Allanw

I'm currently daily-ing my 1972 Beetle manual It's a little awkward when it's cold, because there is a slight flat spot, but my morning commute is no issue - I usually only see 5 to 8 cars at 530AM 10 kms, in 15 minutes. Home is more trouble: it takes about 7 minutes longer than the mornings... right across town, and then same distance into the countryside The only autobox we currently have, is sitting on a trolley with a four cylinder attached, making way for 2 more cylinders and a 6 speed manual, with 4WD... not a BMW though. It was a 6 speed auto with 2.0 4cylinder, and did really well, but not for me! I think Ron is right - a good setup makes all the difference. On average, it's the Euro cars that have nice trans movements, and clutches.

You'd have to look for an exceptional E39 M5 in the UK, to warrant the costs of bringing it over. It's NOT unusual for E39's to have have rust repairs and sill/jacking pointts repalced. You want a VERY thourough inspection, and someone you can trust to tell you what it's really like. I'd be looking at one here, or flying over to inspect the car myself. E39's are old enough now, that they have spent a long time on possibly salted roads.

just wait for me to decide to sell mine

Same "persons"... This is NZ - we don't wonrry about stuff like that - if they hadn't de-registered it, some dude with some polyester resin, chop strand, and a screwdriver would have fixed it already!

Until they suddenly tip over, and roll down the bank, with little warning I had a Suzuki Cappuccino many years ago... It really was like a go kart 725KG (before I got in it!), only 47kw supposedly, but you always had it between 3000 and 6000 rpm for "normal" driving, and 7500 was for normal overtaking - I never got it to the limiter, as the little turbo ran out of breath well before the 9200 initial cut. No power steering, only 67 HP, front engine rear drive. Everything was a compromise, and it was awesome to drive - Not because it did everything well, but because you could feel it doing everything. There was only just enough car to hold the drive train onto the seats, and keep the water off you in the rain. Also amusing: I could sit in the drivers seat, and reach over the side and touch the rear tyre

There are a number of guys running Subaru EE20 diesels off aftermarket ECU's in old VW vans :-) It's about US$2000+ for the Ecu's, last I looked! It's very expensive, time consuming and easy to make them go BANG (and other expensive noises) if you do it wrong! Go electric.

AWESOME! A real trans too... You've just joined a VERY exclusive club: we now have 3 Allans, all with 6 cylinder BMW's with a proper trans :-) Welcome!

What??? No Supercharger? Haha! Love that colour!

Does the smoke waft down the street for ages, or does it disperse into nothing fairly quickly? If it disperses, it's probably water in the exhaust, like graeme says. It can take a REALLY long drive to get it all out sometimes... though a complete thrashing sometimes gets it pouring out! If you've been starting it for very short runs, the condensation can accumulate quickly. If it can be seen clearly wafting along the road, it's probably smoke, and that's probably bad! Also, like graeme says - oil smoke is normally coloured - brake fluid can burn very white... so just for the sake of safety, check the level - It's very unlikely, but I've heard cases it making through a master cylinder, and a failed vac booster and being burned in the engine. It looks like it disperses in the vid, but you might live somewhere windy :-P

The Royal Purple that Jared said is great stuff - I think it says it can be used anywhere ATF was specified in a manual box. I thought BMW specified different lubes for the same box sometimes, and had a different label on. I put the Royal Purple in the E39 ( I thought it had a Getrag 250?), and it shifts so much better - it went in at about 120K I think, now got 155K on in, and it still fells much nicere than the old stuff that was in it.

They can always read in the 300 other places you posted it. MEH! The reality is nobody cared that you: got a price from them didn't like the price didn't use them whinged about it If it's cheaper in Europe, TAKE YOUR CAR THERE. Spend the weekend driving around Auckland complaining about the house and rent prices and see if you can get a half price deal somwehere. They'll all laugh at you too

the 728i facelift is a better drive than the 730i - faster, more economical, lighter. the M52TU powered ones are better and the sports, with the shorter diff ratio, are better again.

750d, seen on Ninety Mile Beach...

Sorry, not understanding the problem Seriously - sort yourself out, and do a manual conversion . We've got a factory manual 525i (M54), and it really does liven them up - massive difference over the auto. A properly converted manual 528i wagon would be a nice drive - not a rocketship, but no slouch. You only need two of the gears to get past the legal open road limit, so if you really want to take out a 80km/h cruiser, it's only a very short thrashing it needs. A 540i will blitz it though! Duh! If you're going to do anything major though, it makes more sense to sell it and buy something more suitable*** The 540i is NOT as hungry as most people think it will be either. *** we aren't all sensible - I mostly choose the stupid option (like the 10K I've got tied up in a $5K VW "family" car, and I haven't even DONE the conversion yet )

There is some minor damage under the sill, done before the front wheel hit the rear pillar and stopped the car suddenly :-) Lucky it didn't stick up further... I swear our E39 is cursed - it's only done 150kms, and is rougher than the Mrs last car, a 95 Impreza we sold with 325kms on it.

You you cut the roof off a car and put it off to the side of the driveway... and the Mrs tries to reverse over it, in the E39....

Do the lot - I did on ours, and it makes it so tight and direct (though I went powerflex for a number of them too!).

D'Oh! Yep... lots of them do have plastic - I think there were even some earlier models with them, possibly some E34's? etc I always use the long spanner and little hammer method, which has not failed me yet, otherwise the pulley holder with the holes for the bolts heads works, apparently.

They are often the ones who sold the car to the guy who *thinks* it's an M3 (becausethe dealer told them it was). There are some good dealers, but a lot know less than most of the members on here, about *any* car! The other peeve, is people who say the cambelt is done, but are clearly lying - because it has a chain

Several Years back, Dad comtemplated selling his E30, when we thought it would still be worth $4k After selling it to the second caller, sight unseen, for $8K this year, he's glad he didn't... It's also a "more suitable" owner.

When does the shake happen? Are the rotors REALLY warped, or do you need front suspension bushes? We've put 40K on our 525i, since I did the front bushes for a shake we had - haven't touched the brakes at all! The bushes LOOKED perfect, but the front end is tight since the rebuild.

So the worlds most expensive tyres... made in China... Sounds legit.

I did it on our E39 - it IS worth it. It's a stupid, stupid thing!

Chickenpox.