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Just picked up a 2007 530i with 137000km on the clock, loving it so far, has a few minor issues that need solving but runs and drives as you’d expect

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/640i/listing/4922975133 The N55 is my choice of engines as well.

I’m assuming ‘yet another..’ is referring to the E39 M5 I co-owned from back in 2020? My mate and I walked away with $3k profit each so rest assured I haven’t retired a millionaire. Making a little bit of money on a couple of cars over the years hardly makes me a criminal! Lol. PS, I’ve done a lot more work to the E30 than change the wheels.

260/5 gearbox is the biggie - 1st 2nd and 3rd are slightly shorter than the usual 260 ratios. It was standart E30 option though, and there are a couple of NZ New MT2's with it.

They fitted some decent tyres, so at least they are ahead of your average 320i owner.

They do look goooooood though...

bit harsh, I didn't get that vibe, the explanation by driftit explains it in his favour i would say, doing 157km in a work vebicle though especially when you know its monitored is muppet level arrogance and would have been license pinging if he had been caught. must have been late for a smoko shout because no council worker ever hurried to a job IMHO

Um... How do you shut the door?

With my cheap E87 130i came some codes. One of these being 2A99: Crankshaft - exhaust camshaft reference. This is nearly always the Vanos solenoid sticking or just being worn out. In my case it was a bit of both. Original solenoids most likely, even at 210,000kms. Very poor oil maintenance. I tried cleaning the factory ones a few times but eventually it would throw a code. The code always followed the one that was originally installed in the exhaust side. So I picked up 2 sets of cheap solenoids from spareto.com A Hella branded one @ 48.76eur each https://spareto.com/products/hella-control-valve-camshaft-adjustment/6nw-358-188-011 A Gates branded one @ 34.90eur each https://spareto.com/products/gates-control-valve-camshaft-adjustment/vvs177 The Gates one came in a generic white box with a small Gates sticker on it which put me off a bit. The Hella one came in a Hella colored yellow box that looked suspiciously cheap. Attempting to install the Hella one went wrong immediately. Due to the way it has been crimped it was slightly oversized. I removed the excess. It was still tight fitting. First drive had me turning back very quickly. A high pitched scream from the valve or Vanos (Lots of people refer to it as a Whistle, mine was a scream). Similar to a belt that was seriously slipping at higher RPM. This is actually a common fault for a failing Solenoid. Any load on the engine and there is no noise. Idle throttle and you will hear it. I had not opened the the Gates one yet but was surprised to find it resembled the BMW one far closer than the Hella one. The Hella one looked as well as it performed. sh*t. The Gates one has been in there for a few months now. Zero issues. Fitting was great. I am now curious as to how long the Gates ones will last. Apparently these are the factory ones without the BMW part number on them. https://spareto.com/products/pierburg-control-valve-camshaft-adjustment/7-06117-01-0 Conclusion: The Light company makes sh*t engine parts. The Belt company makes better ones. I will update when the Gates ones die. Some pictures.

@Bennyboy aside from being on TM for $20K not two weeks ago you mean? Yet another car that Brad has bought and listed for double the asking price about 5 mins after purchasing. Alpina's add $8K don't you know...

Worked for Eroad in it's early days. Some heavy trucks would do that in a month. Also depends on how often that breach is logged. Usually every 1 min over is a new incident. By law you must be below the speed limit where the sign post is mounted. E.g. from a 80 zone to a 50 zone you must be below 50 before the sign post. Nobody does that. Most companies only cared about the top 10 to 20 % of beaches. Catching the drivers who a well over. I had the high score for Eroad staff for a while. Shame it was the poor kid from Firestone test driving my car. Got a free alignment though after I advised them. I would want to see his speed report. And if it is not a calibrated government approved device like Eroad then the data is irrelevant. I spent hours every day updating GIS data to set the correct speed limits. Only had to be 50m off and it would generate a speeding log.

Agreed. Coming up with theories and blaming the captain or anyone else before a proper investigation has been completed is foolish. One crew member or action will not be to blame for such an event, it will be a string of things all lining up on the day. Look up the Swiss cheese model. This article is worth reading from someone who actually knows what they’re talking about: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/08/hmnzs-manawanui-sinking-royal-us-navy-ship-reef-samoa/

AQPy3sMEbipovnKN-3Y6qi3pOASGDIy-2A6T0DJtAinaXOoTQsAXABybiPCUWx5l7dkPiwHYbpX81PHMCABcKg3s.mp4

Was set at dollar reserve, went for that, and then quickly onto the fballs buy sell groups for $12.5k and sold again. And now here.