R90S

It's mine too. I bought that issue of Performance BMW at the time, and got the centre-fold poster of the car laminated. It's on the wall in my shed.

$12k sounds like a nice number for the seats....................

Wow, this IS looking more serious...... I own an industrial laundry in South Auckland (no, it's NOT a laundromat - that's something else altogether!) and if I need to for any reason I can use one of our late model VW Transporter vans. These days I mostly use the M3, but the plan is to finish off the engine/gearbox swap on the E3 3.0S and use that as a daily driver. Over summer, I used my old BMW motorbike for commuting as often as circumstances allowed. My commute involves about 30km of open roads, no traffic lights, light traffic.......

yet another welcome from another new member. I share both your automotive taste and your enthusiasm!

I'm jealous. Looks fantastic!

So, if I decide to chuck some 20" chromies, airbags and big bore exhaust on my 3.0S, can I still browse here? Even if I can't spel? :>) (tongue firmly in cheek) Nick

Yep, I did the same. Our car came with orange indicators which are now carefully stored in cardboard boxes on the shelf. If it's that important to a future owner, they can be changed back. :>)

Damn!! Gotta get me one of them!!!!

No, you'll (normally) never recover full restoration costs, especially short term. Even doing the donkey work yourself is unlikely to make much difference if the objective is any more involved than a superficial cosmetic cleanup. I recall this car for sale a few years ago too, wasn't it at Global Cars in Parnell? The car probably would/could be worth the money he's asking if it was in the UK or USA, possibly Germany. I think that NZ is too microscopic a market for this type of car - ideally you want obsessive enthusiast collectors to be fighting over it and queuing at the gate. Sadly there just aren't that many guys or girls in NZ at any given moment in the market for niche toys like this. :>) Nick

so, who's been trolling the M Registry site then.... yeah, that's ours. Like I said, a fairly distinctive colour! Only made for one model year, only 572 built in RHD, probably the only one world-wide in Ice Blue. If you're not in a hurry, you'll find something. There's quite a few 328 cabs around. :>)

We bought ours almost four years ago. It had been for sale at Monaco Motors in Greenlane, until our local dealer did a reciprocal trade and took the M3. We bought it off him. Ours is a known car - it was brought in to order by an executive at BMW NZ and came through the BMW Individual program. It's an unusual colour, Ice Blue. Ya either luv it or hate it! Rumour had it that he ditched it quick after being asked if he was considering a career in hairdessing...... What do you regard as high mileage? Our M3 clicked over 100,000 miles (160,000km) last weekend, but we have only done 16,000 miles (25,000km) since we bought it, mostly recreational but occasionally for work. It's been perfectly reliable. I'd take a tidy well maintained high mileage car over a neglected low mileage car any day.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...n-144002040.htm no connection etc

what makes you think a lawyer would want to buy a car off you?

I am only a NOOBIE here, but I've been following these auctions with interest, and following the discussions here with equal interest. Strat1 sells a lot of stuff on TradeMe, athough it remains a mystery to me how he does. He doesn't discriminate: he is rude to everyone alike. I took a look at the TradeMe Code of Conduct, and found this: "Offensive language or abuse of members anywhere on the site will not be accepted, this includes the Question and Answer feature on auctions, the message boards and the feedback forum." I sent the following message to TradeMe Support yesterday: "Auction 140086487 was a $1 No-Reserve auction and sold for $2210. The seller was abusive to fair & reasonable questions. Evidently the sale wasn't completed and it has been relisted (auction 143924419). I'm not impressed with the seller's manner. Why does this seller feel the need need to be so rude and agressive??? This morning, I got the following response: Dear Nick, Thanks for contacting us. I have looked into this matter and understand your frustration in this situation. The appropriate action has now been taken against this member. Thank you for helping us police the Trade Me website. If you have any further questions or if I can be of any further help please do not hesitate to contact me. Regards, Catherine Trade Me Support Perhaps nothing will change. But I feel better having done something constructive. Maybe if a few of you guys send a similar message to TradeMe, it may add a bit of weight. My $0.02

I'd agree. We've had our E36 M3 cab for almost four years and it has been one of the cheapest cars to run that we've ever owned. It's a 3 litre five speed, so a little less "fussy" than the Evo models can be (theres' a potential debate!!). I took it for a run to Taupo yesterday with my daughter, and although the weather was crappy on the way down, it was good enough on the way home to drop the top and take the back roads through to Mangakino, Kihikihi, Te Awamutu, Whatawhata and past the Huntly power station. Trips like that make the car worthwhile Ours clicked over 100,000 miles this morning on the way to the airport. There's not the same sense of "occasion" with a digital display somehow! Ours is a NZ new car, and I questioned the MPH speedo before we bought it, since there was a suspicion it was a UK import. A guy I spoke to at BMWNZ said that the first run of RHD production cars were always UK spec (at that time anyway), and the purple M3 cab for sale on TM a few years ago also had a MPH speedo and a chassis number not far away from ours. I do bring ours to work at times, but it's virtually all open road travel - no stop/start/crawl stuff at all. :>) Nick

Um, those aren't whitewalls. They are part of the ugly factory wheels. :>) Nick

No, you're not expecting too much. It should be producing linear power from just off idle right through to redline, with your grin getting progressively wider. Get it checked out. Something is definitely wrong if it is only doing anything over 5k rpm. :>)

There's some copies around these days that look more authentic than the originals now, because some of the genuine M3 and M5 cars have themselves been modified too, just to confuse things even more. I've done the same thing with our E36 M3, having changed the front indicators and side repeaters with ""clears" and the rear taillights with the clear indicators as per the Evo M3. (The originals are still in a box on the shelf!) Personally I don't have a problem with the fake thing happening. It's what people aspire to own, and as long as buyers do their homework whan a fake is sold, no harm is done. However, deliberate misrepresentation or fraud is a different thing, and I don't suggest for a moment that anyone should do that. But I do object to being told what I can or can't do with my own vehicles though, and would resist any attempt by a third party to do so. While I personally couldn't put an M3 badge on a 316 other than as a joke, if others want to do that...go right ahead. :>)

Hi, it's encouraging to know I'm not alone!!! I wasn't aware that SD had a body still in stock. I have a 2500 auto that I originally bought almost 15 years ago and did a lot of work on, including a replacement s/h engine and gearbox. I intended to finish it until I added up the cost of removing the rust, repainting to a reasonable standard and refurbishing the interior. When I saw the 3.0S advertised in Hastings, I took a day off and went for a drive to look at it. Didn't take long to figure out that with a tidy rustfree shell with a tidy original interior was easier (and WAY cheaper) to get back on the road as well as being a more desirable model anyway. It only has 150,000km on the clock, and came off the road almost 10 years ago due to a bypass hose bursting and taking out the head gasket. It had been stored in a drafty barn with a concrete floor and a car cover - very unusual for a cow cocky. So my 2500 is now my parts car. Its rego is still alive, (and with a jumpstart it would probably still run) but it's now worth more to me in bits. :>) Nick Ironically, there are two E3's for sale on TradeMe at the moment.

It is a roundie, manual, and the price will be fair. It's white, on 14" minilites, with 2002 Turbo style guards and chin spoiler, Recaro front seats, and TI twin carbs. The car will probably be familiar to a few guys on the forum, because it was originally built up in Auckland (by Guido Locher I believe) several years ago and was well known at the time. If you'd like to see it, give me a call. 021 404 443. We have friends in Raglan who have also expressed an interest, but they are waiting for a house to sell first. :>) Nick

You'd be welcome to trim parts. Give me a ring on mobile 021 404 443 and sort out a time that suits. We live about 5km from the old Meremere power station. The 525 is currently complete, unmolested and drivable - I fired it up when I got it home and did some skids on the lawn. :>) Nick

Yeah I have that article. I bought the mag a few days ago. It's an amazing car. I've never been a member of the BMW car club. I've been involved on and off with the BMW bike club for many years and been on a joint club run to the Waingaro hot pools (probably 20 yrs ago now....). I had recently considered joining the car club, since we also have an E36 M3 convertible (pre-Evo) and a slightly tweaked 2002 in the shed. They have been on the fleet for a few years now, but car club membership hasn't been a high priority, especially since I got my bike back on the road 18 months ago. We will probably sell the 2002 soon, regrettably. I've included an unflattering photo of the E3, taken outside a motel in Taupo after buying it in Hastings.

Hi folks, I've been lurking on and off for a while, and I'm still not sure if I'm in the right place. No doubt you'll let me know if I'm not!!! I have an E3 3.0S built in 1974. I've done a bit of searching through old posts, and can't find anyone referring to the E3 at all. I bought it two years ago because the E3 2500 I already had was going to need both arms and part of a leg to take care of the rust, paintwork, interior and misc. The 3.0S was an attractive option because its bodywork is rustfree and very presentable, and the interior is mint. I haven't done anything on the car yet due to a motorcycle project that I wanted to finish first, but since that's done I can start looking at the E3. The engine was overheated and popped the headgasket, and the auto is goosed. I just bought a tired E12 525 for very few $$$ a few weeks ago with a manual box. The plan is to swap the manual box into the E3 and get rid of the slushbox, and rob a few other bits while I'm at it. The E3 is a light metallic blue, and I have a set of 15" Simmons two piece alloys to go on the car when I get closer to getting it running. So am I the only one here with an orphan? :>) Nick