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Barely had the silver 540 departed down the drive when a rather nice (albeit a bit daggy) NZ new 525 Msport came up for sale on the quiet. Nec minute... Cracked bumpers and a pile of engine work, great night in the e39 rescue centre tonight...

Meh, as long as their service continues to be next level, it makes very little difference to NZ anyway. Ive had good service from ECS as well, but FCP seem to go out of their way to make sh*t right.

There was almost never a scenario where this warranty made sense for us in NZ. Shipping whatever you wanted the warranty on back to the states was usually more expensive than the item itself in almost every scenario.

Only two NZ new F11 LCIs, one petrol one diesel. So yup, unicorn. But still over-priced and G31 is sooooo much better car.

Heart is still racing after nearly getting gently touched by some old bird in a Skyline. I was waiting outside the local supermarket and noticed a really long queue of traffic behind a old r33 four door that was limping up the road with granny peering out from behind the wheel. Next minute she aims for the park in front of me and just starts the world's slowest turn into the spot which was directly through the front quarter of the M5, while the parking sensors started to go I rapidly grabbed reverse and left some black lines to get out of her way as she continued on and mounted the kerb. FFS! Had I been a minute longer in the shop this would be a different headline about ancient hag seen flying through air into path of oncoming traffic, local man praised as hero for removing menace from the road.

Totally agree with @Olaf, estate agents are slippery creatures; best to wear some form of hobnail boot or crampon whilst standing on their faces.

Ordered from them on Oct 18th. Arrived this morning - would have been sooner but for the 4-day weekend we had here.

If they don't have the tools, they need to find somebody who does, and pay to have them do it. Take it back to the dealer and patiently explain that you're going to need an equivalent or better loan car whilst they fix their mess, it's 100% their responsibility.

Ordered some springs from Schmiedmann last Thursday. With courier for delivery now! Priceless.

Insta

Yep thats the plan. It didn't actually come with the thrust bearing but I figured adding one wouldn't hurt.

That looks pretty solid and heavy duty, hopefully does the job. Just make sure you pack that thrust bearing and the main threads with lots of grease.

That's an interesting looking contraption! Yeah I used the cups to do a few bushings. On this diagram https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=AW33-USA-09-2000-E46-BMW-325i&diagId=33_0840 I think I did 2, 3 and 4 using the cups (basically all the wheel side ones I could get to). I purchased the inner wishbone bushings too but put that in the too hard basket at the time (6 and 14 I think they were). I've still got those parts lying around too.

Yes, is a domestic USA product plan. Freight on returns and exchange rates, inhibit any gains down under would think. Click on link of Hazzy's post, link, posts to FCP are blunt from many longtime customers.

The stock wheels are pretty trick designs, but are weirdly narrow (19x7 etc) and have silly offsets which suck them into the guards something crazy. The FL and new shape Octavias have a 30mm wider rear track which addresses it some, with the same offsets.... Im guessing it happened when the Czechs stole VW golf rear suspension assembly and bolted it into a wider car. 18/19x8.5 ET40-45 seems like the sweet spot, a few "factory" options out there that aren't reps.. but then the ones that are for sale appear to be 90% also driven into kerbs Must be a VW thing. Saw one with genuine golf clubsport wheels on it the other day in Pukekohe, looked mint, but finding the wheels is not easy!

Not recommended - slippery to stand on. Use a purpose-built rubber mat. Safety first.

Hi All, just wanted to let everyone curious or posted here that the car was found, in Torbay of all places. Police has done their forensics and suggests a “deep clean??!” not knowing who’s been in the car. I haven’t been able to see it and won’t be able to see it till insurance is confident car is what it was before claim. from what I can see from photos was mostly bumper damage and I’ve been told only the battery is missing, not sure about engine etc, but Car is heading to BM Workshop for diagnosis and then German Kollisons for panel and paint. thanks for the discussion everyone. Keep your cars safe.

I got a new e46 wagon to replace Babara. I'm super excited about it, she drives great, and I have some upgrade plans. I bought it from Jon @E30 325i Rag-Top, he was great to deal with, and has looking after the car really well - I'm still going through the stacks of service history paperwork. The car is a 2004 e46 330D msport touring with six speed manual - here are some photos I took just a few minutes after I bought it; It has a bunch of options like headlight washers, parking distance control, cruise control, factory bluetooth, rain sensing wipers, steering wheel controls, auto headlights etc. Its awesome to drive and has heaps of power, but I have lots of plans for upgrades; 1. Electric fan mod 2. Change interior to black, or dye the existing grey one 3. Refurb the wheels and get 245/40/18 tyres on the back 4. Replace shocks for bilsteins 5. Chip tune 6. Black grills 7. Full detail and clean when the Auckland water restrictions are over 8. Upgrade speakers 9. Paintless dent removal on the little supermarket carpark dings 10. Fix broken fuel filler door 11. Upgrade towbar wiring 12. Polish all the lights 13. Strengthen the subframe mounts 14. Switch out the mph cluster for a kmph cluster

Drove a Pinz for the first time in nearly 3 years this morning, and taking it off road next week! Definitely a life is good moment.

At least you can generally predict those types. Some 50-60 year old woman decided it was a good idea change lanes mid roundabout and smacked into my friends E36 i was driving. She so was clueless that she thought i had hit her initially, but luckily a witness stopped. Probably a write-off now and you cant exactly go out a buy a tidy 318is with 120,000 on the clock.