E30 325i Rag-Top

Oh man! That BT52 wow, so cool. Was that a kit produced at some point, as it has the sponsors and numbers etc that must be stickers? Could have been made specially for it I guess... Again, any build instructions for this would be great to have! A quick google and I found it, along with loads of other cool F1 cars, and it's RC and powered - I can see a lot of time being spent hunting through ice cream tubs in my son's bedroom.

@C-130 Hercules do you have a link to the assembly instructions for that lego E30, that is amazing? My boy has got a tonne of lego, so I should have most of the bits, but need a few instructions to work out how it all goes together!

Forget what I said about the bearing colours - that is on other engines.nothing like being consistent!

What models are you thinking of in particular? 4-cyl petrol is much better than the previous version in the E90 and later models got the new Bxx series engines which are better again. However, I still prefer the diesel over the petrol. 6 cylinder engines are both great performance wise, especially in the 335 versions. At bit more pricy as you would expect, but worth it if you can stretch that far. M-Sport versions are most popular in NZ and are the best looking IMHO. Sport Line is not far behind. Luxury Line is for 70 year old gentlemen and Urban Line was just weird and dropped pretty quickly. Not sure about issues, haven't heard of anything.

Ceratinly is, which makes a pleasant change, it's normally someone wearing less clothes than they really should be thats in the photos.

Looks quite good in the photos, anyone seen this in the flesh? Too far down south me to view. https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1616525205.htm?rsqid=0b7c4402614840b4aa1d45bba4d30f61 Kit looks to have been done reasonably well, but no C-Pillar extension around the window nor the raised bootlid, seems a bit odd to go this far and not include those rather key parts of the M3.

If I am reading this right, you might want too double check that, the colours of the shells normally refer to where they are in the tolerance band for the measurements - unless that is what you mean by the "top" being top tolerance and "bottom" being lower end of the tolerance? Did you measure your clearances first to see which tolerance you needed on the bearing shells? I normally just order the yellow "mid-range" and they have normally worked ok.

Hey Shaun, are you going to come out racing in this project, or is it a street car? I personally prefer a livery that is "period correct" and / or associated with BMW back in the day. The Boss and Rothmans ones in your pic are good, not so keen on the Red Bull one. What software are you using to make those images, I would like to have a play with that around some ideas I've got! For my race car I have been tossing up between the JPS and the Benson & Hedges liveries, and have now plumped for a JPS "tribute" livery.

Can you please fix the photo links?

Control units for the glow plugs are pretty prone to blowing on these. More description of the issue would help, turning over for ages and not firing, only turning over slowly, not turning over, etc...? Worse on a cold morning, ok for a hot start?

I think you have mis-understood a little bit, the car you have linked is a chick's car, not a chick magnet, sorry.

Hmm, I wonder if this will work on those annoying things in the back of an E30..?

I haven't seen many Jap M5s come in, most have been ex-UK. As for total numbers, that's an interesting question. I would say no, not yet but this will change as they get a few years older, especially in UK.

Another 3 deaths, in the Waikato, over the week-end. Ute crossed the centre line on a "State Highway" I believe it was. Median barrier, or even a central reservation, stops the small error becoming a big accident which increases the road toll. And again, as 3Pedals says, the Darwin effect is negative as the one bad gene has taken out two innocent genes.

@Allan, yes good point, how you react at the initial point of loss of control (which I think is what 3Pedals was on about car control) can have a great effect on the outcome of the situation. The only way to train this is on something like a skid pan, or closed track, etc. Even simple things like being able to steer whilst heavy braking through the use of ABS is alien to very many people - ever noticed how many trees or power poles manage to hit smack in the middle of a bonnet? Continuted driver education is a huge plus, as are things like "Defensive driving" or "advanced driver training" courses, perhaps these could be either subsidised by the government or even made compulsory though insurance companies?

3Pedals, due to things like Health & Safety coupled with a "where there's blame there's a claim" mentality in the UK, Europe and much of the rest of the world which hasn't managed to pervade the Kiwi "she'll be right mate" attitude the design of roads, junctions, safety barriers, etc. are much more advanced across the board. Pot holes in roads get fixed very quickly otherwise someone will have an accident and sue the relevant authority for not fixing the issue. In NZ it seems to be a case of put some paint on the road to fool people into thinking it's going to get fixed. Safety barriers are one of the biggest and most noticeable differences, any road with a steep drop off from either side will have proper steel and concrete barriers, so that should a car not make the corner it doesn't drop from a great height making a small accident into a much more serious one. Most NZ roads have NO barriers, or a spindly wooden fence which couldn't stop an empty push chair from going over the edge. No to mention the great idea of having drains and ditches at the side of the road, so should you move a few inches off the black stuff you are into a serious situation. End result? Small errors of judgment end up in major accidents, there is much less or even no margin for error. @Jacko, there have been a number of studies (mostly in the USofA) that have looked into why all the modern developments in car safety, from seat belts to ABS to airbags, collision avoidance systems, etc. have not resulted in reductions in the number of accidents and deaths. The broad conclusion of most has been that the safer the driver is made to feel, the more dangerous their driving becomes, either due to complacency, inattentiveness or driving faster / closer, etc. Perhaps the answer is to remove all the things that make driving easier as you say?

What is going on in Waikato? How can there be more road deaths there than anywhere else, even Auckland.

Says that's the Style 5 centre cap, is it the same as for the E30 15" weaves?

Factories haven't changed much..

Your comparison between roads in rural Europe v NZ is way off, major "highways" in NZ are with only a few exceptions, poorly surfaced, poorly maintained, very twisty, much hillier, un-lit and single carriageway. Even minor roads, well off the beaten track, in Europe have bridges and tunnels so they can be relatively straight and level. Older, small towns and villages can be more of a challenge with narrow streets and confusing junction layouts and road rules. NZ is slightly better off in this respect as the urban development is much more recent and most town planning has accommodated the motor vehicle. However, as the traffic speeds are relatively low in these areas, the size of the accidents are smaller and don't contribute so much to the road toll. The roads in Sweden were amongst some of the best I have ever driven on, even well up to the north of the country away from the major population centres. Why do they not crash on them in the snow... because of the level of driver training I would suggest? Having just been given an NZ licence for being able to answer 30 multiple-guess questions on the road code, I have no idea how much of the driver testing in NZ takes place on the "open road" or highways. Is it like the UK used to be where the test is all in and around town, with no motorway training or testing? As you allude to, this is the more difficult driving situation, higher speeds, fewer sign posts, etc. I used to think those big yellow "cornering speed" signs were a good idea, until I got a decent car and realised you can go round them at much higher speeds without detriment to you or your passengers. Perhaps more training in these driving situations would be a step to reducing the numbers?

NZ roads are not the best or easiest to drive on, as such the education and hence skills need to be higher than most countries. I come across an ever increasing number of drivers on the road that have basic to non-existent driving skills. The skills of many young drivers and dare I say it, new to NZ drivers are particularly bad. Just because someone can drive in another country, different roads, signs, side of road / car does not mean they have the skills for NZ. Until more effort is put into driver education, across all groups, the road toll will continue to rise with more cars driving more kms on the roads.

Not one, but two E36 compact race cars. First was on a trailer heading onto Southern motorway race number 318. Second one was being driven on the western motorway, black with RCIS stickers on it. They seem to be replacing the E30 as the track car of choice, maybe as the E30 is getting to expensive to be a base anymore?

Have a look at the list of models affected in U.S., no Diesels in that list. Whole host of reasons why you could end up with an under-bonnet Fire. Linking it the U.S. Recall is a big assumption. Sucks about your car man, hope the insurance pay out what it's worth and the process is painless.

There were not one but two De Loreans at the Brit & Euro show recently. The "Back to the Future" one and a mint standard one. I was amazed.

Flat head screw driver in the raised squeezed bit, then push and wiggle to open it out. a bit rough, but it works for me!