E30 325i Rag-Top

The magnetic dampers were developed by a supplier, and then integrated into the vehicles at a later stage, plus it was with HSV, not Holden. The supplier wanted to work with Holden but they didn't reach agreement. A large amount of new technology is developed by suppliers, not the company with the badge on the bonnet, usually it is a case of who is prepared to take the risk or pay the most for the new technology.Plus the W427 is also a HSV and not a Holden. It may sound pedantic but HSV is 100% independent of Holden as a business entity, even though they basically build-up Holden's car and sell it through the same dealers. Will be very interesting to see the HSV business plan if there is no locally built large car? Holden's engineering was the GM world centre for RWD large platform development, which means all GMs big rear drive cars were developed at least partly by the engineering team in Aussie, including the North American only brands. Without the close ties to GM there is little to interest other car companies in buying Holden, unlike the other local manufacuturers mentioned previously, and adding to the list Opel & Vauxhall being sold to FIAT. Yes GM will survive, with much blood-letting and help, and Holden along with them, but it will be interesting to see if they have learnt any lessons from all this.....

The Austalien govt already subsidise the three ramaining manufacturers with millions of dollars each year. The biggest amounts tend to come from the State Governments, in return for investments in their reqion. That is why the Holden V6 engine plant is in Melbounre Vic., and the Commodore assembly plant is in Adelaide, SA. So every day a fleet of trucks loaded with V6 engines drive down the freeway, madness!Yes, 1 billion dollars was spent on developing the VE Commodore, but that included only an update on the V6 and V8 engines, not a completely new power plant - that would have doubled the whole bill. Due to the increasing complexity, and shorter life span, of modern vehicles, volumes need to be increased to spread the costs over as many car sales as possible. Unfortunately the 2.000 Commodores a month in Aussie and NZ will not pay for such development costs. Yes, Holden will survive as a local manufacturer, the Aussie govt will have to dig deep, but it will be in a much different form. My belief is that they will build a local version of a GM mid-size world car (like the Camry for Toyota built in Melbourne). But the days of local developed Commodores would be gone, and for local suppliers this is likely to mean less parts being supplied, as many would come from the chosen world wide supplier. Not a happy time in the OEM car world!

Sounds like you've got yourslef a good set up there Glenn, shame you aren't a little bit closer to Palmy or I would be using your services frequently. To avoid going of off topic on GM I will start a new thread.

Hmm...Right problem one, I would suggest a bounce of both the client and server. Problem 2, bounce client only. If that doesn't work, suggest they de-frag their hard disk and call back if that doesn't fix it I got pretty geeky at Uni (multi-thread OS/2 programming in 1988) but decided there was no future in it, so concentrated on Manufacturing Systems instead - doh!

It's not just Americans mate, without exports into the USA under the Pontiac brand the whole future of Holden is looking decidedly shaky. And my biggest customer is..... (drum roll)..... HOLDEN! So it's going to come closer to home than you think, and who knows where it will end. Back on topic, good stuff Glenn, its great you can appreciate the improvements already, nothing like coughing up on new IT, all the pain of putting it in, and it gives more problems than it solves. The reason you are probably busier now, is that when people are watching the pennies they start to appreciate good service more, long may it continue.

I heard about this crank swap as an alternative to the 2.7l ETA bottom end on Sunday. Was told that the swap was relatively simple, with a couple of small turning jobs to do on the ends of the crank (which the web link seems to back up). Am I missing something else?Surely custom oversized pistons are going to be big $$$s unless you can find a stock size out of another motor? Not that I'm an expert...

Which means, in English, that you will have to ask the same two questions every time... Is it plugged in? Is it switched on? Solves 80% of all help desk calls

The figures I have show 17,184 coupes produced (all LHD ) and 786 cabrios. Which out of more than 2.25 million E30s is pretty limited numbers. Even if you assume that all of these are still alive and kicking, having more than 100 in NZ would make up a pretty large proportion given the total number of cars and people in NZ!

Which side do you need? It is for a coupe yeah?

Don't take me the wrong way, I am not saying that there is anything bad about this conversion, but for me I would be looking for originality in the car as one of the key points I would be looking at is the collectability and hence future value. An E30 M3 is a world-wide collectors car, where most people drive on the right, a RHD conversion limits the market and loses value on factory originality. Driving from the left hand seat, with the dog leg box, is part of the very essence of the E30 M3 that I am after. Plus there is the compromise on the headers and steering to make the conversion, which is why the factory only made the car in LHD, if BMW Motorsport engineers decided to keep it LHD only, then that says a lot to me. Yes, it is a pain to drive a LHD car on the left of the road, if you wanted an E30 M3 for a daily driver then RHD would be a must, but again for me that is what I am after. And now to totally contradict myself on originality, how about this example from eBay in Germany, check out the guys garage and how clean the car is. My German is a bit rusty and I can't work out all the text, so may be a few mods I have missed, but the Gp. A engine and CF air box I can live with http://cgi.ebay.de/BMW-E30-M3_W0QQitemZ270...%3A1%7C294%3A50

What bits do you need for the assembly? Do you need the glass, or just winder, lever arms, runners, etc? Most bits would pack up quite small to post to CHCH, glass would be a bit more difficult.

The footie season is over, and England aren't in town, so it should be a bit quieter than when I last went over

Classic stuff, great find. The good old days of rallying, when you could stand in the road to see the cars coming, before OSH and the do-gooders ruined it for everyone. Love the shots with cars parked on the OUTSIDE of bends as the cars go through ! And the muppet in the green - i'll have whatever he's on please. Is that Conrad in the Bastos M3 - I know he likes to hang the rear out on bends ??

Amen to that brother Saw the listing this morning on my TradeMe notifications, does indeed look very, very nice. Knowing Keven and his love of BMWs I would say this would be a no expense spared example, and the photos would seem to back this up. Price also looks reasonable. If this was still in LHD I would be giving him a call right now, but I really, really want the originality. I'll just keep looking..

What IS IT with Kiwis and pink shirts?I have a number of shirts in various shades between red and white, and EVERY time I wear one to work there is a visible reaction, even after 3 and a bit years of wearing them. If I wore one in the 'vert, I think there would be a-lynchin' by the ol' barn??

Oi! Who voted for the E30 cab? Take that back, now! ....or i'll scratch your eyes out and pull your hair You have to be confident in your masculinity, to drive a car that is perceived as gay.

I am happy to say our local BMW dealer offers good service, free advice, free magazines even if you are driving an old E30! Better service than most dealers in the UK!

Wow, absolutely stunning CSL, and a great job on the paint and protector. when I finally get around to tidying up the 'very I will invest in some of this stuff. I have seen the results of the 3M protectors we use for HSV products and they are pretty good, but real difficult to apply without bubbles forming underneath - which looks worse than a chip! So will keep an eye out for this stuff. If you ever want to sell the CSL, PM me...

You are quite reight, it is a Mk 1 Escort, with wide arches fitted. Not sure what's under hte hood tho' but goes well and 'fires kike mad! they were THE rally car for many, many years and still go well in many classic rallys. Would love to see more of the RS200 though, what a car - that guy is giving it loads in those conditions considering the value of the car and how hard it would be to get bits to repair - hats off to him, drive it like you stole it!

No doubt the 190 Cossie is a good performance car, compared against a M325i for similar money. BUT, to me the Merc is an old man's car, all Merc's for that matter, even the new hyper-formance ones - still driven by old blokes with money. The M325i looks a better car, more aggressive, better stance, and a sportier image, IMHO. At the end of the day, it's all down to you and how you feel, especially after your last car was an M3... hard to move on from there!

Quote from TradeMe ad: "Brand new engine done only 40k + km's due to previous elderly owner forgetting to put oil in ! Runs incredibly well and has been very well looked after." Surely that is a big contradiction??

No Paul, don't do it!! Stop, think about what will happen!! All the "fun" you will miss out on. ADMIN: Please delete this thread, it's for his own good, he's got temporary insanity!!

HB Foxy! Have a good one.

I think it was Skip Brown that used to do the Mi16 into 205 conversions back in the UK, personally I thought the money was better spent on brakes and suspension on my 1.9. Did get to drive an Mi16 engined 205, with a Turbo Technics 2-stage conversion, around Silverstone at a GTi club day, now that was damn quick. But not as quick as the 205 T16 that shot past me on the straight - what a machine that was

I went to look at the coupe in Palmy North last week as a parts car to repair my race car. While I would honestly say it is too good for a parts car it is still definately in the "project" category. Would take a lot of work (time rather than $$$s for most of it), to get it to a good standard and reliable.There was also some very strange bidding on the last auction, which was why I pulled out. Then got offered the car as a fixed price offer, then it's relisted, now back up as a $1 NR auction, very strange!