E30 325i Rag-Top

Big balls or just plain crazy? That is some serious speed on a skateboard - with bare feet !! Is it just me, or does the skater with the camera on his helmet look like OLLIE ??

Oh crap!So you mean to tell me that my dream car I have just paid for isn't really on it's way to NZ?

Ok, back on topic.... 1) Great fun for track days 2) With a few minor tweeks to suspension and brakes - even more fun at trackdays 3) Add a few tweeks to the engine and its a huge ball of fun at trackdays and will embarass lots of modern "hi-performance" road cars at half the cost 4) Plenty of spare parts available cheap 5) Easy to work on and no expensive electrickery to crap out 6) A classic design and still a good looking car - even after all these years. 7) Your kids will think you're cool, especially if you have a roof that comes off 8) E30 M3 9) You can pretend you are Johnny Cecotto, Steve Soper, Roberto Ravaglia, Denny Hulme, Peter Brock.. etc.. 10) If you want you can make it into a damn good fun full-on race car in the BMW series (sorry couldn't resist)

The times Foxy is quoting are for an E30 318 Series car, basically a standard road car with a few simple changes to shocks / springs / brake pads and the interior stripped out. Admittedly with a good driver.In terms of bang for buck on the track you can't beat it, very reliable fun as well in that level of tune. But if you want a comfortable, economical, reliable A to B vehicle then your in the wrong ball park!

Yes, certainly very few around, thought I would try the forum just in case someone knew of one. There is only one with the M57TUD engine, a nice M-sport sedan, on TM at the moment but it's on for $40k which is a bit on the high side. Looking for the diesel over petrol as I want the low down torque for towing with it at week-ends and want the economy when the wife is driving it during the week. Anyone out there got one they don't want?

What sort of price are you looking at? I have a complete LH front strut with shock, spring, bearing, brake rotor which I was going to hold on to a spare, could be yours for right price (TBH I cant be arsed stripping it down)? I also have a delivery boy running up to Auckland in the next day or two.

Does engine come with or without dizzy cap and rotor ?

Yup, this car has been on my watchlist for a long time, the asking price did drop down by $2k the other week, but with the arrival of a couple of more expensive M3s on TM the price has jumped back to $35k, which for me is a little too high a starting point for a race car! Looking mainly in the UK at the moment...

I was being a bit obscure there when I said about getting the Evo II & Evo Sport muddled up. What I was referring to was the price would be more in line with the more desirable and sought after Evo Sport rather than the usually cheaper Evo II which this car is, even before you take into account the RHD conversion.Funny that the seller thinks its an Evo I, they are usually even lower priced and don't fetch much of a premium over a standard E30 M3 , wonder if I could convince them?? Don't get me wrong, I think it's a fantastic example of a great car, but for me it's too nice to turn into a race car which would be my intention.

Great idea. Option C without the BS and bigger M stripes if possible. Can I choose one with different numbers and letters on it, my rego isn't AB7569? Put me down for a set of whatever is decided upon unless it has some German flag or D on it, in which case you can FRO !

Before I go through the hassle of importing a 330d from the UK I thought I would see if anyone has one lying around in NZ already that they would like to sell at a reasonable price. I would prefer: wagon, M-Sport, later M57TUD30 engine, leather but won't rule anything out. Not fussed on transmission, colour, kms (although history would be a definate for higher kms). Price is obviously dependent upon spec, etc. I have already checked TM, Turners, etc. so need to post links to those.

I agree it doesn't feel natural to start with, and it can catch you out now and again if you're not paying full attention. It always used to the handbrake that caught me out - banging my left hand into the door when going to pull the hand brake up - I guess you don't do it that often so it took longer to change the habit. Given time and practise it does feel fine.As for the cost of the conversion, I think it's about $2 - $2.5k for the conversion, plus on an E30 M3 about 30% of the value of the vehicle as it has been changed from standard making it less 'collectable'.

It does look a very nicely kept example, but at $75k I think someone is getting their Evo II and Sport Evo muddled up a bit!

Very interesting! Will be watching this avidly. The E46 must have been pretty badly trashed to make it a parts car, doesn't look too bad from the photos, but then I'm no expert like you guys. You don't happen to have a spare S14 engine coming out of the E30 M3 by any chance ?

Here ya go... Distributed by Nationwide Accessories (Wholesale) Ltd - Ph: 07 847 5189 Fax: 07 847 4774

I got some about a year ago and they were just under the $200 mark, apparently this has gone up for this season.

Always worth a try mate, you never know what might turn up! Are you looking to join the E30 Race Series with your car? If so, once you have entered and paid your members fees you would get the special race series rate from the wholesaler which is a considerable discount over the list price and probably the best price you will get.

The minimum period you can have the rego on hold is 3 months, however, you can get some rego before this 3 months is up but they will charge you from the date it was put on hold, not the date you get the new rego. Hope that makes sense!

Have you got any pictures of the engine bay on the maroon one? Is it a 2 litre as per the auction, or 2.5ltr as per the badge on the back? Cheers, JTP.

Most legal issues will get picked up at compliance, tints being one of them, I have bought imports that have had the tints removed at the compliance stage. However, it is possible that not everything is picked up at that point and something may get missed, but it's unlikely it would be something as obvious as tints.If it was missed at compliance then the fact that it was like that when it was imported would not help you out at WoF or stopped by the cops time. The law is the law, if it ain't legal at that point, then it ain't legal full stop. It would be impossible to prove the car was like that at time of importation (it's not docmumented) and that you hadn't just had the tints added. Are the tints on the car that you are looking at aftermarket add ons, or is it in the original glass? If it's in the glass then it should be marked as to what percentage tint it is, the markings are usually in the corner by the makers name, safety standards, etc.

Not sure if that's a compliment or not Ollie, but in the end the snowboarding was a lot like the Spanish play... lots of falling over and screaming!If that's supposed to be the best in world football today then you can stick it up your arse. It's supposed to be a contact sport, falling over then waving your arms around in front of the ref telling him to book someone is not a part of the game in my book. Unfortunately the guy who gets paid the least on the pitch has the most pressure to deal with and as usual was found wanting.

Hey Johno, have you got a final price in mind for these? Also, would you be willing to split a set and sell in ones or twos? Cheers, JTP.

Bimmersport discount ??

It does what Foxy ??As usual from your good self, excellent stuff, how's it progressing now? Shame there's no engine bay dragon though....

I can't decide if I want the Germans to win, so the Dutch can beat them in the Final (revenge for '74) or whether I want Spain to win so there is no risk of the Germans beating the Dutch and winning it again! Certainly the Spanish and the Dutch will give Ze Germans a good game, I think the key is you have to start well and at a high tempo, to match the initial German charge. If they get in front the Germans have lots of pace and love playing on the counter attack as the other team has to chase the game and leaves a few gaps for them to expoit. Either way, it's another good excuse to get drunk in the morning on 12th July, supposed to be snow-boarding during the day, so that could be "interesting"