Sammo

Yup - the guy is very responsive and customer focus - works through paypal and ships via DHL. Was $700 landed including shipping - not cheap, but a better looking option than the Blaupunkt SQR46 IMO.

Can get the guy to custom program any 8 characters you want for the bluetooth input - pretty sweet!

Yeah, loving it - it looks totally at home in the dash works perfectly and sounds pretty good even with my unknown (stock??) front components and 20 year old 6x9s. Have amp pre-outs if I eventually run out of other things to spend money on too. Shipping and communication has been great too - he actually sent me a free microphone grill / plug that looks cool in the dash (it is a slightly different surface that makes it look a little lighter but not obvious in the flesh) and makes Bluetooth calls easy and clear too.

Great combo, shame the M4 didn’t back in

Damn, a Tech 1 and a Tech 2 #goals

Damn @Olaf you have my sensible dream garage - F25 / E46 runabout and a Lachs E30 2 door 👌

$3,500 I would be looking at a mid 2000's Mazda Axela / 3. Good reliable practical cars, if a little boring.

Luckily I don't do too many miles in the thirsty E30 - chuck $50 of premium in every few weeks and its all good. Wife advised however it was $190 to fill the even thirstier Audi today which was a bit of a shock - I do have a work fuel card but don't like to thrash it too much, especially mainly working from home these days. Maybe a modern small displacement turbo for her next - PHEV would be nice but we only have one off street park and that is for the E30.

From memory, need to be within 0.5 of OEM camber spec for the car for cert.

My guess is $21k

Nice, little ducktail on the rear and LCI style LED tails would look great too.

You didn’t grab those style 32s did you?

@Chillin Will I be seeing this hooning around the Shore? 😎

Guessing its the same as E30, I just dribbled a bit in there and lathered a little on the shock before putting it in.

Had a great little E30 meet in Drury yesterday - some wicked cars on display, especially the V8 Beast @WYZEUP Watching Magnus Walker rip on his vintage Porsches on Youtube motivated me to take her out for a spanking this morning and test out the new shocks and springs. Great fun blasting around the rural roads around Coatsville / Waimauku and Helensville - this old M20 just keeps pulling hard to the redline and loves it - has really been singing since @BMTHUG adjusted the valve clearances. New suspension is good too - firm enough for fun but not too crashy - its never going to ride as well as my E46, but no issues at all. Couldn't resist a little photo shoot of course.

Just binged this thread - what a build!

Looks good! Yes, I imagine 205 on an 8J may be slightly less tractable than on a 7J but I think if I get decent tyres (PS4 / Eagle F1) it won't be an issue unless I provoke it.

Yeah, it will be a little bit stretched - just outside the cusp of LVVTA guidelines. Nothing compared what plenty of guys run though. Not ideal, but only 225 45 16's I can find in NZ is Yoko AD08R - a great tyre I'm sure but total overkill on a 325i. I know a guy who is selling a set of basically new Eagle F1 Asymmetric cheap too which is tempting (4x 205 50 16)

Ordered some wheels - been looking at these for a while but shipping / tax made me hesitate. https://www.classiceuroparts.com/product/16-wheel-set-for-bmw-1502-1602-2002-tii-e21-e30-alpina-4x100-staggered-7j-8j/ Maxilite Alpina Replicas - yes, I know... but these a quality, TUV certified wheel and half the price of Alpina 30-35 year old cast wheels which may or may not need repainting. Also means I can afford to keep my 15" weaves and change up the look as I like. I found their Australian distributor who was a fair bit cheaper, and will split the consignment so I am saving on the shipping (vs US / Europe) and the duty - still not cheap, but much more palatable. I went for a staggered setup - purely for looks of course - more lip and filling out the rear guards - 16x7 and 16x8. Now I need to decide what rubber to put on the rear - 225/45/16 is the correct size but options here are very slim indeed. I may run 205/50/16 all-round as there are plenty of quality options in that size.

Already run out of steam, not sure anything is going to go back to pre Covid levels again though.

Seems like a sharp price if its been maintained - it certainly does not appear to have been pampered from the photos?

Holy x 2

https://www.demon-tweeks.com/nz BC are good value and feature packed but wouldn’t go any cheaper than that - cert adds $750ish so might as well get decent quality.

Wheels-wise I would be looking for something used and OEM - fortunately the rampant price hikes have not really hit 17" 5x120 wheels as much. NZ wheels selection new as you may have noticed is terrible for older BMWs. Coilovers, I would import a set of KW V1s unless youre needing camber plates and a bunch of damping adjustment.

Looking sharp as full stop, let alone for 300+ km. Ride height is great too