E30 325i Rag-Top

If originality is not a factor for you, buying a non-M E30 and adding the exterior bits would work out much cheaper. A rusted out (holes through floor) rolling body still sells for around US$20k which is mad, mostly as I can’t afford to pay that!! Replacement steel panels are now all available from various sources.

You have to change the headers, steering column goes right through them, this was the main reason for no factory RHD version being developed. Most RHD conversions took the factory headers and cut & re-welded to make a gap for the steering column, which resulted in a reduction in power and torque. I was lucky enough to get a fully fabricated set of s/s headers for my S14 at a good price. Yes, massively. E30 M3 prices are all about originality, as they are collectors items. I would suggest the main reason this car has sat for so long is the RHD conversion. It is now slowly coming into the correct price bracket for a RHD Evo I.

Again Australian tow hitches are different to NZ standards and will require additional modifications and parts to be legal in NZ. Don’t forget to allow for the additional programming of the vehicle to recognise when a trailer is attached, PDC constantly beeping gets annoying real fast.

Yeah, apparently theres some global panda things. Also pulling out of the Formula E. VAG pulling out of most motorsports including rallying, Bentley dropping factory race program, etc.

I hope she went to a good home, I know how much time, money and effort you put into her.

Got a link Dan?

Correct. The money for E30M3 is in the collectability - which equates to originality and low kms. The RHD conversion is the killer, no M3s were factory RHD, plus there are a number of other mods and changes on this car. Using TradeMe as a yard stick for the market is not always a good thing, most good cars get sold before they hit TM. As you kind of mentioned, this is in the most part the true kickers and the dreamers in the bottom end of the market. Still just above BookFace marketplace though..

Did Auckland - Taupo - Napier trip again last night, and now SH5 Taupo Napier Road has been afflicted with the patchwork quilt road repair disease.

Yup, N57 motor was in service for a long time, in many different guises and models all of which have slight variations. Depending on what is wrong with the current motor you might be able to mix and match parts from other versions, but it would require lots of cross checking on ETK.

Hidden threads can be viewed by Admin, but if it’s deleted then it’s gone, AFAIK.

The number 25 car was owned by the President of the BMW Car Club NZ a good few years back. I can remember it being up for sale in Palmy North for a long, long, time. Theres a good article in a magazine I have with Radisich driving the car, as he pedalled it for a while. This is the one that’s in SI now i believe, lots of very cool classic race cars down there.

thEyR dRivNg LiTes Bro!

That is a very accurate description of roads in NZ, they seem to be getting worse as well. Even when they are “repaired” it just seems to be a half-arsed patch up job.

What a surprise!

Nice Spitty, looks like an early Mk3 with a hard top as well, very nice. I had a white late Mk3, sold it when we moved to NZ, had been the garage for many years and never got the love it deserved.

Another monster week-end plus Monday’s annual leave day in the garage. Started with a thorough clean up, sort out and tidy up of the whole garage so I could see & get to the jobs in mind. First up filling and priming the genuine M3 rear spoiler for the race car, it’s made from a semi-flexible foam and had a lot of surface blemishes. I must stop trying to make it perfect, it’s a race car!! Now ready for a block and wet-rub. Put the summer wheels back on the vert as it’s time to get her out on the road again! While I was there I tried to swap the super low rear springs for the Konis out of the race car (got a mention at last WoF) but the Konis are even shorter and don’t fit over the rubber packers, so that was a fail! Welded up the exhaust pipe off the race car, to correct some slight design issues from the previous attempt. Now all good. Cleaned the wheels and tyres on the X2 as they were filthy. Damn water restrictions, I wish I could use my blaster. Still trying to knock out the squashed rear rail, haven’t moved it much - real pain to be able to whack it in the right direction. Round two on another day, totally knackered now!

A rusty 325i sedan with holes through the floors and a list of WoF issues as long as your arm has just gone past $6k on a no-reserve auction. Looks nice from the outside, but there is a fair chunk of money required to get this back on the road.

Yes indeed. Sorry to hear of this persons death, a nasty accident. It does serve to remind all of us that do this type of work at home to check things are safe.

One of my bug bears, all these companies openly advertising removing emissions parts, and even telling potential customers “no-one will notice at WoF time”. Even down to chip and tune companies - there is a reason that you can get more power than factory... Never get an answer when you as what the emissions levels are with the new tune. Mind you, my E30 is probably not the cleanest car on the road, but I do make sure it’s working as it should. Not smoking, etc.

The point I have highlighted is just one aspect of the possible regulations, what you have listed may well also be included at some point.

The MoT was stricter 16 years ago when I left the U.K. than a WoF is now. Agree the compliance check is tougher than both. Maybe it’s got tougher since I brought my vert and touring in, not sure. Maybe you got someone having a bad day, or who had been pulled up for passing too many cars? Some of the absolute shockers that I have seen as “fresh imports” suggest there is considerable variation in the standards applied by different inspectors.

House!! Salty roads, the other chestnut. My ‘vert was ordered with a hardtop by a family member and was driven all year round until it came into my possession and I sold the hardtop.

Yup, it’s one of the biggest urban myths in NZ car sales “ooohh, it’s a UK import it’ll be full of rust” as if NZ cars never rust. I brought my E30 convertible over from the UK when it was 20 years old. Yes it had surface rust on the exposed under body components, but nothing was noted on the compliance checks. All I had to do was replace a couple of worn brake discs and pads. And that was by a very straight and honest compliance centre, not one of the shonky ones. Structural rust - ie holes through panels, bubbling under paint in key areas, is a different issue. And as you say not every car in UK has this - they would fail a MoT for a start. Keep any invoices you have for the work to show it has been done by a professional.

Yup, totally agree with that - the worn out light commercials that get brought in are shocking. The rules there seem to be even more slack than on the passenger vehicles. Agree that there is an argument for the classic stuff, whether Euro, Jappa or an American Muscle Car, but a 20 year old common or garden mass produced car - probably not. The import trade has just been hit with the new ESC requirements, then this coming on top will make things interesting. The intention is always to force the industry to bring in newer, safer, cleaner cars and as a result to reduce the age of the NZ fleet. However, this is not always the end result as the prices of cars available go up so those who can’t afford to change their old banger hang on to it for longer.

Has anyone on here had any experience of using the adaptor plates that convert the E30 4x100 hub over to a 5x120 hub? I have thought these were sketchy as hell, mostly becuase one of the 5x120 studs seemed to be in a seperate piece to the rest of the adaptor plate as the hole was in the same place as one of the 4x100 holes. Thinking of using them as a short term / cheap solution until I can get all the pieces of a "proper" 5-stud conversion in place for the race car. I did manage to find some E30 specific ones on the internet, so they are hubcentric and have the correct hub-sizing to locate accurately off the E30 hub and also a hub on the other side for the 5x120 wheels with E36/E46 centre bore that I have got to go on the car. So slightly less sketchy but just wondered if there was first hand experience out there..? These things, if it helps work out what I mean...