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It has been a long time since I've written something thought out and (hopefully) well considered on Bimmersport. It just so happens that the opportunity cost of becoming a "mature adult" (although this is very debatable) is a lack of time and motivation for certain passion projects. Nevertheless, as a brief speed run; I got a university degree, a girlfriend, a real job, a resignation letter to quit said real job, I started a business but most importantly, bought many, many cars along the way. I liken myself to someone like Hoovie's Garage - just without the comforting cushion of a substantial YouTube ad revenue. That's to say a degenerate car enthusiast with a distinct lack of self control when it comes to buying old and obscure European cars. Anyway, the reason I am writing this is I am looking to launch another business (of which the details are under wraps for now...) and I have come to the conclusion that a very strong marketing channel will be digital media about cars - hopefully of the entertaining variety. That's to say YouTube videos and factual/opinion based articles. I hate unnecessary expenditure, so if I can do something myself, generally I give it a try. This situation is no different. Basically, I'd like to try hone in on my writing ability and hopefully use it to produce some interesting stuff for you all to read, with the hope that I can leverage this new found skill to grow an audience and promote my business. Obviously this may sound like a pipe dream, but I thought it's worth a go - and I've decided it all starts here, in this thread, on good old Bimmersport. Why Bimmersport? Well I was hoping you all can provide ideas, thoughts, critiques and hopefully you may also find it interesting too. Now comes the part where I ask if there is anything specific I can write about that may pique your interest? Literally any suggestion would be great. Of course I also have a list of things I personally want to write about, but only time will tell whether these were ramblings I should have kept to myself. If you're interested in a car I have owned let me know. I would post a full list of everything but that's too embarrassing to admit publicly. My current line-up consists of: BMW M Coupe, BMW E34 540i, Volkswagen Passat W8 6-Speed Manual, Porsche Boxster 987 Manual, Porsche Cayenne (957) 3.0 TDI, and 2x Brabus Forfours. I'm not sure when my first article will be posted but I will aim to have it done before the end of the week.

Sold to the first person who viewed it. Went to a very keen young man in Wellington. He has promised to maintain its current condition and was smitten with the drive home. Happy days.

I think it's much easier to get across the line if you have a prior relationship with the mechanic, and are fully willing to take responsibility for your ordering snafu's if you get it wrong. It's probably also easier if they're "not" a specialist marque workshop and are willing to work on all sorts of cars - if you can supply parts / diagrams / torque specs its going to make their life a lot easier, as they might not have the same access to parts discounts when ordering from the dealer or OE supplier.

Another consideration could be the time spent having to verify that it is indeed the correct part, the dissatisfied customer needing to be managed if it was only found to be incorrect upon installation, and the disruption to scheduling caused by double installation. And driving all of this, the error in spec caused by “oh, the part is for cars built until August, but you need the type built after August” etc…

$22500 Excellent condition. 70000km Lowered on Eibach Springs Near new Rotors & Pads LED light upgrade (OEM) NBT 3D Design genuine front lip M Performance Carbon fibre interior trim kit,pedal covers, & rear difuser. FTP Charge pipe kit included.

Yup. Example. ADL use to buy white box no name brake rotors for between $8-$15. They would sell them to mechanic shops for $35-$80. Who would charge the customer $150 a piece. Some good shops won't buy the cheap stuff due to the likelihood of an early failure and them having to maybe cover this. And I would say most people wanting to supply their own parts would be supplying the cheapest of the cheap not nice stuff like you have.

Hi i've offered this before but i'll put in Off-Topic We spend about 600k a year shipping stuff from our Auckland, Christchurch and Timaru locations. Nationwide. We have great rates with companies. Besides sending the small stuff we send 23 tonne shipments. Organize hiabs, couriers. I personally ship alot of car parts from work. Anyone on the forum need a hand please email us. We ship our own stuff but since the rep has gotten around we are shipping for our clients too. [email protected] (myself) [email protected] (national logistics) Feel free to ask for quotes, we can explain how its cheaper packing yourself, taking to a depot yourself or if u need full service we can sort as well.

Kinda funny it's being sold by Affordable Autos

Car porn.

When I showed the mechanic I use the price difference for a diff bush from Stocks at $760 versus online at $255 delivered, he said “go for it”. Same with brake sensors, $92 + GST at ACBMW for one or $77 delivered for both. There are times local parts are competitive though and we do it case by case.

Bellars Auckland North shore is the same - sign on the wall. I have a local mechanic that does my work and they will use parts I supply but when I first asked they weren't exactly keen 🙂 I've always imagined a profit margin in the parts dept right - they buy at a discount but charge customer full ticket so they would be missing that component perhaps.

I will keep you in mind, once I find a radio I like and remove it, I shall offer it to you first.

Came across this in the past on FCP euro. Considered getting one for my E30 until I could get OEM for it. https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-radio-frame-64111368515 Expensive for what it is though. Must be some cheaper after market ones out there.

I fundamentally disagree, if you have 'have' to use TM, then you're opting to play by their rules, or reduce your potential market. Most people listing like this are trying to avoid public disclosure, divide and conquer, it's totally suspicious and the principle reason there are a ton of people like me that just won't consider it. It's like people saying "as is, where is" hoping that potential victims don't understand the legal implications of such a statement. Anything less than 100% transparency, as is the case here, is caveat emptor and even Caesar himself would say to walk away. I'm also not sure why somebody would consider it logical that this approach would mean less tyre kickers relatively speaking - there will be less interest for sure, but most likely the same proportion of time wasters.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/lamborghini/listing/5348725164?utm_source=tmm-savedsearch&utm_medium=email&bof=xW5Wgf8F This guy is dreaming. That's what LP640's go for. 1 Million NZ. Good luck. Also those KM's are high. That car goes for 250k USD in this sad market. No one is getting into a bidding war (above market) for a non LP high km example. The yellow one thats' been listed for years is 400k and hasn't moved. I'm looking forward to watching the price get lower and lower.

I’ve got two sets of “super lows” but thinking I probably need to come up a bit to make the car more useable, hence looking for “lows” instead. What’s out there?

I stop reading classifieds or auction that say "I won't respond on site" or equivalent. Advertise a car for $40k on a specific platform and then claiming you won't engage on that platform is asinine.

Good for an occasional punt.

Made a bit more progress, making the most of the long weekend. Sandblasted and painted clutch and brake pedals, painted the firewall side of the pedal box, installed the pedals and a new Sachs Master into the pedal box. Got the e90 brake booster fitted as well, still need to make a plan for teeing the front brake lines into the e90 master. Pedal box hooked up to the booster with the linkage too, works smoothly with the stainless clevis pin I made. Painted the fuel tank and put that back in the car also. installed the heater box with a new genuine gasket to make sure there’s no leaks, hooked up the cables for the controls. painted the floor inside the car as well, put the dash back in and started plugging a few things back in, fingers crossed at least the important stuff works. Still need to put a whole bunch of trims and bits and pieces in to complete the dash but it’s a start. Also some wiring to sort out. Some photos below.

Finally managed to get a weekend to get some X5 jobs done. Pulled the Trans mechatronics unit out, fitted the Sonnax zip kit, new filter and fluid and refilled. Is shifting a lot nicer now, but still has that rough 2-1 shift, but not as bad as it was, and the 4-5 flare, but again not as bad. So looks like it’s a solenoid kit next to sort that. While on the hoist, I replaced the rear drive shaft coupler, and fitted the front shaft with a spacer to push the spline into the transfer case further, which has a habit to wear out otherwise. Was also hoping to fit the ECS lift kit, but ran out of time. Did fit some new wheels and test tyres to sus out sizing, these are a 265/65/17 and is tight when on lock, so will stick with that I think. Is only about 25mm taller overall than the factory ones. Is a bit of poke on the front, but should have a set of iS flares arriving this week that should cover them

This is a really nice car - hope it can go to another Bimmersporter (also just spotted mineral gray F31-ception in the background of your pic)