Allanw

E39's aren't much biger than an E46, but you could always get a 325i or 330i touring and not tell her the engine size. They aren't super hungry, once you fix the common faults (DISA, Vanos etc)

WOW... that thing has NOTHING going for it... I think it must have actually sold, and they've just upped the price to stop people asking about it.

Or BMW tow bars (like the E30 ones). BMW stickers with load ratings etc, and small writing on the bottom "Made by Best Bars, Auckland, NZ" Not exactly "genuine" BMW

Errr... the W124 was released in 1985, so isn't really a 1990's "model", the wiring harness issues may still apply to the 90's versions - the problems were related to being made from recycled plastics... just like BMW cooling systems, undertrays etc. It affected ALL markets, NZ new included. there were quite a few warranty repairs, but a lot still not done. It started in the 90's sometime - not sure when. I'd imagine it's very similar to a 190e as far as build, design etc, rather than the 1990's released models

I haven't had 1st hand experience, but I'm pretty sure they are considered one of the best Mercedes Benz ever - before the bean-counters came in and ruinedf everything! They're renowned for phenomenal milages, but you'd want to know the common issues first!

I'd be lookiing at the ignition switch too. I know the E39 ones crap out, E46 is quite probably similar.

well done! Keep up the good work!

The actual lubrication will be similar for similar oil types, but the thicker oils will move out of the bearings slower, meaning that in theory the oil pressure inside each bearing is higher and can support more load (such as at high RPM).The pressure fed bearing in an engine don't actually rub on each other, the oil is pumped in to hold the metal sufaces apart from each other. Starting with a 25W anything means much higher cold oil pressure. the 10W60 is probably a better bet, as your oil may not be upto 100C before you are giving it the welly - oil that's too thick when cold can give you some REALLY high oil pressures which isn't always a good thing. The 25W-50 cold oil pressure (80cSt) is 3-4 TIMES the thickness of a 10W-60 when cold, (25 cSt ish) the 10W-60 is probably a good allrounder, giving the roughly the same viscosity when cold and hot (25 cSt), but overall thicker , which should be more than enough to support constant high RPM etc (the 40 weight should do it fine too anyway) - the M3 revs quite a lot higher than an M52 anyway. It's easily usable in winter and summer, and it will only be synthetic (if it's a good oil anyway!) as only synthetic can cover that kind of viscosity range without running risks of oil shear and breakdown into running crappy "oil".

0w-40 and 10w-40 are the same weight when hot anyway, so makes no difference, 0w40 gives better cold start up flow as it is less thick than the 10W-40 when cold and thins to the same viscosity when hot. the W rating makes no difference to the operating temperature viscosity. If you going to be really hard on the thing, you'd probably want ot be a bit heavier than a 40 weight summer rating, like the 60 mentioned above - the M3's are supposed to use 10W-60 - if it gets TOO hot, there will be some additional viscosity margin there.

Me too - No problems with the speedo at all - I can't have the wheel down to far, as it interferes with my clutch leg.

I know I've said this many times, but a manual 530i Touring would be awesome. Best all rounder. Plus not ugly like the newer models .

I think our 525i does 2800. My Suzuki Cappuccino did about 4000 Of course it still had a bit over 5000 MORE to go to the rev limiter I only ever got to 8000 though, once.

They said it would be an hour, but it wasn't I find the Carbon REALLY cuts down on heat entering the car - it actually feels cold sometimes, when the sun is shining in the sides or rear, but can be really hot coming in the windscreen!

And WHY did they convert it to RHD after the accident?

I went canrbon on the E39 - works awesome. I waited while they did it... took about 30 mins! I was a bit stunned!

It'll be louder on the inside though, with the engine noise coming out the stereo speakers.

It has a weird WOF history too - then weren't too regular sometimes, but looks like it failed a fair few times... makes you wonder about it's service history. It's last WOF was november 11 - what's it been doing since may 2012, when the wof would have expired....

Maybe I should go look at it :-) Weird, as it's registered as ex-Germany, but is a Japan-version. There is a 525i Touring from kerikeri for sale with the same things in it's history, and I've seen a 7 series the same - all 2000 models too. the 7 had a line in it build sheet that it was a testbed version or something similar too. Maybe it was destined for Japan, but ended up as a tourist delivery or somethiing. A bit weird to have a RHD car in Germany.

You can have it display the odometer in km/s or miles - the car actually records in km anyway, regardless of what is displayed. Never been a fan of black leather. The grey looks nice, without being too dark or cheap looking. SOmething a bit darker would look nicer though - maybe a mid charcoal.

I just replaced the backlights in Dads E30 last weekend - I only realised then that it eeven HAD a light! I never knew. I asked Dad if it worked, but he has never let the tank get that low in all those years of owning it! Is it supposed to come on at ignition on, as a test thing like the oil light etc?

Yeah, me too! It'll be interesting to see what technological advances happen to the internal combustion engine, which is an ANCIENT design. You'd think there'd have been so radical new developments, but all this tech is still being put on the good old banger!

Can I see some kerbing on the front wheel in that pic???

Rough. They were probably stolen by some retard who thinks they'll fit on there E30 or starlet of something.

They may be referring to the rear lower balljoints - the have a bolt right through them. You need a special tool to change the rear balljoints easily without removing the lower arm, but everything else is press in, press out (although a proper balljoint splitter of the correct dimensions is required to not damage the balljoints on the arms and aluminium carrier). If you fit new arms, the bushes are generally already pressed in anyway. If you're doing that kind of work, replace the bushes/arms and balljoints - why to the work twice, and if one part is rooted, how far behind are the others??? I got all my stuff from paul at Milland, including genuine rear balljoints.