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Sad day sad news. We pray for a speedy recovery. http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/dec/30/michael-schumacher-doctors-update-condition-accident

http://www.trademe.co.nz/a.aspx?id=684561836

This post has been bubbling away for a while, following the thread around the 4km/h tolerance of the posted speed limit. Before we go any further, I want to say that I do not condone driving at excessive speed in any circumstance. People who drive at 100km/h in busy traffic on a multi-lane highway, diving back and forth across the lanes and even using the hard shoulder, are idiots. This is dangerous, and should be addressed by the police by banning the person responsible and fining them to the point where they wonder if they can afford Watties beans this week, or should they buy budget brand ones instead. And don't blame the policeman who pulls you over. He's doing a job, following rules that have been handed to him. Many traffic cops become traffic cops because they enjoy driving, and not simply because they want to see you miserable, or spoil your fun. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Why do we obey speed limits? "Because it’s the law?” is regularly given as a supposedly credible argument, and ultimately, that is the reason many of us drive at 100km/h on SH1 (or wherever). Not because it is unsafe to travel at 105km/h, but because we are more concerned at that time with not getting a fine or endorsements than we are with making safe progress. So, are speed limit laws right? Sometimes, yes. And sometimes, obviously not. They are merely legal. Which means, it is not necessarily wrong to disobey them. And it may be very wrong indeed to adhere to them. To start with, speed limits are a “one size fits all” imposition, and created in order to cater for the lowest common denominator. People do differ significantly in their abilities, including their ability to safely operate a car at higher (or lower) speeds. A better-than-average driver who has had some training in high-speed vehicle handling and vehicle control is probably as or more “safe” (i.e., less likely to lose control of his or her vehicle) operating at say 120km/h on a road with a 100km/h posted limit as a worse-than-average driver with poor eyesight and reflexes and no vehicle control training on the same road at 80km/h. (SH4 southbound heading for Wanganui comes immediately to mind - following someone who crawled around corners at 20km/h less than the posted guide speed, yet accelerated like a demon on any straight stretches is incredibly frustrating for anyone who enjoys driving.) Why should there be a one-size-fits-all standard? Why should better-than-average drivers be constrained – and punished – not for any harm they've caused but because they didn’t voluntarily accept being dumbed-down to the level mandated for the worse-than-average drivers? How fast is “too fast”? The only objective measure of driving “too fast” is an accident caused by loss of control due to driving too fast. Many people are being indoctrinated into believing that driving at x km/h increases the chances this loss of control will occur, but this is entirely hypothetical and by no means logically or empirically established. If it were axiomatic that the faster you go, the higher the odds of loss of control, then it ought to be “safer” (statistically and otherwise) to fly in a single engine Cessna at 120 MPH rather than a 757 at 400 MPH, and manned space flight would never have happened. OK, different laws of physics apply, and there are very different training requirements. But cars are also very differently capable - grandad's old rust bucket may be able to reach 100km/h, but it wouldn't be safe almost regardless of who was behind the wheel. A shiny new M5 will easily double that, and (reaction times aside) be safer doing it. In practice, "too fast" is simply faster than the dumbed-down and often arbitrary standard (speed limit). There is widespread belief, propagated by idiots in positions of credibility, that if they’re not comfortable driving faster than a certain speed, then anyone who drives at that speed – or faster – is driving “too fast.” It is exactly like insisting that everyone walk at the pace of the slowest person on the sidewalk. And that anyone who jogs or runs is “reckless.” Unlike the difference between airspeeds, this is a comparable situation - is someone jogging in Auckland CBD at 6.30am stupid, reckless, or endangering anyone? (Let's leave aside the discussion around the sanity of anyone who jogs in the city at any time!) The same activity 2 hours later would be ridiculous - pavements and roads will be full of oeople heading for work. Back on the ground, there is also no evidence to show faster drivers are involved in more accidents. In the US, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration claims that 30 percent of all fatal accidents are “speed related.” 30%. So it is a minority regardless, but even this is misleading. It means that in less than 1/3 of cases, one of the drivers involved in the accident was assumed to be exceeding a reasonable speed for the conditions. It does not mean that speeding caused the accident. Research conducted by the Florida Department of Transportation showed that the percentage of accidents directly caused by speeding is very low, 2.2 percent. The Transport Research Laboratory in the UK has come to very similar conclusions, scarily even quoting very similar figures from entirely independent research. Note also that in these situations, it is excessive speed for the conditions that applies, not actual illegally exceeding the posted speed limit. Stats in action, again. Pick your information, but don't offer everything that is relevant. Further, “Federal and state studies [in the US] have consistently shown that the drivers most likely to get into accidents in traffic are those traveling significantly below the average speed.” Speed will be, or has been, a contributory factor in some accidents. However, inattention and incompetence are far more typically the reason, but there are no roadsigns forbidding these. And punishment is rarely meted out to offenders because while traffic police are watching for poor driving, they are more focused on speed. Good drivers continuously adjust their speed to their skill level, conditions and so on – not mindlessly obeying an almost arbitrary number stuck on a post on the side of the road. And that’s how it ought to be. Posting signs suggesting speeds for given roads (and conditions, such as curves) as advisories can be helpful to drivers not familiar with a given road. NZ does this on many corners - this is an excellent idea, and not one I had seen before coming here. But insisting on absolute adherence to a generic number as the “right” number for all drivers, at all times is both silly and unfair as well as counterproductive in that it encourages passive (and therefore mediocre/poor) driving while punishing (and thus discouraging) active, attentive (aka, better) driving. But try telling that to the government f**kw!t who was recently quoted in the press saying tighter enforcement of highway speeds would lead to significant improvements in road safety.

yeah yeah. I like to think I 'quality' test products.

WOW thats very poor business, hope the president sorts it for you,

Ouch!!! Starting to turn into headaches for ya properly now - bummer. I've had the same at times, generally leaves me pissing blood feeling slightly disappointed........I'd have thought having the original invoice would be a bit help, so hopefully Rob will do the right thing & just sort it for ya...........

Weekend turned out well for maintenance items : 1.) Replace both rear control arms 2.) Replace timing chain tensioner In typical fashion, the first control arm took me 2 hours as I was mucking about with tools and getting my vice grips to grip on the ball joint thread end. I had also installed the new control arm with the cable routed underneath it, so I couldn't secure it to the control arm. The second one was done in 45 mins. Below are a few pics and notes for reference that should help if some one else plans on DIY'ing the control arms in their e39 sedan. Remove wheel, and use as additional support in case the car falls on your head.. Unsecure the cables first from the control arm and be careful not to damage them when removing the nuts. 18mm for the connection to the sub-frame. 21mm for the connection to the hub carrier. tightening torque 110 and 142Nm respectively. Nuts must be torqued in the normal position, which can be achieved by jacking up on the hub carrier to the position when fully loaded with a full tank of gas. In my case it was approx 34.5cm from centre of wheel to wheel arch. Get a damned good grip on the thread end of the ball joint side of the control arm. You can use a 10mm spanner, but that nut is pretty tight and you will probably end up rounding the thread end like I did on first attempt. The drivers side control arm removal is a lot easier in this regard as to counter-act against removing the nut, you can place the vice grips up against the shock absorber making removing the nut a breeze. Bolt for connection to sub frame goes in towards the rear of the car. The ball joint on the passenger side control arm was f**ked, no resistance at all, nothing left of the rubber boot either. This was an original item as it was date coded 99' Drivers side, not too far behind from f**kedville, still had some resistance, but still very loose compared to the new items. Rubber boot a gonner as well. I did a visual on the other control arms known as guide links, and they appeared fine, the rubber boots were in good order, probably some looseness in the ball joints as they are original, but I'll leave them for now. The rear sway bar brackets felt a bit loose, so I'll be doing those along with the sway bar bushes soon. As for the timing chain tensioner, it took 20mins to replace. After 170kms the original one was still good, and came out in one piece. Oh well, preventative maintenance ftw.

Had this sweet Hemi Cuda follow me so i pulled over to let it past. It is an awesome sight in the rear view mirror. Also saw a pink e36 with 'Barbie' driving it.

Coolant temp. Test no.7 in the 'secret' obd in the dash shows it in real time.

Ha, the Ghia is awesome! We are restoring another one at the moment, trying to source a Porsche engine So not off topic..

Mojo...my bud. This is one hell of a thread. I am going back to work on Monday. Full of New Year`s resolutions etc. But I need to see you in a new Bimmer by next weekend. This is important stuff. i`m off now..work tomorrow. Buy something. Please....

What part of that song and the sentence I love blue didn't you understand. I'll take the blue one. its better overall, not as many issues as the red one. price difference will make up for repairs needed for the red one. I'll talk the price with him when he gets back to me and hopefully have it in my drive way by next weekend.

Just a few of them grazing in the back yard

but it doesn't have a button Jonesey . But I am getting in touch with the guy though.

Value of the 330i touring just dropped by $2000 today

My waterpump failed the other day and after an hour long date with a crowbar, this is what popped out. I'm guessing it's the original and I guess it exploded...

coming together slowly....

Thanks, wish I got a chance to hear yours Excuse 600kms of road-trip filth. Haha

Added some air scoops to my 335i

How do you like Zebra?