E30 325i Rag-Top

Yeah time flies eh, I think I was there that year as well. Was it the time the young lad put his E30 M3 into the tyres and did quite a bit of damage? back on topic, it was a real M3 and not just a badge!!

That works, very subtle and cool. Olaf, what year(s) did you go to Castle Coombe with the drivers club, I was there a couple of years?

^^this. If there's no price then it's out of the For Sale section.

Hey Vinu, suspension is nothing flash, just a set of super-low springs with some fairly tired standard shocks. Looks a bit lower due to the 17" rims and skinny tyres. Ha, wadda you know, I'm part of the lower it and big rims brigade I mentioned, funny. In all honesty it is probably a bit too low and it affects the ride quality and the usefulness of the car. I am seriously thinking of putting the race series suspension into the vert and tidying up my 15" weaves for it, so it looks a lot more factory.

Depending on the mods it does become a little bit harder to hide what is underneath, and it would be quite a twist of fate for a real M5 to be badged as a 518i. You could add an M badge to the 316i for extra added irony.

Putting the manual in will definately INCREASE the value of the car, provided it is done to a decent standard. Any manual E30 is more desirable than an auto for the mass market, and especially the lower it and add big rims brigade that seem to be into E30s at the moment. As above, if you can get the parts for a good price, full conversion should be around $1,000 for used parts, add a couple of hundred bucks for replacing some of the worn out bits to do it right, and if you can do it all yourself (which isn't too hard) you will add more than that to the sell price of the car IMHO.

Spotted not one, but two Ferrari 430 Spyders out Maraetai way on Sunday, both had the roof down - so it was officially a nice sunny day. Also spotted BM DUB (?) E30 Tech 2 cruising along the beachfront.

Good question, I personally would go with the 316Ti badge as I have always loved a good sleeper, can be funny to see the looks on peoples faces when you surprise them with your "racecar in shitbox clothing"

Took advantage of the glorious weather and took the vert for one more Sunday drive. Clicked over 80,000miles on the way back. Not bad for a 30 year old car.

I was told that the new design language is going to be more "challenging" so likely to be more revolution than evolution. Personally I think this will be a good thing as there is a need for a jump to a new generation of external styling in particular. Compared to a number of rivals the designs are looking a little too conservative. Whether the new 8er is like that concept I don't know, but the closer it is the better (same for X2) for me.

Possibly not the best choice of words, but I was trying to keep it in plain English rather than use industry jargon! lots of very exciting product in the pipeline right now.

You can never have too many options... unless you are the customer... or the person trying to plan what stock to keep

Owners have the option of hiding their personal details from any low-level search. That is the case in the results you have given. To get the info in such cases you have to write to NZTA with a reason, your details and a small fee. the system works, the fact the guy got caught shows. Typical Hosking blowing smoke.

There is a bit missing in the instructions - you have to press the hands-free button (on the centre-console) which has the head with sound waves coming out as a picture on it. Then the car will start to transmitt the bluetooth signal which your phone should pick-up. Then you will need to enter the PIN number, etc.

Throw-back to maiden Nordschleife victory: historic livery for BMW Team Schnitzer BMW M6 GT3. BMW Team Schnitzer can look back on an impressive history at the Nürburgring 24 Hours (GER). Team principal Charly Lamm’s (GER) crew has won the endurance classic in the Eifel Mountains five times in the past. To mark the team’s return to the “Green Hell” this season, the number 43 BMW M6 GT3 will sport a special, historic design. BMW Team Schnitzer wrote the first chapter of its glorious history at the Nürburgring 24 Hours back in 1989. The team from Freilassing (GER) claimed its first overall victory at the endurance classic on the Nordschleife in the same year as it won its maiden DTM title. After 143 laps of racing, eventual DTM champion Roberto Ravaglia, Emanuele Pirro (both ITA) and Fabien Giroix (FRA) crossed the finish line first in the iconic BMW M3 E30. In memory of this success BMW Team Schnitzer will return to the Eifel track in 2017 with one of the two BMW M6 GT3s sporting the same historic design as the winning car from 1989. This is a particularly special honour for Charly Lamm, who was team principal when BMW Team Schnitzer claimed its first major Nordschleife success – a role he still occupies today: “BMW Motorsport has a big tradition in motor racing, and we have been fortunate to work together for many decades. The historic livery on the BMW M6 GT3 is a nice throw-back to our first victory – one we are very proud of. The stripes in the classic BMW Motorsport colours, in particular, evoke a lot of memories among the many BMW fans in the Eifel region and give us extra motivation to do everything in our power to get a good result on our return to the Nordschleife.” Lamm still has fond memories of that first victory in 1989: “We were competing in both the DTM and the 24-hour race on the same weekend. Our drivers did a perfect job, as did the entire team. It was a fantastic race and a really emotional experience for the whole team.” Just two years later, BMW Team Schnitzer added a second success. In 1991, Armin Hahne, Joachim Winkelhock (both GER) and Kris Nissen (DEN) were victorious – again at the wheel of the BMW M3 E30, which took overall victory in the four consecutive years from 1989 to 1992. The car remains by far the most successful touring car ever fielded by BMW Motorsport. It made its DTM debut in 1987 and propelled Eric van de Poele (BEL) to the title at the first attempt. Ravaglia was also crowned world touring car champion with the BMW M3 E30 in the same year. In total, the car has 41 DTM race wins to its name. BMW Team Schnitzer claimed overall victory at the Nürburgring 24 Hours on a further three occasions: in 2004 and 2005 with the BMW M3 GTR and most recently with the BMW M3 GT2 in 2010. In 2017, the team lines up with two BMW M6 GT3s and top-class drivers. Reigning DTM champion Marco Wittmann (GER) will be joined by fellow DTM drivers Augusto Farfus (BRA) and Tom Blomqvist (GBR). Also in action will be BMW works drivers Martin Tomczyk (GER) and António Félix da Costa (POR), as well as two newcomers to the BMW fold, Timo Scheider (GER) and Alex Lynn (GBR). Farfus, Félix da Costa, Scheider and Lynn will share the driving duties in the car with the historic livery. Fans will get their first glimpse of this very special BMW M6 GT3 in action this weekend, at the qualifying race for the Nürburgring 24 Hours. The 45th staging of the classic endurance race will take place on 27 and 28 May 2017.

What Geoff said above, the cost of the exercise makes it un-economic in most cases, especially for the common or garden varieties of E30 like 318i. Overall costs would be $4,000+ even if you do any work to meet compliance yourself. Adding that amount of cash onto the buy price, even if they are cheaper overseas, makes the NZ examples seem cheap I would suggest. I brought my 325i vert over from the UK because it has been in my family since new so I know it's history plus the sentimental value attached to it, before i took the plunge and shipped it over I did look and couldn't find one as good in my eyes. Wasn't really a financial decision though. If you wait until the car is 20 years old, like I had to with the vert, then the compliance rules become a lot less strict - all e30s should be in that bracket by now I think.

I also use a number of US forums and these guys get talked about a lot, split into two distinct factions 1) these guys are complete rip off merchants and the scum of the earth pushing up prices for everyone or 2) it's a free market, if it works for them well so be it. There have been a number of clear cases where they have bought cars off eBay, Bring-a-Trailer or Craig'slist then given them a quick polish and a service and put them up for sale at much, much higher prices. You can argue about the ethics of this until the cows come home, if they can find a buyer then, well.. it works for them. From the size of their inventory and the average cost of their cars, they are either laundering drug money or know what they are doing. My personal dislike for these guys is that they bought the best E30 M3 in New Zealand and took it overseas, so I won't get to see it / stroke it in the flesh ever again. sniff! sniff!

Provided the wheels are the same bolt pattern, 4 x 100 and have the same taper angle - which I think is 45 degrees and is pretty common, then yes.

The planning, designing and buying phase is almost as much fun as the listening stage in most audio projects for me, certainly beats the install phase for enjoyment. So you can spend more time on this part now with the delay. One other option to possibly consider would be the under-seat style sub that are used in the latest BMW models, not necessarily the exact parts but the idea of where to put it. Certainly gives what I would call a good bass in the car without being obtrusive into your useable space. I believe the latest designs use the void in the sills of the car and the body to help with the response of the subs as they are connected together - I doubt this would be possible or work with the E46 if it wasn't designed for it in the first place.

So it will be less for Bimmersporters then? Needs a price in the thread pretty soon or it will have to come down.

Not having to get up and go to work on your birthday is definitely choice bro! The brand new M3 Competition Pack on the drive is the icing on the cake!!

The E/F/G Series codes have always come from the Engineering Department's project code at the start of development. Back in the day it was possible to capture everything under the one E30 code, costs, resources, etc. Now there is so much more complexity there would be too much info under the one code. Plus it then helps with planning, production, logistics, etc due to the greater level of accuracy from specific codes rather than all lumped into one.

I like a good game of Top Trumps, especially the Germany Autobahn-stormer edition featuring these cars. M760Li Rear Brake Rotors - 398mm x 28mm, even bigger plates! When the kerb weight is over 2100kg, it's gonna take a bit of stopping when it's up-to-speed.

Yeah, that was the one. In quite a few of the cases the cars had ECUs that could be checked and the data for pedal position, etc. checked. And guess what they found... yup in pretty much every case (over 95% I think it was) the brakes were not applied, so of the two pedals the driver was stomping on the wrong one and wondering why the car wasn't slowing down. The case pretty much died a quick death at that point.

No good for Auckland, that big cut-out in the side would let all the rain in, and some low-life would pinch all your stuff while you were asleep.