E30 325i Rag-Top

The big leap ahead in performance came when they went from the old-style distributor injection pump to the new common-rail system, not sure what model or year that was though.3.0ltr diesel went common rail much earlier on, 4-cylinder had to wait because Alfa Romeo had the patent on common-rail for 4-cylinder engines and protected their technology, but not for 6-cylinder engines strangely.

Not sure who makes the M Performance seats on behalf of BMW, it's probably Magna Intier (part of Steyr group) rather than Recaro and at current pricing you'd get just over half of one M Performance seat for that price - but that does include the personal fitting session.The build sheet listed doesn't really tell the story, that is how it left the factory, a pretty good starting point admittedly, but most of the mods have been done after it left. It certainly doesn't have the SA488 Lumbar Support option any more !

Fairly similar to what it says in that article I guess. Do when there is not much traffic about on quiet roads, so you can speed up and brake as you want without getting in the way of others. Some very light application of the brakes to start with, knocking any high spots of rotors and pads... Then into some long, light application of the brakes, raising the temperature and taking the surface layer off the top of the pads and rotors.. Finally a bit more speed, and some fairly heavy application of the brakes, not quite to the smoke generating point of the article but then these aren't race pads.. key point is not to come to complete stop so pad is resting on a part of the rotor... And then a gentle cruise home to cool them down again. Different types of pads may require different procedures, if they are full-on race pads then there may well be some instructions with them, I've found the above has worked well for me across a variety of cars, pads and rotors.

Agreed, there are some nice aftersales parts on there, seats and steering wheel alone are worth many thousands of $$$$s. Oh no, wait, theres no heating in those seats.. and you do really need the heated seat option in a 1M

^^ What he said! Have a good one!

Back from a short spin through a few twisties trying to bed these new bad boys in.. Will be interesting to see how they come on after a few hundred kms and a bit more confidence to stand on them.

Just to be safe I would suggest a good service, with right oils and filters, just before you go for the remap. And take the swirl flaps out if you haven't already (think yours is late enough to have them). Not that remap will make them any more likely to fail, just be Sod's Law if they did after you spend out on mods.

I knew this was getting far too confusing.. There is a relatively new brand of BMW vehicles and parts which are marketed under the name of "M Performance" of which the X5 M50d is the first model to be launched, followed shortly by the X6 M50d and M135i. All of these vehicles will have "M" badges on the boot, however, they are "M Performance" cars, not "M" cars. "M" cars are the cars built by BMW's M Division, BMW M Gmbh, which is technically a different company to the rest of BMW (BMW AG.) hence why all M vehicles will have a VIN number which starts "WBS" as that is the manufacturers identifier, "normal" BMWs will start "WBB" and MINIs "WBW". These cars will also have an "M" badge on the boot... M3, M5, M6, X5 M, X6 M, etc and they ARE "M" cars, not "M-Sport" cars. "M-Sport" cars are models from the mainstream BMW range 1 series, 3 series, X5, etc. which are factory fitted with the optional "Motorsport" or "M-Sport"' pack, which depending on the model includes lots of goodies, including steering wheel (with an M badge on it), bigger wheels (with M badges on them), leather gearknobs (with M badges on) and door sill plates (with M badges on). And in New Zealand (and nowhere else that I am aware of, including the UK, Germany, USA) these cars also have an "M" badge on the boot, but they are not "M" cars or "M Performance" cars. And then there are cars with an M-Sport option or two on the build sheet, these are not "M-Sport" or "M" or "M Peformance", they are, for example, 320i with some goodies. These are often found with an M badge on the boot, followed by the numbers which were originally there before the owner bought the M badge and fitted next to them on the boot, for example "M318i". Finally there are cars which have nothing at all "M" or "M Performance" or "M-Sport" fitted to them, but still have a TradeMe "M" badge (or several in most cases) stuck on them, or even worse "M3" badges. These cars are usually found for sale on TradeMe under the heading "Genuine M3 318i Auto", in the category "things that they are not" or "poorly polished turds". There, simples. Oh no wait, what about the MX5... aaarggh!!

I thought Clubsports were big f$%k off HSVs with a big lump of V8 pig iron under the bonnet? There were a limited number of late E46 M3 coupes which were sold as "CS" in the UK, a not quite as radical version of the CSL. Don't think it's one of those though...

Have you got a picture of them on the car, to see how they look when mounted? Don't happen to know if they fit all MINIs do you? Would these be off an R56 JCW?

Don't start with the M Performance stuff.... that's a whole other argument which has just muddied the waters even more!! But, yes, the performance is amazing, especially for a 3.0ltr diesel in a big truck. I wonder how difficult it would be to bolt the triple turbos & high pressure injection gubbins onto my engine in the 330d - still the same block and internals I think? Hmmm

Oh no, sounds like can of worms being opened now... ..but you're Ok Hybrid, your badge doesnt say M3, if it did you would be in trouble!!

Around that figure, maybe less if you can haggle him down a bit on price. Maybe more if there are issues at compliance but it looks in very good order. Not sure about the line saying the Europameister is one of the more collectable E30 M3s, from what I have seen on prices it is not in the same category as Evo, Evo2 or Evo Sport versions. Probably a bit above the value of a standard M3, but not by a huge amount.

It's hard to tell from the photos, but I think the first car has the Xenon lamps, and the Blue M-Sport one has the Adapative LED lights which is why they look slightly different. A lot of the revisions have been made inside the car, especially with the technology around the "driver assist" functions. I'm looking forward to when the first ones arrive here in NZ to see some of these gadgets in action. And hotwire - you are just biased about E39s!!

And I thought the Chinese built BMW rip-offs were bad?? That is so strange, I cannot for the life of me understand why you would buy a Civic if you wanted a Beemer, and then turn it into that mess??

+ 1That would be a great Karma slap!

If the preview is in a couple of weeks then it won't be the M135i, that are not quite that imminent. More likely going to be the new M6 Coupe - which is an even better reason to go IMHO!!I made a German gentleman from the M Division rather unhappy when I thought the M Performance cars (as is the official label for models like the M135i and X5 M50d) were 'M' cars It's even more confusing than the whole when is an M-sport not an M-Sport debate!!

Err, Ok, I'll pretend to understand that last bit, and just go with Josh said it's ok and not to panic. But still thanks for the heads up Glenn, another reason for me to stick to cash...!

My god that is just horrendous - plain wrong in so many ways. Is that even for real, or some kind of twisted joke that I don't understand?Almost as weird as the big old 7 series on TradeMe that the guy has stuck a "Hybrid" badge off a Honda on the back of - why would you???

Ah, ok didn't read your original post quite right! I would have thought that selling on a vehicle within a year would have made the re-sale more important, doing it on such a short term, if you're happy then not an issue.If you're looking around 2009 then LCI won't be an issue the change was much later on. There is a pretty significant difference on the "standard" spec features between 730d and 750i models (in NZ certainly), but the 730d could be optioned up to the same level. Good luck with finding a new 7! And yes, there are is whole second batch of Govt. cars in use at the moment which will come to market in the reasonably near future - I think they are all F02, LWB versions though, I know at least some are. You could sit in the back and get the wife / kids to drive??

The official line is the M badge is fitted to a car that has the FULL Motorsport Pack fitted as an option, this is the option S337 listed on some of these VINs, this pack includes the body, kit, interior, headliner, badges on sills, M style alloys, steering wheel and the sport suspension (but this can be taken out of the pack for those that want a softer ride). Also, not all body colours can be selected with M-Sport pack and some colours (like Monte Carlo Blue) are ONLY available with M-sport packs.So in the case of the car with just the suspension option, no this would not have a badge from the factory, no a 116i with one option would not get a badge Clinton (and the S337 Pack is not available on the 116i either!). It's a bit like all the knock-off Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Luis Vuiton, Rolex, etc. it gets to the point where if people see the badge they think it's fake, even if it's genuine. If you are buying it just for the badge, or putting the badges on for effect, then it kind of defeats the object. Personally I preferred the M-Sport version as it makes it an overall more attractive package to me.As for putting M3 badges on anything other than a genuine M3, that is blaspemy to me. It is just about all I can do to stop myself ramming the E46 318i Wagon that has an M3 badge on the boot when I see it most mornings!!

That it would Bruce, that it would! So would your black one mate ! I've got the race seat, just need the M3 and cage to go with it... I see the red one in Nelson that's been up for donkey's ages as well has had the price dropped by $3k as well. A sign of the market at the moment I guess, not a lot of spare cash around for classic cars, even E30 M3s.

Lots of threads on here about bringing cars in from the Uk, shipping, VAT, etc. have a search. There has just been a facelift, sorry Life Cycle Impulse (LCI) on the F01 so you might want to check if these are pre-LCI models, might be why they are so cheap. It might be worth re-considering which model you bring in as well, a "low-end spec" 7 is hard to shift, even as a used car, and will really badly affect the resale value. A few more pounds to get a better spec model may pay back overtime (and give you a better car to enjoy). There will be lots of ex-govt 730Ld kicking around in a while as well.

I'm pretty sure Indicators are an option on ALL M3s, let alone CSL ? Tom (M3 CSL) might want to confirm??

The car has been up on TradeMe for a Looong time. In an earlier listing the seller did mention that the rear seat and the door cards had been re-trimmed in this "interesting" design. Certainly not a US spec.It looks and sounds to me like the car has had a "restoration" at some point, re-trimmed interior, new wheels, re-sprayed body work (outside only, not inside engine bay in the difficult areas). Whether this was done to cover up some issues, or to improve the car would be a something to look at very closely if considering buying. Originally the car was for sale + ORC without any compliance, now it has been complied and registered (and the price has gone up $1500 accordingly) so in theory there shouldn't be any obvious issues at this point, but as for the future... who knows??