E30 325i Rag-Top

I have worked with bikers that kept their bikes inside, throughout the house, even doing a rebuild in the lounge and engine overhaul on the kitchen table! So I wouldn’t put taking a bike into the shower past some of the two wheeled fraternity.

Agree, nothing wrong with the 320i (I even raced one for many years) but it does kind of fall between two stools, not the performance of the 325i nor the economy / handling of the 318i. That said the 320i was a very popular model in the E30, in both 2 and 4 door form.

Yup, 320i auto is probably the least desirable of all E30s the additional 2 doors also drop the value a bit IMHO. It needs work, how much would need a close inspection, but looks like it is a solid base for a project for someone. Hell, I’m glad it’s in Blenheim so I’m not tempted to go for a look see.

As in price does not include E30 tax, aka cheap E30 for sale

There were no E30 M3s built in the factory as RHD, there are two mythical RHD E30s that supposedly went to Japan as "evaluation" units, these were actually converted off the line at BMW M headquarters in Garching. Some also try and claim one of the JPS M3s in Aussie was a factory RHD, but it was a kit of bits supplied from the factory that converted one of their 325i chassis over to M3 specification from what I understand. That said, the NZ New E30 M3s had to be converted over to RHD in order to be used on the road, which was done by an outfit called Road & Track in Rotorua I believe. The conversion used 325i parts (rack, dash, etc) and local fabrications (modified headers, etc.). Very similar to the conversions that were offered in the UK, by I think it was Birds (as they were called then - they did Hartge, Alpina, etc). Plus there are a few "tourist delivery" vehicles which were driven by the owners in Europe before shipping to NZ, at whcih point they had to be converted over to RHD (not sure of exact numbers of M3s but was very small) but were still recorded as "NZ New" for some strange reason. So there might be a car that ticks all the boxes out there somewhere...

There’s not a lot of things going for this car to my eyes, pre-LCI, non-M Sport, meh wheels. As for condition the front bumper is badly chipped and scuffed, frosted headlights, would wonder what’s under the seat covers. Fault could be anything from simple fix to major surgery. Anything sold through the “trade-in clearance centre” is unlikely to have been well maintained. Potential money-pit in my humble opinion. Pros- it’s a wagon, it’s diesel and it’s got a tow bar.

I’ve got one Tech 2 fog light and a couple of the black outer rings in the shed somewhere.. used genuine BMW part.

E30 M3 was sold in NZ, but was very expensive especially with the extra cost of having to convert to RHD to use legally on the road. The "M-Technic" package was developed at the factory as being an option for E30s, and it was widely used as the basis for a sporty 325i variant, the M325i as it was promoted in NZ, the 325i Sport in the UK and 325i M-Technic in Germany. The M-Technic package included a number of different "sporty" options bundled together - the body kit, alloys, black headliner, sport suspension, etc. I believe each option could also be added on its own, outside of the M-Technic package, but i've never seen the body kit only optioned onto a car. First offered around mid-86 as a factory option (with 14" weaves for first couple of months, then 15") on the pre-facelift E30s in both LHD and RHD. With the facelift of the E30 there was a gap of around a year before the similar package, M-Technic II Package, was made available from the factory with the new bodykit suited to the new bumpers on the facelift, same names were used such as M325i and 325i Sport This was then offered through to the end of the E30 production and extended through to sedans, tourings and convertibles. The total number of 100 units for NZ sounds in the right ball park - 25 a year over 4 years. Not sure where this guy gets his numbers from, a very good E30 reference book talks in detail about both the UK 325i Sport Tech I and Tech II, and also lists the sales figures for that model seperately, pure UK numbers are much higher than 298. At least 1,200 units in the UK alone, with possibly u to near 2,000 more (it doesn't break down Tech I / Tech II just by year, so there is some cross over. The Tech II numbers are slightly higher (again UK based figures) but not hugely more. The original "M-Technic" packages had a slight name change to "M-Sport" package later on and is the fore-runner of the M-Sport packages that are available for just about every BMW model nowadays, so it did carry on, but with a slightly different name. Possibly the first 4 Polaris Silver models that came in, which Leichtbau referred to as not having the M-Technic option from factory might have been fettled here in NZ, but all the models with the M-Techinc option code in the options list would have come from factory with the kits, etc fitted as the options list (from VIN Decode, etc) is how it left the factory - local options, either NZ or dealer fitted, would not be included. The radios and some other equipment was locally fitted (by Rapid Radio - not sure where they were based). The old heads in parts and technical are pretty sure the later ones were factory fitted, first few were possibly "mock up" examples of what the M325i could look like. The long and short of it is that whilst not incredibly rare by automotive standards, a genuine E30 325i with factory M-Technic kit, either I or II, is a relatively scarce animal and is definately desired by many owners, and now it seems collectors. A mint example like yours, maintained to it's current standard will certainly become more and more collectable.

Which version of M-Tech bumper do you have? Tech 1 is pre-LCI and Tech II is LCI?

Only whilst using it for “purposes pursuant to operating a vehicle business” or some such, which means only whilst doing a customer test drive. E31 would have been before the start of MGs reign as MD would it not? And i’d be most surprised if any of those vehicles would have been owned, rather than company cars or borrowed.

No more difficult than importing a car from anywhere else, same process and as above freight should be easier as it’s so close / frequent. Going the other way, NZ into Aussie is almost impossible though, stupid rules to try to protect their now defunct car factories.

Or every person trying to sell their classic Bimmer is using the same BS to try and make their car sound more important. No matter whose car it was it would still need to have number plates on it to be driven.

Quite right to! It’s not about drag races, get those three cars into some twisties and see how the Audi goes then...

Hi Cordell, a few miles away from most of our members, but that’s the joys of the internets. There are a few threads in the In-Car Entertainment forum that relate to changing radio frequencies, try a search in there.

Certain upholstery is harder to get and therefore more expensive - a decent set of sports seats in houndstooth (which is what I think the door cards are) would be a few bucks. Most of the stuff would be common across all the E30 so plenty around.

Depending on what the reserve is it’s almost worth buying to convert back to a road car, given it is a genuine NZ New Tech 1. Would be a bit of work cutting out the cage and re-fitting the interior, but potentially worthwhile.

The ingress of bugs and dirt through the grilles is a real pain and very visible, to get rid of them I use a water blaster on medium pressure, and carefully aim at the bugs (from an angle to knock them off) and dirtiest bits. Possibly not the best practice for the radiator longevity, but works well in terms of results versus effort.

I'm not across the detail of the E21 market values, in general I do see that there isn't the same kind of love for the E21 versus the whole E30 love-in that seems to be going on, whether that is enough to outweigh the lack of supply of E21, with fewer made, more crashed (tail happy 323i) and worse rust issues, i'm not sure. This one does look to have been well thought out and executed, probably cost a heap more than the asking to get done - so would be good for the seller to get close to asking.

Uk data is a lot more accurate as it is mostly UK new units (far fewer used imports) so model data comes from the manufacturer, not the random guff written on the MR2A at the AA shop. Only around 1,000 UK Sports left (would be Tech I and Tech 2 version), damn, “cash for clunkers” has a lot to answer for! Although prices probably wouldn’t have risen like they did if the numbers hadn’t dropped so dramatically.

There was one on TradeMe for literally years, only recently stopped re-listing. The white Evo 1, you might be able to track that one down.

all depends on your definition of too expensive, have a look at the Is This Where The E30 Market IS Now thread in TradeMe discussions for recent examples. Anything that is an E30 in manual and driveable is going to be up there in terms of price - especially if you want a coupe. Happy hunting!

Nice, I think I know of your car. There are a few details In the texts you have quoted that are a little off, but overall yes the Tech I version of the E30 is much rarer than the Tech II.

Is that your car in the photos, looks very, very nice. Much kudos to you if it is. Have a look in the “Is this where the E30 Market is now thread..?” In the TradeMe discussions forum, there is a lot of talk around the NZ M325i in there. Especially the last couple of pages. @leichtbau put some very specific info on the Tech I 325i in there and may be able to answer your questions.

I’ve got a 116d that could benefit from the same conversion...

This argument has been had many, many times. We don’t need to go through it all again as it never ends well.