E30 325i Rag-Top

Just checked and that is the side that I have a spare one of, part number on the housing is 63.17-2 228 613 and it is a used genuine BMW part. The only thing is it has the rippled glass, not the smooth as is shown in your photo. The covers that I have are completely different to the one in your picture - no idea if they would fit on an E39 as again they are from an E46.

When you say right side, do you mean as you look at the car, or when sitting in the car? I think this is the same as the E46 M-Sport 2 fog lamp. I will check which side I have spare.

If it's what I think it is, then I have got one in the shed for you Rich.

A few peeps pulled over on the way up to Bay of Islands, also a very visible "Police SAFETY Camera" van, well that's what it said on the side anyways!!

P & S Autocentre in Botany is open between Christmas and New Years. Peter and Sam will sort you out.

Whale tale is totally acceptable on the back of an RS500 (and does help keep the twitchy rear end down) much less so on a 7 Series

E30 M3 was built in the same factory as other E30s, but not on the same production line. The workers that built the M3 were carefully selected from amongst the factory staff to be the best. When they couldn't keep up with demand they had other workers make their coffee and bring it to them on the production line, so they could keep going and not have to stop for a break!! Quite right Josh, there were differences between the road car and race cars in the suspension department (greater variation as the years went on - mainly due to the development of the race set-ups), but there are also big differences between any other E30 and the M3 suspension. Changes were allowed between the production vehicles and race vehicles in certain areas but they had to be pretty much the same in others - body shape / size, engine configuration etc. Hence the need for an M3 road car to base the race vehicles on, although BMW really did it the other way around - working out what they needed in the race car, and then building a production version that had what they needed. And there is still a huge difference between an "M" and a car with TradeMe M badges!!!

Thought it was time for a bit of a progress update, although progress has been a bit slow - still waiting for funds to become available to get someone to sort out the headers and driveshaft - and I have just been sorting out the little fiddly bits and pieces. Mounted up the additional 3 relays that sit on the firewall, also tidied up the wiring associated with them. Header tank is now all ready to go into place, with all new hoses, once I have got the battery cable in place (I will talk to Mike before Taupo - cheers Bruce!!) I will fit it in as I need to fabricate up a couple of small brackets to hold it in place as they are missing from the standard E30 shell. Ordered the missing Barometric Pressure Sensor which is used by the ECU for the fuelling, and fitted this in it's correct home by the AFM. Should have been simple but was quite fiddly due to the size and shape of the sensor and the connector - ended up not quite factory but not too rangi either. Trial fitted up the headers to see what sort of clearance there is for the steering column, and as you can see from the photo there is bugger all. (Again good idea Bruce - I will try and get a look at Peter's Ravaglia). The good news is you can get the headers on and off without having to take the engine out of the car, just need to loosen off the sway bar to get just enough room. So now I know I won't have to take it out again I have been connecting a lot more hoses and electrics up permanently.

Good for you! Hope it goes well. What plastics company is it your going to work for, and what industry do they supply (out of interest)?

Swap positions 1 and 3, and make the E46 M3 the CSL version and I would be pretty happy with that list. E30 M3 was basically a road-legal race car, produced in just enough numbers to homologate the race car for Group A and DTM. The level of sales far exceeded expectations and the accountants cottoned-on to a marketing angle, and the rest went down-hill from there, in terms of the cars base purpose. That said, modern day M-cars are capable of being daily drivers, long distance cruisers and week-end fun machines all in one which is no small achievement.

I have a few of each in the garage. Whereabouts in Aucks are you?

What do you mean? That 325i is clearly a genuine AC Schitzer and worth every cent of that $15k. It's got the badges and everything.

To me it does look like the old model Quattroporte with a few tweeks around the lights and front bumper, etc. so more of an evolution rather than an evolution. I do like the current model in the flesh, and the two door GT is a good looking car as well so I look forward to seeing one of these on the road. I think the picture in the original post has changed it's aspect ratio, so it now looks like it is jacked up on off-road suspension!! Doesn't do the styling any favours...

^^ why would you? The 6 cyl diesel is a great motor, but the i8 is Supercar fast as it is. One of our guys was at the test track in Munich going pretty much flat out in the new M6 when an i8 went zooming past!

I have heaps of ECUs, but I'm not sure what a RED 413 ECU is, can you give me more of a clue? Mods might want to move this into the "Wanted" section as well??

^^iSee what you did there. I wouldn't bank on seeing this go into production in 2015, or possibly at all... which would be a real shame as it is a pretty fantastic looking car.

Launch video for the new M3 and M4 here... http://youtu.be/V1NsJ1zetzA Some nice interior shots, illuminated M badge in the seats anybody??

I think my son has enough pieces on his bedroom floor to complete this... certainly will after Christmas!!

To have cream on the top, you have to have a lot of milk underneath it. The cream would be... Aston Martin (any of them, from any era.) Jaguar old ones and new ones, not the ones in the middle TVRs - for fun and scaring you half to death Lotus' TR2,3,4,4A,5,250 and 6 Austin Healeys Ok, so most of them are no more and those that are left have non-British owners, but you get my point. It's all about horses for courses really, if we all liked the same thing, life would be ever-so boring.

Well, it is one way of trying to hide the fact that you are driving a hideous banana shaped car...

I remember reading an article about the US Highway Pursuit cars (can't remember the exact model for the life of me, so yank V8 mostrosity) and the average life span was 10months and about 60,000 miles before they were disposed of. Hauling fat cops, donuts and coffee was obviously a hard job!!

Fixed! Running costs of a Ferrari, depreciation of a Massa and reliability of an Alfa!! Although that's not true any more now the Evil-Empire (aka VAG) have taken over the design and production of most of the vehicles - still assembled by Tonis though so you never know!!

I can't wait until these arrive... A few more press shots to whet the appetite.. M4 in blue for me I think, might just order one "by mistake"..

Annnndddd.... we're heading off topic!!

Lots of Hyundai vans parked at the side of the road with those pesky cameras in already, maybe a few cars to go on the fleet as well? Nice and cheap, so tax payers won't moan (too much). Police will never use BMW cars because of all the bad publicity it would cause, even if the cars were practically given away (like the Govt Limos) the papers would still have a field day! That said the road cops do love their BMW motorbikes...