martyyn

Yes thats the one !! The power of the internet. The chrome bits are nasty, Ive had another chat with the guy responsible for it and he didnt sound too complimentary about it. Apart from it having a few mechanical problems there is still finance owing on it. If I didnt know any better I would say he was trying to turn me away from it.

Oh and I meant to say that IMO these cars are worth much more than 10k. The current climate is tough and Ive had a couple of mugs offer me 8k for mine, but in the end its a buyers market at the moment and there are lots of e39's around.

Bravo, The lights and indicators take ten mins to swap over so make no assumptions about age on those. Get the VIN and check that online for a build date. The m62 is pretty much bullet proof but at 160k kms there are some things that you can expect to go wrong. 1. ICV goes at the back on the block, you will get LOTS of white smoke and a dodgy idle should that happen perhaps even stalls at the lights. Not cheap to fix as you have to take an awful lot off to get to it. Reckon on 1500 easy. 2. Rocker cover gaskets often go, couple of hundred to fix. 3. Cats, if it has them. Very expensive to fix, again poor idle, but if wont rev past 4k and stalls when you stop have a look underneath and see if they are glowing white hot ! 4. Radiator expansion tank. Plastic often snaps and dribbles coolant. Not always easy to spot and the car will tell you when the coolant is low. Not expensive to replace but if you cook one of these you have a very big paperweight. 5. Suspension and brakes can take a hammering. Not as big and heavy as a 7 but the standard suspension might start to feel a little tired. Eibach springs to drop it 30mm will work wonders for both the look and handling. 6. Bolster on the drivers seat next to the door gets worn for two reason. One, the driver is a fat bast4rd and brushes it each time he gets in. Two its been used alot for short trips. These engines and exhausts really need a good blowout on a regular basis. Lots of short trips are not good for them. 7. Regardless of age the interior should be MINT. You would never know looking at mine that its 10 years old. This is the best way to tell how its been looked after IMO. 8. LED's on the dash and instrument cluster start to fade, there is a place in Auckland that can fix it but you will be without the cluster (and the car is undrivable without it) for a week. Maybe shorter if your up there. 9. It might be worth getting the gearbox oil replaced. BMW seal them for life but as we all know oil doesnt last forever and it should be a huge job for someone who knows what they are doing and can save an awful lot of grief down the line. 10. The e39 shimmy Worn/tired bushes, unbalanced wheels etc will give a wobble to the steering wheel at 55mph. Not always asy to track down the problem. I know people who have solved it by rotating the tyres, some who have spent months replacing everything they can think of before its gone away ! I think thats about it, the engines are superb and gearboxes last forever. You should have a serious amount of grunt on tap at all times. In steptronic you should be able to give it some welly all over the show, I can drive everywhere using only first and second its that good. A good e39 should be all you need to have, they didnt win european car of the year for 8 years out of 9 for nothing. That includes beating two versions of the Merc !

I had wondered if you could fit a 5 tourings rear seats into the 7 because thats the problem at the moment, the seats dont allow our kids to get in properly with the assorted car seats that we need.A 740 touring would be the nuts though.

Ive just had a call from the dealers again and they are going to take it to Retro Enhancement tomorrow and find out what it would cost to retrim the entire interior. Thats the center console, the door cards, the dash, everything, even retrim the seats in black leather. I was gob-smacked because I didnt think it would be financially viable, but he said theyve had the car for months and no-one has shown any interest in it...cant think why !

Yeah, the more I look at it the less offensive the cloth becomes, if it was all in black I might be prepared to take it and get it retrimmed later.

oh dear [edit] Just found on the web the recommendation is 325/30/21 on the rear but thats not on the list....not sure how I feel about that as a profile....I might have to consider selling to wheels after getting some 19' replacements. Im only looking at a ball park figure mate, so if you have a price for the 285's let me know.

I still stand by my comment, but its now directed at the person who was responsible for the damage If they refuse to pay up then I doubtt you will be giving any more free rides. Damn why are people so tight ? Whether it was intentional or not, they damaged the guys place and should pay for it. You need to find some new friends mate !

Sorry mate, I have no idea, I assume thats the size, Ive never looked at anythin bigger than 18's I was hoping Zenetti would be around some time soon.

What goes around comes around. Your mate made an offer of free accomodation and the place was damaged (intentially or otherwise). Man up and cover his expenses (either individually or as a group) or dont expect any friendly offers in the future.

There is an X5 in Wellington that already has the 21' wheels but it needs two new rears, the muppet drove it with them massively over inflated....and Im just wondering what I need to factor into an offer. It was at Turners, they were expecting 40k and it received no bids at all. Doesnt mean they will take any less for it though.

What about the dash and armrest etc ? The whole center console is blue too !

Damn Im giving my internet c*ck (post count) a good spanking today. Anyone know how much 21' rear tyres for X5's cost ? Cant believe Im even contempating it but 21' Alpinas are very sexy ! Im obviously hoping for BS discount cost here rather than nipping down to Tony's for a roggering.

Thanks for the offers fellas but I think its all over. The guy has just sent me some more photos and the interior is indeed cloth but the worst part is that its all blue. The dash is blue, the panels are blue, the carpets are blue, the seats are blue....its a nightmare ! If I find anything else I shall be sure to ask again, thanks guys....also Guido seems just the ticket

Brilliant, thanks people. Anyone want to offer having a quick peek at the touring for me in return for some bevvies ? The guy on the phone didnt seem to know too much about it and I just want a few things checked before I drive up there for it.

Ive just spoken to the dealer with the blue touring on TM and he tells me it has cloth sports seats. Now Ive never seen a car with this kind of spec having cloth seats. My expectation would be that they are not cloth but suede which Ive seen in e39's with sports seats. The guy didnt appear to know too much about the car but is sending me some more photos, in the meantime has anyone seen cloth sports seats ? The interior is also blue which is interesting !

The touring Im looking at is 50 yards away from Guido at BM Workshop and the dealer has offered to get it inspected there....does anyone have any experience with this bloke ? Ive tried to search and come up with only a couple of hits.

Yeah I saw that one too, unfortunately a combination of being out of budget and having the most horrible dash in the world made me pass anything else it had to offer !I wouldnt mind the green and tan, although its not my number one choice and the 4.4 is very tempting, but I saw that colour combination (with dash) in several 7's when I bought my e38 and in the flesh its just nasty.....my opinion only of course !

Sort of, he claimed it was just an unbalanced wheel and said they would get it fixed so I could drive it again. A week later and I hadnt heard so I rang and he said they handt had time to sort it. Another week went by and I said once it was sorted we would probably buy it.He rang me three days later to say they had sold it to someone else.

I was hoping to get anything above 12k, but it looks like Ill be lucky to get 10 at the moment. Yes the kms are high but this has had new cats, new ICV, new rocker cover gaskets, anything that goes wrong on these engines has been replaced already. It will easily do another 200k no problem. I just cant believe that people would rather have some half knackered holden over one of these.

Its on trademe at the moment, but so far Ive only had two muppets offering me 8k. Absolutely, Ive never traded a car before (always sold privately) and Ive never paid full price before either, but at this particular time I need a quick turnaround and Im willing to pay a slight premium to get it. Unfortunately there is just nothing in Wellington at the moment.A trip to Auckland appears to be the only option.

Yeah, Ive been watching TM like a hawk the last couple of weeks, which is why I asked if anyone knew of any outside of TM and turners etc The 530 looks just the ticket but I dont know how happy I am to get all the way to Auckland, then haggle about how much my 740 is worth and hope to drive it straight back down again. Plus it looks like the kind of colour that you really have to see in the flesh to know whether you like it or not ! I also dont like the idea of spending 35k on a car after only a short drive around somewhere I dont know.

Im trying to send you a PM mate, but it tells me your account is full !

Im currently looking at getting an e39 touring and alot of it depends on how old the car is that your looking for. Around the late 90's the Mercs are a comparable in terms of price, but go to 2001 onwards and the tourings have an awful lot more to offer....heated seats, tvs, sat nav, heated mirrors. I havent seen a merc yet with those sorts of toys. There are plenty of ML's as well that are much cheaper than the X5's but again they dont have anywhere near the same toys.