Olaf

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!

Yep reported it immediately. I think she’s been listening to Lou Reed’s New Sensations. My red joystick…

It did about 380kms over the weekend, ran well and didn't use a drop of oil.

You'll probably find Koba less expensive. I don't have access. Use your google foo.

yeah it's a recall item in USA but not in NZ.

When required. Symptoms include frequent discharge condition, odd codes. Battery testing. Still, my old bettery (a Marshall) was testing okay though giving issues (I'd already changed IBS)... changing it out for a new battery and ensuring correct registration resolved problem. Bear in mind the IBS cable causes issues (545i); there's an updated part available - not sure if all 550's already got the later part. HTH

I got an AGM Koba SA59520 95AH (20HR), 850A (EN), 180MIN (RC) battery for my 545i and am *very* happy with it. It was not particularly pricey. You need a DIN88L.

the tech term for that is "farked". wow. do you like steel with your helping of rust?

Thanks Matt @balancerider me too, got to get to the end of renovations first. I continue to build up parts for the conversion.