E30 325i Rag-Top

Bloody hell that is nice. Good job it's all the way down south otherwise I could see myself accidentally buying that.

You missed Stanley Unwin from that list, made a whole career out of talking gibberish!!

Quote: "Miller then tried unbolting the regulator on the tank and tried to attach the gas torch head straight onto the bottle." It is just incredibly lucky that this guy didn't take anybody else out with him when he went bang, in a residential area, during the day. The age old problem of how do you stop dumb people doing dumb things, without making it more difficult for all the other people to do it properly.

Whoa.... shots fired!! In terms of performance and handling, the E36 is without doubt a better car, and also in terms of "bang for buck" the performance of the E36 is far greater than an E30 - look at the prices you can get a reasonable E35 M3 3,2ltr compared to say a Spanish E30 325i. If you wanna go fast, what would be the better bet? Having said that, can you ever love an E36 as much as an E30, and will the E36 ever start to appreciate in value like the E30. It is this whole heart over head thing that tends to mess you about when looking to buy cars. Disclaimer - the E36 compact is clearly not part of this argument as they are just silly!

Or the Spanish version "rear 5sp manuel"

So if a car is 50 years old and done 200,000kms then that still counts as low mileage? i don't subscribe to that logic, that process would be defining "below average mileage". Low mileage would be an absolute figure for me, and that would certainly have to be well south of 100,000kms even for an E30 that is getting on for 30 years old.

I think only E36 had bottle caps in 15", the E30 14" ones go for about $15 each at the scrappys. and since when has 110,000+Kms been "low" mileage??

Minus about $5k as it is as 316i, minus about the same amount as it looks like an SUV due to the ride height from the stock springs and bottlecaps with high tyres. Weird spec as well, 316i with leather, (maybe a re-trim at some point in it's life and no pics of front seats??) and bugger all other options added.

I think I have a couple of those in box somewhere in the garage, not genuine part but brand new aftermarket parts. Can have for very cheap.

Very much of interest, but too far away from me unfortunately. Cost of shipping it up to Aucks would be far too much. Pre-facelift coupe that looks to be quite worth saving. Someone in SI must be interested..?

M1 and M2 buttons on the steering wheel can be programmed with your favourite combination of modes and settings. It's hours of fun deciding what's your preferred set up, takes a lot of back-to-back testing!!

Sounds like your "disease" is catching though. I must confess I seem to have bought a few more sets of wheels since drinking coffee with you on Sundays... Coinkydink..? Maybe, maybe not.

For Sale posts require photos as per forum rules please.

Power delivery from the diesel is very different to an equivalent petrol, or even a slightly larger capacity petrol. The torque curve for the diesel sees higher values down low in the rev range, so it does feel very different. Probably different gear ratios to make the most of the different engines, which will affect how it "feels" I would say it is most likely just the difference in engines, not a remap.

Second M3 finished. This one was a bit easier, firstly it's a 1:18th scale so the model is larger, and second it is a pre-built die cast model. All I had to do was to stick the "JPS" logos on (as these are not on the original due to the ban on cigarette adveritsing - and it doesn't look right without). However, as I had taken some time to build up the courage to put the stickers on, the glue had gone a bit funny between the stickers and the backing paper - so there was a bit of fiddling about that had to be done!

They didn't really have any choice, a sizeable proportion of the EU test cycle involves the "car" being at a standstill and the engine idling as this test is supposed to represent a real world driving scenario. Switching the engine off during those parts of the test saves valuable fuel and emissions which can then be off-set in other parts of the test to scrape through. It was possible to program the function to be "off" on some models, but now cannot be done as it is changing the emissions profile of the car - even though you can switch it off manually in the car (which will probably disappear as a function in the near future..)

"Tell him he's dreaming", I don't care how mint and low kms it is, that is still a 318i Auto in old man Beige with matching beige interior. A very nice example of a not very desirable model as far as I can see. Been on TradeMe for quite a while.

What model F30 is it? and what model F10 are you comparing against? F10 is a bit heavier than an F30 so a more powerful engine in that could still feel a bit less torquey. I would have thought that if the car had been re-mapped then the seller would have told you this when you bought it, as it would have been used as a selling point and to make the car sound better than others of the same model. But you never know..

That is the way I am leaning at the moment, only real issue is the paintwork as I have taken all the decals off and started prepping for paint. So that would be a few more $$$s to get it painted twice, but like you say at least I will be out there racing not just moping around in the garage. A couple of photos, firstly of the only real progress. Front bumper brackets welded on - not the best welds, but shouldn't fall off any time soon. And a quick snap of the new rims, have now got the same (or very similar) style in both 16" x 7 and 16" x 8 with different off-sets so I can look at a staggered set-up or play around with track, etc. Got a set of Toyo 888Rs 225 x 45 x 16 to go on these just as a starting point. Will give the wheels a bit of a clean up and spray the centres gold so they match the JPS theme.

First M3 finished. Not 100% happy with it, but I'd say a reasonable 7/10 attempt. It was intended as a kind of practicse before I attempt the more expensive / detailed kit that I bought.

Don't get too hung up on the overall "hp" number for your race car, when I helped James with the E30 Endurance Car which ran the S50B32, after a freshen up we managed to get really useable low-to-mid range gains by having it properly dyno-tuned without the need for other mods. All depends on how much power you want under your foot I guess?

Not a lot of progress to report, and have now run in to a couple of lengthy parts delays which has pissed me off no end. Luckily I have not started cutting any metal from the rear side panels as the new ones are now out of stock in Germany, and unlikely to be re-produced until at least 2020. This is after they were showing in stock when I placed my order, this is a huge disappointment as I have been saving up and waiting to buy these for a long while and now they are not coming. After much chasing of the company in Europe making all the fibreglass bits, they have finally shipped and got a tracking number and ETA to New Zealand. However, this is also a big delay compared to the "parts ship in 10 days from order" that was promised originally. So again a bit of a pisser. Whilst I have done a few little bits and pieces whilst waiting for the body bits, cutting off any spare bit of metal I can find, treating a couple of little rust spots, scraping off underseal, sanding body panels, lightening door frames, etc. There is absolutely no way I am going to be able to get the car all back together ready for the big race meeting at Hampton on the 13th/14th October if I wait for the parts to arrive. So the big question is, do I put it all back together again now and then pull it apart again at the end of the season to fit the new body parts, or just wait and do it once... Can't decide at the moment as I am still so annoyed about the delays that I have lost a lot of energy and enthusiasm for the whole project. Bought another set of wheels at the week-end, and even that didn't really cheer me up...

Thread tidied up to avoid going over old ground. Moderators are well aware of the history here and are keeping an eye out, no need for other posts on the subject. To be fair, the product does now look much more "marketable" than before, so kudos there.

Needs price as per forum rules please.

My bar and wiring kit may be coming up for sale in the near future if you are interested. The tongue i've got is the inch an seven eigths size, but you can buy a 50mm version for it if that's what you need.