Leaderboard

The hardest part about home ownership is the saving of the initial deposit, having to pay rent AND save for it is very hard. once you are in, it is cheaper than renting if you put it over 30 years, or better is to put it over 10 years and pay down same amount you were paying in rent and saving. We all know the baby boomers had it good. thats the past, can't go back there. so anything relating to that is moot. However what is still relevant: its very easy to whinge and complain about why one can't get something. These people won't buy their first home until they are in their 40s, then put it over 30 years and still be paying a mortgage on the pension. Not my idea of a life. My opinion is the best time to save for a house deposit is when you finish high school, still live at home (no or little rent to pay) and work full time. Unfortunately, currently the education system is setup that Uni is the only way forward after leaving school. this sets people up for failure, and you know that yourself, everyone has read the most successful people in monetary terms never went to uni. sure, you can go to uni and come out the other side with a 6 figure job, reality is in most industries you don't get those jobs until you are in your 30s at least (see buying a home at 40 above) Do you really need that flash car, the sky TV connection and the holiday to the islands every year? Nice things to have, but being mortgage free in your mid 30s is much better.

f**k Auckland. I'm buying out in the middle of nowhere, with no one to bother me.

Well interesting update, after a few emails with police they confirmed it was abandoned.. Going to get in touch with AAL and see if they're happy for me to cover the paperwork/recovery costs at which point I have successfully obtained a 750... that's been sitting for two years and I have no keys. This will probably be less fun than imagined.

yeah but dealing through clumsy in car computers such as gen 1 iDrive is perfectly legal lol

People complaining about house prices. I purchased a house on a single income last year amist some of the highest growth Christchurch has seen . I'd say slightly more than average not like I earn massive amounts. Surely a couple sharing expenses and saving should be able to do the same.

In general 'M' vehicles in their various guises can be spotted by their black head lining. Also take the plate number to carjam and get the last 7 digits of the vin (KX19054), then go to a BMW vin decoder like http://www.bmwvin.com/ there are a few but thats at the top of the Google search right now. An mspec vehicle should have some kind of M or Sports components, other than wheels, i don't see any such suggestions on the vin of this vehicle. For comparison check out vin NE96244 off this listing here http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1052703447.htm A lot of vendors, private and commercial, are just plane ignorant, or hopeful. If I had $1 for every time an 'AC Schnitzer' BMW had turned up on trademe that was Authenticated by the presence of maybe $100 of parts from Ebay (Pedals, Handbrake lever and Badging), i'd have several hundred dollars, and if I had the same $1 for every time someone put an M badge on a non M BMW, I'd have several thousand. I've had a car yard talk to me about an E39 540 that had Schnitzer pedals like they were letting me in on a secret and I was about to get the deal of the century because 'isn't interesting that it has Schnitzer pedals?' And I'm like no, not really, they are less than $50 on trademe. There was a trademe listing a few weeks back with an E60 545 something or other that had been 'tuned to M5 spec', and this was based on bullshit the dealer had fed to the customer.

I remember peanut butter sandwich lunches and 60km commuting two up a 250cc motorcycle to save money.4 years.Not owning a TV for 5 years, no going out unless birthday or similar. Wife did degree over 10 years in evenings and weekends. I did whatever overtime I could and pushed myself at work.I Had the same e30 for 15 years /330,000kms. First house paid off in late 30s. Apart from the Auckland market I tend to smile at people b$tching and moaning about getting into the housing market yet will have $1k cellphones , $40-60k tied up in a cars and spend a few hundred on a Friday entertaining themselves. It's a matter of choices and some hard work.

Totally agree with Nick and is why I will not sell my E30 M325 http://www.bmwblog.com/2016/03/29/video-nick-murray-drives-e30-325i/

They may be brash but they're quite good ideas for addressing growth which is the problem here. I'm sure there are others. We don't have the infrastructure in Auckland to support current population levels and we can't build enough infrastructure to catch up with demand let alone surpass it. Ever. Auckland doesn't have a housing crisis, it has a population crisis and more houses aren't going to fix Auckland's problems they're going to exacerbate it. If you don't like my ideas then proffer some viable alternatives that are economically viable? It's easy to be a critic.

What other big ideas have you got mate? There must be some real good stuff going on upstairs with gems like that

A policy that involved looking at mistakes made around the world, and not copying them, would be useful too.

Oh god. The propaganda is strong in NZ huh. I tell locals that the average house price in NZ is over $800K and show them a few pictures. They wonder why we stay there and why someone would pay that much money for a sh*t house. Then I remind them they can either vote for Clinton or Trump and they ask where to sign up.

Starting a WTB list for my 1987 M325i. All items need to be in very good / excellent condition. Genuine E30 Stereo with code (if applicable) Rear Premium speaker covers in black (speakers not necessarily required) Centre console (the one around the gear stick) Passenger Spotlight / glass to fit Tech I bumper Complete boot carpet complete with side mouldings, plastic battery tray/cover More items to come.

Seen this car up close a couple of weeks ago . . . . droooooool http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1060966107.htm

Hi there BMW fans I'm a new forum member from Timaru. Have two Z3's, both are 2000, 1 is 3.0L auto and the other is 2.0L manual. Purchased the Siena red 3.0L Z3 about 18 months ago, this was my first ever BMW. Just love the top down cruising. It low km's and does not need anything done to it, a bit boring in that regard. Purchased the Mora red 2.0L Z3 in January, its a high km's car and was in need of lots of TLC. Been having a blast working on it and sorting out all the odds and ends. Have set up INPA on the workshop computer to help with the diagnostics. Every thing works now and no error codes. Currently finding parts for the suspension and steering refresh. This car is my daily drive. Cheers Muzz

Ok guys, so not very much related to BMW but for those that are interested, photos from the Roycroft a few weeks ago are on my website www.steveritchiephotography.co.nz Also, what might be of interest is that I will be at the Legends of Speed this weekend so check back on my website again next week for photo's from that. :-)

Ex Yakuza? Looks like it's rolling on cheap crap rims as well.

it's an interesting point you make. In my case, the work I do is all centred around Enterprise ICT. There's nothing of sufficient scale elsewhere in the country. I even considered a move to CHC about 10 years ago, it seemed attractive and a nice choice for single-income with wife at home and young kids; decent house, garage, and access to the mountains, bush, rivers. However, the limited scope if the job disappeared (restructure/redundancy) presented a higher risk which did not overcome the lower housing cost and lifestyle options. This pretty much locks us in to Wellington or Auckland, where housing costs are higher but opportunity for me is greater. If I understand your argument correctly, there's an option of choosing cheaper housing and aim lower job-wise, rather than complaining about high housing costs in the centres. I bought into that, choosing Wellington over Sydney! I determined I'd not be able to pay off a Sydney mortgage before retirement, in a broadly equivalent suburb compared to Wellington, despite enjoying the greater employment and lifestyle opportunity Sydney offers. I'd move to Coffs Harbour NSW in a heartbeat if I could get steady work there. Still, I'm happy walking to work in Wellington, living with a sea view, strapped to the side of a hill getting blown 40 b@stards in each storm. #8 ) In summary: I suggest there's a continuum between risk (job opportunities) and reward (earnings potential), where house prices vary from left to right on the scale for a given location.

It doesn't happen often because dealer would register the car themselves and put some kms on it and sell it at a little discount to get it off their yard and get some profit in their pocket but things like this does happen for whatever reason. I'm sure if you ask a dealer, they can come up with many reason why this happens, it's rare but it does happen. These pre-facelift e92 are manufactured right up to Feb2010, so whether it's made in 2008 or Feb2010, it's still the same car. If it was registered in 2011 then there maybe some confusion as to whether it's pre-facelift or facelift which bmw calls LCI. I have seen e36 328i registered in 2000, now e36 328i stopped production in Sept1997. This is a big confusion when advertising the car, but it's not illegal, it is all legal, you advertised the year of the car based on when it was registered, that registered year is on all your legal documents. No one would have thought dealer won't register a vehicle for years.

Plastic welded all the bits up this arvo. Then measured up the bumper and underbody. Looking at a two level design, the bumper 'skid plate' extending forwards 60mm at sides and 30 in center for the splitter, then a motor plate put 40mm lower to get under the sway bar, which runs the full length of the motor, finishing at the drive tunnel cross brace. Motor plate will be four bolts (two on the sway bar mounts, two on the cross brace), then slid down and forward to remove. Designed it up for profile cut ACM, didn't really want to use this due to its edges, but might be able to put a rubberised paint on them or something. Anyway, let me know if there is any clearance bits or other issues I've overlooked!

550i Touring > 335i Touring

Interislander is so bloody slow, whatever happened to the fast ferries, killed off by the bloody save the whales, bring em back I say And they have the worst web speed in living history, like dial up, waste of time, better to jump your phone. And then you wait for like 40 min to get off the bloody thing when it arrives, and the Blue Bridge is bugger all better. Rant over.

Not interested in a 550 touring?

well what do I say as I look at 3 years of forward work coming , prices may plateau out but don't hold your breath. those of you waiting for the big drop HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Yeh, but don't you dare look at or touch your phone while in charge of a motor vehicle :-O

That's a 600k house in Auckland I'm afraid. It's exactly what I'm in and that's on a subdivided section.

It'll be interesting to see how things pan out in the Auckland market. Recently, the rate of price rise outstripped the rest of the country but even that has slowed. Regardless, a very ordinary house in the Auckland area now costs $800000. That's 3 beds, 1 bath, a garage if you're lucky, and maybe 600sqm of land. Never mind 1st time buyers... How many people can raise $200k equity from the sale of their house in order to find the deposit? I earn reasonable money but have no chance of buying here. We'll move, but not (as I've said) until Miss M has completed school - I suppose we could move, but it could be so devastatingly detrimental to her and her education that we'll not do it. Unfortunately by then I'll be lucky if I have enough working life left to pay a mortgage off! On the upside, she's keen on Waikato Uni and wants to stay there during the week. I can look for work almost anywhere.

Not meaning to derail the thread, but wow there are some lovely BMWs on that site, in NZ. http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C705239# http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C718026

Hey guys, just wanted to share some picture of a set of BBS LM wheels I've repaired. Such a shame to see nice/rare wheels forgotten and sometimes scrapped. So I gave these a new lease on life. Wheels were very curbed, bent and a few flat spots, so I stripped them apart, gave them a good clean, soaked bolts and cleaned them with a tooth brush. The curbing (missing chunks) were welded back up and some small cracks around bolt holes were welded up and redrilled. The flat spots in 2 wheels were then removed and all wheels were made true again. The excess welds were machined back. Then finally, finished polished. I had to find a full set of center caps which was quite tricky and expensive. Long story short, I ended up buying another set of wheels and using the caps and then selling on. Didn't paint the centers as a new project came up for my M3 and didnt have time to paint but would have painted in the original silver had this gone ahead. Hope you enjoy!

google maps on your phone is way better

Ok I will get off my arse and get the spacers.

+/- 2km/hr would probably be within the speedos margin of error. Have seen a number of write-ups affirming that aftermarket pod type intakes add induction noise and not much else. Washable panel l]filters do flow more air but it comes at the expense of filtration - the gain seem to be 1-3hp across the full range so not enough to be noticed by the trusty butt-dyno. +1 on more photos!

Welcome Murray. Certainly can't criticise the colour choice and they both look like they have mint paint as well, props!

Looks like a getaway car from a bank robbery!!!

I'd sell up and get rich? one can dream. Plenty of jobs here, just gotta pick the right industry from the get go, and also realise that with a lower cost of living $50-70k isn't a terrible wage.

Welcome, they are looking great!

E30 Is running again after swapping engines with a parts car i picked up, i had to swap exhausts with the donor car as i decided swapping exhaust manifolds would land me with too many broken studs. Louder than an 80s DTM car right now, 2.5" straight through with a single 12" coby in the middle and a 12" long muffler with a 3.5" dump outlet. Fingers crossed a scarles silencer shuts it up enough for street duties. WoF booked in sat morning, then a weekend road trip.

Possibly top strut mount bearings. These are not sealed properly and can get contaminated by salt off the roads if your car is a jap import. Had this issue on a couple of E90's recently.... Give me a call Ben

I know where the wheels came from and the tyres are 14 years old - just saying.

Makes me laugh as I know who sold it to them!

Another long week-end and more crap driving on the roads. It seems Easter is the holiday that every sh*t box Mobile Home / ute / 4x4 decides to tow a clapped out trailer / boat / horse box up some of the biggest hills in the country. If your piece of crap can't manage the speed limit on a flat, straight highway then it shouldn't be on the road full stop.

They go for around $750 these days, so maybe base your offer on that or hope you can get a steal for less!

This:

Learning to drive in an auto only teaches you awareness of your surroundings, you don't get the chance to learn how to control the car at all. Besides, what if she's the only person available to drive in an emergency & the only car available is manual? I've been in that situation before, not life threatening but it had the potential to go that way had we not been extremely fortunate. If you sit your licence in a slushy you cannot legally drive stick unless you prove competency by resitting in a manual. I learned in a '52 split-screen Morris Minor, with all its 30hp of fury. Live rear end coupled with leaf sprung front suspension & 4 speed manual gearbox taught me a massive amount about getting into & out of trouble long before it became relevant on a daily basis. Only thing my parents had to be patient with was hill starts - and they never took too long to get the hang of. Taking the soft way out will do Miss M no favours. Old fashioned they might be, but I can guarantee you my kids will learn how to drive a proper car and skid it in the paddock long before they go for lessons on the open road. And when (not if) they get themselves in the sh*t they'll stand a chance of being able to correct the situation, not having to go along for the ride.

Its possible the seller had no idea their car was a 2008 and not 2010. It was first registered in Japan not NZ. think the lesson here is to check when buying a car.

Happens a lot. As mentioned, it probably sat on a yard/lot for a couple of years before being registered. Happens at our dealership too, we dont register the car until its sold, but we may have it on the yard for a year or so if its a less than desirable model.

What mucking fuppet scraps BBS rims?!?! Nice work on the resto, only thing I'd do differently would be to have the lips done with a satin finish instead of polished, but that's only my tastes

The auto/manual debate. It seems to rear it's ugly head in 95% of threads. Just give it a rest already. Other people's opinions. Organised religion. Cults. People that abuse/hurt children... Actually, people that hurt and abuse anyone really (see cults and organised religion) Skype... We have 85mbps and you still never f*cking work properly. The speed at which I can burn fuel in the V12. Scary.

I have decided after a bit of a chat with a few other enthusiasts, that I should create a nice thread regarding my E39 'Project' as such. It will be very basic, and follow the work that has/will be done on her, but I am no expert in any sense, so don't expect an amazing read - I will leave that up to the professionals So Monday 17th of Feb, a day after selling my much loved E38 728i, I upgraded to a 1997 540i (M62B44) She currently has 170,000 k's sitting on the clock, but is very tidy and clean, and completely stock. I took her for a test drive, but the impulsive joy of driving a V8 Bmw with one of my many favourite motors, saw me buy it right there and then without doing the ideal thing, and getting it scanned. Sadly, after 100ks of driving and eventually rocking on home from her purchase, she stalled dead in my drive-way without the ability to restart, so she became the very new project sitting on my front lawn. And so the list begins! All My work is done with Ray & His Team at HellBm. Work Completed: - Camshaft Position Sensor replaced (18/02) - Fuel Pump Replacement (18/02) - Ignition Switch replacement (28/02) Fine and well until grunty sounds from the transmission area appeared so: - Torque Converter Reconditioned (10/03) - Transmission Service (2 & 2 come together lol) - Left Wheel Speed Sensor replacement She has finally come right, but as the usual, you can never not have anything to do on a BMW, so the 'to do' list follows To Do: - Exhaust system sort out - 02 Sensors, - Coolant Flush - Oil change/Service - Coby Performance Muffler (or whatever you want to call it, fart can etc) to replace stock Mufflers - Angel Eye Installment - Sort out Rims, Plasti Dip current until new rims catch my eye - Potentially Motorsport front & rear bumper (or just buy a MSport ) - Windows tinted to 35% - Interior trim to be changed from the old 'wood' look to Ali look. This is a long term goal list and I am sure there will be issues pop up to be added as with any thing automotive, but I am loving the challenge and the reward of having a better car than when I started. And to add to the weekly care regime, she gets 6 hours spent on cleaning her every week

cleaning is fun...ask andy who whipped out the chamois at milford car park last nite