E30 325i Rag-Top

Heaps, just google it. If it's not NZ sales specific it will be available in many places on the net.

Looks ridiculous without a drop to get it closer to the rubber bands, arch gap looks mah---ooosvie!

Post really should contain a picture of the engine / gearbox that is for sale, as per forum rules, please. Thank you!

I don't think it was a dealer car, Team McMillan changed names a while back and don't use the TMBMWx plates any more. Looking at all the sh*t left in the car it was someone's daily driver / home.

57 Pre-LCI, and 54 LCI. Still looking for the import numbers.

Mirror dimming sensors are in the front and back of the mirror unit itself, the sensor for the auto-wipers is in the blacked out part of the windscreen behind the mirror, as would be the camera for active cruise etc. So it looks very much like it is an after-market add-on unit, like you say probably a japanese Toll reader system. Take it off and see if anything stops working...

Correct, Electric vehicles have a temporary exemption from RUC. As soon as the tax $$$ from petrol starts to drop that exemption will stop.

Burnt a lot of 98 fuel driving around Hawke's Bay following around lots of other BMWs that are in the Targa HB. Also spotted two nice E30 M3s in the car parks, one Henna Red with fishnet recaros and one Alpine White with ACS wheels. it was a good day!!

Just out of curiosty, I double checked the number of NZ new F10 M5s, and in total there were 111 of them over the whole life cycle. So I would be very surprised if there were more imports here than that number. In coming years there will be a few more imports come through I would think, but not yet. Getting the info for the used stuff is a lot harder, as people can register anything as an "M5" when it comes in as a used import, so you have to sort the wheat from the chaff and cut out all the "520i M5" and "M5" with "Engine Size:2,000cc"!

I have a set coming out of my race car in the near future, good bearings and rotors if that's of interest.

From that chassis number and full VIN you can see the model code for the car is BG12 which was a German built car, not a SA model. As far as i know none of the SA build of E36 was sold new in the UK, and the ZA factory only looks to have built 4-Door saloon versions (LIM) of the E36, no coupes. Option code is the differently programmed ECU, though no idea what it does!

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the one in the photos might have been modified to take the power? 15" wide slicks on the back of the 323i would help keep the arse under control.

It's fine if you want to put a newer generation into some of the lighter old chassis, but you really need to pay serious attention to the brakes and handling. E21 323i were quite notorious for spearing off roundabouts with the standard engine in them, let alone putting a ligher more powerful and torquier donk under the bonnet. Not sure how much power the E21 chassis can handle before it starts behaving badly on you.

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..?