E30 325i Rag-Top

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...

It is being reported in the industry publications that the imported vehicles older than 20 years exemption to emission and impact rules looks likely to be removed as part of an updated "Clean Car Policy". Anyone looking to import an older BMW model that doesn't meet the current rules, and won't qualify under the Special Interest Vehicle category, for example E46 M3s which would be coming up to 20 years old pretty soon, might want to start looking for a vehicle in the near future before this change is made and such imports are effectively stopped. Quotes below: A long running exception to importation rules for vehicles older than 20 years looks set for the chop as part of the review of vehicle emissions. Mentioned in a ‘Clean Car Discount’ discussion document is the need to end the ‘rule’, which in the past has been maintained as a way to allow classic vehicles into the country. Instead, it is now being used to bring in desirable older imports and performance vehicles. For example 21-year old Toyota Landcruisers, Toyota Surfs, Nissan Patrols, Toyota Hiace coaches and performance cars are now a low-volume but common site on some yards. VIA chief executive David Vinsen says the rule has become a topic of discussions with officials in recent times. “They have slipped in the condition to ban vehicles over 20 years except those defined as classic or specialist.” “Our view overall is this is not necessarily a bad thing to stop those vehicles coming in, however we accept this will disadvantage some traders,” he says. “But in the interests of the national fleet, in terms of positioning ourselves with government in doing the right thing, it is likely the right thing to do.”

^^ it's funnier if you post the actual meme rather than try to describe it.

Another one to add to the list, my E46 330d Touring, 6-speed manual. Loved that car. What does the "-c" bit mean had a couple of 205 GTIs but not familiar with the -c designation?

Yes, because M-Sport was not available at launch of F30 and was introduced (launched) a number of months later, which is why this is a 2013 vehicle, not a 2012.

If you have specific examples of issues then please post them, generic grumbling about a business is not going to achieve anything. As mentioned above, try speaking to the manager of the area you are having issues with, there are also on-line methods for providing feedback to them.

That number plate rings a bell, that combined with the spec and the plate surrounds makes me think this could be one of the launch cars for the F30 3-Series.

Car is indeed sold to ZERO, it has just driven off down my drive, that was quick! Glad to see she’s gone to a good home with an enthusiast owner.

FOR SALE 2004 E46 330d M-Sport Touring 6-Speed Manual, from factory not a conversion. Last of the E46 330d production with the TU2 updated higher output 204bhp engine 144,500 Miles, 231,200 Kms New WoF & Rego Recently fully serviced with genuine BMW parts & filters, brake pads changed. Diesel RUC all up to date (500km to go) 18” CSL Style Wheels with good tyres Orient Blue Metallic exterior with full Grey Leather M-Sport Interior Facelift M-Sport (Tech 2) bodykit Genuine factory M-Sport with M-Sport Suspension (front shocks replaced 5,000km ago) Tow-bar and wiring Factory Bluetooth with steering wheel controls and snap-in adaptor. UK Import - 9 years ago, only one NZ owner Usual 330d options, auto-lights, auto-wipers, electric windows, mirrors, cruise control, etc. Swirl flaps removed and blanked off for peace of mind. I brought this car over from the UK personnally, to use as a tow unit for my racecar with enough room for all my race gear, which it did admirably for many years and over 50,000 miles in my posession. Only looking to sell as it's not being used now I have a company car and the wife has a smaller car for her daily. Looking for $7,000 for a Bimmersporter, hoping to save the pain of the tyre kickers off of TradeMe More photos to come once I have chance to take some better ones.

That was easy, here it is from the Pistonheads site... Works out quite a bit cheaper, less than NZ$25k before shipping, but worth the money? Still a no from me. It's a very good condition car, but I'm not sure there are many collectors that are that interested in a 330d sedan and if they were surely they would be after the TU2 version with the 203bhp and the six speed gearbox from the last of the production?

There's a lot of these popping up all over now, they basically take the listings from a dealer in another country, run the selling price through a currency converter and then put that on the local site. If you look on TradeMe there are a few cars listed that are showing as "overseas listing" that are using this method. I e-mailed one guy to ask if his price was correct for a used demo as it was more than the RRP of an NZ new one, and he explained it was a Japanese listing and that was what it would cost. By the time the original 330d from this post has been converted from GBP into JPY and then into NZD it works out crazy expensive. If we could find the original listing from the Uk site it would probably work out a lotcheaper.

Euro4 emissions level is the lowest you can bring in, which this version of the 330d doesn’t meet. So you would need to wait for it’s 20th Birthday in a year or so, then it’s into a different category imports wise. If it’s $30k then forget it, doesn’t make sense even before you add on the shipping costs. Strange it’s on a Japanese site, but the car is in London.?

If it wasn’t in South Island I would have jumped on it, but then I suspect so would quite a few others on here!

The one and only Ford Transit! Probably a bit bigger than what you’re looking for but you can never have enough space!

Plenty of cars I flipped when I was younger that would be worth heaps now, Mk I and II Escorts, early Cortinas and the like. Would have required a lot of work to keep them going and/or restored. Of the cars I owned the 205 GTi Pug is the one I miss, fun car with lots of happy memories. Also all the tools I sold when I left the Uk to come to NZ, as “I won’t be working on cars anymore” Ha!

Ahh, that explains why diesel was 79.7c a litre on SH1 just past Tokoroa.

Not the normal reason for doing a brake conversion, what are you looking at doing on the master cylinder and booster side?

Fun cars to drive, but sitting in the drivers seat it never felt “special” to me possibly due to the horrible plasticky dashboard and cluster from the basic Sierra models.

There’s the funny thing you see, before you can order the Euro size plate, you have to register the car to be assigned the rego number. Once you have that, you can then order a Euro sized or slimline version of the same plate. Then you wait for said plate to be made and sent to you, about ten day turn around currently I believe. In the meantime you can either sit and wait for it to arrive, or drive it with the standard plate on it.

I’ve seen a very nice red 318iS going into Pakuranga Golf Club a couple of times in the last week. Recent number plate, so could be the one that sold if previous owner kept the p-plate??

In the flesh, and with an NZ plate mounted. M-Sport front bumper and grille.. Love the rear-three quarter haunches on this car, much broader than traditional BMW coupes, very prominent in the mirrors. To me it is quite Mustang-esque in those shoulders, but not in a bad way.

M-sport models do look a lot better in the F30 shape in my opinion, good colour as well - I think the dark greys suit the M-Sport look. Good news is that this car does not have the more expensive M-Sport brake option (blue //M calipers) that was mentioned above as being expensive to update the pads. Wheels are also smaller size than most of the NZ new vehicles (18s v 19s) so tyres should be a little more costly when / if they need to be replaced, they might also be non-run flats which would be a bit cheaper again to replace. Being Jap import it has got the alcantara (man made suede) interior rather than leather, but to me it is still a nice interior and hard wearing. Buying any used car at around 100,000kms is always a bit of a gamble, even with homework and checking everything out there is still a risk as many problems can come up without any warning signs. So as Qube says, keep a bit of budget back for maintenance or problems. Plan for the worst, but hope for the best, as they say.

Welcome to the forums. Nice car, thanks for the photos, looks to be in great shape. There are a large number of fellow 130i owners that regularly contribute, and a number of detailed threads on their various cars and modifications.

Similar to E30 M3 DTM hubs, but not quite right, so I would go with STW hubs?