E30 325i Rag-Top

Bugger! Just bought all my oils for the car, could've got it cheap!!

Fair point, unless your name is Shumacher you are unlikely to be able to push either car to its limits, even on a track.The noise with the top down is a big selling point, and with the wind, etc. it would probably seem like you are going faster than in a coupe as well!

I saw the BMW NZ demonstator outside Jeff Gray's on Saturday morning, dark grey / black (not 100% was raining hard) with the dark red interior. Looked like sex on wheels in the flesh. I have often wondered about an M3 cab, if you want a sports car to drive hard = M3 coupe, if you want a convertible to cruise in, top down, why have all the performance blunted by the extra weight and lose stiffness by chopping the roof off? A tin top would help with the stiffness issue, but still not as sharp as an M3 coupe I would guess. ...would still have one if you gave it to me though!

The hardest part would be finding and checking the car out, easy enough if you have friends or family in the UK who know a bit about cars. From NZ you could still get an AA check and report done (about $250 if I remeber right) which would give you lots of info, you can haggle on the price from here also.Shipping is relatively straight forward, my quote was $4,500 for the car on its own, you could probably get that a bit cheaper through a specialist car shipper. The sting in the tail is the GST when it comes into NZ, I was lucky that I didn't have to pay any as it was my old car I was shipping, not a new purchase. It is still 12% but it is calculated on the NZ market value NOT the purchase price! So if you bought the M3 for $13,000 the GST would be nearer $3,600 (12% of NZ value of about $30k) not $1,560. Compliance is relatively straight forward and there are lots of people that will do all that for you at most major ports. Steam clean, VIN check, compliance and Rego would be about $1,300. A trailer and / or dealer plates are very handy at this point. Adding that up, total cost for the M3 would be about $22,400. There is lots of info on the LTNZ web-site which is very useful and details out the process. The thing to watch would be making sure the car doesn't need lots of major work (air-bags, etc) to comply, BMW can advise which models can be imported. Like I said, it would have to be model fitted with both passenger and driver air bags to comply. In these days of the internet and cheap phone calls I think it can be done quite easily, most of the car dealers selling imports wouldn't have set foot in Japan or Singapore. If you know what you want, are prepared to search and can devote a little time, I think it is very possible for anyone to do.

Older cars are already worth next to nothing in the UK, due to the pressures to own the latest and greatest and stigma of driving anything remotely old + extravagant insurance. I looked at what I would get for my low mileage (76,000mls) '87 325i convertible before deciding to ship it to NZ, reckoned it was worth about 2,000 - 2,500 pounds, even with an exchange rate in favour of the pound that is still only $6,000 - $7,500. Couldn't find anything near the condition and spec of mine for less than $12k.I often look on www.autotrader.co.uk to compare prices, currently there are over 30,000 BMW listed on there for sale, with over 1,000 M3s alone. Doing a quick search I just found a '99 M3 Evo coupe manual, for under 5000 pounds, at current exchange rate that is just over NZ$13,000. Would just need to check it has twin air bags for it to be eligible to come into NZ. Might be a dog, but there are loads to choose from for less than 6,500, still only NZ$17,000 And this is BEFORE the government starts to tax the older perfomance cars even more. So yup could be some good imports coming this way...

I think a lot of the 100,000 being the magic number goes back a few years to when Odometers only had five digits, so 99,999 miles or kms then it went "round the clock" often with cars back then it wasn't always clear how many times it had been around the clock!! Personally when buying a car I don't even bother to look at the Odo reading as this can distract you from looking at things that really matter, the condition, how it drives, what does/doesn't work, servicing, etc. As others have said many cars for sale have far from genuine readings anyway, all too easy to change, especially with digital read-outs. Unless there is a FULL history, not just service history, that shows clearly the kms throughout the cars life and they all stack up, I wouldn't trust the Odo to be anywhere near accurate. The other thing is how and where the car has been driven, an ex-UK sales reps BMW would have high miles from lots of motorway driving, which is not too strenuous on the cars mechanicals, a NZ new BMW driven by a retiree (for example) could have low kms but been only ever driven to the local shops and RSA and have much worse engine wear due to lots of cold starts and short journeys. It's just trying to convince the public that want to buy the car you are selling of these things.... not easy!

A nice find, and a wise choice! I especially like the hounds-tooth check on the seats, even if it is a prick of a job to keep it clean and tidy, especially with kids. Looked for a good 325i 'vert for a very long time before bringing mine out from the UK. Had a big row with the vehicle certifier about the brake light (which looks ugly and ruins the whole flow of the body line) as it wasn't fitted on the NZ new vehicles. Any import has to comply to the current regs, while the NZ new only have to comply with the regs at the time, apparently. Couldn't win on that one as I had some other marginal areas (suspension travel and ride height) that i wanted to get through. Set of weaves on there and you will be looking totally mint! Good luck with finding a good set.

Also worth mentioning that it makes one hell of a gorgeous noise when passing! Shame conditions weren't better on Saturday to see this cars full abilities. Look forward to seeing more of it over the season.

"The economy enters the second half of the year with a notable absence of momentum and a high degree of uncertainty." Which to the guy on the street means - 'the economy is in the sh*t and we don't know where it will end' Doesn't matter how you dress it up, it's still a turd sandwich.

After many years experience working in the automotive industry and now dealing with Aussie OEMs, believe me it really does need protecting.If these plants had to compete on an equal footing with the rest of the world there would be a number of closures very, very quickly. The only one that is truly competitive in world terms is the Toyota plant at Altona, backed up by the fact that they can competitively EXPORT Camrys. Its a sad fact, but with global competition and the cost of new vehicle development (AU$1.4bn for the VE Commodore and still about 5-10years behind the rest of the world), local markets will not provide enough volume to support local models, Falcon, Commodore, etc. Ford are trying to keep going by binning the straight six engine (their best local!!) in favour of a V6 from the USofA, and building Global vehicles as well (Focus & its variants) - I hope they succeed. Holden are dependent upon GM engines and parts bin - but are making a good fist of things and even sending some back overseas. All the State and National government money is only a life support system, the money needed to be invested to come up to world standards would be astronomical, and neither Ford or GM can afford any major investment at the moment and any spare cents are going to go to the homeland plants. It's a shame as some brands and names will cease to be, look at the UK, Austin, Healey, MG, Rover, etc. all gone. Plus you lose the cars which are tuned to local conditions, which can make a big difference in terms of comfort and ride, especially on NZ roads!! The world market sets the price of vehicles and local import tariffs only create a false economy, and why should BMWs or any other brand be more expensive just because of an inefficient local industry that needs protection? Its only the consumer that gets penalised. Phew, rant over. Time for a lie down.

You might have seen these before as they are a few years old, but I just found them again on my PC so thought they might be worth a post. This is what happens when you let teenagers drive V8s that don't handle too well. Apparently a 19-year old took the HSV for a test drive from the dealers in Bundoora, Vic. came back way too fast round the corner, hit the gutter, ran up the kerb and took off into the car lot. Landing on the Beemer. The poor little E36 didn't stand much of a chance against the lard-arse HSV Clubsport, especially with the Clubbie at speed and the 3-series sitting still!

Quite a few not sold, but $47,500 for the M3 Convertible looks a good price, think it had a hard top and looked in pretty good nick in the photos, reasonable Kms too. Now makes me only about $45k short of what I need.....

Register on the Turners web-site and you can watch and bid on-line.

Hey, looking for a Front Strut Brace for a 320i E30 if you can post a pic? Cheers.

If I run with the cross of St. George on the car, then I can act as a decoy for you!Only trouble is I don't think I will have the same speed for quite a while, if ever, so more likely to get caught!

I'm looking for some 14" bottle caps for an E30 if you've got any? Cheers.

Ian Rush beat a player and not dive?? Are you sure? You might have a different view from the Kop than that poxy away terrace there used to be at Anfield.Agree with the sentiment, I tape and watch a lot of the Premiership stuff, not because I follow a Premier team, but because I miss the football so much, and I hardly recognise half the players, let alone be able to pronounce their names. Looking forward to Stoke, West Brom & Hull in the Premier next year, should mix it up a bit.

The most widely believed, but unfortunately incorrect version. Possibly intended to be the most offensive?Passengers on prison ships did not have uniforms, let alone uniforms with P.o.M.E. initialled on them. The use of the term Pom was widespread and docuemented before the first use of convicts as labour to develop the growing country. Wikipedia and other sources quote the term to come from Pomegranate, the fruit, because after a couple of days that was the colour of the new immigrants faces from the sun! Also a link to rhyming slang, Pom = Tom, Tom = Tommy, Tommy = Tommy Grant, Tommy Grant = Immigrant, a bit long winded but often how phrases develop over time. As I said I don't mind it, been called much worse in 'My own'country! Even looking to get 'Jon The Pom' on the side of the race car.

Born in Chatham, Kent. Lived in Medway Towns for 35 years, then moved to NZ three and a half years ago. Loving it here so far, and no plans to go back to UK for a long, long time. I am still a Pom, and won't ever lose the accent. Try really hard not to come across as a 'Little Englander' and quite enjoy being called a Pom. Daughter thinks she's a Kiwi, even though she lived in England for the first 2 and a half years, son is a Kiwi, but sounds like a Pom at the moment, will all change when he reaches kindy.

Analyical approach for me as well: Daily driver E39 M5 Wife & kid's shopping trolley Audi RS6 - either model Track Car - E46 M3 well prepped, but still road legal Tow Car - Range Rover Sport V8 Supecharged Classic - Ferrari 250GT California Spider SWB Only took me four days to make those decisions, all I need now is Powerball on Saturday

I brought my E30 325i Convertible over from the UK, as it's worth bugger all over there, insurance kills classic performance car prices until they become ultra-rare and collectable. Personally speaking it was quite straight forward, just a few minor parts changes, brake discs, hi-level brake light, etc to get compliance.The key is getting one over the 20 year old mark so pre '88, as these vehicles are exempt from most of the latest regulations, impact, braking, etc. Have a look on the LTNZ web-site there is a lot of good info on there which outlines all the processes.

Clunk... penny drops, I think we worked together on some TRD stuff quite recently.Small world, but I wouldn't like to paint it! How's the new job going? Just out of curiosity which ERP system? Is that as as consultant or eventual user?

Could be, why do you ask?

Factory Manager for a medium sized company making plastic mouldings for the low volume car industry. No dedicated company car, but can pick from the firms fleet of near WoF-failures if I need a vehicle for the week-end or evening. Also get to 'borrow' vehicles that we are working on from dealers or manufacturers which can provide some enjoyment....still trying to get a BMW project though. Company car from my previous job was a BA MkII Falcon - what a barge!

Hey, how much drop is there on the springs? Standard shocks or uprated? How much you looking for? Cheers.