E30 325i Rag-Top

BMW have been doing over the air updates for quite a while now, so long in fact that even the technology required to do so is in place in NZ. Connected Drive has offered facility to turn features off/on for a long time also. Its not really new news, it just seems to have filtered through to the click-bait media and reached the enthusiast community.

To quote the mighty 1/2 Man 1/2 Biscuit “irk the purists… it’s a right good laugh”

It is, but don’t let the facts get in the way of a click bait story. The parts cost is not insignificant, but putting that to one side, it’s the cost of handling and planning and balancing all the variety that racks up very quickly. Often viewed as an un-seen cost (as it’s outside old fashioned cost analysis methods) it has become very apparent to most manufacturers with the explosion of complexity over the last few years. Hence why pretty much EVERY company is now scrambling to dial back the number of choices. I’ve just paid the subscription for the heated seats in my E30 ‘vert so I could drive it more this winter. They don’t seem to make much difference tbh.

Personally I would struggle without the M-Sport kit on it, but there is not a lot of choice for 2-Series coupe in NZ. Great little fun cars, very chuckable!

On a “Super Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle” no less. From the screen shot the tune is suitable for the N51, but I’m wondering if it really works well with it? Yes, most is identical to N52, but those little differences could result in issues. I doubt it has had much real world use on that set-up.

Yeah, cause BMW doesn’t rhyme with “amends”.

Aren’t we all…?

The bids are starting to come in on this one now, she’s up to $31k still not reserve met, be interesting to see where this ends up bid wise and where the reserve is set. 🍿

If the prices on TradeMe for E30 parts are where the market is then I’m sitting on a gold mine and should retire tomorrow. Should you want your eyes to really water, go on one of the E30 M3 sites, E30 tax x M3 tax is moonbeams! “Genuine E30 M3 door handle surround US$50” etc, when it’s the same as any E30. And then there’s the S14Bxx parts.. 💰

Rust and/or jacking damage has been a bone of contention with many E30 WoF inspections I would imagine. I know I have had discussions with various inspectors over both my ‘vert and race car as to whether what they were looking at was structural or not. In the end I found a sensible inspector and used them whenever needed.

Cabin filter is up in and around there as well isn’t it? Can’t remember if you have to take that cover off to do the filter or not.

If that was dolphin grey I would be all over it. I might even be tempted if the reserve is not too silly. Couple of funny things going on with it would need looking into, Tech 1 s/wheel on Tech 2 car and headlight wash system half removed - possibly something to do with the funky screen wash system in the top of the bonnet.?

Can’t see that myself, all the BMW OE wheels are exclusive to BMW, so they are tooled up only for the BMW PCD. What that PCD happens to be would make no difference in cost to the supplier or BMW. In fact swapping from 120 to 112 would have added cost in the changeover. If the same wheels were supplied to a number of brands with different bolt patterns, yes possibly, but that only applies in the aftermarket parts.

Only if you put a spare in… most cars without RFTs still don’t have a spare wheel. Mobility kit, can of gunk, etc. instead smaller and lighter! From what I’ve been told it’s down to the extra weight of the tyre and wheel for an RFT vs non, beefing up the tyre sidewall and rim of the wheel adds weight, which then increases the inertia requiring more energy (ie fuel) to be used to get it moving. Same reason the wheel bolt PCD has been reduced from the tried and trusted 5 x 120 on the new models. Less wheel and hub inertia, less energy, less emissions.

As above, CO2 direct link to fuel consumption. Interestingly diesel produces less CO2 for same fuel consumption, so the two cars would be pretty damn close.

I would imagine they would have got an external supplier to wrap it for them (it is a physical car, not a render btw).

Fuel economy and emissions are directly related, the less fuel you burn the less CO2 and other pollutants you generate. Changing one has same effect on the other. Emissions is the main driver for the research & development, if you can’t get to the ever lower emissions levels then you cannot sell those vehicles in many, many markets. Lower fuel consumption, or lower running costs (if fuel prices don’t change…), is the positive side effect for the owner. With the ever lower emissions levels required every single little influencing factor is under the micro-scope, there are no easy ways to reduce even more. For example, RFT produces ever so slightly more emissions than do “normal” tyres..

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a40435258/bmw-m-csl-teased/ And a bit more information and pics here too... https://www.bmwblog.com/2022/06/27/bmw-3-0-csl-coachbuilt-car-officially-confirmed-in-first-teaser/

@BM WORLD what’s with that front bumper, not the usual MTech2 front for an E46 Coupe is it?

Yes, that part wouldn’t be taking any of the vertical load of the engine weight, however, being around the mounting bolt it would be taking a load under accelerating / braking and cornering. Not as high max loads, but more repetitive I would suggest. My concern would be it cracking around the bolt allowing more engine movement. That section has been beefed up and raised in the design for a reason… Probably not a “do not under any circumstances” more a “not ideal but if there’s no other way” fix.

Bugger, looking closer at your photo I can see how far out the top of the mount is, so yeah, needs quite a bit of relief there. More than I would want to take out of an engine mount that’s for sure. Is it possible to get around the pipe that’s the issue and squeeze it into an oval rather than round? Not perfect, but the change in cross section should be minimal, and look better than just bashing a dent into it..

I’d agree with M3AN, the mount looks like it’s just the heat shielding in the way which could be re-profiled to give more clearance. Worst case it means less of a tweak to the headers. If it is the actual Ali mount arm that’s in the way then I wouldn’t suggest removing any of that for clearance… just in case.

f**k me, not again. Been covered more than enough times in threads on thousands of different topics. Closed.

there are / were more than one testing cycle. That looks to be an ancient USofA EPA one for urban cycle, there will be a joined extra-urban (or highway in US speak). All slightly different to reflect different traffic characteristics of various countries and areas. Hundreds of different EU ones. But yeah, pretty sure none of them have anything near 50% idling time. Would be interesting to know how it works under WLTP when no two journeys can be exactly the same..? @Gaz not sure that was directly VWs fault, more the risk-averse reaction of most other manufacturers in the hope of not being fined.

And the traction control if you’re a bit heavy with the right foot.