M3_Power

There's honestly no point buying brand new recaro reclinables and then retriming them. The Recaros that came in the E30 M3 Evo were Recaro SR2s .. exactly the same seats you find in the Mitsi Evo IIs and Evo IIIs just in different fabric. Just pick up a set of those from trademe (they go for average $400 to $800 depending on condition). Or if you want something a bit newer but also similar shape pick up Recaro SR3s from the DC2 Integra type R range ... plenty of red ones for sale on trademe for between $500 to $950 for a mint pair and just get those retrimed. Similar to the SR2s but with narrower shoulder wings. If you need to know Recaro seats (what models fits what ect) talk to me ... I know them like the back of my hand and have plenty of pairs at home (yes it's a bit of an addiction ... I collect seats ) {I've taken plenty pairs of SR model range apart and back together ... even taught a friend how to modify a pair of recaro fishnets into a recaro SR3 to repair a busted pair of recaro SR3s he had)

It's 360hp .... not 343hp And higher torque also ...

The new car has been getting A LOT of bad press ... consensus is that it's not a great car ... just a good car. I'd wait till the actual launch and test drive one yourself before making up your mind which you like. But looking at the specs and the comparisons so far ... it isn't looking good for the M3... certain none of the previous generations have gotten such bad pre-launch press that's for sure. Full article here: http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71863

If giving it even more vague steering, crappy brakes and more weight to an already very heavy car = more refined motoring then I agree completely ... however BMW specifically pitche this car against the 997 Porsche (yes I've read the entire 80 pages of sales manual on the new M3 including how to market it against its so called competitions) and to do what BMW have done is more or less shooting itself in the foot if it even considers the M3 to be a 997 rival. The point I am trying to make is with the last 3 generations of the M3, be it E30, E36 or E46 BMW has set new benchmarks and raised the bar for the "sports car" segment - reflected in various pre and post launch reviews - this hasn't happened for the new M3. It is suppose to be a sedan based coupe which outperforms even the best of the supercars. At the end of the day it's the bean counters in Germany that decide what comes out of the factory ... and what they've done is looked at the demographics that buy these cars (in NZ average owner's age is 52 for BMW) and decided majority of these owners aren't real enthusiasts ...

I've read every single review there is to date out there (including all videos posted) on the new V8 M3 ... The most critical ones are from the US ... the UKs are a little bit better (but not by much) ... statements like "huge disappointment" ... "BMW have dropped the ball" ... "lackluster" ...ect echo through virtually all the reviews ... Few things are certain about this model however gathered from what I've read .. 1. They have not improved on the steering ... with many saying BMW have gone backwards with the new eletronic steering setup, lacking in any sort of feedback and probably a decade behind Porsche 911 (which apparently is what this M3 is marketed against - including the RS4, MB C63 AMG) 2. The gearbox is still notchy and hard to use ... 3. It's a stonker of an engine and will surely win awards ect .... 4. The interior sucks compared to the aforementioned brand (nothing really sets it apart from the normal 3 series) 5. It's overpriced for the package that you get. 6. It has become too civilised - ie. become more of a true GT rather than a sports sedan homologation special 7. Single piston brakes still sucks (race pads fitted for the journalists so that they wouldn't crash the cars with faded brakes .... brilliant BMW AG !!!!) 8. Inboard adjustable damping suspension is apparently quite brilliant. I am going to wait and see the model in the flesh to really make up my mind ... but to be honest these reviews aren't doing the new model any good ... the latest one by EVO pitched the RS4 against the new M3 .. the RS4 came out in top in every aspect ... be it on the road or the track .... I highly hope that BMW raised the bar with this model ... but to be honest from what I've read so far it isn't looking good ... certainly with high anticipation comes high hopes ... but it seems BMW have failed to deliver this time around. And for those wondering ... the E46 M3 had the same high anticipation and high hopes and it delivered ... (I still have the original EVO reivews and various other magazine reviews before the actual launch of the E46 M3 and I had a quick read through them over the weekend ... nothing like what I am seeing with this new model that's for sure ... virtually all were positive with high praises)

"ONE HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT" .... seems to be the headlines for this new car .... To be honest ... I am not surprised .... BMW AG invited major car magazine journalists from around the world to review the new E92 M3 last week at a Spain track and mountain roads ... Virtually all came away underwhelmed by the new car ... disappointing ... http://www.topgear.com/blogs/drives/079-bmw-m3/ http://www.autocarmagazine.co.uk/CarReview...-4.0-V8/226432/ http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/first_drive.p...=841&page=1 http://www.pistonheads.com/roadtests/doc.a...100&i=16457 http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drive...photopanel..1.* Comments like these echo throughout the reviews: [...]"Bottom line: it’s competent and quick, but you just know in a Porsche Cayman you’d have a huge grin plastered all over your face on a road like this, and in the new M3, you just don’t…" [...]"But instead of relinquishing the keys with that gripping, longing, sadness in my gut that you’d assume would be there having driven ‘the new M3’, I find myself oddly detached from it. "...[the steering] does detract from the overall driving experience" "...middle aged flab..." Yeah, it's fast, but....

NZI classed my CSL as a Sport Sedan .... apparently all M3s and M5s are ... not a sports car .. a Sport Sedan ... Then again I am not under 25 ...

Pretty obvious he stayed off the racing line around some of the corners, I suspect for photos, videos and the extreme camber change which would have no doubt taken the front wing off or damaged the chassis ...

eh .... I am sure those are E30 M3 production numbers ....

Found some more info on it ... seems like they have made a list as to what qualifies as a "Uniquely Collectable" - My understanding was the E30 M3 was put forward to be put into this list ... not sure whether it was accepted or not ... 6. What’s changing for unique collectable vehicles? There are a relatively small number of vehicles that have intrinsic value because of their unique, collectable nature. These vehicles are typically in a niche market, may have been manufactured in very small numbers and are not required to comply with an approved frontal impact standard. Other vehicles may have a strong connection to a historical event or personality, and this fact or some other unique, special circumstance or feature makes them highly desirable for collectors. They are highly valued by their owners and typically add to the historic nature of the fleet. Some of these vehicles currently enter under the age-based ‘20-year’ provision in the existing Frontal Impact Rule, but others do not qualify under this provision. It was not the intention of the Frontal Impact Rule to prevent unique collectable vehicles that do not meet a frontal impact standard from entering the fleet, whether or not they are more than 20 years old. It is proposed that unique collectable vehicles be allowed to enter New Zealand subject to the conditions set out in the Rule. This would ensure their eligibility to enter New Zealand and to be registered for use on our roads. 7. Who will decide if a vehicle is a ‘unique collectable’ vehicle? It is proposed that the Director would appoint a panel of recognized vehicle experts to compile and publish a register of vehicles recognised as unique and collectable. The register would be updated as needed. 11. What about left-hand drive vehicles? Left-hand drive vehicles will remain subject to the requirements of Land Transport Rule: Steering Systems 2001 (the Steering Systems Rule). However, some may be classified as unique collectable vehicles and may be eligible for entry certification, subject to the terms and conditions of the Steering Systems Rule. 12. Will the proposed changes result in New Zealand being flooded with older, unsafe vehicles? No, entry of these vehicles will be subject to very strict conditions and limited to bona-fide cases. Each importer will have to prove they meet these criteria, such as the time they have lived overseas or that the vehicle is unique and collectable or for motorsport, and sign a declaration that they are importing the car for their own use and will not on sell the vehicle for at least a year. As each vehicle requires a permit or authority card, Land Transport New Zealand will be able to monitor the numbers of vehicles entering NZ and those importing

It's the new "Unique Collectable List" ... this was due for submission back in February ... so I guess they might have now collated a full list ... I posted this on NZhondas back a while ago to see if there were any interests in putting in a submission for the NSX variant cars to be included in this list ...

Genuine BBS CH wheels Specific offset for BMW E46 M3 and M3 CSLs ONLY .. WILL NOT FIT ANY OTHER 3 series or 5 series BMW. Stud pattern 5 x 120 19 x 8.5 ET35 (offset +35) front 19 x 10 ET20 (offset +20) Rear (10 inch width is quite rare and are available only as a special order - most are only 9.5 inch) No tyres. No curbing in excellent condition. Includes BBS centre cap and hubcentric ring for the rear rims. One rear wheel was refurbished due to a very minor outter lip curbing damage - the wheel is perfectly round and balances perfectly (happy to meet up at the tyre shop I had the tyres mounted to confirm) START + RESERVE TRADEME AUCTION !!!!!! http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=123962085 contact 021 281 0155 (txt okay)

Here it is .... revealed this morning More pictures and links here: http://www.autospies.com/news/GENEVA-MOTOR...-Concept-13155/ http://shows.autospies.com/gallery/Geneva-...Show-54/page29/ OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE INFO AND PHOTOS http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49988

http://www.myvideo.de/watch/874157 and the noise it makes ....

Time for photo update I think ...

Sorry to see mate ... looks repairable however. Also don't get a Honda if you don't want people messing with your car - trust me Hondas (especially type r's) get it lot worse than BMWs (old school and new) - most don't come back in one piece once taken (usually in various bits and pieces). As for insurance - it does seem a little odd that the underwriter has declined claim. I have heard of cases where insurers will only insure a vehicle if it's parked at a preagreed park (that's not unusual) - in fact I know of a vehicle with a policy that restricts the hours the car maybe driven and where it maybe driven to and where it must be parked (a certain Mclaren F1 : P). Lucky for me I don't have any of the restrictions for the CSL ...

Can't answer the question on depreciation as each car depreciates differently - a lot of other factors will also affect how much a car depreciates. General rule of thumb however is it's worth what the next person is willing to pay for it. Majority of times the higher demand cars hold value a little bit better and better condition cars do the same. As for how much the dealers make ... if you are buying from an authorised BMW dealership the standard margin is $10,000 on every car they trade in. That is to say if they take a car in for say $50K they will advertise it for sale for $60K. However this $10K margin isn't full profit. An authorised dealership will have to spend around about $3K buying a warranty and service plan from BMW NZ and they will allow for about $1500 for servicing and minor repairs - then there's commission to the sales, GST ect leaving a true margin of around about $4500 to play with. Hope the above info helps.

Yep definitely felt it .. was browsing bimmersport.co.nz when it happened too ... LOL

Or for a more recent (and well publicised) example of the defence being successfully envoked by a police officer (this was a defence of necessity case) http://subs.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story...jectid=10401093 Policeman let off drink-driving charge Email this storyPrint this story Wednesday September 13, 2006 By Jon Stokes The sole charge Taranaki policeman charged with drink-driving after going to a fatal crash on his day off has been let off without conviction. "You were dealing with an emergency," Judge Louis Bidois told Jonathan Erwood. "You had to make a snap decision, effectively on the hoof." Mr Erwood's supporters, packed into the New Plymouth District Court, burst into applause at the decision. Mr Erwood, 37, the sole-charge officer in the small town of Mokau, was charged with drink-driving after he drove his police vehicle to the scene of a double fatality on July 9. In court today, he pleaded guilty but was discharged without conviction. He will also keep his driver's licence. Mr Erwood attended the accident in which Clint Ratima, 32, of Aria, and New Plymouth physiotherapist Jennifer Trentham, 48, died. Mrs Trentham's husband, Richard, was taken to Taranaki Hospital with serious injuries. Mr Erwood - who was not on duty on the day of the accident - was breath-tested at the crash scene by a highway patrol officer who said he smelled alcohol on the constable's breath. Blood testing allegedly revealed 106 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrams. The charge polarised the small township. Several people, including emergency workers who attended the accident, supported Mr Erwood, who is heavily involved in community clubs and events. The case was clouded by the fact that Mr Erwood had played golf and was drinking with Mr Ratima before the accident. However, he was not present when Mr Ratima got into a car, drove north, failed to take a corner and hit the Trenthams. Judge Bidois ruled that special circumstances applied in this case. He told Mr Erwood: "You risked your career to attend the accident. Your instincts were to help." The judge added: "For 16 years you have performed with distinction as a police officer. There will be a real risk you will lose your job if convicted. That decision is not for me. "It would be, in my view, wrong, however. "Police would have lost a good man and Mokau would be losing a very good police officer and a very strong member of the community." Afterwards, a relieved Mr Erwood thanked his supporters and said he was looking to the future. "I'm looking forward to moving on and getting on with it. "That was stage one. I have stage two to deal with," he said, referring to an internal police disciplinary investigation, which is currently under way.

Without looking up case laws or the Statutes (sorry it's been soo long since I reviewed areas of Criminal Law) but I believe you have a good defence (under common law and possibly Statute) of necessity - or more specifically duress of circumstances. In lay person's term this is a defence that's invoked by pretty much saying "I had to do this or else". This is where a person is not held criminally responsibility for acts done under such circumstances of sudden and extraordinary emergency that a person of ordinary commonsense and prudence could not reasonably be expected to act otherwise. A common example given (and there has been numerous case laws on this in New Zealand and many successful defence pleaded) is a case of a run away truck where the vehicle in front of the truck recognises the truck speeding up and is about to ram him, and without any other means of escape and with the possibility of serious accident or injury being caused the vehicle in front of the truck speeds up past a speed camera to avoid being rammed up the arse - the vehicle is given a speeding ticket but successfully pleads the defence of necessity or duress of circumstances. In your situation your wife was bleeding ... a genuine case of emergency - it was more expedient to drive her to the hospital than wait for an ambulance - I would say you have a good case of pleading duress or circumstances under the defence of necessity (but of course cases like this are often "facts" dependent. Good luck - I'd personally talk to the supervising officer or the JP at court if you fight the ticket - I think you'd have a good case.

If when you purchased the vehicle you made it clear to the dealership that it was to be used for business purposes then CGA would not cover you. That doesn't mean to say that you can't before the completion of purchase ask the dealer to change the purpose that the vehicle was purchased for back to private use. Those standard forms issued by the MTA will usually have a clause (or similar) which states: "I agree that I am acquiring the vehicle for business purposes in terms of section 2 and 43 of the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and that the provisions of the Act will not apply according" If the vehicle is one of private use the dealership is obliged to cross that clause out - if they don't and you never told them that the vehicle was acquired for business use, private use is automatically assumed unless evidence to the contrary is shown (for eg. if the vehicle was to be registered under a company's name). The motor vehicle trade is covered by 3 basic legislation: Motor Vehicle Sales Act 2003 Consumer Guarantees Act 2003 Fair Trading Act The last two were amended in 2003 to update protection for consumers buying from a dealer. Basically giving consumers a 6 year time frame window to bring a claim against a Motor Vehicle Dealer. Also the FTA applies to anyone in "trade" so it doesn't matter if the vehicle is sold for private or business use - it will apply as long as the person selling is considered in trade under the Act. Some useful links and light reading: http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/businessinfo/mvsa.html http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/busines...orvehicles.html http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/businessinfo/fta.html http://www.motortraders.med.govt.nz/pls/we...031AE98ABA97CEB

Sorry to hijack the thread once again ... but actually according to Loki from roadfly.org who did the biggest statistical collection of s54 engine failures the worse affected vehicles were produced between July/August 2002 up till Oct/Nov 2002. The recall was carried out for all vehicles produced before June 2003 (not including June production or CSLs) There were in total 4 different coded big end bearings for the s54 engine and 2 oil pumps. Again, if I was looking at an E46 M3 I would never buy anything produced within 2002 time frame.

That only affected those E46 M3s produced between February 2002 and Jun 2003 - it was a tooling issue with a third party supplier of the big end bearings - incorrect tolerance and an oil pump not up to the job caused some failures. A warranty recall was done on all S54 motors in late 2004. Otherwise the S54 motors in the E46 M3 is pretty robust. But personally I would never touch a 2002 produced car - they are the worse affected lot.

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/news/wi...01854_14055.hbs For those that can read German Eine Auffanglösung sei gescheitert. Der Technologieführer bei hochwertigen Leichtmetallrädern hatte noch kurz zuvor den Wechsel an der Spitze des Aufsichtsrates mitgeteilt. Der frühere baden-württembergische Wirtschaftsminister Walter Döring sollte Hans-Peter Hirner (71) ablösen. BBS hatte im August 2006 mitgeteilt, dass das Unternehmen wegen der stark in die Höhe geschnellten Aluminiumpreise eine Ergebnisdelle hinnehmen müsse. Das Nachsteuerergebnis sackte im ersten Halbjahr auf minus 3,8 Millionen Euro ab. Für das Gesamtjahr 2006 hatte BBS einen Umsatz von 200 Millionen Euro erwartet. Der Umsatz des Jahres 2005 lag bei 189,8 Millionen Euro. BBS beschäftigt im Konzern rund 1.200 Menschen. Ernsthafte Liquiditätsschwierigkeiten "Obwohl zum Zeitpunkt der Antragstellung noch aussichtsreiche Verhandlungen zur Wiederherstellung der Zahlungsfähigkeit des Unternehmens geführt wurden, war der Grund für die Antragstellung, dass die Gesellschaft in ernsthafte Liquiditätsschwierigkeiten geraten war und das Ende der Antragsfrist nach Paragraf 92 des Aktiengesetzes vor dem Ablauf stand", hieß es in der Mitteilung von BBS. Zuletzt habe sich eine Lösung für die Wiederherstellung der Zahlungsfähigkeit abgezeichnet, die von den Großkunden des Unternehmens getragen werden sollte. Die Zusage der Großkunden, die erforderliche Liquidität durch größere Vorfälligkeitszahlungen bereitzustellen, seien auch erteilt worden. Die Umsetzung des Konzepts sei aber in der Nacht zum Dienstag am Widerstand einer der beteiligten Banken gescheitert, obwohl die Gesellschaft den finanzierenden Banken zum Zwecke der Fortsetzung der Finanzierung Sicherheiten eingeräumt habe. Eine Auffanglösung unter Ausklammerung der betreffenden Bank sei daher nicht mehr zu Stande gekommen. Supposedly the translation: BBS automotive technology places insolvency request 06.02.2007 16:37:00 Scold oh (aktiencheck.de AG) - the BBS automotive technology AG (ISIN DE0005196232/ WKN 519623), an offerer of high-quality light alloy wheels, announced on Tuesday that it placed 2007 insolvency request on 2 February. Although to the time of the filing of an application still promising negotiations were led to the re-establishment of the solvency of the enterprise, was reason for the filing of an application that the society was guessed/advised into serious liquidity difficulties and the end of the request period after § 92 Abs. stood for 2 of the law on limited companies before the expiration. A solution for the re-establishment of the solvency of the enterprise appeared last, which should be carried by the big customers of the enterprise. The promises of the big customers to make the necessary liquidity available by larger Vorfaelligkeits payments were also given. The conversion of the concept failed however at the night to 6 February 2007 because of the resistance of one of the banks involved, although the society had granted for the purpose of the continuation of the financing collateral to the financing banks. A catching solution under excluding the bank concerned did not come off in the course of the today's daily. The share of BBS automotive technology notes in Frankfurt at present invariably with 9,00 euro. (06.02.2007/ac/n/nw) Source: Finanzen.net/Aktiencheck.de AG