Allanw

It's OK Jooles, You can still buy my steering wheel for less than you told me it was worth, if you want . It'll be in Aucks weekend after this one .

Some of the performance difference is due to your prefacelift 525i really being a 523i in disguise - for some reason (and BMW let them do it) the Japs stuck with the 525i badges. Our 525 i ( a "real", facelift one , the little brother of your 530i) actually goes really well, but if I could have a manual 530i, i'd be happy! The M54 is a very good engine, especially with the problem parts fixed (Vanos, DISA and vacuum leaks, Rocker cover and oil filter housing gasket, old cooling system parts replaced). They have a tonne of torque down low, and don't mind screaming either. They have a really good shaped torque curve!

Nah, as far as E38's go, the 730i and 735i are the least desirable - you have the V8 running costs, without it being a 740i with the associated grunt. the 730i V8 was hungrier and slower under most circumstances than the 728i (especially the 728i with the M52TU).

maybe the extra 10K is for the paint... "Metallica Blue"

I still fancy attempting a manual conversion on an E38 728i

Be honest... the "gentle" bit is from the lawn to the driveway!

Well, a cubby type thing - someone might have either. You can buy now on these - may get there in time: http://www.bidbud.co.nz/756592766

You can get a coin tray to go in there too. It's pretty much the same as having cupholders... since the cupholders never usually work anyway.

If you can buy the same stuff from the UK (or europe), the shipping will be buttloads cheaper... ... and usually faster by miles too.

30L/100kms rich???

Oh yeah... Attached a pic of my road from this morning biking to work... It was never repaired when it slumped 1 year+ ago (as already stated earlier), but it's getting mighty deep now!

According to the road code, you have to be able to stop in the distance you can see (minimum - backs you are supposed to be able to stop in half the distance you can see). If you can't stop in time for something on the road, you're driving too fast = careless driving. I did like this story though - these roads were TERRIBLE before the rain started, and are now causing some major damage: http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/rodney-times/10215123/Rocky-roads-in-need-of-repair

They probably all drive BMW's - BMW drivers are wankers.

My road is now down to a single lane, between 2 blind corners(!), because the massive sag that appeared about a year (or more!) ago was never fixed, and now the sag is about 3 times the length, and is quite possibly threatening to drop. all they ever did was dump hotmix onto the crack. They could have at least tried to level the road up a bit, as half the through traffic used to swerve out over the centre line to miss it. Normal around here.

This may be the most "liked" post ever now :-)

there's a pic called "funny-ugly-cars-fixed.jpg"... it's just that it looks like this: "." but a bit smaller. Googling the picture name didn't help either!

Any cars I've had from new had kms on them. Lowest was a VW transporter last year, that had 8 from memory. Just getting from the factory onto the boat will put some on, and they probably run them up at the factory on rollers... surely? VW used to with Beetles. In reality, I don't think a buyer would care if it's 0 or 8. Either way, it's nothing, really.

I found that too - pulling out of side roads in the wet doesn't get the traction light flashing like it used too, and even provoking it doesn't cause drama either (although with the traction off it's a bit different )

I could do a manual E39 525i (M54, not a 523i with a 525i badge), which is really easy to upgrade to a 3.0 M54 engine Motorsport suspension too

The intake boot (as Glenn says) is pretty common, and cheap as chips - I'd get one anyway if I was you - they can spring a leak anythime, if it's the original. You economy sounds OK..... if your mrs drives like mine. While our is a manual 2.5 sedan, the economy doesn't really change much between the M54 engine sizes (that's why you may as well have the 3.0, but I couldn't find a manual 3.0!). My mrs gets about 11.4L/100kms: when she was overseas I did the same run, dropping kids off, going to work just up the road from hers, and I got 9.5 ish L/100kms - it's a mix of light town and slow open roads (40 - 80 km/h stuff), usually averaging about 37km/h on the OBC. On a long run it'll get down to 8 with the family on bord, and I have acheived 7 on a run from Whangarei to Warkworth by myself. Have you done Vanos seals? It won't be related, but they are good to do on the M54, and piss easy.

You aren't allowed red or blue... FYI. If you don't want to attract unwanted police attention, white or yellow/amber is all you can get away with.

^ he beat me to it. Code will probably be for a misfire - either dodgy plugs, coil pack etc... probably not to dramatic, but I'd take it easy, or not drive it until it's sorted.

A guy on a UK forum tried putting a bigger size in, and cracked the side out, got it welded and then it never sealed... so I'd be slightly wary of leaving it out entirely. When you drill a hole in a broken bolt, they're always off centre... I think it's a law of physics or summin. Then you keep drilling, regardless of how badly it's going... because keeping going means you have some chance of it coming out... it's just how it works I'd get a 6mm Timesert kit (or find someone with one). It won't make the hole much bigger, but it'll give you some decent threads in there. You may need to "adjust" the hole in the valley pan cover to allow for any offset. I'd probably do the lot... be a bugger if another hole stripped during reassembly!

Probably would have been better earlier... sit a nut over the top of it, and MIG weld it on, with a good amount of heat. Leave it to cool and then unscrew - it usually works pretty well as the heat helps loosen it because of the enevn expansion of the metals.

Wurth "High Strength" spray adhesive works well, I used ADOS the first time, is a suzuki van, has to redo it with the Wurth stuff, after the first headliner fell off the first day in the sun. Some cans say not suitable for headlinings... best not to use them!