Kees

Well here it is! Took longer than I thought it would to get back on the market. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/other/listing/3642010450

Welcome to Bimmersport! Good to hear she's gone to an enthusiast. Normally I am a bit of an OCD purist, however I don't hate the idea of the turbo build. So many of the V12 7s have had their hearts ripped out to be used elsewhere. I'm just relieved the car wasn't bought simply for its engine and then the rest left to rot. If I had bought it I would try find a set of the BMW dish style wheels that came on those, I think they are Style 3? Always loved how presidential they make the car look. Then maybe some custom headers and a more free flowing exhaust to let that V12 sing! Would be the ultimate sleeper with a godly soundtrack.

I actually think they are quite cool and quirky. Would suit an old French car like a 205 GTI, Renault Alpine, Citroen SM etc well IMO!

Ah bugger, have a mate who's desperate for a set! Not really up to speed on how much they are worth but there's a set on ebay for over $3K NZD which seems insane.

Anyone reckon this is a genuine ACS car? https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/540i/listing/3634543769 Mirrors, skirts, bumpers, wing, handbrake & gear selector, pedals, strut brace and exhaust all ACS bits. Plus it has some BBS RKs on it too! It's a Hong Kong import which arrived in NZ in 2005 and got the plate "SN1TZA". Pretty cool car that deserves to be saved. Not a bad price either imo. If it wasn't in Taranaki I would be quite interested.

Seems maybe this is the way the seller flogs off his undesirable/costly stock without tainting his business too much?

I do like to live dangerously with my car purchases... 🤣

This F10 M5 came up for sale yesterday afternoon with a price tag of $24K, over 14K cheaper than the cheapest on on TradeMe which has similar mileage. I was going to go have a look at it this afternoon as I have an exam this morning, however, of course with a price tag like that it's already sold. Had I gone and looked at it, I would have had a significant PPI done. I believe the seller owns a dealership however I'm guessing this was a private sale with no dealership jargon in the listing description. Surely there must have been something wrong with the car? When I messaged the seller, I asked if there were any mechanical issues they were aware of as well as where I could view, and was hit with a "yes, its available". I then asked again for a viewing and if there were any mechanical faults he was aware of and I was sent a viewing address of a car dealership on Great South Road but the question about mechanical issues was ignored once again. Seems as though he didn't want any statement in writing pertaining to the mechanical status of the car. I'm sure the car would have sold for $30K in a matter of hours/days as it would still be by far the cheapest F10 M5 on the market. And being a dealer, its hard to believe he doesn't know the value of an F10 M5.... Surely even at trade-in rates, 24K is quite low for an F10 M5 that supposedly has full BMW history? Or did someone just score an absolute bargain? Here's the listing: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/412388357565849/

So I have a little bit of a rant. A few days ago I joined a VW NZ Facebook group, as I've been wanting to take my manual W8 to a meet, so figured a VW meet would be a good place to start. Anyway, once accepted into the group I posted a couple photos of the car, and got a few replies in the comments. A member of the group then PM'd me asking if I would be interested in selling the car as he would love to have it in his personal collection. A quick browse of his Facebook showed he had an Audi S5 and a Porsche 911 997.1.5 Turbo, so it seemed reasonable he was seeking out such a rare and unique car, plus it showed he most likely had some deeper pockets. I replied saying I didn't really want to sell but everything is for sale, for the right price! I then quickly typed up a little summary of the car including all the work thats been done in the last 10,000km, sent a couple photos of the car and then asked what he thought it was worth to him. Since there's only approximately 4 W8 6 Speed Manuals left in NZ (with the rest having been parted and one being exported overseas) it is an extremely hard car to value. Its worth exactly what someone wants to pay for it, there is literally no market. I believe my one is the only silver one, and I think is the most original, even having its original head unit, sales receipt, and plate combination, making it ideal for a diehard VW collector. Plus in the last 10,000km its had clutch, clutch master cylinder, engine mounts, rocker cover gaskets, fuel pump and filter, wheel bearing, thrust arm bushings, cv boots, brake hoses, and to top it off, currently has 4 Potenza RE003s on it. With the prices of things like MK4 R32s climbing in value, to the right person, I think my car could be worth a decent amount of money seeing as its rare as hens teeth, has R32 performance, and imo makes one of the coolest exhaust noises of any VW. (I also understand some people would rather have a testicular torsion than a W8 lol) Basically, its a very niche car. I sent him a screenshot of the only other manual W8 I've ever seen for sale, which was up on Facebook for $15K with 70+ listing saves (indicating it must a popular listing) and had half the ks of my one, but was lowered, with commodore style hideous wheels etc and looked to have been messed around with. Whether mine being largely original is worth more or less is a shoulder shrugging exercise, but I sent it through nevertheless mainly to show him that I didn't really want W8 Auto money (2.5-5K) for my manual car. He replied saying he doesn't like to make offers on cars he hasn't seen, to which I replied that he is more than welcome to come round and have a look at the car. He then rather rudely told me I was wasting his time as he wanted me to give him a ballpark figure for "MY specific one!!". Not sure what he was expecting but since he had come to me with a big spiel about how he wanted it in his personal collection, the fact I don't really want to sell the car unless its for a decent amount, his poor attitude, and that naturally you first price high so you don't accidentally undersell what you have, and have some leverage for negotiation, I logically gave him a ball park of $15K, which is exactly what the last one was for sale for (not particularly unreasonable I thought). And then he sees my message, no reply.... Absolute waste of my time, if he actually wanted a manual W8 you would think he might be a bit more inclined to negotiate. It could be years before another one comes up for sale. Or, go put an 01E from an S4 in an auto one, and spend more money than buying a factory manual. My guess is he just wanted to try score a big engine + a manual for cheap, and maybe even try flip it or something. The cheapest WOF/Reg 4.0L or bigger manual car on Trademe is that thrashed cherry red E39 540 which has been up for months for 10K, followed by a manual B6 S4 for 13.5K. But anyway, rant over.

That hurts my brain 🤣

Sold for $6.5K. If there isn’t too much wrong with it I think that’s a decent deal someone got with enough room in the budget left over to give it a decent tidy up.

Popped the sickest awd skid g, Passat W8 is da ultimate skid hack

Just got the typical "pop a skid" while driving through Milford main street in the 4-Motion W8, what a simple minded plebeian. At least he said my car sounds nice.

Love optional extra ciggies on the floor, and the light weight "missing interior trim" option. Also appreciate the BMW "Individual" ruined front bumper, and very classy munted seat bolster too. Poor car. Saw it come up on Facebook a while ago. It's not even a factory manual. Realistically I wonder what its worth? 20-25K? Most thrashed example I've seen in a long time.

Great news you got it back! Aside from a deep clean I reckon you should potentially have the car meth tested. Testing kits are available or you can have lab testing done which will give you a specific figure on the level of contamination. A lot of higher end stolen vehicles are used by drug users and drug makers/distributors so there is probably a high likelihood of meth being smoked in the car. Legal limit is 1.5 micrograms per 100cm squared. One of my old cars I got from an insurance auction as a stolen/recovered vehicle. While the car was mechanically fine I had to have it meth tested as part of getting it back on the road. From memory, 5 places were swabbed, with 2 places coming back slightly above the limit. The testing agency said this was consistent with people smoking meth in the car. While it was only a small amount over the legal limit I still had to have my car professionally decontaminated.

I've had that M Roadster on my watchlist for a while now and I'm honestly surprised no one has snapped it up yet. If the car was local to me I would be down in a flash to check it out. Quite a few people just have no idea what it even is. Seems very fairly priced considering how rare the M Roadster is. The only thing off putting for me are the wheels which do not suit the car at all imo. I reckon if you got some factory Style 40 wheels and sourced a silver hard top roof you will have a very sought after little machine. Another dealer is trying to sell a silver M Roadster for $80K, while I think this is a little absurd in the current market, I can only see these shooting up in value, especially as the coupes climb in value.

At the point where you can properly afford a 2.8 swap or a decent supercharger setup, I would personally just buy another BMW with a factory 2.5 or a 2.8 as a fun/project car, and keep the 320i as a reliable daily. Easier and cheaper to start with a more suited car from the start, otherwise things will get expensive quickly. Your wallet will thank you if the 320i stays a stock daily with the way fuel prices are going anyway. @KwS summarised it well with the pick two analogy, there will always be compromise, and if the 320i is your only car, one of the choices must be for it to be reliable and useable.

Just had a read of the comments, sounds like he has a nice bit of kit. Liquid yellow (my favourite for Meganes), the Recaros too and its a 265. Would be quite the weapon. However I think I'll be sticking with the 207 as the primary daily for now, have a few things coming up that require me to be boring and responsible with money over the next few months unfortunately.

Not quite a 991, only a 997.2 Carrera S. Is a 6 speed manual and the last generation with hydraulic steering though and it is also unfortunately not mine It's my mother's former daily driver, now a weekend toy as she daily drives a Smart Fortwo! The neighbour's roll their eyes with the plethora of unique and strange vehicles that frequent the house 🤣

Yeah very true, for over 4 years and 50,000km she's done alright, especially since it does get frequent workouts on back roads. Most other 207 GTIs I've seen so far (which is only a handful because they are quite rare) have all been quite a bit more worse for wear than my one. Have been meaning to give it a tidy up as with a wheel refurbishment and a couple small carpark dents removed it would be close to mint as far as daily drivers go. Is a car I've told myself I will try keep forever, although I've been increasingly tempted by RS Meganes of late. Maybe I just need to have two Frenchies in the fleet? R53 Cooper S is a good shout, will keep my eye out for one as for the right price I can see myself scooping one up for a bit of fun and maybe a budget GP inspired build?! Haha your adding to the temptation of buying another sight unseen machine from down there 🤣 (thats where I got my manual W8 from)

Interesting, I've had my 207 GTI since the start of 2018 with 65,000km and so far its had; cracked turbo intake pipe, leaking oil cooler, faulty turbo solenoid (forced the car into limp mode as it was only making about 40% boost), faulty thermostat (was stuck open), faulty fan resistor and one time after work it decided to become a 3-cylinder when one of the coils refused to work. Of course I waited 5 hours for a tow in the cold and got home at about 3AM. Car was fine the next day naturally. Replaced all the plugs and coils as a precaution, and have two spare coils in the boot, along with oil. BUT, As you said, cars are a drug and I still like the thing despite it being a frequent headache. Open the door and you are greeted by some big leather and alcantara bucket seats, its got old school pop out rear windows, its a nippy 5 speed manual, and its very stiffly sprung so it handles really nice on a backroad. JCW would be on another level of amazing though! Especially with that super charger whine!

I can only dream! I actually looked at a rough high ks one in 2019 I think it was, and stupidly decided against buying it. Had been used for track days so was a bit rough around the edges and I think it had 190,000km or more, but this was reflected in its price. Only having 2 seats and its overall condition made me decide to keep my 207 GTI which I still have (it has the famously unreliable co-BMW developed 1.6THP engine found in R56 Cooper S and R56 JCW cars). I knew they would shoot up in value, such awesome cars. I guess I have "not-the-buyer" remorse! Ugh should have bought one.

@E28E30 What a slick looking machine! Best of luck with the sale!

Was flicking through a classic car magazine from January 2019, and I decided to have a look at the for sale section to sulk about classic car prices from 3 years ago. After seeing a 993 911 for 32K, I turn the page and see a familiar looking red e30. @E28E30 Spotted!

Is the duplicate plates option on the LicenSys website a remake of my current plate combination? Definitely don't want to lose the original combination! I'm very OCD about NZ New cars having original plates. Was one of the things that attracted me to my 540i and my W8 in the first place, as well as my daily driver 207 GTI.