jeffbebe

Every now and then in the last couple of days - and it seems to happening more frequently - I get a fault signal on the dash for the front right and rear right head and tail lights. While the fault signal is lit, the lights aren't going but sometimes I'll stop the car and the fault will disappear and the lights will work as normal, so it's obviously not the bulb but a wiring issue (or something like that). Any ideas? I'm no sparky so tempted to take it to an auto electrician unless folks can recommend a very simple test/fix. Cheers in advance.

Should have left it black.

Thanks, but how can you not be a fan? They're the ultimate Russian Oligarch bodyguard's ride. You can only drive a black one if you have hand tattoos.

Nice. With a bit of photoshop work that pic could be mind-blowing!

Bugger. Hope they got some whiplash for their idiocy.

Can't email Ollie anyway, says his mailbox is full! Neither's mine but it looks the part in photos!

Love this car!

I can take a half decent picture - happy to do a group shot for people if needed and happy to chuck my 528 in an E39 group shot! BTW - tried emailing some pics to Ollie and it says his mailbox is full!

The quilted dash is a masterstroke. No more easy-to-clean, vinyl dash. Now a delightful padded jacket that's dry clean only. Magic.

Check on www.realoem.com Best to input the last 7 digits of your car's VIN to ensure your looking at the right parts catalogue.

I think it works well for CGI but not so good for live action - make up, prosthetics, etc are just not as convincing in this super real environment. It makes it much harder to suspend disbelief. The 3D might be more immersive but when you can see Gandalf's foundation cracking it let's the side down!

Very cool. Looking forward to seeing it, though I've heard some negative feedback about the hyper real HD 3D.

Yeah, I see this going up and down Ponsonby Road most weekends. Also see a nice ACS e46 330 ci in red parked on Dryden St by Grey Lynn park every day when I take my dog for a walk. Looks pretty well looked after too. Saw a very new black M5 yesterday on Richmond Rd but it was going so fast I didn't get a good look!

Yes! Find me one?! haha

Yeah, they seem pretty scarce but I'm not in any great rush. Would rather wait til I can find a good one.

I've got the BMW bug and want another one now. The wife was upset that she ditched her V6 Commodore in favour of the boring-but-super-reliable Mazda 6 'Mummy wagon'. I'm thinking she might go for another BM if it's a bit gruntier than her Mazda and I've always liked the E34 wagon. Ideally want one with reasonably low kms, leather interior and generally tidy condition. It needs to be a lot more fun than the Mazda but (almost) as reliable (the Mazda's only done 42K kms)!!

I picked up my '96 528i for under $5K in March and have spent $2-3K on it since. It's done 164K kms but is in great condition. A few minor niggles but nothing costly (so far) and looks the business. In hindsight would have liked a bit more grunt but the 2.8L straight six is smooth and powerful enough (just). I'd like a 540 or M5 but no coin and I doubt I'll find a better looking E39 for anywhere close to what I paid. Definitely avoid the 520s and 523s - not enough pulling power so they're actually less economical than a 528 or 530. My advice... Get one, they're very solid, reliable and classically designed cars. Get a late model 530 for economy get a 540 for more fun!

The ASC light came on and stayed on in my '96 528i recently. A scan showed an ASC fault which turned out to be a broken secondary throttle cable - cost about $25 for a replacement cable and voila... No light! Worth checking to see if it is slack or frayed.

The hard top looks the business, Ray! Love it.

The car in the vid probably isn't used for driving up and down Queen Street with a 'For Sale' sticker in the back window either (thought it would manage the uphill section in reasonable time).

The fact is... It looked unmeasurably better in the before pics.

*Like*

Hit the nail on the head... Enthusiasts will still enthuse about the genuine article. Who cares of BMW churn out some M branded cars we don't enthuse about. We still know which ones we aspire to own and if you don't know or care, then you'll rightly be very happy with your KFC Car Park edition. If selling loads of M-branded cars means BMW can spend bags of cash on R&D to come up with cooler cars, I'm all for it. If they rest on their laurels then it'll be an issue.

Interesting. I agree with some of what he says but I think they key point is at the end of the article. Marketing should be about taking the designers' and manufacturers' vision and selling it the world but it does feel like BMW's marketing team have commandeered the M brand to do their job for them. Instead of selling road cars on the back of BMW's prowess on the track they've grabbed the M stripes and stuck them to anything with a piece of kit from the genuine M vehicle. You only have to search TM to find hundreds of BMWs that are listed as M-tech this and M-sport that but few of them are genuine M3s or M5s. And, on the whole, it's not the owners sticking a badge on a standard vehicle; they've come like that from the factory because someone in the marketing department said "we'll sell more cars if we can stick the M badge on anything that's not bog standard".Can't say that I blame them, it's worked and they sell a lot of cars but I do agree with the author that the mystique and aspirational quality of the M brand is diminished as a result.

Thanks mate.