Nic325i

Due to a need for a bigger vehicle, my M325i is on the market Trademe Asking 12k - open to realistic offers... as people know, not so many original ones left anymore. edit - SOLD

assuming the original post was correct, not a motorway - a "B" road is pretty much single lane highway, but unlikely to be a residential street

Not a fan of the rear spoilers (in particular the boot top item) - otherwise, wow!

I've heard the story about the right hand drive M3 before. I was told by someone near the top of the BMW club that he had owned it some years before, traded it to Jerry Claytons for an obscene amount (new 3 series plus cash I think from memory) and regretted it ever since. According to his story the car was still in JC's collection (about a year ago) so would seem odd for it to have come onto the market? BMW CC members story matched the one here about it being a demo model built, did the show/dealer rounds and then got stranded here when the stockmarket crashed.

I'm about to put mine on the market - and would sell ASAP for the right price... Diamondschartz, 1990, NZ New - proper M325i and essentially stock, bar headers and intake done by a previous owner. 230,000 km, mostly open road for the last 60,000 at least. Serviced regularly, previously owned by mechanics at Jerry Claytons and Coutts Mercedes. Recent work done BM Workshop/Team McM/Autohaus Rotorua. New clutch 5,000 km ago, new head gasket 3,000 ago. Flew through warrant mid January with no issues at all. Exterior in good condition, standard stone chips round the front, but otherwise nice. Interior generally good, though seats could use some love and dash has the normal crack just to the right of the glovebox. Asking $10,000

Sorry about the delay, had to find the box (just moved house) - it is actually only 256mb, MSI Megastick http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/ia/...ail.php?UID=543 Has a radio, works as memory stick etc. Yours for $40 or make an offer.

I've got a 512 megabyte something sitting in its packaging at home - won it as a prize, but never use it. If it is of interest I can get more details. Has built in FM radio.

I had my car (not an M3 unfortunately) checked at BM Workshop on New North Road. Can't remember the price, but it was only slightly more than AA. The check seemed very good - haven't had any problems come up that I wasn't forewarned about.

Just clocked 224000. Original clutch replaced 2000km ago, also had engine, diff and gearbox mounts, bearings in prop, a few cambelts... Still runs nice

I used some stuff called Liquid Leather on my steering wheel and gearknob - Liquid Leather Worked really well, three stage process, cleaner -> colouring agent -> conditioner. This was about 2 years ago and it is still looking good (might give it another go sometime though). Thought I had some before and after shots, but can't find them.

1990 M325i, 221,000km Average on the open road is about 9l/100km. Filled last week, ~650km was 57l. Mostly open road drving, plus a couple of trips up to Turoa ski field. Filled yesterday, all open road driving, 480km was 40 litres - can't imagine getting to much better than this. Don't ever drive around town enough to really get a good figure - probably 12-13l/100km

Not a fan of soft tops full stop, but would prob go for E46. Z4 also cool. Not a fan of new 6 series vert - looks average with the roof up (more average than most convertibles).

Disagree completely. IMO it is stupid to drive on the open road at any time without headlights on. So much more visible at a distance. I Forget the number of times I have seen a more distant car with lights on before noticing a closer car without lights on.

and also the largest group of Mercedes dealers in the UK (or did?)

Most likely linked to NZ topgear magazine I would guess.

Would this mean the guys insurance (?) would not have paid out? If so, ouch

Go to e30zone.co.uk, register for the forums and look in the engine swaps/forced induction forum - there is a guy putting this engine in an E30 wagon, hooked up to an 850 6 speed gearbox. Had a few issues along the way (stuffed camshaft, first gearbox was lunched), and hence getting pretty pricey from the sounds of it, but cool nonetheless. My guess would be good luck finding an 850 gearbox floating around NZ.

Copied from the BMW M Registry "How does the South African-spec S50 B32 engine differ from that of the European-spec version? Due to low-octane fuel requirements, the S50 B32 motors produced for South Africa utilize different pistons which result in a reduced compression ratio of 10.5:1. These engines produce 310 hp (DIN) at 7,400 rpm and 251 lb/ft of torque at 3,250 rpm." Euro/NZ spec should be 321 hp and 258 lb/ft torque, although there has been some "debate" about how realistic the 321 hp figure really is.

What doesn't make much sense to me is the increasing gaps between series - e.g. 3 series E21 -> E30 -> E36 -> E46 -> E90? 5 series E12? -> E28 -> E34 -> E39 -> E60 What happened to all the numbers in between? I guess some might be used by prototypes, variants etc, but seems a little weird. Otherwise, don't think it will affect my life if a car company changes the letter they use for internal designation of model lines.

The last one looks like the same car to me.

Did they fail it on backrests being loose - had a fail in my car on that, pulled seat apart and welded cracked bracket. Easy fix. Have a good link on the process, but can't find it - will post if I locate it. EDIT - see this old thread

No probs, there are some interesting other articles there as well. Link.

Try this link Not sure if it contains anything you didn't know, but seems pretty solid info.

Never had a problem with it - I've got one of the woollen wash mitts, which is sweet. Wax/polish is Meguiars (dark red bottle, forget the name). Fair enough, woollen mitt seems to do a good job of picking up the dirt.

Why use carwash at all? If car is waxed properly you shouldn't need it, dirt will just fall off the car.