E30 325i Rag-Top

Some headers on the front end and a fart cannon on the back - sorted!

Some resources speak of the UK 325i Sport having a "close ratio" gearbox, but I have never found a list of what the ratios actually were, and if they were different from a normal 325i. Definately not a dog-leg box in either version though. The E30 320iS, in both 2-dr and 4-dr, had the dog-leg 265/5 in all of them. However, they were only sold in Portugal and Italy so I don't know what the Japanese version would have had in it.

Great photos, glad your special day went well. No sure about the Merc though....

So they are pretty much US Spec then? Much as I enjoy hitting my head against a brick-wall I will stop now, apparently it feels good when you stop.

It depends what you mean by "standard", as both types of M3 were sold in Japan as new then you can say either one is fitted as standard. From the numbers I have seen there were more US spec cars sold in Japan than Euro, so the H pattern would be more common. What it all boils down to is which model the car was, US or Euro. (Disclaimer - allow for ordered options, later changes, odd balls and f&$k ups)

Just to say it one more time... There is NO Japan spec, only Euro and US. Cars sold in Japan could be either model, the US Spec or the Euro Spec, depending on what model code was ordered. Most Euro spec cars would have a Km/h speedo, only GB uses miles, rest of europe is Kms. It could have been possible to option a Euro spec car with a H-pattern box, if you really wanted to. And after all these years it could easily have been swapped out, and not necessarily what came out of the factory, H pattern box is much cheaper to get hold of second hand as it's much less desirable. I get my information from many places, but no I don't work for a dealer.

There is no Japanese spec, they can have either the H Pattern if a US spec was ordered, or a dog-leg if a Euro spec was ordered. Which is why people have cars from Japan which have both types of box. The articles I have read on the 2 x RHD is that they were for Japan, which makes sense as HK would not be a big enough market for it to even be considered as a project whereas Japan would be. I think one of the cars is now in a collection in HK, or it was when the last article I read was written.

Sorry, but that is not the case. The diff and gearbox (and all major mechanical parts) are determined by the model code first and foremost, in the case of this car that is AK05 which as you point out on your list is the Euro spec with cat. Option codes for national versions, such as 807, 812 and 814 only affect the documentation with the vehicle, labelling, BoL, handbooks, etc. The speedo option you refer to for GB is 548, this is completely seperate to any national versions. Japan is not a model on its own, it will only ever be either a Euro spec or a US spec. as you have shown in your list. Every country that ever sold an E30 M3 new will have a national version in the same way that Japan did, but this makes no physical change to the vehicle. Unless of course you are talking about the two factory-built prototype RHD E30 M3 built for Japan - but that is a totally different story

Keep guessing. As I said before, black was the least common colour and there were a dozen of those.There were two more allocations after that first 14, the last of which sold just a few months ago.

807 is the option code added for Japan vehicles. Basically means the labels, handbooks, etc are in Japanese, makes no difference to the spec. There are only two spec levels - Euro and US, the one you have listed is a Euro spec, as it says "Market: Europe"

Team 303 - powered by duct tape!! The video shows how different and amazingly awesome it is to race at night, but I bet it felt more than a little scary to be in the drivers seat. Such as shame the car didn't make it to the start line, with the pit-stop strategy the result would have been very interesting. Not a good day all for many of the Bimmers, the E92 M3 was on the trailer before the start as well, the Golden Homes E30 M3 only managed about 4 laps and it looks like even Kayne had a few issues before reaching the finish line. Fingers crossed Hampton Downs goes better for all the Bimmer boys!

Updates from the last jobs list. 1) Valve adjustment - whipped off the valve cover and had a measure up of the clearances between the cam lobes and the shims to see what was needed. Of the 16 valves, 7 of them were out of tolerance, which was to be expected after the head had been skimmed and the valves ground and re-seated into the head. I managed to swap a few shims around for the different valves and managed to get the list down to only 4 that I needed to replace, so got those ordered through BMW NZ. Pic below to give you and idea of how much of a PITA this job can be, luckily I managed to get hold of the proper tool for depressing the valves and had a magnetic pick-up that worked well for pulling out the shims.

Who was the owner when you worked on it Tom? It's passed through a few sets of hands quite quickly that car...

Don't forget to give the hard-working pit crew a mention. They will be putting in the real effort while James & Dan just sit around... in the driver's seat !

I have a feeling that Driftit has done option B: on a few occasions??

This one here... Weird, can't seem to post a link to it. It's in the Performance section called "New Engine Build - Thoughts?" goes a little OT and gets into the realms of certifying modifications. Something the seller of this car clearly can't be bothered with.

Thanks. I am leading the bidding on a pair on TradeMe at the moment, only just saw your post. If they fall through then I will let you know.

If they are a member I'd hope they read the thread about certification. $30k for an un-roadworthy car would seem a little steep to me.

How ridiculous is it? Well, as pretty much most of general public are not Automotive Engineers it's there for your safety. It may not feel like it, and you may think you know what you are doing - but surely it's worth while to have it properly checked out? As for assessors not knowing what they are checking, I would guess that statement would come from someone who has looked on the internet for all the information on their modifications, and then been upset that the assessor has not passed them? Same as Red Dwarf above I have seen some wonderful "kiwi Ingenuity" on vehicles including HT units, some of which was performed by so called "experts" in the trade. Crunchy, you are right, there will always be those who think they are above the law, and who will not be controlled, but at least with laws in place there can be some come-back when (if) they are caught. I really don't care about what happens to them, but it is the poor innocent party that usually gets taken with them I care about.

Saw that on the Best Of Top Gear again the other week, very funny, if a little "staged". Might even be the same Getrag in the 190e as I think they went into some other cars, like Mercs and Volvos as well. I am looking foward to the day I chuck my "new" dog-leg into reverse when I am sitting on the starting grid...

I've got one here in the garage you can have for cheap - will get it out and put up a pic for you.

The rotors and pads change will be due to compliance. Every rotor has a manufacturer's minimum thickness stamped on it - they still work ok at much thinner, but because it is stated by the maker the rotors must be above that to comply. I had to put new rotors on buth my cars when I brought them in, even though there was nothing wrong in terms of the old ones working.

Pretty much this. It was felt that the Americans would have enough trouble driving a stick shift, without moving the positions of the gears around with a dog-leg box. Hence they got the H-Pattern and a changed diff ratio. The only real driving advantage, as was mentioned above, is the fact that the more often used changes become a straight shift. There are physical changes between the boxes, as you'd expect as they work slightly differently, as to whether one is stronger than the other I can't comment. Maybe Kayne would have a view, he's worked with plenty.

The Turbo S14 is Shane Helms Enduro Racer, the "Golden Homes" M3, another insanely quick E30. Driftit and Jamez are running an E30 with S50B32 motor in it, M3 wide body flares, very stripped out and lightened, and seriously quick car. And if Jamez has got round to tightening all the bolts up, it goes round corners pretty well too!!

Welcome to Bimmersport.