E30 325i Rag-Top

My daily update of new BMW TradeMe listings has 3 x 320d Tourings on today, hardly ever see them come up.

Yeah I was surprised by that as well, thought at least basic cruise was factory standard - too used to NZ specs! Weird that it has no cruise but has the bigger screen Professional Navigation which is a much more expensive option…

There was an NZ local “Performance Edition” on F30 and IIRC F31 for a while, included a number of option upgrades plus the M Performance exterior dress up parts. The TradeMe one is an import though so probably just had the exterior parts added. NZ new would be xDrive and most likely have leather upholstery.

Don’t think I’ll ask for one of those as a company mobility solution!!

Hmm, a self-serviced 640d, interesting.

@tmase which engine?

My (un)educated guess would be that they were looking for a car and / or dude that roughly matched you and your Pugs description. My mate & I once got stopped three times in half an hour by three different Police cars as they were looking for a vehicle connected with a robbery.

A number of our neighbours got together and contacted the police about cars speeding down our road a couple of months back. The police responded by placing a traffic car at the bottom of the road with a speed gun (see it does work, you don’t need to be a dick and report non-existent weapons). One of the first people caught was my Mrs! 🤬 All of my dealings with the NZ police have been positive, from both sides of the (of)fence as well. Try the U.K. if you want an over-stretched force that cannot police lower level crimes.

Only rear seats that won’t fit are a convertible, they are smaller and different shape, or wagon which fold down, from coupe and sedan. The rest are all the same fitment from what ive seen coupe and four door and also pre-fl v fl. Finding exact fabric match might be harder, depends how fussy you are. Seat belts I believe did change at the facelift point, not sure if they can be interchanged.

The difference is the physical size of the case, bigger the case the bigger the gears that fit inside, bigger gears can take more load. Often referred to by the number of bolts holding the rear cover, small = 6 bolt, medium = 8 bolt. Not sure about large as they were never fitted to E30s from factory. You can swap small and medium case diffs in an E30, but you might need to swap axles and or output shafts as well depending on what you swap from and to.

What kind of driver manages to have a nose to tail accident on a motorway in light traffic, on a clear, dry, sunny day..? Clearly cant drive so take licence off them. A Prius was involved...

@MatthewR probably best to PM rather than reply to a ten year old post.

Don’t leave Lexus out of that race, relatively scarce here but becoming more noticeable (which is the whole point).

Back when I used to work in the automotive supply chain I was amazed that in many countries the time period a vehicle had to be supported by law was very short. 7 years from end of production was about par and even as low as five years was common. Now, not all companies work to that legal definition, but some definately do. Imagine going and asking for a part for your five and a half year old car and being told “sorry, we don’t supply that anymore, and there’s no alternative”! This has probably worked it’s way through to the design parameters for various components, with refurbishment and/or replacement out of the question. Throw-away society now.

Three x E36 M3 Compacts

@Contrails it’s been back a couple of times, no change in asking price which is why it’s still there. Three black ones coming off and going back on. The Sunday Drive one has been through quite a few owners in the last couple of years.

I don’t suppose any of you 130i owners have a couple of cam angle sensors kicking around do you? Trying to help a friend with an issue.

By Tech 1 I guess you are referring to an M325i? Market has gone a bit soft but still very sought after, and deserving of a good premium over most of the others. So much of the price depends on the condition - has it been maintained well or is everything worn out, paint still good, interior wear, etc. No rust is a good sign as is an untracked dash. Even if it is a clapped out WoF fail it would still be $15k+ if it’s a genuine NZ M325i, how far you go up from there is down to the above.

FTFY. 🧐

One has been cleaned and moved a clear area to be photographed, the other seems to be going for a “barn find” aesthetic.

E46 is still such a great looking car, design doesn’t seem to have dated at all, and a black M3 will always look good! Even when it’s a less than sunny day at Maraetai (nice drive out there) it looks awesome.

Those are such good reps (heaps better than mine) right size at 16” and the little key lock on the centre are great. Will look so good on your car.

Took the ‘vert to work for a run, and yup you guessed it.. that made it rain, sorry Aucklanders!