Allanw

Yeah... and the council refused to put up signs or arrows on the road......

True Then I could get you to take my wife for a drive in it, and prove to her it's no faster than the 525i, then I'll be allowed one....

^This - used to have it all the time in our rental fleet.

Oooooh... might get to see it local...

Manual conversion.

To be fair, there is a chunk of seal missing on the apex of the corner... people don't expect the camber and gradient changes that occur through that corner... but it comes down to going too fast at the end of the day... I reckon 2 cars go over thereeach year, at least. 2 so far this year :-) Still what's worse, is the 4 times we've seen people drive along this road on the wrong side! Tourists leaving the attraction around the corner - one made it about 1km, around about 6 blind corners, and 2 brows of hills

E39 530i or 540i manual touring

Did you buy a red Mitsi??? The trees had a trim just a bit further down: :lol:

Some of the UK guys do run plain fluid. A lot of them probably get plain fluid from unknowing garages. It probably wouldn't hurt as a short term thing, if you want to flush the box, or test it for a couple of weeks. You could put cheaper stuff in to try it, and see if it helps. Then get it flushed properly later. I've heard of a number of transmissions failing after flushes that were used to try to fix a problem though I also wonder if your voltage issue could be part of the problem (I haven't heard the noise though :PI have some youtube issues )

Oh yeah, it's not the checks that are the issue I think - the LCM actually pulse width modultes the 12V to run the LEDS, and they can burn out if run on 12V direct. I seem to recall you can alter the PWM to alter the brightness (or burn them out if you do it wrong). I'm nott 100% on that though - that's why I'd want to check the settings first. I have some vague recollection of the standard lights being set to 80 and coding to my car sets it at 20... But I could be dreaming - it's happened before

The factory fitted Celis rears apparently never had the resistor/ballast packs (except maybe the faceliifted but prefacelift date M5's), they came with the retrofitted ones it seems. Mine has none, and it's a November 2000 build date (facelift started septmeber 2000). Josh would be mush handier, and is probably better at it The tamper dot is ONLY an issue if you don't update the VIN in the LCM... it actually has nothing to do with milage. BMW Scanner will change both VIN and Milage to suit the rest of the car. I have the LCM4 in my, from a wrecked E53 X5

^That fan is possibly working perfectly though.

Hmmm.. this is why I wondered. Driving over arthurs pass shouldn't make it heat up much, and the viscous fan shouldn't be required if you're moving at much speed - it may have a clogged/worn out radiator or similar, limiting the cooling capability. The viscous coupling should only really be required at low RPM and very low speed, when there is limited air flow. By 25 or 30km/h there should be enough air through the front that the fan wouldn't do anything anyway. The Coupling relies on the heat off the radiator to cause it to lock. As soon as more air comes through, the air/coupling should both cool down.

You'd need to know what to look for though - the dealer only does what the customer pays for. Full service history only means it's had oil changes and inspections, but doesn't mean it's had all the repair work that was recommended done. It could still be a poked old peice of crap. That's why the expert is required. Leased cars are classics for scrimped servicing - none of mine were ever done "by the book", but all had the stamps -one never had plugs fitted, even when required every 30K. NZers are cheaparse when it comes to servicing/maintainence/repairs.

Magic!

I haven't coded the LCM for LEDS, but I thought it was only LCM3B anmd up that did it... however, my old LCM is an LCM3A (I can check that) and I have factory rear Celis. TIf you need to change the LCM, you need BMW scanner to change the milage and VIN in the LCM, and it will need to be coded to you car, then have the LED settings altered to suit. I'm sure I could do it, but I'm not any colsser to you than last time :-) Plus, I'm a little wary, and I haven't done it before - I suppose you could unplug the Cleis lights until we're sure the settings are correct :-)

Hmmm... not good odds! How useful is the screen now? is it easier to convert to an MID?

The wiper relays are pretty crappy too. After the Ign switch, look there if it still does it.

I like how the front roundel doesn't even fit. Needs more rattle-can trim painting and boot spoilers - 2 isn't enough, is it? Possibly the least tunable in the range too - 320i auto... although it says it's a motorsport version... you'd think it would have badges

Are you getting overheating while sitting in traffic? The viscous should only lock up when the air coming through the radiator is over a certain tem, and locks the clutch on the coupling. The "newspaper test" ONLY works when the engine is getting fairly hot - the coupling should slip until that point. TBH, it's a LOT less work to replace the viscous anyway

Once it logs a missfire code enough times, it shuts off that cylinder until a restart. Likely a coil or something related The thermostat code only comes up when the electrical heater in the thermostat goes open ciruit - you'll need to replace it either way, but a thermostat stuck open won't cause a thermostat code. Missfires can also be from oil leaking into the spark plugs holes, from the rocker cover gaskets, shorting the coil to ground sometimes. while you're in there, have a look - the gaskets don't last forever and are pretty common to leak anyway. Check the plugs too - a lot of kiwis are too tight to service things, and plugs stay in until they cause an issue (lease companies are classics for it!).

You can get a little tray to replace the rear cup holders (as they're crap anyway!). I'd wait for OEM lights, even if they cost more and are used. Fronts in OKish condition can be sent to http://www.clearlight.co.nz to make them shiney again before you fit them. I assume you already have Xenons?

My mum could do a better inspection for less money! Never seen an AA check that I'd have been happy paying for. They'll tell you it needs a service and how worn out the tyres are, but won't know what is likely to cause actual problems, or what common faults to look out for. When Dad got his E30 (15 years ago!) we had the pre-purchase done at Jerry Claytons in Takapuna - it was $99+ gst (I assume more now ), they gave a comprehensive list of faults, which was accurate and even approximate costs for repair, along with likely life left, and which were the most important to do. They also replaced a front indicator lens that had a crack in it for free! Only a BMW specialist (a good one) will know what to look for.

clearlight.co.nz was about $160 to $180 for the pair when I enquired about them. It was cheaper if you took the lights out. They polish and recoat them. When I managed a rental fleet, we had some blue cream from a car cleaning co., which you'd put on like car wax, leave for 10 minutes and polish off with a soft cloth. It didn't bring them up mint, but it got off the oxidization and made them look see-through - was about $90 a pot, but we probably used it on 100 pairs of lights. I also can't remember any details about it The new Halogens from Hella were $640 a pair when I did the group buy but Xenons were about $1800 a pair, with ballasts and everything. For prefaclift lights, new fronts are cheap and easy, for facelift, there are palces selling covers now, but they're not cheap - even though they look it - they have writing moulded into the front cover, which the Hella ones don't. If you want to do it kinda cheap, but are planning on keeping the car for a while, I'd do the clearlight thing - should last a few years at least. New Genuine BMW retrofit kits have been selling on German eBay pretty cheap - I eneded up with mine off a UK forum members for about $900 complete, and freighted. Comes with self elvelling retrofit, ballasts etc.

You forgot RX-7 and AMC Gremlin. I quite like them though - awesome 80's throwback.