martyyn

I agree its a bloody good price, but if I can pick them up in NZ for a reasonable price then I would prefer to do that. Ive had mixed experiences buying in Germany on ebay. The only pics I have of the car are from before I bought it. I was waiting until I got everything fixed up and then valeted before taking some more in the better spots of Wellington but just havent had the time or money to do it justice. The 740 is great around Wellington but I do miss my 750iL :-) What do you think of the 730 then ? I drove the e65 before coming out and the 730d was astonishing. As for Sheelys I wouldnt say I abused the guy, just pointed out that I had been in there pretty much daily for a couple of weeks trying to sort my car and he knew the only reason I hadnt bought them there and then was that I had too much to sort out. Im not the kind of person who gets ugly but I dont like being lied to when Ive done everything I can to make sure I wont miss out.

Thanks Gus, Ive got a deal with a bloke in Germany for the full set, fronts, sides and rears for EUR279 including delivery which works out to be around NZD 520 give or take. The pain is that when I first arrived Shelly's were having a special and the whole set was about 600 bucks but because my car was in such a state I passed. I went in a couple of weeks later and asked when the deal was going to close and he said not for another couple of weeks and so I went in the next week to be told it had closed weeks earlier and the full price was now closer to 1100 :-( I was not happy and let him know which is probably why Ive had crap service from them ever since.

Chaps, Ive been trying to locate some clear lenses (front, side and rear) without getting stiffed by the dealers. Ive tried a couple of places that have been recommended to me on other threads (Mosens - have no e38 parts at all - and SD European has one left lenses and havent gotten back to me about the rears). So is there anywhere else in NZ that I can try to save me from sourcing from Germany via ebay ? To be honest the deal Ive got so far is probably unbeatable but Id still like to get them from NZ if I can. Cheers Martyn

Took me under a minute....2mb connection on paradise. You evo....me m3 ;-) Sorry mate, couldnt resist. Cheers Martyn

That book was a fair reflection of my life yes.I dont think Im that obsessed but Im sure why wife will disagree !

I like it. But I also love the current 7 and the 5 to me is sex on the street.

Your right about personal experience.You see I dont see them as being too busy at all. I LOVE driving in the center of London and would regularly detour into it just to get that buzz ! Ask me again after Ive spent 2 hours on the M25 stuck in first gear :-( The way I see it is that in Europe especially, if there is half a gap then its up to you to take it. They wont wait for you but once you make your intention known then its yours. You wont get the fingers, you wont get someone tailgaiting you, you wont get someone pulling along side to give you a mouthfull. Whereas in NZ the driver will actually drive faster just to stop you from pulling into that half gap, will flash their lights and will certainly give you a piece of their mind. NZ drivers have certainly improved over the years and lets hope they get better. PS. Cheers Andrew.

Ghost said.... Firstly - How many of you who have posted here have driven in other countries? Driving in NZ is great- FACT get over it. There are better.. but there are far worse too- This may be hard for you to believe but NZ, on the whole are polite and considerate - you do not realise this until you drive elsewhere. ---- Without wanting to sound like a w4nker Ive driven in England, Wales, France, Holland, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, the States....oh and NZ and I can say hand on my heart that NZ's are by far the most arrogant, aggressive, inconsiderate and inattentive drivers Ive ever seen. Its been mentioned already that NZ needs to change its licencing system and I couldnt agree more. To think you are capable of driving a car (and thats any car - including suped up imports) at the tender age of 16 (give or take a year sorry I cant remember the exact age right this minute) is ludicrous. I got my licence after 6 informal driving lessons with a mate of my dads and in less than 4 weeks after first taking to the wheel ! I had spent the previous few years racing go-karts in the UK so I had a little advantage. Yet Ive got friends in the UK who have failed there test more than 6 times ! My dad was failed 8 times in total and he was a qualified motorbike instructor ! For a minute there I thought it was 1 April :-) Now can someone please explain to me how I cut and paste someone elses message in Cheers Martyn

Sorry chaps, havent worked out how to do the QUOTE thing yet so bear with me ! Bravo said.... I am quite happy to abide by the speed limit as a general rule, however, it is extremely easy for your speed to creed up especially on wide and flat roads in a 50 zone, and even more so on downhill slopes, and transisitions to slower zones. ---- If your aware that your speed increases whilst in these situations you dont need to keep checking your speedo....you put your foot on the brake in the first place ! What are your priorities ? Seeing whos behind you or making sure you are under the speed limit ? and goes on to say.... I am however, checking my speedometer every 6 seconds in order to avoid fines from hidden cameras etc ---- Who on earth checks their speedo every 6 seconds ? Does your speed alter that much in such a short space of time that you have to keep adjusting it (your speed that it) ? and moving on.... Interesting reading those graphs, just goes to show that there are statistics, damn statistics and lies (or something like that). Ive also seen figures that show that in 75% of deaths, where excessive speed is the prime factor, the speed itself was actually under the speed limit for that stretch of road and I think someone has just mentioned something similar. In other words the driver was going too fast for the conditions. I do agree with the others who have said that its more to do with people not paying attention. Ive driven the centennial highway hundreds of times over the last 16 years and even before the limit was reduced I cant remember the last time I drove through there at 100. There is always someone doing 60kph checking out the view, and Ive seen several occasions where drivers have crossed the center line whilst looking out at the ocean ! The hardest thing I have found though is that even though Ive been away for 6 years the people who can do something about it are still arguing about the same old issues and I know they were arguing about them for years before that. So how long will it be before something is done ? New Zealand governments have for far too long ignored the condition of the roads and people are paying the ultimate price for it. Would it be that hard to have all the money from speed cameras put back into the roads....maybe that already happens does anyone know where it goes ? Of course its easy for me to say just build three lane motorways everywhere but sooner or later its going to have to happen because the population is getting bigger every day. Its certainly an interesting discussion anyway.....speed cameras always raise the blood pressure no matter where in the world :-) The Dutch have been known to blow them up you know.... :rambo:

Personally I couldnt give a rats ar$e where the police and cameras are. If you speed and you get caught then I have no sympathy for you whatsoever. I work with the LTSA and the number of people caught speeding in 50kph zones in the last couple of years has doubled hence the shift from drink driving advertising to speed. Before you say its only because there are more cameras and its only revenue gathering think about how many tickets and how much money they would make if everyone kept to the limit. Thats right sweet fcuk all. No speeding = no cameras.....simple. Having said all that I dont think they help themselves too much by using more, shall we say, covert tactics. But as *sic said previously, its as much an advertising thing than anything else. Seeing police out stopping people will increase your awareness that they are watching and hopefully make you a more repsonsible driver.

Right here.... Sat on the right its in 'cruise'mode and it changes up when you hit about 3k revs, flick it to the left and its in sport mode which is the same as cruise but it holds the revs to around 6k before changing up. Whereas once its on the left you can flick it up and down so you can drive it as a clutch-less manual and do what you like with the revs :mosh:

5 speed steptronic in mine. The BMW auto box is great around town. If anyone fancies a bit of afters on the open road, switching to sport usually sees them off if its straight speed but if its a bit twisty putting it into manual does more than scare them. The pull this thing has at 4k revs in second is nothing short of astonishing, so Im glad to have the best of both worlds.

I agree totally that width is not always the answer. I was just saying that I dont have the problem of whether to put them on the front or the rear because they are staggered, not that I never lose any grip because of the width. Getting it sideways is easier than you think. Turn off the ASC, switch into manual and you can do it without even trying. Cheers Martyn

Ok, Ill buck the trend. New tyres should always go on the rear and I shall let these fine manufacturers explain the reasons why. Michelin.... http://www.michelin.co.uk/uk/auto/auto_con...ib_pqr_neuf.jsp Pirelli.... http://www.pirelli.co.uk/en_GB/tyres/car_s.../tech4_gb.jhtml Ultimately its a personal choice and I would rather have control of the rear if it came down to it. If you were to lose the front you take your foot of the gas and the rear grip will see you right, but if you lose the rear there is very little you can do to regain that grip until your spin comes to a standstill ! Fortunately (or unfortunately - depends on your outlook) I dont have this problem with 255's on the front and 275's on the rears ;-) Cheers Martyn

I used to live just around the corner from this and it is one sweet car. From what I can remember the wheels could do with a little love and attention and some of the paint work could do with the same, but the car does look very nice. If I had some spare cash I would definately be checking it out. Cheers Martyn

Shadowninja..... if you saw the pictures of my car then our couches were ten times worse. The looked like orange peel the mould was so bad. A week after going to Jason they looked like new again. I would recommend them for anything thats leather. They have even cleaned our shoes and boots ;-) 318Touring.... What I want to do is retrofit the screen in the dash. Lots of people are upgrading to widescreens leaving tons of 3:4 screens on ebay and the like. I have used FAB when I was living in the UK and the were great up to a point. There were a couple of occasions when they stumped up the price when they knew I was after a part for my 750iL ! I still have money in the UK but I also have an outstanding tax bill I was hoping to find out just how much it would cost in NZ to get a screen, tv module, the wiring etc to make a comparison before I start hunting on Ebay again. Cheers Martyn

Thanks Grant, Got the car from the panel beaters today and it looks much better. The interior was cleaned up a few weeks ago and if any needs someone in the Wellington area to take care of your leather I can strongly recommend European Leather Care, they were nothing short of brilliant. Funny you should mention SD European, Ive just this minute found them on the web ! Will give them a ring on Monday to see what they have to say. Cheers Martyn

Can someone recommend any wreckers or companies that sell either second hand or refurbished parts and the like. Im starting to think on how I can get a tv etc into my 740 but have no idea where to go or who to ask. There are plenty of e38's around and they get into accidents just like everyone else so I would hope there are a couple of breakers around with parts. Cheers Martyn

I have no experience whatsoever with the e30's so push me back into the corner if necessary but I had this with my old e32 750. I put petrol in after running out (not a good thing in the v12) but it still wouldnt start. Turned out I needed a second filling from the petrol can because of the angle of the tank and that the car was on VERY slight slope, the petrol I put in originally wasnt enough to cover the lip on the hose going out from the tank. Does that make sense Having said that considering some of the gunk that gets left in a tank when you run out there is more than likely going to be some of that in the lines and filters etc so a good clean out is probably necessary aswell. Cheers Martyn

I cant really descibe the smell. The shipping company had damaged the car when they loaded it into the container so I wanted to be there when they unpacked it. The two guys doing the unpackinghad 25 years of experience between them and neither had seen anything like it. The shipping company have refused any responsibility and if we would definately be taking them to court if the jurisdiction in this case wasnt England Our insurance cheque arrived this morning so its off to the panel beaters next week (for the whole week !) and the valeters the week after, and hopefully Shelly's will get their fingers out of their arses and get the parts I need replacing. Has anyone else found them to be incredilbly slow to get back to you with prices etc ?

Thats probably the same pic I put up last time ! Finally made it over here a couple of months ago. The container was a disaster all our stuff covered in mould and its taken months to sort out but its nice to be back. Although the gale thats blowing now is making me think twice !! Made the incredible mistake of selling my 17' Alpina's with my old 750iL rather than bringing them with me. We were struggling for space in the container and I was struggling to sell the car but in the end I really shouldve done more to bring them over. Ive spoken to several people about the alloys but Rim Right in Palmerston North is apparantly the only place who can handle an 18' rim. There is also a place in Christchurch but they would only send the wheel back to Wellington to be finished off. Not entirely sure what that means but pretty much everyone Ive spoken to has said Palmerston is my only option.

Cheers Gus, Anglo Pacific.....DONT TOUCH THEM !!!! Here's a shot of the outside before we left, the cars in the bodyshop next week to have the dings and dents taken out so hopefully soon she will be back to here former glory. Not sure when Ill get the alloys sorted as they will have to be away for a week or so and unfortunately I dont have a spare set lying around ! Hey 318Touring, sorry I seem to have stolen your thread mate. Ill keep quite after this one

Yep its all mould. They packed the car whilst it was wet (in my opinion) and the wood they used to build a crate over the car to pack the rest of our stuff on was soaking wet too. Although the insurance have paid up the shipping company have refused all responsibility and will not compensate us in any way. I dont know what the forum rules are about naming and shaming but if anyone is planning on getting a car from the UK to here give me a shout first so you dont use these guys. The list of damage is too much to list but there is 1200 dollars of bodywork damage, all four alloys have been scatched (18'M-Pars and the only place that can repair them is in P North) and it took three days to clean the leather with the entire interior striped. Here's another of the rear seats....

> 318Touring wrote.... > martyyn, is yours a silver 740 with Euro plate BMW740? Its offical name is Lach Silver which is the silver that has a slight tint of lavender (how girly) in it, and the UK plate that it travelled around on for a short time was GUI 2 740. I saw a plate with 740 the other day on trademe I think and it was 4k or something ! >Cilk Wurm wrote.... > Are you the guy that was asking about importing his BMW to NZ on the BMWCar forum? That may have been me mate, but I cant honestly remember. I did post on here a couple of months ago before getting it all sorted so Im here now ! Here's a shot of what the car looked like when it came out of the container....its so far cost 7.5k in cleaning, bodywork, repairs and parts and the cost is still rising.

Having just brought my 740 over from the UK I have had alot of discussions with the LTSA about these Euro plates. Having anything that isnt manufactured by the LTSA's own people and having anything other than the NZ symbol on the left is illegal and you can be stopped and fined for it. However I saw an old MG (I think) the other week in Wellington that had an Eire europlate with the MG symbol in the right and the letters were a slightly different font I think too. They said that although they are planning on allowing you to have your manufactures symbol on the right (and I think you can do this already with some manufacturers) that there are no plans to allow changes to the NZ symbol. Of course you could always get a set done up and when it comes to WOF time etc you could _cough_ put your old kiwi plates back on Cheers Martyn