NZ BMW

Sorry Glenn, I would have missed you being in at the office - I took a video this morning with the bonnet up. I'm starting to wonder if it's not the pump but a belt or pulley - the alternator belt was replaced by the dealer during the week, so hopefully it's not that. Here's the video: http://youtu.be/Jsr7YwduldU

Hi Team, I think I've got a dying secondary air pump on my E39. I've got a famous jet engine noise on cold start which is very loud. It is not constant sort of goes wrrrrrrrrr then quiet then a couple of other big wrrrrrrr's and then is silent. Has anyone got any photos or diagrams of exactly where it is so I can check the hoses? Whilst having a jet plane is all very exciting I would like to get rid of this noise, but I always struggle to find where stuff is in the engine bay based on the closeup pictures which are usually posted on the internet. Thanks.

Yup, and you can get a 2004 Phantom (which says it was the dealer's promo car) with less km's for about 40k more...

Check Ebay - cheaper deals sourced directly from China with free shipping. These are more than double the price., at least the ones I was looking at for my E39 were.

My invoice from the dealer is $117 inclusive of GST for labour. Considering the place I usually take my car to is $90 plus GST I think I am going to start using the dealer more. Even after having some issues they were fixed promptly and without fuss - that to me makes a difference. My one gripe is that they don't seem to give loan cars (They did drop me off at work) or is that because I was a first time customer? Also looking at my invoice it seems if you're a regular you can make payment on the 20th of the following month which can be useful if you want to stretch out the payment. But that might just be for corporate account holders.

I could almost guarantee you that you won't be able to buy an E39 which will not require some work to make it perfect. You're talking about a German car of which the youngest example is now 9 years old. But I feel your pain - one of the most irritating things is looking at cars which look good in photos and are described as "mint" or "excellent" when they're really not.

I don't know if you have your heart set on the motorsport but a regular 530i in good condition can be had from a dealer for about 12k and even less if you want to trade something in. They will usually fix issues raised when selling. Mine fixed the valve cover gasket you're talking about. That being said I've just replaced the cooling system and some suspension parts having owned the car for a year.

"So iz gits a moudda foukin beeeemmmduba wit teevies n shheeet in da bak" Guess this person was taught English via text message?

No matter how well done it may be DIY servicing will always lower the value of a car like this if there is no evidence of service records. And from the looks of it his DIY servicing is only replacing the oil and filter. No way a M5 goes 5 years without more work than that.

Even then - I got my car back the other day from a dealership here in Auckland (I'm not going to name them) and had to send it back the next day as they'd managed to not replace some of the engine covers and broke some of the plastics whilst changing things (plastics which I'd replaced about six months ago). They thought it would be acceptable to simply glue them back together and not mention anything. Seems even dealership training does not always guarantee attention to detail and basic competence.

Don't the 2001 units built after a certain date have the option of a 3.5mm jack being installed. IMO I wouldn't go with Dice - there are lots of poor reviews on the net about it not integrating that well with the steering wheel controls.

I have an email quote from you which I have to respond to... - what kind of tints would this be for?

Just a bump in case anyone has a couple of these lying around.

What the market thinks matters, if it has an issue with mileage then you should care. I'm guessing most of us here don't because we're already in for so much on our cars beyond what they could be sold for. And there will be more picking for us via people not being interested because of mileage

You can tell it's mainly highway miles by the condition of the drivers seat (assuming it has not been recovered). There is minimal wear on the bolster and seat from someone hauling themselves in and out all the time. That being said photos can always make a car look good.

Given the amount of damage done you might want to talk to your insurance company before you run off buying parts.

IMO - late model E39 would be better than early model E60: Potentially less issues Cheaper Insurance - out of interest what are your insurance options in Christchurch? Have these been affected in the same way other new policies have? Easier to maintain at an independent mechanic - as opposed to the E60 Cheaper overall purchase price - it's only going to depreciate anyway Finally if she would be happy in a 520i but you think she needs more then get the 525i - better round town mileage and make sure you get the 16 inch wheels for all the ruined roads down there.

I would budget about $2500 per year for repairs and routine maintenance - the E38 would, I imagine cost about the same as the E39 as they both share the poor BMW cooling system and both chew through suspension parts. My E39 is costing about the same to maintain as my 1990's S Class did. Also for a pre purchase inspection - the dealer can be quite good as they tend to overstate the work which needs to be done and their prices can be higher - this can be used to beat the price down more.

This is a good saying: "If you love sand - K&N is your brand" Properly oiled and cleaned I don't think they're that bad for your car but you won't get any performance gains to write home about. Just make sure your car is serviced properly and you replace filters and ignition items when they need it rather than "performance" air filters.

On my Mercedes the door handles were black plastic which had become white and dried over the years. I was able to get them back to black using something which I didn't expect - Armor All. I put some interior plastic protector on it then used a liquid wax (it was Armor All Ice) and after a couple of applications they came up quite well. Even the clear plastic which covers the remote sensors and had turned yellow became clearish.

If one is cloudy but in otherwise good condition why not try something like the Maguire's headlight restoration kit? I've never used it but the rest of their products are pretty decent - you should be able to order it over the counter at Repco/Super Cheap Auto: There are three levels, this is the most intensive one: http://www.meguiars.co.nz/G3000

Your quite right - I didn't notice that. I don't require the wider rear tyre as I don't have staggered wheels. So it's a decent enough commuter tyre but you're telling me that this is not actually a "special" price for a P7?

Discount Tyres have a deal on 235 45 17 97W Pirellis of some description - I expect they are the P Neros or whatever they call them. I understand it's pretty much a cheaper P Zero, they should be fine for my needs as I'm not so much of a race-car driver. http://www.discounttyres.co.nz/ I wonder how long this deal is going for - as I don't need the tyres yet but have virtually no space to store them in my apartment

Just out of interest do the Dynavin units make use of the telephone controls on the steering wheel at all?

Wow, I had no idea people were doing this in New Zealand (let alone that there was that much abandoned stuff around). Looks cool, and kinda spooky Anyway there is a website which often has funny stuff on it out of Russia (and the rest of the former USSR) which often has lots of pictures of various abandoned Soviet military installations, state controlled "super factories" and all sorts of stuff: http://englishrussia.com/2011/12/30/an-aba...us-next-to-ufa/ http://englishrussia.com/2011/12/06/what-s...hospital-keeps/ http://englishrussia.com/2011/12/04/russia...-was-abandoned/ There are tonnes of them in there the ones from the exclusion zone around Chernobyl are amazing.