E30 325i Rag-Top

Aah, true! Missed that bit..

It's only simple if you build a robust system and ensure it is used correctly. Put in context, 2 million cars built in 2016 alone, all with seperate codes, multiple differnent types of key - 5 & 7 Series now comes with four keys, 1 valet, 2 main remote, plus a display key. Go back how many years, and how many keys? Oh it was so easy in the good old E30 days! All electronic keys have seperate rolling codes to synch with the car, not just the cutting profile for the key slot, so how many of seperate pieces of information are we up to now..? How do you firstly create all the information required to produce the parts and code them and get them to the factory onto the right car and then stored again afterwards, in a format that can be interrogated and links all the seperate parts of the jigsaw together? Not a huge task in terms of data storage capacity, but again it is the processes around it that take the time and effort to build and maintain. When I get some time I will try and pull the information I had from Ford of Europe on the cost analysis of data management - for those that have trouble sleeping.

Average condition but road legal - $6 - 9k depending on issues to make good. In good condition and road legal - $10 - 12k If those Kms are genuine, and can be backed up with history, and in mint condition then the sky would almost be the limit, a very good, genuine 325i M-Sport can go for over $20k I just hope the car isn't too far gone to get back on the road, there are not many E30 Tech I around these days. Let us know how you go with getting the car - a good score by the sounds!

Interesting, I have never seen a BMW tyre specification include a brand / variety for anything other than the high- performance models, M cars and M140i / M240i, etc. i can understand your view, those "mechanical insurance" policies look for any thing to avoid paying out.

Just out of curiosity I checked exactly which Bridgestones are on the current car, answer Potenza S001s. +++would recommend* * - caveat, only if suitable for your application.

Going back to the original question posed, what are the best run-flats, whilst I won't suggest a specific brand as a lot of the decision is down to personal taste and driving style, I would just emphasize the fact that the design(s) used in run-flats have been developed over the years and the latest "generation" of tyres are significantly better in regards to the problems most associate with run flats. I am not 100% on how things have changed, or if you can even still buy the older generations, but would suggest that your brother really only look at the latest generation IF they can be fitted on the E91. It's been a while since I drove and E91 but I can't remember the ride being overly harsh even with 19's and M-Sport suspension on the RFTs, and pretty sure they were Bridgstones. Of the tyres coming from the factory now the Bridgestone is certainly the most widely fitted, but it is hard for me to tell the difference between those and the Contis.

What nobody is factoring into the equation, including the people that made the decision, is the cost of storing and maintaining all the information required for the key. Plus all the controls you have to have in place around people accessing the information. I don't mean the cost of the physical storage to hold the data, that is relatively cheap these days. More the processes and steps that have to be followed and the time and cost it all takes. It's always easy for these bodies to say "you must keep records" "you must provide information" "you must have spare parts" but they have no clue about the costs to the business to make these things happen.

Ok, I'll dig it out of the cupboard and send it down to the dealer.

No editing has taken place, but various posts have been hidden as part of the the thread moderation. Your inbox looks to be full as you are unable to receive messages at present.

Yeah, sure. I might be able to get it to Manawatu BMW for cheap if you can pickup from there?

There are plenty of E30 fitment wheels that clear this brake conversion without spacers, pretty sure the Advanti SA-11s do no trouble. Obviously it all depends on the offset and size and shape of the wheel spokes - but I have no idea what the BBS RS is like in that respect. I will have some time in the garage over the week-end by the look of the weather, so I wll grab the tape-measure and get a number for you.

Easy enough for me to whip a wheel off and have a measure up for you. If you have a pic to show exact dimension it could be helpful.

If it's the metal bracket that the filter straps on to then I have one here you can take.. .bit of a trek from palmy though.

The tyres, pads and rotors can be influlenced by your driving style. Unfortunately the X5 does go pretty well and has good on road manners, so you can easily find yourself chucking it about like a car rather than a 2.5tonne truck. That is what tends to chew the tyres, and in particular the brakes as pulling up that amount of momentum does take a bit of effort. If you can avoid the temptation then you can get much better life from the consumables. Regular maintenance is a must for the 30ltr diesel, if it has been missed or cheaped out on then likely to have issues down the line, regular doses of good quality oil.

I'm with you Graham, 4-cylinder E30 please. That why I have a 4-pot in the race car - trade off between power and weight / handling. Even with a 4-cylinder up front it is still a bit nose heavy but that could because so much gets stripped out of the rear with a racer. A good M10 in an e30 would be a great car. It is possibly because most people are being "realistic" in what they are looking for, 320i / 325i is still an affordable E30, M5x swap into an E30 is a cheap(ish) swap. 318iS and M3 are very scarce and out of most peoples budgets, so they look for the "next best thing" instead, which is perceived to be the 6-cylinder models. Not sure that argument quite stacks up with the Mercs though as the 2.3 16v, whilst not quite the dizzy heights of an M3, is still a lot more expensive than the 6-cyl versions...

Nigel Latta did a very good comparison between an 80s Falcodore and a modern hatch. Was very interesting. 80s car was big, heavy and solid but no safety features of modern world. I'll take the modern safety please.

Nice car, good price from the list of parts in it and caged. You might have more luck on TradeMe if you list it in the "Specialist Cars" section as that is where the race cars are normally listed.

Yeah the coffee meet up at Kyu's place sees some pretty good cars and all well presented. Concours (or however you spell it).. is a whole other world of clealiness OCD and attention to detail, it's not just about the presentation of the car, it's how factory original it is with the right parts on the car. A friend of mine in the UK had a car that was only ever used for concours events, it still had the delivery labels from the factory..

From memory there used to be a concourse event at the big yearly club meet a few years back. The guy is talking about 2002 and 2003 so a bit before my time.

Sweet car. I think I saw you driving through Maraetai the other week-end. Funny how the little finishing touches take so long once you get to the stage you can go for a drive eh?

The sports seats in my vert have done less than 80k miles, but bolsters were replaced long ago. I think it is the rubbing as you get in and out... Lots of short trips = more rubbing. yes, agree, not in great shape for what he is asking. Needs to be brought up to a good standard for those prices. Could be such a great car with the effort.

Good idea - I'll look into that.

They are expensive for a reason, if they were cheap that would possibly mean that they were no good and not popular. It might not stack up $$$ wise v say a 2JZ swap due to the availability of Japanese engines in this part of the world, but if you want to stick with Bimmer power in a Bimmer, then there are not many better options.

Thread tidied up and posts removed. Apologies, missed that fact that this thread had gone off the rails, mods sleeping on the job again.