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...very wise words...

First time BMW owner! 3 weeks ago I bought @str8_6's 2001 530i and have since fallen in love with her! Nicknamed 'Jane', she is a facelift, NZ new, very tidy car that has spent most of her life garaged. She is in Oxford Green Metallic, with the standard black leather interior and wood trim. At 137,500kms, I have already done over 1,000kms in her and can honestly say I have enjoyed every moment of it! I have never needed any more power on a passing lane, and she is silky smooth at idle. Oh, and don't get me started on that beautiful 6-pot purr! Although I am normally a hardcore manual supporter, I have switched over to the dark side simply because it is almost torturous to drive a manual through Wellington and Wellington's traffic. I am currently a first-year student at Victoria University and am a diehard car guy. My grandmother got me into cars with her 1998 R170 SLK230 Kompressor (the car in my profile pic - and yes that's me on the bonnet!), I loved that car and still do; she actually still uses it as her daily and has done over 200,000kms in it. I recently got a new job out in Petone which finally justified my intense desire to buy a new car! Previously, I had a 1999 Alfa Romeo 156 2.5 V6 6-speed which was my first car. I loved that car with a passion; I spent a substantial amount of money doing preventative maintenance on it (not myself, although I would like to be able to start working on my cars in the future) by replacing the water pump, cambelt, radiator and a couple CV boots. Unfortunately, after owning it for only 3 months it was written off - not by me though! It was parked outside my high school one morning when a gentleman drove past towing a car trailer which didn't have the safety chain attached. Just as he drove past my car, the trailer bounced off the hook and ploughed straight into my baby. Fair to say I was devastated (and to this day haven't fully gotten over it). It was only a few weeks prior to that that I had sunk many dollars in securing the longevity of my pride and joy. Luckily, we both had insurance and I was paid out for it. *Photos attached* This tragedy occurred in September of last year, and ever since I have been longing for a replacement, but have never been able to justify it/find the right replacement. And then Jane came along. I have always been a BMW enthusiast, with my mother owning an E36 when I was growing up and an E90 now, and am very glad to finally have one that I can call my own. I keep her in a parking garage in Wellington's CBD, and use her 3-4 days each week to drive to and from Petone (although that hasn't stopped me taking her out most days just to go for a cruise!) and occasionally to drive back home to Whanganui (2.5 hrs). Unfortunately, after only owning the car for 2 days, my radiator sprung a crack while I was visiting home in Whanganui. I got this replaced by our family mechanic easily enough, but it was nonetheless a pain! In terms of future plans for the car, I have bought some euro style licence plate surrounds which I am yet to put on (couldn't justify spending $299 on the real deal - maybe one day), I am considering putting a tasteful tint on the windows to preserve the leather and parcel shelf which is surprisingly un-faded, and am currently looking into installing an aux-cord into the stock stereo setup. I am leaning towards a Grom unit which plugs into the back of the stereo since the stereo will be pre 09/2002, but am open to recommendations. My only requirement is that the stock head unit remains - I'm big on OEM. Obviously, I'm a first-year uni student so don't have heaps of money to burn (and the parents won't pay for it ;)) so affordable recommendations of any kind will be much appreciated. This is turning into a bit of an essay so I'll finish it up here. I've joined the BMW Car Club and will be attending the Cars and Coffee meet this weekend. I really look forward to meeting more of you guys and gaining insight into BMW ownership and any pointers on working on my car myself (this is hard, however, since I am in a hall of residence and don't necessarily have the capacity to do much work myself). This is such an exciting community and I am thrilled to be a part of it! Cheers, Boston.

Was good to meet you last night at 1847 young man. (I was the one sitting opposite you and I had the steak!)

How's it going Lads Just got to NZ a couple of months ago from Dublin, and picked up a mint E39 530i. Hoping to import my E46 M3 in a few months time once I have some bills cleared up. Do get in touch if you have E39 Xenon headlights and M Parallels/ Style 42s for sale! Anyone from Northland floating about the forums? Best Wishes R

My 2cents, Stick with BMW rear end dont have to muck around trying to make it fit and can definitely take the power!

Someone sell me one that ticks my boxes already.. haha.

Hey all just a quick introduction of myself and my 06 i650 e63 BMW. My name is Tony, I am 47 years young and have lived in New Plymouth for around 18 years now. I've owned a 540 and a 730 in the past, and have now recently purchased a Japanese i650 off trade me in as is condition since the gearbox didnt operate. $7000 later with the car getting transported all over NZ trying to fix the SMG transmission the car is now all go...ended up been the clutch sensor. I also replaced the clutch while the gearbox was out of the car...made sense. Car goes very well but rather a hard ride on the butt but sticks to the road like glue

Hi there name's Jason. Have owned BMW's for about 6 months now, started off with a cheap and tidy 94 e34 525i auto am now on my 2nd one which is a 96 e36 328i NZ new Msport coupe. Needs a bit of a tidy up but I'm slowly working on bringing it back up to scratch. Do have some mods planned but nothing set in stone yet. Here's one of the most recent photos, about 15 minutes after I changed out my style 138's for a set of staggered 68's. Cheers.

Hi, New to BMWs, got to time of life when a weekend coupe seemed appropriate Drawn to M6 V10 then Series 6 640/650 ,in both instances couldn't afford the newer vehicles, liked all the exteriors of the older models ,but I like my tech so had to be newer Trademe searches for BMW coupe 3 litre plus led me to this, sort of accidental purchase, was originally still over budget I've used the dealer pictures as its never looked so good, It's the luxury model so not as popular as sport versions but for our purposes this is ideal Will have a few questions but will put them in appropriate folder/headings Cheers John

Classic BMW 525E presented in Bronzit Beige Metallic on Black leather. NZ new originally sold in Christchurch. Solid and honest car. Straight body with scratches/dents expected for a 32 year old car. Very little rust. Clear coat starting to come up on the back half of the car. Paint worn in spots. Interior is in very good condition aside from a few cracks on the dash. Engine was rebuilt 2 years ago. Modified 2.7L stroker engine. M20B25 head (completely rebuilt) and intake. M20B27 bottom end (rebuilt and balanced). Converted to Motronic 1.3. Dyno tuned by Hi-Volocity. 2.5" exhaust. Automatic converted to 5-speed manual when engine rebuilt. Receipts totaling over $8k in the past 2 years. Neat little car, would be a stunner with a new paint job and a little more TLC. Odometer hasn't worked since i've owned the car. Heater valve not working. Bonus items included: Sheep skin front seat covers 16" basket weave wheels (E38) Brake upgrade (calipers) from 540i E34 New WOF. Sold as it, where is. Asking $8700 Reasonable offers accepted. See trademe https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1731706778

Hi all. Just bought a '08 135i ex-japan, and it's my first euro. It's done 50,000km. Traded from a K20 Euro R. I'm excited to finally have a well documented, well supported (at least by the consumer) vehicle with lots of information and DIY's available. I did lots of reading and took the punt on the N54, my reasoning being that I'm going to keep it stock. What I can't find is how we deal with the HPFP issue in NZ. The dealer must have had it warmed up for my test drive as after that and the long drive home from Auckland - you guessed it - it cranks for about 2-3sec before starting when cold and then idles rough until warm. Without bogging down my intro post, should I leave it until it codes? It won't lean-out or hurt itself in some way? I have 3 years of mechanical warranty but I have yet to read the policy so it could be useless. I'm aware that it could just be injectors, too, but I'd be keen to just drive it for a week and see if it settles down. Look forward to talking with you ? Stevo.