E30 325i Rag-Top

Well, bugger me sideways, spoiler turned up this morning on the courier, no issues! I did get a bit worried when the tracker was showing it had been sent to Australia from Latvia., but there you go. A day under two weeks to get here, excellent. All looks to be in one piece, and is very well wrapped up, so will rip it all open tonight when I get home.

I take it you are referring to the older E82 / E88 1-series models, not the newer F20 M135i? Both the 135i Coupe and Convertible were specced with an auto as standard, if you term the DCT as an auto, so the vast majority of the cars officially brought in and sold NZ new are autos. A quick search shows that there were 5 coupes brought in as manual, but no convertibles.

If I see another hipster beard driving an E30 'vert then I am going to have to put mine up for sale, I don't want to look like an old man trying to hard to be cool.

Sorry, Josh, that should be "a bit quicker than STANDARD E30s", yours doesn't qualify for that statement!

^^ I see what you did there...

It's not just safety features, it's also crash / injury statistics. WRXs tend to go a bit quicker than E30s and I have seen a lot more of them upside down at the side of the road than E30s as well. As for Defenders... They are safe because they move so slow.

As long as it is pronounced "Tommi" and not "Tommy" then it's all good..

There are nearly 4 million registered vehicles in NZ, and god knows how many vehicle makes, models and sub-models. As usual the press try to make a bad news story where there is none. Yes there may be a few anomalies in there, but they still pay less than before!

Ray and his team at HellBM (forum sponsor's) are particularly experienced in swapping SMG to manuals I believe, give him a call.

^^ Yup, don't forget the urge to wander about on the motorway pointing at minor damage on the car, whilst on-coming traffic tries to miss you!

Two women in the same office, one moaning they are hot, the other cold. I once suggested they swap desks and they looked at me like I told them to each their children!

Saw the biggest badge / label fail this morning, On a white E90 in Pakuranga, on the driver's door... Power M\\\ ?? Probably says ///M Power on the other side.. Lol.

I've driven a couple of F01s, only over short distances though. General impression was of floating along, very comfortable but not really my thing. Can probably change the settings to firm things up if you want though!

Yes, the non-written off one is still in the country. Alive and well in the BoP, and I happen to know the owner, and have seen the car in the flesh, although not for a a few months.

More E30 does not make up for awful music and un-hot girl, sorry.

Would have been a lot less if they had just paid the fine and not ended up in court over it. When it gets to court you have to pay costs, etc... and the pratt didn't even bother to turn up!!

Pretty sure the 2.3 was only available with L-jet injection, whereas the 2.5 is the Motronic. So if you are swapping a 2.3 into your 325i it might make things a little bit more interesting in terms of getting everything hooked up and working. Some early 2.3s would also have things like the extra "cold start" injector in the inlet manifold, so you might well require the loom and ECU, etc to go with it and make it work properly, then there is the crank sensors and where they are, etc.... You might be able to bolt the Motronic bits, inlet manifold, from the 2.5 onto the 2.3 to make it work?? 2.5 definitely has a bit more power, 171hp v 150hp as standard figures. Don't know on the torque figures, sorry. 2.5s do come up now and again, and I would say it is worth trying to get one for the reasons above.

The appeal of the E38 is growing on me...

Might be the same crowd Graham, they are listed as "sstuningparts" on eBay in the Uk. And yes, you are right it is the postal / courier people that usually screw things up! This time I have a tracking number that I will be watching like a hawk so I can keep a closer eye on NZ Post after their previous efforts.

After my "interesting" experiences with buying parts from overseas I decided to order a spoiler from.... Latvia!! What could possibly go wrong..

Shame about the Twilight fella getting in the way though..

In terms of your pre-purchase inspection don't get the AA to do it. Use a BMW specialist who can read the ECU and check the fault code history.

You have txt

Can you please add photos as per forum rules. Thanks.

Whinging bloody Poms!!