Olaf

welcome, Adam. The place to start would normally be in the "new members intro" thread (or whatever it's called). So, to your query. The 325i you've linked to looks pretty spartan, no carpets, race seat... the seller states he's selling to build an e36 that is more road than race... inferring his e30 is more race than road. And it's listed in the Competition Cars section. WoF is long expired - and one wonders if the brakes have been certed. Looks like a cool car, not so sure it meets your idea of "fun and zippy" and "not too much track stuff". It's probably very zippy, and a bunch of fun. It is on Koni adjustables and Toyo R888s, so it should go round corners well (ref also Hampton Downs times). We need to get an idea of what fun means to you. One man's fun is another man's agony! Perhaps you could give us an idea of how much motorsport you're thinking of participating in? cheers

sound plan, Dan!

so it's just going to sit there, cocooned, until your Cortina is completed?

scrubbed the windscreen with rain-x extreme cleaner, and then rain-x'ed the screen. in preparation for the over-hyped weather bomb the media is talking (nay, screaming) up... it's just wind, we get it all the time in Wellington! and filled it up with 98.

wow, somewhat 'coals to newcastle' with an e30 going from Niu Zild to Scotland! I remember the plate too, and used to knock around in Karori. BarryN may know a bit more...

the value thing is relative. the taxi can be fixed by pretty much any garage for pocket change; the BMW can't. Perhaps that contributes to the relatively low depreciation. The canny taxi buyer recognises the two year older 5er will empty his wallet faster than a lap dancer on acid. still, you wished for a Euro; and you have one!

yeah come on Mac, what's the story?? How far did you get with this?

wow just saw this sounds kinda cool. make an outstanding wellington meet up, eh? you got any images of how this amazing rig looks, Mike?

^^ do you mean S1E10 of The Grand Tour??

^^ Top Trumps advertising!

Jason Shirt. Sorry, can't resist, despite the minor speling difference. Camisa is spanish for shirt.

welcome, Andrew!

woohoo! awesome. straight into the m535i now...

yes! thanks Kyu, and sorry Greg I meant if I bought it, it'd be street-parked and dailied...

sorely tempting, though parking it outside on the street and the daily commute would probably kill it. GLWS!

hmmm, interesting. Having owned and loved an e30 325i Touring (manual), and now owning and loving an e46 325i Touring (Auto), I see the e46 - overall - as a better car. It's certainly not as immediate, it's heavier... but brakes, steering, suspension, safety.... hmm - on the road from here to Auckland, it'd be the e46 every time for me. Still, that's a lovely e30 touring. he's acheived what I had in mind for mine, when I owned it.

another comical spelling mistake. It's actually called The Swinger. why? because it's the love-child resulting from the swingers party that was furtively attended by a Commodore, Maserati, Audi, Dodge, Jaguar, Ford, Mazda, and a Kia!

I give you: Ling Long HiFly insert cheap sub-standard tyres here. Darwin would disagree that purchasers of these products were blessed with even average intelligence!

I wouldn't be caught alive with one of these bypass systems, let alone dead. There are tons of cheap-assed tyres on the market as well. I don't care how many (stupid) people buy them, it doesn't make em good/appropriate/safe; I think your logic is flawed. I'm disappointed to note my e46 has been through two seat occupancy sensor mats in 4.5 years. It's not cheap, it's a product failure, and it's bloody inconvenient. I won't compromise on the safety of any passenger in my vehicle. A life is worth more than the mere cost of the repair job, and I'm not chancing it with a modification to the operation of active safety systems in the hope they'll protect effectively. Engineers spent many thousands of hours devising these safety systems. It amazes me to think that folks think bypassing them or modifying them is a *good idea*.

road trippin'! great to see your car getting used, and not living life as a garage queen. loving the new wheels, Barry!

^^ what Andy said. I tend to buy the whole kit, change it all out in one go, then you're sorted and your vehicle is in good shape for the next 100k kms. Any parts from the kit that you don't use, stay on the shelf for when they are needed.

agreed! it's got a classical feel about it, despite being cuttingly modern. plenty of line and proportion from the new 7er, as well, I think. I'd buy one, if the lotto gods are with me.

late-80's BMW NZ did a cool full-page advert for April Fools Day about how the new 7 series grill slats moved to change airflow with speed, for improved drag coefficient. Great that this has surpassed mere humour to become reality! Somewhere in the attic I still have a copy of the advert.

ha! necsis corners market in e39s!

Honest John warns that the air springs go on the 2001-2006 Allroads, they appear to be around USD300 a piece. http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/audi/a6-allroad-2000/ "Audi A6 Allroad 2000-2007 rated 6th most likely car built 1997-2009 to suffer expensive problems according to Warranty Direct December 2012 Reliability Index , with an index of 502 (compared with a rating of 6 for the best)." Not exactly a recommendation for cheap motoring!