KwS

Not getting the same performance though, are you?

Theres also a huge difference in FWD and RWD in crashes, as the RWD generally has a longer engine bay for N/S engines, so its hard to compare most euros to jap hatches. The current crop of japanese hatches do very well considering. Regardless, as said, you buggered either way in a decent crash, no matter what youre in.

Looks pretty good to me,

You know how crumple zones work, eh?

That late model one would be an awesome score for parts if a wrecker got it cheap enough

I would have thought something like that would have been worth fixing? E34 M5 is pretty uncommon.

The E55 is a true German muscle car. All power, no refinement in the chassis. They sound good though. Your M5 looks damn good, much better than the early photos with the black wheels. Silver wheels are a great contrast. Not sure on the wood grain personally, would be nicer if it was the dark poplar or something.

One thing to keep in mind with low KM Jap imports, there is nothing to say it hasnt covered horrific engine hours sitting idling in gridlock traffic and the likes. I had a 70,000km import E36 that felt floppy and sloppy compared to my fully maintained 200,000km NZ New E36. Id take a higher KM car with full history over a low KM import with little-no history.

Man, i would keep this one instead of the other one. Have seen it around, looks nice.

The R129 has grown on me a lot, i feel it would be quite fun in the SL600 guise.

All ill say is that if you get a certain local workshop to supply and fit the parts for you, make damn sure the job is done properly (ie: that shifter linkage bushes are actually fitted, the correct parts are used and the correct fluid is used in the box).

Not all of them will be LHD, but looking at Goo-net all the E39 M5s currently for sale are LHD. Newer than that and its a mix of left and right. Theyre still about 21k NZD excluding ORC and shipping though.... so not cheap.

The 7 speed DSG was notorious for failure in models of that age, make sure its well serviced!

Congrats on the sale, hopefully the new owner is on here so we can follow the progress?

I completely agree Michael. The BMW V10 just doesnt sound grunty enough to me, too tinny and high pitched.

I love M Parallels. Such a timeless, classic look. Great looking car.

I would be VERY wary of a car that old with so few KM on it. Has it been regularly serviced during that time? Whats the chance that if you try to put it into any sort of normal driving all the bits you normally replace over the years, fall to bits? Its a big fat nope from me, and thats even before i get to the low spec and high price.

I sold it to another member a couple of years ago. Now i own an actual classic car.

My M3 was nicer than that one, and less KM, a service history, and i had trouble selling it for $12k a couple of years ago. Prices on good E36 M3s seem to be on the rise, but thats getting damn close to E46 M3 money.

I wonder how long that leather will stay in that condition. It was pretty bad before hand, worse than my leather, and the pros said that they wouldnt guarantee the color dye would last on mine.

Thats a lovely looking car, and RHD too even (purists be dammed, no place for left hookers here). Its a hell of a lot of money though, its not far off the price of some CSLs! LOL at it being registered as a "BMW MS" though. Being sold NZ New, was it converted to RHD by the dealer? Shows as LHD on the datacard. (edit: just seen it mentioned on the other thread that it may have been done in Rotorua)

Congrats on the new car. 2011 would be a Mark 6 at a guess? I had a Mark 5 GTI a while back and loved it. DSG was an amazing transmission, and the build quality was pretty good. Not much power, but huge potential with a tune.

Recoding isnt "needed" as such, but when mine was converted it still had the Auto DME, and mine, like others, had a bad rev hang when changing gears. You get used to it, but i would recommend recoding. I wouldnt guarantee it. Mine had the jatco jerk and within a couple of thousand KM, including a trip fully loaded from CHCH to WGTN, the trans decided to give up and slip really badly and the jerk got to a point where i couldnt trust it to change gear crossing an intersection. Anyway, welcome to the club/forum, Charl. The E36 are great cars, and you will love it if/when you convert to manual, it completely transforms the car. Well worth the money.

Great looking car. How does it compare to the 370?

Customer dropped into work in his E46 M3 CSL..... oh my; first time seeing one in person, they are a cool car. This one obviously sees some hard work, wheels caked in brake dust, lowered with stoptech big brakes, harnesses and a big extinguisher on the floor. No photos because privacy and all that.