E30 325i Rag-Top

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.

The Amercians are always keen for a scapegoat, they love having someone to blame. Be interesting to see the results of this case thought, sounds like there is some damning evidence. If it has been a case that they knew a long time ago, then that is a whole nother level of screw up as its such an important safety device.

First part - very true. Second part - also true.

Whilst i agree 100% with your views on the race to the bottom - having worked for Ford for a number of years I know how that turns out, I would say that categorically that is not the case here. Takata were a major player in the airbag supply, approx. 30% of worldwide supply, but for specialist parts supply that figure is not uncommon due to the huge investment and testing costs. Try and estimate the number of airbags that means, in terms of total numbers, numbers made per day, plus varieties and versions of those airbags. The amount of time, effort analysis and work that goes into trying to predict and plan for failures (Failure Mode Effect Analysis = FMEA) is staggering, none of which is really seen by the driver and unfortunately can never foresee every single eventuality.. The designs of the bags that are being recalled WERE tested thoroughly, and deemed to be safe when they were put into place. However, these airbags are now 15-20 years old and guess what? In that time the way they perform has changed due to the nature of the chemicals used to generate the "explosion" to make the airbag deploy rapidly. Many airbags are recommended to be replaced every 5-10 years for this very reason. Would you keep a big firework for 20 years and then expect it to work perfectly after all that time? Very similar fundamentals behind both pieces of equipment. Some of this chemical deterioration is BELIEVED to be due to the way the bags were manufactured at the time and some down to the environments in which the bags have been used, mostly linked to high humidity. Whether they knew of the issue and tried to cover it up is conjecture, however Takata are still going - being propped up by the car companies because if they fall over there is an even bigger problem, they have just taken out a legal position in the USofA. The reason for that again is not the race to the bottom in terms of price but the fact that are having to replace millions and millions of products free of charge - which would cause financial problems for any company from McDonalds to Apple to Takata. Fingers crossed there is a way through all of this relatively quickly. Disclaimer - personal thoughts and opinions only, from general observations and experience of the Automotive Industry over 26 years.

Everything and anything I post on Bimmersport is my own private, personal opinion, it is in no way meant to be representative of BMW Group NZ or any other branch of BMW. I am often caught between giving out information and my position and I always have to err on the side of safety, there are very strict guidelines on this subject area. The answers to your questions would change from minute to minute and hour by hour, so that again that is why I would not post such information even if I had it. So all I can say, is if you are unsure, then please contact your local dealer, with your chassis number, and they will be able to give you the current situation for your vehicle. Peace out.

therein lies the problem, "a service advisor" at the dealership reads very differently to "BMWNZ told me.." The handling of such massive recall(s) is difficult enough for all concerned even before internet rumours. Ps - boomshanka.

Dion, he is not that often on the forum any more, I suggest you send him a message so he gets a notifcation to his e-mail.

It is all dependent on which vehicle you have, due to the overall scale of the recall(s) and the fact they are all from the same supplier and the same part of the car they are all getting talked of as one single "Airbag Recall" which is not the case, there are lots of different cases. Which is why the responses you get from the dealer may vary, some cars will definately need replacing and be waiting for the airbag part, some cars need a check. Due to the massive world wide scale of the recall Takata, the manufacturer is drowning under all the claims and has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy I believe, and supply of parts is an issue. The number of BMWs affected is many millions, let alone the Toyotas, Hondas, etc in this world and they are all screaming for parts.

Only just seen this so apologies for the late reply. Either you are paraphrasing the response or the person you spoke to doesn't know what they are talking about. ALL vehicles in NZ that can be traced, if affected, will be recalled. The list of affected air-bags and hence cars is changing almost daily as it is on a car by car basis. I thought you had burnt all your bridges with BMWNZ staff after your little tanty over not being invited to M Festival? Clearly you are still bitter.

Ois To Men is a piss take out of Boyz To Men i take it? Oi was a very short lived evolution of Punk / Skins in the UK, it was hi-jacked by the Far Right and basically came to an end after all the bad publicity when the 4 Skins concert in Southall sparked the Southall Race Riots. After all the negative publicity it was impossible to get anywhere to put an "Oi" gig on due to all the Police / Anti-Nazi League objections. Not all of the Oi bands were right-wing, but they all got tarred with the same brush as the crowds all looked pretty much the same! If I can find it anywhere I will put up a link for the News that they did on the 4 Skins after the riots, and "Evil" one of their best songs.

A few more press shots of the Z4 Concept car that's just been shown for the first time. Again, I am just hoping that the final design is very, very close to the concept shown and not diluted as it becomes a production version.

Ok, looks like that's fixed then!

Can someone try again for me please? Tech support think it's fixed but I'm on mobile..