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Neil McCauley

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Posts posted by Neil McCauley

  6. Posted · Report reply

    A twin cam E30 vert with a slightly shorter wheel base...  What could go wrong!

    Seriously though, my first car was an E36 318iS which quickly got chopped for an E30 and they were great to fang around without getting into too much trouble in the early 2000's.

    I think rather than the handling or power aspects of any first car, more thought should be put into skill set building. I remember that at 16 we were lucky enough to have driver training offered around the old Manukau Super Stage with properly setup cars, on adjustable dollies to mimic differing driving scenarios. Having that knowledge of how cars react in certain situations and how to recover from them saved my bacon many a time as a teen - because teens do dumb sh*t, and it's a bit late to work things out when there's unexpected rotation at the point of diminishing talent.

    The bonus of buying a manual 6 cylinder Z3 is that he'll definitely not lose money on it!

    • Like 1

  18. Posted · Report reply

    After an E9x 335d? This is the one you want. Alloy block and head M57TU2.

    175,783km which will go up occasionally, RUC’s paid to 182,012km. Regged till next year and just flew through a VTNZ wof.

    This has been my fast / reliable daily for the last 40,000km with cost being no object to upkeep when I was commuting 160km a day. Usage case has dropped to below 8000km a year, so it's possibly time to downsize to a smaller diesel.

    The Good:

    Serviced from new at Jerry Clayton until 120xxx km, and then Continental BMW / Hell BM / Bellar's / Hansen’s Auto from 135xxx under my ownership.

    To my knowledge, this is the only E9x 335d in NZ with the Harmon Kardon stereo, I won't buy another BMW without it - it's such a massive improvement over the poverty versions. Very well specced for tech, with internet prep / combox / bluetooth / professional nav / usb / music via mobile all optioned in. Hardwired Passport radar as well.

    Has the later style Magneti Marelli xenon’s which look vastly better than the Hella version.

    Electronically folding tow bar that hides away under the rear bumper (spot the spelling mistake in BMW NZ's label).

    Under my ownership:

    Updated PCV valve to the improved later design, all pipes replaced.

    All filters replaced as required.

    NEW intake manifold and all gaskets replaced.

    New transmission sump.

    Wheel speed sensors.

    New 92AH AGM battery (genuine).

    6 new glow plugs and glow plug control unit.

    Battery terminal and blower controller recalls carried out.

    Currently sitting on 19” BMW Performance style 313 wheels with Michelin PS4S rubber, the wheels were fully refinished by Arrow Wheels to as new with diamond faces, and the rubber is showing 5mm tread all round.

    Racechip XLR throttle controller installed, which takes all the delay out of the electronic pedal in the sportier settings.

    Brand new ATE discs and pads in the rear, installed 500km ago. BMW F series 4 piston Brembo performance calipers up front with 340mm floating discs (to be installed today maybe?).

    BMW Performance black grills installed, and I’ll throw in a NOS BMW Performance carbon fibre mirror cap, see if you can have better luck than me finding the other side to match.

    Black number plates installed.

    All of the engine work done is a “when not if” when it comes to the M57, and I wouldn’t buy and M57 without this work having been done or factoring it into the purchase price.

    All emissions gear is still in place, and the TU2's don't eat intake manifold butterflies like the 4 banger diesels do.

     

    The Bad:

    Definitely a “6fter” – the paint comes up well with a polish, but there are scratches that could be extracted from the clear coat if you wanted – winters are fairly harsh in Queenstown so it didn’t bother me that much.

    Rear bumper paint is cracked – I never got round to getting it booked into the panel shop.

    Front bumper lower edge has seen plenty of curbs over the years, but that’s par for the course for any E90 with the M-Sport front bumper, and they’re impossible to find second hand in any decent condition.

    Curb scratch on the LHS side skirt.

    Both headlight washer covers have broken, and $70 each at the stealership seemed a little egregious to me.

    LHS passenger door handle looks like it’s been 12 rounds with a chainsaw, suspect a previous owner’s dog used it as a chew toy, and it’s not a part that’s available as a spare.

    Rear seat bench has a couple of marks in it, suspect the same dog.

    Window tints are getting scratched up from the window rubbers, you could either replace them or remove.

    Stone chips? You’re gonna love them! Sadly that’s the par for the course in the deep south.

    Headlight lenses are showing signs of burn-in on the inside. A very common problem on this era of headlight plastic.

     

    Asking $18K.

    Any further queries / questions don’t hesitate to ask.

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    • Like 6

  19. Posted · Report reply

    Test drove this last night, 171xxx km 1990 318iA/4 and the only E30 I've ever seen in Tizianrot. Pulled the carpets / boot liners and had a really good poke around underneath, not a bit of rust to be seen.

    Listed in one of the Queenstown buy/sell groups so if you want more intel / the owners details send me a PM. $6K ono which seems entirely reasonable!

     

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    • Like 1

  20. Posted · Report reply

    Ray Haslar does great work, though I think Ray himself sold up a few years ago? They definitely do insurance work!

    Damn shame to hear about Takapuna Panelbeaters, they were once the go-to for E30 repairs, a lot of the racecar guys used them.

    Precision is still probably the cost-no-object choice on the Shore, their work speaks for itself.

    Wakefield did a great job on my E500, Nicholson & Hauraki I've dealt with in the past and have had good experiences with.

    Coast Panel & Paint up in Whangaparoa are much smaller than the big players but do great work, they've looked after plenty of E24's / E30's and Alpina's in the past.

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