E30_318i

Nice car. Were you at the Wellington ferry terminal last Saturday? I don't think you can go wrong with an E34, but as has said, keep in mind that they are at the age where stuff starts to pack up on them. In the past two years I've had to replace the ignition barrel, radiator, fuel pump, and electric window switch. Stay away from the 2.5, from my experience they're bullet proof but don't cut it in a 1.6 + tonne car. Last trip I did from Auckland to Wellington (~650km) in my 525i, I used about 55 litres of gas, and she got a f**king thrashing, I was most impressed. The E34 was launched in 1988, I can't think of any other sedan from the era that would be a better all rounder. I think some pom magazine claimed it was the 'best car in the world' at the time.

I was gonna look at a 3.2 6 speed at Beech European but they've taken it off TM. Haven't given them a ring yet to see if its gone, asking price was/is 29 grand, looked like a nice car, not too keen to spend that much on an E36 though haha.

Doing marine engineering in the mighty RNZ Navy. Haven't stepped foot on a sea going ship in the 15 months of been in the service but unless you have loaded parents it is probably the best way to set yourself up in life (house, cars, qualifications, travel)

The Queen Mary II has four I9 engines just to drive it!!! One of my instructors worked in the merchant navy, said that engines this size need around 24 hrs to heat up, and a popular method for depressed sailors to kill themselves wouldn't be to jump off the back in the ocean, they'd open up one of the hatches and jump into the crankcase.

E32 750iL, financial suicide, but f**king cool. E24 635 CSi, will probably appreciate in value over time. Otherwise an E34 535 manual, you'll understand when you own one after a while, awesome cars, even today.

Too right. I saw the ad for it on TV, and that put me off the doco altogether. Looked like some delusioned lefty trying to push their agenda on the braindead masses, too bad it works. If it was about the dangerous qualities such as poor energy absorption (is this only confined to ladder/cab chassis?), I suppose they have a case but as the saying goes, guns don't kill people, people do. Toyota have put a 200kw V6 into their 1900kg Previa in overseas markets. Will this get the same reaction from typical greenie anti SUV crowd? Doubt it, as they're all hypercritical f**kwits with inconsistent arguements that cannot apply to one type of vehicle (SUVs).

I'm driving down on either Tue Feb 20th or Wed 21st if ya can wait that long...

Since I got my E34 when I was 16 and my Benz at 17 no one would give me insurance so they are in my mums name... she is 49 so i suppose theres some relevance... Both are insured thru the ASB bank where she has her mortgage with house and contents insurance. 525 - $420 PA, $300 excess 560SEC - $365 PA, $300 excess No mods, have been listed down as parked on the street but with an alarm.

Congrats. Looks immaculate, definately better than a boring Civic or Corolla as a first car! Must be the first E30 I've seen without a sunnroof

Remember time has shown that the 6spds in the Evos have had their problems too, but probably easier on the wallet if it packed up in comparison to the SMG.

10l/100km between Wellington and Auckland, not too bad, a cheap trip. 13l/100km in my 5.5 V8 Mercedes, 25l/100km around town tho

My E30 had no rust in it, but I think the E34s were the ones to break the trend, even tho mine has rust in the firewall. edit: No too sure what the E28s are like, but E32s seem to suffer the same as E30s.

I just got home from Auckland. Got outa the Auckland traffic at 5pm, into Wellington at 1am, with a few stops on the way. Was gonna go the route pictured but Ratehi to Wanganui was closed so I went thru National Park and into Waioru. Bugger all traffic, heaps of cops. Dunno about getting back Sunday afternoon tho...

5.5 V8 - 220kw/450nm, goes well NZ new, full history 260,000km Electric everything CD/MP3 sunroof leather aftermarket exhaust to bring out the V8 in it. The car is in Auckland right now Am wanting a four door and lusting over LWB E32s at the moment. $11,000 ono 021 0389383 Cheers

Second part of your story sounds like the alternators gone and your battery drained while driving along. But if that was the case you would of had to jump start it before hand? Was the radio, lights working when it happend? The exact thing happened to me last year, except it wouldn't start by itself.

Or instead of turning it to intermittent, just tap down on the knob (unless thats what you mean?)

Drove my Mercedes home from Auckland last week... $145, needed to fill up the 90L tank inbetween too. The Bimmer did it on 3/4 of an 80L tank, costing $120 to fill. Suprisingly economical.

You're brave, or have a deep pocket. Check out the latest Autotrader. Even tho it's probably been raped for the past decade, theres a nice looking black RS in there for 4 grand.

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Bullshit, nothing wrong with getting a well kept E30 318i. You will run the risk with any car of a similar age, dunno why everyone goes on about it been expensive. They are as simple mechanically as any Jappa of the day. But do you really want to put a family member in a small Jappa death trap to save a grand or two?

Thats switchable transmition is all a wank factor imo. But i wouldn't call a E30 325 slow. It depends on what its compared to, and back in its day, acceleration numbers look quite impressive for what it is. I reckon the Tourings look better than the sedan versions. Or maybe thats because there's bugger all of em around.

Thanks a lot. Have gathered some info off E30 boards aswell and will give it a shot in a few days Now it has a broken engine or g/box mount :banghead:

The ol M20

Ohh sh*t, sorry to see that, another one bites the dust At least you are ok, and it is reassuring that an E30 can stand that sort of impact, just imagine a jappa in the same situation. Some drunk bitch wrote off my mates old mans car in the middle of the night, and pays off some small insignificant sum each week, 10 or 15 bucks. Thats gotta piss anyone off.

Once again, exactly a year (to the week) after my 525i blew an intake manifold on the 6th cylinder, it happens again. I have just over one week of doing nothing before I go off to the navy, so thought I might give it a try. I looks like a rather straight foward fix, but for those who have done this, are there any hidden, annoying suprises when removing and replacing the manifold? Does the throttle need to be adjusted when the manifold is off? I assume it is a good idea to replace the hoses that need to come off as well? Also is there any reason why it has blown the gasket twice in one year on teh same cylinder? I have been told the manifold could be warped. My E30 Bentley manual doesn't have any info on this job, the closest it comes to is R/R of the throttle housing (looks like where all the hassles/fiddly sh*t lie). Other than that I have to rely on internet boards, already searching an E34 one, quite helpful. Cheers.