E30 Zone

I'm goin to view an 850i hopefully today or tomorrow.

http://dubai.dubizzle.com/classified/au ... rice__lte=

Are there any common problems I should be looking for?

A good buy or likely to just be a great big money pit?

E30Gheko wrote:I'm goin to view an 850i hopefully today or tomorrow.

http://dubai.dubizzle.com/classified/au ... rice__lte=

Are there any common problems I should be looking for?

A good buy or likely to just be a great big money pit?

The best advise you will get is DON'T !

There are many reasons why you don't want an 850 but the 2 tone poo interior in that one is reason enough to walk on.

Pete, you you forget 'Gheko's taste in cars.. That 2 tone is likely right up his street

looks lovely mate have always wanted an 8.let us know how you get on.

Jhonno wrote:Pete, you you forget 'Gheko's taste in cars.. That 2 tone is likely right up his street

I'm more interested in the v12 under the hood and not too arsed about the interior.

35p a litre for petrol? It would be rude not to surely...

Yours gone up too? I thought you were about 28p

Are you in dubai permanently now?

Most bm's in Dubai are jap imports, dead give away is the Japanese in the filler cap, even if they claim gulf specs. Nothing wrong with jap cars but means service is unknown.

Main issue with these are electrics so check all, twice! They have two batteries and when one goes down it will not run, also consider there are two of everything such as AFM etc.

Open coolant tank and if full of brown water walk away.

You should also consider that selling this will be hard so if not a long term buy beware.

The lights can fail by not popping up. You should also check temp when running, anything getting hot, even with your
current rainy weather will spell trouble come April.

Plus points are they are cheap to run and engines are available from Sharja

mrLEE30 wrote: Main issue with these are electrics so check all, twice!

You're not wrong there! My uncle had a gorgeous 740iL in Oman and becuase of the heat all of the electrics would go tits up. As soon as the heat died away everything worked 100%

E30topless rolled in one of these for a bit so he may have some advice too. They do tend to be a money pit from what i have heard though.

Mr Lee, thanks for poppin in!

I am in Dubai permanently now. Well for the forseeable anyway..

I've seen a few BM's which are advertised as Jap imports. This one isn't but I'll investigate that.

Are the Jap cars equiped to cope with the heat? I remember you telling me about tropical rads fitted to E30's, so wondered about the difference between gulf spec cars and thoses imported from Japan.

I maybe jumping the gun with this one as although I now have a resident visa getting a car loan could still be an issue for another 3 months. I'll still view it though and see where we go from there.

This one has been advertised for a few months so I take on board your comments that it could be hard to sell.

that looks lovely...im gettin a plane now....!!

I love the Big 8's fantastic to drive and stunning motorway cruisers, they handle shit on normal roads when pushed,

I have driven quite a few but owned only 1 an 840i, I bought it cheap for £600, I very carefully nursed it home before anything fell off,

spent a while cleaning it up, it was then sold to some deluded coffin dodger who was re-visiting his youth,
he has used it for the last 3 or 4 months without issues though ?

had a good look around the link you posted and for 30,000 whatever it costs ? (how much is that in sterling ? ) you could own a very nice 5 series for half the price ?

e30topless wrote:

had a good look around the link you posted and for 30,000 whatever it costs ? (how much is that in sterling ? ) you could own a very nice 5 series for half the price ?

Yeah I appreciate that but I want to take full advantage of cheap petrol and drive a car that I couldnt afford to run when I'm in England.

I rarely think in practical terms when buying a car. I can't see a lot of fun in that. If it breaks, the bus is free and taxis are cheap.

30k is about 5k sterling or thereabouts. For an 850 which has covered about 62,500 miles. I'm sure I could get it for less than that too.

Finance only available on 2005 models and newer apparently. So this one caught my eye...

http://dubai.dubizzle.com/classified/au ... _lte=60000

330 is a great car out here, noted for reliablity but that one has too many doors!!!!

E46 330 may well be my next chariot once i shift the 540.

If i were you i would look at something cheap for a few months - E30's and E34's are about 6000-8000 uptoi 12,000 E39's 540's can be found from 15000 to 25,000 if you go the the big free zone behind Al Aweya (the second had car souq) you will find millions of them...all rust free and low km's, and also look around Sharja - although you need to look a bit harder there.

Once you get some cash behind you (not easy given Dubai social life!) then look to E46's. My HONEST opinion is steer clear of 850's, 560 SEC, 500/600 SEC or any of the large GT coupe's - they are generally cheap for a reason and you will struggle to sell them when you want something else.

But if you want a real reliable car that will start on the button and haver a great AC then it is only toyota i am afraid to say.

Final note is this.... the four or five 850's you see on dubizzle or souq.com now will still be there in a few months, and if they are still there in May they will not sell till Septemeber as no one buys this type of car in summer.

Where are you working out of interest?

Cheers Mr Lee. I'm working in the Dubai mall at the moment.

Toyotas are reliable and I am told by far the easiest car to source parts for etc. I'm sure they have great AC too but I just couldn't bring myself to buy one I'm afraid..

I just came back form having a look around Al Aweer car souk. OMG there were some phenomenal motors there. A Ford GT, Loads of Audi R8's, I must have seen about 25 Ferraris, lambo guiardos, porsches, big phantom rolls royces, bentleys etc etc. Awesome to walk around. I think I could spend a long time walking around second hand car showrooms around Dubai!!

One thing I did realise walking around Al Aweer is that with a slightly larger budget, I'd be getting a whole lot more car than the 850 that originally caught my eye.

I saw a 2001 Porsche carrera for 68,000 and a 2006 Hummer H3 for 92,000, either of which could well be within my reach in around 12 months.

I haven't made it to the free zone yet but thanks for the tip. That's next on the list.

I think a cheaper car for now from the free zone sounds like a damn good idea. I also need to get used to Dubai driving so a cheaper car for now actually makes a lot of sense.

Lots of people keep telling me to steer clear of old BMW's as parts can be very expensive and difficult to source. On the other hand, surely if I find something with 80,000km's or less for around 12,000aed that should provide me with 12 months trouble free motoring you would expect?

You need one of these, Rob.

http://www.marisamontes.com/all_about_camels.htm

I did ask how many miles this one had done......

Hmm. That kit could be hiding all kinds of nasties

Hummer H3's are hateful cheap rubbish.

No parts for BMW? Rubbish. BMW stock parts at reasonable prices and there are loads of shops that sell non original parts.

The fee zone is right behind al aweya and loads of stuff there, problem is they need registration and importing into Dubai, check with the showroom.

I do remember you telling me you were in the mall a few months back.

Dont touch hummers! If a cheap and reliable 4x4 is your goal then you will not go wrong with dodge durangos, my wife has one and in four years it has only broken down once, and that was the idle solenoid. They drink fuel for fun but that not an issue there.

Camels for the record are very expensive! You will not see much change from 100k for an early one with chrome!

4x4's in general aren't really my thing. I doubt very much I'd ever buy one. I'm probably alergic to camels as I am to most big hairy animals so not much use to me either lol.

What's involved with registration and importing from the free zone Lee? Is it an expensive hassle or worth doing if it's a good car?

Not sure for Dubai these days. I bought my black cab from there but drove it to Bahrain and registered there. The free zone is basically non duty paid cars-a good amount stolen- hence why they can not leave the zone. If you buy one you must import it to Dubai, this means paying duty 5% I think then registering etc which means an MOT. Dubai been funny of late about cars older than certain age so research this carefully before you part with cash- even demand they register the car in your name before you hand over ANY cash if buying from free zone. The stuff you saw in al aweeya are all duty paid so you just buy and register.

Best bet is to buy a car on Dubai plates, or ask your company " mr fix it" to help you. In the middle east anything is possible if you know the right people!

Mr Lee,

I do have a company 'mr fix it' and he has been bob on at sorting a few issues for me. I have one question for you which you may be able to assist with. I have aquired a motorcycle. The script is that the previous owner fled the country apparently owing a few quid to banks etc. He left this bike with a friend of his who then gave it to me.

So I have had this bike for a few months along with the keys. I haven't used it yet cos it's very dodgy. Do you imagine there is any way I could get it registered in my name under these circumstances? I have given the details to my mr fix it but even he is sceptical about a positive outcome. It's very frustrating though cos it's a decent bike and cost me nothing. He is running an enquiry as to whether there is finance etc owing on the bike and then we will see from there. Failing registration success what else could I possibly do with it? I reckon it would be worth about 3-4k stirling if it made it back to the uk....

Very difficult to give a real answer, everything in the middle east is linked to your residence permit number, so registration, house, bank etc all linked. If your man has fled then two things can happen the bank can fe a case against the guy and this freezes all activity linked to his RP number, or nothing may have happened.

What you need is copies of his Passport and RP then try and transfer the bike to your name, if your lucky it will go ahead and you have a bike, if a case is filed then the registration will be blocked. This will not affect you as you claim you paid cash fir the bike from the guy who fled. WORSE case is they impound the bike- but unlikely. Now at least you know the situation. For info you would not be able to export the bike in this case either. Your option now is to try someone who knows someone to fix it, or break the bike down to sell or export as parts. But you will never register it in uk assuming you get the bike here in one piece as you dont have the required paperwork.

My advise is nothing to lose from trying to register it if you can get tie guys Passport copy.

I will also ask a mate in Dubai if he can help you.

Good luck

After debating the 850i, porsches, hummers etc etc yada yada I bought this...






































It's a very bland 320i auto moredoor in dolphin grey but at 3000aed I couldn't resist.

It needs a CV Boot and there is an unidentified clunking from the right side front wheel. The seller said it needs a new bush. It almost felt like a sticky caliper or something like that. Engine sounded healthy, auto box behaved as it should. Being used to rusty old British turds I was amazed how well preserved it was underneath. It's got a few scratches and the odd little dent here and there but overall I'm quite pleased with it.

You sick man.

Does it have aircon?

haha. Yeah it's got aircon.

Cheap as chips, gets me on the road and I won't lose any sleep if it breaks or I prang it. In 6 or 12 months I can look at getting myself a nice car but for now I think this will be just the ticket.

I took it for a test drive and it just felt like.... well like home really.

E30Gheko wrote:After debating the 850i, porsches, hummers etc etc yada yada I bought this...


It's a very bland 320i auto moredoor in dolphin grey but at 3000aed I couldn't resist.

can you buy Rieger kits in Dubai ?

Ha Ha!!!! You couldn't stay away could ya! Goes out for an executive chariot, comes back with a 4 door 320 auto

haha. E30 till I die lol.

Give me a moredoor 320 over an 850 any day.

Good choice,Rob,buy the executive chariot for cash when you can afford it!

That clunking could just be a wishbone(lollypop end)bush,BTW.

excellent! made me chuckle. Its great for you that petrol is 35p cos in a 320 auto with the A/C going full chat you'll be glad it is!

I guess the ghetto tint is needed in that heat

B7 wrote:Ha Ha!!!! You couldn't stay away could ya! Goes out for an executive chariot, comes back with a 4 door 320 auto

i thought the 320 moredoor auto was the prime choice of the aspiring executive chap.

daimlerman wrote:Good choice,Rob,buy the executive chariot for cash when you can afford it!

That clunking could just be a wishbone(lollypop end)bush,BTW.

I was hoping it might be that malc. it's one of the jobs i've done previously. I'll be bringing it home at the end of the month.

There's a tyre shop on the ground level of the building where I live and I've been eyeing up their trolley jacks already. Good thing is that the weather at the moment is perfect for doing the odd little job like this.

Hopefully Mr Lee will be able to point me in the direction of where to look for my first small list of parts...