ssbmw

I recall the history on this car. Gerry had about $65k on this car when TMBMW were selling it on behalf all those years ago. It got snapped up by a guy who hardly drove it but popped it mark on the market a year or 2 later for around $30k. The current owner enquired about the car on this very site - and i recall, myself, and a few other people provided some information / history on the car. The current owner has a car museum / collection in the Wairarapa from memory. However, within a little while it appeared for sale again for around $60k and has been for sale intermittently ever since. I remember the car from the mid noughties and it was striking. No doubt it is still in pristine condition. However, I personally believe that you'd struggle to find a buyer at that level in NZ these days.No doubt there are people wanting one- however look at what other M-power options are out there in 2014 at that sort of price (and no doubt a lot more practical ).

You know it's interesting when you look at comparisons. My old m635csi put out 286bhp. With the M88/3 the engine was lethargic until you hit 4500 rpm and then it went mental. My one was pretty quick and you'd feel the push into your seat. Upon driving a 540is the performance was so different - ample torque down low. When I got the e31 I believed that both the m6 and 540is were quicker. In reality, I have the opportunity to do some testing on rural Waikato roads and the 4.4 840ci 6 speed is marginally quicker than the 540 manual. This was backed up by a close friend. A E34 M5 however, maybe a smidgen quicker than the E31 - but in reality not by much. Driving all of them-you find that they all perform fairly similarly when it comes to overall performance. The E31 is by many unfairly maligned as a lethargic boulevard cruiser. It is not a M3 but the performance is deceptively quick.

Hi Jules, good luck with your project man. Looking good. What are your current wheels like in the flesh? As I have probably said before - I am a fan of the m parallels. They rock. They are the only wheels I would have if I didn't have my factory Style 5's. Are they genuine? If so, wouldn't it be better to just restore them to better than new condition?

I have not seen it but a reliable source has told me that there is a sub-20,000 k e34 m5 living somewhere in nz! Not bad considering nearly all of the e34 m5 these days in Nz have 200k plus on their engines.

Jules I personally love the M parallels. Are yours staggered? I think they are the best wheel on both the E31 and e34 as they tastefully fill up the arches.

Hi Julian, Congrats man! Being a e31 owner, happy for you to join the club. Guess what? I know your car! I recall it was for sale in Auckland- circa 2008. It was hell red back then and had the unusual pipes. About 6 months later I saw it again (now painted black). Spoke to the owner who said he lived overseas a lot who bought it on a whim and decided he wanted it in black. He lived less than a km from my house in Hamilton. The bizarre thing was at the time there were 3 black 850's and 2 840ci's all living within blocks of each other in Hamilton ! good luck on your future plans! I have seen a few of these engines powering e31's in both the US and the UK. It will be interesting to see how your project eventually fares against a factory 850csi. Keen to know what springs you intend to get.

By the way if you go to the M registry pretty sure it's on there - depicted with its turbines.

I know the family who brought this car in from SA. I saw it in 2000 when it had around 100,000ks on the clock. It was immaculate. Not too many examples with the original turbine wheels. It was then sold to an accountant called Graham Peddler in Hawkes bay who drove it heavily and within a few years brought it up to 200 plus k's. Then another guy bought it in Hb and didn't drive it much and now sold to you- correct? Great car! Good luck with the sale.

That's the one - my memory didn't fail me. I have heard that if the AHK (4 wheel steering) function fails it is a 20k plus repair on a 850csi. I wonder whether that was also an issue with this vehicle. The US spec 850csi didn't evidently come standard with AHK. Irrespective I still think it is a beautiful car in that colour. Hope to see it restored to its former glory one day.

Wasn't the guy who brought in the Technoviolet / Daytona violet 850csi ( can't remember which one) that is coated with rust a member here? I remember he was quite young and was waxing lyrical about this exciting new car he was importing. He was on Bimmersport regularly 6-7 years ago. There were photos of the car when it came in. Then he sort of went quiet. I recall seeing the car in BM workshop in Botany. Looked a little tired but must have been a beautiful car during its halcyon days.

Ah yes the silver 850csi is owned by Peter Farmiloe. That car was discussed 5-6 years ago on this site when Glenn's customer brought it in for some work. Had 18000 ks on the clock then. Yes Alan has a dakar yellow acs 850csi, a pinky purple 99' 840ci sport et al. The crown jewel is that re-built alpina. Super rare.

Yes I have heard of Alan Ferguson's collection but not seen any yet as they are fairly recent to NZ, and l live overseas. Must be a very passionate man. He bought a few from a guy called Peter Rice from the Uk who had e31's in both Canada and England. Anecdotally, Alan owns 8 e31's. Very cool!

It was an auto. There were 850is with 6 speed manuals but not aware of any in NZ.

Actually Milan I know the guy who owned Gerry's car in the tron ( as he lived 200m from my house). He certainly didn't let that car go anywhere! In reality he bought it with about 49,000 k''s and sold it with only a few hundred more 2 odd years later. When he had it it was like new - only driven every few months for a few k's. He had it on the market for along time for 50k. Not surprisingly at that price he didn't have any serious offers. Finally he told me that in April 2009 he had someone interested. Apparently the guy turned up with some big "minders" and offered him $43k that came in a suitcase - in $50 notes! Like a movie! He accepted the offer. So the car now lives in Auckland. I have not seen it in the flesh since. However a mate of mine took a photo of it a few years ago - and boy it looked like it needed some love. Had a Mitsubishi Gto rear spoiler sitting on the boot. Wheels were covered in brake dust. The car that was being used by a lady of the night was another e31 - a black English 850i that lived 300m away for my house ( in actual fact in 2009 there were 5 e31's in the same area in Hamilton). That was the hooker's car - not Gerry's old red one!

I just remembered another nice m62 - powered e31. It lives in Auckland. Sent you a pm about it.

Hi Jeff, I didn't know about the orient blue 4.4 but I figured they had to be around. That makes it 5 4.4's I know of. I know Carl the owner of the Tobago blue 840. I can see whether he still has it. Think he wanted 23k last time he marketed it. As for the total build for the 840's - there were 900 odd made in rhd drive auto with the 4.0 engine. However 54 6 speed manuals. With the 4.4 however, there were 1400 odd autos, and three 6 speed manuals in right hand drive. I bet the car you saw for 50k was Gerry hodges's old 4.0 manual. Sold in April 2009 for 43k ( it had 50,000ks on the clock back then). Funnily enough I bought mine in January of that year. At the time my car had clocked 48,000 ks ( now got 53,000). They are the only red manuals that have been marketed in recent years. Both uncannily similar in appearance with black leather ( mind you Gerry's car had BBS LM 18 wheels - mine has the factory Style 5's).

Gidday Jeff, appreciate I have hit this thread pretty late. However just wanted to give you an insight into the number of 840's in nz. A friend of mine has an e31 registry for nz but I can help you. In fact there are at least 4 examples with the 4.4 v8 in NZ.(3 were delivered new to nz). The last one delivered to nz (in black and a 1998) was recently sold for 23k in Auckland (about 6 month ago) with 113k's on its clock. The other auto is a green one (96) living in queens town. The other one is my car - a 96 manual with m sport package. Mine is the last of only 3 manuals made with the 4.4 in right hand drive. The only 4.4 import I know of is the car that was mentioned here - a black 96 example that arrived with its owner from the uk (now in Wellington). There are probably another 15 or so 4.0 840's. There are some special cars amongst that group. Nz did have 5 manual nz new 4.0 examples. 2 have been shipped to Australia. However, the bmw club president of nz, Gerry Hodges owned a red example that is still in Auckland. There is also a Avus blue example with m sport extra plus schnitzer wheels, exhaust and body kit too - owned by an Aucklander who owns another 840 amongst numerous other Bmw's. There is also one more manual in black which has only 50,000 ks. Not sure whether any of these cars are up for sale. Worth investigating. I think a good 4.0 manual with all the features would still be a 25-30k car. Would you consider the 94 Tobago blue example that was on trademe until fairly recently- the one with full m-spec features and two-tone leather? It was for sale for low 20ks and is a fairly good car. Auto though. If you are looking for a 4.4 example it could be tough as there are not many around. However, if you really want one and are happy with a 4.0 litre, you could do some investigating and track one down - they are around. It s just whether anybody wants to sell one .

This car is number 90 of the 524 made in right hand drive. Rare car. Agate green was a rare colour in the e24 m635csi ( however there is a NZ new example in the same colour in the sth island). I agree with the original post; it needs another set of feet- possibly style 5's or AC Schnitzer's. The rear pipes are a tad unusual too. Otherwise, if it is structurally sound (front guards et al) sounds like a nice car.

Anecdotally, the first owner of the white NZ new example with body kit also had a Zinnober red m635csi (NZ new too) at the same time! Evidently both were tricked up with nitrous oxide! I have heard this from various sources over the years- including the current owner of the m6. Wonder if anyone in recent years have simultaneously had newer variants of m5 and m6's in their garage!

Most likely the grey one, it had 3 stints on t/me over the last several years.

Hi there From what I know, there were only 2 imported new to NZ. A white example with full body kit, and another one in a Bronze colour. In terms of imports there is an ex HK example that lives in Christchurch (in black). Evidently there is another one in Cch which is an ex UK example with ultra low k's which lives in a collection. I don't know the colour of this vehicle. Until a year ago or so there was an ex Sth African example in Dolphin grey living in Auckland. Equipped with the full body kit, this car now has been sold to a collector in Adelaide. As mentioned by Brent, these cars were always rare- and by virtue of their scarcity and unique factor, do not come up for sale for much at all. The grey one was on trademe a few times over the last 10 years but the others haven't. Like its the brother, the M635csi, expect to pay over $30k for a decent one.

Brent is correct this is Ross's car and lived in the South Island prior to Boris purchasing it around 4 years ago. Look I don't think it is fair to call someone a prat just because they don't show the plates. He has been up front about the vin number so anyone can check its authenticity. It is a fabulous car and one of the best of its kind in NZ. Yes agreed the price is slightly punchy. However this car has been loved its whole life and deserves to be marketed at a premium for what it is. I have seen some of these being marketed as high as 14-15k and were comparatively baggy. It is sad that there aren't too many e34 m5's in NZ as tidy as this example.

Hi mate, I see that you have copied my comments for your trade me advert. I have no issues with that. However, please remove Graham Fleury's name off the advert. Not sure if he'd like his name mentioned on a trade me advert. I hope you are cool with this. Cheers.

Hi Rowan, This is just my opinion. Take it for exactly what it is -my perspective. It was sold at an absolute premium price at Giltraps a few years go. However they managed to sell it! Generally speaking I think a car like this in this condition is worth $18-$23k in NZ. You could get possibly get more but despite the condition the mileage is getting up there. As the mileage gets higher you lose some would-be buyers because they are mileage -fussy. A Highline in this condition in the Uk with this amount of mileage is worth possibly about 10k pounds. What it has in its favour is it's unique hue, the fact it is one of the last special edition ( from memory they made around 450 highlines ) E24's made -and also happens to be in wonderful nick. Try getting one like this -good luck! To the right buyer it could be worth more but it all depends on timing and getting a buyer who has their stars lined up to buy one. If this was a M635csi one could argue that it is worth $30k plus by virtue of its condition -irrespective of its mileage. There only 4-5 M6's in Nz that are possibly as tidy as your Highline. As mentioned earlier very few 24 year old vehicles like your car has been cherished by so many of its previous owners!

Maybe you could try tracking down Graham Fleury ? I thought that was a cool plate. Kind of subtle.