Kees

I've watched the E34 market quite closely especially since I was making an NZ E34 540i registry. Two wof and reg examples that sold in the last few months were: An alpine white car with 400,000km on it, interior was very worn as a result of what I can only guess were dogs climbing over the seats. Exterior was in reasonable condition given the mileage. Was listed for 3K ONO on trademe and sold quite quickly. Saw it on the shore recently. The second was a silver one with around 260,000km (was in the 200s but can't remember exactly). Was originally Diamond black but had been resprayed. Interior was below average and respray was far from a professional job, but much like the other car, it had good bones. It was $1 reserve and sold for $3070. I bought mine for $2.5K in November 2020 with 367,000km with wof and reg, but have spent thousands making it nice again lol. And that's honestly why I do not understand the E34 market, particularly with 540s. Although I've formed a bit of a bond with my car now, if I was going to rewind time I would have spent the extra and got a nicer one for 6-8K because it is expensive to get them back to spec if you are a bit OCD about having a tidy car. The one on trademe for 8K, while it isn't to my taste with the brown interior and gold wheels, the paint looks mint and someone has clearly spent a decent amount on the certified adjustable suspension. Considering what 540s offer (and E34s in general) I really do not understand their low values relative to what they offer compared with the values of E30s. People would jump at a tidy automatic 318i for 8K but there seems to be little interest in that 540 for sale at the moment. The M60 B40 is one of the most reliable V8s BMW ever made, and offer decent power especially for an early 90s car. E34s have that classic classy BMW look that everyone seems to appreciate, regardless of whether they are a car enthusiast or not, and still feel like a modern car to drive. 5 Speed automatic is a very nice gearbox relative to it being 30 years old, and it does suit the cruiser nature of a 540. And since 540s were at the top of the tree, they have enough technology to make them easily daily driveable (if you can afford the fuel lol). Plus 540s are pretty rare, when I was making my registry I found that many had cancelled registrations, or on-hold registrations. Like if you think about it objectively, what other fast, classic V8 European car can you get for 3-8K. They are extremely good value in my eyes and are absolutely under-rated. But anyway, hope you find this helpful.

Just saw this come up in my Facebook feed, E46 M3 crashed in West Auckland this morning. Hopefully the driver is ok.

Typical NZ post. I ordered new bumper inserts for my E34, they come all the way from Latvia only for NZ Post to deliver the package to the wrong address. Spent 4+ hours on the phone with them, and in the end used my own common sense to figure out what other locations they could have delivered my package to and managed to retrieve it myself. Still haven't heard anything from their end. Completely useless. Would be nice if they compensate me for the package considering how long I've spent on the phone on hold.

I can back up the recommendation on the Turtle Tax Ceramic Black Polish. Had always been a Meguiar's person for car polishers but I gave the Turtle Wax product a try and it worked really well on my 540i. I find Meguiar's polish leaves a lot of polish dust which is really annoying if you are polishing an entire vehicle. I had a particularly nasty scratch on my passenger rear door which the polish has darkened to the point where it is virtually un-noticeable unless it is pointed out. I also coated my car with three layers of the Turtle Wax Ceramic Black hybrid wax. Haven't washed my car since its polish but when I do I will use the black car wash product (although I'm not sure how useful it will be given the car has been fully polished and coated). Before: After:

Saw an Estoril Blue 330ci Clubsport on Spur Road today. Can't be many of those around! Also saw an E46 M3 convertible wearing its hard top on East-Coast Road. Really need to invest in a dash cam so I can capture a photo of these rare beasts out in the wild!

Looks absolutely superb!

Spotted this tasty M-Tech E30 Coupe on the shore today.

Agree

Interesting, I certainly think he will make some money on it, I reckon he can get high 6s for it. Seeing as there aren't many factory manual 330s around I think it would be a shame to rip that one apart as its probably one of the tidier sedans left. Would be a great base for a good glow up with some m-sport bumpers etc. I can imagine comprehensive insurance would be ridiculous on that car, but third party, fire, theft and glass cover probably wouldn't be too bad. The insurance on my 540i is pretty affordable for me, although I wouldn't be surprised if insurance companies have fine-tuned their quote process since I got mine. I remember being able to obtain an instant AMI Young Drivers quote on my 540 as well as some older AMGs (was something I used to do when I was bored), however now if I fill out all the details they want me to call them "for additional information".

There is an old forum post from 2017 for a factory manual E39 540 for sale for $8K (what a bargain). Other than that I don't recall seeing any others even though I spend many, many hours on trademe.

They are definitely worth a pretty penny. I recall there may have been a really tidy factory manual car in black for sale a few months ago and it was listed for $30K. No idea if it sold but it isn't for sale anymore. There is a manual converted one available for around $16K at the moment though.

Yeah there are probably bugger all factory manual E39 540s in NZ, the few that I have seen have seen for sale have been converted to manual or were unfortunately being parted out due to the value of the 420g. I think there are roughly 40-something E39 M5s in NZ so a manual E39 540 is definitely a lot rarer.

Yeah I would say for a couple reasons a manual e39 540 would be rarer than a manual e34 540 in New Zealand. First would be as a result of changes in consumer preferences as a result of automatics becoming far more popular to have in a big car. Second, would be the existence of the E39 M5, as most people who could afford a manual e39 540 back in the day could probably afford an E39 M5 too. Why spec a manual if you want driving fun in a 540 when BMW offers a superior version of it with sportier suspension, bigger and more powerful engine etc. This differs to an E34 as if you wanted a manual V8 you could only get a 540. That low km white E34 540 that is for sale is owned by a member of the E34 Enthusiasts Facebook page. He is only selling as he managed to score an iS, otherwise he would be keeping that one due to its low mileage and overall good condition.

Haha nice, your car looks incredible bro!

Spotted this E46 M3 today at the lights at Northcross on the North Shore. Pretty sure it belongs to a forum member (I think his name is Jed), had distinctive vents on the bonnet, a CSL front bumper, and CSL wheels from memory.

Well this was mildly predictable...

Its a very clever plate!

Yeah you can generally tell a lot from the replies (if you get them) judging by the way an individual crafts their responses and how quickly they reply back to you as well as from having a quick look at their Facebook profile. The main issue with MarketPlace is you have to be really quick to get a good deal before the person realises what they are selling is worth a lot more than they think.

Especially when its: a $5K M Package E34 540i/6, $9K E31 850i, or $600 staggered set of genuine M Pars with good tyres. Those are just some of the wonderful deals I never got a reply from even when I would message within in an hour of them being posted. My one market place win were my set of throwing stars for my E34, although I did pay what I think is a very fair price it was more of a rarity thing on actually finding a set for sale within a 20 minute drive from my house.

Yeah lol as part of my search for W8 Passats I always do a cheeky "Passat V8" search because there is always at least 1 idiot advertising their one as a V8, thats how I found this one. And yeah would be a headache to own especially since the engine design and platform is limited to that car. Probably not worth all the fuss for only 270hp unless you are fanatical about one especially since the R36 exists.

That is the most accurate statement I have read all day. Pure gold 😂

Completely agree! If I bought that car the first thing I would do about 30 seconds after taking possession is jack it up and put some factory wheels back on! The stock W8 wheels are a really good looking wheel imo.

Just spotted this on Facebook Market Place. $8.8K for an E31 850i. Seems like a pretty good deal if there isn't too much wrong with it. Cosmetically it looks pretty good at least! According to the description it needs some fuel pump related work to run and a leaky valley cover gasket needs to be replaced. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/153592866976059

No Volkswagens have ever really caught my eye except for a select few such as the W8 Passat. While its not a BMW I thought this deserved a special mention due to its rarity and cool factor in the non-BMW section of Bimmersport. Anyway, I came across this MANUAL W8 Passat on Facebook MarketPlace. I've kept an eye on W8 Passats for sale for a number of years and I have never seen a manual one come to market in New Zealand. To make this one even more special, its NZ NEW! Whoever ordered it from new must have been quite the baller by going against the grain and ticking the box for a manual. Honestly it would not surprise me if there are less than 5 manual ones in the country. The W8 engine is certainly a special one with an extremely unique sound thanks to two VR4 engines mounted at an angle of 74 degrees from each other on a common crankshaft. (shoutout to Wikipedia for the info) The W8 Passat is also the only production car to date to have a W8 engine, although other production cars with the W configuration include the Veyron and Chiron with their 8.0 Quad Turbo W16 and a variant of the Continental GT with its 6.0 Bi-Turbo W12. Not sure how fun it would be to drive considering its probably quite a heavy engine and it doesn't make much power even though its 4.0L in displacement (only 274hp). Also has 4 motion which would further limit fun. But as a technical marvel, its certainly very interesting. Not sure it's worth 15K considering you can get an auto one for like 5K, plus the wheels are absolutely hideous, but I guess seeing as a Veyron is probably $1.5 million, half a Veyron engine and minus a few turbos with a manual gearbox, doesn't sound too bad... 😂 https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/190639909850553 (Photos taken from the marketplace ad)

The NZ New one must have been one of the lower km NZ New M6s left before it was crashed, plus it was a tasty spec. What a shame.