Tidy30

With quite a few things in this hobby/lifestyle, a lot of things are so uncommon that using "standard" pricing doesn't always apply as there is sometimes hardly any to compare to. Its more of a case of how much people are willing to pay. I would hold onto it and actively advertise. unlike most other plates, It certainly looks like it has a potentially large target market!

Hi, its been in my signature for a while, albeit tiny, but I am looking for some Smiley bulbs to go onto the pfl cab. Thought I'd do at least some boxing day shopping today, ha! If anyone could help with this I'd be very much obliged. Cheers

Nope! Haven't done it yet, but haven't forgotten about you Kurt. Will do it when I have some time. I've got the before and after measurements, just have to have a small dig for them

Can anyone elaborate on what kind of wheels those are? My car is a PFL, and I think the light housing is different to your FL model, but can anyone offer some insight whether the bulbs themselves are replaceable? Have been lazily looking for Smilies for a while now.

Saw another E30 cab this afternoon on Market Road in white. Had a fleeting beeping convo as we passed, anyone on here?

Back in the country now, here are some "artistic" photos of the car and it's new height from a lazy weekend afternoon:

Yeah! Great taste in taking photos of BMWs with planes!

Edit: Before you go and think the following rant is full of rage, I respect that everyone has different opinions, welcome some constructive discussion and I respect others enough to keep an open mind. I was expecting to be questioned about it sometime, and I guess it is fair enough. To save time: I have absolutely no qualms about spending a third/quarter of the price for something which looks 50% as good. I am being polite/conservative here as I think the wheels are aesthetically almost just as good. As much as I enjoy and respect the community here, I would need to take a serious look at myself if I went and spent and extra $2000 for the approval of strangers on the internet, and the entrance to arbitrarily determined levels based purely on price. I have plenty of other things to be spending my money on, and looking at the budget I've set aside for this, dollars-to-return-ratio it makes the most sense not to go for BBS branded wheels. Aside from fuel economy and alleged safety, the "effectiveness" score of my daily driver is less sensitive to performance benefits as I am not using it for the track. Any losses in the above economy and safety would only skew the decision toward keeping the bottlecaps, not toward shelling out for genuine BBS. Given that, I've done a bit of snooping in NZ already, and it appears I can save a good $200-$300 by buying whilst in the States, which is all money that goes back into the pool which can be spent on the next best dollars-to-return-ratio item. It is interesting hearing these offsets people are successfully running though. With my modified ride height and this anecdotal decision making, I'm tempted to use some Optimum K model and figure things out a bit more quantitatively...

Very interesting about your 16x9! I shall do a bit more asking I think. What did you hear about terminal shipping? Edit: I am actually very surprised about your 16x9's. It goes against what I've been told by 3 other people, 1 which I hold in pretty high regard.

Will 16x8 fit non-rolled front guards? A very reliable "mentor" says 16x8 will need quite a bit of camber/guard rolling to be legal. When I type in New Zealand and my address into the final shipping box, it adds on an "insured shipping" value of around $120. Don't know if I believe it! Pretty good. It seems we can get 4x 16x8 wheels shipped to NZ for $800NZD.

There is a pretty good Black Friday deal (will end in around 13 hours from my posting) 30% off with a code on the front page = essentially free shipping from the States! http://esmwheels.com/access/002r-p-164.html So my last question before I purchase something, anyone had any experience getting 16x8 to fit fronts for E30? I would really really prefer to keep them square/same wheels. Otherwise I will be getting Remembers 16x7 all around. Thanks!

Those don't happen to be smiley headlights?

Factory is 14x6 et35 I think. I have standard 320i brakes and callipers. You must be running spacers with your second set of wheels? (Great news for me if you somehow don't) I take it your first set is currently in your signature picture, which is pretty spectacular. I have considered briefly getting genuine wheels, however the fact I'll be using them on my daily driver makes me a little anxious running $2000 wheels. Plus the fact I'll only be spending around $600, which I don't particularly mind if I don't get back when I resell one day. I am keeping an open mind though, feel free to sway my thoughts

Hi team, I am currently posting from the big bad LA whilst on a trip here for the next few weeks. I have left things a little late, as I've been so busy but am now in a position where I have done less homework than I would have wanted. Essentially what is happening: I am in a good position to purchase a set of wheels (replicas probably!) from ebay for a great price (local/no shipping and the great exchange rate at the moment) I have hardly any luggage, but if the wheels don't fit in my checked baggage (which is pretty ambitious) I have a great deal for shipping through work, but I must be the one to send it, which means I can only ever take advantage of it when I'm actually here, so can't use it when I come home Due to not being able to find some Zender Turbos, I am going to look at some gold BBS RS replicas. The fitment however all seems very aggressive, and I'm leaning towards the "they're not going to fit" mentality. My question: Will I be able to run any of the following without needing spacers for my non-abs E30 Cab (with H&R sports cup kit):16x7 et 20 16x7 et 35 16x8 et 15 16x8 et 20 16x8 et 25 16x9 et 20 I also ask my fellow bimmersporters to comment on tyre-size availability and suitability for any of the above choices. My rear guards have been rolled very slightly, need to make sure somehow they'll fit with respects to that as well. Didn't want to ask such blunt questions without looking into it very much, but time is of the essence now. I have played around with calculators etc as I know the stock envelope, but I have little idea how much extra space there is to play with. If anyone can offer some advice, especially ones involving personal experience (are you running any of the above!) I would be much, much obliged. If they don't fit, I could sell them again in NZ, but I'd rather not squander this opportunity! Thanks, Edit: Just found this Which is stupendously cheaper. I'd like to lean towards getting these, however these are 16x8 et15. I've heard 16x8 tyre choices are very limiting however, will they need a bit of camber to fit?

I knew that was coming Andy! ha, I think the facelift cabs looks amazing, but the pfl ones look classy in a different way. The obviously look a lot more dated, but I think that kind of charm sits well with the overall aesthetics of the car just as well. They are a bit rarer, and spare bumpers etc are a lot more common. One day I will achieve my dream of finding a space pfl chrome rear bumper to replace mine, which has started to pit slightly. It seems through some slight wiki'ing cabrio rear chrome bumpers are unique only to the cabs due to length. Since tourings never came out in pfl, the pool of parts in which ti draw from for longer rear'ed E30's is halved. Did many pfl E30's come with ABS? Mine is lacking in it as well. Only consciously acknowledged/realised what a relative deathtrap I was driving the other day when I thought about how I was only 8" off the ground sitting on essentially a bendy flat metal plate with soft brakes, no airbags, ABS or roof! The houndstooth is very nice indeed. Almost, almost nicer than my blue tartan/black leather. It seems quite a few of these E30's have the half leather option, amateur-me is starting to think it may possibly have been in fact a factory option? I have a feeling the red canvas is the standard colour palate option for the Hellrot. It has the same hue and tone as mine, relatively speaking, but red instead of blue if you know what I mean. I imagine it may be a little susceptible to UV damage and sun-fade? It certainly has that look to it...

These things sure are seasonal! Another 2 E30 cabrio's spotted on trademe this evening! http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/325i/auction-666534498.htm http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/325i/auction-666319746.htm Anyone able to shed some light on these guys? I've been on the lookout for another one of these for another good friend of mine. They're certainly priced highly, but they're worth what people will pay for them I guess. I got mine for a fair bit less than these numbers, but have spent a similar amount in restoration so far.

What colour do you have in mind? Must be very difficult to choose!

North Shore E30 cab meet on the 15th Dec? Soooo keen for this! Seems like there are 3 E30 cab owners in Browns Bay now!

I'll get my friend to come along, and we go for a triple North Shore E30 cab photo shoot sometime mid December? Maybe we can get Rowan to come along as well! Sooo sweet.

What a difference good photography makes as well! Never understood why people didn't take a little extra care when it came to the photos on a listing. Sure, you'd expect people to come around for a viewing, but if the car looks like crap in the listing I'm going to be less intrigued/enthralled (very generally speaking)

Thanks John for the heads up! Have sent him a pretty generous offer for the front (not too keen on the kamei sides and rear). We shall see! PS How are those shocks coming along

I'll grab your tech1's if they don't fit Luke

Whilst possible and logical, in this instance I don't think it's the reason... otherwise he has done a rather poor job of emulating that wide blue touring!

I haven't forgotten you Chris! Already checked your listing again as soon as the thought popped into mind. Whilst temptimg, the lack of caps + powdercoat would mean replacement ones I got would probably need to get colour matched to scratch my OCD itch. Not a dealbreaker, but definitely something I've pondered briefly over. Sure thing, Ernst actually measured the before and after for me, I've yet to speak to him and the get number off him but will let everyone know when I do. Just a heads up though, I may not have time to do for the next 3.5 weeks! Going Stateside for 3 weeks and have the worst week ever at work getting things done before I head over. Definitely! Your 3rd picture is exactly what I am looking for But really, painting them looks pretty good, but it just jumps out as a slight hack job to me. The centre of the caps is already proportionally large, and painting it a different colour makes it worse. The 3 piece ones are amazing though! Don't know how much they cost, but at a high price I'm sure you could get some other pretty sweet wheels to consider. I am currently tossing up between 16" gold RS replicas like your 15"s, standard 15" weaves and 15" Zender Turbos (gotta do something while I'm in the States!). Cost is largely similar between the first 2 options, the only barrier against the replicas is the fact I may potentially need to run spacers to clear my struts. Might be a little buried here, and it's hopeful thinking but: will 16x8 et20 fit without spacers? My friend has RS replicas as well 17x8's (mystery offset, as all other replicas likely to be et20 as well, slightly less likely to be et15) and he doesn't run any spacers at all. I'd really, really like to not go for spacers due to the cert side of things. I would definitely like to fill the guards a little more! It looks worse in the photo in my sig, but in real life the rear tyres do look a little silly being tucked in like that. So yeah, next thing on the list is (headlight first) wheels, and then the search for a Tech1 kit will begin in full swing!

Why does he have a random photo of a touring from the internet in the album? Forgot to remove it after he uploaded actual pictures?