Michael.

Took my 'BMW' for a test drive. Nothing too interesting discovered, although I did do some hard braking tests, exceptionally impressive I must say, the lack of noise dive and stability is quite remarkable.

Hey lads A chap I know has a couple of BMW E21s he is looking to sell. Not sure what they are worth these days in their current condition but he's supplied me with some information to pass on to any E21 passionate peoples. No pictures at this stage, but I have asked him to get some. Here are the details on these two cars: 2x 1980 E21 BMW’s 320 – ZO7591 323i – NJ3854 Owned both for over a decade. Garaged entire period. Rego’s on hold. Both cars are grey Cancer in usual places. 323i Currently in Hamilton. Completely stripped. Engine and transmission removed. Rolling chassis. All parts available. Hasn’t run in decade. 320 Currently in Auckland. Interior stripped – carpet, panels. Otherwise complete. Again all parts available. Windscreen damaged while in storage. Last turned over about 5 years ago. No working brakes on either so transport with trailer required. Could look at getting both cars together if required. Keen to see them to go to someone with a passion for E21’s Can put together some photo’s of the cars also I can be contacted on 021 2405431 – Nick

Very nice, much improved over the sound before in your last clip!

His appeal expired well over 10 years ago imo

What is a 4.4 Manual worth over a CSI? They can't have made many manual V8s I wouldn't have thought Last time I saw the odd 840ci it was over 30k on TM, and auto.

^ an M-spec, 4.4 6 speed manual would definitely be the pick of the bunch. Lighter engine, further back, more edger to rev. Lovely... Have you done a custom exhaust on yours?

Agreed ^ Yeah too true. 450nm / 2 tonnes is fairly decent for such driving.

I think from day one it was an under powered engine. For 1989 it was 10 years behind the rest, still running 2 valves per cylinder and single overhead cams. They clearly didn't push the boundaries, then again it was a smooth cruising engine so perhaps its fairly relative. Very much like the old Jaguar 5.3 V12. Those Merc M120 V12 were in another league though, 48 valves, dohc, making the best part of 400hp, yet ironically those were for their big S classes too so BWW really shot themselves in the foot with that competition. Even when they did the S70 5.6 CSI engine they still couldn't touch 400hp, meanwhile Mercedes by the mid 90s had just put out a 7.3L V12 for limited production making well over 525hp. Still, it's plain to see where BMW was focusing their attention, the S62 5L V8, S54 etc, all absolute world class engines.

Well it seems they made less than 10,000 840ci, vs over 20,000 850i variations The 5 speed with the M60/62 would have made a substantial difference for overall driveability. Better fuel ecconmy than the 12 too I would imagine. V8 Sound potential too with a good exhaust. All such things would lift the V8 8er prices.

This is what happens when the right people own E30s.

As long as they have a car and can drive I think its somewhat irrelevant. Its those without a car or a license that are the lepers! Avoid.

A lot of factors effect drag coefficients but there were a few cars pre 1989 that did in fact have a lower or same Cd as the 8er. Even the boxy LS400 could do 0.29, yet beaten by the Opel Calibra '89 and Citroen SM '70 both with an impressive 0.26 A Cd between .25 and .30 seems to the the trend for most modern coupe or saloon cars these days.

Ironic that water pumps and such related parts would have been serviced yet all those timing bits would have been left, even though it would have been a perfect time to replace such parts if specified in the service manual at proper intervals.

Pretty. More pics!!

Indeed. I find its more about the community & people too rather than just the cars.

It might have been, guy I sold it to in October has since swapped for a Subaru and now the guy with it is currently looking to sell hah. Mine was a darker grey, not silver. On 17" M sport E46 alloys.

Hah, oh right now I'm with you... just googled it..."The Mercedes-Benz M112 engine is a V6 automobile piston engine family used in the 2000s. Introduced in 1998, it was the first V6 engine ever built by Mercedes" Built in their infamous quality control era so not too surprisingly really.....Give me a supercharged Toyota Camry 1MZ V6 any day of the week!

What spec was that engine?

If the clears were OEM quality perhaps. But in this case I think the amber originals look the best, and suit the cars era of style.

uh oh,

So cool. One of the great BMWs

Fedex love to do that. And make you pay on delivery at your door. Had that once. Grr

Yeah that lies the problem, a lot of people think oh it's chain driven, no need to replace it like a cambelt! So such maintenance is overlooked until many owners and years later, one of them has to face the slowly developing guide issues.

Yeah not work for the faint hearted. I still have to do the rear bushes on my Soarers subframe. Holding off for the meantime!

Yeah well most cars that have seen 10+ years on the road have hard bushes, some worse than others, also subframe and diff mounts like to get sloppy. Not majors but all detract from the overall experience!