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When you get exactly the right tool for the job... F' you wheel hubs, four blows each and both sides just popped out. Inner races are both stuck on the hubs (to be expected).

Not just that, but you're also paying any local taxes and duties in the country of purchase, so collecting GST at this end as well is putting a tax on top of a tax.

"With the growth of eCommerce, NZ businesses are at a competitive disadvantage compared to offshore suppliers, as they are required to collect GST on all sales, while overseas retailers don’t. These changes will help level the playing field for local businesses. " yes, this is the convenient sound-bite that is trotted out. I would cease doing business with any company perpetuating that garbage. Why not try MyUS.com or Shipitto? I'm having trouble understanding why I am expected to pay goods and service tax on goods and services I sourced from abroad, for private imports? Did a local company or my government contribute to the construction or provision of these goods or services? I of course pay GST on all imports for my company.

I'm thinking art project. Can you re-work them into a tiara for your forthcoming nuptials?

Wow, they look nice. Consider DIY with VHT caliper paint (there is a range of colours), take your time per the instructions and use a hot water bath for the cans. You can get a VHT Caliper Paint clear coat if you want glossy finish... Mask carefully. Hint: foam earlugs work well for any circular apertures. My DIY here:

Here is an update. Been working with Sally from European Car Imports, have found her very professional. X5 has been ordered, it was registered in April, will be put on the ship in the coming days/weeks. Licences in UK cut over in September I believe so the previous plate cars dropped in price which has really helped (as such a stupid thing, this is beyond me, but helps my wallet!). Will have avoided salt roads as well. Thanks to everyone who posted on this topic. I found your comments all very helpful and thanks to balancerider for the intro to Sally.

You can also plug the brake hoses with a small bolt - m6 i think. I wouldnt remove the pistons unless you are replacing the seals, especially when you will have to mask the cylinder if you take them out. Pistons are not hard to put back in, but the seals can sometimes be fiddly.

I hate to say it, but without a cert its basically only worth scrap value, as the chances of anyone that buys it being passionate and committed enough to get it through a cert, when they haven't done the majority of the car work, is almost nil. At least with a cert the hard/technical part is done, and then its just finishing touches, which anyone can do and then reap the benefits.

The day of reckoning. Went to the certifier knowing it wouldn't pass due to the correct front springs not showing up in time (I now have a deep hatred for NZ Couriers ?). Couple of left field faults but no real show stoppers. Speedo will require some research, not too sure how tough that'll be. Exhaust wrap to save the steering UJ is easy enough. MAF bracket is something that's always needed doing but haven't pulled the trigger on a subtle enough CAI design yet. Spring pre-load, droop, perches touching tyres and NDT are already sussed. Him wanting to see the groove around the circumference of the splined shaft of the steering rack is an absolute PIA, but who am I to argue. Overall, not the worst result. Passed with just the one driveshaft hoop and he wasn't concerned with the z3 rack retrofit.

If you're just painting the calipers you don't need to remove the pistons. Only remove the pistons if you intend to rebuild them with new seals. Just thoroughly mask the inside of the calipers, and the mounting flanges, you don't want paint on there.

Ouch, bet that was an ugly fine. One thing I liked about the late model cars I rented overseas was that they could say the current speed limit in the nav or cluster. I believe waze can do this too, but who needs nav in nz?

Hahaha brute force for the win!!

Now have a hub puller set in Auckland available (can ship). A seriously useful tool if you're doing hubs or bearings.

Good idea, just make sure their phone is normally locked (fingerprint, PIN etc) as you don't want to provide another (additional) attack vector.

That's an interesting point and yes, very true if you're drop shipping something from/to somewhere that has VA, GS or Sales tax... And even worse, because that'll form part of the base cost it'll also be included in the NZ tax calculation so you're paying a tax on a tax (which tax rules normally try to prevent).

True but then you can just log on via a regular browser. You may hit a geo-block and if you need your phone for 2FA you're screwed but a call to the bank would sort that. Don't use an internet cafe (use your hotel's internet) and always use an incognito/private window to do your banking (even at home!). But I think your conclusions are sound and if you apply a little common sense it's easy to avoid the pitfalls.

Thanks for that Dave. Yea, its definitely a mess, and this current government never really thinks things through or plans things properly (ie kiwibuild)

Yeah, that's the intent. The expectation is that the seller registers for GST in NZ and then charges GST on the sale then pays the IRD that GST. The reality on the other hand is that very, very few offshore companies will register for GST in NZ (let alone write the IRD a cheque) so border control in NZ will still be the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. The expectation therefore is that EVERY liable package will be checked for GST payment and if the supplier isn't registered then the package will be held and the receiver will be billed for GST. The loophole is a foreign company can register for GST in NZ, collect that GST, and never pay it to the IRD because their reach doesn't extend to foreign soil. The consumer then produces a GST receipt (with an IRD GST registered number on it) to prove they paid GST and then how does the government get the money without being accused of collecting it twice (whether the collection was effective or not)? NZ can't force any foreign company to comply, the most they can do is stop the package at the border. The hope is that eventually, for fear of having every package stopped at the border, that the foreign supplier will voluntarily register. The likely scenario is that the foreign seller will say f%*# off, continue to ship the goods and leave the receiver to pay the GST thereby significantly increasing the number of packages that need to be manually inspected at the border. The smarter companies will quickly learn to cease sending packages in branded boxes. All of this has played out before in different countries/markets and it's never worked (properly) so I'm not sure why our stupid ("no new taxes") government thinks we can make it work better than everybody else. And they say it's to make it fairer on local distributors. That's BS, all it will prove is that local suppliers (e.g. BMW NZ) will be shown up and their price gouging tactics exposed to the public because we'll still be able to land products from the US, Europe and Asia, even including GST and shipping, for less that we can buy locally. If the local price difference was ~15% it might work but with price differences of up to 400% for exactly the same product it simply can't work. Local companies complain "but it's an unfair playing field" and now, given a level playing field and still being priced out of the market, what are they going to complain about when all we're seeing now is their unreasonable margins?

graham's cars are in good nick, don't think you'll go wrong getting it.

Well, you see, I have a number of E30s so I am familiar with the overall concept. I also have a high-level of 3D perception and visualisation, so from the various photos showing the details I can put it all together in my head.

Bump for you.?

Its bloody gorgeous as it is. Im not even usually an E30 fan, but damn what a looker.

Sadly, Graham has just informed me his Touring is a non starter now, taking that out of the running.......