E30 325i Rag-Top

Aftermarket alarms are like women, they all go through a mental stage at some point! It's only when and for how long that varies.

Damn, over $1,000 already, too rich for me!

Big difference between cruising up and down the M5 at 80mph and crawling around Singers at 10mph.. Are there any dealerships in the UK that Frank hasn't bought up now.. jeez.?

I'm all for a bit of tinkering and tuning to see what you can get out of a car, lots of fun to be had from modifying and updating a stock factory car. However, I do start to get a bit worried when people go nuts on the engine side and forget about things like brakes, suspension, tyres, etc. especially on older cars like E30 where the original set up leaves a bit to be desired. Shouldn't be an issue on an M140i, especially if you have ordered the upgraded brakes or the M-Performance brakes.

That’s not a definition of A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) i’ve Seen before, you seem to be broadening it out to include automation, robotics and pre-fab manufacturing. The 70s strikes were nothing to do with robots, but greedy unions wanting to protect lazy non-productive practices. robotics were widely introduced in the 80s to much fanfare and most were then pulled out again in the 90s. Some are still in use in limited applications but not the 100% utopia that was originally promised. Low cost manufacturing, whether it is cars, plastic crap or houses will always look to drive the price down. Low wage workers are more of a risk there than advanced systems I would suggest. you can either fear change or understand and embrace it and shape it. The only thing for certain is that there will be change.

When I first entered the Automotive Industry, almost thirty years ago, the A.I. Of the day “expert systems” were going to change everything. Now I can’t even remember the last time I saw or used one. As someone wiser than me said, the jobs our children will do haven’t been invented yet.

I’m just waiting for USA to announce Skynet, when that becomes self aware we all lose our jobs!!

Wasn't that because they were slotted though Dan? Funnily enough the best rotors I found for the E30 were the cheap chinese one's that Paul Olson brought in - $100 for a pair, nice and soft so plenty of bite from a good hard pad, but not too soft that they fell apart.

Totally agree, as long as the rotors are not made out of chocolate then for a daily driver they are pretty much equal so price would be the only factory. I do tend to always go for a known brand name - i.e. TRW, Brembo, etc. just to avoid the possibility of getting the chocolate variety. It looks like I had it around the wrong way, Brembo bought the controlling share of a Chinese brake maker, to supply into the Chinese market and in particular the Western manufacturers no building their cars in China. 80,000 out of a set of pads is pretty good going. I wish my missus was a gentle on the pedals as that!!

I know Brembo used to be a real premium brand in the aftermarket brakes, but wasn't the company recently bought out by a Chinese company and most of their products manufacturing moved there? Not necessarily a bad thing, but will be interesting to see if there is any impact on the standard of the products. From what I understand, only the real high-end racing stuff is still made in Italy (again not sure if that is a good thing!!) with the rest of it either moved, or moving to China. Would be interesting to see how you get on with your new set-up over the next few years, performance, wear, etc.

There is a difference in F31, there is a single piece one that has the net and luggage cover. Then the later one which is two piece - the net and the cover being separate parts. Which type are you after..?

Yeah that’s a good price. Quite often on special, but not with that much discount.

Just to be totally pedantic, and show how confusing the naming has got now... all the M cars now have their own F/G code. M2 = F87, M3 = F80, M4 Coupe = F82 vert is F83... I ticked the M3 F80 box as it is such a brilliant all rounder, family cruiser, daily driver or pocket rocket all in one.

Hmmm, I still think referring to something as a "haldex system" is a bit of a sweeping generalisation as there are now a variety of different systems, electronic, mechanical, electro-mechanical, FWD bias, RWD bias, etc all being shoe-horned in together under the same terminology.

Try looking overseas, lots of E36 M3s are being wrecked for parts in the UK because no-one can afford the insurance on them.

I don't think there are many people in the world that have drilled carbon fibre door panels to fit speakers around their cage... Will be good to listen to a bit of "getting your race face on" tunes when sitting on the grid. It's like a real life one of those Hot Wheels Tuners cars where you could swap bits in and out, only a whole lot more epic.

^^this Plus this X3 is a 6-cylinder petrol version that drinks like grandad at happy hour. Save a few more $$$ and find a better condition diesel version. This one is a money pit if ever I saw one.

And finally all back together again. Started and ran with no obvious dramas, took her a few miles round the block and all seems good - fingers crossed. A little bit of a spit and polish on the glass and chrome. Replaced the cover over the drivers wing mirror with an unbroken one with all the clips intact as that was bugging me. Next job to install these bad boys...

Still not decided on the front, I keep hoping to find a decent set of M3 (e30) uprights for a not too exorbitant price, but that seems to be a fading dream. So option two would be same as the OP E36 M3 Evo, easy to put coilovers in with the bolt on knuckles.

The price of safety... upside for the insurance companies is that they don't have to pay out $$$ for injuries and rehabilitation, etc. caused in an accident, or at least the payments are less as the injuries are not as severe. So the overall cost to the insurance company is much less as the repair of the car is a small amount in the overall scheme of things. Not sure if this holds true in NZ, with the ACC scheme doing away with the ambulance chasing "where there's blame there's a claim" type payments. Certainly in places like the US, Uk, etc. it makes more sense.

Yeah, there are plenty of quite simple bolt in options for the rear end, it's the front end where it gets a bit more difficult.

Can you please move the frog out of the way so can see more of the boxy Bavarian in the background please?? That is definately a later model to what my mate had - so should have a few more safety features on it!

Definately a nippy little go-kart, but bearing in mind this is for the daughter I would suggest something a bit more modern with a few more safety features. A good friend of mine had a Clio 16v late 80's early 90's (not sure if there are later generations) and it didn't do much in the way of protection when it had a bit of a shunt. I know it's something you hope / think won't happen, but plan for the worse situation..

+++ The long-standing team principal of BMW Team Schnitzer passed away unexpectedly after a very short and grave illness at just 63 years of age +++ Everyone at Schnitzer Motorsport is shocked by this unexpected loss +++ Our thoughts are with Charly's wife and sons +++ BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt: "Totally unexpectedly we received the news from the Lamm family that Charly Lamm died on Thursday. Our sincere condolences go to the Lamm family and the Schnitzer family. It is incredibly difficult to accept that Charly is no longer with us. He had a significant impact on racing at BMW for decades, celebrated major successes with his team, and wowed fans around the world with his unique passion for racing. Losing him so suddenly is a shock and a tragedy – particularly because Charly was just about to start a brand new chapter of his life. We mourn the loss of a character who was both valued and loved internationally, who will always be closely linked with BMW Motorsport. Thank you for everything Charly. We will miss you forever." At both the 24 Hours of Daytona (USA) and the ABB FIA Formula E Championship race in Santiago (CHL), the BMW teams will compete in memory of Charly Lamm.

Found the invoice in the box, was date 02.05.2014 - so not quite shy of five years old before I got around to fitting it, Lol.