Olaf

this is not intended to be our offspring's runabout. I'll no doubt sort them into something like an e46 for appropriate safety, when they're ready - and licensed - to drive on their own. ?

I was kindly alerted of this by an old highschool mate. His Mum was about to sell, having had it since 1997. Would I be interested in an NZ-new 1990 316i manual? Turned out to be full poverty-spec, 103hp, 4 private owners, 257,000 kms, and reasonably tidy. Our offspring are approaching driving age, and I want them to learn in a simple manual gearbox car, with none of those fancy driving aids we associate with steering, these days. Helps that one can see every corner of the car, too. Sr E-Thirty Andy kindly agreed to come with for inspection, as e30 expert to help with my mid-range mech capability. We determined that it was an honest, reasonably tidy example, needing some TLC. It had only been doing around 250km per year for a number of years now, but had been garaged. It started (stone cold) willingly, first go. Serviced last week by Mike Page. It was sold through Shelly BMW when new, and when the last owner bought it new; I even found @Barryn's card in the service book from back in the day. A deal was struck, I did the ownership change, paid the cash, got the key stuck in the driver's door, Andy sorted that out, phoned insurance and paid, and set out for Wellington from Paraparaumu. I'm pretty taken by it, it's nice to be back in an e30. Plans: give it TLC to get it machanically sorted (clutch and associated bushes and seals), precautionary cambelt kit, general servicing and maintenance (leads, cap, rotor, fan clutch). In summer, check out what's underneath those front guards, and sort out bootlid keep it fairly stock for next three years until both of our scone-grabbers have their licenses then - quite possibly - make it into a well-sorted clone of Andy's "MY E30". Or at the very least, a 318iS. Hence "project" rather than showroom. Here she is in monochromatic glory:

yesterday I... added BMW #3 to the fleet. Come to think of it. @Haitoman we passed you in the opposite direction (Kapiti somewhere), while you were out in the M3. Only saw you at the last moment, such was my e30 reverie... Today, I took a train to Petone with my lad, to collect it. Showroom page coming soon.

Pictures or this did not happen and you clearly wrote this while dreaming!

Well said.

Yep, Darwin award. For all this HSE stuff we talk about these days... he clearly hadn't been trained about the dangers of acetylene, or even welding.

That'll make for interesting reading. We're all hoping it's resolved to your satisfaction. The dealer sounds like a right arse. Upsetting the workshop isn't going to help them. And attempting to limit information further casts them in a bad light. You have it right, you're the customer and owner of the car, they are paying the bill.

@Barryn do you need spares?

Yep, like all those adverts for Scooby Legacy GT manual. “Rare 5sp”. Yeah right. So rare they’re always for sale.

what's the going rate for 14" or 15" bottle caps?

to be fair, about $6k of that value is in the pristine un-cracked dashboard, $4k in the low mileage, and $2k in the leather and manual box ?

Ha, as you know the glass is more important (along with the nut behind the lens); D700 is still a great bit of kit with lovely colours. Only sold mine a few months ago, trying to shift my 3rd D3 which is taking some time. D810 on the horizon, for me, I'm no early adopter. We'll get to shooting when you find opportunity. I'll IM.

I thought you were a full-on Canon shooter. is the nikon your personal kit? ?

if it's firmly in "hobby" and not "speculative", surely a lengthy rebuild of the white one is not an issue? good point about the red vs white. you'd need to find storage for the white one immediately and dismantle it, if you're buying the red one. or double storage if you're going to reshell the white one into your bronzit beauty. It's a tough position.

PS: I think we all told you to buy the Red One. Is it sold now?

this. your re-shelled 525e will be worth about what, $7k? And it will always be a replicar. A great ///M535i goes up in value. Add a couple of Tom Cruise images into your sales ad for the 525e and it'll GO. It's all down to committment. If you can find a good panelbeater who will do it as a downtime job, it'll take a few years and cost less. Perhaps in the Wairarapa?

looks superb, Adrian. My photography took on a particularly nocturnal phase while our bairns were young, that was the time I could get out without impacting domestic situation. Ready to shoot with you whenever you like.

go hard. that they were looking to leverage YOUR mechanical insurance to repair/resolve their merchantable goods issue was the first indicator of trouble. My suggestion would be to steer your lawyer towards return of goods and full refund, plus your legal costs. Appears - based on their behaviour - that further work on compromise just draws it out/weakens your position. Let us know who the dealer is, too. Help avoid doing business with them. PS: if you must have a compromise position, it's that they transport it to Winger BMW in Wellington, and pay for the resolution there.

I have a copy-writing Service ? GST receipt provided!

can be frustrating, aye. both as candidate, and hiring manager. find a good one, and the pain is minimised. Which field, Cory?

this is an awesome and well-sorted car. good luck with your sale, Allan ?

@eliongater

Early days, yet. I'll give my thoughts after a decent drive, really only commuting at the moment.

interesting they've given you more toe - beyond the spec - at front and rear. Is this a compromise between 335i and M3 spec?

Absolutely not. Day after buying, it's the car dealer's responsibility to put it right to the buyer's satisfaction, or reject the goods. Dave's advice above is bang-on. Giving away your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act needlessly for what? https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/consumer-guarantees-act