E30 325i Rag-Top

Fark!! That looks so good with that M Tech kit on it. @Tidy30 is your kit still for sale? I would like to come have a look and see what condition it is in, Palazzo's picture makes me really want one now.

Did you ever get the skirts fitted on your 'vert ? My understanding was the sides are different between the vert and coupe. If these fit on your vert I would be very interested?

I finally gave in to getting a small(ish) water blaster and went for a Karcher as it was on offer at Bunnings and seemed to be the only make that had loads of accessories and parts and stuff available on the shelf. Works well enough so far, not overly fast at cleaning larger areas as it's a smaller model, but adequate for me. Plenty of power to destroy plants and take paint off things if you are not paying attention / stroke can't be arsed moving things out the way.

There is one that has been built into a race car, doesn't have the 2.7ltr M20 in it anymore though. Really nice car, was up for sale on TradeMe for ages not long ago, no idea if it ever sold...

Not that far for me to go to the big 6 0 and to be honest the state parts of my body are in they aren't going to be any worse by that point anyway, possibly even better if I can get the surgery I need. The only way I can be working smarter would be to pay someone to do the work for me, and whilst this is sometimes very tempting, it's just not me, so I'll keep the money I save from doing that for the racing budget.

I think it is more of an age thing Glenn, I have always been upside down under cars for as long as I can remember but now it is seeming less and less like "fun" and more and more like pain and heartache. When you can only lean under a bonnet for a period of time before your knees and legs seize up any job starts to take a lot longer, and has to be planned out in advance to mix up the standing, sitting, leaning jobs. I must be getting old and paying for all the mis-adventures of my youth. First world problems I know, as there are many people out there who would love to have a car to work on, let alone a garage full, so I shouldn't complain too much. I will be a lot happier when the current wave of work is over and the driving can commence again thats for sure.

Started putting things back together again after pulling the head off the race car. Blowing coolant out due to exhaust gases getting in the system, pressure check of head came back good, and a bit of a weld on a corroded wateway should do the trick fingers crossed. Now to get the whole lot back together and adjusted - fun, fun, fun. Wife's E46 has had the airbags done, but found another couple of issues that need attending to... And the convertible is still sitting there patiently waiting for some new parts and TLC. I am beginning to get a bit over all these car problems, they are supposed to be "fun" right??

It turned out our E46 was one of the ones that has both the drivers and passengers bag affected, so they were both swapped over, covers replaced and car was given a very good clean inside and out. They even pointed out a couple of issues that needed attention which was a bonus as I had missed them during the last service. All free of charge, on an imported car, and no special treatment for me as it was all done by my wife. So, to keep on like a broken record, if you are in doubt contact your local dealer with your chassis number and they will be able to let you know, and book you in as soon as they can, part availability permitting. The latest update I have heard is that there has just been a new list of over 2 and half MILLION additional BMW vehicles affected released from Munich, which has been filtered and sent to the NZTA to see which of those are in New Zealand and find the owners details, so there will be another round of letters sent out very shortly.

Fark!! Nearly $18k for that... E30 tax is going up.. Better increase the insurance values on mine.

Everything is for sale if the price is right Grant! Car is manual, 325i and just clicked over 80k genuine and documented miles, approx 122kms.

What are you looking for in a vert that would make it the right car...?? hint, hint, ideas in sig..?

Couple of very nice E30s there that I would love to add to my collection, pricing is getting up there, I can understand it with the restored grey one - look at all those new parts under the bonnet - shiny new washer bottle, coolant expansion tank, under bonnet insulation, etc. I would think it will still stuggle to get that asking price but I could see it getting close, the black one is probably a little furher from it's asking price unless it looks a lot better in the flesh than in the photos.

Down in Hawke's Bay visiting family this weekend and saw a lovely dark grey M Tech 1 E30 waiting to pull onto Taradale Road this afternoon, had bimmersport plate surrounds on it as well. Looked really, really nice, big ups to the owner!!

Wife phoned Auckland City BMW last week to book her E46 Touring in and was given the choice of days next week, so not a massive wait and that is to change at least one bag over. And it's an import as well... Even got a letter from BMW NZ (lol) ages ago that it needed doint, finally got around to booking it in with the dealer.

If it has a dog-leg box and not just a dog-leg gear knob, then that would be worth a few $$$ if it is in good condition. I don't think it's a 265/5 box in these I thought it was a 262/5 so not the real expensive one. Other than that he's dreaming...

BINGO!!

Not many M 325i about...

Hand built...? Really? Well I suppose some of the bits are put in by people as it comes down the production line so it kind of counts right? Paint Code 490 = Sonderlackeriung (or something close in German) which literally means Special Paint Finish. If you ask for a tin of BMW code 490 you might get a bit of a funny look. So much drivel on TradeMe, probably passing on what the dealer told them when they bought the car.

Woah, look out!! Shots fired...

Wow, all these posts on the thread about an E46 M3 and no-one has commented on the fact that it is an SMG gearbox, damn, just did it myself. It will be interesting to see how high the price goes on this one, and if it actually sells without and shill bids..

I think this thread is getting a bit muddled, there are two seperate topics here, the original one with Takata made bags that are being recalled and the slightly off topic one about old bags in general. Short answer to first question - who knows, not many bags out there that are 40 years old. Again I believe it is recommended that the bags are changed, up to you if you want to do it or not. Have a looking the owner's handbook, probably in there somewhere. Not sure where you get the bit about the car manufacturer's saying buyer beware, I hope it's not off anything I have posted from my personal view point. Yes, it is a safety device, but so are brakes, wheels, tyres, suspension, etc. all need to be properly maintained for the vehilce to function as designed, so do air bags. Again it is "recommended" that you change your brake fluid every two or so years, when was the last time anyone did that as a service item? The automotive industry has a number of different levels of recall, from, a pro-active recall such as the Takata bags where the cars are searched for, to have a look at it next time it's in the dealership, to if it becomes an issue then fix it. The same levels of traceability are used in car manufacture as aircraft, the issue then comes during it's use where any Tom, Richard, Jon or Fred and bugger about with things and fit any old cheap copy part to their car (which isn't quite so easy with aircraft, but still not unknown). I used the food analogy as it was something people could relate to as the difference between a "recommendation" and a "must do", not because the two situations are comparable, although some of the f$%k ups in the food industry are even more of a health issue and the traceablility woeful by comparison.

A very good question, one to ask NZTA possibly? I think it is because the "expiry" date is like a "best before" date used on food, which says something along the lines of "it really would be a good idea if you replaced these parts after this time" rather than "you must replace", which combined with the practicalities of checking the dates on the bags in a car kind of put it outside the realms of most inspection processes. I have heard anecdotally of countries that use the airbags as a barrier to used imports, where they do insist on them being changed which makes things cost prohibitive, whether true or not I cannot say 100% as I have never tried to import an old car into those places. I also understand that with most airbag inflation reactions, the material gets less volatile over time, so what happens as the airbag gets old is that it will still work, but can possibly deploy a little slower / not as large as originally designed. Which whilst not ideal, is not the end of the world. The problem with the Takata style airbags is that they are having the opposite effect, the presence of water, absorbed from moisture, in the chemical acts as an accelerant to the reaction so they actually deploy quicker, ie. more violently, and as a result of that uncontrolled deployment the metal casing is not failing in the way intended which has resulted in pieces of metal shrapnel being produced and sent into the cabin of the car. Which is unfortunately much more of a danger. Latest situation with the Takata company would appear to be that Key Safety Systems are looking to take over the "embattled" Takata for US$1.59 billion. The approximate number of cars affected is now over 100 million.

Merged all your E46 posts into one thread.

Normally a post count of 10+ posts is required for For Sale posts, but as I know the seller and the car is a good one then I am happy to let it slide on this occaision. #admingoingsoft

They always seem particularly keen on this type of legal action when it is a "foreign" car company, ie Toyota, Volkswagen, Takata, than when it is their "own" 'Murican car companies.