E30 325i Rag-Top

As well as physically changing the lights (aka the easy bit) there will be a host of programming and / or electrical changes also required (aka the hard bit). More details on the lights before and after the changes would help a lot.

Not sure how I’ve missed this for so long, Dolphin Tech 1 325i is perfection right there!’

“Rip off” is a bit of a strong and emotional term, especially when you are not comparing all the facts (one example out of how many millions of part numbers?) nor comparing apples with apples. It all comes down to economies of scale, and how costs are spread across the supply chain. FCP Euro would probably have a bigger parts turnover than BMW NZ, let alone BMW North America who would be the equivalent point. As mentioned above NZ parts can be reasonable for fast moving volume medium cost items. If it’s a larger, low volume item that has to be ordered in especially then unfortunately the costs won’t be comparable with the US who is still probably buying exponentially more per year. This then gets into a “chicken and egg” situation as more people buy on line from the bigger vendors. The issue then is supporting the local businesses in terms of time scales, yes most things can be sent over-night, but this then gets tricky for larger parts like bumpers for crashed cars, wheels, Lithium batteries (dangerous goods), etc. If the significantly increased freight costs (post Covid) are then passed on insurance companies will soon up the premiums to recover and more cars will get written off. Would that it was possible for FCP to be a supplier. However, you might want to ask Toyota Aussie and Toyota NZ how they ended up with fake parts in their supply chain and the $$$s it cost to sort that mess. Is there room for improvement..? Always. Will systems evolve over time..? Most definitely. Will people still claim “dealers charge 100% mark up” .? We shall wait and see. *Purely my personal opinions as an innocent bystander, any resemblance to persons dead or alive are purely coincidental.

@Petemw812 has your car had the airbag recall done? It affects most E46s. Give your local franchised BMW dealer a ring they will check your VIN. You MIGHT be able to get it all sorted at same time?

Yes, kind of, through BMW NZ. With a load of other fixings and fastenings to put the rear MTech 1 bumper on. Got the front bumper and associated parts back today, just going through to work out what is missing or needs replacing on there as well. Surprisingly these little labels are different on the front and rear (very UN-German) and one is NLA so I got two of the other. Whilst not 100% ideal this is closer than not having the labels. There are people around on the net that do reproductions of the most obscure stuff, and you could probably get them cheaper through there, but I am lucky enough to get a good discount.

Your figure is a mile out if you are suggesting that is the dealer margin on parts. They may “want to” but the reality of what is charged is a mere fraction of that. The costs of maintaining a spare parts supply where fixings for a 40+ year old Tech 1 kit are not only available, but in stock (in NZ no less) should not be underestimated either.

The Coombes DP does have a very mint red M325i but it’s not that one.

Yup, and the other potentially huge money pit is the customer coming back and blaming the workmanship when it’s the cheap part that’s failed (as M3AN mentioned above). From my experience customers that want to use cheap parts (as opposed to genuine parts sourced elsewhere) are also quick to throw blame around to get things fixed for free.

It’s the small details that make the difference..

I’ve got two sets of “super lows” but thinking I probably need to come up a bit to make the car more useable, hence looking for “lows” instead. What’s out there?

Can understand why they put that on TradeMe listings the place is full of timewasters. As long as they have other ways of contact and use it. Can’t avoid using TradeMe if you want to sell a car due to their monopoly.

@Twistee see a couple of posts up. Feels like a big car when you are in it due to interior space, doesn’t feel like it in terms of the driving agility.

I’m in the “each to their own / it would be boring if we all had the same taste” school of thought, but that car is a bit out there. A pretty limited market for a hybrid that’s been modified that much I would suggest. The Ali G reference is absolutely spot on.

What a strange car to put that much stereo gear into. Not exactly the best body style for “quality sound” to be created I would have thought?

Hours of fun on there! The classic archive is also a great place to waste hours dreaming.