E30 325i Rag-Top

I was quite chuffed with my efforts, luckily I guessed right and found the relay issue straight away, didn't even have to phone Hotwire this time!!. Still trying to find where the problem is though, according to the wiring diagram there is a splice on the wire somewhere between the C101 connector and the relays, but I haven't managed to find it yet and I have unravelled a lot of that stick cloth covering stuff - ugh! Was your 205 a Peugeot, putting the Mi-16 motor in it? if so there's a few more wires on those than an E30 so I can see your problem. Not a swap I did myself, but a mate had a 205 with the Mi-16 in it, mental car, and then another guy had a 205 with the Turbo Technics kit - that was another world of silliness.

Very true Dan, the cars are getting bigger. The 2 Series Coupe is bigger than an E30, the 3 is now bigger than the early 5s, the X3 is now bigger than the first X5. But I think this is an industry wide thing, not just BMW, everything seems to be getting bigger, and then a new Micro, Mini, sub-compact segment is introduced at the bottom of the size chart. Maybe it's because people are growing taller and fatter and need bigger cars? Who knows, because apparently size doesn't matter.

I would say the scales are set up for corner weighting a car - so they are showing the balance of the car front to rear and left to right.The cross would then relate the the FL/RR against FR/LR balance, which is apparently important. Don't get too hung up on numbers, it's the pants dyno that tells the true story.

I have rushed a couple in the past and made a silly mistake which has cost a lot more time and effort to fix in the long run. Lesson learned, plus this is "my baby" and a special engine which I can't just throw away and start again. Tracked down the electrical issue to a break in the engine loom, not powering up those bloody bulkhead relays!! Pulling the loom apart now, fun!!

I have rushed a couple in the past and made a silly mistake which has cost a lot more time and effort to fix in the long run. Lesson learned, plus this is "my baby" and a special engine which I can't just throw away and start again. Tracked down the electrical issue to a break in the engine loom, not powering up those bloody bulkhead relays!! Pulling the loom apart now, fun!!

Pulling the starter motor out must have freed off what ever was stuck. Once it was out I hooked the connections up to the battery using jump leads and she was popping in and out like a good-'un. Stuck it back in and tried turning over and it was all good. Pipes and AFM back on and time to try firing up again.. Turning over great - but oil pressure light not going out, so didn't want to put the plugs in a try to run it without being 100% sure the oil had come through. Double checked my wiring diagrams and pin connections and was 99% the dash oil pressure warning is connected up to the engine correctly. Tried turning over the engine again, and just left it spinning for slightly longer and da-dah! the light went out - phew relief. Next step (don't want to rush this and screw the motor) plugs in and turn over again - got compression as the turn over is slower and there are pulses of air coming out of the exhaust manifold, you can tell this when there are only headers on and no centre section! No leaks, or funny noises spotted so far. Time for the big moment, connect up the plugs and turn the key.. And, nothing! Bugger. Time to check spark and fuel, my first guess is fuel as I can't hear the fuel pump priming or the relay buzzing - will have a poke around the relays with the old volt meter and see what is happening.

Is that comparison with similar options though? So both cars have nav, climate air-con, adaptive suspension, 19" wheels, etc? Very hard to compare across models as the options can make a bit of a difference to the overall weight. The other real-world test is if the car "feels" heavier, newer models can often show higher numbers on the scales but seem like they are lighter and more agile from the power delivery and steering responsiveness. An E92 M3 doesn't "feel" any heavier than my E30, as it has more power, better steering and suspension but weighs approx 200kg more!

The M4 just squeaks under the 1500kg (depending on options), but only in manual form, M3 is just a little over and the DCT adds 40kg. Lots of engineering effort went into reducing the weight, including the CFRP driveshaft which you won't even get to see. Most of the reports are highlighting the extra pull from low revs of the new turbo engine over the out-going n/a V8. I'm looking forward to doing the comparison!

Always read the details on any "warranty" or "service plan" as there are huge variations on what is covered, and so what is not. There are very few "full" service plans available, which would cover wear-and-tear items like brakes, I have only ever seen these on leased vehicles that are on a fully maintained lease, and even then there can be excesses to pay if you get through too many kms by the end of the lease. As for the parallel importers and their "warranties" most are only good for bog roll. They are technically "mechanical insurance policies" not warranties at all, and have you ever seen an Insurance company that likes to pay out? Plus one of the normal conditions in the policy is to have the vehicle serviced by the dealer at more regular intervals, and they wont pay out if you dont do it. Be clear what you are signing up for.

Long way to go yet.. anything can happen in the sudden death matches. I've been loving it so far (except the usual England under-performances). No-one has looked totally convincing, which is great as it makes it nice and open with plenty of goals. I'm still in the work sweepstake so that's also a bonus! Now it starts to get really serious so I expect games will tighten up and become more defensive as the stakes get higher.

I know Milland has quite a lot of genuine parts, not sure they all are though. Be very aware of the wording a lot of the people like Schmiedman, etc use, words like OE, OEM and "to OE quality" can be very mis-leading. It depends a lot on how much the postage is going to cost, for anything that gets more than slightly large or heavy it adds up pretty quickly - even if you order multiple items at a time, and if you order too much stuff in one go you can get stung for the GST as well. The US seems to be a good place to source stuff at the moment, good exchange rate and reasonable postage with no language barriers!

Bumpity bump. Someone out there must have one they want to get rid of surely?

Nothing wrong with the kit itself, it looks pretty good, especially the front. But, to me, it looks like it is meant for a different model car if you know what I mean? It doesn't really fit the style of the rest of the body. The front especially looks too obviously bolted on.

I have heard that Kiwis are starting to use Mobile Homes for P-Labs. Apparently they got the idea from Breaking Bad...

Wasn't sure if serious!

Authorized BMW Japan Model = car that has been imported by BMW Japan, not a parallel import. The stamped number is then the serial number. Post up the VIN number stamped on the chassis and I will tell you whether it's Euro or US spec... The four characters after the WBS.... are the important ones

Whereabouts are you? I have plenty of door handles / grabs for cheap, but would be a pain to post.

Good idea! Was quite an easy swap when I did mine. I don't think there are too many differences between a 330d and 530d in terms of access.

No reason that I can think of, however, there could still be issues with the car that are picked up at compliance. It is a lot more stringent and thorough than your usual WoF and some very odd things can be raised as issues. Look for any rust at all, even surface rust on components. I have heard of cars being pulled up for surface rust on sway bars! Plus any rust on the bodywork tends to be flagged up as needing to be removed. Be prepared for new brake pads and rotors all round - that is also a favourite for the inspectors, I guess that would be a few $$$s on a Porker? It might be worth checking if the car has been put in for compliance before (I think they get logged in the system) it could be that it needs work and the importer put it into the too hard basket?

Been watching this for a while now. Started off at $30k, ended up at $1 reserve. I think the high-ish kms on an import is putting a lot of people off. I would be very keen if it was closer to home so I could check it out properly before bidding.

If that mileage can be backed up with a solid history then that is a very good deal. And a very good heart transplant donor...

Which one do you need, the pre-facelift Zeppelin shape, or facelift square shape? I have a couple of facelift ones, in Aucks.

It USED to be the case that if the car was over 20 years old then it was exempt from the latest regulations, frontal impact, emissions, etc. which also allowed the LHD cars to be registered. The snag was the car had to be over 20 years old from date of first registration (not build date) when it ARRIVED in NZ, so you couldn't bring something in, store it for a while and then register it. I had to wait about a year until my E30 'vert hit 20 years so I could bring it in. Not sure if this is still the case, but somewhere in the LTNZ site it should say... If it is still the case you would need to find the paperwork for when the car was first registered, and when it arrived here (customs import paperwork) to work out if it was 20 years old at that time, and so can be reg'd. As it hasn't been registered up until now, it might suggest that there is an issue somewhere, otherwise it would be worth a lot more as a registered car surely?

Whoops, my punctuation was not very good there. Not trying to say people with people movers are clowns. Just that people movers with car seats often have babies or small kids travelling in them, which from my experience can lead to damage to neighbouring cars.

Your best bet would be a genuine one from a breaker - try Ray @HellBM or Mosens They do come up now and then but not often.