Nic325i

I'm a past owner - hence I claim the right to comment To my mind that is one of the highlights of compulsory insurance - it is a self regulating mechanism for keeping relatively inexperienced/immature drivers away from certain cars. There would always be exceptions/problems, but I think it would be a net gain...

For complex reasons I have this on loan for the next month or so. 2001 330i touring, ~80,000km, one careful lady owner. "Unfortunately" during the time I have it I need to get to the Coromandel a few times, which should be fun... Only driven round town so far, but seems to go pretty well

Everything else in the same picture is. Looks a bit odd without the roof rails imo.

Used tires yes, but used cars are not necessarily junk - imho it is more that Japan/Singapore are over zealous in taxing perfectly good older cars off the road. I wouldn't count on (or expect for that matter) any M325i appreciating significantly - certainly not enough to offset the cost of keeping it in sufficiently good condition. Nice cars, but not sufficiently special.

The four I just found don't look particularly low priced - more that they look rattier than the ones that have been appearing in the last few months. Couldn't see any Mtech II's for sale still.

Why would you. Extra cost admittedly, but having both is convenient

Not far from where I used to live. Born in Ipswich, lived near Colchester, then moved to Knutsford (near Altrincham/Manchester), then moved to Auckland in 1991. Been back a couple of times since, and will be again next year. Gutted we lost the cricket overnight, so guess I'm not much of a pom anymore...

As a financial decision that would probably rate alongside investing in Zimbabwean currency... Especially when it is advertised as having electrical issues.

Just tried a couple of time now, seems to work OK.

I'd imagine there were a lot less treatments available even 20 years ago - and probably quite a few "harden up" pills prescribed also. You are exactly right on both of the above - the bank is only interested in how much is left to pay them. Ergo student loan does have an effect, but effectively as an extra tax. When we got our mortgage the bank (ASB incidentally) showed how much they would loan us with and without a large student loan - it was f$%^ all difference. I think the rule of thumb they work on is about 5* gross salary. On tired doctors, it is ridiculous. After seven 10 hour nights in a row my girlfriends conversational ability regresses to about that of a four year old... Haven't been paying attention long enough to have the answer, but I suspect that a lot of it would be down to luck. However, it could also be due to our decline in the OECD rankings - 1st in the 1950's (???) to 2nd division now. Re: comments about nurses, I believe they got a pretty generous pay settlement about 18 months ago. At any rate, from what I've heard nurses are like every other profession - some are excellent, some are really really sub par. Regards An engineer

I think it looks awful. The picture of it alongside the original indicates it is far too large. To me it looks more like a Detroit muscle car caricature than a BMW.

Similar disclosure - partner is 3rd year doc at Auckland. Cam's facts are pretty much spot on. The most galling aspect to my partner is that she works alongside Locums who get 75$/hr, choose the hours they want, where they want, and manage to get 40 hours per week no issues. Before someone says "well go and do that then", she has considered it - but in answer to other posters who suggested doctors only get into it for the money, she doesn't feel it is right to abuse the system that way. What is needed is more dhb recognition of loyalty - bonuses for working a full 12 months contracted etc. Not necessarily higher salaries. Student loan doesn't really come into mortgage applications - the bank looks at "take home" pay rather than gross, so for someone with a student loan it is just like they pay 3%(??) more tax.

That would be short wouldn't it... "If you can, you must"

$20-30k doesn't get much of a 911 here from what I've seen. Think the daggy end of late 70's/early 80's. I thought seriously about 944S2/Turbo a couple of years ago, but practicality got in the way. Research suggested that even "cheap" older Porsches would be expensive to use daily - I guess M-car rather than plain BMW prices. My choice would be 968CS or 993

L is for long, not luxury - "i" is about 5m total length, "iL" is about 5.1m, "L7" is about 5.4m.

They started off almost twice as expensive too - 170k vs 90k

I think from memory it is on the Irish coast. ETA: search for October 20 2006 here

Still easier to read than text speak though.

your - you're grammer - grammar dont - don't Pot...black?

If only I was in the area... hope you find the right buyer.

km/tank is not really a very useful unit is it. The interweb indicates that an X5 has an 85 litre fuel tank - our Mazda 6 (2.3 petrol) would do 1000km if it had a tank that size. Not a fan of hybrids. I've been told that the cost and lifespan of the batteries means that hybrids basically have a lifespan of 10 years - hard to see how that is environmentally friendly.

+1 - Gran Turismo has always been ruined by the poor interaction between cars. The V8 supercars games (and TOCA before that) are pretty good to. The chance of losing wheels is a good incentive not to use opposition cars as driving aids.

Cheers for the response Oscar. Hope I haven't caused offence - as you noted, it's only my opinion.For the record I would love to have any E30 M3... I understand what you are saying about convertibles. One of my best moments travelling overseas was when a Mustang softtop picked us up hitchhiking on a sunny day in Canada. It basically "made" what had already been a great trip. More generally though I am not really a softtop fan, I think it's because I'm too pasty and burn too much! To clarify, in my original post I was mentally comparing your convertible to an M3 Sport Evo, which tend to go for about 20-25k pounds in the UK. Of course, I couldn't import and use the Sport Evo yet, so maybe that is not a fare comparison. Anyway, good luck with the sale, and congrats on the car. Nic

My understanding is that although the Z3 rack is less turns lock-to-lock than the M3 rack, they actually have the same ratio - i.e. one turn of the steering wheel produces the same change of angle at the wheels. This implies that the maximum turn available from the Z3 rack is less than the M3 rack, i.e. you'd have a worse turning circle. e30zone.co.uk used to have good information about the various options. Nic

Would be more effort than it's worth. Plenty of good E24s around. Bear in mind that E24s are renowned for rusting even when looked after, and that some of the body panels are pretty pricey - front wings spring to mind. Best use might be as a donor for transplant - 335 anyone?