Allanw

You can buy a scan tool pretty cheap, just have to fiddle getting it setup on a PC, and away you go. Handy for next time too

That's 35% of the ones that actually get taken to Glenn though - there's still all the ones that DON'T get taken in there or anywhere..... But hey - make sure you buy NZ new, eh?

Our 525i is manual, and especially after doing the Vanos seals, it's actually very quick - heaps of torque, but really goes once the revs are up, although an auto would clearly be slower and probably a bit average. I would VERY much prefer the 530i, but I have never seen a manual one over here. I'd say the 530i is a REALLY good choice too, espesially for the money. The V8s are awesome, but for everyday driving, the 3.0 isn't that far behind - it just lacks the instant grunt. The V8's are NOT hungry if you drive them nice, but they are a bit more to service (mate has a 540i Touring, and the engine I'd say any E39 you buy will probably want at least $1500 spare for little bits and pieces, if you want it to be right. As the milage gets up though, it could easily be more. Although that price range should get you a very good one. Like Jeffbebe, I reckon I've probably spent $3K on parts to get ours up to scratch, although I always do things as a set while it's all apart (complete rear suspension except shocks and upper mounts which are OK, and can be done easy later) is waiting in the box, it was about $1200 - bushes, ball joints, links and arms. Do the Vanos seals - regardless of milage, they were crap from new and faults have been reported as low as 50,000 on new replacement BMW Vanos units (they continue to use the same as original - I guess so they don't have to admit fault and pay for shitloads of unit replacements) - get the Beisan type seals, or similar.

HAHA! Had that inside the drive thru at Mitre 10 in my VW van when it had the original engine. EFI kept dumping in fuel, spark was shorting in the cap. There was an almighty bang (I was IN the van and my ears rung) and there were 4 staff members and 3 neighbours came out to see what it was. I sat in the car and pretended it wasn't me for a while... but then I had to own up when I couldn't start it and needed a push outside My exhaust survived, except that half way home, the tail pipe fell off Sorry dude - prolly best take them up on their offer ASAP.

Mint. I've got a nearly full tin of Newtech, that'll fix that right up.

I NEVER believed it. They sent us all emails (I work at the Hospital up here) stating it was cost plus 5%. I know they get rebates after certain $ values and all that, so their invoiced cost price isn't the "real" cost price, but by my calculations at the time, the 100% store sold it to me for nearly $400 less than the Harvey Norman "cost" price! The 100% store was still making money on it somewhere (and I don't begrudge them that!) Fisher and Paykel ended up replacing that oven on my request (eventually) under CGA, then when the new one was just as useless (turned off when using high temps, which I do for particular things, or self cleaning as per the manual ) they eventually refunded the price I paid - It only took a year! They didn't have any parts in stock and refused to air freight them in. When they did arrive, it was still faulty after the "repair". Hence my refund request. They would have had 2 used 900mm freestanders to sell off after that Moral of the Story. Fisher and Paykel is NO LONGER a reputable brand and will NEVER be purchased for my house again, even though it used to all be F&P. Their customer care is useless, which is bizare, as I deal with F&P MEDICAL who are amazing and do more than you expect all the time! I brought a Falcon Toledo 90 in the end, which retailed for nearly what I paid for my E39 Far superior though and no problems, plus I can run it at 250C for hours and it just keeps going, plus I can touch the door while it's doing it!

Hmmm... you may try emailing Yazoom. I think, under the Consumer Gaurantees act, THEY are in fact the retailer in the situation, so are obligated to ensure compliance with the Consumer Gaurantees act. You did purchase the service from them. If you tell them, they might put a bit more weight on the situation. I suppose, worst case, you'd like you bumper and $89 back at least. I'd aim for that, because if they're that dodgy, you may find your bumper disappears too. It hasn't been a super long time, but they did book it in, it's not like it was a "we;ll do it when we can squeeze it in" type deal.

It is the actual car, supposedly 40 years from first registration according to the LTNZ factsheet. In actuality, it appears to be changed from January in the year the car turns 40, according to the year it is registered as : i.e. My Beetle was manufactured 6th July 1972, first registered as a 1972 in New Zealand (brand new) but in early 1974 (It was imported and kept in stock until sold, which was reasonably common with VW's this late - its a German assembled 1200, not NZ or Aus). In Jan this year, it changed to "classic" status So, if you have a car registered as a 1973, next January, it will revert to classic Rego, which I seem to recall is about $110 give or take.

AND didn't look as jacked as an X5...

I use my local 100% store (Barells 100% Whangarei) - I can always talk to an owner if I need to. Plus, my last oven was $800 cheaper from them, than at Harvey Normans "cost + 5%" special sale for staff of the place I work... uh huh!

That is correct. My Beetle just turned 40 last week, and its been on cheap rego since the beginning on the year They all change over in January of the year they turn 40.

The odometer can also be coded to display in KMs instead of miles, so it all look legit.

Easiest to replace the slave and master together - both are cheap, and if one is gone, the other prolly isn't far behind, flush out the lines with some clean fluid before connecting the slave, in case there is some crap in it.

I'd imagine they go inside the moulding, and are connected to the window stop sensors. If you push on the moulding while the window is going up, it should stop and go down a certain distance.

Correct. Democracy is a popularity contest. Funny you shoud say that. Mrs just took the boy for his 2 year old checkup at the mobile dental caravan at a school not too far from here. Her appointment was 15 minutes long and was at 1130 AM. The Dental Nurse thanks her profusly for showing up, as they had called everyone with an appointment this morning, and my wife was the ONLY one to have shown up today. At 1130! Surely there must have been at least 8 slots before that available - None even bothered showing up with their kids. These will be the same people moaning about what the government doesn't do for them etc. We'll all be paying for these kids rotten teeth soon enough anyway! I'd rather pay for my own stuff and the useless bludgers can miss out if they can't be assed working to pay for their own. I just had a $6000 operation on Tuesday that the Government has paid nothing towards. Hell, I WORK in public health and see who the real money is spent on.

Yep, look at each car on its merits.

Yes it is, but it stays warmer over there and there is likely less condensation inside electronics that are the supposed problem. Like I say, people talk about it, nobody seems to have real evidence of a decent sample size. There are a few stories of a guy that had one car that had a couple of issues. They probably aren't related to the climate at all. There a craploads of E39's from Singapore (A LOT of the facelift ones seem to be - they have the wider number plate area in the boot lid). There are a lot of cars fro Singapore full stop. They tend to be highly specced and are usually higher end cars (It's basically just luxury cars that come in from there), so likely to have more problems anyway.

I wonder of it would it be any different in Japan though? Plus people everywhere still don't waste petrol for the hell of it... do they? I think they all have their fair share of problems, regardless of where they come from. I know people who've had trouble with NZ new ones too.

Ebay UK. Top gaiters or something like that has craploads of them, not sure on the finish/fit etc though, haven't seen one first hand.

I hate people who put boxes on the car! The in laws did that. ONCE! I can't help with a shop down there, but they should be able to tidy it up reasonably well without too many $.

What sort of interior damage are we talking about? A Holden Astra lease car we had, had the dashboard literally melt off in the sun in Auckland and was replaced with a new one (in a lighter colour ,funny enough). Singapore Humidity averages 79 to 82%, Auckland is 74 to 84%, Wellington 67 to 78% and Chirstchurch is 73 to 84%. The temperature here is lower, but that makes for MORE condensation, which is when damage occurs (like with a hot moist day and a cold evening). Plus, realistically, the cars are driven around with the climate air on all the time - that dries them out. I have yet to hear enough stories (first hand) about enough cars to make a singapore car sound any worse than a japanese one. Nobody seems to worry about the salt used on Japanese roads in winter though. Weird.

Besides, Labour wouldn't spend the money on aything useful, like they've listed on the ad - they'd spend it one more bludgers who deserve stuff because of their "Human rights", but the rest of us have to work to get the same (or less!).

Don't tell anyone, but I'd possibly pick that particular Merc over an E30 M3. Shhh!

I Heard you can fit E60 front wheels bearings/hubs to an E39, but not sure about the rears.

Nah, should show warm pretty quick - the gauges are buffered so it reads "normal" (12 o'clock) over a HUGE temperature range - it'll require a new thermostat, which is reasonably common - If it's a M54engine (twin Vanos 2.2, 2.5 and 3.0) they have an "electric" thermostat which can fail so it runs cool, or fairly hot (not usually overheating hot though). They do tend to fail one way or the other quite a lot. If the electric parts fails (it's a small heater coil to elctrically heat the thermostat into opening to cool the engine more) it can run hotter, and the fault will ony be noticed with a scan at service time. Google BMW MAP-controlled thermostat. They're pretty cheap though, $100 or $130 from memory, aftermarket.