New Member. E31

[zara 0]

Hello everyone. I'm Jonathan, 18 and I live in Auckland. Just bought a 1990 E31 850IA. Some might've seen in on trademe before, it was the cheapest one :

To be honest I've never been a real Bimmer fan, the only models I've ever liked are E30 M3, E46 M3 and the E31. So when the chance came up of an affordable E31 that seem to have been taken care of quite nicely (service history from new, NZ new), I jumped at it. I will post pictures of it later today.

First question though, any E31 specialists in NZ? I understand there were only 70 max e31's in NZ so chances are rare but worth a shot. If there is none, wheres a good BMW specialist shop? Actually I know people have had bad experience with BMWorkshop. I also know there's a guy called Glenn that has a workshop especially for Euro's somewhere on this forum?

Any general advice is welcomed. I will be doing a lot of research but will ask many questions too. Any other E31 owners here?

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2122]

18? typo? Perants brought it for you? You doing something right if you paid for it! Id hate to think what insurance is on that lol. Welcome

[E36ShoppingTrolley 7]

Welcome!

please post pictures! well all want to see your ride!

there are a whole lot of great guys here that i am sure can help you in anyway possible. i am sure they will introduce themselves soon.

[zenetti 0]

Welcome along Jonathan (great name BTW! )

Glenn is one of the forum sponsors on here and a total BMW guru! You can click the banner on the maintenance forum and that will take you to all his contact details.

as said before put some pics up

[zara 0]

Yup, I'm 18 and pretty much paid for the car on my own. I bought it cheap though, very cheap for an E31 and well, you get what you pay for. The interior is really poor, no rips but the leather looks 30yrs old. Electrics are what you expect from a 20yr old car, the steering column has a mind of its own when you play with the electric seats. The motor for moving the seat up and down works but the connection is bad and the seat doesn't move. There are various other faults with it, the V12 is not as smooth as most V12s but that could be due to the exhaust which is very loud but sounds nice. It's my weekend car (though I say that, I still have to fire it up everyday because of it's battery drainage) so I'll have time to slowly refresh her.

Photos will be up as soon as I get a chance to take some.

[Cale 36]

Welcome to the forum dude. Congrats on the purchase.

[pjay 8]

Welcome, and good call on your first BMW.

When you say "the V12 is not as smooth as most V12s".. How many V12's exactly have you driven??

Edited May 18, 2010 by Pjay

[nath 128]

Awesome car, amazing that your parents let you buy it! fully sexual car.

Well done for being honest about it man- trust me you arent alone with those car issues- most people are just too proud to admit their cars' probs!

[dreadful1 7]

Wow haha, 18 and already owning a V12! nice choice! pics is a must!

Glenn is a top bloke and I recommend him to you, His team does a fantastic job everytime and is always willing to help! Great prices too!

[Guest Simon*]

Hi and welcome

E31's are seriously cool but not exactly cheap to run. I would recommend Glenn also for your maintenance and servicing needs. His details are here http://www.botanymotorworx.co.nz/

As for other members with E31's only ssbmw comes to mind. From memory he has an 840ci manual and is very knowledgeable about the older 8 and 6 series

[SteveK 0]

Hey mate, welcome to the forum.

Sounds like you got a great car there, I'm sure it would be an interesting project to get it fixed up and sorted out. You're very lucky to have a car like this at 18, is this your first car, what else do you drive?

Regarding servicing I guess would depend on what part of Auckland you live in, South Auckland, North Shore, etc... As many guys have said, it does sound like Glenn knows his stuff about Bimmer's, but if you're on the Shore Botany is quite a way away. There are some other places that I can suggest you try on the Shore if needed.

You also mention that you like the E46 M3's, nice!!! I have 1 and they're awesome cars.

[zara 0]

Thanks for the replies guys

You're very lucky to have a car like this at 18, is this your first car, what else do you drive?

This isn't my first car nor my only.

I used to have a 2001 V35 Skyline 300GT as a daily driver, quite a good alternative to E46 320i.

I also had a 1989 300ZX twin turbo which used to be my pride and joy. I am far from a "boy racer" though, I appreciated the Z for its beauty.

My current daily driver is a Mazda MS-8 which I got for cheap, it's a great beater around town where the 8 can't stretch her legs

My first ever car was a 1992 Nissan Serena, RWD van. It was a great car to learn driving in. It was RWD so you learnt how to handle it in the wet, it was a van so you learnt how to park a barge.

I've also driven extensively Mazda RX-8 and E60 545i.

So you can say I'm pretty new to Europeans.

Regarding servicing I guess would depend on what part of Auckland you live in

I used to take my Z to Hamilton to this guy called Glenn (coincidentally haha. Also the person who bought the Z is ALSO Glenn...jeez) for almost everything because he was, well, perhaps the best Z mechanic in NZ and almost definitely in North Island, an ex air craft engineer too. So anywhere in Auckland is pretty much OK with me.

Well done for being honest about it man- trust me you arent alone with those car issues- most people are just too proud to admit their cars' probs!

Haha, one thing I've learnt is that, be upfront about it and you might get advice to fix your problem. Be proud of it, and the problems might come back to bite you. My 8 is not anywhere near the "very good condition" mark, but nor is it a lemon. She has her faults as a 20yr old car, and it wasn't exactly owned by 1 enthusiast from new to now either.

E31's are seriously cool but not exactly cheap to run

Definitely, and I'm prepared. Heck, it's $160 to fill up that 90L tank, and that's the cheapest part of running the car.

When you say "the V12 is not as smooth as most V12s".. How many V12's exactly have you driven

Admittedly, only 1. An E38 7 series. When I say it doesn't feel as smooth, it vibrates and wobbles a bit, you can't balance a $1 coin on it hahaha. And during idle in the car, if you pay attention, you can feel the car slightly wobble a little bit. I'm suspecting it's the exhaust, which is 3' and the resonator is removed so it could be that.

I would recommend Glenn also for your maintenance and servicing needs.

Cheers, I'll be in contact with the 3rd car related Glenn I know.

Pictures will be up once I get a chance to take some!

[JiB 0]

Why aren't you at the workshop? Stop wasting time on Bimmersport.

[zara 0]

Why aren't you at the workshop? Stop wasting time on Bimmersport.

I'm guessing "Charlie"?

[ssbmw 185]

Hello everyone. I'm Jonathan, 18 and I live in Auckland. Just bought a 1990 E31 850IA. Some might've seen in on trademe before, it was the cheapest one :

To be honest I've never been a real Bimmer fan, the only models I've ever liked are E30 M3, E46 M3 and the E31. So when the chance came up of an affordable E31 that seem to have been taken care of quite nicely (service history from new, NZ new), I jumped at it. I will post pictures of it later today.

First question though, any E31 specialists in NZ? I understand there were only 70 max e31's in NZ so chances are rare but worth a shot. If there is none, wheres a good BMW specialist shop? Actually I know people have had bad experience with BMWorkshop. I also know there's a guy called Glenn that has a workshop especially for Euro's somewhere on this forum?

Any general advice is welcomed. I will be doing a lot of research but will ask many questions too. Any other E31 owners here?

Hi Jonathan,

Great to hear about your car. The guy I go to is Ross Lamb at BM Workshop in Botany. He is has helped me immensely for years. Great knowlege on E31's, and I take my one there.

Regards,

SS

[soarer260@hotmail.com 0]

Nice man, one of my favorite cars the E31's

Just amazing what bargains they are today, as long as you can keep on top of their annoying problems they get like any old car, but I say thats part of the enjoyment of owning a car, doing maintenance!

I see you're in Auckland too, Would gladly like to meet up and take a look it one day.

[zara 0]

Great to hear about your car. The guy I go to is Ross Lamb at BM Workshop in Botany. He is has helped me immensely for years. Great knowlege on E31's, and I take my one there.

Cool, I'll try a few people around eh Once I get my EML woes (lost of power, crap loads of blue smoke) sorted first at Burger Motorworks. Previous owner has promised to pay for the EML repairs at Burger Motor Works. Anyone heard of them?

Just amazing what bargains they are today, as long as you can keep on top of their annoying problems they get like any old car, but I say thats part of the enjoyment of owning a car, doing maintenance!

I see you're in Auckland too, Would gladly like to meet up and take a look it one day.

They are very very cheap for what they are. Keeping on top of things seems to be the biggest trouble I guess. Maintenance and repairs I can probably cope with (well I'll have to anyway), but mechanical upgrades/mods will have to wait a long long time.

Won't mind meeting up at all, just as soon as I get that stupid EML thing fixed.

Perhaps we should have an Auckland meet or something. I haven't really checked out the events page yet, but something can be worked out. Perhaps like a breakfast+cruise?

[kiwi535 538]

Cool, I'll try a few people around eh Once I get my EML woes (lost of power, crap loads of blue smoke)

eml?? could it be pcv(crankcase ventilation valve)

[zara 0]

EML warning light stays on, so I'm guessing it's that? Throttle body apparently.

Hi, Charlie. Want to give some input?

Edited May 22, 2010 by zara

[E36 M 9]

EML warning light stays on, so I'm guessing it's that? Throttle body apparently.

Hi, Charlie. Want to give some input?

Yeah if EML warning light is on, it means somethings wrong with the throttle body, not getting the right mixture of fuel/air in the engine..... And for the blue smoke and stuff, im guessing that would be ur burning oil, but the best thing to do would obviously be to take it into a professional and they can sort it out.

Nice car btw, also have an e31, love the shape!

[zara 0]

Yeah if EML warning light is on, it means somethings wrong with the throttle body, not getting the right mixture of fuel/air in the engine..... And for the blue smoke and stuff, im guessing that would be ur burning oil, but the best thing to do would obviously be to take it into a professional and they can sort it out.

Nice car btw, also have an e31, love the shape!

Yea I'm getting that sorted out on Tuesday. I see you have a yellow one. I have been offered a very seductive price to paint mine yellow, contemplating. So far I have gathered me, you and SSBMW have e31's on this forum.

[E36 M 9]

Yea I'm getting that sorted out on Tuesday. I see you have a yellow one. I have been offered a very seductive price to paint mine yellow, contemplating. So far I have gathered me, you and SSBMW have e31's on this forum.

Yeah as far as im aware, i think this is the only yellow one in the country.. Has been resprayed in singapore i think because there is a little bit of overspray under te wheel (not noticable) and a few bubbles right under the front of the car. As close as ill ever get to owning a ferrari

[SteveK 0]

Hi, any photos of your E31 yet?

[Eagle 1519]

Your V12 should have the newer 2 stage PCV valve & non return valves(white) you could try cleaning them first which might help\solve your oil burning.

[zara 0]

Sorry haven't got photos yet, have been reluctant to take her out because it's a troublesome process (to get up to temp with almost no power. Shut the car off, wait for 10 mins, restart car which has full power now, blow all the smoke out at somewhere undisturbing)

The previous owner has had the trouble diagnosed just before the change of hands of the car and has promised to pay for all repairs at Burger Motor Works. The car will be worked on Tuesday, so updates then.