E30 325i Rag-Top

Will be interesting to see where that ends up price wise, a bit of a risk with no WoF, but it looks to be a solid and pretty tidy 323i Coupe. Luckily it’s well down south or I might have gone to look at it and ended up with 3 E30s in bits!

@runtothehills yes there are M2 manuals in NZ, not many, but there are a few and they come up for sale very rarely - with a price premium. There are also a few M2 Comp in manual, and the ONLY NZ new M2 CS is a manual (and was up for sale fairly recently). If you only want the manual, patience will be the key. I suggest trying an M2 Comp with DCT, I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Looks a little bit “busy” to me in the last photo - lots of lines and angles going on. I will wait until you post up the front view of it on the car before making a call.

Hmm, not so sure, the E30 318iS was produced in pretty low numbers only at the end of production so is pretty rare. Also the M42/4 twin cam was spot on for the E30 version, but seemed a bit under-powered for the bigger & heavier E36 version. Don’t get me wrong, the 318iS would be way above a lot of E36 models (316i, 318i, all compacts, etc) but I don’t feel it’s such a standout as in the E30 version. I’m fairly certain there was an E36 318iS coupe version which would be a bit more desirable I think…

On a related note, I somehow, managed to end up with a bird sh*t on the INSIDE of my alloy wheel, BEHIND the spokes - but not on them. Was a big one as well! Maybe birds have got laser guidance on their arses now… very impressive shot!

Looking for rust in an E30 is usually only bad news, but by doing this you can find it, fix it and stop it becoming terminal. Much better than ignoring it / hoping it’s not there. For that boot seal area, I would suggest the best way is to cut back to bare metal and weld in a replacement section (possibly from a wrecked E30 - worst case should be a simple fab job as it’s 90 degree bends and straightish). I would suggest that with bog it will only keep bubbling up over time - even if you treat it with rust cure.

@deeunitnz there should be a price for Bimmersport members in your post, not just a link to TradeMe.

@Bmwfan01I do hope you will reciprocate and give Bimmersport a mention to your Facebook members.

Just cover it in used engine / gearbox oil now, saves time later, you know it’s gonna happen at some point. 😊 That’s the main reason I don’t use garage carpet - it’s a “working” garage and too much stuff would get spilt and ground into it. Hard wearing epoxy type paint for me every time.

The fact that he’s put “questions won’t be answered on this forum” make it look even more suspect to me.

Other Fast & Furious franchise fans..? “I live my life a quarter mile at a time..”

@richw2000 Kayne Barrie would be my first port of call for anything diff related, have you tried him?

Ahh yes, the “all original” 325i Vert that has (just from the photos) non-original wheels, suspension, boot spoiler, exhaust and head unit. Does look in good nick though.

Really, when was that? I worked with diesel FIE and owned a diesel all the time I lived in UK, and wasn’t then. Whilst I’ve been away a fair while whenever I’ve been back price has been pretty close, and the RAC cost comparison shows the same view.. You’re not thinking of the agri “red” diesel are you? There are simple cost comparator spreadsheets around for petrol v diesel costs, I’ve even seen some for NZ which include the RUC component. Back to the original question @qube do you have anywhere you can charge an EV, either at home or work or somewhere else you spend a period of time? Free charging at work is the best option 😁

The “poor quality fuel” option SA858 is no longer required for NZ, and hasn’t been for some while. Pretty much everything has some form of knock sensor to adjust the fuel and timing maps to adjust for fuel quality. Most models are “recommended” for 95 but “minimum” 91, with the exception of M Cars that are 98 recommended, and 95 (IIRC) min.

Where’s the fun in that? Most of the excitement with classic cars is wondering if you will actually make it to your destination!!

Yes they will run on 91, and quite happily, but the fuel consumption does increase versus 95 or 98. It will vary from model to model and also driving style, complex to calculate which is cheaper. The big driver for diesel cars in UK was the vehicle license (rego equivalent) being based on CO2 emissions, so lots of smaller Diesel engined cars had zero or very low cost each year. Which lead to the increased demand gjm mentioned above, and then the increase in price. RUC in NZ does skew the cost calculations a lot.

I dunno, at least that is M-Sport, and the later M-Sport at that. Makes it so much better looking, inside and out, to me. Colour is a bit boring being silver but it’s not as love it / hate it as the other one. There are quite a few aftermarket additions on this one that I would have to take out and go back to factory, or better integrated after market. And, yeah, still not worth anywhere near that asking price.

Very true, the whole RUC system is very inflexible and hard to apply across many electric vehicles and there are so many different types of EV, full battery, plug-in hybrid, hybrid, Range extender, etc. Really needs a complete review, but I’ll be surprised if that happens in time, so it’ll be another square peg bashed into a round hole.

Something the government is keeping very much on the down low is the introduction of RUC on electric vehicles. Currently there is an “exemption” for these vehicles, but this is only for a period of time (and most unlikely to be extended again) and then the charges will be payable. This, along with how much you are paying for your electricity, will make a big difference in your calculations.

Auto, non-M Sport, funky colour is a hard sell at anywhere near that asking.

Really? How would you know? Have you pulled the engine / gearbox / diff apart and measured the wear? Or are you just going on the “nothings gone bang so it must be all good approach”? In all honesty the level of gain you have got from your map wouldn’t really put the drivetrain outside its comfort zone so there is unlikely to be too much difference. If you’ve been making the most of the extra oomph it’s more likely to be suspension and brakes that have had more of a working out. It’s there to try to manage one part of the vast array of emissions, not all of them. And it’s most likely that your map has increased the particulate emission dramatically so your DPF will be working much harder, and will not be managing to keep the particulate levels down where they should be. Let alone the CO2, NOx, HC, etc that will be off the chart. But hey, at least you get to rest your leg as you’ve got a better throttle response.

That’s come up real well. Will be almost invisible when it’s cleaned off.