E30 325i Rag-Top

Interestingly it now seems to have magically transformed into a rather rough car, with questionable Km's and a very dirty looking engine bay...

Great photos of great cars. I can't believe they let you get that close to the vehicles, no ropes or barriers to get in the way. If I ever visit they will have to drag me away from the DTM E30 M3 ! Do you think they would notice if you tried to "borrow" an engine or two from that display??

I don't think it was an overseas scammer, as TradeMe put it, but that muppet PORTNOY trying to sell his fibreglass kitted 325i again.The guy has had his auctions pulled from TradeMe many, many times, and from his posts on here was an all round knob... ...which is a shame as I think Silver Fox and I were going to have a bidding war on the car this time

"In all seriousness though, we're a sad bunch finding this sort of thing amusing!" Well it made me chuckle to myself - I often wonder if people really want to sell stuff on TradeMe as they can't be @rsed putting a decent description up! Mind you, I did spend quite a bit of my time during a work placement designing and developing a "Spangle Bracket" just so I could get it on the parts list as I thought it would be funny!

Mosen's are a dedicated BMW Spares outfit in Hamilton - are enthusiasts too, so know what they are talking about. Details are: Mosen Euro-Parts Imports 10 Wickham St, Hamilton. Contact Keven for new and used BMW parts and panels. Discount to club members. Ph 07 846 6671

Main thing I have been told is to keep them out of the sunlight - even through windows etc. it can perish the rubber. A good spray with a decent tyre cleaner / conditioner / shine would help as well. If you want to be really picky you could turn them every month or so, to make sure they don't deform while they are lying on their sides. Should be fine for a year, I had my Avon's on the car for two+ years while it was in storage, and they were fine.

Having a bit of a clear out Foxy? Or needing to fun more goodies for the Taxi? You haven't got a set of the last ones suitable for an E30 in the shed by any chance?

Cheers Dylan, i'm guessing you got to view the car. How bad was the rust? Where was it? Any more info would be appreciated to see if I fly down to CHCH on the 15th (if it goes into the auction - not listed yet...)

I have heard that they are going to divert their F1 budget into supporting the E30 Series around the world as it is better marketing for the brand, and generates more parts sales!

Just got a reply from the seller, he is not selling through TradeMe now, putting into Turners auction on 15th August due to "high level of interest in the car, including from overseas"?? Wasn't very clear on answering my questions though, rust is in rear quarter - could be anywhere, no response on what else it would need for complying!

This car has been up on TradeMe a few times now over a couple of months, price has dropped from $30k+ down to $20k. If I remember correctly it is a fresh Jap import, which is partly why so clean underneath - from the MAF inspect and clean possibly. Photos have been the same each time, so not sure whether they are current. Previously there was a picture of the rust - it was in one of the rear guards, just in front of the wheel arch. I'm just wondering whether it is possible to get this car road-registered, it's always been listed under Competition Cars, not general cars and may explain the difficulty in selling plus the price drops.

ROFL!Have you met Foxy? I think ambiguous is a much better description

It's OK Foxy, we all know you are not mad - just "different" I love the way your mind is working though - "I've got all these bits - what can I do with them? I know I'll put them all into an E30 Touring" Classy!

I think it's called Valvetronic isn't it? On the latest 3 series engines.

Jesus! At least they only cocked up my paperwork for me to sort out as they seemed incapable of answering any questions. Looks like they steam cleaned your car inside the container then shut it all up for six weeks, that is bad enough, let alone panel and rim damage. I just hope you managed to get it all sorted out.

Avoid Anglo Pacific like the plague, bunch of idiots with no idea of customer service, did my first shipment, luckily I know a little about freight forwarding! Brought my car and second container out with Allied Pickfords, more a removals company, but did a good job with my car and our stuff! Edit: remembered the name of the company!

Read on Ollie, read on... Having been a passenger during the morning school run, it is definately number two which is the concern, I thought it was supposed to be men that got road rage, although number three is quite close behind..

Check out this month's Classic Car magazine there is an article in there about bringing cars and parts into NZ, with about half a dozen specialist companies listed with their details. For cars and / or larger parts a specialist service would be much better service and cheaper than any of the global freight companies like TNT, FedEX, etc.

The wife is too scared to drive the 'vert, not because of the car or how it drives, but in case she crashes it. Seems to think I would be angry with her... as if?? She does seem to be very keen on taking the race car around a track through, a thought which makes me very worried, one for the poor car (I've seen how she treats a road car), two for the other poor sods on the track that might get in her way (again seen how she drives on the road) and three for the fact that she would probably record better lap times than me (love you honey ) I am trying hard to convince her an E46 coupe is a small economical run-about at the moment...

Both Whakapapa and Turoa totally closed for all of Sunday due to blizzard conditions... bummer . Amazing how quickly it can change, excellent conditions all day Saturday may have been a blessing in disguise, not sure how stiff I would feel after two full days, plus home in time to watch the V8s in the afternoon

The key to good powder coating is how well the surface is prepped before the powder is put on, and also how quickly the powder is added after prepping (quicker the better), really should be looking for an acid etch, and phosphate pre-wash straight into powder.If it's not well prepped the powder sticks more to itself when baked, than to the wheel, hence it tends to crack and chip as Glenn said. There are hundreds of powder colours now produced as "stock" items, the only drawback is it costs heaps to try and colour match to something different unless you want to order tons of the stuff (literally). Should be able to find something that floats your boat from catalogue though, so not so much of an issue. Due to the hard life wheels get, I would go for powder over paint, but carefully choose who I got to do it.

Have I logged on to some virtual swingers forum by mistake ? Everyone throws their keys into the pot electronically, then picks one to see who's missus they go off with (allegedly)

Hey Oli, would suggest you get someone to check out the kit in person, from the frontal photos there looks to be quite a bit of damage and it looks like fibreglass underneath, so a replica kit not genuine.Plus the rear boot spoiler is absolute pants and nothing like a Tech II spoiler. Depends how much $$$ it gets up to I suppose.

Apologies if any of these are re-posts... Not sure which is my favourite, Irony or Priorities?

If you can give me a bit more of a clue, what it looks like, where it goes, I can probably dig one out for you and send it.