E30 325i Rag-Top

Pretty quick around Hampton Downs as well, even on some well worn lower grade tyres.

Don’t think it’s a factor, this car has been listed at this price (or more) for a while before the red auto.

Wow, that is nice!! Not sure it’s $40k nice though... fairly close I would say, and for the right buyer maybe it’s worth $40k. *Provided it is a genuine M535i NZ New. I’m not an E28 head, so couldn’t say for sure - looks to have the right bits on it.

Nice line up at HD this week.. Some oldies but goodies too..

Marmite = you either love it, or you hate it.

There’s a good reason for that...

Blimey, now you’re asking. That was a long time ago that we were weighing E30s all week-end. It was somewhere around the 1100kgs mark for the six-cylinder cars, it changed a bit over the years for parity across the models. Good work getting the 535 down to 1200kg, as you say not miles away from E30 weights.

Have you tried downloading the new version (released end March 21) of the My BMW app? When you add a vehicle to your account you can change the country settings I believe.

Is it a case of supply versus demand? More and more E30s have got to the point where they are beyond keeping road-worthy, either in accidents or rust / wearing out and gone to the great wreckers in the sky. And there’s no new ones being made. At the same time, the interest has spread from the core group of E30 fans out to a far wider group, to drifters, boy racers even hipsters looking to get some old school cool. Yes, prices seem to have rocketed recently, but they have been climbing noticeably for a long time. Now there is a very, very small pool of good examples of desirable models, being chased by larger numbers of eager buyers. Existing Fans who had a 320i before are now maybe looking to “move up” to an M325i or M3. The knock on effect is that then even poor examples of desirable models (US$20k for a rusted out M3 roller..) and trickle down to other models as buyers can’t find / afford what they really want and settle for something a little lower down the pecking order. All of which then fuels the feeding frenzy.. sounds familiar? Would I pay big money for an E30? yes, if the right M325i or M3 came along. As an investment? No, to drive, and fix, and polish and look at.

Mr Tyler is my father, please call me E30 325i Rag-Top! Interesting you have chosen to edit your post after I have responded. Not sure what you mean by privilege, are you saying that I’m not allowed to post on here? As I’ve clearly stated, these are my thoughts, not Bimmersports. If any other mods have a view, they all have my phone number and know where to find me. Oh, and please play the ball not the man, your issues with me are nothing to do with this thread.

Can you please make up you mind? I did point out that advertising was not allowed and that was why the post was deleted - as it would have been if it was any other vehicle dealer, importer or seller other than private sales in the for sale forum. Then you and another user decided to get involved, and this is where we are. Quite happy for the company in question to clarify, rather than advertise which is why the posts are now visible. You do realise this is a totally not for profit web-site don’t you? And no-one is paid to post or administer or moderate on here? So I’m not sure how I’m supposed to be “unprofessional” and just so we are more than 100% clear here - these are my own personal views being represented, so please don’t read more into it than that. I was not questioning the ethics of said company, if you have read it that way then I aplogise that was not the intent. I am asking them to clarify and be transparent so any users reading this thread are informed. I am not aware of any questions raised about anything I have posted, I’m sure the other admin or owners would have mentioned this if it were an issue. My conscience is clear, and I would go so far as to say a press release is not advertising (where is the call to action? Pricing? Terms & conditions? Details of who to contact to purchase said vehicles) and I am 100% confident that I have never posted any information that is either above the line marketing material not below the line offers, ie advertising. Strangely enough, as this is a BMW Car forum, I thought users would be interested to hear some of the latest news from said car company. It is all freely available from a wide number of sources, so nothing deceitful or Mis-leading there.

No digging here Ron, all USED vehicles are available for test drive in NZ, whether they are auto, manual or DCT. As per the above there is a big difference between a NEW car and a USED one. The discussion here is about used, not new, so I really think you are stretching a point. Also, whether it is new or used, you can’t back out of a signed deal because you don’t like it, there has to be a physical defect in the product. And this again is where things differ between new and used, the expectations of a new vehicle are clear, however the reasonable expectations of a used vehicle are somewhat arbitrary, what the seller may expect to be reasonable of a vehicle that is x number of years old and travelled yyy thousand kms could well be very different to my personal expectations as the buyer. It is this grey area that the disputes tribunal adjudicate on in most cases, with some very variable results.

True, but this particular outfit chose to try and advertise their operation on this forum. All I have done is ask them for clarification. Which whilst they have made a nice long post about, they seem to be vague about answering any direct questions. Oh and apparently they ARENT running a concession / agency model - you seem to miss that point. If you want to split hairs about who legally owns the stock then you are missing the point totally. The point I am making is if you can view / inspect / test drive before committing to purchase. Most will advertise cars as being “in transit” or “on the way” when they have purchased overseas - so at least the time between committing and stumping up the deposit is reduced.

Ah yes, the no negotiation model used by Toyota, Honda, M-Benz. What is that called again - oh yup it’s an agency model. So is this what you are running then? Is that why you referred to it? That model is also only applied to NEW cars for those brands, not used cars as you have listed. There is much more variation in the condition of a used car, the condition of a new car is a given. Hence the need for a test drive and view the vehicle. What are the terms of the money back guarantee, no quibble, 100% back no questions?

I do hope not, the classic car market has always been fraught with danger as an investment idea, with many “crashes” leaving investors well out of pocket. Any vehicle with an internal combustion engine in it is an extremely risky proposition right now, I can foresee the lunatic greenies only being happy once all such cars are totally banned from use. The ban on sales of such new vehicles is only the first step. I have seen E30s and other classics converted to electric, but this is not a cheap process and takes away from the classic feel for me. I have been thinking about a possible ethanol (or similar) conversion on a petrol engine but as this still produces CO2 emissions I don’t know if this would be allowed either. Pretty sure this would have a massive effect on the value of classics, as even if they are garage queen’s, driving them now and again is still part of the point. There are very few cars that could be considered as art and hold value just to be looked at.

What are you correcting exactly, I referenced “agent” as it is hard to name this selling process. A number of other business that operate in a similar way bringing cars from overseas refer to themselves as “agents”, hence use of the term. When I enquired about a vehicle you were offering for sale on TradeMe I was basically told there was nothing you could do on the price as it was set by the dealer selling the car in Japan. Do you own the cars you are advertising? Seems strange that they are still in Japan if you do. Up until very recently this kind of selling practice was specifically banned from TradeMe, but their greed for fees has seen this removed.- Is it possible to test drive any vehicles before buying them, or even look at them, or do you have to pay before you see the goods? Do you have a location where the cars can be seen, or are serviced and prepared by you? Of course you are governed by the CGA, like any trader you’re a business operating in NZ providing goods and services. However, gaining restitution through the act, or even the motor vehicle tribunal process is lengthy and not guaranteed. If I have got this wrong, then happy to be corrected, and I would be interested in looking at the E82 135i coupe you listed recently.

As per forum rules - Advertising their business on Bimmersport. They have their own web-site, it’s linked at the start of this thread.

Quite popular in Northern Europe and North America. Not many RHD ones around, so not widely known in these parts. Would be interesting to see how good / effective the AWD is in these..?

@Qube needs a price as per the forum rules please. Understand it is a hard one to price, but still need a price on the post. Even if it is "offers in region of".

Made the mistake of thinking the drive from Auckland to Napier would be better later on Good Friday, not Thursday. Seven hours later, finally arrived (normal drive time is five hours), even with using the live traffic info and not getting onto motorway until Bombay. Luckily I was in a decent car, with all the mod cons or it would have been much worse. The driver assist / radar cruise works really well in traffic jams, don’t have even touch the wheel below 20kmh. Tested this out quite a bit, including the 3km crawl into Tirau. When the queues finally died down there were a few opportunities to give it some beans and get past a few of the muppets that decide to get out and about at Easter. Not sure I’m looking forward to the journey back though...

Oh my... With it being what looks to be a proper auction this will be most interesting to see where it ends up. The fact that reserve has already been met surprises me, but should also draw a few more genuine bidders out of the woodwork. Subscribed.

There’s one just gone up on TradeMe but it’s been listed as a “DTC” so might not show on your search. Listed as an M3 box, but doesn’t say which M3. Can’t post link as I’m on phone. Seller seems super helpful.

@CSET picture of Ange taking picture of M Toy.. that’s some inception type stuff!

Welcome, there is a lot of love for the 540i on these forums. Pics of these 5ers would be great!

The tape deck and CD player in our E87 still work fine, no problems there. And the multi-media interface in the E30 is as works as good now as it did when it came out over 30+ years ago.