camera doctor

My Sat Nav seems to think my car can go lower than sea level ! :lol:

Greg, My wife and I spent last weekend in CHCH, and to be honest you would find it hard to believe they had such a sh*t of a time lately. Other than a few empty sections, you really do not get to see much of the damage, as the CBD is still closed and most damaged buildings seem to be already pulled down. Riccarton Mall ( Westfield ) was fairly busy, but then it was school holidays, and it normally is fairly full ! We walked into Robbie's bar in Riccarton and got a table to eat on Saturday night without booking first. We did not feel any quakes, and found driving around still OK, not sure what it would be like during work day, but if they are putting you up in a hotel, it may be walking distance to Grays anyway. They are a resilient lot and it seems they have just mucked in and got on with life ! If you don't do it, you may regret it later, and I always find it good for your work knowledge to work with new guys for a while. Tell Grays you need a 'M' car as your get-around car and go out and explore the great SI roads !!

They sold for US $5.8 Million !!!! What Global Financial Crisis ??

NO, the Japan IRed key has a red LED that glows, that is correct. There is also a key that has no remote at all, rather it has a white bulb to illuminate the keyhole. They sold me that one first ! Take a look at this link RealOEM Item 1 is the Illuminated Key, no remote locking Item 4 is the Correct iRed remote Key Item 5 is the 433Mhz RF 'diamond' key that they also sold me incorrectly.

From LTSA Website Although I thought you had to have washers with HID - May pay to ask a WOF inspector ?

Nice Touring. I like the wheels - do you know what they are ??? Welcome

Yep, I know ....... After a 15 minute arguement on the phone with the parts guy and email discussions with branch manager they still would not take the keys THEY ordered wrong back. When I was at their counter, I suggested to the parts guy that as my car was ex Japan perhaps it would be the iRed system, and he very grumpily snapped back that he was looking against the VIN number and it was DEFINATLEY the RF system !! So it seems BMW's system is not infalible. And that was not the half of it - first key they got me was the one with the light in it, no remote locking at all, and I had to pay for that too ! They got me the correct iRed key at a reduced price, but I was still out of pocket. But their loss - I have not set foot back in there, and buy my parts elsewhere now

Typical Monday <_< Came into work early today to catch up ..... Computer spat the dummy !!!!! ARRGGHH Just got it running 5 minutes ago - had the old blown Capacitors in the Motherboard Issue. Oh well, the week can only get better !!! B) :rolleyes:

Only a guess, but I would say Toll Card for Toll roads / bridges etc in Japan ?

Welcome, nice motor I am sure you have heard Jeremy Clarksons' quote on it : I personally think they look better in person, the photos do not do the car justice. Enjoy

My E39 is Ex Japan, therefore it has the useless 2 button iRed remote locking. During to day you really need to be standing right in front of the car for the remote to work - may as well stick key in door !! ( works better in the dark, as no interference from the sun ) Anywho, due to a mess up by Jeff Grays, I have eneded up with a Diamond shaped RF key that is coded to my EWS, so I wonder if I could 'upgrade' the car to use this key. Am I correct to say that the diamond key recharges via a coil around the ignition keyhole ? So that would be the first thing I would need to do ..... ? Or could I swap to a lithium button battery ? ( perhaps the factory sytem just charges a capacitor ? ) Is it practical to get the RF unit from a wreck and fit to my car, or is that too much of a pain ? My other thought was, if I could get a 433Mhz code learning receiver, I could teach it the Keyfob code and then run the relay output to the central lock switch on the centre consule ?? Jochen / Hotwire , any experience here ? Am I barking up the wrong tree ? What is the exact keyfob frequency - there seems to be 433 and 433.92 receivers available - are they different or just an abreviation of the same thing ?

:P Classic !! :P

From memory it was $500 plus freight and GST

As Glenn says, a scan is the best option, but a quick Google will suggest that 'mosty' of the time it is the ABS module - due to position in the car ( above the hot exhaust manifold ) dry solder joins happen in the ABS module. This often shows as a sensor error in scans anyway ...... In my car, I got the guys at Anything Electronic in Nelson to do a repair, which lasted 6 months then failed, they did it again, lasted another 6 months, same again, they gave up !! I bought a used unit from Kerry at Mosen Hamilton, and fitted that myself, so far no more issues. Be aware if you get a brand new unit, it will need coded, as they are uncoded. A used unit will also need coded if from different model, but I got one from the same model as mine, and no coding was necessary. Oh and if you want to go new, they are heaps cheaper ex USA, but need to be careful that you get the correct unit.

This is awesome ! I have seen output from older 'laid resin' 3D printers, but they are deicate and low resolution, but take a look at this : You Tube Video Wow ! Great for rapid prototyping - not good news for qualified fitters and turners

Cool, keep us up to date .......

Has anybody had any experience in retrofitting PDC to a facelift ( 2002 ) E39 ? I have the reverse camera fitted, so I really only want to do the front of the car, and wondered would I be better off buying an aftermarket kit - although I prefer to stay genuine where possible / economic. The car came from Japan with one of those tacky posts that stick up from the front of the car, and after ripping the numberplate holder off a couple of times, I can now see why ! I guess some may say I need to drive / park better, but as my car is a touring, it is important to get as close into parks as possible so it's butt does not stick out, and the shape of the nose makes it hard !! I have serached forums / internet, but not much info around on retrofit - the module seems to be cheap as a used part, the sensors themselves not so much .... and would my car be 'pre-wired' for the module anyway ? Any experience out there in Bimmersport land ?? Thanks

Car maker BMW (Ontario, CA) plans to fire 100 skilled workers, and reopen same plant next day with inexperienced, cheaper staff (this after $4 billion gov. aid), and posting biggest profits ever. Yahoo News Story

From a technicians point of view, either model listed are built to similar build quality, despite the 'feel' of the cameras as suggested by another poster. The Nikon lenses seem to be a little more delicate when it comes to damage due to abuse or impact, but if you look after them, no issue In my game I am often asked what is the best camera to buy etc, and my answer is the one that feels right in your hand, and gives you the features YOU need, not necessary the 'top specs' or 'most pixels' as is the case in cars too, the numbers do not always bear out true life results I always say, buy the cheapest camera body that gives you the features and feel you want, and spend the $$$ on lenses, that is where you will see the quality difference. Shame you need it so fast, i could point you to a seller that has the 550D with standard 18-55is lens for under $1500, but they do not have stock on hand to get it to you for this week Duty free is a waste of time in my experience - NZ is one of the cheapest places to buy camera gear in the world.

Have you tried EuropeanAuto On Jutland Street ?

Cheers Jochen, My car is a touring, so it is mounted under the wooden floor, not steel. No issues so far, but poster SWAutomotive suggested I may have issues if luggage was above it, so I may look at running it up to the centre consule as per the bimmernav website, would need to get a longer cable I think - any idea where I could get that ??

Plug and Play once I traced the mic wires, i.e no coding was necessary. Not sure if that would be the same in a car that previously had no Telephone, can only report what happened in mine

No, That is Japan only system. To use in NZ you need to buy a Euro / US MKIV computer and make some wiring changes, and of course get a NZ map disc. My Thread

Just installed factory Bluetooth Handfree / Voice control to my Jap Import 2002 E39 530i Touring. Thouight I'd post a few pics and discoveries here, as I know there are others interested in doing this. Firstly, after a couple of months email discussions with www.bimmernav.com, and help from Grant ( Hotwire ) it was decided the best route for a Ex Japan car was to buy the kit that assumes the car has no pre-wiring - even though my car had Japanese phone unit - as none of the Japanese kit is helpful, and is all discarded !! Here is the Japanese Phone Box - Under the black plastic cover on the lefthand side of the wheel well Next step is to remove the Nav Computer and Amplifier from the Lefthand side of the car ( and the CD changer if you have one - mine is removed for DICE unit already ) Behind that is the large opaque white connector that BMW calls X400 Bimmernav supplied a new loom that takes place of the Japanese ( if present ) plug, and has the correct plug on the other end for the ULF module, as the Jap plug, although similar, is wired completely differently. The Bimmernav loom had a 3pin connector for the microphone, but I could not find the compatible plug in the rear of the car, so I traced the Japanese loom and spliced into it for the microphone. As my car has the CD changer removed already, I decided to mount the ULF on the plate the CD changer previously mounted to - I removed the Jap box beside the wheel well, so I could also have put it there I guess, but the position I choose already had a screw for securing it. And a closer View Bluetooth Antenna was screwed under the spare wheel cover. The Bimmernav loom had a pairing button patched onto it, plus they supplied a new centre consule box with a pairing button, which I will trace a couple of wires from the Jap Loom at a later date, but for now I paired my iPhone 4 with the patched button, and hey presto, the address book from my iPhone uploaded to the car .... So, I am stoked ! Sure there are cheaper options out there, but I prefer to have the OEM system, and it works really well, I also updated the microphone to the 2004+ version and it is nice and clear. Voice control took a wee bit to get used to - it did not like my NZ accent for a start, but as most commands have 2 versions of what can be asked, one of them works ! I had previously updated the NAV to MKIV and NZ disc, and the voice control also works some of those functions! You can store phone numbers by voice and recall them later by saying ' Dial Name' and speaking the name !! The steering wheel controls work perfectly, and allow you to scroll thru the address book using the upper display. You can also store and retrieve voice notes to yourself, which I find handy, as I do a lot of my thinking while driving back to the workshop after jobs I am happy to help anybody with any answers I can provide if needed.