 cylinder import from japan for 23k in 4.5 condition with 68k I spent a couple of thousand upgrading it to carplay which integrates with the factory CIC with NZ maps, 2016 side markers, LED headlamps with daytime driving lamps, cruise control ,parking cameras and sensors. And all for less than a 15 year old stock Mazda MX-5. Now in its present form it has every available factory option along with carplay. During my life I've had many cars; a GTS Dino, AMC AMX, a Porsche 911SE,, a 1971 LS 454 Corvette convertible and a 1978 Bandit Trans Am. I've never got more positive feedback as I have with this car. I've had 5 people ask me in the last two months if I was willing to sell it. When I was thinking of buying the E89 I thought it would be a rough riding car like my Caldina GT-four. It's a very smooth GT tour with a top speed a can't disclose here. it has exceeded all my expectations. I just wish it was easier for my old bones to get in and out of. I do have a handicap placard that I do display when i park(since I have one leg) in a handicap parking spot, but people have keyed my car inspite of that. I think they think that no pour person could afford such a car but it's cheaper than a new Suzuki swift. I do have a question about the wheels: they are staggered 19x9.5 in the back and 19x9 in the front. does anyone know the code and paint code for the wheels? I think the are LA Star Spoke.

That's a Euro Heckblende - a very desireable and costly item. You're essentially saying "if it looked exactly like I expect it to, it'll sell well". Do you manage to put aside your prejudices when buying a house? Or do you say "oh I don't like the colour of the bathroom. It'd sell easier if it was black. No, onto the next one". You really need to see the detail work on this one.

Once you find an alignment guy that does what he is told and knows what he is doing never let them go. The ones down here are clueless. So I am buying my own gear.

im not sure, but I will see what its like with coilovers ,will be much firmer suspension. 245s may have a bit of bulge, not sure, was told they're the max width you can do on 8inch wheels, I do like the look of wider tires on narrower wheels compared to stretched fitment. I will test fit 2 of them and see how they fit

Spotted this at Paper Plus... Looks awesome, great pictures. Lots of BMWs.

It's a premium shop in the car dealer area in Te Rapa, the guy had me raging after I left that's for sure. Given the price rise of houses in the last 5 years, any home owning schmuck could mortgage up a McLaren. Hell, that's how I got my cheap Maserati. Have to agree about wheel, tyre and general vehicle service places. There's a lot of macho, my way or the highway bullshit in there along with a lack of fundamental technical knowledge and willingness to learn or adapt to new information/experience. Other dumb sh*t, the place that put my tyres inflated them to 45psi. Door card says something in the vicinity of 33psi. Note I also replaced the front upper control arms this week since the bushes were completely falling apart and which was actually an easy job ~ 2.5 hours. Since that has been done it's a bit less crazy, bit still not confidence inspiring over 100kph.

Agree. I dislike the red number plate surround: Reckon it would sell easier if it had a black Euro-spec one, the side skirts and rear spoiler, and pinstripe and monsoon shields removed… oh and if was cheaper. But E30s are a broad church with a wide range of interested followers and owners who like varying things.

The E46 in particular looks great!!

Originality has a big effect on price, as you say manual swapped, engine swapped, etc. removes the originality factor. Having the tech 2 bumpers without the side skirts looks a bit odd from the side profile.

I still can't understand why no one has bought this. It's probably one of the nicest e30s you'll ever see. owned and modified by Mr e30 himself Jon from Auto38

Was $20k in 2020, $30k in 2021 and $40k in 2020.

The car was insured but the driver was not unfortunately. Absolutely gutted as this car was super fun to drive and cost a bomb.

I'm awfully glad that apparently nobody was injured, it's not difficult to imagine an alternative outcome. Having said that, there's more to the story than reported if insurance isn't covering it.

Sure there's still plenty of $$$ there for the taking.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/01/car-burst-into-flames-in-middle-of-auckland-motorway-after-incident.html

Some F02 V12 goodness just released

Took my car for an alignment at a place in Hamilton yesterday because it's wandering all over the place at higher speed and is super quick to turn in, so I suspect the front is toed out a bit much. It has been happening since I got my new rear tyres and an alignment (for which I wasn't provided the spec sheet for). The owner came out and had one look at my car and said the problem is my brand new Atturo tyres and that whoever put these on should be shot. Without saying much more -or asking me- he went inside and got on the phone for 5 minutes to price up some replacement Pirellis for $3000(not a great deal but not too bad either I guess). He then proceeded to lecture me like am some sort of ignorant pleb about how there's a manufacturers spec tyre for these cars that they spend millions of dollars in R&D on and that he would never dream of putting anything other than Pirelli Corsa's on his McLaren. We "agreed" that it would be wasting my money to get the car aligned and that I would think about replacing my tyres for the ones that are meant for my car and they would throw in an alignment for free. f**king wanker. I'm not saying it's not the cheap tyres causing the issue, but the car needs to be aligned first to check that the basics are correct before replacing parts willy nilly. Called up another place and had a chat and they said bring it in Tuesday and they will check out what's going on and provide some advice from there.

Underside and floor mostly prep'd for welding next week. Wheel arches and trailing arm pockets will be stiched reinforced also along with redoing some of the spot welds that were a bit iffy. The poor factory MIG welds for the front threaded receiver under the rear seats will be redone too. Finally the trunk floor reinforcement plates that connect the floor to the side of chassis legs. Underside plate are also plug welded from the trunk floor cavity for an even stronger connection.

Proud hillbilly here, whats the problem? I enjoy being backwards. I'm just poking fun anyway duh

Yeah but they will pay with cash

It's the 1991 BMW E1; all-electric, 155-mile (250km) range, 2-hour recharge time, seats 4 in (apparent) comfort, weighing 900kg. It was slower than the electric cars we have around now, but does beg the question - where has al the intervening development gone? EVs are faster, but weigh more, are no more comfortable, and many don't have better range.

So this car has been in an accident which then resulted in a fire. Engine is done. Carbon fibre roof is wrecked etc. rear of body is in okay condition. Is there any point in trying to sell for parts? Any advice? Insurance won’t cover the accident. It’s a 2020 M4 manual.