DavidB

Wrong style, but admittedly executed very well. To me the E39 shape is all about understated elegance. The white bulldozer is neither understated nor elegant. They should try this theme on a One-series.

Related question, I have an E39 530i and got stuck with flat battery the other day. AA 'rescue' guys hit me $400 for a battery (installed)! From whom would you get a battery if you had warning it's about to be needed, Auckland area. BTW, next time I'll also make SURE they get all the wires out of the way before an install. The battery has caught, and ripped out, the wire that is for the boot lid release. Extremely inconvenient, until I can figure out where the wire came from (Bentley Vol II, here we come).

Just an update. Took advice of those above and in Jan 2013 tipped in 6.5 litres of Castrol Edge 5w30 when car had done 99,000 kms. Did 9,000 kms and changed it in Feb this year (2014). Came out looking and smelling hardly used. Underside of oil filler cap looks cleaner than when I bought the car (see above, Allanw's post of 24 Dec, 1st para). 95% of trips are 4km commutes in moderate Auckland traffic (Manukau Road, Epsom) and several cross country runs (Napier, Wanagnui etc). Uses around 250ml per 1,000 km around town and almost nothing on country runs. Have been able to buy the oil for my and my daughter's car from Supercheap Autos for $55 per 5 litres just by waiting for specials and buying then rather than waiting until the day I need it.

Appreciate all the help above.Seriously, I'd love to know where you got one for $825+GST Team Macmillan just quoted me $1,607 incl GST! Was yours the whole kit 'n caboodle ie the pump + ECU, or just one of them? Also, some of you have mentioned you have had yours repaired. Any recommendations on who/where within reach of Auckland, before I ship mine off to UK repairer?

I think you'll find that the one you saw is the only one in NZ. If I recall correctly, it was one of the PDL guys who bought it (Stewart family???). Last time I saw an Aston in Chch (I'm from Auckland) was the weekend the rule for giving way to turning traffic rule changed (Easter 2012?). Lady in a DB9 obviously hadn't heard about the rule change and aimed straight for my car door as we both turned off Papanui Road - amazing how big those Aston grills can look in the wrong place/wrong time!

I had same question and found Allan's reply most helpful, thanks. So Googled LL01 and A3/B4 and found Shell claims it's Helix Ultra also meets these specs. Castrol Magnatec 10w/40 meets the A3/B4 but I can't see anywhere that they claim it meets the BMW LL01 requirements, let alone LL04. Sounds like Edge and Helix Ultra are the way to go. I've just taken possession of my 2003 530i and looks like previous keeper put 15w40 in it (Union Oil???) - shivers, seems a bit sludgy looking inside oil filler cap. So, is there any product I should use to clean out all the previous properly before changing and going with Edge/Helix? David

Hi Toby. Just 3 hours ago I bought a facelift E39, NZ new. Gosh, could have done with one of those wheels you put on TM as, while the wheels on my car are almost mark free, the spare has got more metal missing than present! Real ugly, and one of yours would have graced my spare's space wonderfully. You didn't keep one back by chance, and now don't REALLY want it (LoL). I'm sure you're very short of room with all that Bimmer machinery you have. Anyway, we should keep in touch. How many kms has yours done? Mine's an 03 with 97km, and by the looks of it, the same NZ spec as yours. I'm keen to do something with the sound though, esp the top audio space where the wood covers over a tape deck (couldn't believe they were still installing tape decks less than 10 years ago. THe standard BMW Business radio head unit doesn't seem anything to write home about either, so maybe it's a case of ripping out both slots and putting in a double unit (I'm so ignorant about these things I don't know what you call the double sized ones). I am a little surprised, too, with how soft the front end feels. Some 'gentleman's cruiser' feel to it lurking down in there somewhere? Do you know much about alternatives for shocks for these? While I figure that after even 97,000 (obviously extremely careful) kms, shocks might still have a bit to give, 10 years seems a lot to ask of them. Cheers

Sorry, taken a while to get back, and I appreciate your help.Things started taking various turns of direction as the hunt for a set of wheels progressed, as so often happens, and I've ended up with an E39 530i, NZ new car. Back seat room became a bigger issue. Guy with the E46 330i Touring was taking forever to get back with service records - never did. Even his 'mechanic' apparently could come up with them, which somewhat cooled my earlier enthusiasm. Will be happy with the E39, but happier once have re-done shocks etc. It's done nearly 100 km, and handling is a little softer than I had imagined they would be.

I would strongly suggest an inspection by a BMW specialist before you buy, to identify any possible issues. Thanks Jon, appreciate your comments. Any suggestions as to whom you would entrust an inspection? Obviously I'm not going to take anyone's short list as an implied -ve about those not mentioned, but knowing one or two, particularly some independents, where owners have had good experiences would help me

Hi, good to find such a useful, well run forum in NZ, thanks to all responsible. I've opened a conversation with someone who has an E46 330i Touring (pre-facelift) - and he's says he might be ready to sell it soon. Last time I owned a rear-wheeler was 1980! So I'm staved of 'proper' driving fun. Any advice re: E46 Touring would be most welcome.