E30 325i Rag-Top

Oh Geoff, Geoff, Geoff, how we missed you at the dinner!

The ultimate hair-Dressers car in the Uk. XR3i wasn't a bad car overall but got a terrible reputation from the type of drivers it attracted. Pretty simple mechanically, the CVH engines were pretty reliable if not overly powerful only issue I can remember on mine was the hydraulic lifters failing. Fairly simple to fix. What's the hood like? Tended to get tatty quite easily and the electric ones used to play up a lot (if they were ever used that is!). Looks a pretty tidy example and very rare over here, this wasn't sitting under a sheet in Tuakau up until recently was it?

I have worked in the automotive industry in some shape or form for most of my 20+ years of working life, and during that time I have always found it interesting how the vast majority of people believe that car companies are making huge profits. It may have been reported that BMW has just announced record first quarter profits, but when you consider the amount of capital employed to make that profit the return is miniscule, you would be better off putting your money in a bank! Yes cars are expensive items to buy, probably second only to a house for most people, but the profit margins involved are much, much lower than most other industries, even in the Premium Brand / Luxury markets. The cost of developing new models or even new technologies (which are then copied with no contribution by the lower end of the market) is astronomical and is often overlooked in the equation. If Holden spent over AU$1 BILLION on the VE Commodore, how much do you think a new 3-series or 5-series would cost? Then try and recover the costs of that development over the smaller production volumes... Or you could try speaking to a dealer about the huge profits they are making on new cars and see what kind of reaction you get.

HB El Presidente! Organising the track day for you Birthday - genius!!

A couple of points to note from this which are kind of mentioned but worth highlighting.. The warranty runs from when the car is "entered into service" which would be from when the car was sold overseas. By the time it gets here the clock would have been running for quite a few months. On top of which the International Warranty is only 24 months, NZ new cars have 36 months from when you get the car. More emphasis will be put on the "proof of warranty" as well, so service books with all the correct stamps from BMW Approved Service Centres will be very important, not always present with imported cars. The service plan is not transferable outside of the country of origin, so that part of the package is missing as well when compared with NZ New cars. Just some things to consider in the "grey import" decision making process.

There will be lots more launches coming up as well. Many more models being introduced for new market segments. Will be hard to keep up at some points they will be coming out so fast...

Sorry, no windscreens. If I don't sell the tow bar I'll sort you out with the plug.

Yes I do, off an ABS car not sure if it makes a difference.

Afraid not, gets much worse than that, depending on how far through the engine it went.Usually you can add a new head to that list, plus a block and maybe the turbo on the way out. With the catalytic converters as the dessert course. Full long-block the usual method of fixing. Still worth doing though.

Easy to criticise other's hard work isn't it?

Well, it was the 60's! ..in Germany !

Are we missing one important point here, the comparison is between a USED (ok, only very low Ex-demo miles) UK M5 v NZ New RRP?? I know this won't completely cover the price difference, but talk to your local dealer about what they can offer on the new M5 when their demos come up for sale and you might be pleasantly surprised. With the NZ$ so strong at the moment (and the GB pound in the poo) there is good definately buying to be had for the individual, but companies don't have that same ability to shop around.

Congrats! You'll be needing a bigger car now then..

Hello and welcome to the forum, from a fellow E46 owner. I know how you feel when you start getting the lights up on the dashboard.The good news is that while you have two lights showing up, threre is probably only one fault, the triangle with the circle arrow around it is to say there is a problem, the other light tells you what it is. The first question is what colour are the lights coming up - if the triangle is yellow it means drive with caution, a red triangle is more serious? From the other ((!)) light it is indicating a problem with the brake system, it could be the hand brake is not releasing properly (make sure the lever is fully off), low (or high) brake fluid level, or something more serious. If it is nothing obvious then get it checked by a good mechanic to make sure.

Not according to BMW NZ. I think they might have been a while back, but not anymore.Good result for you on the key though, nice for someone to front up to their mistake and put it right for a change.

You must be getting confused Big Fella - I haven't advocated abolishing anything, except maybe prohibition??

No issues with the performance with these, however when I got to drive one I couldn't believe how bad the build quality was!

Which will make it far less collectable unfortunately, original un-molested models are the "collectors" cars, especially with genuine low mileage and preferrably with the dog-leg gearbox (probably not fitted to this car as it's US spec).Looks to be a good condition car, but the RHD is a big down-side for most purists.

Is this legal to be used in the E30 series ? ??

E46 M3 for the daily and this as the sunny sunday driver??

Hi John, and welcome to the series & bimmersport! Another John in the E30s - you will need to work on a nickname as we have far too many Johns already . I saw you running at the Festival but missed you in the last round at Puke, will probably see you at the AGM. Sounds like there should be plenty of opportunity to take out some weight - most of the 320s have to run with ballast weight to get up to the limits, and will certainly make a difference to the speed and handling.

Don't you have enough projects already???

Original post updated - free stuff! Can do deliveries. And a bit of bumpage!

^^ What he said. You can go REALLY fast, all on your own on the track at the back of the Open Class. Or, you can be in amongst it with 30+ other E30s going fast(ish) in a hectic race. And the only reason there is 30 cars is because all 60 entries can't get on the track at once !

Yes, a very good point, I was kind of expecting it to be covered on Sky somewhere, even if in highlight form. A web-link to a feed would be very nice, if anyone finds one. I will be on to SkyTV as well though, good thought! First race comes up pretty soon I think.