E30 325i Rag-Top

Ahem, it’s the King now.

Try to get one from a facelift if you can - fits the same physically, you just need to adapt the wiring for the second fuel sender. Better in tank pump (I think you can do away with the second external pump on a PFL), it’s a slightly bigger tank and has the internal syphon which means much less fuel surge when the fuel gets low and gets rid of the annoying external cross over pipe which you have to work around with the diff/driveshaft.

Not really, the M4 is a 2-door M3 anyway. The fact that they are the last NA M3 is more desirable to some. There are some versions that could appreciate over time if looked after, but not a reason you should really be looking for one of these.

I don’t believe it was a trade in, and as an aside 99% of trade-ins vehicles are currently “over-traded”.

Yup, totally, much better presented examples of the M325i have sold for around that number. This is well short of being a $40k car, especially in this current market.

Lexus: I'll see your grille and raise you

That was the market - in terms of buyer and offering, back then. Again it shows how both have changed over the last 20+ years. As I understand it, NZ New, one owner before the dealer. Was used very sparingly (only to church on Sunday’s?) before owner passed and car was pretty much parked up for a period. It would need to be kept as a garage queen / shows and meetings car and extremely low kms to make it worthwhile purchase. Hopefully there is someone out there who will do exactly that, if I had the room and permission I definately would.

Time capsule in Hamilton dealership, no not old stock but a used car bought back in. In amazing condition, only about 6k on odo, always garaged. One to keep locked away. In late 90s period correct spec, orient blue with tan leather and wood trims, non-M Sport. Shows how tastes have changed.

Nice build, quite the sleeper.

That is true, which is why the injection cycle is controlled to keep the temp of the flame front under control and temps down. However, when you talk about the running temps of engines I think more of the oil / coolant / engine body temps (some cross correlation from the cylinder temps I know) as being the “running temp” rather than the temp in the ignition stroke. Would thatalso have more of an effect on gaskets as well, with the temps affecting the expansion/contraction of the various parts? My totally un-educated guess is that the “liquid” type gasket materials start to harden over time from the repeated heat cycles, and then crack rather than stretch. FWIW my M57 had quite a few leaks, but was older rather than high kms.

I always thought diesels ran hotter than petrol, as no issues with pre-ignition due to the fuel injection controlling the timing? May have changed with turbo / DI petrols I suppose.

Saw that the other week, owner has a different sense of humour!

Thanks, looks a pretty good unit. The physical install doesn’t phase me, even the electrical side I should be able to work out. The bit that I have no experience of is the whole software / programming / configuring bit which is a concern, especially as I have zero experience of Android. I’ll do a bit more research and see what I can find as an alternative that may be easier. At the end of the day I think this unit would be overkill, 1) for me to get the most out of and 2) for what the wife wants (Bluetooth phonecalls and music streaming).

Courtesy of BMW Classic on the ‘gram.

Hey @M3AN did you put one of those in your 130i? Looks pretty good, and wife is moaning about having all the infotainment in her car so could be cheaper than buying her a new car. Sounds like your impressed overall, what would be your longer version of the Review above?

Ah, but it is “surface rust only” much more desirable than that other rust.

I think I may have a couple of spares, but I’m in Akl, postage could be a killer.

Tidied up some crap in the garage, and found a race car hidden underneath. So decided to do a little work on one of the panels, smoothing and sanding.

Wow, and indeed whee. You hardly see any of those come up and almost never in that condition.

@qube did you ever sell your car?

Real nice E46 Tech 2 Wagon, in silver lowered on Style 32s crawling through Panmure on Thursday evening. Made me wish I’d never sold My E46 wagon.

Over-loaded and under-serviced light commercial PoS imported from Japan clogging roads and belching black smoke in NZ.

pic courtesy of BMW Classic on Insta.

Looking in ETK, it’s only showing two types of fog light, with the second version being the yellow ones for the French market. Part number on the box is the Bosch part, so I can’t search that in ETK. It could well be my eyes / the photo, and it is the same as the ones on my car.

Are there two different types for PFL? These look a different shape to mine.