Olaf

Akebono Ceramic: very little dust and they last FOREVER. Literally. Mine have been on about 9 years, ~90k kms, same rotors, still tons of meat on the pads, and the slotted rotors are wearing very sparingly. Downside is they have no initial bite like OE Textar/ATE etc, and they need to be warm. Would not buy again, would not recommend. Choose stopping over cleanliness! Just buy the Hawk HPS and be done with it. Reasonsable dust (nothing like OE), great braking performance. In fact - next time, assuming my car retains M54B25, I'd just put Hawk HPS pads on with braided lines and wouldn't bother with the 330 brake upgrade, it's unwarranted. In your case though, going with B30 I think the 330 brake setup is a wise precaution. The HPS are great for street use, I hve them on my e60 and e30. Steering Coupling: Go genuine. It'll last another 15-18 years, and you'll have no issues with increased NVH. Why wouldn't ya? Sensors: VNE are excellent. ISTR it was VNE came off my e60 when exhaust cam sensors were replaced. O2 Sensors: I replaced all four, it purrs like a kitten now. Bosch. Discussed this with a BMW Master Tech (after I'd done it) and recounted what a difference it made to the running, responsiveness, and fuel economy;, he concurred and wondered why more people didn't do this. Again, why wouldn't ya? They're not expensive, and they're part of the DME control. Power Steering Pump LF20: Your car was spec'd with it, why wouldn't you continue with it? Overthinking - quite possibly. New or a good used unit (most have the same issues). @Autoglym you've some e46 Power Steering experience, what do you recommend? Was it the LF30 you found painful? HTH

I used reinforcement plates because they were available, factory part, seemed like a good idea - I thought "oh if the factory are making these and they're readily available, must be mitigating a risk? I'll have some of them." I think the ones I used for the rear weren't factory. I used Meyle HD rear shock mounts, and I think lemforder everywhere else (though I used Meyle HD for wishbones and front LCA bushings). HTH.

bonus, less pricey than dealer retail on the Dunlops. Are you rating them?

@Vass There's *definitely* different springs for 4 and 6 cyl, Sedan, Coupe, Convertible, Touring. Touring rear springs need a bit more beef, and Convertibles a bit more again - counteracting the extra weight. You can get three or four different sizes of spring pads. Mine's on stock springs but one broke; I bought a pair from a wrecker but he sent 4 cyl coupe springs so it was too low at rear. I found a pair with Orange tags (wagon standard) from a knowlegdable user on here, they've been good but have sagged a little, unsurprising as the car is 20 years old now and one assumes the springs are around that age. The big improvement was the Msport ARBs - 24 and 19 (from memory?) and the style 194's - you get 20mm extra track with 245/40R17 at the back over the stock Msport rims... it really flattened it out and way less input from steering wheel for curves at touring speeds. Still you've got those awesome rims, so 18" lushness. I've replaced rear trailing arm bushes, I forget it we did subframe as well. It's not a car you need poly bushes (anywhere) for IMHO. Re springs, @adro reminded me a while ago that Stretten - Mr M539 on youtube - mentioned that Msport equivalent springs he used on Project Cologne (his e46 touring). I think they're reasonably priced sourced from Rock Auto. I think I'd rather have these than my standard go-to H&R Sportsprings. HTH

PS: You realise your Touring has not just a song, but an entire theme album? https://open.spotify.com/album/1QYq1fGyMvbGtvEla84FtC?si=S1ZvsXLrS3anxWUo986lmQ

test post

It's looking mighty fine these days!!! I drove Mini-Me to get these photos, it'd been nearly two years since I last drove it. I know I've said it before, but it's really come further than the last time. It's a really pleasant place to be, the M42 is great, the auto is sweet - changing down automatically, never hunting, shifting quickly without jerkiness - and easy to drive, the suspension is just right for stock ride height, roll is minimal, brakes are very good... The stereo works well, (showing my my speakers are a bit knackered!), it's a lovely car to drive. You're reminded you're driving a 34 year-old car that has no rattles or clunks, and is tight and quiet. You just don't find that in Toyotas with over 200k kms on them.

$46k is a strong price for that car, it's a long long way from concourse and priced accordingly. IMHO.

///M325i sports have taken a ride on the coat-tails of M3. M3 is still high. Collector-grade ///M325i (how many are there - approx five in the country?) are rarely sold, so unable to suggest these have dropped. In the third division (not msport but high-quality cars), those who *need* to sell will take what they're offered. In the fourth division (what they call grade D in UK), there's dross acheiving good sales. We're heading into a recession, velocity will be slow. Consumer confidence is at it's lowest since 1990. I remember 1990 well, it was bloody austere. Accordingly, people will be leaving their hands in the pockets. Meanwhile those with really solid cars will simply hang on to them and enjoy them, while the market stabilises and either supply diminishes or confidence returns. This could coincide with a change of government next year. I've seen this happen in the 80's, 90's, 00's. Rumours of the demise of the e30 are greatly exaggerated. 😎 Unless all classics (including 80's and 90's Japanese sports, Australian muscles) have tanked, the e30 will still be firm, if slow. Cheers

I've just caught up with your project @Vass, very impressed. I like that you're going M54B30, and 5 speed. The extra torque of the 3.0L really makes a difference over the M54B25. I plan on refreshing the suspension on my e46 touring (last done about 8 years ago with Sachs OE and ///Msport ARBs) with Konis and Msport springs, and in future a 5 speed conversion. Subscribed!

if you can build an immaculate 4 dr 325i for under $30k, do it!

what sort of price were the S1 Evo2's per corner, Nick @m325i? I reckon the F25 isn't worth running without RFT's - no space for a spare and jack, and the load space isn't huge to start with!

Given a red coupe with no wof or rego, rust, blown M10, auto, went for $8500 in the last couple of weeks, I think you're wrong. Basically a tidy rolling coupe is now worth $8-10k. A tidy four cylinder coupe is asking around $15-25k. You've been claiming the e30 market is over-valued for years; can't understand why yours is not offered at a price that supports your argument!?

Mine had one in *exactly* the same place! it developed very slowly over about 7 years to about half of what yours is. I got it attended to by the panel beater while it was in for minor damage repair (a small dent and broken tail light). Had ours 10 years now, not parting with it any time soon!

One to steer clear of I reckon. Just doesn't look right, panels not lining up well, adequate but not great paint. Either it's had a huge hit or scrape all down the passenger side, or they've simply forgotten to reverse it out of the driveway and photograph it. Another one for "how not to sell your car".

no, it's an 80's/90's car thing. Check out Toyota Supras, Mitsubishi Starions, RX7s and see how many moonbeams you need for that kit.

Well spotted! It's wearing a PFL door trim painted black, it was on it when I bought it. I have new clips and a good trim, waiting to go on. 🙂

Thanks team! @E28E30, @freaknout, @balancerider. Plenty more work to do on it. Tacho was misbehaving on startup yesterday, working like a switch (1500 --- 2000 ----1400...) until the car had warmed up. Time to get the cluster out, go through and re-flow all the joints, replace the cluster batteries. Next month it's time to go through my parts inventory, and get through some M42 planning. The things rattling around in my head (in no particular order): Order new exhaust in preparation. I have 3M caulk for replacing internal plastic weathershielding behind the door panels, and get the plastic. Still need to make my mind up about the M42-purple tag conversion hose/pipe setup from UK. Maybe paint the 4.10 diff and get new seals for it. Get the exhaust manifold blasted and coated, clean up and paint a valve cover - Silver or black? And get a bit more prep for Coil-On-Plug setup. I rather like the idea of a valance and extended bolts to retain the BMW valley cover with Coil-On-Plug, so there's a bit of research to do there. And I still need to get a Barina/Corsa linkage, and get a local driveshaft shop sorted for doing the work to make the purple-tag to Corsa linkage. I also have sound deadening to do in the rear, and install the late-model parcel shelf & hi-stop brake light, and the premium rear speakers. Put the FL RF door trim on, in place of the PFL one that's there at the moment. Source fabric for upholstery refresh - it'd be good to get rid of the ugly seat covers. Finally put a BMW Car Club sticker or two on it. Figure out when the right time to put the iS sticker on. PS: driving a 32 year old car with a silky-light clutch, very good brakes and handling, zero rattles or clunks, is very satisfying.

The steady supply of these onto the market continues, just keep watching TradeMe. There's a non-Msport one advertised in Welly recently for under $12k (!), in good condition, well maintained and under 160k kms. Bargain. Mine's on the Dunlop BMW-part number runflats, I think they're pretty good, nice match to the suspension and not harsh. A little noisy on coarse chip. Aparrently Pirelli's (BMW part number) are great but chop out quickly in NZ road conditions, according to the dealer I bought it from. He's owned a few F25s and prefers the Dunlops. I agree with @qube, the LCI's look nicer, though not worth the premium, despite a few improvements.

It's been a pretty quiet time lately. Winter, and recently Covid, have slowed me down. A sunny day yesterday in Welly, I thought I'd take Grey Thunder to run a couple of errands (recovering from Covid is taking some time), and I'm glad I did. I grabbed a phone shot of it parked in the sun, sporting the recently-acquired 15's. I think it's looking pretty spiffy! The extra half-inch of track is useful too, my initial impression is that the 15J7 setup better suits/matches the 14.5mm rear bar. Happy days. Now, to keep on with Covid recovery. Nasty business.

Yep, I've got a F25 X3 30D Msport. Very impressed with it. Easy to drive, handles pretty well - not at e60 545i levels, but grippy and far less roll and compromised handling than you'd expect. The torque is addictive. My first Diesel, I'm really enjoying it. I aim for a good run every month to keep the DPF clear. You can find them for around $25-35k for pre-LCI versions. The Msport is better-spec'd; most NZ new don't appear to have had the msport springs and dampers, which is apparently a good thing as it's well-balanced without. The suspension works well with RFTs. The X-drive gives it a certain advantage in the tight and twisty stuff, I'm surprised at how much I like it. Put a search out on the Tard, there's usually one coming to market every week. I think the 35i would be fun too. EDIT: Oh, you become surprised to learn it's two tonnes... it doesn't feel like it, though if you do short running up and down hills it does slurp a bit more than you'd expect. Factor in the weight, and it all makes sense. Put it on a trip and it's pretty parsimonious.

I do! Thanks for the shout @Young Thrash Driver, I'll catch up on the thread now 😊

Ha ha. Big shots in their own minds. Only, they haven't made an offer. You've listed a price; it's up to them to make an offer. These doofuses are not getting laid. They've no technique for foreplay, and they don't have the chatup techniques. They're rushing to close where there's no opening. Yes I know what I did there.

Ha ha. Big shots in their own minds. Only, they haven't made an offer. You've listed a price; it's up to them to make an offer. These doofuses are not getting laid. They've no technique for foreplay, and they don't have the chatup techniques. They're rushing to close where there's no opening. Yes I know what I did there.

Point of fact: it wasn't a question, it was a statement! 🤗 I'm not excusing the vendor! Actually I think he has read my publication "How not to list your car for sale", and really took to heart the photography section. Also, if you're looking at buying a modified vehicle and enquiry on mod and cert status is answered the same way this guy has, it's very difficult to proceed. You'll be wondering what else has been hidden, or what cowboy repairs have been effected. Can't believe I sold my genuine, alpinweiss, well-maintained (and improving) 1989 e30 325i Manual Touring for two thousand four hundred quid.