Quavey

oh thats it, very comfortable autobahn cruisers. Although they do handle suprisingly well, my dads had a few sevens over the years, certainly much better than the equivalent S class.

haha, well with the nature of my job i go to all the best areas... perhaps it was stolen when i heard it drive off!

Nope, the 750iL - trusting its the E38 shape were talking about had one engine over its history, a 5.4l v12. Basically a rebore of the earlier 5.0 in the E32 750 and earlier 850's. 326bhp lump, similar power output to the 300zx TT and alot more torque (360lbft) but certainly not something to take it on of the mark. They were a swift car though, but obviously an enormous comfortable saloon - FAB! They were never fitted with the 4.9 v8 in the M5/Z8 for production models Sorry to say but a healthy one should see of an NA zed no problem, an E38 740i should manage that! However its an e65 or F01 750i then its a different kettle of fish. The E65 gained a 4.8l v8 @ 360bhp 363lbft 5.7 seconds to 60 (about the same as a standard TT manual) The F01 was given a 4.4 Twin Turbo V8 to wade into battle with 400bhp and 443lbft 0-60 in 5 seconds. - A suprisingly quick car

if anyones interested i still have the flare from my car... forgot to give it to its new owners lol

As usual was in a favorite haunt of a pharmacy talking to the staff in there... To my ears came a very familiar sound - a 300zx starter motor! Couldnt seem much of you as you drove away apart from a very nice looking dark blue car, im sure it was automatic and had some fabulous alloys!

poopra has a 6 speed gearbox which is better suited (i.e closer gear ratios but overall similar top end) to quicker acceleration.

lol... well no as meths is different to methadone... Sadly??! we of course dont supply the controlled drugs - just the machines to dispense it. Basically the pumps save the pharmacist having to measure everything out and then prints of the paperwork at the end of the day (controlled drugs registers and also labelling)

I install dispensing systems for controlled drugs in Pharmacies and do the software training for the pharmacists and staff. Fairly interesting most of the time, gets me around the country but I spend lots of time away from home which isnt great! http://www.methameasure.co.uk

Nah my zed went about a year ago now actually. As for comparisions i've written about it a few times, but in a nutshell. The m3 is far more modern, handles much better and stops much better. Its also quiet, refined and very economical for its performance. However, doesnt feel as special/silly as the zed, nor does it give me the same excitment. In straight line speed, wringing the nuts out of the m3 to the redline (where it makes all its power) it would be as quick as a standard TT, BUT in everyday life, for overtaking, the 300zx is quicker as its got a much bigger usable powerband through the middle of the rev range. I do feel much more confident in my M3, and will drive roads far faster, its also easier to get looked after as there are plenty of BMW specialists and the main dealers are also still very good with these old cars. When you call them up, they dont say "are you sure its a BMW", as i had some spotty oik as me at a nissan dealer when i called up for some parts one day...

i hope it was cheap! Good luck fettling it!

great news mate! Glad you've seen sence ;) Nice looking car, being BMW approved as well good warranty and you should be sure it'll be a good example... They'll only resell the very best ones!

For the E92 is either 4.7 or 4.9 seconds to 60 depending on gearbox selection... Did no one read my earlier post? Having owned both there isnt much in it! Depending on driver things can be alot different, i found the 300zx faster midrange but all out drag race, would be very close between the two. Both have the same 5.6 seconds 0-60 (e46 m3 for comparision is 5.3, the earlier 3.0 E36 M3, 286bhp 92-95 is about 6.0 according to the book)

Is the M3 an evo or the earlier 3.0 one? Its a tough one, but having had both a 300zx TT as an auto, and then a manual and now owning an M3 evo i feel I can give a good comparision! Basically the M3 loves to rev, so 5k+ and your laughing plenty of power and being lighter this helps. Where as the 300zx TT develops much more torque so it is certainly quicker mid range. With an all out drag race with a manual 300zx and the M3 i would say that they would both be pretty much even up to 120mph and the 300zx would begin to pull away due to the extra torque. However, with the auto, just too slow of the line to be honest, great when moving. As for rolling starts, all depends on gears (or more importantly what gear the auto 300zx is in!). At 30mph in an auto flooring it will cause it to sit in 2nd and lumber through the rev range, where as at 20-25 it'll go into first and go like a rocket. However, cornering and braking im affraid the M3 has got the 300zx licked the brakes are so responsive and the M3's handling (even mine with 100k suspension on it) is just fabulous. New shocks to go all round mine so that will help things! Having said that the M3 is 6 years newer (but had done 30k more) than my 300zx so its perhaps not a completly fair test. What is fair to say though is that when the M3 was brand new it was certainly compared against a great many cars, one of which was the NSX in the "usable super car" comparision, which the result was fascinating basically the same apart from more people can ride in better comfort in the M3 than in the NSX. (obviously the NSX is far prettier and the one i would want, but they cost lots of cash!)

Hell fire thats some list! You surely must have some sort of museum for that lot!

1996 Civic 1.5 vtec-e (5 door beast!) 1998 BMW 323i Coupe 1991 300zx TT 1996 Renault Laguna 2.0 RT (work hac) 1999 Shitron Xsara HDI LX (work hac) 1997 BMW M3 Evo Coupe + 10 vans from various companies lol (transit connect, 3x pug partner, 2x vaux combos, vaux vivaro, 3x kangoos) Hopefully something new soon on the van front - thinking new astra van sportif

As for use in portugal, i would look at the roaming data charges, they are often horrific! I remember a couple of years ago a colleague of mine borrowed an old t mobile pcmcia "dongle" as people would know it now, and did somthing like 150mb over it whilst in france and it cost £140!!! obviously not saying all are like that but i cant imagine it'll be the same as UK cost.

hell in the 18 months i had mine i did 12k, it was a second car as well as I either had another car (work hack) or a van from work lol.

Aye i know, big money when new. Dad had a 740i with that engine for years, was a swift car even with the autobox and the heavier car around it! A family of bmw's im affraid As for your economy stella, mid 30's is easy attainable and as long as you dont screw it everywhere you should get 25+ during normal driving (I get that from my M3!) I know of a guy with a 330i saloon who managed 40mpg out of it on a run to santapod! Simply an induction kit will unleash one of the best sounding engines in the world, the M54 motor in them is fairly bulletproof. Roofs seem reliable as well, watch for suspension issues and premature rusting on front wings on some E46's. Other than that, not along to go wrong. Probably best to look out for a full history or AT LEAST the first part of its life. Missing history isnt a good sign! In short lovely cars with an engine which was on the Ward's 10 Best Engines list through 2001-2003 (that bit from wiki i have to say)

nice cars jeff, E39 540i - what a car! Always fancied one. Very rare being a manual as well :D Awesome!

M5's are wonderful cars but can be quite crippling to run as a daily, especially if you intend to look after it properly. Suspension components and servicing costs can be quite prohibative. But then again it depends how you drive it, the odd sunday blast vs redline everywhere you go... I wouldnt advocate running it to the shops, stop start traffic or anything like that. A usable super saloon it may be, but it wont appreciate a punishing life like that. Clutches dont tend to last long, especially with racing starts. Exhausts can be VERY expensive as well. This guy has an interesting website, with a month by month journal of living with an older M5 with a few miles under its belt. Not bad by anymeans, but certainly not a cheap car to live with! http://mukerji.co.uk/cars/2000-e39-m5/

THey dont ask, but when i called my insurance company to ask what were the implications of it being cat d, she said that they would not be able to offer insurance on it. so i said what if i dont tell you, she replied then in the event of a claim your insurance would be invalid... Just my personal experience with Adrian Flux.

As with everything you do get what you pay for. There are issues with 323's and 328's on earlier cars to do with cylinder linings, its often overhyped but alot have had replacement engines for it. Water pumps are bad for going as well, and if allowed to overhead they tend to warp the head/strip the head bolts so head gasket change is rarly doable/sucessful. As for economy, 320/323/325/328 are of course all 6 cylinder (in the e36) so all will offer similar fuel consumption, the 320's and 325is are noticably worse but the 323 and 328 are about the same, obviously more performance in the 328. My M3 returns 35mpg on a run ad 26ish in normal day to day driving, dropping when giving it some. I Had a 323 some years ago which was similar day to day but slightly better on a run, returning 37mpg BUT it was a very clean low milage example. Much like a 300zx, broken sensors can make economy horrific. As for drifting, most of the 6 cylinder cars that you'll be looking at (95 onwards) have ACS-T which can simply be turned of using the button on the centre console. As for drifting, well they will do it as they are rear drive BUT cheap tyres are the way to get best results, expensive tyres will mean they are too planted to get the tail out. (My M3 is even remarkably well behaved in the wet on its Michellins) They do cary miles well 200k+ is no problem for a maintained one and parts are readily available (both oem and aftermarket) from the main dealer (not always as expensive as you might think) and also GSF offer a range of parts/consumables for standard e36 cars. One thing to watch out for if they have a floaty back end are rear trailing arm bushes, all bad for that but cheap to sort. Coil springs have a habbit of snapping on older ones. Leaking shocks and other split bushes are all sources of bad handling. Watch for rust on the bootlid and front wings as well as most importantly the rear wheel arches. Most will be starting to go now but obviously the less rust the better! Also can be prone to the boot floor/wheel well rusting. Remember battery is in the boot! Standard head unit cannot talk to an aftermarket changer, no real adapters for it and the OEM changer can be expensive to repair/replace.

Top one needs major suspension work, probably a diff and drive shafts. Will need at least rear shocks and new alloys. "Easy repair" Even if its dont half its value to write it off (bear minimum IIRC) its 7.5k of damage, thats more than a bumper and wing! To be honest parts can get very expensive on something like that and they are VERY difficult to sell on, as they are bad to insure after being written off and bad to repair, so people tend to bodge it and they dont drive properly... I know when i was looking for mine (even at e36 age) anything to do with cat d or c i didnt even bother to look. (Apart from the cat d i put a deposit down on where the seller kindly "didnt know" yeh right...)

ive got a similar cooker as well (not sure on gas quantity though) and some bits and peices, will need to nip to the shop before i come down though. Will see you in the morning!

lol i remember that! Didnt she have a nova 1.3 sport or somthing?