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Another four months gone by, done a bit to the old girl so thought I better make another post to update the thread! May have posted in here already that I sourced a minty black headliner for it. Any decent E46 headliner is a hard find these days, let alone a non-sunroof, black, Touring one! After sitting on top of my Tech2 E30 in the garage for at least a year, and the original one deciding to come away completely, I had a spare afternoon and got it installed into the car. I have to say, doing a headliner job on a touring is a breeze compared to a sedan, as it flys in and out of the tailgate! I also decided to service the transmission, new filter oil and pan gasket as no idea when those were last done! At the last Wof I got an advisory that the left front shock had very slight misting and to keep an eye one it. I forgot all about it, but the last month or two I have noticed the car a bit bouncy in the front. So I have ordered some Bilstein B4s, and of course tophats and bumpstops as makes sense to do those while in there. I have a set of M Sport springs here, so I think I will put those in place of the original 320d ones and see how that looks and feels. If memory serves correctly, when Graham owned the car, the front control arms and CABs were changed already, so shouldnt have to do anything more for many more miles! Other than that, just keeps going and going, starts first time every time, happy days!

It was a bit wet......

Recently bought the Sapphire Black 1M that Wingers had in stock. My third 1M. White, then Orange and now Black. I know some people disagree but these are just great little cars!

I could be here all day And to annoy all the tesla drivers with their LOLGAS/NOGAS/LOLOIL plates,

made me laugh, well done. 😀 Jun has a leg over both sides of the fence, and has looked at the TCO from many perspectives. His only 'crime' is looking at value where most see price. I'm no particular fan of the Tesla, though appreciate Jun's thorough investigation and that he's living it. I'm in no position to run electric, so for me it's all academic. I'm surprised we don't see more i3 around Welly. Last guy I met with one was very enthusiastic, charged via solar install. The thing that gets me about (generalising here - I'm sure it's not you, Jun) Tesla drivers is the open road behaviour. Coasting down 10kmh below the speed limit in regional towns (60 in a 70, or 40 in a 50), 90 in a 100... then zip to 110... then the batty burn rate is too high in a passing lane after overtaking... down to 105. All over the place! 😎

I'd like to see a consumption based plate; GASVIP / BP VIP 98FILL 30L 100

Any day with a parts delivery is a good day… .. but when it’s the M3 panel you’ve been waiting for it is “choice bro” for sure!

No. Just the black one. I sold the Valencia Orange car to a forum member. No idea where it is now but, according to Carjam it's covered fewer than 8,000kms! The black one I now have is very clean too but has travelled all of 27,000kms! Years ago I owned the NZ new (tourist delivery and RHD converted) Misano red E30 M3 evo 2. Definitely one of those 'should never have sold it' cars but, I reckon the 1M is its real successor.

I guess you didn’t even bother to read my reply as you already made up your mind. I am a BMW fan hence why own a M5 and here on bimmersport. Before we bought a Tesla my first EV test drive is a BMW I4. The price difference is just too big and too many compromises. Similarly with the OP if the primary reason is transportation there are 2nd hand model 3 in low 30k, occasionally high 20k. There are other newer and better options than an I3. 190wh/km I3 vs 150wh/km model 3, this can be big difference especially if just charging at home. Placing the BMW fan aside as I found out myself after owning a Tesla they are actually good daily’s. I am here trying to help out. He is right that that there is no small character car other than the I3 in NZ market. i have clearly stated that I don’t want this be a Tesla vs BMW. Contrary to popular belief Tesla are actually not that heavy. Model 3 performance is about similar weight as comparable G80 M3. Even for us we replaced a Cayenne with model y which is lighter by 300 kg. The packaging and engineering underneath is surprising hence the efficiency compared to other EVs. We have more storage in it than our Cayenne, so I can’t objectively say it’s worse (minus off-road, another story). I don’t like that it’s a common car, it has also other things I don’t like but it’s livable. Anyway I hope this doesn’t degenerate to name calling thread.

Classic Tesla owner. OP wants an i3, looking to spend about $20k based on the age and KM in the first post... Tesla fanboy storms in pimping out how much better a Model Y is than everything else in the world. The cheapest for sale is twice what the OP is looking to pay for an I3, and lets face it, no one is cross shopping the awesome little i3 which pushed the boundaries of design and tech, with Elons overweight ugly abomination.

Smashed some B roads today in the eastern BOP, its so easy to forget how f**king good these cars are. Ive done 50,000km in the Skoda to 2000km in the 130. 130 is hands down a better car to drive hard, its in a different league. Skoda is a better car to sit in traffic with.

For me what probably more important is the efficiency bigger priority, unless you actually need the small compact size. Ironically Tesla's are still the most efficient, Model Y will use less watts/km than a Leaf (I don't know about I3). This practically means my electricity plan can charge our car and house within the $0 hours 7kw x 3 hours. If we get an inefficient BEV that means running cost will be higher, if I can't fill in 21kw of power. You can get older Model 3 for low $30k which is one of most efficient cars, since you get OTA its practically has the same features as a new one. Minus some hardware limits, like low visual display and/or matrix lights. That said I do miss the BMW more traditional driving dynamics, the 2 turn lock to lock is ridiculous for a Model Y. Ok for Model 3. So the M5 feels less pointy than our daily driver, also the suspension is stiffer on the Model Y than comfort setting on M5. My brain just sometimes can't comprehend these things. I would have taken the i4 and sacrifice the space/packaging, last generation battery for some softer suspension and more feeling seats... but the price difference is just ridiculous ($40k difference 2 years ago, now $60k). In fact some of these are addressed with bucket seats and adjustable suspension of the latest Model 3 performance which just cost $85k new, faster than announced M5 G90 🙄 I don't want this be a debate of Tesla vs BMW, just more of look at some practical stuff. Even though my heart is not in our daily, I can't really fault it. It does the daily duties really well for its price. For me to be honest my 3 car garage dream will be: M5 E60 (already there), X5 45e G05 (too expensive) and 750i E38 stealth convert to EV drivetrain (drawing board, unlikely to get past that).

I am also in the market (likely not for Rex version as would be round town) and it appears the REX is the most common thing to go wrong. Tires are expensive ($500 a corner) and apparently prone to punctures. Battery chemistry is much better than a leaf and has active cooling. The aircon grenading appears to be an issue mainly in very hot climates (e.g. southern Cali) where it's cranking for 8 months of the year. Probably not such an issue in NZ. They are great to drive and pretty efficient (good range given small battery). Rear doors are a bit niggly if used often.

Was mentioned before, I still like it: RODBRG - a playful reference to rod bearings...

Theres a few pics on Autostance's socials