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Yeah I'm doing that trip 3 times a fortnight atm on average. Roads getting a bit average in places but better in others. Be better once the Edendale bypass is finished. I'm going Christmas Day so not expecting too much traffic, should be a nice cruise. Currently sitting at the beach, so far the needle has moved about 1mm either side of halfway so I'd say she's better now. Alternator is charging at 13.8v which is just on the bottom end of the service manuals limits. And I think I've found the power drain causing the flat batteries too ?. Think that might be enough for one day though, time for a beer in the sun before heading home.

Hi Team So finally have the 540i sedan all done wof and rego'ed. All new shift linkage bushing kit, changed the exhaust to v bands for easy of removal, radiator fan switch for the electric fan and swap the wheels to the powder coated white style 135. Through a long process of elimination found out that the issue with fifth gear popping out was one missing dowel pin between the gearbox and adapter plate. Also got some adjustables for it, handles really well now. Now all that is left is to book in a tune with Gavin at Hi Velocity. This will be my new daily driver and i can now get back to my other e46 project another project to cross off the list.

Stripped the cooling system today. Water pump looks like it was replaced recently, thermostat has been checked and works. Flushed the radiator out, ran it to temp and now there's not a problem - seems like a lot more water went in than what came out of it originally. So hopefully, just a huge air lock in the system. Just waiting for it to cool so I can drain and refill with coolant and bleed the system again. Next is bleeding the brakes, then take it for a run. Decent temp down here today so a good check for the system, if it all passes Christmas Day cruise will be on ????. I'll hopefully be leaving Invercargill around 9 - 9:30am, bound for Dunedin's North East Valley, so if anyone sees me along the way and wants to have a quick look, feel free to grab my attention.

I think the only way forward is to buy an e55

After weeks of successfully ignoring the classified, I finally cracked and messaged @qube about the car. He was extremely patient with my questions, at first general, then specific, and finally random as it became increasingly clear that I was very keen on the car. I had a yarn on the phone with @EUROHO, whose enthusiasm for the car tipped me right over the edge. My father-in-law and I flew up from Vellington last weekend, and Kyu picked us up from the airport. We chatted with him and his dad in a supermarket carpark before shaking hands and promising to treat it right. They were both gentlemen, and it was a pleasure to meet them. We filled up at a motorway services on the southern motorway. I was impressed that when we got home the obc still promised 150km of good times in the tank. We stopped at Good Union in Cambridge on the way - a lovely church that has been converted into a great pub/restaurant. Apart from a leg stretch in Bulls, we knocked the drive out in one from there, and had a great drive, SH32 from Cambridge down to Turangi was a lot of fun.

No. You just need to replace all four tires with the same type. Michelin PS4S for the win

It is ok to do so but you must have all 4 tyres the same. IE all runflats or all normal tyres. Can't mix and match

News to me. Beaurepairs replaced mine on my 135i with pilot sport 4's with no issues (in Auckland). Best 'mod' for them, transformed the driving experience completely.

Any one here have a spare vanos solenoid to suit n52 motor. Doesn't have to be working as I only need the plastic ring that goes around the base. Auckland area

Lovely drive between Dunedin and Invercargill. Did it in autum about 10 years ago. Good roads and not too much traffic, what will it be like on Christmas Eve?

Craggy range was fantastic and the peak’s views were amazing. Well worth it.

Just drill and grub screw it in place, have done a few with no issues

Booked accomodation at crown in ahuriri so looks like its indian for dinner. Both me and my gf love indian food so this is perfect. Was thinking craggy range winery for lunch.

Finally got around to checking the thermostat, it's working fine, so not the cause of the heat issue. So will check water pump and flush the radiator next, to eliminate them. Have also found the IHKA is playing up (apparently a common problem), where I can't turn the heater off on the passenger side, so will need to look at that at some stage too. Tightened the fan belt as well, as that was way too loose. Alternator charging at a steady 13.8-13.9V even with headlights on, less than perfect but should survive for now. However, the battery is still going dead flat overnight. Took it for a run yesterday afternoon, where I stopped and started it a few times while ducking in and out of places, and it started fine. This morning, not even an attempt to turn over. So I've got my spare battery on charge, will throw that in as that battery may not be holding charge. And to top it all off, I can't remove the radio to fit a band expander, seeing as how some muppet has tried to drill the security screws out - not sure if I'll get the radio out without damaging it now ???? Starting to get frustrating - fix one thing, and another 3 turn up - and all I wanna do right now is a Christmas Day cruise - after that, it can take me the whole year to fix the rest of the niggly things, that won't worry me ?

My love affair with Euros slowed in the year 2000 and is now over. I've seen far too much heartache caused to families with late model, low km's money pits.

yeah good news... just failed a warrant of fitness (Vtnz) due excessive smoke (outta the exhaust) and oil leaks on the motor ?... 7000NZD's to sort issues out apparently. Damn and blast , everything that i've heard about these vehicles (550 e60) is coming true...they are weak, poorly made, and use inferior products and materials?... well, especially the motors.. no no hang on, yeah and the electrics..oh yeah and the sensors and don't forget battery leads...? So the question is how can an honest man sell it, without having to lie on behalf of BMW AG... '"cause they make weak, brittle, inferior, unreliable, cars these days".(thats only my opinion of cause). I mean how else could you explain it; a vehcle 12 years old with only 100000 ks, only really good for spare parts now. The bitch of cause, is that Ive recently spent, 500nzd on a spare wheel kit, so's i could run Michen sp4 tyres 1200nzd, and 1300nzd on a 100k service. The other bitch is that I've been nursing it really (well mostly) after learning of potential issue just after i'd purchased it Now lets have some fun and add that all up! 4000 + 7000 + 500 + 1200 + 1300 = 14000 New Zealand dollars...yes yes I know, ya can't really add servicing and tyre cost's as the they are acceptable(?!) expenses (running costs) of any vehicle...however that's 11ks in repairs in 2 years of ownership and only 20ks travelled which is totally unexceptable and outrageous for a vehicle of this ilk in my view. Yes indeed folks my 20 year love affair with bmw is about over... ...so the question also is what should I do: open the taps and run it til she blows, use it as a trade in ($7000 (been offered)) and keep my mouth shut?, set a fair price (private sale) and explain the issues... but the rub, what to get now? toyota, holden, ford, holy smokes! the thing cost me $17000 dec 2016 thats close to 90% devaluation? Anyway a rant for the ages (sorry folks)

Just got my 2001 E53 X5 back from the transmission rebuild by Automatic Transmission Repairs Ltd. Had a good chat with Zane who runs the place …and here's what he had to say: With the more modern 6-speed trans in E70s, they're coded to the car so you can't just swap in another unit. The older 5HP24 ZFs in the E53 and similar are not coded and can be exchanged with a 2nd hand unit. A BMW dealer processing a MBI claim will likely specify a whole new transmission rather than a rebuild which can be A LOT. So - better to use a reputable indy. We have seen a similar situation with the E60 550i repair quoted for the car Brett Taylor just purchased. Even if BMW says 'lifetime sealed unit' change the oil in your transmission at each interval 50-60K KMs, and only use ZF oil. This will help it last longer. A lot of the modern transmissions don't carry much oil, and don't really cool it down - and over time the oil degrades. Whatever you're doing always use the right oil, and the best oil you can. The 5HP24 is a decent transmission but you should expect a a rebuild as KMs go up. If you're getting a rebuild done, then it should be done thoroughly and using the newer iterations of the components as the 5HP24 was improved during its lifetime. After a rebuild, your vehicle it needs to go back for a check-up after 1000KMs Good guy to talk to, and he knows his stuff. Very pleased to have it back - enjoy driving it Transmission seems all good.

212,756 km A while back I picked up @qube's Mpars. Today I finally got around to getting them fitted and balanced.

Thanks Graeme for your kind words. To be honest its been hard to keep motivated sometimes, especially in winter as I don't have a garage or any cover. When I make a mistake or encounter a problem I tend to get discouraged, and the low budget slows things down too. But when I finish a section that I'm happy with its all worth it.

UPDATE Here are some more photos that show more detail. Firstly the powerflex control arm bushings pressed into the lollypops. Here is an image that shows one of the control arms mid polish. I taped one side so you can see the difference. Steering rack cleaned up and painted (even the metal lines). This is before the boots were replaced. Anyway, the front 330i spindles were sandblasted, painted and installed and I started fitting the front coilovers. This is the other side with the springs and sway bar links installed. Here is the old sway bar link next to the new one. Quite the size difference. I got xyz adjustable camber mounts from a friend, but the colour just wouldn't work with the clean, minimal look I'm going for, so I stripped and painted them in satin black. These were installed, but not before the strut tower strengthening plates. Most people just sit the plates in loose, but I siliconed them in so it will be easier in the future should I need to remove the coilovers for any reason. Then the 330i discs and reconditioned calipers were installed. The discs were just sprayed with a rattle can to resist rust, but I will remove the paint from the contact patch before the car is moved for the first time so the brake pads don't get compromised. The calipers were sandblasted and powder coated, and then had all new seals, boots, bleed screws etc installed. I got some goodies from garagistic. Really excellent quality at a reasonable price. The brake lines are Teflon, wrapped with a stainless steel braid and stainless fittings. They are burst tested to 6000 psi and have a lifetime warranty. They really add the finishing touch to the strut. I got e46 m3 front and rear swaybars secondhand for a good price, and these were prepped, painted and installed with new rubber bushings. The m3 bars are 26mm front and 21.5mm rear, compared to my old msport ones which were 23.5mm front and 18mm rear. I used my Christmas money to give the steering rack new inner and outer tie rods and new boots, and can be seen here attached to the 330i spindles. Fronts are all done now, so now I just have to finish off the rears. I'm really happy how its coming together.

UPDATE Progress has been slow, mostly due to finances but slow and steady wins the race. Engine bay was smoothed with a bunch of unneeded brackets and metal removed. A bunch of sanding, then its high build primer and more sanding Then its time for bmw black sapphire metallic followed by clear. Thanks go to @325_driver for a good deal on his leftover paint. With the engine bay ready to receive some parts it was time to work on the front crossmember. The stock crossmember has a bit of a weak spot where the engine mounts afix so I wanted to strengthen that. Here is the crossmember upside down - I cut some 2mm sheet steel to fit inside the two 'pockets'. These were then welded in and other pieces were cut to fit on top And then these are welded in too (above picture of the left side, below picture of the right side). Then it has a hole drilled in it so a socket can still be inserted to bolt up the engine mount. Then undercoated in zinc primer ready for topcoat. For those interested here is the comparison of the e46 crossmember with the e39 v8 crossmember. It was then painted with the same paint I used on the engine bay, and then installed along with the steering rack which was painted in satin black to match the powder-coated suspension parts. New msport control arms were purchased and I spent quite some time polishing them. They were then clear coated so the polish doesn't fade and partnered with new lollypops which I also polished and clear coated, and some alloy and polyurethane powerflex bushings.

sh*t yeah, sounds like someone hasnt scanned/diagnosed the car properly, and actually gotten to the root cause. Thats a lot of money they have just burned for probably no reason.