E30 325i Rag-Top

I guess it all comes down to what you get up to during your week-ends... whether you just want to go for a fast blat, or go away somewhere and take friends/family + a load of gear and maybe tow a boat / racecar / jet-ski. For me it would come down to a toss-up between two cars, the M5 (which just narrowly beats the new M3 for the practicality / performance balance) or an X5 M50d. If I didn't want to tow any thing around it would be the M5, but as I have a need to tow stuff on a quite regular basis the M50d would win out. Very comfortable drive for long distances, great performance, quite chuckable if you want to be silly in the twisties (usually get told to slow down by the Mrs anyway so moot point..) heaps of room plus 3.5tonne towing capability and loads of torque to pull it with. Not forgetting a half decent all-wheel drive system if you want to go to the snow or get it a bit dirty.

So much more refined in the BMW world...

Very hard to put $$$ values on historic race cars like that, but it was a very iconic car from that era, it's very, very original and there are only a handful left in the world. I guess it is the history that is worth the $$$s really, rather than the car itself (if that makes any kind of sense). Whether someone is prepared to pay that much for it, we shall see. Chances are it will end up overseas.

Fixed . Seems odd to put all of that onto a 325i wagon? Whatever floats your boat I guess. Also, is it me or does the cert plate not cover the mods to the injection, ie the NOS? That should be listed on the plate as well shouldn't it?

M20s are a complete pain in the arse to bleed, with many points in the system that can be airlocked. Whilst there may be coolant coming out of the bleed screw, there may well be air still trapped in the system. Have you filled the system with the coolant or was it done before you bought the car? Like Andy says, it could well be one of many problems so not easy to diagnose and fix.

What do you mean laughable?? I thought it was cool to have your sunnies on your head??

Seems to be just about impossible for 80% of drivers in NZ from what I have experienced.

Please put up a price and photos please, as per the forum rules for the For Sale section. Thanks.

It's all on the NZTA web-site if you can work out how to find things on there. The only trouble with going down that route is that the car has to be flagged as an "Immigrant Vehicle" on the register and it will stay listed as such forever - not sure what that would do for the resale value could put off potential buyers, which is why I avoided it. Not sure of the full process to go down that channel either.

I work closely with the NZTA / LTSA, or whatever they are called this week, often around compliance issues and bringing cars into the country. Conversations often wander a little off topic. The figure of 200 is exactly what I was told, but I'm not sure when the quota is reset, however I did hear that all the SIVs were "used up for this year" which would suggest there will be a queue of people into next year.

I was more interested in the 325i bit.. But I'm sure you're more than legit Harv!

Plus all the SIV permits have been issued since ages ago, only so many cars per year...

We might have to check your motor a bit more closely this year then Harv...

Check the build sheet for your car and look for the option codes 6NE or 6NF. Bluetooth was definitely available in that year, but not necessarily standard, and it would depend on the spec. level for the country it was first sold in.

Darren, the first thing you need to find out is whether your car can be complied when it arrives in NZ. Being a 2003 Alpina I think it might struggle to meet the emissions requirements.

Got the steering column hooked up again, so was able to take it for a little drive. Only out of the garage and down the driveway, but it's a start! Good news is that the clutch and gear change work as they should. Managed to make my first cock-up due to the dog-leg shift, hopefully get that out of the way quickly. Slight problem with the sway bar clashing on the manifold... But should be able to work around that somehow.

I want so much to buy this off you Dan.. but I think the Mrs would kill me! Hope it goes to a good home. And is that a bottle of NOS on the passenger seat??

^^ The white one on the shore? I think Brent bought it and is breaking it - listed in the For Sale section.

Jeez, what a mission! Much harder to get into place than the other ones. Normal set just needed the sway bar loosening off to get into place, the new set are much wider (due to the gap for the steering column) and took a lot more to get in: sway bar completely off, engine mount and arm taken off and engine jacked up!! Put a couple of new mounts in while I was there, don't want the motor moving around as there is not much clearance in there. Hope to get the steering hooked up today, shall see how that goes...

I know Driftit was selling one not so long ago, drop him a pm he might still have it available.

Ya big wuss. I hope you still had ya shorts on?

Much easier for the timing to be out with the dizzy version rather than the later Motronic style is what John is getting at. Could be only a degree or two difference in the timing which is causing the two problems that you mention.

Hmmm, interesting. The main reason I was thinking of wrapping them was to keep the heat away from the steering column, which is going to pass through the middle of the two pipes. Maybe I could put the wrap around the column instead, to insulate that?

Had a real stroke of luck at the end of last week, thanks to Google and the fact that NZ is like a small village, found a set of RHD M3 headers for sale locally. It was a well expired TradeMe listing, but I recognised the name of the person and managed to find a number for them, and luckily they were still available. Made contact, turned out to be someone I had met in the past, got a bit more info and they sounded just right, agreed a price and they turned up here today via Mainfreight. Very pleased with them, just waiting for some heat wrap to arrive tomorrow and on they will go! Just the back end of the exhaust to do now the tricky bit is out of the way.

Haha, saw that last night and was going to post it up! My German is a little rusty so can't read much of it, but think I have worked some of it out. Looks like he had an Alpina M3, which is the B6 part (?), but also managed to get all the gear from the B10, including a replacement low mileage bi-turbo engine, and put it all in the E30. End result is a bloody amazing car, love that interior, with the suede dash, etc. and it would go like a cut cat. No idea on the pricing it's a one-off, purists might say not genuine, so not worth as much. I would definitely find room for it in my garage! Where's that 5mil again??