E30 325i Rag-Top

Ahh, ok, that's not so bad then, won't need as much running in if you haven't touched the bottom end and the rings. A good run down the motorway, followed by some twisties with lots of hard acceleration will tell you if there are any potential gremlins. I hope it all hangs together for you and you get your first three race finishes under your belt this week-end.

Sounds like me at the start of last season - I spent the practice day of the first meeting driving up and down the motorway to run the engine in (or trying to as it kept overheating).Good news that the engine is running and you have a live car, you are cutting it very fine though! If you're not 100% happy with how it's running, think long and hard about giving it a miss this time round Jack. I know you REALLY don't want to (look at me last year) but sometimes it is better to miss one round than stuff another engine which puts you out for months. No-one will knock you for making a sensible choice (ok, so actually some people will - but most would respect you for making a wise decision) which will be in your favour in the long run.

Pretty easy to check if the timing is 180 degrees out - whip the rocker cover off to check when at TDC it is on the ignition stroke (both valves should be shut on no 1) then take the cover off the dizzy and see where the rotor arm is pointing. If timing is in the right ball park then it should cough and splutter a bit when cranking even if its not spot on, get someone to swing the dizzy while you crank it to get it to fire - then a timing strobe to set it spot on. Job done!

Do love the colour scheme on your car David! Are those new wheels, loving the gold centres. As for Milan, he just loves that skid pan far too much... especially when it's donuts on the mini-quad in the middle of a race meeting ?

Jeez that sucks Jamez, fingers crossed you can get some to borrow for the Icebreaker. Keep an eye on TradeMe the dufus that stole them might be stupid enough to try and sell them on there?

Andy, if I was built anything like that fella I would be getting my kit off ALL the time. That definately wasn't my pasty white Pommy backside going across the pitch!!As for Dunners being a sh!thole we had a great time, lots of effort from the people of the town to put on a good event on top of the usual things to see & do - I would recommend it to anyone personally.

Just watched the end of the Tonga v Canada game from Whangarei and I thought I spotted one of the OWRCC members running across the pitch? It was only a brief glimpse (luckily)... but it was too short to be either Big Harv or Ashmill, and too tall to be Keith... so that only leaves... SHUEY!

Saw this on TradeMe a few days ago, and it rang a few bells with me. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=405362828 Is this the same car that was up for sale at, was it Turners? Was mentioned on here as being a re-shelled car. I mentioned to the seller that the chassis number on the LVVT plate was not an M3 but was in fact a 318is, and the plate was for the re-power of the body. No response to my question, but he has changed the picture in the listing and now shows a rivetted in chassis plate with a different VIN number. Somethings not quite right... and I'm not just talking about that engine start button!!

Car is looking pretty awesome for the new season. Just wondering how you are going to hide all the modifications from the Series Scruitineers... according to the lastest updates you're running in the E30s!! You might want to take a few pictures down from the project thread ;-)

Wouldn't that depend on the individual driver's or team's preference? Interior shots that I have seen of some DTM cars have different wheels, might have been replaced though? Conrod??

Try Roadstar, they have depots in Palmy and Christchurch, they did me a very sharp price for a set of wheels and tyres down to CHCH. Phone number for the Palmy depot is: 06 357 1143

I've been trying to get some info from these guys on some of their other moulds and they are not the easiest to deal with. Not even a description or a photo yet, and they are looking for over $1000 + shipping for what could be a pile of poo??

As above, the 1M would have the highest re-sale value as a percentage of it's purchase price. BUT it would be a very, very limited market in NZ for that kind of machinery (as it would for any of the cars you have listed in all honesty..) AND you might have to wait a while for one to turn up!! If you haven't already, check out the HM Customs & Excise web-site for all the details on claiming the VAT back on a car for export out of UK, especially as this is a new car and will have a big chunk of tax in the price. As it's your own car you can avoid GST if the timing is right, which will help reduce your losses over all. Plus you will have a huge grin factor from driving the 1M, you might not end up wanting to sell it at all!!

Just the job - thanks a lot!

Just putting the re-bushed sub-frame back in the car and I'm missing the section of the book that has the torque values for the diff-hanger bush and the two big bushes on the beam, anyone able to look it up for me, pretty please?

What year is your car? Is it facelift or pre-facelift? There were quite a few changes to the lights and wiring. I have a loom which may suit your car.

Nrealy fell off my bike last night when a new 1M Coupe in the metallic bronze colour went past in the opposite direction - looked very good in the flesh, like.

Nice result, very well done, gives me a few ideas for my E46 wagon.... If BMW sold the M3 in a Wagon I'm sure it would sell in good numbers.

Yup, coming soon to a taxi rank near you!!

Rofl-lollie-copter-arseoff!!Jack you seem to have a very wide band of the colour spectrum defined as "orange".. nothing to do with you hair colour is it ?

I can't seem to find all the cars, like Warhols M1, the Sella's Group 5 CSL, the E30 M3s, am I missing something??

Have a Great Birthday Bruce! Take the M3 for a skid !!

I am no expert on all the differences between the two, but I have found a few from buying a very early E30 for a parts car. The biggest difference I have come across is on the front valence and skirt (as Oli has found here), which also affects the plastic under tray and even the inner wheel arch protectors. Early cars have the steel valence in two parts, later version is single piece, all the other parts change and are NOT easily interchangeable. Very early L-jets have all sorts of extra vacuum hoses and piping all over the place, which seems to dis-appear on the later versions of L-jet (320) engines. There are probably a lot of other small changes, in the trims, interior, etc. but I haven't found them all yet. The first version of the pre-facelift seems to run from the start of the E30s in 1982 through to about late '85 production, the second version then ran through until the more obviousl "facelift" changes in late '87 production for the '88 model year.

I just feel sorry for the poor 1900cc motor that is having to pull all that lot around. Each to their own, but why would you do all that to a car with a 1900cc lump under it and not try and make it go faster?? All looks, no performance.

The one in the photo is the later pre-facelift, you need the early pre-facelift. Confusing eh? There were two versions of the chrome bumper / pre-facelift cars! Sorry, don't have one. But would consider taking that one off your hands for the right price??