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Hi All Starting this thread to keep track of this project. My introduction to BMWs started while looking for a daily that would tick all the boxes. The important ones for me were: must be a wagon, must be auto (after driving a manual for the last 7 years and having recently joined the rat race of commuting, this point is very important), RWD or AWD, have a little bit of towing capacity for some light trailer/small tinny towing, must look good, and must perform reasonably well (decent power with nice handling). Initially I was looking for something Japanese but there really isn't a lot that ticks all these boxes, a gen 4 Subaru Legacy would be the only one I can really think of but I wasn't super keen in getting involved with boxer engines. So my attention turned to Euros, specifically BMW. I started looking at e46 wagons but quickly moved towards an e91 just with them being slightly more modern. I bought an msport alpine white 2007 325i e91 in August 2024. It had a few bits and pieces I appreciated, style 193 wheels with some newish dunlops, 35% tints all round, msport exterior and interior(silver interior trim is a must) and I fitted a westfalia towbar. This definitely ticked a lot of the boxes for me in terms of the chassis, I love the e91, it handles great, its comfortable, I can throw everything in the back, go camping and sleep in it, the interior is so quiet and rattle free (for the most part, wayyy better than anything japanese). But... I wasn't happy with the power, especially given the fuel consumption. After driving the car for 4 months I decided life is too short to drive a car that is both very thirsty and underpowered. So I bought an artic metallic 2007 335d e91 in January 2025. This car came with quite a few bits and pieces that will definitely save some time in the future. It has hybrid turbos, upgraded intercooler, upgraded aluminium intercooler pipe (from turbo outlet to intercooler, this one usually causes issues), tuned to make 300hp and 660Nm at the wheels, has mca procomfort coilovers and lvvta cert for all the mods. There aren't that many of these on the market so I had to scoop this one up from Christchurch and drive it back. I would've had it transported but I had never done the drive from christchurch to auckland so I figured it was a great way to get to know the car. What a good car! It averaged 7.3L/100km on the drive up and its fair to say I wasn't going easy on it. First thing on the agenda after a good wash was switching out the interior trims. Unfortunately it is not an m sport car so it came with wood grain interior, not my favourite. I switched this out with the door still and interior trims from the other car and it immediately changed the feel on the inside. I also switched the door speakers out from the other car, I upgraded the door speakers to aftermarkets in the 325i do I figured I would swap those across. There are a few more things I've done since getting this car and the time if this post but I'll save those for the next post.

Sorry to hear that Adrian. Quite active of late with lots of facts and stories to share. Thoughts to his family and friends from all of us here I am sure. We are all closer than we think sharing this hobby/obsession.

Took her in for a WoF inspection the other week, sailed through without a hiccup. Always enjoy getting compliments from the mechanics, even got thanked for bringing it in. Clearly preferred dealing with what he dubbed a "full restoration" than the clapped out Altezza that came before me. Hit 240,000 km's on the way home. 12,512 km's since the engine rebuild and 10,308 km's post driveline overhaul. Here's to many more.

I’m extremely saddened to say a dear friend of mine and great contributor to bimmersport suddenly passed last week. To me he was Sanjay but you will know him as ssbmw. He had a wealth of knowledge on bmw stats in nz. He would eat, drink and sleep the brand and love to talk with anyone who shared the passion. Bimmersport was a great outlet for him to share his knowledge for which he was regular contributor. A huge loss to all.

Right Sweet as. Kms aren’t too much of a concern as engine and gearbox most likely won’t be used, and suspension bushings would be old by now anyway regardless of kms. Mostly after something reasonably rust free with good paint which this appears to be. As far as being overpriced goes definitely is but I have negotiated price well below the asking price. But considering other coupes with terrible paint are listed for anything from 6-10k and then need 6k+ of paintwork this doesn’t seem to bad to me especially at the price I’d be buying it at.

Red coupe on fb yesterday. Looks like a rolling body for $4500.

Oh no, that is terrible news, I am very sorry for your loss. Sanjay was an absolute font of knowledge, we enjoyed many conversations over the years going far too deep on various bmw related topics. He will be greatly missed.

Figured as much. I've bought enough e30s over the years and in at least the last 5 years they ALL have rust, its just how much of it.

$60 at supercheap for the 6ltr.

^ and sunroof! Saw another e30 on fb this morning. No wof or rego due to rust. Listed for 6k.

Odo stopped over 10 years ago at 307,000kms so its probably well over that now. I also doubt it's rust free. Check all the usual spots - Lower A Piller under the Front windshield, Firewall behind the fuse box, under the front battery / battery tray, firewall around the steering column, Front radiator support (usually lower part, between the chassis, or anywhere really), Front sills / lower front guards, rear trunk pockets each side from the inside and underneath them and the rear valance, also around the edges of the bootlid and around the taillights is hard to spot with trims and lights in place. Just take a peak underneath with your phone camera. IMO the good: Paint looks tidy, Leather door cards, manual (but that's really just a pedal box difference, unless its the gearbox you are after too, which would work with an m5x). The bad: high unknown kms, probably needs a lot of underneath unless it's well maintained, Manual windows suck but thats preference, Seats are probably torn to shreds based on interior photos and seat covers, no engine bay pics so hesitant to make a comment on it's overall condition and whether it looks maintained or not. Overpriced by 5k I reckon, and that's if it checked out as rust free and well maintained.

It's a cruiser, auto is fine.

Same! That's a seriously well taken care of machine and an awesome deal considering how much has gone into it, props to you @NZ_InFerno. No way you'd be able to buy one of these and get it to the same level for anything less than the asking price but yeah, unfortunately the market is a bit stale at the moment. All you need is one buyer that sees the value in what's been done though so you might luck out, just probably won't be a quick sale.

That’s an awesome 130! I’m not in the market but that would be bought immediately if I was. A credit to you!

$1 reserve\low reserve on trademe is the way to go these days, they tend to always fetch a fair price and drum up interest, especially on something better more special. The average car is overpriced for the market, plenty of buyers out there for the right price. Lots of delusional people still trying to sell cars with covid era pricing. Ive seen 3x average 130i auto's sell in a quick time frame for 4-4.5k.

That is a seriously sorted 130i !

Carbon bonnet installed, only took a month..!

Looking for info on my e34 525 tds bmw it is my first euro car and finding info rather hard to find on it in my country as there seems to be only a handful in nz

Comes from the Land rover clubs in UK... nitpicky pratts that will go totally off the deep end if they suspect that an old land rover has been put together/restored with the incorrect number of rivets... etc... much like the small group of BMW "rivet counters" on this forum that anally go after any car that is not OEM (in their absolute opinions of course!)

I sold my modified 327i, 5 speed, M3 5lug, Tech II for 12k a couple months ago, some of these sellers are pure dreamers! Some would say i sold mine too cheap, but it sold in 3 days with multiple buyers... by the time i sold all my spares (wheels, interior trim goodies etc) that I had on the car/keeping for a rainy day i was knocking on 20k for everything i had accumulated over the years! Realistically these cars are worth more in parts with these stupid crazy prices ! ?

Well you were right haha… went and had a look tonight, looks great from 5m away, look closely and there’s a very questionable repair to the lower a pillar where there must’ve been a significant rust hole, rust extending down into the engine bay down the firewall and in the boot floor down the sides. Definitely something to steer clear of for the money, I wouldn’t want anything to do with that a pillar job.