HardBall66

I changed to second gear at 100. I didn't even have to push the clutch in.

It's a good idea to change the fuel filter periodically too - the one on my E39 sprang a leak and according to the stamp hadn't been changed for 10 years.

It may end up on Turners Damaged/End of Life if it's an insurance write off. Edit: Just made it into 2nd gear - yay!

I'm picking up my 2000 model parts car probably this side of Christmas, but I think the front spoiler is broken. @mattmannz I see this is your first post - check out the Wellington community - we have some great get-togethers & it's an opportunity to suss out who might have parts here and there.

Dead link?

https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1434453109.htm Quite a rarity. Wish I had some spare coin

So how was it?

I think I'm in love.

How hard would it be to upgrade a standard E39 Touring to M5 spec?

Sounds fantastic! I am planning to go on the Whangamomona trip but would be very keen to hear about anything else that comes up

1997 E39 528i. You need to send them proof of ownership - pretty straightforward, and shipping from Denmark only takes about 4 or 5 days. The hardest part was Forrest-Gumping my way thru the process to get the keyless entry remote paired with the car. Luckily Youtube came to the rescue.

I'vehad a bit of a play with most of it except NCS Expert - I'm working my way up to being brave enough to use everything that came with the BCables DVDs. INPA is good for starters, and I found Navcoder great for programming my LCM (although there is a (reasonable) extra charge to activate that particular app so it can write as well as read). Googling will get you most of the info you need, and then it's a matter of carefully building up your experience. @Olaf or anyone in the greater Wellington area - I'd be happy to demonstrate for you if you happen to be passing thru Otaki. My wife makes awesome coffee. I can't come to you because it's installed on a desktop & I stick the cable out thru the spare room window

The BCables solution I'm using has has a PacMan adaptor for my 1997 528i and connects to my 64bit windows 7 machine via USB no problem.

I got a second key from Schmiedmann for 140 euro plus shipping. All official and kosher.

I also have it and it works well and installed without too much hassle. I suspect there are later versions of the software which have additional functionality/improved interface, and I probably need to sit down at some stage & nut through how to update this on the virtual machine. It basically pays for itself the first time you use it.

Hi Hamish, welcome aboard! It'd be great to see you at our upcoming Wellington events

Not sure whether to be awe-inspired or horrified I suppose these are so cheap now, especially in the states so why not?

146 miles an hour when it was new, and you can get 4 pallets in the back. Tourings are such great all-rounders. I guess a few horses must have escaped in the past 20 years, but she still goes well enough for me. I worked in a bakery when I was a student and the boss was fairly wealthy. Someone asked him why he hadn't bought a sports car - his reply was, "You can't get many pies in the back."

I would love one of these - surely they will be collector's items down the track... rarity = potentially hard to find parts, though so not everyone's cup of tea. Can't be too many of these in NZ, I would think?

Schmiedmann should have all those parts - just plug the part numbers into their search box. Shipping from Europe is not too bad on small/light parts, and no VAT or GST if the order is under ~ $400 IIRC

This reposessed M5 is at Turners currently - might be a good project for someone: https://www.turners.co.nz/Damaged-Vehicles/Damaged-Cars-for-Sale/bmw/m5/16442219

I thought this was interesting: http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1368233544.htm It would be awesome with a manual conversion

It seems strange to me that the BMW engineers would choose to make the timing chains out of melted jellybeans - no wonder they break down so easily. Also when I woke up this morning I was Katy Perry.

Gateway drug for cashed-up bogans? BMW could have tapped into a whole new market if they'd played their cards right

Hiya Charl - I'm definitely keen to replace the cloth interior on myTouring, however I've set my sights on Sandbeige In fact I have made a small start. I still need to swap the tweeters across, which involves removing the spring nuts without breaking the plastic posts