Allanw

I can get Genuine BMW parts cheaper from Milland, than I have been quoted from the dealer. Plus Paul orders the right parts for me, not expensive ones I don't need. He's ex dealer too. The two times I've tried two dealers over the phone, they tried to talk me into needing the wrong part, AND it cost more. Then Paul told me he can do Genuine too. Even a new remote key ordered from VIN was about $100 cheaper via Milland. Bottle of coolant were cheaper too. Check out his Trademe feedback.

Erm... hate to be a negative nelly... but if you like the 6's, WHY, oh WHY would you want a 320i? If you're thinking of fuel economy... don't be fooled into thinking the 320i is better on gas than the bigger 6 cylinders.

Huh?... 50 is pretty thick as far as engine oils go...

It's a lot better to have the electronics on... but to have them work OK. I had a mate who took his Hilux back for exactly the reason you said. It was actually dangerous at times, because you simply couldn't go fast, and used up all your concentration trying to keep the thing moving. Being able to alter the settings on the fly would be great!

530i Touring... SUPERCHARGED

If you want to be engaged in driving defensively, try driving our Ford... 29 Model A It's biggest safety feature - it has brakes... just. The biggest "Modern" safety improvement added... we added indicators, a left brake light, and a high mount brake light. My Beetle is marginally better, but it's faster and handles better (probably as well as a Hyundai i30!)

Happy Birthday dude. You buying an new radiator as a gift to yourself?

in addition to the above. I dunno what your tap water is like, but the Whangarei District Council supply is very good - I know somewhere in the BMW TIS it has the requirements of the water to mix with coolant, and it's pretty good. I've used it an a number of cars over the years, with alloy radiators, but the factory type with plastic tanks etc. I'm lucky enough to have tank water now though People get some funny ideas about water. I'm in Clinical Engineering at the Hopsital up here, and we have a LOT to do with the water for Dialysis, but am certainly no chemical engineer. People seem to think that water with "nothing" in it is the way to go for cooling systems... it's NOT! Water is called the "universal solvent", because it want's to dissolve things into itself. The emptier it is, the better it is at disolving things. "Pure water", as you'd get from a good Reverse Osmosis (RO) unit, isn't corrosive... BUT it's SO empty, it will dissolve anything it can - it actually pulls any Ions it can - metal pipework literally washes away. I've actually seen people on forums recommending RO water for cooling! Our RO's take in tap water with a conductivity of about 300us and put out "pure water" at about 3us. Prior to the RO, the tap water is softened and filtered. You'd be amazed at how quickly this stuff can dissolve things. The big chunky salt we use in the water softeners dissolves almost instantly in RO water, but not so much in tap water Some of the issue may be the alloy used in the radiators too - just because it's an aluminium radiator, doesn't mean it's made of aluminium - it is an Alloy of metals, and some can be more or less noble, depending on the mixture used. Also, as the antifreeze/coolant is "used up", it actually BECOMES corrosive - the PH drops over time. The harder it's working to fight corrosion, the faster it's used up. (usually over a longer time than in the OP though!)

Nah... they're just SOOOO Common My manual 525i is probably a rarer model

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

It'll make it safer and more fuel efficient! Did you fix it yet?

As long as it's manual

Let me know if anyone sees a 3.8 touring locally.... ....BWAHAHAHAHA! I'd sell a nut for one, I reckon. The Mrs reckons she'd drive an E34 Touring, but not sedan Apparently we don't "need" a V8, but the E34 M5's only a 6, so should be easy to talk her into Practically the same as the 525i....

It probably needs a V8 transplant

40 isn't really very thin. A good M20 should be OK on 30 in a semitropical climate. In Dads 325i, it's had Valvoline semi synth, and lately valvoline VR-1 Racing, 10W-40. Uses about 100mls between changes, but it always has for the 15 or so years he's had it. Now has about 230K on I think.

My mates 540i was doing something similar. It turned out to be a solenoid to do the the lockup I think. Best to get a trans specialist to look at it - Often, they can drive it round the block and know the problem straight away. A service is never a bad idea anyway. Plus, if the box is poked you have an excuse for a manual conversion

The Repco one I got is sh*t - doesn't fit, doesn't have the reach, and the strengthening ribs get in the way. The Supercheap one I got was basically the same, except it extended to make the reach enough, however, it was still 100% useless. They look vaguely like this one: Because the ribs are on the load-bearing side, it won't fit the E39 (or much else it seems - fitted the ties rods on my VW Beetle though) Then I got one like this - it's the one to have! : A Franklin TA331 - works out to about $135 from this site, shipped. There may be other sites that are cheaper though - I didn't look that hard. http://www.northwalestools.co.uk/franklin-ta331---ball-joint-separator-50-80mm-22mm-58693-p.asp It easily extends to fit, and it can get in deep enough, as the ribs are on it's back, not the front like my others. It reached all the joints on the front end. Finding one is getting hard - a lot of places are out of stock, and I couldn't find anywhere in NZ that had one. You can pick you own innuendo out of all that.

I have the correct tool, but I'm in Whangarei the joint on mine were VERY tight, when it let go, the tool shot off and chipped the floor haha, tool.

More to the point... It's registered as a 96, a 3.2...and VIN says Alpine white. It must be VERY dirty in those pics! Beisdes all that though... those side grilles are enough to put anyone off anyway.

I'm sure there's someone closer than I am, who can do the coding etc, but otherwise - I'm up here. (I don't have an adapter to fit your 20 pin either - I need one though anyway) I also seem to recall that the Japanese 'boxes were different to the Euro/NZ ones... even on the V8's Did they have the US type box???

You may even find it looks fine in the flesh - Dads E30 had a touch years ago, after it was keyed. You CANNOT see the blend line (front 1/4, but take a phot on the right angle, and it's visible. It looks like the door were painted without blending into the 1/4 anyway.

Good man! Welcome!

I'm assuming that coding it AFTER the software upgrade won't affect the data. I'd be tempted to code it to the car, and leave it fitted (since it's now in there), while sending YOUR one to the US of A. then swap back. You can hten change abck and forth willynilly

And style 42's are a pain in the arse to clean!

You want a timesert or an oversized insert. Spring style inserts (like helicoil brand are) can cause a lot of issues later. If you have the space, you can drill it bigger, screw in some threaded rod, then drill and tap to suit., VERY carefully.