Palazzo

That was sort of my point, it may be loads cheaper then new, but people who buy one thinking they will properly maintain it on a shoe string are in lala land. Any car that was expensive new will still be pricey to maintain, even after the price has dropped to an affordable level. When you can buy an entire E30/32/34/36/39 for $6k, those servicing costs are put into perspective.

Funny, I'm pretty sure the early 3.8 motors had the same power as a 325i, no doubt more torque, but they are coarse and sound like absolute crap when revved. Good on him for trying though.

A friend of mine has just bought an '04 S55AMG, stunning car. Depreciation works out to $5.52/km or $66,250p.a. Ouch.

I got one (can't remember which, think it was the master) from Gavin at Euro Italia for about $140 from memory. A word of warning, I had 2 from Auto Stop first and they both failed on being installed, a faulty batch I suspect.

A friend of mine bought a diesel X5 earlier this year, cheap. Then spent circa $6k on servicing. Tyres, brakes, service etc. I would say they're cheap for a resaon.

Has anyone clicked on the "How much to insure this?" link on the first one? I'd love to see that.

Live and let live, I don't understand all the fuss either. Having questionable taste in paint trim for your car and making smart answers to people with genuine questions just makes you someone to ignore in my book. There are plenty more truly dodgy traders out there in the world. I assume he drives the E39 540 with Strat I plate also?

I'm reasonably sure the E36 one won't fit (I hear conflicting stories on this) and a new one is about $760 + GST. The one on TM for $100 or so wasn't a bad buy assuming it could be glued back together.

I had No. 6 for 9 years. The day I went car shopping for a new car and decided to keep it for another 6 months, it was stolen. Alarm, immobiliser, club lock, lock wheel nuts. Prised open the bonnet, disabled/removed alarm siren, punched open the door lock found brain and removed, punched out the ignition. I heard it go at 1 in the morning, thought, "Wow, sounds excactly like my car" and went back to sleep.

One mount is broken, I'll try some super glue and some new clips, see what happens. Cheers.

My partner called me the other day to say this was hanging on by one screw. Failing to mention of course, that she had driven over one of those park stop things and ripped it off. Any ideas on where I can get new clips/screws/whatever works to put it back on? Do you have to remove the bumper to do so? It seems like the upper screws could only be accessed this way??

A 928GTS is no cruiser, they were known for being brutally quick in their day, faster in top speed than the equivalent 911 and I think 0-100 if that's relevant. You'd need to be on a track in a very good manual 964 to pull any gap at all. There was a 929GTS for sale not long ago for $26,900, NZ New with 150kms on it. Otherwise, I've always liked the look of the SL with the V8.

Strange. Mine does. Would be curious to check Gus's theory and weigh one.

Not quite. Heaviest is auto 325i Conv at 1330kg, followed by auto 325i touring at 1290kg.

Pre facelift 318i, 1010 manual, 1040 auto. FL, 1065 manual, 1085 auto. Pfl 325i, 1125/1145 Fl 325i, 1180/1200 Pfl 318i, 77kw, Fl 318i, 85kw. 325i remains the same. All from owners manuals.

Thanks for the replies, looks like no worse than 15l/100km is realistic? As per my original post, a friend was getting 20l/100km, must have a heavy foot.

The guy who owned it had two. One was damaged to the tune of $20k and is still sitting waiting to be collected. Wouldn't be surprised if that is the one you're thinking of and he transferred the plate to this one.

I got a new one 3 years ago for $270, surely they haven't gone up that much? And yes, it is still working.

My point was, will it be worse? My current car is the same as your 740 in town and slightly better on a trip. 20l/100km sounds excessive, this would put me off. The same or better wouldn't. That said, $150 fills do get annoying.

What sort of consumption do you get around town, not 50/50, just straight town? As a reference, my current daily car probably does six 4km motorway runs a week, the rest is in Auckland CBD and surrounds. Result is 16-17l/100km. How does that compare with a 540i? E34/E39. A friend had one (E39) that showed 20l/100km on the trip comp, was he particularly heavy footed? Please don't quote me manufacturers figures, or owners manuals, just real life. I'm thinking of changing cars, don't want anything worse. Cheers.

Buy an M325i, last time I measured on a trip was 8.3l/100. On topic, not too bad for a relatively heavy auto.

That 5 interior shot looked nice at first, then I realised it reminds me a whole lot of an up spec Maxima.

Used to park in Grey Lynn everyday, spoke to him once, he was about as friendly as Winston Peters to journalists. Looked like a nice original car though.

E30-323ti would be your man I think. Same motor in an E30.

Had to admire that sales pitch.