M3AN

I've just ordered an Avin unit for my 130, I think they're the generally preferred brand (and it's Android 9.0) - https://avinusa.com/ DHL tells me it'll be delivered on Monday (with no GST), I'll provide a first impressions when I get it, they review well.

Cert...

Orange Wolf 130i exhaust...

Oh, and it has a "BMW Performance" shifter and boot, I didn't notice that on others, is it standard on any spec?

This one's not a project so it lands in the showroom. Although I do have some small projects on the way. For those that don't know I've been casually looking for a 130i for a few months, I say casually but I have put a fair bit of time and effort into checking around 7 out. Including putting 5 up on stands and taking the under-cover off. None were ideal, all were filthy underneath, only a couple were briefly tempting. I was disillusioned tbh. I was one of the first people to view this one (mine now) at a dealership and liked it immediately, interior 8/10, exterior 7/10, mechanical 9/10, extras 10/10 - all based on my scale of needs. Drove it home to look underneath and there was almost no oil so I did a deal for $8.5k including 12 months of AutoSure which I was very happy with. I've looked at $11k cars that are in way worse condition than this one. Been in NZ since mid '16 and has ~$3k NZ receipts in the glovebox. It's been covered by mechanical insurance since arriving in NZ and has had all the top end and vanos gaskets done recently with BMW parts. It's had the oil and filter replaced every year with great synth since it's been in NZ... 😍 It has an aftermarket stainless exhaust and coilover suspension which, amazingly, has been LVV certified in NZ! The springs are Eibach and the exhaust and shocks are from a bespoke Japanese tuning house 'Orange Wolf' - try finding that sh*t on Google! I had to search in Japanese to find them. The suspension and exhaust were installed in Japan, suspension obviously not detected upon import seems to have been cert'd before the first non-dealer NZ owner. Edit: also has an LSD... 🤯 I like both the exhaust and the suspension, it's got a real bark without drone (unless you hold it at revs too low) and handles like it's on rails. Some wouldn't like the exhaust for a daily but I don't mind it. It drives and feels way, way more stable at speed than the stock suspension yet doesn't bang and rattle around at all. Totally stoked. And it does a rev-blip in sport mode on the downshift, lovin' it 😂 (however pointless that might be in an auto). The wheels have been cheaply painted (whilst on the car! 🤨🙄) but that doesn't concern me at all and the body has a few scrapes and proper sun fade on the bonnet and roof but I'm okay with that too. The front bumper has had a poor respray but in the end it was all these (aesthetic) factors that I was looking for to drag the price down. Perfect. It is my new daily (leave anywhere) car after all. I'll have to replace the aftermarket (real) carbon fibre front kidneys because (unfortunately) they look like crap after too much sun. TL;DR - New car, very happy. Picked it up today, hope to wash it and take some proper pics tomorrow. December 2019... June 2020...

Welcome Bill and props for posting a pic. That's a good looking wagon, there will be lots of people around here to help you out.

I'm feeling internet disabled... where on earth can you download owners manuals from BMW? It strikes me as something that should be bleedin' obvious but buggered if I can find them. Where are they? Or does somebody have a e87 130i LCI 5 door manual as a PDF? The only one I can find is for a 2 door and they're quite different.

Email sent @BM WORLD. No rush, nothing urgent. Cheers.

The Mandalorian FTW! Such a great show for Star Wars nuts.

I've never taken my cat to a testing station, passed every time.

But they didn't even mention the e36... ????

But did you watch the video? They're clearly inferior unless he made it up. That the manufacturer won't even certify timeserts is a pretty big negative for them.

That's crazy. Timeserts are clearly inferior. And they look like a PITA to use compared to Helicoils.

Now for sale...

It's based purely on your number of posts. Somebody with more knowledge than me will be able to tell you the tiers.

What are you buying @325_driver? If it's typical stuff then I've always found FCP's shipping to be cost effective.

Correct. But expect them to comply at some stage, they're large enough to be singled out. Perhaps. During this transition period I suspect either/or sets of rules are being applied. But given that it's Christmas it's likely to get through.

There's two questions there and the answer is "yes" to both. If you ship to myUS you are shipping to a US address, no GST is payable but you will pay local US sales taxes if they apply. myUS will then ship to a NZ address and are expected to collect GST on the value of the package they received (including shipping) plus the cost of shipping it to NZ. In that case myUS is the 3rd party (as far as NZ IRD is concerned). However, if the seller sends it directly to NZ, and they do over $60k per annum business with people in NZ, the NZ IRD expects them to collect GST on the cost of the goods plus shipping and subsequently pay that to NZ IRD. To do this they have to register for GST in NZ and the question is, how many will volunteer to do that. Loophole: if you get a GST receipt for the goods from the seller you can't get charged for GST again, regardless of whether the seller collects or pays any GST at all. It will however make the seller a bad actor in the eyes of the IRD and they (or rather Customs as their proxy) may attempt to bounce (return to sender) all packages received by them if they can identify them.

Do you need to actually collect it? If not: https://www.mrpositive.co.nz/bosch-s5-premium-din66zl-automotive-battery-680cca/ For non stop-start.

https://www.customs.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/tariff-documents/working-tariff-document-2018/section-xvii.pdf

Gotcha. Can you not drill new holes 20mm up?

Your seats are bottom mount right? What is "too low" on a bottom mount seat frame?

Why don't the NZKW bases fit?

$360 a side is a steal but @ $500 I'd pause... but perhaps not too long for the quality of seats you have. You want awesome mounts for awesome seats in an awesome car. The best alternative is VAC motosport mounts bases and either Recaro brand sliders or side-mounts.

If you can get 2 x Recaro (edit: brand) rails and sliders for NZ$700 you should have already hit buy now. Nothing anyone can make for that price will come remotely close to fit, functionality and adjustability.