jeffbebe

Very nice!

what's going to replace it, Brent?

Looking good and even better in person... Mainly because I could hear the modded exhaust. EPIC!

Yeah, I really like the shape it's the CF and the fact it's not 'part' of the bumper that I'm not sure about. Hence why I'm thinking stick, fill, sand, paint. Wish I'd bought the (much) cheaper ABS plastic ones. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Yeah, I'm not totally sold on them now I've seen them on my car... Annoying as they cost a pretty penny. If I decide not to keep them hopefully somebody else will love them and I can get my money back!

Interesting, it was the lack of contrast that I wasn't so sure about... I think they look great on white.

Been looking for a Strassentech splitter (below) for a while but they're hard to come by and very expensive. Recently picked up a set of Vorsteiner-style CF splitters which finally turned up this week. Haven't installed yet but taped them on to see what they look like. Fitment's good and I think the style looks good but I'm not 100% sold on the carbon fibre on my black 540i. Painting's an option but they'd look weird unless they were properly blended and made part of the bumper which is going to cost $$$s. Interested in what the community thinks...

Mine is history though, so support Martin's as it's in the here and now!!

Nice job, Martin and great kick work at around 3:25!! Music used to be my career... Just never made enough money at it!! haha Here's a couple of oldies of mine that I hadn't thought about for a long time!! And this... though the audio seems totally out of sync now weirdly!

If you can't make the dyno day, then contact the original chip reseller and quote the purchase order details. Most of those chip suppliers will send you a reflash. Then you can backup your current map and reflash the superchip map. Should be pretty obvious if it is different to the car's current setup. If you don't like it, you can always go back to the stock one you've backed up.

Yes, this ^. Expensive because it's hard to come by a second with the airbag - and a new airbag is $$$$s.

Yep, looks just as good in the flesh. Adeeb, can I have the steering wheel? ... I've got one like the one it came with originally. No point letting that bad boy go to waste!

Expect to pay around $450-500 for a trans service. Forum sponsors always a good bet but require going to Silverdale and Botany respectively. If you want something closer BM Workshop will do a good job but might be a little more expensive.

Lots of good places. Where in Auckland are you?

Did you sand the bit you painted first to get the texture out? Paint will look (and probably stick) better if you have and gives it nice clear definition from the black.

Nope, but I can wish you the best of luck with the rally!

Yep, Jamie's right. Possible but hard to get perfect. I think painting looks 100% better and easy to get a finish that looks OE. It's not difficult to pick up replacement trim. My advice would be to buy a cheap second that's a faded/cracked, sand it smooth and paint. Martin can put the original one away somewhere and put it back on if he changes his mind! EDIT: A satin black gives a really good OE finish. Gloss is to shiny and matte looks like chalkboard!

Looking great Martin. Woodgrain's come up really well. I reckon if you just sand and paint the board monitor trim black it would really modernise it and no need to cover the rest of the wood then. Easy to do and made a big difference in my car IMO.

I'm sure you're right but a very beautiful car!

Easy fix... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-RETRO-STYLE-QUALITY-SOFT-LEATHER-MENS-DRIVING-GLOVES-UNLINED-CHAUFFEUR-N-507-/281170844353?pt=UK_Gloves&var=&hash=item4177169ac1 - just like Ryan Gosling in 'Drive' apparently!

Every E39 540i comes with leather driving gloves as standard. You can't truly appreciate sports luxury motoring without them. I think the M5s came with perforated leather gloves... Did you not get some with your car?

Not sure, Graham, but I certainly haven't seen one with relatively low kms as cheap as this before. That said, there are a couple of higher-priced examples on TM that haven't sold, so maybe I'm the sucker here! I think they're beautiful cars - a 90s supercar - you'd expect to pay more than $1-2K for a 90s Porsche wouldn't you, even a 944, and the 850 is a much cooler car?

How about this for good value! That is a serious amount of car for $17K... Great wheels too. WANT!! http://www.trademe.co.nz/a.aspx?id=644923707

This one doesn't meet your specifications, though!!

Looks in good shape but $15K's a lot for a car with 210,000kms, even with a manual box. Should be able to get a high mileage early PFL 540i like that for sub $6K and a manual conversion would definitely be less than $9K. Still, the manual box would be fun!!