E30 325i Rag-Top

Give Ray at HellBM a call, he has done a number of SMG to manual conversions, not sure about the 650 though.

I think that is a commonly held idea here in NZ. Having owned both a Subaru and BMWs here I wouldn’t say there is much difference. Labour rates and pricing for most franchised dealers are pretty much line ball, and genuine parts for Japanese parts can be up there as well. If it’s a used car, I guess the servicing would be at a reputable Indy garage, ring around and get some indicative pricing for him to compare?

@hugo_nz nice spec, looks great in the configurator images.

This black 323i coupe ended up going for $6,350 in the end. Pretty good price for no WoF or rego. Luckily, it got up to more than I could risk without viewing.

Most $$$ = strip it and sell parts yourself = most effort / hassle Middle $$$ = sell complete on BMW groups = some hassle Lowest $$$ = sell to wrecker, they want to make a buck and are taking a risk = least effort for you. No idea what it’s worth sorry, either as a whole or in bits, I’m not across 528i market.

Wow that’s a flip and a half! Pretty obvious as well with the supply and demand for these so limited. Apparently was built in the “Motorsport Factory” 🤣 New CCCFA rules have really pulled back lending, so would be much harder to finance an E30 investment now as opposed to a few months ago.

As I understand it, the lithium ion reaction creates a runaway heat situation, even without the oxygen to burn. As soon as any oxygen gets in it flares up into a fire again, and takes ages to cool down. Whereas old fashioned petrol engined cars go whoomph, burn out quickly and then go to the scrappy. I’d be pretty sure there’s more emissions from ICE fires than EVs, mainly because there’s more of them. Yes, an EV probably chucks out a few more nasties, but less of them.

Hot oil leaking onto an exhaust. Not sure about that, I was always told all fires need three things: fuel, ignition and oxygen. The latest hi-tech equipment that’s being deployed to fight the anti-christ that is the EV fire… the good old fashioned fire blanket! Great big car sized ones. Cuts off the oxygen.

Of all the 7er I do like the styling of an E38, in this case the kit and wheels make it look worse than a factory M-Sport to me. The wheels look to be an M-Par copy to my untrained eye. Reason to pay less for this one, not more.

I know you’ve got a thing against EVs, but the really funny part around that post is the fact the fire had nothing to do with the electrical elements of the car. How many petrol or diesel vehicles catch fire compared to EVs? Even as a percentage? How many petrol tankers or petrol stations catch fire compared to EV chargers? Moral of the story from the post above - if you pay peanuts for servicing you get monkeys working on your car, and this is what can happen. In general Don’t believe any scaremongering, do some research and make an informed decision.

The first of many ICE engines to be cut from the range, with the next level of Euro 6 (e?) emissions coming into effect it’s impossible to get the performance engines to comply. Combined with fleet average CO2 targets in most OECD countries they don’t stack up any more. The M760Li engine is crammed into the engine bay on a G12 7er, it would be a TARDIS like effort to get it into anything smaller. I’m not sure it would be worth all the effort tbh, unless it’s a kit-car / replica of something V12 and you need that sound a boosted 6 or V8 would probably give better output and weight balance?

If that wasn’t so true, it would be very funny.

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..”