Leaderboard

I did suspect that. But I sometimes tend to be as clueless as a Choir boy in a Whore house.

Attach a lever to a long arm, thats hooked up to the seat, so when you sit down the lever pushes an arm that presses the button. Or you could just press the button ?

Hi there, I'm after some 15 inch BBS 4x100 basketweave wheels with center caps, or the center caps seperately. I'm located in Auckland.

I bet the marketing guy who wrote that waffle was crying all over his keyboard whilst typing, wondering where he went wrong in his career path. Its the polar opposite of all those things, its about as charming and elegant as Trump wearing crocs and a mankini.

The joys of the internet and text based communication unfortunately, all the intonation and feeling is removed so the meaning is often mis-understood.

Nice! Chuck a seat cover over it and it will match the rest

i am pretty sure there are more than 3 down here,The red one has been around wellington for a long time.The kapiti one was my one which came to wellington(from Auckland) in about 2002.Before i bought that one I drove a grey one(very close to the time i bought mine) with grey interior which was at a Welington Dealer.I am sure there are more.How many are there in NZ?.I also drove another rough example(Another "black" one) in Kapiti.I think that one was an ex uk car,it had manual seats..I paid 16 k for mine in 2002,it was in Central Auckland.

Finally got the differential back from the shop. They had a look, checked a few things, and said everything looked good mechanically. The new theory is that the dust shield on the pinion shaft may have been slightly rubbing on the casing when the thrust from decel pulls the pinion inward slightly. The shield has been pushed back, and I managed to get the unit reinstalled today just before I ran out of daylight. I'm also currently doing a little maintenance on my front wiper motor (it didn't want to move smoothly on low speed). Once that is all back together, I can go for another drive. Hopefully that'll be tomorrow.

Unfortunately we don't do much for AT - too bureaucratic to deal with anyway. There is a project in the pipeline for AT that might solve this problem anyway (if it goes ahead).

Just checked, we're out of boards. I need to order some more and they only take about a week to arrive. The PCB uses a CD40106 Hex Schmitt Inverter chip and simple R's & C's to create delays and sequence a pulse onto the relay coil. The relay contacts are isolated which make it universal to use. If you're interested I can make one up and send it to you. The parts cost is about $10... It has 4 wires. Red is +12V, black is ground. The two White wires go to the relay contact. It makes it really simple to install. The hardest part will be finding the 12V supply and routing the wires behind the dashboard.

Looked up on Youtube - looks like a simple button press for a specific time. It should be quite easy to add a small timer board with a relay output to emulate the normal press function of the button. We make a board for turning on TV's automatically for the bus industry which waits a programmable time then emulate pressing the on button for a programmable time. It work fine on 12V and could easily be used for your application. You need to find a 12V source that's active while running and take the 2 relay contact wire to the DTC button contacts.

How do you switch modes usually (button)? If it's a simple button press then you could emulate pressing the button using a relay that closes momentarily after a short delay.

Awesome. Looks like you've got the weather to enjoy it too!

For sure! Even better, transporting backdrops to and from location.

Yeah, sorry forgot to put the comedy font on that statement. Which is which why I started the next line with "But seriously..." Last time I looked at the BBS website I thought they still had a lot of the older styles available, certainly the E50s I was after were on there.

I just get a litre from bunnings but looking on Trade Me you can get 1-4 litre lots as well. I recently got some Carpro Ech20 which I've been using as a rinseless wash. Half a bucket of water and 4 micor fibre towels so I'm not reusing dirty towels on the car and works well. Leaves a bit of gloss on the car too. Wouldn't use for a particularly dirty car but works great for a bit of road grime etc.

Thanks. You speak sense. I think Ceramic might be something I do for the Wife's car where I don't really want to be bothering with it very often. Yeah I'm going to stick with what I know. I've got a cupboard full of sealants and waxes I like and yeah I enjoy the process, especially as a good wax lasts a few months. Do you have a place to get hold of decent amounts of IPA ? I keep buying tiny bottles from the chemist for about $9!!! Washing the car at all is a total pain given the water restrictions in Auckland right now!

But if the genuine ones were readily available and cheap, would you still want them? maybe yes, but would they still have that prestige about them when everyone has them now? Using the Rolex example, a good Seiko watch is high quality, affordable, and looks good (subjectively). Far more people wear them because of availability and price and thus the desirability of such watches are limited to the likes of the Grand Seiko or limited edition release which are.. (you guessed it) more expensive, just like the Rolex. The BBS wheels of yesteryear are popular because they are hard to find and expensive. People look for neglected sets for cheap and refurbish them and boom you got yourself something desirable now. Thats where the reps come in to the picture. If all genuine manufacturers tried to compete with copycats then the whole economy of goods will become meaningless. There is a market/customer base for fakes and cheaper alternatives and there is a market for genuine items. Also remember that the BBS Germany we are talking about in this thread is more about the F1 and Nascar stuff, not the generic wheels market that we are concerned with here in little ol NZ.

Thanks man. Motorway test this morning. Car is in good shape. Jon threw the rears on the balancer while he was doing the suspension arms and said there is a few flat spots so I’m guessing the minute vibration I can still feel is tyres (fingers crossed)

I reckon its the E34’s second coming! Having seen this one in the flesh as well it is a really nice example up close. And it sounds good too. Drove past the red one in Thorndon the other day and it is nowhere close to this one, well at least not cosmetically. This one and the one that resides in Kapiti (saw that one last week too) are my pick of the bunch! Other than an M5 ? Hmmm... that 525ix touring is very tempting haha ?

229,000km alignment done. Car feels a lot better, rear end is really tight. Still chasing a small vibration though. Rear tyres are game over so currently pricing up replacement option. alignment sheet: Replaced all 4 rotors over the last few nights. ATE from BMworkshops parts dept. great price and overnight delivery. Inspected all the caliper pistons and seals. Everything looks in good order. Hand brake got a well needed adjustment too. the fronts made a massive difference to the front end shimmy. It’s pretty much gone, not completely but for the most part. No shimmy under breaking down the gorge either which iv been using as a road test recently and was where I noticed the worst vibration at 80km downhill. Not sure if that’s because they weren’t bedded in at this point causing enough stress on the suspension arms or if the old ones had deposits making them hen vibrate. Guess time will tell. Haven’t road tested with the rears on yet. Bike rack is on after getting hold of the Thule T bolts for the whisper bars. roof racks finally being put to use for some work. I think tyres (rears at least) are next on the list.

Quick update on the M5... All put back together Has been on a ~100KM run - all good The tints have been removed and *thankfully* the rear demister is still working - always a risk when tints are removed. I had a look at the standard glass on another E60 M5 and thought 'that will do' - so I haven't bothered getting new tints added back on. new LH wing mirror glass is in - much better it has a shiny new bonnet badge - the old one was, well a bit old and sad looking I asked Jon to replace the LHS fuel sender to try and deal to the occasional stalls I had - so that's going in next, along with... a replacement fuel tank! Jon noted the significant suction when taking the gas cap off to refuel - and knew straight away that there's a problem with the tank. He found a crack and it is deformed around the LHS sender. Fortunately, he was able to source a 2nd hand tank. So had hoped to get it back this week but looks to be early next week instead. Oh well

The best theft proof tool believe it or not is a hidden switch to cut earth to something. It will take hours to diagnose and basically impossible to bypass. Everything else is useless in my opinion given the modern tools available to clone or fool the system. You can’t protect against a tow truck however even GPS trackers. If they really want it they will take it. I was told once of a car that was chained and blocked and GPS tracked under video surveillance and the thieves cut a hole in the side of the house when the owners were overseas and took it - disappeared into oblivion.

If you don't mind doing it yourself and if you're like me and actually enjoy the process, I don't see any real need for ceramic. Modern good sealants (spray or liquid) are extremely easy to apply and can last 3+ months, much longer if you're topping up or using SiO2 wash or spray wax regularly. My process now is to clay and light polish, IPA wipe down and apply sealant every 6 months, wash every week or two and use a topper (little more sealant or spray wax) every month. I use a bit of spray wax with Carnuba in it when drying too to help drying and put a little more gloss on it. Car looks amazing almost all the time, and I park on the street.

LOL I saw this one too a while back, the two exhaust tips on the right where literally just stuck on to the bumper. Couldn't believe what I was seeing ? Don't recall the stickers, must have been added on since.

Thanks for that @Olaf - will definitely have a read through. im not entirely sure which service it went through but they changed the oil and filter etc, and did quite a thorough check for bits and pieces. Turns out the oil level sensor will need to be changed. Sensor is saying there is too much oil in the tank, but the manual reading says it’s just right. Interestingly the part will cost me $400 or so. I did a quick search online of the job and it’s rather straightforward. Unfortunately I don’t have the tools nor space to DIY, so will take it in. something else that’s interesting is that I found contrary to popular belief, my service at Continental was cheaper than at any of the Indy’s. Perhaps I’ll get my work done by Indy’s and services done by Continental. I was smart enough (after hearing many a stories about BMW’s) to purchase an Autosure MBI policy - sure it added $2k onto the purchase price, but to know that most things that can go wrong (from what I’ve read) could cost in the thousands to repair, it was a no brainer!

Hey Jimmy and welcome to Bimmersport... nice touring! E61 550i Msport is a great blend of practicality and performance...

I would have thought it would be well nigh impossible to get a gash in the side of a run-flat as they are bloody solid through their design. Chopping and changing cars often I have driven on a variety of ultra-low profile high performance (Pirelli / PSS4) and similar run flat (Bridgestione, Continental) tyres a number of times, over some pretty awful road surfaces - SH2, SH27, SH5, etc. Whilst I have never done a full-on back-to-back test with different tyres on exactly the same car, I would suggest that they are comparable enough to draw some viewpoints... For road-noise, the noisiest tyres would have to be the PSS4 on the M3. Noticeably louder than the run-flats, especially on the coarse-chip stuff that apparently passes as an acceptable road-surface these days. Even with the louder exhaust and engine note the tyres were almost to the point of being a nuisance, especially on a long drive where long sections were on the coarse chip. In terms of the ride quality, very little to choose between them to be honest. Trying to make a correction between the "comfort" M setting and the "Comfort" M Sport settings, it would have to be pretty close. The fact that the wheels would be 19s or 20s with very narrow side walls would be a big reason for that, with such little effective sidewall to make a difference in the overall movement of the whole suspension system. However, I briefly drove a 3-Series on non-RFT 18s the other week and it wasn't immediately obvious to me what tyres it was running, only the mobility kit in the boot notified me of the difference. Admittedly this was only pootling around town on the daily commute and errands and no spirited drive around the back roads was involved. Handling and performance, to be honest I have run out of ability and bravery well before any of the tyres have run out of grip or started protesting too much and this is in a variety of weather conditions and temperatures. Whilst I possibly don't drive as fast as some on the public roads, the tyres do get a fairly reasonable work out on the twisty bits of SH5. So overall, hmm, yes, there probably a difference between the two types. Is it as bad as people say? To my not overly sensitive arse-ometer, probably not. Like all tyres, there are some runflats that are better than others. If it were my choice of tyres, would I go for RFT, yes I would primarily due to the amount of open road and longer distance driving I do and the increased peace of mind. These factors change for all of us, so the answer probably also changes as to what is "best" for us.

I may be a bit biased but have to say the E39 / E46 / E38 era was a very very good one for BMW design

Exactly... big kidney grills are the equivalent of putting a giant phallus on the front to the Chinese market...

Fusso King of Gloss. It's definitely very glossy, goes on easily. Need to put on thinly as it dries hard and white, gets cakey if thick. Leaves quite a bit of dust buffing off... But it's definitely easy and very glossy