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Feels like a realistic market value price to me. All these people asking 40+ are dreaming these days.

In the city Waze works well as Taxi drivers and truck drivers use it. I think I'm one of two people in the Wairarapa that use it. I had to ask them to extend the expiration time for reports which they did. But I marked a camera van in Greytown yesterday evening. Also you can just tell Google to mark things by voice. "Hey Google report Pothole" etc. Guess Siri would be the same "Sure I've ordered you some toilet paper".

Just think how much you saved on all the labour you did yourself 😀

Ahh old smokey. A shame.

Just added security really but speeding tickets are mostly just luck in my experience. I had zero demerit points from nearly 3 years then i had 55 in a couple of months. Most of my tickets are from going slightly over the limit especially after passing, it may of saved me from that but as above its situational dependent. Value for money its far better value than most tech devices given it still performs its job for a long time without being obsolete.

Basically lots of tweaks, custom name on start up etc. Its a donation ($20 at the time for me) and he will send you the firmware file type deal. R7 is probably the model id buy if i was buying one today Mithheru is the guy and here is his latest R7 firmware thread - https://www.rdforum.org/threads/124085/

It appears someone got a deal!

I've done a fair amount of reading on this. In order of how much you wanna spend: Uniden R8 > R7 > R4 > R3 > rest. R8 and R7 have arrows that tell you whether the bogey is in front or behind you, R3 and R4 don't, but are cheaper. There are other arrow detectors, such as V1G1 and Passport 360C, but they don't have the same reputation as the Uniden ones.

Theres a guy in NZ that does custom firmware for a few of the Unidens, they beat pretty much everything. I've been meaning to sort one, awaiting the dismal state of the NZD to improve. So I've been waiting about FOUR YEARS. Meanwhile my BEL STI still works very well on Ka. It tells me about X, though for the ones that matter - only when I'm about on top of them. Will I reassign the STi to vert and 45 degree mount when I get a Uniden? I doubt it. EDIT: Instant-on has been around since forever, it's not a recent development. You're essentially relying on Ka being operated a few kms down the road either stationary or oncoming, and you're picking that up. If there's nobody moving rapidly a kilometre or so ahead of you, you could be pinged. It comes down to your technique/caution with coupling road conditions, traffic, and your own speed. If there's not a lot of traffic around and you insist at cruising 20-30-40 kms above the limit you're ripe for being pinged. Yesterday I was driving on a deserted country road in the middle of nowhere, very surprised to get a Ka ping must have been about 2km (1 km clear in front of me, and a km around the next corner), I had a moment to check my speed (95) ... then around the corner as I was half way up the straight was line of five cars oncoming with a police car following and noisily straffing all vehicles in front. My old detector still works. Had I been doing 120, I'd still have had time to hit the picks and check my speed. If they'd have been instant-on, I might have been pinged - doing 95 as I was, but no warning.

Ohh I'm sure most of his projects go far and beyond what I've put in. The sums appear much smaller when viewed in Euros as opposed to NZD

What a thread, and well done for sticking with it and getting it all sorted! Like you say the cost will get absorbed by your enjoyment over the next few years. Enjoy your hard work!

The joy of finally having perfect headlights, really makes a huge difference to the front end look of the E39 Removed all the body trim and repainted as well

FCP / Spareto must love you! I don’t even know if Sreten from M539 has managed to hit that number (maybe on the alpina b7 with 3 engines!)

If you can get a reputable vehicle valuer to value it for that then im sure you could. Downside is the premiums i suppose.

Another nerdy thing I did was to throw together another spreadsheet and finally tally up the full financial damage this endeavor has inflicted. And boy, was I in for a shocker. You don't notice it as much when gradually buying up parts but it was a pretty sobering moment when I hit Enter on the =SUM(...) command in excel. Here's the final tallies: $1,640 - DONOR CAR $1,940 - ENGINE INTERNALS (gaskets, bearings, chains, guides, VANOS seals etc.) $1,420 - ENGINE EXTERNALS (CCV, DISA, coils, sparks, seals, gaskets, engine mounts, belt pulleys, tensioner etc.) $970 - SENSORS (every single engine sensor) $360 - FUEL SYSTEM (fuel pump, filter, seals, lock rings) $860 - COOLING SYSTEM (radiator, T-stat, water pump, hoses etc.) $5,900 - GEARBOX (conversion, clutch & flywheel, slave & master, detent & shift pin repair, shifter, bushes etc.) $800 - STEERING (tie rods, pump reseal, hoses, coupler etc.) $1,430 - FRONT AXLE (control arms, bushes, wheel bearings, strut brace etc.) $1,940 - REAR AXLE (wheel bearings, reinforcement kit, bushes, camber arms etc.) $1,400 - SUSPENSION (shocks, springs, mounts, bump stops, reinforcement plates etc.) $1,880 - WHEELS (rims & tyres) $690 - BRAKES (caliper repair kits, brake hoses, pads etc.) $290 - DRIVETRAIN (guibo, CSB, diff seals etc.) $200 - EXHAUST (hangers, gaskets, nuts etc.) $910 - HVAC (AC compressor, condenser, heater valve, hoses etc.) $4,870 - SERVICES (machine shop, welding work, wheel alignments, AC regas, WoF & cert) All up, that's around $27.5k, which is scary enough in itself. But then that doesn't include the following items that sort of don't contribute to the value of the project: $1,100+ - CONSUMABLES (paint, oil & other fluids, filters, small clips, random nuts, bolts, crush washers, O-rings) $660 - SPECIALTY TOOLS (timing tool kit, detent punch kit, coding/scanning cables, piston ring pliers & compressor etc.) $1,160 - OTHER (head unit, trim bits, indicator lights, bulbs, hood & boot struts etc.) And the main whopper: $3,430 - SHIPPING (across 29 separate parts orders over the past 2 years) Factor in the purchase price of the car and I'm $40k deep in this thing. Could have had an M3 hahah. Wouldn't trade it though. Have made it my own whilst learning so much along the way. Can never know what life will bring but as things stand I've no intentions of ever selling it so hopefully spread out across a good number of years to come, the costs will start making more sense as time goes on. And as things stand, I've got a brand new 20-year old car to enjoy. No ragrets.

And for ruining the market perception of diesel forever.

I'd like to see red light cameras rather than speed cameras. Not sure what its like in other parts of the country but here in Christchurch, its a plague

Apex Automotive in Porana Rd, Wairau Valley. Not immediately local but SJ is a proper time-served mechanic, great guy, long time personal owner of BMWs, and a member here.

i saw the car. it needed work. and reeked of cigarette smoke.