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The coolant leak was sorted, seems to have had a touch too much fluid in it and held pressure as expected, thanks @Eagle for testing at short notice. Last Thursday, 18th May, I returned from a 3600 KM round trip from Hamilton to Aarow town and surrounding locations as part of the BMW Car Club NZ South Island tour. it was fantastic and the car ran flawlessly the whole way. With 21 cars and nearly 40 people it was a trip to remember I even did 3 laps of highlands park with no issues except some hot, smelly brakes afterwards. Needless to say, even the longer drives 8 or 9 hours stretches were no trouble given the refreshed seat base and brilliant ergonomics of the E39 platform. Kaikoura E39 Park up just outside Fairlie Arrowtown morning briefing, Club Touring day 1 Classic little general store Ida Valley-Omakau Road, Otago E39 trio, Oamaru.from left to right; M5, Alpina B10 V8, 530i MSport Ohau Church of the Good Shepherd, Sunrise, Lake Tekapo, 3 degrees and dropping. Temp hit -4.5 between Tekapo and Fairlie

Keep it in the showroom as a reminder of how far wrong they've gone.

Door speakers have arrived , change of focal dealer meant that NZ stock needed replenishment, apparently they had ordered a few containers worth. Looked into getting a 3D printer for making adapters for tweeter to fit into Harman Kardon mounts and door spacers . But took an easier route and brought some already made. The rings are via one supplier and door mounts via another both UK based. Easier than using hot glue to mount tweeters and using router to make spacers. Door adapter https://streetwise3d.com/products/bmw-focal-es100k-speaker-adaptors-pair Tweeter rings to fit in Harmon Kardon / Hifi tweeter mounts https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/173714926626

Got the resin infused today !! There were a couple of microscopic leaks identified during the infusion process which were sealed with mastic, crossing fingers there is no air against the mold side.

Coincidentally I'm making some adapters for my E46 at the moment to install new front components via 3D print. Such a great piece of tech for such things !!!

Time capsule in Hamilton dealership, no not old stock but a used car bought back in. In amazing condition, only about 6k on odo, always garaged. One to keep locked away. In late 90s period correct spec, orient blue with tan leather and wood trims, non-M Sport. Shows how tastes have changed.

Haven't done anything quite yet.. soon though. Need some new rubber, and almost definitely spacers

Saw that the other week, owner has a different sense of humour!

Thanks Olaf The es100ks can be got for about $750 per pair at the moment. They jump to 900 -1000 on some of the NZ retailers at times. Not sure why. Focal also have a inside series for BMW as well ,around that $550 mark for components that bolt straight in and use factory connectors. Otherwise there is quite a few drop in solutions from other vendors. Interesting enough underseat woofers replacement seems to be varied in opinions. Some say the drop in replacements aren’t nessacary an upgrade if you have HK drivers as quite efficient and good in midbass region. Really undecided what to do. I tried to model up Stereo Intergity new TM8 but with the f80s shallow enclosure and low seat rail clearance was too marginal. Might be an option for the X3 ? Ideally need to model some driver behaviours based on TS parameters. Sounds like the BMW enclosure and vent into side sill equals a .6 cubic foot leaky sealed enclosure so a good sized area for a 200mm speaker.