Olaf

It's a more-door (mordor?) rather than a coupe. This was up for sale not long ago yeah? If you wait patiently on the sidelines long enough, you'll find out 😀

You've never put a bicycle rack on your car, or brought a couple of sheets of gib home from Bunnings? It's not just about towing your 8 metre house to a new caravan park.

e46 and e60 CLONK out of driveways/over bumps is frequently the centre nut hasn't had enough ugga-duggas on it - if you've been changing shocks. Are your endlinks and balljoints etc correctly tightened? Worth checking. Is that castor/ackerman at work? and yes, you can reset the brake pad warning light with just the ignition key and the door, in the right sequence. Sorry can't remember or find it right now. Youtuber Bullshitkorner has a short video on how-to. HTH

Leave the aircon in there at least; the next buyer can take it on. You must promise me an evaluation ride with you. Congrats on getting it fitted, and well done the other Chris fitting it all in. You going to cert it before sale?

that's all well and good by objective measures. then introduce (say) the E-Type Jaguar. They used to be somewhat affordable. Pretty affordable, given what they were sold alongside. And viewed - at the time - as a healthy performer. Will it measure up to tour NZ in against the 08 135i you mentioned? In roadholding, performance, and safety terms, absolutely not. Yet someone who wants what they wants, won't care a fig for how much better the modern car is. Even the poor-man's E-type, the MGB. Or BGT! You're valiantly trying to pass an objective measure against a subjective item. There's a less-than-comfortable fit there. It works for you, and you're scratching your head about why someone would spend crazy money on an old E-Type. Or the MGB. And they'll recognise that the BMW 135i is a superior car, but even at the same or less money, won't provide what they're looking for. And that, is the secret sauce.

@Jun surely where there's real off-road challenge, you can take your Toyota there with great impunity and comfort that nothing complex will break, that anything you dent will be relatively inexpensive to repair, and getting yanked on a snatch-strap is less likely to damage any expensive German executive SUV? Notwithstanding your Cayenne is very capable off-road (and a very nice place to be with those awesome seats), but the Prado (or any Landcruiser) surely has less 'pucker factor'.

Damn that's a good looking car! Yours too, @adro😆 I think it's time for a swapping rematch, compare stock springs and shocks (with the big bars and staggered setup) with your Eiback/Billie touring setup. I know your bars are also big - be interesting to see if you still perceive mine as handling really flat after living with yours for a few months.

All of the Colorlock kits work excellently together. The leather cleaner works miracles. I always finish the whole lot off with Elephant Leather Preservative (from Colorlock) and it keeps things supple, protected, and looking good.

Bravo @TermiPeteNZ, sad days for Ernie and Rae parting with Black Beauty. We'll be able to see them on a run again soon. Hopefully the new keeper will be joining us!

you've nailed it. a large proportion of those greetin' about the rising price of e30's have had their blinkers on and missed the action in the 90's Japanese market. e30's are just following standard Classic Car price curves in times of economic uncertainty and at those key points along the age curve - either buyers, or the nostalgia factor coupled with the age and earnings factor of the buyer.

Nürburgring (GER), 3rd-6th June 2021: 24h Nürburgring, BMW M3 "Eifelblitz", Sabine Schmitz, Johannes Scheid Lap of honour Photo: BMW Ag

Wesley has an alternate viewpoint here:

that'll tell them.

Just as well it's not listed here, eh? Look how this has degenerated into a thread pontificating on what can be said on TradeMe (meta discussion), or on here (more meta discussion). Awesome car, who's going to buy it? As for not being able to actually ask a question on an on-line listing? Yep, limit one's ability to probe the veracity of the listing before committing to buy and being legally bound to do so. Great idea. Not. Imagine: "it's not what you said it was" "it's a 3.42 diff. it's black" "yes but you didn't say it's broken" "I didn't say it wasn't. Look, you could have asked" "How? they switched that feature off!" "you bid, you won, now pay up".

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. It's like Tom Waits' measure of a Gentleman. "A Gentleman knows how to play the piano accordion. But doesn't."

^^ this! (or Goo Gone). Then agitate with an electric toothbrush. Use an old head of course.

Indeed, MKII Jaguars used to be $2k with a couple of bodies and engines for spares, and we used to buy VW Beetles or Split-screen Kombis for under a grand. Supply has diminished and demand has increased; nostalgia burrows its way into bank accounts and slush funds with remarkable fluidity. 😉 This is a good thing I reckon. Desirability keeps these models alive. The Allegro is an obvious exception. 😁

No.

For a serious buyer, just one drive of this car, and your doubts will vanish while your wallet opens. It’s a beaut. I followed it across the tops on the Gentle Annie a couple of years back, it’s composed, handles excellently, and the glorious noise from what is a docile car in town, is honey to any car lover.

As in any part of life where there’s expertise in servicing any equipment (not just BMWs), there’s excellence and something that passes for service, and plenty of arrogance in between at both ends of that continuum, and in between.

... and this one's err interesting.

For ya'll lacking cool points, you can make friends with this new errr member.

PS:

^^ this is the correct answer. The only reason these cars are "known for it" is that people don't follow the recommended maintenance schedule, flush and replace with Genuine BMW Coolant every two years. I do mine annually as a precaution. As you can see in Promo's picture, someone's been running green coolant. Probably replaced it too late. If it is the valley pipe, there's an expanding replacement tube available in the aftermarket. @NZPanda the way your MBI works is you put it into the workshop, they do diagnosis and liaise with your MBI provider on your behalf. If the claim is approved, you pay your excess. Oh - and Jom's suggestion of suspecting the sensor is also a very good one. They're cheap and they do fail, incl the seal.

Thanks Jon @E30 325i Rag-Top we appreciate you keeping the lights on!