E30 325i Rag-Top

The very rare 3.5L version....

This whole "OEM" stuff is getting right up my nose now, has to be the most mis-used term in the whole Automotive industry right now. Mostly aftermarket admittedly, but it still grinds. On a much happier note, decided to make the most of the nice weather and bring the 'vert to work today. New slave cylinder seems to be working fine. Fingers crossed for a decent run now.

Shame it's Luxury Line, always a bit polarising in terms of styling. Very few NZ new F31 335i, I only counted the diesels, not the 335i, but it was a pretty small number overall, quite a few imports come in now - not hundreds but a few around.

True, Estoril Blue is a great colour. On the F10 M5, like this one, the colour is Monte Carlo Blue - slightly darker shade.

Looking good, amazingly fast progress. What class are you going to race in? Is the 17th April a test session or a race meeting? I would fully recommend a shake-down session before your first race meeting, I've seen so many cars turn up to a meeting after major work and have "teething problems" and have to go home after one or two laps - not good value for money at $400 a race meet.

No longer an over-stayer, but once a Pom, always a Pom. That reminds me, must get my AintoG and also do this before Winnie starts his crackdown on immigrants again.

Don't be silly, the Advertising Standards Authority replied to all the complaints about the VTNZ adverts would not mislead people about what was acceptable on the road, as they were clearly a "joke". Although some of the PoS I see on the road clearly missed the humour in the advert.

sh*t, that sucks mate. As long as you and yours are all safe and well Glenn, that's the main thing. Glad to hear you're Ok. People are a lot harder to fix than cars unfortunately.

Not quite correct, even with putting aside my pedant hat and letting the F30 estates slide. At launch of the F31, the xDrive models were not available in RHD variants so the range was launched with 318d, 320i, 328i and 335i models. A few months later the xDrive models were then introduced in RHS and the 320d xDrive and 330d xDrive models were added to the line up. The 335i was kept in the offering, even though the sales were pretty slow. Overall 62 of the 330d xDrive models have been sold so far NZ new. There were also four 330d pre-pro cars brought in during 2016, these were RWD variants, not xDrive. The F31 330d xDrive would have to be in the top three of all-round road cars I have ever driven in terms of performance, comfort, practicality and economy it is such a great all round package. Would love to try the 335d and also looking forward to the M340d in the new G21.

Needs a price and photos as per forum rules please.?

Sssshhh!!! Don’t tell everyone.

325d is a bit of an odd-ball model, with the detuned 6-cyl, usually only really offered in bigger markets with lots of diesel sales to bridge the price walk from the 320d to the 330d. Interestingly was offered new in NZ, as well as the 320d, 330d and 335d, blimey. Sold in reasonable numbers but the 320d was the volume model for E90, much better car than the 320i.

I'd take the 30kW extra over the 330d

M-sport wasn't available to order at the start of F30, and when it was first available was heavily restricted - so the early cars would be SE or Sport Line or god forbid Urban Line. E90 LCI 335d M-Sport would be a great car, especially for that commute. Where you going to be working?

It's not a case of winning or losing, but how you have the debate. BMW NZ does not maintain any delivery program, economically viable or otherwise, it is wholly under the control of BMW AG, and as such it is their terms, conditions and pricing that have to be applied. Which is why I was interested to see how much the US of A off-set the costs. Not 100% sure about the freight question, so i'll try to answer in two different instances, for a new car delivered in NZ there is no freight charge, even for cars delivered in Dunedin or Invercargill. For a Welt delivery BMW NZ cannot charge freight - it has to be organised by the owner of the vehicle and also it cannot be shipped on the same RoRo service as all the NZ new vehicles. Glad to see the yanks have cottoned on to shipping X5s back and forth across the pond, it was a few years ago that I saw them being delivered in the Welt to Billy-Bob and Betty-Sue so they must have worked out what it was costing them. The previous "Tourist Delivery" scheme that new cars were supplied under, even to NZ, was quite different from what I understand, and went back to the days of requiring overseas funds to buy a new car. There were quite a number of BMWs supplied in this way from what i have been told.

Have loved driving plenty of cars and SUVs with these engines in them, especially the N57S triple-turbo, but never been able to have one long enough to know about the problems and maintenance side of them. I am biased towards a big diesel anyway, but these were such a big jump from the previous generation in terms of driveability and also the reduction in noise. As Gaz says above servicing is key, and always with quality oil and filters - all filters as well, oil, air, fuel, etc. One that has been driven hard on long runs could also be in better shape inside than one that has done fewer kms, but nana'd around on short trips. Need a good hard run to get it running hot and blow the cobwebs out.

Yes, it is an option for NZ customers.

Say it as many times as you like, doesnt make it true though. Just because you think it should be included doesn’t mean it is. There is no itemised Bill for the price of a new car and an line that says “shipping... included”. The contract is to supply a vehicle to the place of your choosing. If you choose Europe then that’s up to you. I don’t have documentation that I can publish on here, but I have provided full details of the Welt delivery process to four or five Kiwi customers over the years who have been interested. Unfortunately none of them took up the opportunity. Also have a think about that American picking up an X5 in Munich example again.

As suspected it was the clutch slave cylinder that was leaking on the ‘vert, tried to find a seal kit but ended up with a whole new slave at a reasonable price. Fitted new one and bled it all through last night. And now it’s pissing down, so still can’t drive the bloody thing, grr.

Which bit costs the most...? Maybe I’m being cynical, I vaguely recall something about ownership of goods when sea freighting, might be that. Still a pretty good deal for the Muricans. When BMW USA sell hundreds of thousands of units per year they can afford to support programs like that. It’s quite funny when you see them in the Welt taking delivery of their new X5’s though...

Read what it says in the what’s included.. can you see sea freight or shipping listed? And nothings ever free...

Damn, that’s nice. Can see why you moved to that place!

All paid for by BMW USA, but there’s still a couple of bits missing from the list..

Not a lot to add, except... would you be interested in a 116d Manual...? It's a 2.0d engine de-tuned so easy to get the power / torque back up. Pretty nippy as is with the benefit of "Feel like a proper race car driver" manual transmission...

Another case just gone through the disputes tribunal here, car mysteriously managed to develop a long list of WoF failing faults whilst sitting on the dealers yard for a month and travelling less than a thousand kms. Unfortunately NZTA doesn't seem to have the time / money / resources to follow up on these cases and go back to the compliance centre with a "please explain..." notice.