jimbo01

Glass cover usually includes lights, well it does on my AMI policy anyway.

Thanks - I'll recommend this to Rueben at Powerhaus.

Powerhaus sent the turbo to Alltech. Turbo is rooted, beerings gone and turbo vanes pitted (apparently they see this a lot in turbos that have been Superchipped). Can't be serviced so a brand new turnbo is on the way. Doing a complete flush of the oil and adding nice high quality new oil and a new filter before re-starting the car. This is needed to get the warrenty on the new turbo.

And by targeting these so called illegal plates they identifiy them sleves as complete wankers. Wouldn't it be nice if our police had better things to do than ensure the NZPlates monopoly continutes to be able extort those of us with European cars and who want European style plates.

I'm doing this - running my German plate up front but my normal one at the back.

Geoff Grey seems to give better service than Jeff Grey, where are they based? (joking of course). You must look like you can afford a new or near new X5 is one explanation. Or are you really a 25 year old nubile blonde?

Not professionally checked as yet - just the AA contractor near Levin. No power, smonin like a bitch and low oil. Given all the Turbos and associated plumbing were removed very recently to replace a colling pipe in the bottom of the V it is possible something has come loose. After thermostate was replaced we lost coolant again as a hose connection wasn't tight enough. Jim

Just checking but wheres ther best place to get a blown turbo fixed. Blew last Friday on the way up the mountain at 6.20pm just North of Levin. Really really regretting not buying the X5 or ML500!

Thanks. I don't understand the extra load stuff in my case - the overall diamater is within a few mm of the standard tyre, and the width is only 245 (standard is 235), and often these have staggered fittment with 255 on the rear. Probably heavier though.

Thanks for the offer byt Powerhaus has sorted it out now. I can't believe either - Dave Hadleys guys had them off to rebalance them as the problem only started after they fitted the new Dunlop tyres to the Beemer (replacing some nexten N3000 which only had an 89 load rating). Tonys tyre centre then had them off for the same problem and couldn't fix it. Page may have teken them off, but they were aksed to specifcally check for issues as you had suggested it could be bushings etc. They found nothing, and confirmed that the front bushings had been replaced. They suggested a warm balance in case it was flat spots on the tyres. Then Firestone in Upper Hutt removed them for the warm balance recommended by Page (it did get better but not perfect). Powerhaus took them off as I mentioned it had a shudder, and found the problem - I guess one rear wheel having a ring and the other one missing a ring was a give away. They put 2 new rings on the front (1 each wheel) and used the two undamaged ones for the rear. Didn't charge me any more for that either which was nice. My SLK will be going there for a service shortly, and my Audi also - they seem very thorough. I guess if people want to keep their Euros in top condition thorough is what you want. Unfortunately thorough can be expensive!

Hi Jono I've had excellent service form the Petone / Lower Hutt branch in the past and earlier this year they fitted new rear tyres to my SLK which are working out well. This was one guy who mostly let himself down. Probably what he was looking at was the available stock. Audi was on Goodyear Wrngler F1 tyres. The backs have 6mm tread, the fronts had 6mm in the middle but were completely munited in the inside and outside edges. I considered: Nexen / Roadstone N7000 all round but that size wasn't available in NZ (although Hyper in Auckland have it @ $209 fitted or delivered - they must improt direct) - this was the tyre I orginally inquired about. reasonable reviews, all season, and designed for light snow. Next and more appropiate were the Toyo Proxies STII, and a direct equivalent (700mm OD) for the original Pirelli - I would have done all 4. Again, none in stock in NZ and none on order (again Hyper in Auckland have it @271.56 a tyre fitted or delivered) Next were the Hankook Ventus ST RH06, aggain a direct equivalent for the original pirelli - I would have done all 4. (again Hyper in Auckland have it @324.50a tyre fitted or delivered, as do Tyre Guys direct at $255 delivered). What is frustrating is that none of the offical channels or local shops could source these tyres but I could easily have gotten them online. As I wanted to deal locally I ended up just buying 2 Yokos for now with the same 680mm OD as the 2 good rear tyres. Ideally at some point I want to get it on the Toyo/s or Hankooks.

I think you make have been right. PowerHaus in Tinakori Wellington just replaced both worn rear monoball joints, and replaced both rear upper control arms. The also found one rear wheel was missing it's centre ring, and one of the front wheels had two stacked together, plus a loose pinch bolt on the steering box - they found all this doing a WOF and the repairs so the car would pass the WOF. We took this car to the follwoing places to have this issue looked at; Dave Hadley (put the wheels on with he new tyres), Tonys Tyre Centre in Kent Tce, Page European, and finally Firestone in Upper Hutt who did a warm balance. VTNZ have done 2 WOF's and Page European have done 5. The monoball joints were munted - and as my car has only done 10,000km in 4 years they should have been picked up in an ealier WOF, or when i paid to have the suspension inspected by Page!

I recently fitted new tyres to the front of my Audi Allroad. I was after 225 / 55 / 17 all season / SUV tyres and visited 4 different places. I ended up getting 2 Yokohama Geolander H/T-S tyres from Dave Hadley tyres in Lower Hutt / Alice Town. The service here was a complete contrast with the service I received elsewhere. Beaurepaires Kaiwharawhara were pretty good but I didn't like the tyre options they had available. Firestone in Thorndon had a moron. I told him my car was an Audi Allroad, 4WD and I was looking for All Season / SUV tyres. He then found some Firestone tyres that he said would be great on my Comadore wagon. I explained (again) that it was actually an Audi Allroad, and was a 4WD, semi SUV, and needed an all season / SUV typre tyre. Even after this he still tried to sell the same tyre for my Comadore (WTF!). Again someone who just doesn't derseve a job. What is a shame is that places that usually have great service can be let done by staff having a really bad day. The 3rd place I visted twice. I explained what i was after and the guy behind the counter tried to sell me some Maxxis car tyres he had in stock - that were not all season - so I declined - but we agreed I'd do more reserach. I did some reasearch and went back the next day and asked about Toyo Proxies STII tyres. This was another guy and he asked where I had got that tyre designation from - there was no such Toyo tyre. I said there was as I checked it out the nite before. He then went on line, claimed he was looking at the Toyo site and still declared there was no such tyre. Really http://toyotires.com/tire/pattern/proxes-st-ii I went next to Dave Hadley he agreed it would be a great tyre, had a brouchure for it, and checked on the stock (it was out of stock). I resisted the temptation to take the brouchure back to educate the staff member on how to search the web, how to show repsect for customers, and how not to be a complete jerk.

Tried to do this the other day before taking the 740 in for it's WOF. Didn't have the right bits to do this at the time but I can see how to make these work for RHD. Thanks for the tip.

Yep - FM transmitters are a FAIL . Buy a new head unit with blue tooth and iPOD input.

My E38 failed it WOF due to worn rear suspension ball joints. Saw the parts when they were replaced - they were well munted! And once that was fixed they then found too much play in the front upper control rods so whatever bits needed replacing were fitted late afternnon on Friday. Now the car just needs a wheel alignment and we should be back in business. Been using Powerhaus in Tinakori Rd as it's easy walking distance to my work. The did good work on our Audi Allroad so thought I'd try them with the Beemer. Car's only done 10,000km in the last 4 years so thats 8 WOF's and they are the 1st crowd to pick up these suspension issues.

Loving the Audi at the moment. Replacing the thermostat so the car now operates at the correct temp has transformed the car. Taking it skiing in a few weeks. My BMW 740i is still my favourite car though - it's in at powerhaus getting a WOF.

Split metal pipe that runs through the V of the engine - $450+ GST to replace. Also replacing the G62 coolant temperature sensor. Should be operational tomorrow so hopefully will be all OK again.

Small pin hole in a metal cooling pipe deep int eh V of the engine so a lot of labour to replace. What is keeping me motivated is watching some of the youtube footage of people doing some amazing stuff in their Allroads.

The Audi is currently parked outside the Powerhaus in Wellington waiting for them to open in the morning. Anyway yesterday much hissing and loss of cooling fluid. Luckily we were just 2km from Powerhaus. Topping up the cooling system and leaving it for an hour we found it hadn't lost anymore coolant so drove it down.

I'll give this a go - thanks

I'll be coming up from Welly in the 740 for the concert, and may get some tints for the 740 while I'm up there.

Thanks for the tip - I'll remove one and pull it apart. There was nothing obvious when I was checking them before installing them. However I do get the concept - my Audi Allroad can be changed via a lever from left hand to right hand drive lights - I guess it was design to go between Europe and the UK.

Traders place was in Sumner in Christchurch and couldn't get access to his send the lights for ages due to the earthquake and his property being out of bounds. I think I was clear enough on the auction question, as was trader Nardos85's answer: The seller has posted a response to your question about 'BMW E38 F/L XENON HEADLIGHTS 728i 730i 740i 750i'. Hi - are these for right hand drive? (US left hand drive lamps have the wrong cutoff when dipped) Does this work with the height adjustment from inside the car? Thanks yes and yes;) posted by: nardo85 (19 ) 6:50 pm, Mon 7 Feb This is his reply to my news that they are illegal here in NZ: hey Jim, sad to hear that, the seller absolutely promised me that they had a straight cutoff... I wouldnt have ordered them otherwise obviously... I know you can alter the beam quite easily though, as the usa import cars have to do the same, maybe you can ask some american car dealers or garages if they know how to do it, otherwise you could find it on the internet... sorry mate, If I knew i would've told you, but obviously i didn't fit and test them..." Michael T I've sent him another email asking for my money back. If no joy I'll advise trademe, and do the small claims thing although I've found trademe adminstration to be profoundly useless.

Back just prior to the February earthquake I bought a set of new aftermarket headlights off trademe. I checked with the trader that these were in face for right hand drive, that they come with instructions, and had the adjustment motor, and they were completely comatible without any wiring changes. It took several months to ge tthem delivered and then it was a while before I fitted them. Opened them up and immediately it was apparent there were no instructions, and no connector for that headlight adjustment motor. I figgured it all out and fitted them and turned them on. I had sort of expected the angel eyes to perhaps work on park, but they only work with the headlights on low or high beam. My indicators are now acting as parking lights but the car know something is wrong and I'm getting an alert "check park lights". The actual lights look great, and they have really good light, and I can forgive the other things not being as the seller claimed BUT not that the lights let light spill to the right, not the left, so are not legal for NZ. I have contacted the trader and he's not taking any reposibility, but did mention that apparently you can adjust the lights somehow. I guess that would involve pulling off the glass but has anyone heard of this or have done it???