Allanw

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My niece is getting her full license in a couple of months, and has a VW New Beetle, early 2000's. Her's is a 1.8 Turbo manual... but there are 2.slow ones too. They're a bit of fun, somewhat safe, but not really sporty.

Mmmmmm... Shiney!

Good greif, Man! Hope you're OK now. I guess you were keeping that quiet after the chaos you caused Fellow truckies might have come over to give you a slap... hahaha!

Well, that's easy to fix! Make it mandatory. BMW may do that, but VW don't. The year is easy to look up, because it's right there is the VIN. It seems silly to leave it out, even if it's not a "requirement". Parts ordering would be easier - I know the BMW dealers struggled with getting me the right parts... though that was usually just because they had no idea what they were doing, or how a car worked...

NZ uses "Year of First Registration" which is stupid. It's possible for it to bare no relevance to the actual age of the car. There is no consistency anyway. Common sense would say that using the "Model Year" as designated by the VIN descriptor would be appropriate.

WOW. Looks practically NEW!

The Horizon is one of them... It sneaks up fast

My old E39 had a failed diaphragm. I think it was from new though - at 115kms when I pulled it apart, it was as tight as new... but didn't actuate ? Personally, I'd just buy a new one - If they first one lasted this long, the replacement probably will too.

Has it ever had the Vanos seals done? The 3.0 is reputedly more sensitive than the 2.5, and people in colder climates have reported actual stalling from it, after a relatively short period of cold idling. With the engine cold, at idle, the M54 using the cam timing to heat the cats faster - once warmed up, or the revs climb, it has to move the cam timing to the "normal" run position, and can struggle to do so with cold/thick oil that isn't flowing too well, then leaking past the seals when it gets to the right place. Our old manual 525i never got that bad, but it was initially super easy to stall when cold, but not after doing the seals - cold idle was smoother, it was much harder to stall, and it was much easier to control the transition from idle to driving - there was no sudden jump in revs. While it may not be your problem, I would 100% recommend doing the Vanos seals in ANY M54 that doesn't have a history of them being replaced with better parts that BMW used. Our vanos pistons literally fell out of their bores upon disassembly, because the seals were so hard, they were hardly even touching the sides.

Nah... not like that... more ...errr... ...silly...

Fast people movers is where it at, now, anyway.

Holy Cow! Glad you're OK now Glenn! It's a very scary thing, seeing your vital fluids leaking out at such a rate that you don't know what's going to happen. I know a bit how it feels after a massive post-tonsillectomy bleed a couple of years back. Take it easy!!!! Don't go watching thriller movies, or driving in Auckland traffic - they both might might you pop again Look after your wife - I bet shes STILL stressed/concerned

The windscreen is bonded in, and the seal is basically decorative. The screen needs to come out to reseal properly, if it's the issue (shouldn't be!) Do you have a sunroof? It's a more likely candidate and the water is running across the top of the headlining and escaping there.

And not clean ones either.

Possibly not relevant, but some VW models that were already EU4 for most of the world, were still produced in EU2 variants for S.A. and some other markets, like eastern europe and UAE etc. Potentially could apply to BMW models too, so it does pay to be very careful!

Don't bother listening to any of the stereotypes - none of them are true for every car. Look at each car on it's merits. Mt Singapore E39 only had the usual electrical issues: ignition switch and ABS module failure. I've seen some poked NZ cars too - on average NZers don't care any more than any other country. Just find a good car, and buy on condition/milage/history/feeling - whatever floats your boat. Have it inspected by someone who really knows their stuff, or learn the stuff yourself.

Hahaha... And so back yard. Could use a better exhaust.

The opposite of an E46 318i with ///M stripes

So a bunch of stuff I buy will be cheaper... especially if I make my order size "suitable". Cool. Also will arrive faster, because it doesn't need to have a rest at customs on the way thorugh. Cool. How will it work with Youshop? They aren't a retailer of Goods, but a service, and are ALREADY NZ based and ALREADY charge GST for their service... So the Goods theroretically aren't required to be taxed unless they are over NZ$1000, therefore having the tax collected by customs....

Hahaha! It wouldn't surprise me if you didn't misunderstand, but the dealer had it wrong... They should make it VERY clear the key needs cutting, or at least do it on arrival. Anytime I've tried to order key/lock related parts, the dealers I tried were confused or simply trying to sell me the wrong parts - both E39 and E30. (Actually, often for ANY parts they don't understand!) Paul at Milland sorted it out correctly and cheaper from a German BMW supplier - still genuine parts. The dealer wanted the paint code to order a new (key matched) lock barrel mechanism for our E39, Paul didn't need it and it arrived correct ? The dealer was trying to sell me a handle/latch/lock mechanism complete, instead of just the lock barrel I was requesting ?. They key was also over NZ$100 cheaper from Paul, for the E39 - just needed the remote synched, as normal.

The 1972 Beetle I sold last year, had a spare tyre from 1972 Still had the nobbies on it! It turned out to be a really advanced tyre: It was a run-flat! Even when it was fully deflated, it was hard enough to hold the car up

If it was truly a Man's world; Tank ownership would be so much more accessible than it is!

I don't know how different the 220 and 250G are, but I had the 250G in our old E39 525i. The 250G DOES suffer from detent problems (Which i could free up, by repeatedly using the plane that caused the problem; while the trans was hot just push/pull the lever side to side while it was hot and free, and it usually kept it loose for months, even when cold). In that trans, I changed the oil from what I assumed was the factory fill to Royal Purple Synchromax and it made a huge difference - really softened up the changes, but didn't slow the syncros down so much you couldn't shift fast. I changed it at under 120K kms, and it was still doing ok at 170+ when we sold it recently. It's not a super smooth box anyway, though...

Agree. Needs mudflaps though