martyyn

Yep any tinting considered purely cosmetic is illegal. How they could enforce it I dont know because surely the issue is whether or not they flash 'orange'Ive seen plenty of cars about with stock lenses that have ranged from almost white to almost red ! Id go ahead and tint them. Where you get the tinting spray from should be able to sell you some stuff to strip it off aswell. I did my 750 rears all red and the first time put far too much on. The stripper had it off it a flash and I tried again and the look was brilliant, as far as I was concerned.

Oh great someone else telling people they cant have an opinion !For me, length has nothing to do with it :pimp: After all my 740 is probably as long as most of the 4x4's you see on the city streets. The overriding message that comes across when you ask someone why they drive one of these bohemoths in the city is safety. They feel safe driving something built like a tank because they are up high and out of the way. That may be nice for them but the poor sod they hit is in alot more trouble than if they were in a 'normal' sized car. Ive seen plenty of near misses this week alone where 4x4's have double parked on the Terrace and its been hell trying to get around them simply because drivers in 'normal' cars cant see passed them. The parking outside my daughters kindy is embarrasing simply because the machines are so big and the drivers so small that they cant see the kerbs or how close they are to other vehicles. There is one woman where I work who is so short (and driving a massive pajero) that she cant see when she reverses. She needs someone else to watch her reverse out of the space so she doesnt hit something behind her. Tell me that isnt a reason for her to not be in one in the first place !

Oh dont get me started.I once went on a long rant about 4x4 'mummies' when I took my daughter to kindy. The room went silent and I only had to look into the car park to see why. Out of say 20 parents we were the only ones who didnt drive a 4x4.....techincally thats not true the wagon is four wheel drive but you know what I mean ! There should be something as part of the WOF check. If they cant find any mud on the 4x4 it gets failed....and I mean real mud not just some dirt rubbed against the wheel or something !

In Europe BMW's are worth much much less than they are here. Harldy a true comparison. Someone mentioned about BMW's still being seen as expensive. I get it all the time at work about how can I afford an e38 and I work in IT ! It cost me about two months wages in England (and honestly it was peanuts), but I can tell you now I dont earn 30 grand (and Im speaking conservatively on that value) in two months over here !

I would have to say there is still something in NZ against people in nice cars. Cant say that its just BMW's but I certainly get treated differently if Im in the GTb rather than the 7. The tall poppy syndrome is alive and well. Does give them a shock though when I stick it into manual and turn off the ASC.....cause in truth there is still a little boy racer in all of us

Ill be building him a car at this rate Ill take it thanks Carl.

Got one of those too

Tell Cam, he can throw the L300 one in the river.Ive told my boy he can support any football team as long as its Arsenal and drive any car as long as it a BMW.

Many thanks to Brent and Gus, but Carl's offer of a free wheel with a beer included wins hand down Cheers Carl, bring it along to the next drinks thanks mate.

Is 90 your 0-60 time Paul ?

Paul,If your thinking about going for new bulbs give me a shout. Had an interesting chat with a auto electrician in Wellington about them the other week. Might as well tell everyone now though ! He said dont buy any of the normal rubbish you see about there is only one brand worth buying and bugger me if I can remember what that was ! There was a thread about it recently where someone described the different bulbs etc and they came to the same conclusion. Paul I can tell you where to go and they were 50 notes a set. Am thinking about it myself to tell the truth.

Ahhhh, after having mine all fixed up last week Im thumping around all over the place now......14.6 mpg is the result

Now this is what Im talking about Design your own plate Bit pricier than the rest though but at least its an authentic UK plate style. All the others Ive found so far have the border in the wrong place (or dont have one) dont have the correct font etc. Might be getting myself a set of these after all

Your not the same guy who said he could get some rear lenses for my E38 are you ?

How much to get it down to Wellington Brent ?

My two year old son is absolutely smitten with cars, wont go anywhere in my wifes GT-b wagon, always insists on going in 'Daddy's brooooom' He also loves the steering wheels in the kids playgrounds, so I wont to get one and stick it on one of the trees in our garden for him. Does anyone have one going cheap ? I could go to a wreckers....any idea how much they usually are ? Ive never known steering wheels to be too cheap at wreckers. All help appreciated.

Emma, come on now.The guy nearly totals head on into an on-coming car. Awesome....or just plan stupid ?

Are these the ones that slot over the normal wheel nut ? Has a key that goes into the center that you turn and it pops off ? If so had some on the 750. They are rubbish, you just need a decent pair of grips on them and give them a good twist and yank and off they come.

Ive spoken to the LTSA at some length about these plates and as far as they are concerned there is no other choice but to buy their own plates. That is after all the only legal way of doing it. I believe they use a specific font set that is not used elsewhere. There is also the intention to bring in cameras that read your plate automatically rather than the current 'manual' method (yep, some bloke with a magnifying glass with an error rate of 20%) so they are even more unlikely to allow plates with a different font set. The euro ones look fantastic on BMW's but I just dont fancy having to pay 250 dollars for one with a kiwi flag on it ! For anyone wanting to do money conversions check out Currency Converter

Damn what a tease ! Ive been checking the web trying to find somewhere that does the UK plates. I like the German ones but would rather have the GB plates.

Both are very sweet cars. Gus whats that stripe youve got going on ? Do you have a full on side shot of it ? Loving the number plates too, where did you get them from ? Did you have to buy two fronts ? Or is it only the UK plates that have yellow rears ?

I currently work as a data warehouse developer looking after the LTSA's datawarehouses I can see what all you people have been up to and just how many of you lied on the 'how many points have you got' thread I shall be off in a couple of weeks though to start milking the great cash cow that is Telecom as a contractor. What Id like to know from this thread is who can get staff discounts Do we have any electricians, plumbers or builders ? I need to odd job doing every know and then...come to think of it we'd love to replace our bathroom so plumbers are especially wlecome to apply !

Your quite right....LTSA Sheet

Unless the tints where totally blacked out on the front windows youve been done mate.I had the same issue and they ended up scratching the fronts so I had no choice but to remove them. The law is they must have a 35% TVL (I think they call it TVL - transferable visible light) on the front and can be completely blacked out everywhere else. The law changed ages ago and I found out they have been doing this to all cars imported without knowing the changes. They told me Id have to remove mine until I offered to send through the appropriate documentation. When I saw they'd been scratched I did my nut. I now have black on the rear windows which looks sensational and a slighty green metallic tint on the front. I was not happy. Id go back to them and ask for some money back if I were you. You should be asking for the cash to tint them back again at the very least. As long as you can prove who took them off they can hardly refuse, theyve done something that was totally unnecessary. Ask them to tell you why they took them off first. Dont mention the 35% rule, they may just say they were over 35% and then it would be up to you to prove they werent. The laws are on the LTSA web site if you want to check them out. Cheers Martyn

Hellrot......excellent,I would tint the windows too, black all around the same shade. Car looks excellent, well done mate.