jimbo01

The European leather guys in Petone would resore even that to near new. My car is finally going their in August and for $650 they basically restore it to like new. They have before / during / after photos that left me gob smacked.

What sort of quality were they? Where did you source them from? Did they give a specific reason for failure?. As per my post the adjustment threads on my E38 headlight is stuffed so want to fix that and upgrade the look.

I justy bought a reversing camera for the E38 on trademe, seller is "hotwire1" from Te Awamatu. $230 buynow. Fits into one of the number plate lamps and plugs int the video unit in the boot. Seem's like a good mod. I'll take photos on the install and post on here in case anyone else wants to do the same.

This topic spurred me into action. Just bought a genuine personalised euro plate today "JIM TOY" for my 740. Hopefully i can re-use the german plate holders for the NZ ones.

Thanks Glenn - thanks, got a recommendation for a suitable setup from Racebrakes they can supply / with the rotors needing to be ordered in. Front pads: Ferodo DS2500 Front: DBA988 Street Slotted Rear pads: Ferodo DS2500 Rear: DBA991 Street Slotted Braided hoses Litre of race spec fluid which is enough to do the whole car

Lot's of obviously cheap and nasty ones on ebay, and a couple of auctions on trademe trying to pass as suitable for 95 to 02 when they obviously are only from pre 99, - $499 for a pair. Seller has adjusted the auction, they are 95-98 lights as I suspected. The E38's did have some that came with low beam HID's but the fitting instructions for an OEM unit are daunting. I'll be looking for new black projector style headlights with halo / angle eyes, and conventional halogon lamps. I'll post if I find a good source. Jim

My 1999 E38 failed it's WOF the other day as the headlight beam on the left side was too low. The adjuster was stripped and BMW do not make a repair kit (nice!). Luckily Page European did a bit of modification and VTNZ passed the WOF. However there are some very attractive LOOKING aftermarket lights available, some are halo style projectors using halogon, and some include a xenon HID. I see someone failed a WOF due to a HID aftermarket headlight. Does anyone know of non HID replacement options that are quality, provide the more modern projector, halo look, and won't get the WOF failed? Thanks ....... Jim

Crims steal plates all the time to disguise their cars from cars parked on the street. However doing a credit card transaction to buy a german plate would take a lot more effort and be totally traceable. Also have you ever read a headline that blamed crimns getting away on a non officla plate? I think they are protecting the monopoly that is the personalised plate business in NZ. Nothing less and nothing more.

Page European have informed me that I need new brake pads and rotors all round on my 1999 E38. They didn't recommend OEM BMW ones which they called "sacrificial" and costly. So I've decided to looking at an upgrade on OEM so will go to at least slotted rotors. I note people recommneding Brembo here and they do have slotted rottors to suit for the front and rear. For Rotors I was thinking: DBA5600.1 on the front - 2 piece 324x30 and vented & slotted DBA991 324x12 on the rear - 1 peice slotted May do braided brake lines. Decent brake fluid Decent pads - any suggestions Anything to avoid (unbranded elcheapo crap a given here)? Thanks .... Jim

Oh look who is selling 22x9 alloys and 255/30/22 Triangle tyres. Great to see he was putting top quality rubber on his car - thats exactly the sort of tyres i want in a car that can do 240kph and weighs 2 ton. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=289048455

He seems pretty thick, or just REALLY REALLY pig ignorant. I just went and checked my door sticker for a NZ new E38 1999 740. 245 is a standard width on a 740 - in 55% profile though - not 60%. 235/60/16 is the other standard size. He seems to have mixed them up to get a mythical standard 245/60/16. I'm running 245/40ZR20 on my 740 on they only just clear - and the diameter is 6mm less than his, and 10mm narrower. I run decent Dunlop SP01A tyres on mine and at $800 a corner to replace you can be sure I made sure they didn't rub BEFORE I drove them.

what photos?

On the money. I work for Telecom. I was on Go Large but they have ended that and now I'm on the 10GB explorer plan. I am going to upgrade to the 20GB adventurer plan for next month. A lot of Broadband is provided using DSL provided by Telecom Wholesale to other service providers. A number of Service Providers / ISP's use Telecom Wholesale provided DSL in some cases, and in other cases they may have their own DSL equipment and buy copper from Chorus. Shortly Telecom retail will have to use the same Telecom Wholesale service as a base for it's DSL. Wholesale has to buy the copper form Chorus on the exact same terms as any other service provider who wants access. Wholesale gets no advantage from Chorus, and Teleocm Retail get no advantage from Wholesale. If they beach this there are serriously hugh fines, oh and they have had to change their computer systems to ensure this, and the Chorus people can't even be in the same building. Lots of changes to make sure everyone gets better broadband. Effectively all the service provides can access the Telecoms stuff they need, but can't afford to install themselves (and we don't need two copper networks in the ground). Ironically for Fibre Optic cable NZ seems hell bent of duplicating the exisitng 30,000km of fibre - we must be really rich or something. Anyway as a result sometimes your broadband may be provided over get DSL2+ or just DSL, irrspective of who you have bought your broadband from. Some may not offer service everywhere as they don't want to use Telecom Wholsale as a base for their service, and don't have their own capability in that area yet, or theyb only want to offer DSL2+ services. Other such as Telstra Clear have their own access network using the old Saturn cable TV network infrastructure. This provides blistering speed as it doesn't use the copper. Anyway as Penry says; if you have a green Chorus cabinet somewhere close, chances are you will be able to buy a DSL2 service off Telecom or another service provider that use the cabinet electronics. With DSL the length of the copper is a key factor in speed. With DSL2+ the high speeds are only reached on shorter copper lengths. Those close to exchanges usually enjoy higher speeds, without the need for a green cabinet. What is cool for the future of braodband based on DSL technologies is that Chorus has installed fibre optic cable to those cabinets, and there will be over 3000 by the time they finish. Of course where the service providers / ISP's really vary is once the IP reaches the backhaul, and how much traffic they have, and how much capacity they have, and if they cache any off shore content to reduce load on the international links - oh and how much they charge, how many GB you get and what happend if you exceed your limit.

Got the WOF. Washer hose repaired, and front left wheel swapped to the rear hoping this would fix the shake at certain speeds. That was $187, and unfortunately the shake is still there, and in fact happending more often, and is more noticable. Vijay tells me my car already has had the front control arm buses replaced so thats not the issue. He has recommended I get my wheels balanced when they are hot as otherwise they are balanced for a slight flat spots that form when the tyres are sitting cold due the weight of the car. Worth a try. Also replaced the battery; OMG $427!

Good advise on the source - will hold off for a bit and get an NZ new at some point in the future.

Hi I've got a 1999 740i currently but have seen a nice looking silver E65 735i on trademe. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=250057250 I don't care for the E65 in Black or Dark Navy but I think it looks magic in silver. Strange as in the E38 I like it better in dark colours. What are the advantaged of an E65 over an E38? I know that it is bigger, the engine was updated from the M62 to the N62 and got Valvetronic, it got a 6 speed auto, and iDrive which some don't like. What should I look out for, and what are the things that make E65 owners nervous. The Jimster

Thanks Penry, Glenn and others Will take it to Page for a WOF and new battery next week and get them to give me a list of what needs doing. Only thing that needs fixing (I think) for the WOF is the window washer hose has come off inside the bonnet - I fixed it before the last WOF but didn't do a good enough job LOL. I'm keen to do things like transmission fluid even if they are no suggested by BMW. Just seems to make sense to chang the fluid after 10 years! Car is otherwise going great. I did almost sell for to buy a 2001 BMW 330i convertible with red leather but thankfully it was sold to someone else saving my wallet. I am now tempted again, but this timke by a soilver E65!

Added to the list - thanks

I'm going to get a service on my 740i. Probably Page European in Wellington I'm going to ask for the following basics: what else would the gurus suggest? - Oil filter and oil - Micro filter - Spark plugs - Air filter - Coolant Getting the Aircon regassed Thursday next week.

Looked good, just reid the site and it's no go. Are these guys still trading?

We had a very poor experience with Smith & Smith Petone replacing the passenger front side window in the 740i. The door trim was poorly fitted, and worse the glass was scratched. We took it back and they were very apploigetic, siad they wouldorder the glass and call back. We chased them up a few days later - they promised to check on it. 2 weeks later we went their - i demanded to see the manager, showed him the job, and we got it fixed the next day. They had no record of ordering the glass for the rework! When I got home I had to remove all the left over broken glass from out of the door pockets, under the seats, and on the dash board. I think their add is actually a Tui add, it's just missing the "yeah, right!"

Telecoms XT Network; highspeed W-CDMA 3G everywhere, not W-CDMA in main centres and lower speed GSM everywhere else like the other guys! XT WCDMA works in the 850Mhz band which is better for the signal through walls etc.

I'm sorry you have having issues and imobilizer issues can be very nasty - you may be up for new ECU and the other bits if not careful. I sold a Rover 75 after 10 months and lost $13,000 and consider myself lucky. I guess the question in your mind is 'why didn't I buy an SLK or a Z3?'

There are off a Mazda RX8 - offset is +50 - perfect for the odyssey and a nice clean style. Just need new Honda centre caps. Guy I bought them off has decided to go for 20's. It's an import with 1600km since new, currenlt white. Had minor frontal damage and he's going all out. Carbon fibre hood and boot, totally stripped down ready for repainting purple. Getting vielside front and rear bumpers, side skirts. Already has adjsutable aftermarket suspension. Was high spec high output engine. 6 speed manual. Nice project.

I've got an Escort 9500 with case and 3 window mounts. This has GPS so provides a dispay of your speed. Not actually for sale but sits in it's case 90% of the time so open to offers. PM me if you want to make an offer. Jim