E30 325i Rag-Top

Finally putting stuff back on the car rather than taking it off, turned the corner so to speak... new wider arch on, without setting fire to the fuel system behind - win!! Also got the correct width shield from an M3 to keep the stones and crap out.. Also got some adjustable rear springs to go in..

No negative obsession here, just part of the calculations if you are making the petrol v diesel comparision (as you have in your calcs). That $400 figure seems a bit light to me... but then it's been a while since I looked at HT RUC. To be up around the 43T you would most likely be looking at a truck and trailer combo, or a prime mover and a full trailer, so there would be two lots of RUC to pay, and then there are all the axle groupings, etc. to take into account. However, I do take you point about the comparable wear and tear each would put on the road. I think the on-cost of putting up the price of freight v an increase on personal transport is a big factor there. The bit that gets my goat is the fact that the lowest band of RUC covers everything in the light category, upto 3.5T, so I pay the same amount of RUC per Km on an E87 116d as an X5 towing a boat, etc. No comparison there in terms of road "usage"

@kalcobmwwhich engine and chassis is it for? I believe there are a couple of variations for the bellhousing and mounting points of the back end of the box.

Nice grey 4-door pre-fl on the Southern Motorway about 7.30 ish.

Yup, seem to be reasonably well made from what I can see and is more than upto my welding abilities. Running the fluxcored wire at the mo (takes a little bit of getting used to, but again I’m no pro) saves all the stuffing around with gas bottles. Can use gas on other materials if needed at a later date.

Good point, you need to factor in the quality of the bakery / cafe for your stopping point. Been a long while now but Turangi bakery was excellent (@FIAT131R for the tip) and The Old Copper Kettle In Taumaranui was always good.

That’s a reasonable budget for a hobby welder I would suggest! Should be able to get a pretty good piece of kit for that price I would suggest. I am more than happy with my little Supercheap Auto MiG that I got for just over $300 when it was on special.

This would be the biggest drawback IMHO, the fuel consumption on the 3.0ltr can be a bit ferocious, especially if you use it for lugging stuff around or towing trailers / boats / etc. If they are keen on the X3 then I would steer them towards the diesel variants, maybe a bit more expensive but even with RUC it would pay off in the long run I would suggest.

Hate to break it to you Dan but the 1 Series are all FWD Hatches now. I think it might have been mentioned somewhere on the Internets, but you might have missed the e-mail. (I nearly said memo - showing my age!!) Unfortunately emissions controls and fuel consumption over-ride every other consideration these days.

Interesting... I will drop you a PM rather than clog up your WTB thread.

Depends on what you are looking for I guess but I used to enjoy the Road through National Park rather than Desert Road, less trucks and long sweeping bends. Desert Road gets very twisty just before Turangi so I tried to avoid that bit when towing.

Which S14 crank.. 2.0, 2.3 or 2.5? What are your plans for it, have you got all the other parts to build up complete S14?

Pretty sure that Volvo have never made an M3 Touring... But I get what you mean, yes Volvo did a "hot" wagon many moons ago, and the Audi RS4 and RS6 are certainly more prevalent in the Avant version (not even sure you can get the RS's in a sedan any more...) The point of the post is that BMW have never offered a version of the M3 in a Touring before, and many people who are BMW fans have been hanging out for one. It's unlikely that an M3 would appear in a hatch versions (never say never) as the version of the 3 Series that is a liftback (some might call it a hatch) has not been touted as M Car material.

New ESC import regulations, COVID, shortage of supply from Japan due to exchange rates. Many different reasons in that part of the market. Seems to have bounced back quickly and strongly in terms of demand.

I think 35d should still be higher torque and power than 30d even though both are single turbo. Rather than make a heap of engines in different capacities the recent approach has been to use the same core engine and either “unter” or “ober” tune it, so engines are technically referred to as XxxB30O or xxxB30U depending on outputs - which may be just a tune or might be more turbos. Due to the number models this then theoretically gives some markets may offer the 30d version of the 3.0ltr diesel whilst others may opt for the 35d version. I still believe it’s a different model (although very similar) with different power. To be totally sure find the exact model code, the four character code, for the two different models then google that to check the power outputs. Pretty sure the NZ 30d was a KW42 model code...

As you are being a Great New Zealander and giving it away for free I will let you off the requirement for photos on the post.

Good to see the old Rangie is in its natural habitat - in the workshop with the bonnet up! Cant quite make out if it’s a 2-door or 4-door from the photo, I know the 2-door ones go for moonbeams nowadays.

PM incoming.

I think I may have found the reason the 330d is losing a bit of power...

I still can't resist buy stuff online, this time from a well know classic car enthusiast in Pahiatua of all places! A bit of bling to brighten up the engine bay (and maybe some performance increase due to strongers spark...) Now the first side is pretty much ready for the GRP panel to go in, I have started on the other side of the car - idea being to fit both of the guards at the same time as I am rivet and gluing them in. This side is a little more tricky as the vent bottle for the petrol tank is tucked up inside the wheel arch, so trying hard not to damage that in the proces of cutting everything out and cleaning everything up. Plus this side is where a replacement rear quarter was tacked on after I backed it into the safety barriers at Pukekohe many years ago, so there is a bit of tidying up to do around that in places, rust to be treated etc.

Get ready for this, especially if the Greens end up in any sort of position of power after the election. Luckily Winston shot down their initial half-baked cut and paste ideas about controlling cars and their emissions. It won't take long for the areas of Motorsport and modified and/or performance cars to get the spotlight shone onto them.

Uh-oh, you haven't gone THERE have you... look out!!

Managed to get some garage time over the week-end, in between doing other jobs. Put my spare set of 4 x 100 15" wheels with rubbish tyres onto the convertible so the new Hankooks don't get flat spotted over the winter. Saves having to drag the car out for a short spin around the block every month or so, which I think is better in the long run. Managed to finally get the fan off the E46 touring, thanks to the purchase of a new, longer 32mm combination spanner and a good whack with the hammer. So now have got the old belt off and cleaning up some of the oil and crap that's around the front of the engine before chucking the new belt on. Also managed to attack a few more areas of the bodywork on the race-car, slowly making progress... will update the seperate project thread for that one shortly. Wish I could use the water blaster to get all this yellow pollen off the cars that are parked outside, they are absolutely covered in it now!

Shouldn’t the dogleg for a 6er be a 262 version? Also there are a number of versions of the 265 dogleg, with different mounting points, some for 3er, 5er and 6er so make sure it’s the right one. Not all doglegs are made equal.

@balancerider ?? Personally, I just cannot wait for this to come to life and arrive in NZ!