Leaderboard

Think jane needs some shoes. The silver bbs rx2 or the grey rs-gt

Not that economical IMO. I could not better 6.2l/100km in mine. A gentle run at 100 on flat road, say Hamilton to Auckland or Wellington to Hawkes Bay was usually 6.2l/100km It was replaced with a 2012 Corolla 1.8 manual which under the same style of driving will return 5.8l/100km. If I nurse the Corolla and sit in behind the usual open road day dreaming muppets and not worry about passing I can get down to 5.6. Around town they are the same (8ish l/100km) I was set on a newer E87 120d but I read the N47s have timing chain issues. So I thought bugger it, the Corollas aren't badly priced and over ten years it will likely only need a few sets of tyres and a couple of batteries. I would not be confident saying the same about a BMW. I have enough cars and bikes that need attention, I don't want the daily city car to be a long term project or head ache as well. Not trying to recommend a Corolla BTW but the old E46 320d just made no sense with its relatively high fuel consumption and the RUC rort. I think if I were to do it again with the BMW, I'd go for an E46 330i or E87 130iM spec. They seem relatively bullet proof and the extra 1 or 2 litre/100km in consumption over a four cylinder would be worth it as far as smiles go.

The Black one. That's the one I took to Bellars Motor Works under good advisement. They were awesome!

ALL new cars depreciate quite quickly - the rule of thumb is that you lose between 25-30% as soon as you drive it off the forecourt. Yes there are a very few exceptions to this, Ferraris with long waiting lists, etc. but this applies to the vast majority of cars. Then the depreciation carries on each year.... New cars are never a logical financial decision! So for a 2016 to be sitting around $75k is no big issue, particularly as since that car was bought there has been an LCI and a new model, the Competition, introduced. Both of which would have a negative affect on the value of existing cars. What is it you are looking to get from your M2 ownership, fun from driving a great car, or a long-term financial investment? Unless you want to keep the car in your garage for 30+ years it is unlikely to be the latter i'm afraid. My suggestion would be decide which model you want, do you want to wait a bit longer for the new Competition to drop in price, how much you want to spend and look to see what is the best one you can get for your money. Then enjoy the car and don't think about the costs.

I upgraded the speakers in my E39 touring i also fitted an aftermarket headunit hidden in the factory location, made a huge difference to the sound, i used JBL speakers and just replacing those was fairly straight forward, the headunit was a solid days work just sorting out the wiring !! I did sacrifice the factory fitted phone though.

Just an update. Just got the back from Bellars Motor Works. Went in for a full checkup. Replaced right front ball joint (control arm), besides that, everything is 100s. Underside is perfect with no corrosion. Vanos is 100%. Total cost for checkup, diagnostics and ball joint just over 1K. ??

have done all of those roads. dont bother going around the point, its not worthwhile, just follow the river. if you are able to add another day, do the gentle annie road back to Taihape and go north from there, turn left at Waiouru, prehaps stay a night in Ohakune, and then go up thru Taumaranui, turn left again at Otorohanga and follow the road thru to Ngaruawahia and up to your home.

How about this? Practical, economic and fun. Not sure if still available. No affiliation.

All M cars are equal, but some M cars are more equal than others?

Drove some more tonight, and so far i can tell that before the work on the weekend the trans was still average when cold but much better warm. Now the trans is about as good as it was when warm, cold, and pretty bloody good warm now. Manual mode is snappy, with minimal lag between changes, and no lurching. D mode is smooth as butter and doest flare between gears anymore. A+ result, highly recommend.

Not a lot to update, but here are some 'just washed' images 63,000km later.