aja540i

11 hours ago, Kees said:

Gave my 540i a much needed wash for the first time in a few months. Have barely used it since it debited my wallet $2.4K in early September. Will write about that incident at some point haha 

Did you fill it with gas? 😀

I would think that towing a caravan with a nose weight of 265kg would be a nightmare, surely you would be better off balancing the Caravan properly so the nose weight is a bit more reasonable?

2 hours ago, Allanw said:

@aja540i Look familiar??? 😁

 

Don't think its my old one, if it is they have changed lots of wierd stuff, mine had M5 front bumper and wing mirrors, sliding armrest, Msport steering wheel, body colour interior trim, silver rocker covers, etc etc...also, just noticed, mine was M62tu, fly by wire throttle body / cruise control, so probably not mine!

Strangely i did see another 540i touring the same colour today locally, they're everywhere!!

Yeah, but it lasted waaayy longer than the warranty period so makes good sense from a business point of view.

I recently got a red cog of doom on the centre display of the M5, not the first time but last time it was the clutch and I have done that, soooo...

A bit of googling and I discover a common failure point on the SMG 3 box is the insulation on the small wiring loom that connects the shift control solenoids to the main harness, long story short, heat + years = warning lights!

As luck would have it there was an E60 M5 box on trademe so I bought that with the intention of putting it into my car while I give my box a good refresh, and then swap them over again. First issue, the replacement box also had the wiring loom issue so I did a practice run on that box to sort it out before it goes in the wagon.

box as it was when I got it, approx 140km on it, insulation is hard and crumbly....

Disassembled plug, unpinned one wire at a time and scraped old insulation off, then 4mm twin wall heartshrink and repin the wire, repeat as necessary....

wrapped the whole lot and replaced the loom clip, then covered the end in liquid electrical tape to keep water out....

Oil changed, oil strainer cleaned and refitted, new crush washers on all the plugs and filter...

When I worked at Fraser cars it was very common for an unnamed garage that did WOFs not far from us to do a large handbrake slide right outside our factory as they got to end of their test drive, they also did not have brake rollers......

Hope that helps!!  😉

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/523i/listing/3314731371?bof=LKijDPLK

3.5 star fuel economy, but should be less rattly than a Ractis!

Or something a bit different...

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/toyota/crown/listing/3693693621?bof=LKijDPLK

I hate myself for saying it, but this is probably more suitable and there seem to be plenty around

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/toyota/corolla/listing/3761413987?bof=LKijDPLK

Mine was doing this when the heater  motor hedgehog resistor failed, the fan was staying on and stopping the car from sleeping, easy enough to unplug it and see if it changes anything.

If you pay for the gas i can bring the M5 down so you can have a look!!

I found out today that a piece of metal tube longer than 200mm is considered a no go, shorter than that is fine, but no sharp edges involved....

SD European might be worth a shot, I haven't had any work done by them but have purchased parts off them a few times.

I had EBC discs on a Legnum VR4 many moons ago and they were complete garbage, I will never buy their stuff again, go for stock discs and upgraded pads and fluid as above.

44 minutes ago, m325i said:

I reckon the play is buy two cheap ones. What are the chances the exact same things break on both? 

100% 

The exact same things will break on all of them, if you are lucky not at the same time though.

But budget more like 5-7k a year for maintenance and factor in the eye watering fuel consumption, if you can live with that do it! 

2 hours ago, Bandit said:

Sound like you, and aj540i may need to work on things like interpersonal skills and try to build relationships with the core people within the businesses we are discussing, you may find your objectives suddenly become far easier to achieve. 😕

Really aj540i, with a comment like this, "Like any local business they have to earn my support and they won't do it just by investing money in their business." get off your high horse.

And btw I'm not decrying the independents, but they would not be here without the main dealer network. 99% of the owners and staff acquired the skillset from the dealer network remember.

Not sure why you are assuming i don't have a good relationship with my local BMW dealer, i do, but it wasnt because they spent a whole lot of money and somehow deserved it, but because they hired good staff and management, and put good practices and systems in place, and worked hard to earn my support. If they change things and that relationship falls apart i will take my business elsewhere and stop recommending them to others no matter what brand they represent or how invested they are in their business.

34 minutes ago, Bandit said:

We have owned BMW's since 1976 in New Zealand (And the UK) and must say that we have enjoyed exemplary service from the BMW main dealer network, including Jerry Clayton in Takapuna, McMillian BMW in Auckland, Coombes Johnston in Hamilton and Christchurch BMW.

The owner have substantial investment in their business and the brand, and deserve support from posters on this forum not the continual "slagging off" that happens far too often

Showing our age here, aware that most of the outlets named above have been rebranded, but you get the drift surely?😁

I disagree, I try to support my local BMW dealer as much as possible, but not because I believe they "deserve" my support. Like any local business they have to earn my support and they won't do it just by investing money in their business. I have had mostly excellent service from my local (Continental cars BMW) but others on here may have had different experiences and they are quite justified in sharing those experiences.

20 minutes ago, Bandit said:

I'll play. Similar to a cardigan, overlarge with leather elbows. Usually dark blue, green or burgundy. Three overlarge buttons to the front. Shaggy wool construction, extremely warm and comfortable to wear. Slight dribble marks and some serious stain evidence to lower left front.

Comes with a characteristic odour of old engine oil with a suggestion of WD40, and slight overlay of aged cask whisky or bourbon.

Best removed before the aged aunt or grandmother visits as it may create an offence, causing the wearer to be written out of the will.

 

I would add at least one hole from a welder/ grinder / knife / chisel incident.

They are all completely useless UNTIL SOMETHING GOES WRONG. safety shouldn't be about meeting minimum requirements it should be about doing as much as possible to prevent yourself dying. 

3 hours ago, E30 325i Rag-Top said:

f**kwits who drive in the fog with NO lights on, not a single one!

Probably the same a55hats who drive around on clear nights with their rear fog lights on!

Thank goodness nothing like that ever happens with petrol...

keen, pm sent.

Had another crack at splitting the turbo and managed it, everything looks ok but very dirty and a bit rusty, so gave it all a good clean and will give the hot side a coat of paint and it can go back in once gaskets and seals arrive.

One of the little rollers that holds the ring for the vanes did a runner on me but I managed to track it down!!

Long time no progress, did a 1400k round trip after the rear suspension refresh, towing a tandem trailer the whole way so a bit hard to tell but it certainly seems nicer riding, did highlight that the weird surging boost issue is now the biggest problem and needs sorting, so I ordered a vacuum tester and then set about trying to track down leaks in the vacuum system, by pulling out the turbo!

I wanted to check that the variable vane gubbins on the turbo wasn't jammed, and it seems to move freely MOST of the time, it catches occasionally so I wanted to get the turbo apart and clean and lubricate it to make sure.

I set about isolating and testing sections of the vacuum system and found 2 quite significant leaks in the brake booster plumbing where one use hose clamps were very loose, so I removed those and fitted new clamps which improved things significantly. I can now build the system up to 10 vacuums and it takes quite a while to leak back down to zero, so I'm happy with that.

After a couple of frustrating evenings in the garage trying to get the turbo apart without destroying it i have decided to just lubricate the variable geometry mechanism as best I can and put it all back in.....as soon as gaskets arrive from overseas!

19 minutes ago, NZ00Z3 said:

Using electricity to split water.

Yes, water is going to become the new fuel of the future.  People/large companies/dictators are going to want to own it and control it.  Wars are going to be waged over it.  We have one now in N.Z called "3 Waters".  Watch Labour socialise it and National sell it.

Point is you still need a huge amount of electricity, which is the limiting factor in the system whatever the alternative to petrol is.

Totally agree that our current supply grid is not up to the task, but just pouring billions of dollars into upgrading that grid might not be the best solution. When I got my EV I also invested in rooftop solar at home, it provides enough power to keep my car charged and export some to the grid, obviously no good at night but if it were on the very large roof of the factory where I work and I could plug my EV in while I was at work it would provide all my transport energy needs and take load of the supply grid. A large enough system would cover the transport energy needs of 20 odd staff, repeat as necessary, consider solar systems at carport buildings, park and rides etc.

These are the options the government needs to be seriously considering if they want mass adoption of EVs.