hotwire

^^^^ Jap nav unit? Worthless - chuck it over your shoulder Jochen - Murray still has the Jap unit (needs a conversion ) but he mentioned to me the other day that he had disconnected a plug in the nav unit so hense the change of screen format.

Thats all

Can't help due to not being in Auckland sorry. Refreshing though to see someone not trying to diagnose/scan the problem over the forum , or wanting to cheap fix & bypass the problem Good luck with the repair

Welcome Max & before someone else chimes in - pics of car

Great photography josh, well done

You sort of left yourself open for these responses Malcolm. Just retrace your steps. It is a simple circuit - a return wire up through the slip ring into a switch/button to earth. By the time someone takes the trouble to remove a steering wheel, photograph the circiut, reassemble, & upload the picture - you could have fixed it several times

^^^^ Yup, must say I thought that too as I responded to the post above mine

The split fold back seat that Tim refers to is a Euro option. His car, like mine, is the Jap variant, & for some strange reason in the E39 the Japs decided to spec the cars to house the nav unit in a cabinet under the parcel shelf & the radio & video modules on the back of the back seat (seen in Tim's pic with the two bulges in the boot liner). This obviously negates the option of split fold seats. Euro version has all three units (when fitted) mounted in the rear L/H corner in front of the tail light. Some cars have the ski port in the centre (ours does) but most I have seen dont seem to. Contrary to what is often quoted, the Jap spec car is often higher specced than the NZ car. Many will have the monitor in the dash - means TV & nav (albeit Jap nav but can be converted) along with heated seats & commonly leather. Some later NZ cars came with monitor & TV (no nav but prewired for). This option not very common though. NZ cars often have an alarm & usually PDC (park distance control) Jap cars rarely do. NZ (Euro) cars have RF remote - good, the Jap car uses IR - the range is crap! The 6cyl car is widelyl regarded as the best "balanced" drive & the 530i the best 6. 6 cyl cars use rack & pinion steering, the V8's, due to space, have a steering box. That said though there is always an attraction to a V8

Yep nice Simon. My only constructive critisizm too is that the exhausts would look more integrated being higher

If it is like you are telling - the problem arose as you drove off from there. If this is the case - tell them this. If it turns out to be something they created - they will have to fix. If it is coincidental & is another problem - it still needs to be confirmed & repaired.

Yup - makes me laugh Bet my ex Jap E39 is better maintained than MOST NZ new equivelents. Even have the service history of it's 24k km's when in Japan, and yes it did have oil changes... That said, I have seen many basket cases of cars ex Japan over the years - I just did my research before bringing the car in.

Agree with comments raised in above posts but do argue on the 523/5 (3 or 5 badge depending if Jap or Euro) being under powered. We find ours quite adequate & plenty of people I know with them agree. I certainly wouldn't entertain a 520 though - they are slow. While the 525i is not a rocket ship - it still does perform & is not a slouch. I would, if getting another, go for a late 530i, they are the pick of the drives - barring the M5 of course. 528i is the older version car & was replaced with the 530i.

Yep, as others have alluded to - a good outcome for you. It was not the fault of the muffler nor their responsibilty, purely an unlucky situation for you. They could easily have declined any responsibilty. Again as mentioned, not a common occurance but does happen, unburnt fuel has obviously entered into the exhaust & when engine has ignited ... so has the exhaust. Usually more common on an older muffler where the seam is weeker than when new.

As above. If so & still on - why not take it back to them & get them to check? - since you picked up the car with the light on:- Haven't got the ABS light on too have you?

363/5 /5 -Looks like you can buy the actual colour variant from the dealer then

So F/L. As I said - look at registration for year

^^^^ Yup my take as well. There is no way that B can be aware that A is going to U turn, but merely turning right & therefore not crossing B's path. I would do exactly as above, & indeed have when in this situation.

Could be anywhere from 83 to 91. Registration label or papers will tell you what year it is Has it got chrome or plastic bumpers? Chrome are pre facelift - >88. Plastic are F/L - 88>

What has already been done? Did you unplug the loom at that point & change it over? Diagram 2 is a non PT unit Diagram 1 is the complete PT unit. As I said - I can't recall the layout in them & comparisons between 99 & 00 - never been into a BMW E46 unit. As I said - probabably change the whole unit over

^^^ yup that'll do

Go to an auto sparky. And yes it will work - there are only male & female versions of both variants.

Yup - always makes me laugh when someone wants a second hand #### colour door - when there are several variants of the said #### colour. This example confirmed by the painter I use to touch up my race car - he once repainted the guard in the wrong code of Lachsilber - was quite noticeably lighter shade to the rest of the car. He was going to redo but I told him not to worry - 1 - it is covered with decals & 2 - it was bound to need to be done again at some stage. Guess what - famous last words...

I can't recall offhand the variation between 99 & 00 cars as far as airbag systems. I would imagine the whole units should swap between each seat - you would need to compare to confirm:-. DONT try & swap cables themselves.

Firstly - you cannot just "live" with the airbag light on. WOF issue & rightly so. It MUST be fixed. Secondly, the yellow plug is part of the airbag circuit so must be connected. Best retrace your steps, & only you will know if you have damaged something.

Andrew, you will find as soon as you get out of strong reception area, your radio reception will be crap. Band expanders in these cars are CRAP - as most people with these cars can attest to. The antenna systems are complex & band expanders compromise their operation severely. The only proper way to fix the problem is change the radio unit.