E30 325i Rag-Top

I have got a complete fan unit, with all the controls attached to it, plus bits and pieces of the plastic ducts, vents, etc. All here in Palmy for cheap if you need it!

Some great pics there Jack, nice work. A few Bimmers obviously came out to play. Have you got these photos in higher resolution? I would love a high-res version of the two E30 M3s together. I'm guessing that is THE Denny Hulme M3 and is that Conrad's new M3 or his old M3 with it?

Great result, you should be very happy with that. Also great to see it has been saved and not broken for parts.

Depends what you mean by "cheap", by the time you add on $4k for shipping Vin, MAF, etc. plus $750 gst + $400 compliancing (not including fixing any issues they find) the prices starts to get up there.With this particular car, the fact that it had to have welding work done for the MoT (UK WoF) would be a cause for concern, plus it is not a factory Alpina but a Sytner conversion so maybe not as collectable / valuable? Still a nice looking wagon though.

Are you allowed to run a turbo on an E34 (guessing you are looking at the Open Class)? E28s got in on a special case due to turboed Alpina E28 I think.

The badly done kit, Schnitzer replica wheels and pod filter all suggest to me that someone has had a bit of a play with this car in the past. That would suggest to me there are likely to be few nasties lurking in there somewhere which could mean big $$$$s to fix.

That is true, but it also say's that items which are fitted must be functional. So the fact that there are reverse lights in the back of the car means they should be working.If you are lucky Jack you might get away with it.

Have a good one Mr Motorsport! Take all your cars for a skid - that should keep you smiling ALL day!!

Eh? Sounds more like North Wales to me than South!

Not sure if it helps, but the only person I know who has made it all the way to being a pilot for one of the big airlines is the biggest lunatic I know, with absolutely no sense of fear. If I ever get on a plane and hear the words "Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain D#$ B$@@& speaking" I'm getting off there and then - he scared the life out of me in a Renault 5, don't want to find out what he can do with a Boeing!

Wife given the wrong colour by the husband ?

Re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-post But still cool.

What year pre-facelift? There are two type of front valence (the metal bit - not the plastic bit on the bottom) early ones are two-piece (83ish to 85ish) then the later ones are a single piece (85ish - facelift).

Any chance of a lay-by or interest free credit Foxy ?

Apparently, a footballer now playing in the English Premier League, Jermaine Pennant has been contacted by his former club in Spain about a $250k Porsche which has been sitting in a car park at a railway station in Zaragoza for over 5 months, collecting parking tickets, as it is registered in his name. In response the footballer replied that he "didn't remember ever buying or driving a Porsche" and denied it was his until it was pointed out it had his personalised number plate on it ?? Whilst this says a hell of a lot about the lifestyle of top footballers, I think it also says quite a lot about your modern day Porsche. Maybe if he had bought an M BMW he might have remembered it and gone back to get it !!

Not sure for ALL BMW but my E46 Motorsport is WBA, all BMW paperwork refers to it as a "Sport Touring".

Euro Automotive Engineers have had to spend many years making real wood look like plastic - thanks to the Japanese luxury car makers and the US markets

My opinion is that the front on the pre-facelift M-sport, which you have, is worth improving. The M3 front would be one way of doing it - but there is a little bit of work required.Another option, which MAY be a straight bolt on, would be the facelifted M-sport front, looks way better to me cleaner and more aggressive. Quite similar to the M3, and still fits with the rest of the pfl sport kit. Sometimes pop up on trademe or at the specialist breaker - like HellBM or Mosen's, some replicas floating around as well (I think the photo may actually be a replica!!), so a bit more available.

This is a very confusing area that has been covered a number of times on Bimmersport, with no conclusive answers, due to the fact there are many different levels of "Motorsport" cars. Leaving aside the true "M" cars, M3, M5, M6, etc as it's clear what they are, for my mind there are distinctions between the various types. 1) Many models were offered as Motorsport cars from the dealers, built at the factory thay way, for example a 330i Motorsport, or 530i Motorsport - these will all have their own base level of specification, for example m-sport wheels, suspension, steering wheel, interior, headliner, possibly badging, etc. If any of these base spec items are missing then it falls into the next category. 2) Up-specced base models, take for example a 330ci, tick a few options on the list when ordering and get motorsport suspension, wheels and steering wheel. Some nice extras, which will be listed on the build sheet, but not a 330i Motorsport (in my book anyways and others dis-agree with that). 3) Last, but not least, the car which has had M-sport options added at a later date, it won't show on the build sheet but could still have the alloys, suspension and steering wheel added at some point in it's life. As mentioned above the build sheet will show what it came with from the factory - to find out whether it is either 1) or 2) check what the base Motorsport specification is and make sure ALL are fitted, probably the interior and the black headlining are the least likely to be added as options. Also the original BMW paperwork, service books, etc should show the model name from the dealer - if it is available.

Very good looking car, will be mint when last few strips and badges are back on the car. I like the number plate as well! I was driving my 'vert, rego: JT POM, through town the other day and was being followed by "UK LAD" - quite funny. Poms everywhere!!

As he seems more interested in videoing his dashboard rather than looking where he is going, at that speed, the seat belts and air bags are pretty academic really.

Wow, very rare and very cool E30 goodies - I wish I had more spare cash at the moment! I would also be interested in seeing more of what's in the background in the two photos.....

If the seller is female - then fair enough they do silly sh!t like that and give cars names. If the seller is a male - hand in the man card.

You don't do thing by halves do you Jack? From no car to a race car to a stroked 2.8 m20?? There are some smaller steps in between these points as well. Start small, then build up to something big, aiming straight for the big stuff is likely to lead to lots of lost $$$ and big disappointments. Money is going to be be a big factor in your decisions for many years yet, soon beer and women will enter the equation but that's another thread, neither a race car or a heavily modified E30 is going to fit in the cheap and reliable category of car ownership. Unless you have the skills and tools to do a lot of work yourself (or mates / relations that can) high maintenance cars soon loose their appeal.. nothing worse than fixing a "hot" car while your mates are out having fun in their "boring" econo-boxes. Start with something reliable and cheap to run, that is maybe a little bit of fun, then move up to something with more performance, add a few go-faster bits and pieces, then aim for the heavily modified track day car. You can still have fun at each stage and be learning and working towards your end objective. Or just do whatever the hell you feel like, we were all young and full of big ideas once.......

This is so true, part of the bullshit I tried to escape from by moving to NZ.